CHAPTER THE TWENTY-FIRST: Confusion
Max walked out of the tall, green time transporter and in to a large garden. Around him were many plants and trees. In front of him stood a 5 foot daisy, a vegetarian Venus Fly Trap and an tiny Oak tree in a huge pot. He remembered his grandfather describing this to him. It was Dr. Malum's garden! Max decided he would leave the garden, knock on Lucy's door, then warn her about what was about to happen.
Max walked around the bushes and trees (being especially careful to avoid the tree who almost killed Lucy) and arrived at the side gate. He opened it and walked out on to the street. Max looked at his watch. Almost midnight. Max was confused. It was clearly midday, but his watch read 23:50. Deciding that his watch didn't work, he looked around for the nearest disposebot. Disposebots were a large part of the 2080 lifestyle. You put a piece of rubbish in their hands, and they launch it to an incinerator on Mars. That way, no Carbon Dioxide was released into the Earth's atmosphere.
Max couldn't find one, so he shoved his watch into his pocket so he could dispose of it later. Max knocked on the door of number 23. A woman opened the door.
"Yes?" she asked.
"I'm looking for a girl called Lucy, is she here?" Max asked.
"No, she's at school. How come you aren't there as well?"
"School? The new years (2050 to 2150), children were taught all their life skills by parents. If they wanted to, they would attend a school at 25. All the important things were done by bots.
"Education is not a joking matter! I suggest you run back there before I call the police!"
Lucys mother slammed the door, leaving a very confused Max.
'I REALLY should have paid attention when Mother was talking about History...' Max thought. Max decided to look around, and see whether he could find this 'school'.
Max finally caught sight of a sign.
St. Bartholomew's Secondary School
Underneath, someone had spray painted
FOR LOSERS
Max chuckled, then walked through the gates.
He ended up in a large courtyard. 5 benches stood around it. A huge bush guarded the door to the reception. Max walked into the reception.
"Hello," Max said. "I'm looking for a girl called Lucy."
"Surname?" the receptionist asked.
"Uhh... I don't know," Max admited.
"Then get out!"
Offended, Max walked out.
Max sat on one of the benches and decided to wait for Lucy. But he had one problem. Max had no idea what Lucy looked like! He supposed he would just walk back to Lucy's house and guess. Max got up and prepared to leave, when he heard a shout from an upstairs window.
"Oi! Kid! Get outta here!" A teenager shouted, throwing a tomato, a packet of crisps and the rest of his rotten, 4 day old lunch out of the window. Max ran out of the gate.
Max sat on a park bench. The park was en route to Lucy's house, so Max would see if anyone came past. He was still unaware of the time. At last, a 12 year old girl walked past the entrance. Max got up and followed her. She opened the door to number 25 and placed the key underneath the flower pot.
Max knocked on the door. It was opened almost instantly by Lucy.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"I need to talk to you," Max replied urgently.
"Go on then."
"Skylands is going to be destroyed unless you stop all the skylanders from wasting their lives on Catastrophe!"
Lucy stared. Lucy smiled. Lucy giggled. Lucy chuckled. Lucy laughed. Lucy cried. Lucy stopped laughing.
"No really. Tell me something important or get lost!" Lucy shouted.
"I'm telling you something important! Do you want Zap to die or don't you care bout him?"
"Get lost."
Max stared in disbelief.
"I said GET LOST!"
Lucy slammed the door. Max stared at the door in shock. Max wiped a tear off his cheek and sat down on the pavement.
Max lay down and thought. It started to rain. Max cried. He wanted to go home. He felt sad, unwanted. He wanted to go home to the open arms of his grandmother. Max closed his eyes and went to sleep.