My Last Day

I'm worried, very worried about my brother. Yesterday, in the coal mine were he works, a total of 3 canaries died in the left wing. Brother works on the right wing and I'm worried he'll be next. Papa tells mama and me not to worry. But if Big Brother dies, I''II wages will be cut in half and we can just afford a small room and 3 small meals a day. But that's not all I'm worried about. Big Brother is rather handsome and strong, even though works in a mine, and he has caught the eye of a young lady. She's the daughter of the owner of the coal mine. If Brother marries her, her father will make sure she gets lots of money because she is his only daughter and he loves her to death and back.

I better stop dozing off and worrying about me brother, if I get caught I won't be coming home tonight. It's only been 8 hours and I've still got another 8 hours to go. And I don't feel like working over time tonight. I want to go home and see with my own eyes that Big Brother is all right. I want to hug my baby sister and tell her I love her and make sure she's all right. I want to hear all stupid things my younger brother did at work today. I just hope his cough is gone. He really should stop working as a chimney sweeper.

“AAAAA!” I hear screams coming from the other side of the room. I don't want to look. And I don't get to as I'm sent under the big power loom monster to go hunting for a thread. ONE thread, is that all my life is worth? And as I look for the stray thread, picking it up and give it to the lady working the machine, I see the body of my younger sister, just 2 years younger than me, been taken away. She not breathing. The over seer gives me a look. I hate that man, to the bottom of my heart and the end of the earth. When my mama sees her body, she'll go mad. That will be one of the six bodies she'll see today, all of them her children.

My name is Riley Spinner. I have 2 younger sisters, Sally and Jane. One younger brother Marco and an older brother Roy. I've been dead for a year, because all of what I've told you, was the last day of my life. Roy's candle blow up in his face. Marco fell down a chimney. Sally was crashed by one of the power looms. Jane fell sick that morning and was by the evening. And I?
I was whipped to death.
All because I dropped the stray thread I was meant to pick up....