The Adventures of Mr. Pixelated and Alex

As a young child with a vivid imagination growing up in a dilapidated, overcrowded, inner city apartment building; my mother was keen on making up stories to explain the chaotic sounds of the bustling night life. The building itself was frightening to look out, staying dark and ominous even on the sunniest days, and the sounds of the city made it scarier still. She would tell me tales of how the near constant sirens were fairies singing loudly so their magic would help the injured and the mistreated. She described how the pipes that steadily banged under my bed at night was Lothar, and although he was a monster, he protected children. Lothar was the biggest, strongest, and toughest monster; a gigantic beast covered in green scales. Night after night he would defeat any and all other monsters that tried to make their way into my room. The shouting from other apartments were people on treasure hunts, for it was rumored there was treasure buried in various places throughout the city, our apartment complex being one of those places.

We were also prone to natural disasters, mainly severe thunderstorms and hurricanes. These were explained in elaborate stories late at night to calm a young child back to sleep. The stories were often about angels who were bowling or having pool parties, like the one about Jan, who was a new angel in the office so all the other angels took her out for a bowling party and now they have had one too many beers. Sometimes the explanations involved escaped pirates who were sailing so fast through a sky river that they splashed water down on us and sped the winds up very fast. But it was okay, because once they had either escaped or been captured, the storm would be over. I only remember one earthquake as a child, my mother explained it as another race of people who lived below the ground in giant cities just like ours. They were building a special machine that they could use to travel up to meet us. The earthquake was them testing the machine.

As I grew and entered school, the stories were forced to change with my personality. I found out that pirates were known for killing people and that didn’t sit well with me, so I asked for them to be left out. As a child who asked many questions looking for explanations, my belief in magic soon faded, including belief in magical creatures. As my curiosity grew, I leaned towards science based answers. Lothar was gone and the banging under my bed became small, spider-like robots that crawled around large buildings making sure everything was safe. If only that were true. The fairies had also been replaced by glowing robots that flew through the streets, helping people who were injured or mistreated. Powerful storms were now caused by alien ships entering Earth so fast that they splash part of the ocean into the sky. It was okay though because they were coming to share with technology with us, which would help people in the long run.

As I grew a few years older, the rebelliousness emerged, and trouble ensued. One day in elementary school there was a minor quarrel and a thoughtless declaration to a counselor of running away. That night my mother came in to say goodnight and asked if I knew the story of Mr. Pixelated. I had never heard the word before as pixels were not common public knowledge with the old style box televisions of the time period. She explained it as things looking like they are made entirely of little squares and mentioned there was a person who looked as though he was made of little squares. My curiosity was hooked, and I asked to hear more. My mother grabbed the chair from the corner of my room, placed it in front of my bed, sat down, and began the story.

Our story begins with Alex, a boy about your age. Alex was named after Alexander the Great simply because his mother knew right when he was born that he would go on to do great things. He lived in a small house in a big city with his mother, father, and five sisters. He was the youngest and often overwhelmed by the drama of his big sisters.

Alex was quiet as a child, primarily because everyone else in the house was not. His sisters were always going on about something and then his parents would try to get them to calm down. But asking someone to calm down never has that affect. Outside was also very loud. People on the street yelling, cars honking their horns and playing loud music; the noise just never seemed to end.

So Alex decided very early on to be the only quiet thing around. It took a while for anyone to notice he was being quiet because there was so much background noise. At home there was always more than enough people talking, so no one noticed that Alex was not. The same thing happened at school. He sat quietly in the back of the room and let those who wanted to talk, talk. He did well on his tests so there was no need to question it.

He would answer questions only by nodding or shaking his head; or simply shrugging his shoulders. Eventually this is how his silence came into question. Both his parents and the school figured it out around the same time that Alex would not answer questions any other way. At first his parents became worried, so they took Alex to the doctors. All the doctors said that Alex was fine and that he could speak, if he wanted to. But Alex didn’t want to speak. So the years went on, Alex continued to grow and entered middle school, staying quiet the whole time.

One night the entire family was gathered at the table eating dinner. As usual, there was a 16-way conversation among only the five sisters. Alex looked at his plate then looked nervously across the table. He loudly cleared his throat, causing everyone at the table to stop talking and look at him.

