The date was January 28th, 1451 when Maximus was born. Although that isn't fully accurate, considering he was actually born on April 15th. Maximus was born and raised in Duloc by his parents, Pea and Grumpy for most of his early life. But the true story actually begins when Maximus was 10. You must be asking yourself why this year was important. Well, ill tell you. This was the year Maximus's parents abandoned him. Maximus and his younger sister, Margaret were arguing while getting ready for a birthday party. To Maximus's surprise, his parents left him at the party and they didn't come back for him. He was mortified. Why would his parents do this? Did they love Margaret more than they loved him? He couldn't even begin to think of how he would get over this. Where would he stay? What would he eat? What would happen to him? These questions and more were racing through his head. The party took place in his best and only friend's backyard. Where could he go from here? He looked at his friends house. Then at the forest behind the house, and back at the house again. He finally decided and began walking towards the forest. He walked slowly towards his friend's back gate and stared at it for a minute. He hesitated for a bit but eventually unlatched the gate's lock. He stepped out into the forest and a feeling of dread began to set in. He looked around for a second. He couldn't believe that he was in the enchanted forest but quickly realized he should keep walking. It was already 6:30 and it was going to get dark soon so he needed a place to stay. He took another step. The ground was wet and muddy but he kept walking. After about 10 minutes of walking he could see a small dirt trail. It was actually more like a mud trail, but he still followed it, hoping he could find somewhere to stay for the night. He came upon a clearing in the trees where he could see a small cabin. It was run down and looked almost abandoned. He stepped off of the trail and realized the ground here was somehow even muddier than before. He hiked through the unbelievably thick mud until he eventually made it to the cabin's front door. He waited for a minute, just to see if he could hear any noises from inside. When he didn't, he knocked on the door. When he got no response he reached for the knob when he heard something. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY SWAMP?!" He heard someone scream. He turned around. At the edge of the path he saw an ogre. He had green skin, was about 8 feet tall, most likely weighed around 450 pounds and was bald."who are you?" Maximus asked. "IM SHREK, AND YOU'RE IN MY SWAMP!" Maximus's eyes widened as Shrek started walking toward him and he tried to run but his shoes were stuck in the mud. He tried to pull them out, but when he did, he tripped and fell face first into the mud and hit his head on a rock. Maximus woke up a couple of hours later. Where was he? What happened? He tried to remember how he got here. Getting ready for the party, fighting with his sister, walking into the forest... Why had he gone into the forest? He couldn't seem to remember much besides the birthday party. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pencil he had received at his friend's party. It was hot pink with the name Thelonius bedazzled on the side. Maximus looked around. The room was lit with a few greenish yellow candles. He heard the door click open and saw an ogre walk in holding a tray. This ogre was different than the ogre he had seen earlier. She had long black hair and was slightly shorter than the other one. "I'm sorry about Shrek." He watched as she set a tray down on the bedside table. "He's not used to seeing people in the swamp." The ogre started to walk away but stopped in front of the door. "By the way, my name's Eleanor." She stepped out and Maximus watched as the door clicked shut again.
His head was spinning. Thinking about Shrek and Eleanor and Thelonius all at once. His head was pounding. It was a throbbing pain in the back of his head. How hard had he hit the rock when he fell? He reached up to feel his head and he felt bandages. He began to wonder who bandaged his head when he heard the door click open once again. He looked over to the door and saw Shrek. He had to duck to go through the door and walked over to Maximus's bedside. "I felt really bad for scaring you. I put some bandages on your head. I wanted you to be okay" Shrek said, blushing slightly as he did. The two made eye contact for a couple of seconds before Shrek began walking back towards the door. "I'll leave you to eat." Maximus looked over at the tray Eleanor left as the door creaked shut. Toast with some suspicious looking green goo and what he hoped was orange juice. He picked up the glass and slowly brought it to his lips. Just as he was about to drink, he heard the door slam open. "GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!" He heard Eleanor scream. He leapt out of the bed and began running for the door, ignoring the shattered glass on the floor. He tripped out the front door as he turned around to see the shack ablaze. Where was Shrek? Maximus looked around frantically. Suddenly he felt Eleanor pick him up and start running. "Where are we going?!" He asked Eleanor over and over, though she never replied. Finally, they stopped at another small clearing and Eleanor set him down as she collapsed to the ground. "Eleanor?" Maximus shook her and poked her and pushed her but she wouldn't get up. "Eleanor...?" Was the last thing he could manage before he too collapsed.
