[i]Max in the world of Death[/I]

Bored. Endless time to sit in the damn tree like thing and just, just, well thinking was not an enjoyable pastime for Max. He did not contemplate. That was Thadd’s job. Wherever the hell he was. But even the thoughts of where the fuck Thadd was didn't settle Max's time. In that terrible state of nothingness Max picked at the bark of the tree. It wasn’t really bark because it wasn’t really a tree but just like indepth analysis was not his thing either were analogies or metaphors. The bark peeled like a cord or a thick thread and Max began to make a sort of rope from the sort of bark of the sort of tree.

And listened. From below, if down was down, there had been howls and growls like feral cats after one scrap of meat. Some battle of some kind was going on and on below him. Deep snarls and shrill cries drifted around him from somewhere he couldn’t see. It was not curiosity that made him tie the bark around the trunk and then around his chest under his armpits. It was boredom. 

If there was fighting down there it had to be more fun and time consuming than just sitting here. It was just he wanted to get back just in case at some point, well maybe sometime, Veti would pull him out. He needed to stay close to the top, if this was the top. Well, fuck, that was his plan and he was sticking to it.

Still a little side adventure couldn’t hurt nothing. 

So with a grin, the long bone in his hand, and the bark rope tied tight Max jumped . All that time sitting flew past him as he fell through pockets of fog and warmth, clear spots and thick smoke, with sensations that woke Max and shook his boredom. It was fun. For awhile, time still messed up for Max, he laughed and flew. Until he landed, with a bounce on top of a herd of strange, strange things. Some looked like half human half cats, some had faces of dogs and legs of men. As luck would have it, and Max was always one to seem to find luck - he had been with Veti after all - the long battle had taken its toll on all of them. 

Max sung into the end of the fight and began to hit everything he could reach. His pent up need for action exploded in kicks and hits at the startled strange things. Oh yea, it was just what Max needed. It might have gone on longer that Max was really ready for but then the exhaustion was welcomed as the cries began to fade and the things to hit disappeared. 

There at the center was something wrapped in torn faded purple cloth. Ah, Max picked it up, a prize. He wasn’t looking for anything but something to pass the time but still an object collected and fought for made it even better.

Max began to pull himself back up to the tree. It was much more of an effort back up than the flight down and more than once Max wondered if the he would make it. But he had time, so he stopped a few times and dangled catching his breath and listening. No sounds seemed to follow him. Luck again.

Once back in his perch, feeling the strain of something to fill his time, Max unwrapped his prize. It was odd shape he had seen before, on some tattoo or new wave earrings. A cross with loop made Max think of a key ring. A key ring? Max waved the thing in the air. Now where the hell is the fucking door?