1
00:00:05,879 --> 00:00:10,439
Speaker 1: There was something that Max hated more than anything moving.

2
00:00:10,919 --> 00:00:14,039
Speaker 2: He hated every single part of it. He hated the

3
00:00:14,119 --> 00:00:18,679
mountains of cardboard boxes stacked around the house like little

4
00:00:18,679 --> 00:00:23,079
brown castles. He hated the sound of tapes screeching as

5
00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:26,120
Dad pulled strips from the roll. He hated watching his

6
00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:30,719
bedroom slowly disappear, shelf by shelf and poster by poster,

7
00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:33,719
until it no longer looked like his room at all.

8
00:00:34,399 --> 00:00:39,159
Most of all, he hated saying goodbye. That was very sad.

9
00:00:39,679 --> 00:00:43,119
On his final day at school, everything had felt strange.

10
00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:47,479
His classmates had signed his notebook with little messages and drawings.

11
00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:52,280
Some kids wrote silly things, some drew cartoons. Tyler had

12
00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:56,359
drawn a basketball with stick legs and written, don't replace

13
00:00:56,439 --> 00:00:59,479
me with a cooler friend. Max had laughed when he

14
00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:03,320
saw that, but only a little. At recess, he looked

15
00:01:03,359 --> 00:01:07,239
around across the playground and watched everybody running around and

16
00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:12,079
shouting and playing tag and basketball, And suddenly his chest

17
00:01:12,079 --> 00:01:16,799
had felt heavy, because tomorrow this would all keep happening,

18
00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,480
only he wouldn't be there. Now, he sat in the

19
00:01:20,519 --> 00:01:23,920
back seat of Mum's car, staring out the window as

20
00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:28,120
they drove toward their new Town rain tapped softly against

21
00:01:28,159 --> 00:01:34,280
the glass. Everything outside looked unfamiliar. Different streets, different houses,

22
00:01:34,519 --> 00:01:39,760
different trees. Even the playground looked wrong somehow. Mom glanced

23
00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:43,400
at him in the mirror. You okay, back there, she said,

24
00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:50,000
n Max replied. Dad smiled gently. You haven't even seen

25
00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,719
the new place yet, he said. Max folded his arms.

26
00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:54,799
I don't care.

27
00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:59,040
Speaker 1: Twenty minutes later they pulled into the driveway. The house

28
00:01:59,079 --> 00:02:02,719
itself was not bad. Actually it was pretty nice.

29
00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,159
Speaker 2: It had white walls and a large window and a

30
00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:09,520
porch swing that moved gently in the breeze. Yeah, they

31
00:02:09,599 --> 00:02:10,280
need lots.

32
00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,680
Speaker 1: To hear the rest of this story and our entire

33
00:02:13,879 --> 00:02:17,319
back catalog. Ad free, you can sign up to become

34
00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:21,039
a premium subscriber of the show. As a premium member

35
00:02:21,039 --> 00:02:24,840
of Short Stories for Kids, you'll receive a bonus premium

36
00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:29,039
story every Friday, a special thank you shout out, and

37
00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,319
a guarantee that your idea will be made into a

38
00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,719
story and read out on the show. So for adfree

39
00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:38,719
listening and all of these other great perks, you can

40
00:02:38,759 --> 00:02:42,039
sign up on your Apple app with just one click,

41
00:02:42,439 --> 00:02:46,639
or at Short Stories for Kids dot supercast dot com.

42
00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:50,560
If you listen on Spotify and other platforms. You can

43
00:02:50,599 --> 00:02:53,360
also sign up by going to our website at short

44
00:02:53,439 --> 00:02:56,000
Stories for Kids podcast dot com.

45
00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:56,759
Speaker 2: See you there,