In an instant Max was trapped by a large, gray, slimy concrete wall in an alley where he was trying to escape the kidnappers that had been chasing him on his bike for nearly one mile from his school, Chappell Middle School. By the time Max got to these three concrete walls he was dripping sweat like he had just ran a marathon. It was a hot August day in San Francisco, California and carrying his twenty-five pound back pack didn’t make it any cooler.

Talking to himself Max said “Why do they want me?”

Max pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed his mom’s phone number as quickly as he could. She answered and talking fast Max said “Mom there are these people chasing me on motorcycles and in a van! I need you to call the cops and come get me now!”

His mom replied “Okay. Find somewhere to hide or get away from them, I am calling the police right this instant!”

“Please hurry!” Max said.

Max ended the call and turned around to see a man dressed in a dark blue blazer and a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses.

“Is there any way I can get out of this alley?” He asked

The man replied with a stern “Yes, the only other way out is through this door and this facility is restricted to employees only!” He slammed the door shut and Max thought there was no other way out.

Max’s phone rang and he pulled it out hoping it was his mom, but instead it was his best friend Jerry. He answered and Jerry started to talk slowly as usual, “Max do you want to do something I have got plenty of time because I have no homework, would you like to go fishing in the bay or something like that?” Max responded quickly and said “Jerry I can’t talk right know I am in kind of a predicament. I am being chased by these people that are on motorcycles and in a van!” Max said.

Jerry replied “Holy cow!! Do I need to do something?”

“No, don’t do anything,” Max responded

Jerry said “Okay,” and hung up.

Once Max hung up he could hear the sirens of the police. Max was hoped that the police got to him before the people that where casing him.

Max is a thirteen year old boy that likes to play basketball and spend time fishing in the nearby bay. Max has a prosthetic Leg. He lost his leg in 2012 when he was trying to surf with his dad on Santa Cruz Beach for the first time. A shark bit him while waiting for a wave to come in. The doctors at the Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz had to amputate his right leg because of massive blood loss.

Max is tall kid with short brown hair and bright blue eyes. The last thing he thought would occur on this hot Friday was being chased by four kidnappers two on Bajaj Pulsar 150cc motorcycles and the other two in a Black 2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4X4 Work Van with the name “The Plumber” on the side and looking suspicious, because there was tiny droplets of watery paint dripping slowing down the side of the van from a recent paint job.

Max could hear the motorcycles and the van coming ever closer to him, and the police inching closer also. He looked up at the concrete wall separating him from the other side of the dirty alley. He noticed that the wall was about ten feet high, and then he saw that there was a slimy Waste Management dumpster by the other side of the alley he thought that he could use the dumpster to climb over the wall to the other part of the alley where then he could escape the kidnappers.

He started to take one hesitant step forward and at that moment the two white Bajaj motorcycles and the Mercedes-Benz work van came screeching around the corner like a bolt of lightning. The van drifting around the corner like a Mercedes C63 AMG sports car. Max had to act now! He waited until they were about 30 yards away and in one bound he jumped up onto the dumpster and then jumped on top of the wall. He quickly looked down to try to find a place to land. He saw a dumpster identical to the one he had just jumped onto on the other side of the alley.

He jumped down and landed gracefully on the slimy dumpster, leaving his Monster green Trek mountain bike on the other side. He took a step to get off the dumpster and at that moment he heard the biggest bang he heard in his life. Max turned around nervously and noticed that the kidnappers on the motorcycle managed to stop but the work van kept skidding across the slimy concrete unable to stop and hit the two motorcycles and his bike. Before he thought of anything else he turned around thinking of what had just happened in that short mile from school, and why they wanted him? But that didn’t matter, he just started running not looking back until he made his way home.

When Max finally made it into his driveway he was tired and red faced. The moment he stepped into his house he was hugged by his mom, dad, and little sister. He put his backpack down and went to get a big glass of water. He made his way from the kitchen to their living room and there was his little sister watching her favorite show “Austin and Allie.” Max sat down in a soft Bean bag. His parents sat down and started talking to him about what had happened. They talked for about thirty-five long tiring minutes.

