Maxwell

Chapter One - A home for one.

The social issues surrounding gender always baffled Maxwell. Hir was non-binary and that had led to a complicated childhood and, in hir 20s and 30s, the bouncing around of wardrobe styles and the use (or lack of) make-up lessened social interactions on more than one occasion. Maxwell could not grasp what was appropriate behavior and gradually became more isolated.

Buying the house was a huge step and Maxwell trembled as they signed the paperwork completing the sale. Picking up the keys to the house and the stack of papers they would scan to a PDF at home, Maxwell nodded stiffly to those in the room and walked out of the realty office. Sitting in the car, hir sighed deeply and then grinned. It was done! A safe place of hir own, to make into the dream hir had in place since puberty.

Maxwell pushed the key into the lock of the front door, with a flash of worry that it would not work and hir would discover the closing was a cruel joke. The key turned and Maxwell stepped into the house, staring at the empty rooms and planning changes.

A very small door in a corner of the attic drew Maxwell’s attention. “I do not remember a door there,” scratching hir head. “Maybe a Fae door?” Hir looked closely at the door. It was covered in vines carved into the wood. There was a handle but no lock. Maxwell knocked on the door and then laughed softly. “What are you expecting? An answer to the knocking?” Hir turned the handle and pulled the door open. It was dark behind the door and hir could barely see into the room. Maxwell knelt in front the door and, using hir cellphone as a flashlight, probed the corners of the darkness.

In the middle of the area behind the door, Maxwell found a small black notebook, leatherbound and embossed in silver writing. Hir gently touched the writing with one finger, shivering at the tingle of energy that ran up hir’s arm. Maxwell picked up the book, and walked back through the house to the back porch. Sitting on the steps, hir flipped carefully through the pages, scanning the writing in a language hir did not recognize. “Where did this come from? I am sure that the tiny door was not there during my walk-through before the closing.” Maxwell frowned at the book, wondering who wrote it and who left it in hir’s house. Maxwell’s house! Such joy in those words! A place hir could decorate in ways that made hir happy and without suffering from taunts of those who could never understand the reasons for placement of items in just that way.

Maxwell pulled the air mattress out of the car and set it up in the small bedroom behind the kitchen. The house had a larger bedroom on the other side of the living room but that was not for hir to sleep in; it would become an office space, with the equipment hir needed to work. Boxes of clothes were unpacked and put away in the built-in dresser in the closet; followed by dishware and pots and pans placed in the kitchen. Tired, Maxwell took a shower and went to bed.

Chapter Two - Puzzles and Riddles

The next day, Maxwell picked up the small black notebook and again felt a shiver of energy run up hir arm. Hir opened the book to the first page and was astonished to find the writing was now readable. Had hir been that tired yesterday? No, that was not possible. Maxwell noticed columns of figures and a map in the book. Hir stared at the map, realizing that it was a floorplan for the house. The words on the first page were “If you can solve the riddle within 29 days of entering your house, you will find a treasure chest that will give you a life of ease.” When did the 29 days begin? After the closing or when hir walked through the house and decided hir must buy it? “Entering your house” could mean either of those events. How would a house or someone watching the house know that hir had decided to buy it during a walk through?

Maxwell liked puzzles but this one felt different; more important and meaningful somehow. What was the riddle and where would hir find it? Did the riddle include the space behind the tiny door in the attic? Hir studied the floor plan in the notebook, and checked the papers from the closing to see how it compared to the official paperwork. The tiny door was not in the closing papers. Hir used a magnifying glass to study the map in the notebook. There! In the portion marked “attic,” Maxwell saw an indication of a door marked with a dotted outline. Did that mean the door was not always there or did the outline have a different meaning? Was the 29 days part of the riddle and why the number 29? So many questions!

Maxwell walked slowly through each room of hir house; examining walls, noting where the floors creaked, and checking the windows for signs of cracking or damage to the sills. Hir looked for any more tiny doors, checking the attic for signs of Fae. A few times, hir thought they saw movement out of the corner of an eye but a quick glance in that direction revealed nothing. Sighing, Maxwell unloaded the rest of hir belongings from the car and made the necessary placements to encourage positive energy to flow through the house.

