Chapter - 5 : An Unforgettable Day at the Zoo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Loving the story and can't wait for more? By supporting my Patreon, you'll get exclusive early access to over 100+ chapters ahead of what's posted here!

Your support not only fuels more exciting content but also gives you the chance to be part of a vibrant community of fellow fans.

(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

http//patreon.com/Fireshadow5

Join us on Patreon and unlock the full adventure today!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm good," Harry assured me, although he looked a little squished. I shifted once more, bracing a hand against the door and a foot against the floorboard.

"Motorcycles," Uncle Vernon grunted from the front seat as one roared past them. "Swerving everywhere… making noise… hooligans… disturbing the peace."

"I had a dream about a motorcycle once," Harry recalled, blurting it out without thinking. "It was flying."

Uncle Vernon nearly wrecked the car. I had to cling to Harry to keep from sliding across the back seat into Dudley's lap. He whipped around, glaring at Harry's shell-shocked expression, face an alarming shade of puce.

"Motorcycles! Don't! Fly!" he roared. In the seat next to me, Piers snickered. Aunt Petunia was distracted frantically turning her husband around so that he was looking at the road, and I managed to worm my foot across the floorboard and stomp my heel onto Piers's foot. The boy hissed and glared.

"You're gonna pay for that," he grunted. I responded by sticking my tongue out.

"I know they don't!" Harry said indignantly. "It was just a dream!"

Other than that, the ride to the zoo was pretty quiet. No one seemed to want to talk much, all of us suffering under the combined annoyance on the part of the Dursley's directed at us. Harry and I kept our mouths shut to keep from setting Uncle Vernon off again. One more time and he might leave us in the car while he and Aunt Petunia took the boys in.

We got out into the warm sunshine and Aunt Petunia hustled off with Dudley and Piers to purchase tickets. Harry and I made to follow, only for beefy hands to encircle our arms and yank us back, tossing us against the car. Uncle Vernon shoved his beet red face close to us, growling quietly, "Any funny business from you two… Anything at all, and you won't have meals until Christmas!"

"We won't do anything," Harry promised.

"We never do," I agreed.

That was true. Things just tended to happen around us. Like the time Aunt Petunia had tried to send me into picture day in one of her old dresses, a floaty, floral, pastel monstrosity that was too tight in some places and too loose in another, the whole thing hanging low because I was too short. I had looked around at all the other girls in their nice-fitting skirts and their neatly pinned hairstyles and wished that just once I could have a good photo. That afternoon, I came home in a neatly-pleated maroon skirt and a creamy button-front shirt, my hair tamed into a low braid for once, and no idea how it happened.

I'd gotten a week with no food for that one, but Harry had snuck me what he could from his own meager meals, and I'd snuck out once to smuggle a few slices of bread and a couple grapes out of the kitchen.

Also, things tended to blow up when I was angry. I wasn't an arsonist, but when I was annoyed, things blew. I remembered being really angry at Dudley for breaking my glasses again and punching a wall inside of our cupboard. The moment my fist connected, the light bulb dangling inside exploded in a shower of sparks. And once at Christmas when Dudley got all kinds of expensive presents and Harry and I got an expired package of cocoa mix, the fire in the grate suddenly burst out of hearth and lunged at Dudley.

But even if something did happen and we ended up starving in the cupboard, Harry and I were determined to enjoy our day as much as physically possible, and it started out really well. Piers and Dudley got large chocolate ice creams when they went in and, because the lady was looking at Harry and I expectantly, Uncle Vernon bought us both cheap lemon ice pops to keep up appearances.

They weren't half-bad, either, I mused as I licked mine, staring in interest at a cage full of exotic birds, trying to match each bird with the little plaques of information in front of the display. The Dursley's were a few exhibits away, watching as monkeys chattered in an artificial tree, and Harry was staring at a gorilla.

We maintained our distance as the day wore on. Dudley and Piers had seen all of the big carnivores by then, so they were starting to get bored, and at any moment they might start taking casual swings at us.

Our moods still couldn't be dampened, though. At the zoo restaurant, when Dudley's knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on it, Uncle Vernon bought him another and we got to split Dudley's first one. For a couple of kids who routinely kept themselves alive on bread, water, and smuggled fruits from the fridge, it was pretty much the best thing we'd ever eaten.

Afterwards they went to the reptile house. I was glad I had put on my cardigan that day, because the inside was cool and dark. I tugged the sleeves down over my hands and pressed close to Harry as we trailed a display behind the Dursleys. It was pretty easy to keep our distance, considering that Piers and Dudley were skipping over a lot of the lizards and going straight for the biggest snakes.

I actually kind of liked it in here. It was pleasantly cool and just dim enough to make normal things look interesting in the muted light. There was an almost soothing quality to the place, and the greenish lights that hung over head made everyone look a little different. The whole place just looked mysterious.

"Make it move!" Dudley ordered his father, giving a frustrated look to a huge boa that was curled up in the shade of a fake rock, dozing.

"Move!" Uncle Vernon barked at the snake, drumming his fingers on the glass.

"Do it again!"

Uncle Vernon complied, but the snake didn't so much as flinch. I felt sorry for it. I knew that had to be loud, and the poor snake was just trying to take an afternoon nap.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Loving the story and can't wait for more? By supporting my Patreon, you'll get exclusive early access to over 100+ chapters ahead of what's posted here!

Your support not only fuels more exciting content but also gives you the chance to be part of a vibrant community of fellow fans.

(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

http//patreon.com/Fireshadow5

Join us on Patreon and unlock the full adventure today!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~