One night while we were eating tea
Mum and Dad said they wanted to talk to me.
I got the message straight away
They had something important to say.

‘My work has changed’ my dad said.
‘They’re dispersing the team that I once led.’
‘I am no longer required down there,
But there’s a new job I could take elsewhere.’

My eyes filled with tears and I heard myself say
‘I don’t want to shift, not today or any day.’
‘We thought you’d say that’, Mum’s voice was small,
‘But we have to consider what’s best for us all.’

‘What about my friends that I’ll leave behind.
It takes years to build the lasting kind.’
‘We know that’s hard,’ Dad gently said,
‘But we think you can do it, if you use your head.’

My bed was all lumps and I couldn’t sleep
I didn’t want to shift, it was too big a leap.
I was shy, I was scared, ‘cos I don’t like new things.
I know the problems a new school brings.

The weeks went by and the moving truck came
I knew that nothing would be the same.
Mum and Dad kept saying, ‘We’ll be there too.
Everything will be sparkling new.’

The house was nice, the lawn was wide,
The school so close that I could ride.
I used my head, I was polite and shared.
I tried really hard to show I cared.

I told my Mum it was not going well
She paused and thought about it for a spell.
‘What about some work after school?
Just once a week would be cool.’

I thought about it, ‘Doing what?’
‘Let’s see if the SPCA has a spot?’
Mum rang and they said, ‘Come on in here.
There’s always room for a new volunteer.’

Every Wednesday I went until after five.
I fed the cats and watched them thrive.
I played with those that were lonely and sad
Missing the home and the life that they had.

I went home and said to Mum
‘Do you think that I could have one?’
Mum looked at Dad as parents do,
And said, ‘We’ll make a deal with you.’

‘If you keep up your job till the term’s end
You can choose one to keep as a friend.’
I couldn’t believe what I just heard.
‘I’ll prove it. I’ll be good as my word.’

Next Wednesday I had lightening shoes
I couldn’t wait to share my news.
I told the other kids I’d met there.
They were very pleased, that much was clear.

The term went by, I chose my cat.
We bought the things that go with that.
I loved my cat, he was the best
But I still wanted to help the rest.

My friend asked how my cat was now
‘He likes drinking from the shower.’
‘Would you like to come and see?
One afternoon come back with me?’

A date was set, I told my Mum.
It turned out we had lots of fun.
At that moment I could see
Two new friends in my family.