Max looked over at the fishing themed clock by the TV and noticed that it was already 4:30pm, and asked his parents if he could go over to Jerry’s house to see if could still go fishing. Jerry lived four blocks northwest of Max’s house and Max could walk there in only six minutes. Max started to walk over to Jerry’s house listening to the click of his prosthetic leg. He weaved all over different streets until he made it to Jerry’s house. Max nock in their special code “knock, knock…. Knock, knock…. Knock, knock,” the second Max finished the special knock Jerry stepped out of the door. Jerry was wearing a light blue and green tank top, black athletic shorts, and his fishing bucket hat.

“Hey Max, are you okay from earlier?” Jerry questioned.

Max answered “I am fine, I just want to get on with my day.”

Jerry asked “Do you want to go to the bay and fish?”

“Sure,” Max exclaimed.

They went into Jerry’s house and grabbed the poles, a snack, cast net, bucket, rope, and the tackle box. They were about to started walking when they heard a UPS man stop in front of Jerry’s house. Once Jerry saw the UPS man pull up to the curb he knew what it was, a brand new salt water edition Shakespeare bait casting rod and reel. Jerry hurried to the UPS truck and once the man got out of the van Jerry snatched the big, bulky, brown box from the mans’ hand.

“Thank you!!” Jerry screamed excitedly.

Max and Jerry went inside to unwrap Jerry’s brand new fishing pole. They unwrapped the pole and went into the garage to get some spare fishing line. Jerry grabbed his most expensive line for his new reel. The line was fifty pound Power Pro braid. They had both done this a million times before. So they got right to work, Jerry grabbed his rod and reel and Max grabbed the line. Jerry started to tie the line onto the pole while max was holding the fishing line. Jerry started to reel the pole slowly wrapping the line around the spool gradually going faster as he went. When they finished they had put 200 yards of line on the bait casting reel. Max went out to the driveway and grabbed the tackle box. Jerry picked out his favorite lure for mangrove snapper. A Gulp Alive shrimp with a nickel colored tail and pearl colored body. They both grabbed their poles and off they went to the bay.

The walk was about fifteen minutes through the slopping streets of San Francisco. When the got to the bay it was bustling just like any normal day. The two of them went to their favorite fishing pier, pier seven. That pier is also the longest pier in the Fisherman’s Wharf and the favorite fishing pier by fisherman. They made their way to the dock and they were the only ones on the pier except these two old men that where always there. They stopped and set up shop half way down the pier. They thought this would be the perfect spot because you could catch a variety of fish, big ones and smaller ones.

Max was the best one at a cast net so he started throwing the cast net and catching big and small bait fish and shrimp. He threw it only three times before they had enough bait for fishing. Jerry started fishing with his Gulp Alive shrimp, and on his first cast he was in a battle with a ten pound flounder. The flounder was stripping line off the reel fast, Jerry put the drag up and started to gain some ground on the fish. It took him almost three and a half minutes to reel in the gigantic flounder. He unhooked it and threw the massive flounder back into the water.

Max was decided on a big shrimp for bait with a twenty-five pound leader on the end. He was jigging it on the bottom trying to catch a small shark or flounder. On his second cast he hooked a small leopard shark, it didn’t take Max long to real the shark in. It weighed three pounds but it was the first time that he had ever caught a leopard shark.

Max and Jerry fished for two hours. They caught a fish on almost every single cast. By time they were done fishing they were aching and it was 6:48pm. They cleaned up and dumped the extra shrimp and bait fish back into the bay. They started their fifteen minute walk back to Jerry’s house and were talking about the fish that they had just caught. When they got to Jerry’s house Max helped put his fishing pole and tackle box back where he found them. Max started to jog home already knowing that he was late. He walked into the door with his family a ready eating his favorite meal, spaghetti and meat balls.

Max washed his slimy stinky hands and sat down to the wonderful smell of meatballs. The steamy spaghetti tasted wonderful after a long day at school, being chased by strangers and fishing. Finishing his dinner before anyone else, Max looked up at the clock once again. Max saw that it was already 7:36pm and thought that he needed to go to bed. Max jumped up, put his plate in the sink and was off to his bed room. Slipping on his ocean themed PJ’s Max thought of what a day it had been. He went over to the sink and brushed his teeth before going to bed. He walked over to his bed like molasses and flopped on his bed like one of the fish he had caught with Jerry. Slipping into his covers he thought of what tomorrow was going to be like, hoping more fishing and less being chased by strangers.