Chapter 2

  Remembering

  Mom?" Max asked. Coming around the tree and facing his mother. "Why am I called Max? Dad says it's because I was so big when I was born."

  Max's mother laughed. "No, dear. You were called Maximus because your great-grandfather was called Maximus. Yes, you may have been a little big when you were born, but you’re a perfect calf."

  His mother paused, then added with a laugh, “When you behave yourself.”

  Max laughed.

  A peace filled his heart for a reason he didn't quite understand, yet something was off.

  He turned around, and Max found himself in a different place. He was unsure; it was night and the sky was full of stars. He was sitting on the outside edge of a group of elephants. There were other animals there as well. In their midst, there was a large fire. He sat there, and they were talking. Max had no idea what they were talking about. He couldn't always hear their words. He just knew that his father was proud of him.

  Max looked over, and yes, Dad was sitting there beside him. His father looked toward him, nodded his head, took his trunk, and tapped Max on the head. Yes, Max was thrilled. It was a privilege to be here. He was fortunate. He was lucky. Yes, he was lucky.

  Or was he? Max felt queasy. Something didn't feel right. His stomach lurched and. “Oh.” Max moaned.

  Max now saw himself. He was standing on the edge of a cliff looking down into the valley. He could see the savanna, which was called the Lower Plains. Max was amazed at the distance the cliff before him fell to a river far below.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  He heard his father and his mother yelling words he ignored, then he heard the bellowing voice of his father. "Max, get away from there! Now!" "

  Max turned around, looked back, and yelled, "Why?"

  And then Max felt it. The world gave beneath him, and he fell and fell. Water surrounded him, and his eyes opened and gagged. Max’s stomach felt like he was going to throw up. His head ached.

  The world around him was dark, and nothing felt right. His pain was everywhere, but mostly in his head. He felt like. Max tried to remember through the throbbing and nausea. He felt like he'd been hit by a tree. And then he knew the truth.

  “I was hit by a tree.”

  He looked around to see where he was. It was hard with only having what little light came from the stars. He saw that he was in the high grasses. The herd must have thought that he had died. As they had done with those who had died and with the bones of the elephants they had found, they moved them into the tall grass. A final gift of respect.

  Max now remembered more. He knew why the herd never spoke to him; they were regular elephants who lived on the Lower Plains. He was one of the talking elephants from the Upper Plains.

  His choice to disobey and go to the cliff edge had nearly caused him to die. Instead of dying, he found himself in the lower plains with no memory other than his name. It was then that he was found by a herd of regular elephants. He had been adopted by this family.

  He remembered now the face of his real mother and father. The dreams he had just experienced, he recognized, were parts of memories. They were from his life before the fall, and now he could remember it. He could remember friends. He could also remember after the fall. Surrounded by elephants who could not talk or understand like him. He felt alone and forgotten.

  Excitement filled Max with memories, but only for a moment. He realized he was truly alone. The adopted herd had left him. His family was in the upper plains, far, far away. And the path, as little as he could remember, to get there was far from where he was now. He looked up to the sky, the vastness and the darkness. The stars were everywhere. He could hear the sounds of the savanna at night: a lion somewhere in the distance, insects, and small animals scurrying through the grass. And yet, he was alone.