In Chapter 5 of Freak the Mighty, Max takes a “timeout” so to speak. Max just got done showing Freak his bedroom when the Fair Gwen began looking for him. Gwen spots the wagon they were using in Max’s backyard, so she heads towards Max’s bedroom. When she sees Max, she is immediately frightened and runs away with Freak (20):
. . . and the Fair Gwen grabs Freak and puts him in the wagon and I swear, she almost runs home, like if she doesn’t get away quick something really bad is going to happen.
After this incident, Max explains that he drifts off in sort of a dreamlike state sometimes. From what he says, he implies that this happens quite frequently. This may be another reason why he like his bedroom in the basement so much - it gives him the freedom to go into this dreamlike state without being bothered.
As a reader, we can infer that this dreamlike state happens when something scares Max, he feels uncomfortable, or he feels stressed. To seek comfort, he goes under his bed (21):
What I do is lie on the floor under my bed, where you can just barely see the bedsprings and stuff because it’s so dark, and before long I’m somewhere else, sort of floating, and it’s so cool and empty in there, you don’t have to think about anything. You’re nothing, you’re nobody, nothing matters, you’re not even there. Time out.
In other words, this time out isn’t the traditional way in which we think of time outs. Instead, it’s a way for Max to escape reality and reflect on his experiences.
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