Chapter two- The Zoo

Nearly ten years after Reyna was delivered to the Dursley's you would find there is a young girl in a cupboard under the stairs asleep with the lightning shaped scar on her forehead.

I wake up to the sound of someone rapping on the door. "Up. Get up," Petunia's shrill voice orders me. She knocks again, "Now!" Wow, I really hate her voice in the morning. I slowly sat up, rubbing my eyes as I'm still partially sleepy and put on my round glasses that I've only ever had as Uncle Vernon won't let me visit the optician to either sort my eyes out or get a new pair of glasses. I was trying to remember the dream I was having, it was quite a good one: a flying motorcycle with a flash of green light. I was sure that I'd had it before.

I then hear the sound of footsteps running down the stairs I live under before the person whom I know to be my fat cousin Dudley jumps on one, causing dust to fall on top of me. I'm quite used to dust and spiders unlike most girls who would scream at the sight of them. Once at school Dudley and his gang of friends, bullies the lot of them, had found a spider and placed it in a girl's frizzy brown hair. The girl had screamed, alerting me to the situation. I always felt an injustice at what Dudley did to people. I let the spider crawl onto my hand and let it out the window. This caused me a round of punches and teases from Dudley and his friends for messing up their fun. I've had a lot of that punishment from Dudley and Uncle Vernon the past ten years I've lived here. None of them like me.

When I was really young I only ever knew my name to be freak and nothing else till I was four years old.

I don't know why they dislike me so much though I suppose it's because of the odd things that happen around me. Once at school Dudley and his gang had cornered me but I really didn't want to get beaten up that day so I managed to run away from them. I had run round the school and jumped up on some bins. At the time I was thinking that I had to get away and suddenly found myself on the roof. I caused a ruckus for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia and was sent to my cupboard for weeks before I was let out again. I heard the two talking about needing to beat out that freak nature.

"Wake up, cousin! We're going to the zoo!" Dudley said, bringing me out of my not so pleasant memories of when I was younger. Dudley laughed and ran down the rest of the stairs.

How could I forget, the zoo? Oh joy! It's Dudley's birthday today. I put on a pair of socks and still dressed in my plain red pyjamas, I try to get out of my cupboards but found my way blocked by Dudley who grabbed my hair and shoved me back into the cupboard. Why do I get the feeling that everything's going to go wrong today?

I rub my head, it hurting where Dudley had nearly scratched me with his uneven nails and walked into the kitchen to find Petunia cooking the breakfast. Sometimes she does the breakfast and other times order me to do it. I have to do all the chores around the rest of the house as well, every day. Sometimes I even get asked to help out the neighbours. You would have thought I might be quite muscular from dong those tasks but I hardly get fed so I am now skinny for my age with my clothes hanging off me as Petunia doesn't like getting me new clothes. She prefers wasting Uncle Vernon's money on the spoiled son Dudley.

"Oh, here he comes, the birthday boy!" said Aunt Petunia.

I see that Dudley has gone to his mother and is being hugged and kissed on both cheeks by her, both of them smiling and laughing before they see me at the doorway, their faces changing into a scowl of annoyance and disgust.

I turn to see Uncle Vernon, the meanest person on the planet sitting at the table next to the living room. "Happy birthday, son," he grinned at Dudley before carrying on reading the newspaper which he does every morning.

"Why don't you just cook the breakfast, and try not to burn anything," Petunia growls at me. Ah, so she's making me cook breakfast today.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," it's easier to just agree because then I won't have to miss any meals, be locked in my cupboards for days or get a beating, maybe all three. You would think people would go easier if you're a girl but they don't.

I see that she's already put the bacon in the saucepan and set to work flipping the slices over.

I saw Petunia cover Dudley's eyes as she manoeuvred him over to his huge pile of presents. I saw them as I came in. The pile gets bigger and more ridiculous every year. Once Dudley got an exercise bike that he never used. I don't understand the point of that. Sometimes whenever they left me alone I would use the Television and play some of Dudley's games or go upstairs to a whole room filled with Dudley's toys that had a few books that I would read.

"I want everything to be perfect for my Dudley's special day," Petunia smiled happily at the thought.

"Hurry up! Bring my coffee, girl!" Uncle Vernon shouted at me angrily. I forgot about that.

"Yes, Uncle Vernon."

Petunia lets go of Dudley's eyes and he stares at his presents before turning to his father. He doesn't look happy. "How many are there?"

"Thirty six, counted 'em myself."

"Thirty-six?!" Dudley shouted. Yep, he's a spoiled brat. "But last year last year I got thirty-seven!"

"Yes, well, some of them are quite a bit bigger than last year!"

"I don't care how big they are!"

Petunia crouched down and patted his shoulder, speaking nervously, "Oh, now, now, now. This is what we're going to do, is that when we go out we're going to buy you two new presents! How's that, Pumpkin?" Pumpkin describes Dudley perfectly; he's so greedy and fat, just like a pumpkin.

