Chapter One
"Wake up, girl!" I wake to my aunt hitting my door. "Come watch breakfast! Everything must be perfect for Duddy's birthday. And don't you dare burn the bacon again!" My aunt's shrill voice continued berating me as I quickly run a comb through my curls.
"Coming, Aunt Petunia!" I say as I push open my cupboard door. I use the light from the narrow hallway to quickly make my cot and tidy my shelf of things. I adjust my thick-framed glasses, and sigh. Dudley's eleventh birthday means spending the day with Mrs. Figg and her twenty cats.
I hurry into the kitchen and take over the cooking while Aunt Petunia arranges the mountain of presents. Uncle Vernon sits at the table while skimming the paper. I hear Dudley roll off his bed to land with a heavy thud. I roll my eyes while flipping the bacon. I believe the house actually shook. Uncle Vernon and Dudley are very overweight while Aunt Petunia is a very thin, almost bony woman. I quickly plate the bacon, eggs, and pancakes for Uncle Vernon and Dudley. I serve them while Aunt Petunia fusses over her baby boy.
"Leave Dudley be, Pet! He's not a boy anymore. He's becoming a man now," Uncle Vernon boomed proudly. I work to stop my gag reflex as I place a smaller plateful in front of Aunt Petunia. I get a nod of approval which means I can have a piece of bacon with my single small pancake.
The phone rings as Dudley works at counting his presents. I'm impressed when he counts past fifteen without prompting.
"Oh dear," Aunt Petunia walks back into the kitchen, shaking her head. "That was Mrs. Figg. She broke her leg when she tripped over her cat last night. She won't take the girl." They always speak as though I am not present. I thought my name was "girl" when I was younger.
"The girl needs to go somewhere. I will not leave her here. She's likely to blow the house up," Uncle Vernon rages. I should be offended but I hear that a few times a week.
"No one else can take her," Aunt Petunia mutters.
"I want to go to the zoo even if the freak comes along," Dudley announces while stuffing a rather large pancake in his mouth. I keep my head down and my mouth shut. If I want dinner tonight, I have to stay quiet. I may only speak when spoken to.
"Fine. No funny business girl, or you'll be locked in your cupboard!" Uncle Vernon threatens me.
"Yes, sir, Uncle Vernon," I answer softly. I take the dishes to the sink and begin washing as Dudley throws a tantrum over having fewer presents than last year. It's not like I mean to get in trouble but strange things always seem to happen to me.
Last year, Dudley and his friends were chasing me around the school. I was desperate to get away because I didn't want to be hit and kicked. One moment I was running in front of them, the next I was in the girls' bathroom on the other side of the school! Luckily, I was not caught in that strange happening. Aunt Petunia tried to pull a puce colored sweater over my head but it shrunk as she struggled with it. I was not allowed dinner that night. Another time, Aunt Petunia gave me an awful bob-styled haircut because she doesn't like my curls. The next morning, my hair had grown back out to the middle of my back. I spent a week in my cupboard for that.
We pile into Uncle Vernon's new car and head off for the zoo. This is the first time I've ever gone anywhere besides for school trips. Uncle Vernon starts to rant about motorcycles when one zooms past us. I get a flash of a shiny red one flying against the stars and then a man with a barking laugh and wide grin. I have had this dream for years along with the one I have when I hug my stuffed stag, Prongs. In that one, a man with crazy black hair and glasses holds me close while a woman with red hair and green eyes sings a lullaby. I pretend that they are my parents. My relatives always try to throw Prongs away when they find him but he's always right back in my cupboard when I wake in the morning.
Uncle Vernon pulls into a parking space after complaining about how far away from the entrance it is. Piers Polkiss waits outside the entrance with his mother. The rat-faced boy winks at me and I shudder. Piers is Dudley's best friend, and he seriously creeps me out. I'm going to have to stay away from them here.
We walk around the different animal exhibits all morning. Dudley complains about not watching the predators in action. I mentally complain about not being allowed to shove him into the big cat habitat and watch them stalk him. Dudley starts whining about his stomach so we all head into the zoo restaurant. Aunt Petunia orders a small salad for the two of us. When the waitress discovers that it is Dudley's birthday, they brought out ice cream for the whole table! It was delicious.
After finishing our lunch, I am in an excellent mood. Piers spots the reptile house and excitedly drags Dudley inside. I watch as they try to get the poor anaconda's attention but he snoozed through them pounding on the glass.
"How boring!" Dudley whines. "I thought snakes would be more fun."
"Dudley! Over here! This lizard is being fed!" I hear Piers shout from further along. The Dursleys and Mrs. Polkiss head towards them while I step up to the snake's cage.
"Hello there. It must be horrible to have people pounding on your glass and staring all the time," I murmur quietly. I have always liked animals, except rats. I agree with Aunt Petunia about the nasty things. To my shock the snake raises its head and nods at me! It couldn't understand me, could it?
"It must be terribly lonely too, seeing all these people with each other. I know what it is like to wish for a friend. Were you born here?"
The snake shakes its head and points toward the sign with its tail. At the bottom of the sign, I read Born and raised in captivity. I sighed.
"So you've always been caged and never free. I wish you could see your true home," I say quietly. Tears are pricking my eyes in sympathy. The snake sways a bit then rears its head back just before I receive a hard punch to the ribs. I immediately fall to the ground and try to catch my breath while clutching my ribs.
"Wow! Look at the snake! It's hissing and looks like it will attack!" Dudley and Piers have their ugly faces smashed up against the glass. I wish the glass wasn't there. I wonder if they would be so excited then.
The glass vanishes and the boys fall in! I watch the snake glide down their bodies as they shriek in terror. The crowd starts running franticly for the exits as the snake hits the ground. Uncle Vernon is trying to bully his way toward Dudley while Aunt Petunia wails from her spot near the exit and a white-faced Mrs. Polkiss grips her arm.
"Thanks amiga! I am free! Brazil here I come!" I swear I hear as the snake slithers past me. In shock, I watch it go. No, I decide. That was my imagination. The zookeeper keeps asking where the glass went and refunded our trip. Dudley and Piers were silent until we reach the Polkiss car. Then Piers signed my death sentence.
"Jamie was talking to the snake when we came up to it, wasn't she Dudley?" Piers looks at me expectantly. I merely close my eyes.
After the Polkisses drive away, Uncle Vernon clamps his hand down on the back of my neck. His face is purple. Aunt Petunia hugs Dudley closer to her. He throws me into the car and we drive home.
"Listen here, you freak! You won't be coming out of that cupboard again until summer! No more funny business or I'll drive you to the orphanage myself," Uncle Vernon rages as he drags me from the car by my hair and throws me into my cupboard. "Now not a single noise out of you or it will be just as long until you can eat again!" He locks my cupboard shut.
I silently change into my nightgown and lay on my cot. I cuddle Prongs close to me and let tears fall silently. The image of the couple pops into my mind and I allow the lullaby to soothe me to sleep.