“Please pass the potatoes,” Alex politely asked.

His parents looked at each other in disbelief as his mother picked up the mashed potatoes and passed them to one of his sisters to hand to Alex. Alex took a heaping scoop and began to eat as everyone else at the table was still staring at him. Eventually his sisters started talking again, and the dinner went on, and Alex was quiet for the rest of the day.

A few days later Alex was again sitting at the table for family dinner. The mac and cheese was all the way on the other side of the table. Alex just knew they were doing this on purpose. As much as he nodded to everyone at the table, no one acknowledged him. Finally he stood up, instantly silencing everyone at the table.

“Just pass the mac and cheese already.”

Everyone laughed as he was given the mac and cheese and dinner went on. Now they knew he could talk, and slowly he began to talk more and more; mostly to ask for food. But as he started talking more, no one seemed to be talking with him. At home he was still overlooked; at school he was still ignored. Alex felt more left out now than when he wasn’t speaking.

One night Alex lay awake in bed, listening to a couple of his sisters who had been loudly arguing all night. There was also a car alarm which sounded like a poor imitation of a police siren that kept going off right across the street. Alex decided he would simply leave and go somewhere quiet. He got out of bed, got dressed, and packed his backpack with the essentials. One change of clothes, his toothbrush, a fresh roll of toothpaste from the storage closet, some snacks, a handful of change and small bills, and two comic books. One of his favorites and one he hadn’t had a chance to read yet. Both were about an alien hiding on Earth, pretending to be human but failing miserably, and hilariously, at simple everyday tasks. He placed some extra pillows under his blanket to make it look like he was sleeping.

Alex got his things together then listened at his door. Since he was the only boy, he was actually the only one in the house who had their own room. He listened for where everyone else was in the house. Carol and Bernice were still yelling at the end of the hall and Alex was pretty sure he heard both his parents down there as well. He quietly opened his door and peaked out. He didn’t know what was going on, but it seemed like everyone in the house was in the room at the end of the hall in a heap of commotion. Alex quickly left his room and closed the door tightly behind him. He ran to the front door, got outside, made sure the front door was closed, and ran off down the street.

He didn’t know where he was going, only that he was going. After a block or so he slowed down and started walking. The city was still very much awake in the middle of the night. Alex kept his head down and went by largely unnoticed. He passed the store where you can get the big size candy bars at regular price, if you happen to know the password, which Alex did. Alex knew exactly where he was and thought everything was fine, so he kept walking through the city.

After walking for some time, Alex walked by a large building he had never seen before. He looked around and became concerned that he didn’t know where he was. And he still didn’t know where he was going. Maybe the beach? Was it far? Could he walk there? He could live on the beach by himself and just read comic books, watch the waves, and eat fish that he will catch with his bare hands.

Alex turned around and walked back the way he came. Or the way he thought he came. He soon came to an intersection of six different streets that he knew he didn’t just walk past. Alex was lost. Although he was very scared, he kept calm, picked a direction, and started walking. The further he walked the less he recognized, and he wondered if this is what he really wanted all along. He hadn’t really thought through the whole running away thing, but now he was here and had to do something.

After many random twists and turns through the city, Alex happened across a park. He walked right over to the merry go round, laid down on it, and passed out. When he woke up the sun was already up, and other kids were playing at the other end of the park. Alex sat up, looked over, and saw a boy sitting next to him. But this child wasn’t like you or Alex, this boy seemed to be made up of small little blocks. The edges of his body were straight instead of smooth. Alex rubbed his eyes because he thought he was seeing things. He looked again and saw the same thing, but now the block boy was looking at him.

“Hi!” the block boy shouted in a distorted voice that sounded like static coming through a television.

Alex was taken back but then regained his composure. “What are you?”

“What do you mean? I’m a boy like you,” he continued in the same distorted tone.

“No, you are definitely not like me.”

“Ah, you got me. What gave it away? That I’m made of little blocks?”

“Yeah, that’s what gave it away,” Alex told him. “Also the way you talk.”

“Wow, can’t get anything by you, huh?”

“Where are you from?”

“I’m from outside of your universe, where you can see all the universes.”

“All the universes? How many are there?”

