Life is Stranger

A Close Encounter

It was a warm sunny day, so Max decided she would go to the tree fort William had built for her and Chloe. She would spend the day drawing as she no longer had her polaroid. She owned a digital, but it just didn't sit right with Max somehow. It was just too clinical. Max liked to touch and feel the world first-hand. The simple act of shaking each picture was a comfort to her. There was no pleasure in mere pixels on a screen. Digital just didn't cut it with Max.

Their secret den was well hidden so Max was fairly confident that it would have remained untouched (like virtually everything else here). There was a new development planned for the hillside, and it was only a matter of time until their lair was razed. A part of her childhood was to be torn asunder and swept away. At least she would have the memories. They couldn't destroy those.

'There it is! Oh crap! What if Chloe is in there? She must still be angry with me, or Joyce would have let me know, surely? Dammit Max, stop being such a chicken, worrying about everything and anything under the sun. Chloe won't be here. She'll be getting wasted and raising merry hell with one of her 'bad boys'. She's not a kid any more. In any case, it would only remind her of the friend who had deserted her, wouldn't it? I'm surprised she hasn't burnt the den down.'

Max clambered up through the dense foliage, memories flooding back like a tide. 'I've climbed this so many times I bet I could do it with my eyes closed.' Panting slightly, she emerged through the entrance hole. It was still as magical as it always had been - the partial gloom, the dappled light from the leaves, the soothing smell of old wood and creosote, the sounds of the forest gently muffled. It was a different world – their world. 'Mine and Chloe's...except now it's just mine.' Max sighed. 'No more tears. You've done enough crying.' Max placed her bag down as a makeshift pillow and laid back, losing herself in reverie.

"What do you truly want to do when you grow up?"

"Max, I'm already grown up. What about you?"

"Travel. That would be awesome. Explore the world, go far from here."

"Far from me? Thanks a lot dude."

"Dude, you would totally come with me. I need a bodyguard for our adventures."

"I would be like Lara Croft, except real. That would be majorly cool."

"Totally. We'd have cars and boats and planes all over for instant escape. And no adults could tell us what to do."

"Count me in. What would you do while I was body-guarding you?"

"Maybe take pictures of our adventures. I would love to be a photographer. As if I ever could be."

"What are you talking about? Max, you are a photographer. Your pictures could be in a museum. Someday they will. I believe in you. You just have to stop being afraid."

Chloe was always so confident, not just in herself, but in Max as well. The way she said things made Max believe it too. 'What am I going to do without her? When she looked into my eyes I felt invincible, like anything was possible. I've never had much self-confidence. But Chloe was always there for me. She filled in my blanks. Together we were unstoppable. Now we're further apart than I could ever have imagined. How can I possibly make this right? I wish I knew how. I'd do anything to have her by my side again. Anything.'

Max was interrupted by the sound of rustling from below. She panicked. Chloe was here. And there was only one way out. 'I can't see that hate for me in her eyes again.' She had a quick peek through the hole. There was a doe not far from the base of the tree, snuffling the ground vegetation. Max wasn't going to miss this chance and rapidly took three digital shots. 'I'll bet they're no good, washed out probably. The light's all messed up.' She checked the photos. "What in the..."

The lighting wasn't perfect, but it was acceptable enough. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that there was no doe in the images. In any of them. She carefully changed position to get a better shot and took two more. Nope. It simply wasn't there. She examined the deer carefully. There was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary about it.

The animal's head abruptly shot upwards, startling Max. It was looking directly at her. Then it did the strangest thing – it lay down upon the ground, perfectly at ease. Now Max didn't know too much about deer, but shouldn't it have bolted upon seeing her? 'This is just way too Twilight Zone. What the hell is happening here?'

Max slowly descended to the ground. She paused at the bottom of the tree. It was less than two metres away and still staring at her. The doe then gracefully stood back up and walked towards her. Max reached out her hand to stroke the animal, and remarkably, it let her. She gently caressed the doe's face. It came even closer, nuzzling Max's stomach. Despite the strangeness of it all, Max was quietly ecstatic. This was like a dream. She closed her eyes, focusing on the glorious sensation of the doe's head rubbing against her midriff. Then her phone rang. When she opened her eyes, the doe was nowhere to be seen.

"Hello?"

"Max. It's Joyce. Can you come to the house right away? It's about Chloe."

"Of course I can. What's the matter?"

"It's...best if I tell you in person, sweetheart."

"Okay Joyce, I'm not that far away. I'll be there in five minutes."

"Be careful Max. See you soon."

Max had heard the distress in Joyce's voice. 'This must be bad. Really bad. Joyce was as tough as a diamond. It took an awful lot to shake her foundation...oh no. What if Chloe had...oh god. Please no. Not Chloe! Not her. Anyone else, but please, not my Chloe.' Max ran as fast as her tiny feet would allow.