The Adventures of Max

Chapter 1

The soothing sounds of the crickets are heard throughout all the village. The silence so calming you couldn't help but look at the stars. Looking at the clusters of stars with all of the hopes and dreams they wished would one day come true, laid on the roof of the nearby stables was a young adventurer. The stars shimmering as if they were talking to each other. "I wonder what the stars would say if they were able to talk." The young adventurer thought out loud in a low whisper. "Oh the stories they are holding secret, just wanting to be told to those who would listen." They continued not too loud as not to scare the horses and wake the whole village. They continue to talk to themself for a few hours. This was a regular occurrence for this youngin, along on the stable roofs never getting caught. But today was different.

"Max" a deep voice boomed in a whisper yell. They young adventurer jumped at the unexpected noise and sits up, looking around for the origin of the voice. Creaking of feet on wooden roofs were heard to the side of them. Facing towards the direction of the sounds, a head pops up from under the stable roof. "Hey kiddo" The man struggling a little to climb up the slightly taller gap from the roof he is standing on to the stable roof. "Hey dad" Max relaxes at the sight of their father. "How on earth did you get up here?" The man says struggling to get onto the the platform with his child. Max giggles at the sight of their father struggling. "Don't just laugh, help me!" The man says in a jokingly way. Max gets up from the comfortable spot they were in and goes over to their father. Grabbing his arms, yanks his father up onto the roof. "Geez Ryker, you're so heavy!" Max says pretending to be out of breath. "Hey! It's dad, father of sir to you youngin! And I'm not that heavy." Ryker explains a little bit too loudly. "shhhhhh" Max says a little worried. "You're going to spook the horses." They continue in a hushed tone. "Oh sorry." Ryker whispers.

The two of them sit down next to each other looking over the small village that they call home. "So how come you're out here and not in bed Max?" Ryker questions his kids in a low whisper. Max takes a deep breath, listening to the calming sounds of the crickets as they look over at the stars just over the mountains in the horizon. "I don't know" They finally answer as they shrug their shoulders. "I just wanted to think." Ryker leans forward and looks at Max "May I ask what about?" shrugging their shoulders again, Max tries to remember what they were just thinking about before they were interrupted. "I don't really remember, but it was something about the stars." Max says laying down to stare at the clear stary sky. Ryker lays down and looks at the sky with them. "Well then how long have you been sneaking out like this for?" Ryker asks with a slight mischievous smile on his face. "Only a couple of days" Max answers knowing that it was a lie. "Now kid, what have I told you about lying?" Ryker says looking at Max with a stern look on his face. This caught Max off guard causing them to go silent. After a few moments Ryker speaks up again. "I know you have been doing this for longer than 'a couple of days' Max. It's more like a few months. Am I right?" Max sits up with their legs crossed looking down. "Maybe" They mumble looking guilty.

"Look, Max, I understand you want to go out into the world and explore and all but you're not ready yet." Ryker places his hand on Max's shoulder. "How would you know if I'm ready or not!?" Max snaps back at him a little bit loud, pulling their shoulder away as Rykers hand goes down to his side. The horses start moving and making noises which causes the both of them to freeze. Once the horses settle back down they both relax. Max gets up and starts carefully walking along the roofs of neighbouring houses. Ryker then jumps up and follows them. They get to a specific house. It was a two-story house and they were on the first roof that was above the veranda. They climb up the ladder they added to help get onto the second roof from the first. Max climbs into an open window with Ryker following not long after. "Hey, Max" Max stops in the riddle of the room facing away from their father, not wanting to answer him. "Max. I wanted to talk to you about something. Something very important." Ryker says no longer in a whisper. He closes the window and walks towards his child. "I know you think you are ready-"

"I am ready dad!" Max cuts in, spinning around to face him. "Let me finish please before you go cutting in." Ryker says slightly annoyed. "Sorry." Max mumbles looking at the ground. Ryker continues "As I was saying. I know you think you are ready to go out and go on your very own adventure. And you know I don't think you are ready yes, but." he sighs as he thinks if he is going to regret what he is about to say. "But I can't keep you cooped up in the village forever." Max looks up to their father with a sparkle of hope in their eyes. "Are you saying that" Max stops themselves before they got too excited. Ryker nods his head "Yes, I'm allowing you to go out on your own adventure." Max hugs their father so tight that his back cracks a little. "Ok ok. Let go before you end up breaking my back." Ryker says with a wince. Max lets go of their father and starts planning on things that they would need to pack for the future ahead. Ryker starts laughing at Max as they are darting across the room.

"Woah woah. Calm down there kiddo" Ryker laughs as he grabs the excitedly bouncing Max. "It's like a middle of the night still. Let's both get some sleep first before the big adventure that you have ahead." Max nods fast and runs to their bed. Jumping onto it, Max climbs into the sheets and gets all snuggled up into it. "Goodnight dad!" Max says as they begin to drift off to sleep. "Goodnight my little adventurer" Ryker whispers as he closes the door of Max's room and heads in the direction of his own room. Max looks out the window excited for the next day. "Tomorrow is the start of a new story" They say as they fall asleep.

{1143 words}