“I don’t know, it goes on as far as I can see. I’m worried that if I go too far, I won’t be able to find my way back to my universe.”

“How many universes have you been too?”

“Ten.”

“Ten? That’s it?”

“Well I just started going into different universes very recently.”

“What are the other universes like?”

“One is completely empty, while another is filled with nothing but paper clips. Each one is different from all the others.”

“So you’re an alien?”

“I don’t know, what’s an alien?”

“An alien is a creature that isn’t from the planet Earth.”

“Well I guess I’m an alien.”

“This is the coolest thing that’s ever happened; I’m Alex”

Alex extended his hand, but the block boy didn’t understand.

“Now you put out your hand,” Alex explained.

The block boy put his hand out and Alex tried to shake it but went right through it instead, as if his hand wasn’t there.

“Okay that’s weird. So what’s your name?”

“I don’t have one.”

“I’ll name you Jacob.”

“Jacob?”

“Yeah, he’s a character in a comic book I like.”

“Is he a superhero?”

“No, he’s a lazy teenager, but he’s really funny.”

“Okay, I guess.”

“Why are you here?”

“I heard you needed help. I heard you were lost.”

“How did you hear that? I never said it.”

“I hear things in many different ways.”

“Like, without your ears?”

“Yes. I heard you in your dream Alex. It’s the next universe over from this one. It was there where you asked me help.”

“And you’re going to help me get home?”

“That’s what I do, I help lost children get home.”

“It doesn’t matter that I’m lost,” Alex sulked, “no one even knows I’m gone.”

“That’s not true Alex; look.”

Jacob stretched out his arm and it became a television screen. Alex could see what was happening at his house. There were several police cars out front. His parents were in the living room talking with the police. All his sisters were gathered around, only talking about Alex.

“You see Alex, everyone does care about you. And right now they’re all worried. So how about we go home?”

Jacob’s arm turned back into little blocks as Alex thought it over.

“Okay, I’ll go home,” Alex agreed.

“Great choice Alex, let’s get going!” Jacob hopped up and started walking sideways but going forwards.

“That’s not how you walk. Here, watch me.”

Alex got up and walked normally and Jacob imitated.

“Yeah, like that, great job Jacob.”

“Thank you.”

The two walked down the street to the next intersection.

“Okay which way?” Alex asked.

“I have no idea,” Jacob replied.

“You don’t know where we’re going?”

“Nope, I’m just following you.”

“But you’re the one who’s supposed to be taking me home.”

“Yeah, but not for directions,” Jacob explained, “more like for moral support.”

“You are terrible at this. I thought you said you’ve done this before?”

“I have done it before, but I never said I was good at it. I only help kids, so they’ve been my only teachers in this universe. Whenever adults see me, they just flip out and it’s kind of a hassle.”

“But I don’t know how to get home, I’m lost.”

“Then we have a problem.”

“You can see it on your arm. Can’t you just go there?”

“I can go there, but I just kind of pop out there, I don’t know how to walk there. I just learned how to walk today.”

“You’ve never walked before?”

“No, the kids always want me to fly.”

“You can fly?” Alex asked in disbelief.

Jacob floats a few feet off the ground.

“Oh that is so much cooler! You should definitely fly instead of walking. Maybe you could fly up really high and see if you see my house?”

“What does your house look like?”

Alex thought for a minute, “well, it’s a house.”

Jacob gave a confused stare.

“Okay on second thought that’s not going to work,” Alex admitted.

“How about we just walk and hope we find it?” Jacob suggested.

Alex nodded in agreement and the two set off down the street. After a while, Jacob became concerned.

“Does any of this look familiar?” Jacob asked.

“I’ve never been here before,” Alex said looking around at the numerous skyscrapers.

“Is there another way we can find your house? Does it have a number? I was told many things have numbers.”

“It does have a number!” Alex remembered, “It’s 10 Storybrook Lane! My parents had me memorize that along with their phone numbers.”

“That’s a smart thing to do. Now we can find your way home.”

“But how do we find out where Storybrook Lane is?”

“We need a map.”

“I know this one!” Alex exclaims. “I look at the maps at the gas station store while I wait for my dad to fill out lottery tickets.”

“Look,” Jacob pointed, “there’s a gas station just up the street.”