Chapter Three - Settling In

It was amusing that the isolation hir sought with the new house was both a hindrance to progression in hir’s career, as well as an asset since being accessible was considered a bad fit in that career. This limited chances to make better money but, then, Maxwell did not really want the flashy things that money would buy. Hir wanted . . . what? To be left alone and to not have someone insist that hir participate in conferences or conventions or anything involving face-to-face interactions. Telephone conferences were okay and hir could deal with video conferences that were short and infrequent. Otherwise, just let hir churn out the work needed in the comfort of being alone.

Two weeks passed by and suddenly, Maxwell realized the answer to the riddle was sitting before hir, as was the riddle itself. Hir’s face flushed bright red in annoyance that hir had not figured out the riddle and its answer sooner. Sometimes, being bright meant overthinking and not solving a puzzle and that was disconcerting to Maxwell. Hir sat in the office and wondered at the elegant simplicity of the riddle and its solution.

Chapter Four - A silver hammer

A knock on the front door startled hir. Who could that be? No one came to hir’s house except the postal service delivering mail and packages. Maxwell opened the door and stared down at the package, then looked around the yard and up the street, trying to catch a glimpse of the person who left it at hir’s door. There was nothing to see outside other than the package. Hir picked up the package and looked for an address for the sender. No postage or sender on the package; just the name “Maxwell” and “Here’s your silver hammer!” Hir put the package on the kitchen table and contemplated how to open it. Carefully, hir eased the wrapping paper off of the package and examined the leather box that was revealed. Vines had been carved into the leather, with birds swooping down to drop flowers on an elaborate bower carved on the upper face of the box. Hir eased the lid open and a small drawer opened on the left side. In the drawer was a key. The key appeared to be very old and, again, vines were carved on it. A key to the tiny door in the attic? No, that door did not need a key and hir had already opened it.

Maxwell picked up the key and, on a hunch, walked through hir house slowly, examining the walls again for a door the Fae would use. Hir found a tiny door in a corner of the small bedroom and used the key. Click! And it opened. Using the light in hir’s cellphone, Maxwell examined the space behind this Fae door and noticed that the floor was not wooden but made of moss, with tiny flowers sprinkled about. Hir looked at the flowers using the magnifier on the cellphone. Hir discovered that the petals were made of gems and a soft brush of the hand caused some of the gems to sprinkle down into hir’s palm.

Chapter Five - Treasure!

Maxwell had no knowledge of gems except for knowing that they were expensive for the most part. Hir wrapped the gems in a soft cloth and checked online for a jeweler. A small shop in town was open and hir took the gems in for verification. The jeweler used a loupe, inspecting each one in turn.

“Well, my dear,” the old jeweler chuckled, “you have some lovely gems here. If you are thinking about selling them, I would like to make an offer.”

Maxwell stared at the jeweler, wondering if hir was being pranked by a local as hir was new to the area.

“I am not joking or teasing here. These are very nice gems and I would be willing to pay $20,000.00 for them right now.”

Maxwell startled at the large amount of money. “Who owned the house before I bought it?” hir asked.

“That little house sat empty for about 29 years and it was owned by an older lady who was the last of her family. There were rumors that the family was connected to the Fae somehow but no one with any sense believed those rumors.”

Maxwell wondered if the Fae door in the bedroom would still be there if hir sold the gems. The money would help a lot but hir did not want to anger the Fae. Choices! Decisions! “Please allow me some time to consider your offer, Sir.”

“Of course! Let me know what you decide.”

Hir returned home, pensive and excited at the same time. Twenty thousand dollars was a lot of money to Maxwell. Would the flower gems still exist behind the Fae door in the bedroom? Hir checked and the door was still there, with the key in the lock. Opening the door confirmed that the field of flower gems was still there. Speaking to hirself, “okay, let’s do the sale and see what happens.” Maxwell called the jewelry store and informed the jeweler hir was willing to sell the gems.

“If you come in tomorrow, I will have the money ready for you,” said the jeweler.

“I would rather have an electronic deposit to my account,” said Maxwell. “I will bring the bank information with me.”

“Sounds fair to me. We are ready to go tomorrow then”

Maxwell sat in hir office, pleased and a little confused by the results of the day’s activities. “I must read that black notebook from cover to cover. I have a feeling it will be important to how I live my life from now on.”