December 12, 2006
Dear Santa,
My name is Billy Kenner. I live at Room 2112, Evergreen Motel, Route 3, Maple Island. When I wrote you last month, I lived at 127 Elm Street in Maple Island.
My mom and dad say we can go back to our house after the repairs from the fire are done. But that won't be by Christmas. I wanted to make sure you had my new address. That way you can find me on Christmas Eve (if you still want to).
I told mom and dad the truth about how the fire started, and they said it's not all my fault. They don't seem mad at me at all. They are hugging me and my sister a lot. And Tinkerbelle, who is our cat. But I still feel bad. I know you're really busy now, but I want to make sure you hear what happened, too. My mom says I'm always into trouble, and maybe she's right a lot of the time. But this time it was Tinkerbelle's fault. Tinkerbelle was surprised when the balloon popped, and she ran away. I think that's how the candle got knocked over.
My sister lit the candle before she went to baby sit for the Petersons. I wasn't even playing with the candle anymore, because Bobby Kelly and I were trying to make the balloon get bigger. Bobby and I are President and Vice President of the Kool Kordella Khemistry Klub. It's named for our elementary school, but we spelled the words funny on purpose.
Bobby thought we should use more vinegar and baking soda, and I thought we should use gas from the torch my dad has to fix the pipes. Bobby declared a thumb war, and I won. So we filled the balloon from the torch, because we were tired of blowing up balloons to surprise mom and all the vinegar and baking soda was making a mess. (I cleaned up the mess before the fire.) Then the balloon popped, and then the fire happened. It wasn't a good birthday for mom, I guess.
I hope you understand. I still really, really, really want the CHEM C4000 Ultimate Chemistry Set from Thames and Kosmos, with 460 experiments. It will be very educational and most of all it will be safe. It even has safety glasses. I promise not to use the alcohol burner unless my mom or dad is with me. If I had a CHEM C4000 Ultimate Chemistry Set, I could make a fire extinguisher in case Tinkerbelle ever gets scared and knocks over another candle. I bet there is a chemical that would work, but I can read the directions and find out.
If you bring the chemistry set.
Yours truly,
Billy Kenner
P.S. The fire burned up mom's birthday cake. Could you bring her a new one?