Time Travelers from the Umbrella House

Chapter 4 The Birth of the Umbrella House

"Auntie, are you and Rajeev the only ones living here?" Alice asked.

"Yes. I have three sons and a daughter, and the other two sons and daughter have gone to the city-state,only the youngest, Rajeev, stays with me."

"Then why didn't you and Rajeev go?"

"I didn't want to go when I was old and there were so many rules in the city-state that Rajeev stayed behind with me, he has wanted to go for the last two years, but unfortunately the new city-state hasn't been built yet."

"Why do you need a new city-state? can't we just apply? didn't they say that you can apply when you turn sixteen?" Alice asked several questions in a row.

"Alice, each City-state is limited to 10,000 people, after which new cities must be built, and the old city will move some people to the new city before the rest of the slots are distributed to new people to apply. The city-state requires an adult of 16 to bring in a minor. In addition, City-state only accepts applications from July 26 to August 26 each year, and an interview is required after the application is submitted," Penny explained.

"Oh, so cumbersome!" Alice was a little surprised to hear that.

"Rajeev knows more about the city-state, you can ask him."

"Okay, thanks auntie, I'll go find Rajeev, Ronnie, let's go," Alice stood up as she spoke.

Penny turned and grabbed a pastry from the table and put it back in Ronnie's backpack. Alice couldn't help but be touched by the sight of her giving them something and food. She said to Ronnie, "Come on, thank Auntie!"

"Thank you Aunt Penny, the candy is delicious!" Ronnie licked the candy juice off the back of his hand and thanked her.

Penny looked at the siblings and showed a loving smile, "This will be your home from now on, come by often when you have time!"

"Okay, we will come by often."

After saying goodbye to Penny, the siblings went to find Rajeev. As they walked out the door, they saw him leading three people in that direction, two men and a woman. Introduced by Rajeev, the girl was an Asian named Michiko, she and another boy named Hasegawa were brother and sister. Michiko was petite, small-eyed and loved to smile, whenever she smiled her eyes were just slits and she had a pair of cute dimples on her face. Her brother, Hasegawa, was of medium build, wore glasses, a white shirt and black pants, and occasionally stole glances at Alice from behind his glasses when he saw her. The other boy, Paulino, looked like a tall black tower. He had a girlfriend who was also tall and strong, with a small head and a wide butt. They were known as the Twin Towers of Shire Town. Because of his different tastes, he did not think Alice was so beautiful.

Alice was happy to see that Rajeev had really found helpers and said to him, "Thank you! Rajeev."

Rajeev couldn't do a few cartwheels on the spot when the woman he loved thanked him, so he ran instead. Soon he was pulling a cart from his house, and then he called his friend to go get the materials needed to build the house. Alice wanted to go with him, but was refused. She had to take Ronnie and Michiko back to the beach. Once inside the cave, Alice and Michiko made small talk.

"Alice, are you sure you want to stay here? there's nothing here," Michiko opened her mouth first.

"What's wrong with this place? I think it's nice, I can see the ocean at a glance, and what I don't have I'm starting to figure out, it's better than wandering around outside right now," Alice replied.

"So why did you come here?"

"We want to join the city-state, and this place is closer to the city-state..."