The possibility of moving to another town had been on the cards for months. Peter’s dad works for a logistics company which has been planning to relocate their head office to a more central location and when the office moves, so will Peter, his sister Kate and his Mum & Dad. When the news finally came, things began to move much quicker than they’d anticipated. No sooner had they broke
up for the summer holidays, their parents informed them that they’d be moving up to Butterworth, a small town somewhere in the Midlands. “It’s in the middle of nowhere!” Kate whined as Dad pinpointed the town on Google Maps. “Why are we moving there?”
“Because the company’s moving there.” their dad replied. “They’re relocating the depot…” he pointed out a large industrial estate near the small town and explained that its close to the M1 and M6.
“And miles away from all my friends.” Kate moaned.
“Mine too.” Peter added.
“You’ll make new friends, and you can keep in touch with your old ones.” their mum claimed. “They do have the internet in the Midlands you know. You can still keep in touch on Messenger or VideoChat.” she reminded her children.
“But what about school?” Kate asked. “I’m about to start Year 11.”
“I know, and it’s not ideal.” she’s told. “…but you’ll be moving to a much better school with an ‘excellent’ Ofsted rating.”
“The house looks great too… look.” their father added before showing them the pictures of the house they’ll be moving into.
“How can we afford that?” Peter gasped. Their current semi-detached house has three bedrooms, a small back garden and an even smaller garden at the front. The new house is a detached period home with four bedrooms, two reception rooms, kitchen/diner, utility rooms, a huge back garden, a detached garage, a front garden as big as their current back garden and a downstairs loo!
“It’s the Midlands.” their dad shrugged. “You get a lot more house for your money.”
“When are we moving?”
“Three weeks.”
“THREE WEEKS!”
“I know it’s sudden but we need to get settled in before September.” the kids are told.
With all the packing that needed to be done, those weeks went quickly… too quickly! Peter made no secret of the fact that he’s going to miss his friends. It’s the same for his sister too and according to their parents, them as well… but grown-ups don’t need established friends like kids do. Peter’s thirteen (just turned) and his sister Kate is fourteen going on fifteen. Both are very nervous of the move, but slightly optimistic too. They always enjoyed days out in the countryside but they also like everything that a big town has to offer. Butterworth is a small market town with a couple of supermarkets and handful of shops. The nearest cinema is miles away, there’s no bowling alley, no ice rink and other than a sports & recreation centre, there appears to be very little to do.