My Golden Life

Chapter 30

As I placed the last of my clothes into my suitcase, I glanced around my room. How different it looked now, it was nearly bare. It held so many memories, both good and bad. I will never forget the wonderful times I had here; no one could take them away from me, not even my dad. By the time the moon's light shone through my window, my room was now empty, and all the treasures and items that once filled it were now packed up in a few boxes dotted across the floor.

I let out an exhausting sigh as I sat on my bed, a photo frame laid beside me. I picked it up and smiled, seeing the faces of a once happy family. It hurt me that it would never go back to those days, although I did and still do picture what life could have been. Sadly it will always be a dream, a long lost fairytale.

"You've managed to finish packing?" I voice called out.

I turned and saw Daniel standing by my doorway, holding a box of cards.

"Yea, I can do the last little bits tomorrow before we go. Are you done yet?"

Daniel nodded, taking a seat next to me. "I'm guessing that the school is going to give us new bedding for our rooms."

"I believe so," I replied.

We then sat in silence for a short while, I guess neither of us knew what to say to each other."

"Katie?" Daniel finally asked, "What's boarding school like? Will it be different from the school here?"

I shrugged. "Might be, considering that we'll be living there. I guess it will be different from what we're used to."

It then dawned on me. How were we even going to boarding school in the first place? From what I knew, you had to be exceptionally well off to send your child to those types of schools. So how was it that dad was able to get enough money to send to us there?

"Where's the money box?" Daniel asked. "You know, the one, the king and queen, gave you?"

"I don't know," I replied. "I don't actually remember packing it."

I went over to my wardrobe and searched the very back, but it wasn't there. I checked again, but it was nowhere to be found. How had it gone? I hadn't touched it since I got back from Far Far Away. I asked Daniel to help me look for it, it felt like hours before he called me over to my bed. Looking under it, I spotted the money box leaning on its side. I crawled under to retrieve it, and when I emerged, I noticed that it didn't feel as heavy as it did before.

"What's wrong?" Daniel asked.

I opened the box, and to my shock, there were hardly any coins in there. Maybe a handful or so. The gems were mostly gone, except for two.

"W-where is everything?" I cried. "Daniel, did you take some of it?"

Daniel shook his head. "I didn't even know where you hid it."

"I don't understand," I said, scratching my head. "I never took the box out of its hiding place. I'm the only person who knows where-"

That's when it hit me. I pondered on it for a few seconds, but I knew what had happened. I couldn't believe it, I felt like screaming.

"Dad," I growled.

"What? He took it?" Daniel yelled. "How do you know it was him?"

"He saw me put the box away at the very back of my wardrobe," I explained. "And I bet he used most of the coins and gems to get us into boarding school."

"How dare he! It wasn't his to take." Daniel said.

I let out a short sigh before looking at the remaining contents of the box. "Here," I said, placing a gem in his hand. "You take one, and I take the other one. We'll split the coins between the two of us."

After we had done this, Daniel went back into his room, and I got ready for bed. It was going to be a long day tomorrow, after all.