Big Time Chocolate Factory

11. Trying to Find the Final Golden Ticket

*meanwhile at the Buckets House*

Author's POV
Mr. and Mrs. Bucket were outside while Charlie was with Katie in his room and his grandparents were sleeping peacefully inside the house.

Mrs. Bucket was hanging some clothes on the clothesline while Mr. Bucket was talking about how he lost his job. They didn't know how they were going to break the news to their family.

"We were barely making ends meet as it was," Mr. Bucket said.

"You'll find another job," Mrs. Bucket told him. "Until then, I just, um... well, I'll thin down the soup a little more."

Mrs. Bucket hugged Mr. Bucket from behind with her arms wrapped around him. Charlie and Katie were watching from his window. Even though, the Buckets didn't notice them.

"Don't worry, Mr. Bucket. Our luck will change. I know it," Mrs. Bucket told her husband.

Charlie's heart could break for the sake of his family. But he knew what he hadn't been told yet...
———————
Charlie's POV

Katie and I were watching my parents from my bedroom window. My mum was hugging my dad from behind. Then Katie and I looked at each other for moment.

"What do you think they were talking about?" Katie asked me.

"I don't know. But I can tell something happened to my dad," I told her. "I'm actually feeling worried about him."

"Did he lose his job?" Katie questioned.

"Maybe, I don't know exactly. Because if that's what it was, then I guess he didn't wanna tell me yet," I answered. "And if there's no job, then I don't know how we're gonna make money."

Without much left to say, my head looked down and I just stared at the floor, feeling devastated. Katie put a hand on my shoulder for comfort.

"I'm sorry, Charlie," she said quietly.

Then I looked back up and she came onto me for a hug. And I hugged her back.

As we pulled away, Katie and I just stared at each other for a moment and gave each other a little smile.

But then, we heard a voice calling to us in whisper...

"Charlie. Katie."

We quickly got off my bed when we heard a voice whispering to us. We looked down and saw it was Grandpa Joe who was still awake.

He gestured us to come down. We climbed down the ladder and approached to Grandpa Joe as he was taking something out of his bag.

"My secret hoard," he whispered. Then he showed us the coin. "You two and I are going to have one more fling at finding that last ticket."

"Wow," Katie whispered.

"Are you sure you want me and Katie to spend your money on that, Grandpa?" I asked.

"Of course I'm sure. Here," he said as he gave me the coin. "Run down to the nearest store, and buy the first Wonka candy bar you see. Bring it straight back, and we'll open it together."

"Let's go, Charlie. We better hurry," Katie whispered and I nodded.

We grabbed our jackets and took each other's hands as we ran out the door. I told my parents that Katie and I were going into town for a bit and we would be back.
————————
*10 minutes later*