~RP~

We all get ready, me getting into some worn out grey soft cotton trousers, worn out trainers and a plain dark green long sleeve top that hung off me somewhat. My dark brown hair that was almost black and waist length, and was an uncontrolled mess of curls starting underneath my shoulders was let down. A few times when I went to the hairdressers and had it cut I noticed that the next day my hair had grown again. The Dursley's gave up after a few times. I had bright green eyes, pale skin and a weird lightning bolt shaped scar on the right hand side of my forehead. It's strange; I've had it ever since I could remember. I tried asking Aunt Petunia about it but she just told me off for asking stupid questions and to not ask it again.

We all head to Uncle Vernon's silver car. I go to get in but am stopped by Uncle Vernon who pulls me a way a bit.

"This will be a lovely day at the zoo. I'm really looking forward to it," Petunia says as she and Dudley get in the car (Petunia in the passenger seat and Dudley behind her).

"I'm warning you now, girl. Any funny business, any at all, and you won't have any meals for a week. Get in." And the blame always will fall to me.

~RP~

It was after lunch now and it was getting pretty hot so Petunia wanted to go to the reptile house which was supposed to be shady and cool. We had seen monkeys, birds, lamas, rhinos and many more animals. I was having a great time since I don't usually, if at all, get to go to places like this. I was even offered an ice lolly when the lady who was serving asked me if I would like one when she saw that only Dudley got one. Aunt Petunia grudgingly got me a small lemon lolly. It wasn't much but I've learnt to appreciate the little things in life and thought it was fantastic.

We head inside the Reptile house where it was indeed cool and dark. We walked up to a huge snake. Dudley got right up to the glass, pressing his nose against it before he said to his dad, "make it move."

Uncle Vernon raps his knuckles against the glass of the cage, "move!"

Dudley raps the glass even harder, and even Vernon winces. That had got to hurt. Not that I cared tough. "Move!" he shouted at it.

"He's asleep!" I told him, couldn't he see that? The snake had his eyes closed. But I should know by now that Dudley is quite the dumb boy.

Dudley sighed, annoyed, "he's boring."

I shook my head at him as the family walked away, I don't count myself as part of their family. He had been really rude and nasty to the snake.

"Sorry about him," I say to the snake. "He doesn't understand what it's like, lying there day after day, having people press their ugly faces in on you." I wonder if it's worse than my life.

The snake suddenly lifts its head up, looks at me and winks.

Wow! That did just happen?! "Can you...hear me?" I ask it. The snake nods its big head. "It's just...I've never talked to a snake before. Do you...I mean...do you talk to people often?" The snake shakes its head, no. I didn't really think so. "You're from Burma, aren't you? Was it nice there, do you miss your family?" The snake turns its head in the direction of a sign on the right which says, 'Bred in Captivity'. I feel sorry for the snake. "I see. That's me as well. I never knew my parents, either." I've been living with the Dursley's all my life. They told me my parents died in a car crash.

Just then I was pushed to the floor by Dudley, which hurt, who had noticed the snake was now awake and had come to look at it, pressing his body to the glass. "Mummy, dad, come here! You won't believe what this snake is doing!" Dudley shouts to them.

I glare at him from the ground, thinking how funny it would be if Dudley was in the cage and locked in there instead of the snake. As suddenly as I thought that, the glass disappeared. Dudley fell into a small pond getting him soaked. He choked, sputtering water out of his mouth. I was shocked, how did that happen? It couldn't have been me, could it?

We both watched as the snake slithers out of the exhibit, stopping in front of me once its whole body was out.

"Thanksssssssss," the snake actually spoke!

"Anytime." I watch as it leaves the enclosure, leaving everybody screaming in its wake. Everybody either left or tried to find high ground.

I look up to see Dudley get up to get out but can't as the glass had somehow returned. I can't believe it, I thought, starting to smile. He is stuck.

He started to pound the glass with his fists. "Mum, mummy!"

Petunia turns and sees him, "ahhhhhhh!"

"Mum, help! Help me!"

She starts trying to find a way in. "My darling boy! How did you get in there?!"

I grin and chuckle, this was quite funny to watch, nothing bad ever happens to Dudley. It seems he's gotten a taste of his own medicine.

However, I then see Uncle Vernon glare down at me and my grin disappears as I can guess that he's thinking it has something to do with me being a freak. Great, I wonder what my punishments going to be.

Petunia continues screaming, "Who did this? How did you get in there? Is there a snake?" Petunia is as dumb as her son. Can't she see there is no snake?

~RP~

We drive back to the house after being apologised to profusely by the manager of the zoo. Uncle Vernon was fuming and Aunt Petunia was fussing over Dudley who was making a way to big a deal of the incident with the snake. I still have no idea how it happened. Dudley looked even more like a pig wrapped up in blankets the way he was I noticed as Aunt Petunia helped him inside. "It's all right. It's all right," Petunia was saying to him, calming him down.

As soon as I get in with Uncle Vernon he slams the door shut and grabs my hair tighter then Dudley did earlier. He then shoved me against the wall. "Ow!" that really hurts.

"What happened?" Uncle Vernon shouted in my face.

It won't make a difference what I say, he won't listen to me. "I swear I don't know! One minute the glass was there and then it was gone! It was like magic!"

He shoves me into my closet room, closes the door in my face and opens a small latch on the door. "There's no such thing as magic!" before he slams it shut and stomps away.