Kinchey's Kingdom

~Chapter 1~The Letter~

It came two weeks ago, the letter did...

I'm Michael. I live with my sister Julie, my parents, and my dog, Cornelia. We live in a small house in London, England. I'm 13 years old and Julie is 10.

I love travelling, especially by boat, and I also love the ocean. I don't know... The sea air seems to soothe me.

Julie is a bit like me. She likes travelling, mostly by plane, and she doesn't mind travelling by boat.

My dad works at a nuclear power plant, and my mom works at this school, not ours.

So, about that letter...

As I was walking up the stairs, I saw a few letters jump through the mailbox.

"Michael, get the post!" shouted mom.

"Ok!" I shouted back.

I stepped down from the stairs, walked to the door, and leant over to pick up the post.

There were about 4 letters: Electricity bill, a letter from my dad's workplace, another bill and some birthday invite for Julie.

"Julie! There's a letter here for you!" I shouted.

Julie immediately poked her head out of the living room.

"There's a letter for me? For reals?" asked Julie.

I nodded and gave her the letter, then watched as she jumped around squealing, trying to open the envelope.

"Julie, give these letters to dad." I commanded Julie.

Julie groaned and walked up the stairs to mom and dad's room.

I felt hungry for a cookie, so I walked into the kitchen to see mom dicing vegetables.

"I heard Julie got a letter. What else was there?" asked mom.

I told her that there was just 2 bills, and a letter for dad.

"A letter for dad? Where's it from?" asked mom.

"The power plant. Anyway, I don't even know why you even want to know about this. It's just some really boring thing." I answered.

"Michael, you never know. It could be really important." said Mom.

I sighed, grabbed a cookie, and headed out the room.

Next thing I knew, Dad was running down the stairs, eager to show mom what was in the letter.

What was in that letter? And why was dad so eager to show it to mom?

Cornelia barked at my feet, loudly.

"Cornelia! Shh!" I whispered.

I sat down by the closed door and put my ear against it. I heard some muffled words: Something was closing down, and it would change our lives.

That's when it hit me. The letter was from the power plant, so the power plant is closing down!

I moved my ear from the door and buried my head in my hands. Mom hardly earns any money, so how are we going to afford this house?

Cornelia seemed like she wanted her food, and pushed me against the door, causing it to open.

"Michael? Were you eavesdropping?" asked dad, disappointedly.

I slowly nodded my head.

"... I know... About the letter..." I said sadly.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

"Julie, Michael... Well, Michael already knows, but Julie, we need to tell you something." said mom, quietly.

"What is it? What do you need to tell me?" said Julie eagerly.

"The power plant I work at is closing down." said Dad, sadly.

Julie's bored face turned into a frown.

"We're... We're going to lose our house! We'll be poor! We'll be homeless!" cried Mom.

I thought how it will be true... We'll be just a bunch of homeless people who no one feels sorry for. We'll live and sleep on the streets, with just a few pounds to spare!

"Dad! We need to look for a new home, because before we know it we'll have no money!" I said.

"Yes! Dad, I'll help you!" said Julie, enthusiastically.

Dad shook his head.

"No... No. Julie, it's okay. For now we'll have to live on your mother's money. And until then, I'll be looking for another house and job." said Dad.

What would happen? Where would we live? To make the matters worse, I don't have anymore friends now that John, my best friend, has moved to the south. Plus, Mom hardly earns any money. Only £30 a week compared to Dad's 100. I hope Dad finds a cheap house soon. We can hardly afford the house we're already living in!