Catalina and the 31

Chapter Two- Sardine Cars and Pirate Treasure

 Night was setting over the hills in the countryside. Once both her parents had arrived home, everyone packed only their essentials. (Her little brother just HAD to keep his scavenged collections of random stuff. Old keys, feathers, gears and cogs, interesting rocks; nothing escaped his watchful eye). She on the other hand, did her best to bring the bare minimum, but couldn't resist some of her own old favorites. Her father had given her a book, with real paper! It was on her ninth birthday, and to this day her favorite birthday ever. It was a classic, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It's paperback spine was so worn from of the amount of times she has opened it, that she could barely read the title. She loved everything about it, from the smell of it's musty pages, to the feel of the paper on her fingers. She had obviously brought some clothes, mainly hand-me-downs from Natalia, and similar necessities. Her last space was occupied by a small globe that she could in her hand. It was decorated with small gems (possibly diamonds) and they speckled the continents. It was the first thing she had ever stolen (She had been eight), and probably the most valuable thing in her possession. That globe to, her eight year old self, proved there could be more to life than running and hiding.

Then they had all crammed into their car so tightly, it felt like they were in a can of synthesized sardine fish! The hover car desperately lacked the space necessary for an eight person family, and it was so old that it basically ran on gasoline! On that tone, they began the 4 hour drive into the mountains. The clanking of it's engine had her hoping that it would last until they arrived at her family's. The car was extremely old- they had bought it from a second hand garage, with many parts missing when they first arrived in Argentina. They had it repaired for a low cost, and had kept it ever since.

In the car, her family was squabbling, per usual.

"I don't want to hear about your junk collection!" Julia yelled.

"It's not junk!" Mateo yelled back.

Her parents eventually stepped in to settle the disagreement, leaving a fragile silence in its wake.

With six kids, her family was one of the largest families around. Most countries have restrictions on how many children you can have, in order to stop overpopulation. Luckily, Argentina didn't. Catalina's sister Natalia, 17, was the oldest, followed by her brother Gabriel, who was 15. Then Catalina, whose 13th birthday was today. Her younger siblings were Julia,11, Mateo was seven, and Olivia was five.

Olivia, her littlest sister, blinked her big, brown eyes at Catalina and whispered, "What will happen to us? Where will we live?"

She was tiny, but had muscle on her tiny bones from spending most of her time playing physical games with her big brother and his friends. She had never been one to do something sedentary. It was a bit of a family joke to call her the whirlwind. She, like the rest of her siblings looked very similar. They all had curly, brown hair and brown eyes. Catalina's hair was straight and darker. Little Olivia also had big doe-like eyes that made refusing her impossible.

Catalina answered, "We'll be alright. We will stay with Tia and Tio until Mom and Dad find jobs. Then we'll find a house to rent. Everything will be just fine."

Olivia settled back into her seat, comforted. Catalina's thoughts wouldn't settle as easily. What would our new life be like? Somewhat guiltily she thought, How will I be able to work on my school work? She knew it wasn't the priority, with all the struggles her family was facing now.

Catalina had always believed, that with enough hard work, anything is possible. That is why no matter how busy her day had been, watching her siblings, the monotony of school, her pickpocketing when things got tough, she always made time to learn. All of her siblings now, except Natalia, were attending school, but they learned close to nothing. She had read all the books in the small school library years ago. Now, when her parents arrived home from work, she would take their Conectablets, and read PDFs of textbooks online. The OKU (Online Knowledge Universe) was her best friend and teacher.