Andrea Poli

1st Aug 2025

Max and His Imaginary Friend

One sunny afternoon, my little brother Max was playing in the living room. He was laughing and chatting away to someone named Daniel. "Look, Daniel! I can build the tallest tower with these blocks!" he exclaimed, with his eyes sparkling with joy. At first, I just thought it was cute, imagining Max having an imaginary friend. But then, things started to take a strange turn.

A young boy, Max, with short brown hair and wearing colorful pajamas, playing with colorful building blocks in a bright living room, cheerful atmosphere, playful scene, digital art, colorful, warm light, detailed, child-friendly

One night, I woke up to faint whispers coming from Max’s room. I could hear two voices. Max's was high and cheerful, but the other was low and deep, too deep for a child. I opened the door quietly, my heart racing, but there was no one there. When I turned to Max, he looked up at me with wide eyes and said, "Daniel doesn’t like you." I laughed nervously, but later that night, I saw a shadow at the end of the hall. The next morning, Max told me, "Daniel said he wanted to see where you sleep." My heart sank.

A dimly lit children's room with a young boy, Max, in his bed, a shadowy figure standing at the open door, mysterious and slightly eerie setting, digital painting, cool colors, suspenseful, intimate perspective, high quality