Lizzy moved into the semi-detached house next door. She was 8 and Joel was 9. It started out as ordinary muggle friendship. Until magic came into the picture and they had a whole journey together. They fell in love along the way, even in the middle...
There was never a flying broomstick or a self cleaning sponge. No wands. No unicorns. No alohomora... what even is alohomora? What's that supposed to mean? Joel Lisbon grew up in a very muggle life.
Despite such a normal upbringing, there was nothing normal about him. Like when he was five years old when he had changed a rock into a bouncing ball in his backyard! Or when he had a piece of paper, it changed into a paper shaped bird!
No one would believe him. No one in his muggle world would see anything extraordinary to what he could do. No one believed him when he said that he could make objects fly. Not even two of his close friends, Bobby and Cole, would see it.
The weirdness. The big helluva madness. It was driving him in silent oddity and confusion. Things happened, but no one, not ever, had ever believed him. So, he learned to keep it to himself.
He ignored the weird things.
***
Joel's home was a semi-detached house, located somewhere in Reading, Berkshire.
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His family shared half of a house building with a neighbouring couple who were selling their part of the house to move abroad. The house had two floors divided into two homes. It wasn't too big, but it wasn't smaller than two rowhouses. Two front doors were at each ends of the house; two garages was divided by a thick wall; a wide driveway connected to the main road; and lush trees were by the driveway.
Thick high wooden fences surrounded thebackyard and divided the respective two homes. There was a gate in the middle divider fence to connect each homes if they were so willing to meet. The two backyards were wide enough for a grown adult to cartwheel. And one bulky tree was on one backyard of the selling section of the house.
***
New neighbours bought the house! The Clarks. The Clarks moved into the house next door this morning.
Joel's stay-at-home mum was delighted when she saw them from the living room window. She could see them busily getting the boxes on the driveway into the house.
And the Clarks had a daughter around Joel's age of eight. It would be nice for Joel, mum thought, to have a friend for Joel to hang out in the house. Mum knew as well that Joel's dad would be as eager to meet with the Clarks if only he wasn't drafted for the army this year.
The cardboard boxes were no longer in the driveway. Mum took a deep breath. She took this opportunity to go with Joel; to meet the new neighbours. On her hands was a gift that she made herself. She stood in front of their front door and pushed a bell.
