Moonlight Magic

Chapter 3

"It's Dudders' seventh birthday today and I don't want to see hide nor hair of you, got it?"
The small boy nodded meekly, dwarfed by the giraffe in front of him.
"Yes Aunt Petunia, I vill be in zee library for zee vole day."
A grimace was all Freak was rewarded with as he turned and walked out of the spotless house. He had to stay up most of the night to finish cleaning whatever his Aunt wanted him to, because she needed Dudley's birthday to be perfect.
"It neets to be perfect efery yeer. Zey alvays demant perfection. I can't take it anymore. I just vish I could get avay from here." Freak cut off his grumbling when he noticed he was about to enter the library and decided to change what he normally did. Waving to the librarian, Freak took a left instead of a right in one of the isles and walked to the maps section. The Birth of a Pirate would have to wait, he was going to plan his escape.

-

Seeing a shooting star in the waning light, hope filled the little body of a boy. Freak wished again for freedom, the ability to leave his past behind and reach for the stars without chains holding him down against the ground, before bustling back into his relatives' house to make dinner.

-

Reading up on maritime piracy laws, with a dictionary in hand, Freak was delighted to find that there were little restrictions in Somalia. He just needed to figure out how to get there now.

-

"Dudley, did you grab some money from my wallet earlier today?"
A fat pig walked into a human house with a popsicle in his mouth and a paper bag wrapped loosely around his hand. "What Dad?"
Vernon took a few moments to put the picture in front of him together before his pudgy face morphed into a painful-looking smile. "That'a boy, son. Gettin' your money's worth. I like it."
The pig, apparently a human named Dudley, just blinked stupidly as a dribble of popsicle fell down his many chins.

-

Dudley could have sworn he put his allowance in his wallet, in this pile, but maybe it was in a different pile. This was the... Dudley paused as he tried to remember when he had last lost his wallet. He had lost track, but this had happened too many times this month for the boy's liking.
Dudley's thoughts quickly washed away though, as he suddenly found the jersey he had lost three months ago. It still had the strawberry milkshake stain on it.

-

Petunia smiled as she looked through her jewelry box, sunlight dazzling off all of the precious rocks inside. She remembered every piece she bought and received from Vernon. All forty-seven pieces of pearls, diamonds, rubies, and sapphires.
Counting them with a satisfied air, Petunia quickly grew panicked when she only counted forty-five. Where was her simple gold bracelet and diamond flower ring?!
Thinking back to the day she last remembered wearing them, Petunia slowly relaxed as she realized her Dudders had probably taken them. He had had her riffle through one of his piles to get a certain jacket out for him, and they must have slipped off when she withdrew her hand. Petunia just knew she had needed to get that ring resized. Dudley had probably kept them for himself so he would have something to remember his Mummy with when he was off with his friends. How sweet of her little boy.

-

Freak smiled mischievously as he turned Dudley's new computer on, the bright light illuminating his swollen face. It was rather late in the night and he ran the risk of being discovered and enraging Vernon even more, but it would be worth it if he could get some much-needed information. Over the past month he had gathered up enough pounds to buy a nice bike, but he didn't actually know how much sailing to Somalia would cost. The library couldn't tell you anything about possible cruise lines, and Freak needed to know so he could buy a ticket.
After a few minutes of figuring out how to work the electronic device, Freak hit gold, but it was a bittersweet find, as he realized he needed to get a lot more money than he currently had, which was only roughly two hundred pounds. The cheapest sailing ticket Freak could figure was listed at four hundred and fifty pounds.
Quietly turning everything off and putting Dudley's things back into the disorganized mess they were before he was here, Freak glumly snuck out of Dudley's room and back to his tiny room. It was time to up his game.

-

Freak smiled through the pain in his ribs as he held a little ball of fluff-on-a-stick in front of him. He had overheard Aunt Petunia telling Dudley that wishes came true if they were put on a dandelion before being blown into the air, and Freak really wanted his wish to come true. Please, he thought, please let me have the power to leave my relatives behind forever. And with a puff, his wish flew off into the wind.