Chapter 4
The sun blazed through the sky, as a reign of heat smouldered my back. For as long as Max had been living with Mrs Mary – which was around 4-5 years- it had not been that hot/sunny at one point. Heat waves were always visible- and at one point- it was so boiling hot, that he couldn’t even see the tree in front of him; well he eventually found out. Mr Mary wanted Max to go down and feed Alexa; but by the time he got there- his lungs were as dry as an old well. This worried Max- snow leopards weren’t meant to stay in weather (like this) for more than a week. Unfortunately, Alexa had suffered for 11 days. Max always made sure she had extra water and food to keep her fit through the heat: otherwise, she would slowly become weaker and weaker till she was nearly dead.

Max gave her a cold bath three times a day now and checks her every hour- just to make sure she was okay. “It has never ever been so ruddy hot in all my life- and that’s a long time!” exclaimed Mrs Mary, tipping a whole bottle over her head. This is when max had had enough. He stormed out of the house, quickly ran the tap over his head, and ran to the forest.

When he gets to the forest, Mrs Mary is there- waiting. How did she get there, thought Max, looking around for Alexa. “Where is Alexa?” he wondered, eyeing Mrs Mary.
She looked at the floor, twiddling her fingers: she then explained-” I’ve taken her away- their was no point in her being here if she was going to get taken away anyway.” She looked at Max.
He didn’t know what to say- so he didn’t say anything at all.

That night, he thought, waiting for the solution to come to mind. Suddenly, it struck him: Mrs Mary must be a time traveller. That’s why she looked older every time she came back from going to see Alexa.

Years later, ages after the war had finished,Mrs Mary sent me a letter, saying why she was so old now and sorry she didn’t explain the truth to me. Right now, I was bewildered. But then I realized what it was; Alexa was now just a floating memory dying away like a sunlit candle.