There's No Such Thing As Magic -- the life of Vernon Dursley

chapter one

 ~ Young Vernon ~

         Machinery and drills filled my head. My life revolved around the clinking and clacking of Grunnings, the drill company in which my father worked at. I would lie away at night the pounding sound of metal etched into my skull. My life at Grunnings was like my life at home. 

Except when it wasn't. 

      Grunnings was almost like a haven for me. Almost. Ellenore was there; father's assistant. She was nice and gave me candy and let me do my homework with her. She was friends with mum; and for the oddest reason I felt pity for my father, seeing it almost as if Ellenores' friendship with mum was better than her relationship with her own husband. Father wanted me to call him "Dad". 'C'mon, kiddo! You don't have to be afraid! I think our relationship would blossom even more if you started using the word "dad" even more! Give it a try!'; he would say. 

   He wanted me to call him Dad. Dad. The name felt sticky and sweet on my tongue, like the residue left over after holding a peppermint candy just a little too long. It also felt lost- foreign almost. I was not going to use it. Ever. It was also the fact that he tried to act like everything was okay. Like I didn't notice the oh-so-careful way he placed a single kiss on Ellenore's cheek every morning. Sometimes it missed and landed on her lips instead. She acted surprised and father feigned shock then would let out an awkward chuckle once he realized I was standing behind him. 

   "Mark, you have a wife!" Ellenore would joke. I think the word wife was just as new and strange to father as the word dad was to me. Like the woman called Susanna living in our house was just a maid and not the one bearing a diamond ring that father bought her. 

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      Father was from America. Mum said that he was brought over by a lovely ship bearing immigrants from all over the world. Whatever part of the world he was from probably was not a very good one. I wonder if I ever go to America the people there will be just as boring and bat-shit insane as he is. Most likely. 

  No matter how many times I told myself I hated Father, I always wanted to hear the story of how my parents met. I was a sucker for romance; probably because I knew that I would never get one. Father said it was because I was too fat and ugly for girls to like me. For once, he tells the truth. 

 Mum and fathers meeting was what most people would call boring- I loved it. Father had just arrived from the ship, and was looking for a place to stay until he found residence. He decided to stop by at the local cafe, 'Aroma Mocha'. My Mum happened to sitting there, and then she laid eyes on my to-be Father. 

 She described him as "The most gorgeous man that America or England has ever seen." I did not know Mum had a thing for overweight men with beefy hands. Father said the same thing about her, and they hit it off. Now he just hits her. 

  The screaming is the one thing that gets me. High loud pitches break through the silent blanket of cool and calm that the night brings. Fathers becoming a drunkard, I think. Every night he comes home with at least one bottle of alcohol in his arms. He carries the glass like it's a baby; precious and full of love. If beer didn't exist, father wouldn't either. 

 And every night, mum tells him to stop bringing them home. She says that they're ruining his lungs. She says that he won't be around much longer if she keeps drinking the piss-colored liquid. He calls it his ambrosia. Eventually, Mums scolding turns into screaming and father ends up hitting her. Usually with his hands or with the closest thing to him- probably a beer bottle. When the glass shatters, that's when I cover my head with a pillow and hope that I'll be able to make it to tomorrow. 

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Hi everyone! Thank you so so much for reading this first chapter of There's no such thing as magic!!! It means the world to be that you're here! I would love to hear feedback on this<3 Also sorry about this being such a short first chapter- More to come soon ;)