Chapter 1 - The Letter
Bangkok, January 14, 2006.
Dear reader, nice to meet you. As you do not know me, I would like to introduce myself properly. My name is Arthit Rojnapat and I am 10 years old. I live and study in the city of Bangkok, capital of Thailand.
Now, my parents and I are on vacation on the island of Phuket. My father told me that tomorrow we are going to go on a ship trip. I confess I am a little scared, after all, this is going to be the first time I am going to go on a ship. He told me I do not need to be afraid because going on a ship is very safe.
To distract me, Dad is helping me prepare this little letter for you. We are going to put it in a bottle and, tomorrow, we are going to throw it overboard while we are on our ship tour. I hope it won’t take you long to find it and answer it. I would love to make a new friend as I am an only child and, sometimes, I feel lonely.
We live in a house with a beautiful garden, where my mother loves to take care of her plants and her roses; and a backyard, where I usually spend my afternoons playing. I have two pets: a turtle that I named Michelangelo, in honor of the ninja turtles, and a puppy that I call Snowball, because in addition to being white, it is also chubby, looking like a snowball. If, one day, you come to visit me, we can play together with it.
I really like reading mangas. My mom thinks I want to be an artist, to draw stories for my comics, but when I grow up, I want to be an engineer to build a robot. If you also like to read, I can lend you any of my comics.
My father asked that when you write to me, instead of sending the letter to our house, you should send it to his office. He said it’s for my safety. Please, write soon and thank you for wanting to be my friend.
Arthit Rojnapat
In care: David Rojnapat
Address: Offices’ Street, 57 – Room 206
Neighborhood: Commercial
Bangkok – Tailândia
