Max woke with a cold wet start. At first he thought he was taking a cold shower, but then he saw the dawn's
light reflecting off the water droplets covering his naked body. He blinked. He was squatting out on the
roof naked. He coughed up some ice cold water, then climbed back into his bedroom window. He found his
clothing - even his underwear hanging in the wardrobe in his room. Every article of clothing had been cleaned
and pressed. He shivered slightly. With the room open to the sky as it was, and being covered with water, Max
thought he should feel colder. He scratched his head. What had happened last night? How had his clothing
ended up in the wardrobe and how had he ended up naked squatting on the roof? Had he been there all night? He
sure couldn't remember anything since stepping out there last night.
He grabbed a towel from the wardrobe and wrapped it around his waist. He jumped with a start as he realized he
now had a tail. He recalled seeing a mirror when he arrived last night. It had been covered by a sheet. He
dashed over and pulled back the sheet to reveal the mirror and his reflection. He gasped. His reflection
stared back, but it wasn't his reflection. Least ways, it was not a human reflection - humanoid, yes - human,
no. He now sported bat wings on his back, horns on his head, points on his ears, and a long lion-esque tail.
He was a living, breathing gargoyle. He needed to use the bathroom, so he tried his room door. It was now
unlocked. A sign across from his door pointed to the left it read simply "Wash Room" with an arrow pointing
the way.
The Wash Room door was old and weathered and to Max's surprise opened on to a roof deck. There were a bunch of
little odd colored men hard at work washing and polishing gargoyles. A green one whipped Max's towel off his
waist, while a bright red one hooked a heavy iron chain around his ankle. The chain pulled forward dragging
Max into the Gargoyle Wash. It was like a car wash, Max thought as a yellow creature sprayed his head and
body with hot white foaming soap. Soon brushes were hard at work scrubbing his skin. He was upset and
humiliated, but he felt warm and clean and shiny when all was said and done. A half dozen monkey-sized rainbow
colored men scurried around and on him polishing him dry.