Max got on to his skateboard and started his long journey into the place he called doom.

School.

Out of several he had been and out of this one, he may as well have also been. He had pretty much lost all hope for them.

Whether it was an incident with his classmates or extreme depression due to his lack of friends, this teen couldn't catch a break, as teachers constantly recommended that he go somewhere else.

So, why on earth would this young man's mother push him to go on with this?

Why? Because she, rightly, believed that her son needed more time with other people as staying at home all day and playing video games was unhealthy and would damage him more in the long run.

Max sighed as he thought about the situation. It was, simply put, unpleasant.

His mother would not give up on school. That was something he could never understand. Why send your child to school constantly even though it would seem that he just wasn't meant for it?

He pondered this on and on as he made several turns while skateboarding.

Max had mastered the art of skateboarding to the point that he could skate almost without thinking. It was almost second nature to him. After all, he had grown quite used to it.

He dodged trash cans, pets, and people alike, all while inside his own mind.

Deep down, part of the reason for his compliance with his mothers decisions was his worry that she was struggling too. He was at that point in his life in which he had begun to worry about his own mother.

Seeing her own son have to leave school after school and for her to continue to be so kind to him.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

That was perhaps one of the reasons as to why he constantly went along with this. The other, more important one, perhaps was the fact that she was his mother.

Max: (sighs) What a pain.

He looked at his watch. Thirty minutes left. He would be there early. After all, he only had seven minutes of road left to go, at least by his own calculations.

Max turned to the right and entered what seemed to be a somewhat empty road. There were no cars. That much was unusual. And to top it all off, there were no people.

His brain was on auto pilot. After all, he had skated many times before. And like in all auto pilot brain activities, his mind immediately alerted him as something was amiss.

Max wasn't too bothered, just slightly perplexed. Why was there no one on this road?

As he skated, he continued to ruminate on these thoughts.

How was he gonna suck it up for a day? How would the teachers be? What would his classmates be like? Was the lunch food gonna be edible? Was he just wasting his time with school? Would he make friends?

As he ruminated on these thoughts, a loud sound boomed from behind him.

He turned to see a massive car, clad completely in black, charging into the highway in an unstable manner.

It tossed and turned as it drew closer to him. He initially ignored it, but as it was about to reach him, he instinctively turned around just to be sure it would not hit him.

Luckily, it avoided him and drove on.

That rest was short-lived, however, as the car quickly made a turn into the sidewalk he was walking into. It was in front of him before it geared up and turned to the sidewalk on the other side of the road.

For a split second, he thought, as long as it doesn't hit me, it's not my problem.

And it was at that moment that he noticed her. On the other side of the road. A girl. About his age. She was walking in the direction he was walking to. For whatever reason, she had not reacted to the car charging right towards her.

Max stared in horror as his adrenaline kicked in.

How had he not noticed her before? Was he too busy ruminating in his mind?

And to top it all off, it was too late to yell at her to dodge it or to run.

Within less than two seconds, she would be dead.

He thought to himself, there was no one watching. And besides, he wasn't about to let someone die before his eyes.

In what was only a fraction of a second, Max Hunter got back on his skateboard. Everything seemed to slow down for him. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes to hours, hours to days.

If someone had been watching, what he or she would have witnessed would have been a blur rushing towards the girl, grabbing her and diving away with her, well out of the cars way.

It all happened in only a fraction of a second as the car crashed into a house's front yard.