Chapter 02

Chapter 2

     Max gazed at his wristwatch. It was 20:39.
    “So, 180 minutes later is 23:39.” He thought to himself. “My mom will be back by then. What do I tell her?” He was just worrying when the phone rang. Max picked up the receiver. It was his mom.
    “Hi, Mom,” Max said in a hoarse voice,“What’s wrong?”
    “Max, the snow is too deep, and my car just wouldn’t start. I’m going to stay in a motel just beside the supermarket. So I can’t go home tonight. Good night!” The call ended. Max sighed in relief. He could talk to his father again!
    Time flew. Soon, it was 23:39. Max waited silently in his room. Suddenly, all the lights went out again. Max was trying to find the axe. He remembered that he had put it on the table. But when he was looking for it again, it was nowhere to be seen. Frantically he shoved all the things on the table onto the floor. The axe was gone! He tried to turn on the lights. No luck! The lights were still off. He was desperate. He looked out the window. A blue circle was shining in the snow. He ran down the stairs, his feet pounding the birch wood floor. He was eager to find the blue circle. He grabbed his blue jacket and put it on as fast as he could. He raced down the snow-covered driveway, thinking, “The snow’s six inches deep now, too deep for a car to drive through. No wonder Mom could not drive back.” He soon spotted the circle, with the axe lying below it. The words seemed to glow even brighter. The circle was growing bigger by the second. It was becoming a whirlpool of blue light.
     Max felt a strong force pulling on his body. He felt light as the force pulled him into the whirlpool, deeper, deeper…