Alex and Jacob moved along with a sense of purpose. Alex gestured up at the green street signs by the next intersection.

“You see those green signs?” Alex explained, “they tell you what street you’re on. That one says Canal Street, so that means we are on Canal Street. The sign faced the other way says Washburn Avenue, so the street we are crossing is Washburn Avenue. This will help us find where we are on the map.”

“Great thinking Alex!”

The pair reached the gas station and entered the store. They walked over to a rack filled with maps of different places and Alex grabbed the one with the name of his city on it.

Alex opened the map and was instantly overwhelmed. “Look at all these streets, how will we ever find the ones we’re looking for?”

“This is where I can help, I can look at every intersection on this map at the same time.” Jacob pointed with his blocked hand and fingers, “we are here at Canal and Washburn and over here is Storybrook Lane. So we just continue on Canal Street until we get to Sullivan Street. We turn left on Sullivan Street and that will take us all the way to Storybrook Lane.”

“Let’s go!” Alex quickly folded up the map and placed it back in the rack.

The two hurried down the street, Alex running so fast that Jacob had to fly to keep up. They got to Sullivan Street, turned left, and Alex continued running. They were both looking at the street signs expecting Storybrook Lane to quickly appear. The more streets they crossed, the slower Alex ran, until he wasn’t running at all.

“It looked a lot closer on the map,” Alex commented, now at a slow, tired walk.

“Yeah, I don’t get it,” Jacob agreed, “they were just a couple inches apart. Distance in your universe is really weird.”

A good hour later, when they had almost given up hope, Jacob looked up and saw the Storybrook Lane street sign mounted on top of a post at the intersection.

“That’s it!” Jacob cried out, “Storybrook Lane! I have done it! I have successfully rescued another child!”

Jacob flew around in celebration. Alex stopped in place and stared at Jacob. Jacob stopped flying when he noticed Alex staring at him and came down to the ground.

“What?” Jacob asked.

“You rescued me?” Alex asked sarcastically.

“Yeah?” Jacob answered, unsure if he was right.

“More like I rescued you,” Alex insisted.

Jacob stopped and thought about it.

“Besides,” Alex continued, “I’m not even home yet. I don’t know which way to go on Storybrook Lane.”

“This I can also help with. We just look at the numbers, see which way they are going, and follow them to the number ten. Here look,” Jacob pointed out, “this house has the number 80, and the one next to it says 78, so we follow it this way.” Jacob quickly flew up to the third house, “yep, this one says 76, they are counting down, so this is the way.”

Alex received a second wind of energy and hurried down his street, this time at more of a brisk walk. Jacob walked quickly right beside Alex.”

“I think I’m getting the hang of this walking thing; you just keep moving the legs, it’s actually pretty easy.”

“Great job Jacob!” Alex smiled at his new friend’s accomplishment, but then his smile faded.

Jacob instantly noticed, “what’s wrong?” he asked concerned.

“Jacob just isn’t the right name for a boy made of blocks who comes from a different universe,” Alex confessed as the two continued down the street.

“It isn’t?” Jacob asked confused.

“No, it’s not even close. Jacob is an Earth boy name. You need a space boy name.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know.”

They both thought about it for a minute as Alex looked at the house they were passing and saw the sign with the number 48.

“I got it!” Jacob yelled so loud he startled Alex. “How about all the letters of the alphabet in a row?”

“That’s not going to work.”

“How about all the letters backwards?”

“No, you’re missing the point. We have to be able to say it.”

“Zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba,” Jacob blurted out.

“Seriously?”

Jacob smiled widely.

“No, it’s terrible! That’s never gunna work. We’ll just stick with Jacob until we figure something out. Okay?”

“Okay.”

The two continued walking side by side. Suddenly, Alex recognized where he was.

“This is the store down the street!” he loudly told Jacob.

“You did it!” Jacob told him, “You rescued us!”

“Maybe we rescued each other,” Alex suggested.

Alex’s mom, Judy, was on the front porch, saw Alex down the street, and ran up to him. She picked him up and gave him the biggest hug he ever had.

“I was so worried about you,” Judy told him as she cried tears of joy.

“Sorry Mom,” Alex apologized.

Judy stared Jacob up and down as he hovered next to them.

