"L I F E  W O U L D  B E
B O R I N G ,  A N D  L I F E
W O U L D  B E  G R I M ,
I F  C H I L D R E N  W E R E  A L L
G O O D Y - G O O D Y  A N D  P R I M."
William Cole

"W H A T  F A N T A S T I C
C R E A T U R E S  B O Y S  A R E !"
E. B. White

"W H A T  W E  S E E  
D E P E N D S  M A I N L Y  O N
W H A T  W E  L O O K  F O R ."
Sir John Lubbuck

This is the eighth episode in a series about Maximilian who has magical thinking abilities that he uses to make things better.
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“Things are better between Suzanne and Horace,” Willow said to Maximilian.

“He is much less silly and she is much more grown-up,” Maximilian replied.

“That is what I was thinking,” Willow said.

“But what if Horse gets too serious,” Maximilian asked. “He will be different, not really like Horse anymore.”

“And what if Suzy gets to be too grown-up,” he added. “She will also be different, not really Suzy anymore.”

Willow thought for a moment.

“They would not need us to be patient with them. Maybe they would not be our friends anymore,” Maximilian said, a little worried.

Willow nodded. She was worrying about the same thing.

Did we really make things better, Maximilian wondered?

“Hello,” they heard a voice say that they did not recognize coming from someone who looked familiar.

“Why, is that you, Horace?” Willow asked in surprise.

Maximilian looked closely.

“What small eyes you have,” he said to Horse in amazement, who was no longer wearing glasses with very thick lenses that made his eyes look very big.

“Contact lenses,” Horse replied. “And with a stronger prescription.”

“Half the size, twice the distance,” he said with a very pleased and confident smile. “All the better to see you with.”

“And Suzy too,” he said. “I am getting serious about her.”

“And what a nice voice you have,” Willow said, noticing that Horse was no longer hoarse from chronic post-nasal drip.

“I have stopped eating nuts,” he explained solemnly. “I have learned that I am allergic to nuts.”

“So your nose was always running…because it was trying to get away from you?’ Maximilian said jokingly, trying to get a giggle out of the old Horse at being called a nut.

Horse glared at him.

Maximilian was suddenly very embarrassed. He could see that Horse did not like his bad joke. He had only been trying to make things better. He had only made them worse.

“I was just making a joke,” Maximilian explained.

“Get serious,” Horse said.

“About what?” Suzy asked, as she joined the group.

“Hello Suzanne,” Horse said. He called her by her right name. He knew that Suzy did not like for him to act silly around her. It was hard for her to be more grown-up when he was silly.

“Horace has contact lenses with a stronger prescription. And he has stopped eating nuts because he has an allergy to them,” Willow said.

“Sounds serious,” Suzy said.

“And so does your voice,” she added, noticing how much she liked being called Suzanne by Horse.

“Maybe I will be able to sit in the back row in Miss Wish’s music class,” he said. “Next to you.”

He smiled fondly at her.

Horse no longer has an interesting voice, Maximilian thought in alarm. He will not be in The Front Row with me anymore.

Suzy looked at Horse, feeling a little uncertain about what he had just said. Their eyes met. She noticed his eyes.

What nice eyes you have, she thought, in amazement.

“You think my eyes are nice, don’t you,” Horse said gently, with a very pleased and confident smile.

“Why I, I, I guess I do,” Suzy stammered, caught by surprise that Horse said what she was thinking.

Willow noticed. She was always sensitive to the feelings of others.

That must mean they really like each other, she thought with excitement. Just like Maximilian and me.

And then she felt a little sad. Suzanne had wanted to be friends with Willow. Now Suzanne was paying attention to Horace and not to her.

Things are getting serious between Suzanne and Horace, she thought.

“I am getting serious about you,” Horse said to Suzy. He did not giggle or smirk.

Suzy did not frown or glare. She blushed.

Maximilian noticed. A very popular and smart girl, with the voice of an angel and the head cheerleader blushes, he marveled, just like I did, when Willow said she really liked me.

That must mean Suzy is getting serious about Horse too, Maximilian thought.

Maximilian knew just how Suzy felt. It was going to be hard for her to tell Horse how she felt about him.

“I think I am getting serious about you too,” she replied finally, as Horse stood waiting quietly.

Maximilian was relieved that he had thought of the words for Suzy to say without making her stammer through them, like he had stammered with Willow. This was much better.

“Yes,” Suzy continued, still in surprise over this turn of events with Horse. “I, I, I think, think I am starting to really like you, Horace.”

I did not think of those words for her to say, Maximilian thought. And Suzy never calls Horse by his right name. This is serious.

“I really like you too, Suzanne,” Horse said sweetly, looking deeply into her eyes.

Oh, spare me, Maximilian thought. This is too much. He thought about pretending to gag, knowing that he could be mean enough to be sarcastic.

He saw that Willow had tears in her eyes, and thought better of it.

“Hey, what are you boys on the Hamburger Squad doing talking to girls,” they heard a loud voice say. The Coach was walking by.

Maximilian sighed. Relief was at hand.

“Girls sap your strength,” the Coach liked to say to his football players. “If your mind is on girls, you won’t be able to hit hard.”

“You boys leave the girls alone,” he liked to say in team meetings. “I want your mind on football, 100%.”

“Watch out for them,” he said to Horse and Maximilian, giving the Suzy and Willow a dirty look. “They will make you weak with sweetie talk, and then drag you around by your nose.”

“Where did he get that bright idea?” Suzy asked, feeling irritated that the Coach had so rudely interrupted her tender moment with Horse.

“His mind is not 100%,” Maximilian explained, smiling only slightly, knowing how serious everyone had just been.

“Yah, the light bulb goes on, but it is only 40 watts,” Horse added, keeping a straight face, seeing that Suzy was irritated, but not being able to pass up the remark.

Willow was upset. She was a kind person and could not understand why the Coach was so mean to her and Suzy.

And then an image of her dragging Maximilian around with his nose between her thumb and fingers entered uninvited into her mind.

She snorted loudly. Willow had tried to hold in the laugh that suddenly erupted inside of her but it exploded in her nose instead.

Once released, the laughter possessed her. She could not stop, her shoulders shook, and tears streamed down her face.

Suzy, Horse and Maximilian stared at her in complete surprise.

Who is this person who looks just like Willow but is not acting very grown-up, they each were thinking.

“Who are you?” Suzy said. “What have you done with my friend, the real Willow?” Suzy asked.

“Maybe we are seeing some of the real Willow,” Horse said, smiling.

Suzy paused. And then she smiled too.

“I am so glad to see that you are not grown-up all of the time,” she said to Willow. “It is too hard to be grown-up all of the time.”

“Yes, it certainly is,” Willow managed to say as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

And then, with a mischievous grin, she reached down and grabbed Maximilian’s nose.

His jaw dropped open. Willow had never acted this way with him. He liked it.

And Willow is certainly in no condition to treat Horse seriously, he thought. Maybe that is for the better.

Suzy turned to Horse, “Oh, Horace, look into my eyes again,” she said, looking at him sweetly. “Let them be the ones to act silly and not grown-up.”

But Horse could clearly see her hand moving slowly upward. And there seemed to be little twinkles in her eyes.

Oh, oh, he thought. I know what is on her mind.

“I think my nose better start running,” he said, with a giggle.

“Gross,” Suzy said, rolling her eyes and then laughing.

Horse turned and ran down the hall with Suzy chasing after him, her hand raised and reaching.

Willow and Maximilian looked at each other with wide grins.

“Can it get any better?” Maximilian said.

© C O P Y R I G H T   2 0 0 6.  Gary Holdgrafer ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.