Magnificent Max and the Isles of Stratos
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Grandpa!,"
shouted Max, and sure enough, it was.
"How's my little Maxxy?," (that's what Max's grandpa called
him), "Ugh...not so little anymore.", his grandpa said as he
picked up Max and gave him a great big hug. "Ready to go?"
"I'll say he is! He's been packed for two weeks!", said
Max's mother.
"Well, let's get a move on then.", said his grandpa.
Max kissed his mother good-bye, and they were off. They drove through
the city, through the suberbs, and finally into the country. The sun
shining through the window of grandpa's pick-up truck felt so good
that Max fell asleep.
After a while, he opened his eyes only to find that grandpa's pick-up
had left the road, and they were now flying through the air!
"Grandpa! We're FLYING!", exclaimed Max.
"Yup," said grandpa, matter-of-factly, "Didn't your
mother tell you that I had moved?"
"Moved? Moved where?!"
"To the Isles of Stratos."
"Where on earth is THAT?!",
Grandpa just pointed his crooked finger straight ahead at a cloud bank
and said, "It's not. It's sort of, well... above it."
Max looked out the window and was startled by a flock of geese flying
right beside them. He looked down and saw a checker board of fields
and roads, far below. They were flying through wisps of clouds now,
heading toward a big... LAKE! "A lake in the sky?", Max
thought to himself. Then, through the mist, he could see islands in
the lake.
"We're home!", announced grandpa. "The Isles of
Stratos!"
Max was an ordinary boy who lived with his mother in the big city.
The day had finally arrived when he would leave for a short stay on
his grandpas' farm. As much as he would miss his mother, Max also
loved his grandpa and looked forward to his visits.
