Foggy Memory

             I sat there on a hot summer day with my brother max. We flipped through our comic books. I was reading ALIEN ATTACK, and he was reading The Adventures of the Dixie Gang. It was part of our usual Saturday morning routine. After that, we’d switch comic books or play with the kids in our neighborhood. But, today seemed like a longer, lazier, kind of hot day that would drag on with a heat that made your clothes stick to your skin.

            I looked at the small lake in front of me, surprised to see no one was there, not even the usual rowdy teenagers who’d splash and scream and giggle loudly with large intimidating groups of other teenagers.

            All of a sudden I heard a large “BOOM!” coming from the forest across the lake.

            Max looked at me knowingly. We had to go investigate. We did that a lot too, unless he was with his older friends that were more his age, and didn’t want to be pestered by an awkward annoying child like me. But, now excitement brought the both of us to our feet. We grabbed our bikes and headed down the dirt road that would lead us to the sound.

            As we got closer, a loud hissing noise echoed through the forest, and eventually smoke surrounded us.

            “Come on!” Max yelled back to me as he quickly rode far ahead of me.

            I tried to catch up, but my small six year old legs could not keep up. I pedaled and pushed, and pedaled and pushed, but when I looked up he was nowhere to be found, and I was lost in the middle of the forest with trees that were like sky-scrapers towering over me.

            “Max? Max?!” I screamed. Then, after waiting a few minutes and not hearing a response, I let out a small whimper.

            Where could he be?

I got off my bike to look around, but I saw, and heard, nothing for a long time. But then I saw something light blue, hidden in the leaves: It was Max’s hat. 

            All of a sudden I became very anxious and began to cry.

            Beledeepop! , came the electronic-like noise from behind me. I spun around to see a tall strange creature with dark round eyes and white leathery skin.

            “Excuse me young boy, why are you crying?”

My fear proceeded my logic.

“I can’t find my brother,” I whined.

“Oh, the scruffy one,” it said understandingly, “Yes. He belongs to us now, and I would very much advise you to forget all about him and head home.”

Confusion and anger mingled within me.

“No! Give me my brother back!”

             “Go home Max.” The creature softly whispered.

“Max?” I asked in frustration, “That’s not my name! That’s my brother! Give him back!” I yelled.

Everything went black at once.

*****

“Hey Max, wakey wakey.” Said a soft voice.

My eyes jumped open to the name: Max!

It was my mom, standing by my bed.

“Is Max home?” I anxiously asked her.

She gave me a puzzled look and a smirk. “Stop acting silly Max. You need to go eat your breakfast. I made some scrambled eggs and toast.”

“Where’s my brother?” I slowly asked her, suddenly terrified of her response.

“Max,” my mother began sternly, “stop playing around and go eat your breakfast. You and I both know you don’t have a brother.”