“So who’s your friend?” she calmly asked.

“You can see me?” Jacob asked her.

“I can hear you too,” Judy told him.

“Mom, this is Jacob; Jacob, this is my mom,” Alex introduced them.

Judy put Alex down and extended her hand to shake Jacob’s hand. Jacob put his hand out and Judy was able to grab it and shake it. Jacob and Alex both looked at each other in disbelief.

“Nice to meet you Jacob, although you don’t look like a Jacob.”

“That’s what I said!” Alex interrupted.

“And why are you all pixelated?” Judy asked.

Alex was confused, “why is he what?”

“Pixelated,” Judy repeated, “made from a bunch of tiny blocks.”

“That’s a great name!” Alex declared, “we’ll call you Pixelated.”

“Might as well call him Mr. Pixelated,” Judy suggested.

“But I’m just a boy,” Pixelated responded.

“Oh really?” Judy asked, “how old are you?”

“I don’t know,” Pixelated admitted, “time works differently in every universe.”

“In every universe?” Judy repeated surprised, “well that’s something to remember,” she said with slight sarcasm.

“Yeah Mom, Pixelated is from a different universe, that’s why he looks like that.”

“Is he now?” she asked rhetorically. “Well don’t you two know the rule about traveling to a different universe?”

“No,” Pixelated admitted, “What’s the rule?”

“The rule is,” Judy explained, ”that once you travel to a different universe, you automatically grow out of boyhood. So mister universe traveler, you are now Mister Pixelated.”

Mr. Pixelated beamed with pride, “Thank you Alex’s mom.”

“Oh, my name’s Judy.”

“Okay, Alex’s mom, I will remember that.”

“Or just call me whatever,” Judy commented.

“Okay Whatever,” Mr. Pixelated responded.

“We’re gunna have to work on this. How about pancakes?” she asked Alex.

“I love pancakes!” Alex yelled out.

The three walked down the sidewalk to Alex’s house.

“Where is everyone?” Alex asked.

“They’re all out looking for you,” his mom told him, “your father is out driving around, and your sisters are out in two groups walking around looking for you.” Judy points up and down the street, “one group went this way and the other went that way. Everyone is very worried about you.”

Alex frowned and looked down at the ground, disappointed in himself. “I didn’t mean to make everyone worry; I didn’t think anyone would notice I was gone.”

“Of course we notice! Just because your sisters are always grabbing the attention doesn’t mean we don’t pay attention to you. We see you quietly make mashed potato mountains with gravy lakes thinking no one is watching, but everyone is. Everyone knows how you like to hide right outside the kitchen when dinner is being made. We even know you prefer to sit in the closet in your room to read your comic books.”

“How do you know that?” Alex asked.

“Because I love you and I pay attention to you.”

Alex stopped to give his mom a hug. The three of them went in the house and Judy made enough pancakes for the whole family and Mr. Pixelated. When Alex’s father and sisters came home, they were all overjoyed with Alex’s return. But none of them were able to see Mr. Pixelated.

Alex never ran away again; and as time went on, he and Mr. Pixelated became best friends. They went on to have countless adventures, many of which involved helping lost children find their way home. Alex began to write his own comic books about their accomplishments with such riveting titles as Mr. Pixelated, Alex, and the lost boy in the mall parking lot, and Mr. Pixelated, Alex, and the lost girl at the supermarket.

And so the beginning of our story comes to an end, but there will never be an end to Mr. Pixelated. He will continue to travel to Earth to help those in need. Who knows, one day he might even help you. And even if you can’t see him, he is always there for moral support.

Although my mother has passed on, her stories continue to thrive. She lives on through these stories, which I now tell my own children. Hopefully one day they will tell them to their children. This particular story has inspired my imagination so much so that I have continued inventing new adventures, including when Alex finally travels to Mr. Pixelated’s universe. Alex arrives in the new universe as a drawing on a piece of paper and Mr. Pixelated has to carry Alex around everywhere. One day a big gust of wind comes, takes Alex right out of Mr. Pixelated’s hands, and hilarious hijinks ensue. My children often pick out different scenarios for stories about Mr. Pixelated. This encourages me that one day they will be inspired to write their own stories about one of our most beloved family characters.