Sunday rolled around sooner than Amaryllis wanted, but it also meant Monday was a day closer. And she anticipated to send the letter sitting up in their nightstand drawer out sooner than later. Though, getting it past Uncle Vernon would be a task in itself.
“Good morning, Aunt Petunia.” She internally cringed buttering up to their Aunt. It was better than having them watch her like a hawk. It was a given when it became Dudley’s birthday. Today was different than most. Aunt Petunia had decided to bring him to the Zoo, which meant, against their wishes, they had to tag along. And the Zoo meant an aquarium. Albeit, small, but it was better than nothing. She could stand in front of the glass and watch the sea creatures swim around all day. She felt as if they listened half the time when she talked, though that was something else she probably made up.
“Morning.”
That was the only response she received.
She quickly grabbed a few pieces of bacon and headed to the table as Dudley seemed to make a fuss over the stack of presents in the living room. Uncle Vernon seemed to be trying to calm him down and tell him how some were bigger than the others, but as she guessed… it did nothing.
Dudley was not having it.
Spoiled little pig.
Amaryllis watched it unfold as she nibbled on her bacon. Harry sat down next to her to eat before their Aunt and Uncle caught on. They were given food, yes, but barely enough to sustain their selves. She was surprised she didn’t look like a twig at that point.
“Dudley, dear,” her Aunt spoke up, coming to Dudley’s side. “We’ll get you something when we go out to make up for it. How is that?”
“You better,” Dudley stomped, crossing his arms. “I had forty-nine last year. I should have fifty this year. It doesn’t matter how big they are.”
You’re right. It’s a matter of how hard they fall. And hopefully it’s all on you. Amaryllis couldn’t help the distaste for her cousin. He was a self-righteous prick that only became more self-centered as they coddled him over the years.
“Ow.” Amaryllis glared at Harry who had pinched her side. His gaze was trained in front of them, complete ignoring her and the action he had just done. She opened her mouth to tell him off, but was stopped when his eyes narrowed at her and flicked in the direction of the living room.
Her gaze turned to meet Uncle Vernon’s glare that was pointed at them. If his face wasn’t rounded with fat and rolled like the play-dough she stole from Dudley when they were little, she might have just recoiled from the hatred in his eyes.
Amaryllis said nothing and kept her face blank until his glare diminished, setting his newspaper down with a sigh.
“Dudley, why don’t you get ready and we can head out?”
Their cousin pointed a pudgy finger in their direction. “Are they comin’ with, father?”
Another heated glare pointed in their direction, yet Amaryllis did nothing because to get banned from going over even a twitch would meant she couldn’t see the sea creatures. “They will, as long as they keep their mouths shut and don’t speak to anyone. Think you can do that?”
Harry piped up monotony. “Yes, Uncle Vernon.”
“Of course.” Amaryllis could have stopped herself there, but her mouth kept spewing words. “It is ever gracious to be in your presence.”
“Keep it up, girl, and you’ll be the only one staying behind and grounded to that room for a week.”
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes had never been harder in that moment. What was a few more hours in that room than they already spent in it? It wasn’t much of a punishment when they were already confined there.
“I’ll be on my best behavior, Uncle.”
Uncle Vernon grumbled, but turned away from her. Dudley huffed a breath of air and left the living room, bumping into Harry on his way out. She knew he wouldn’t take long, but the silence in the living room was tense and awkward enough that she wanted to leave that moment.
Aunt Petunia stared down at the from the bridge of her nose and crossed her arms. Their Uncle bounced to the edge of his recliner and leaned on his knees with his arms. “Don’t mess this up. We are bringing you because we are being nice, though, your remarks should have you stay home. I expect both of you to be on the best behavior you can muster.”
Amaryllis nodded alongside Harry, grateful when she heard the bounding footsteps of Dudley coming down the stairs.
“I’m ready. Can we go?”
“Of course, sweetie. Get in the car.” Their Aunt’s voice changed from sickly sweet to emotionless on a pound when she turned to stare at them. “That means you two, too.”
They didn’t need to be told twice. Anything that got them out of that house, even if it was in their presence for a few hours.
The only problem with leaving, was someone had to sit beside Dudley and Amaryllis was glad, yet felt horrible Harry took that upon himself when they walked out before she could ask to play rock, paper, scissors for it.
The ride was silent with Dudley doing most of the talking, as usual. Their Aunt and Uncle talked about anything under the Sun and sang along horribly to the music they listened to. She was surprised her ears didn’t hurt by the time they reached the Zoo. It was the last time their Uncle took them to the side and made sure they knew not to do anything stupid while there.
As if. Amaryllis mentally rolled her eyes. What could they possibly do at a Zoo to mess up?
“We’ll stay out of your site.”
“Good. Be back here by two o’clock, got it?”
Harry nodded, grabbed her hand and pulled her away from their relatives.
“What do you wanna see first?” Harry asked.
“You first.”
“Lissie,” Harry grumbled. “I don’t know why I even asked. The aquarium, right? That’s where we’ll go first and then we can see the reptiles.”
“But, Harry.”
“No.”
It wouldn’t matter if Amaryllis tugged Harry in a different direction. He would have ignored everything until they went to the aquarium first. She loved her brother, truly, but they each tried to put the other first, knowing no one else had. They only had each other in the end.
Any and all guilt for letting Harry drag her to aquarium first became non-existent the moment she walked through the doors. The small tanks filled with little creatures lined the jagged rough walls that spiraled around every which way like a coral reef. Further in, she knew there were bigger swimming pools for creatures larger and just as beautiful as the ones she saw before her.
Amaryllis took a step further in, and them another, until she was directly in front of one of the glass tanks. Her eyes took in everything inside. The dead wood that allowed the fairy basslet to hide away or swim through, to the anemone that swayed. She loved watching them swim, yet hated how they were confined to something small. It was the only heart-wrenching dislike she had for the aquarium. Yet it was the only connection she had to seeing them as they lived no where near the ocean, or even a large lake.
Amaryllis and Harry moved along slowly while she spoke about the tiny facts she knew about the sea creatures they passed, while also attempting to read new information she didn’t know along the way. Not once had Harry complained about the amount of times they stopped. He either listened to her rants, found another thing to look at while she was occupied, or read something for her when he could tell she became frustrated with the words. She knew she huffed and grumbled under her breath when the words wouldn’t form an actual word she could read, and always asking for her brother felt like a loss on her part, so she never did. And yet, she never had too. He always just did.
It was when they got to the large tanks that held the penguins, dolphins, narwhals, larger sea creatures that it took her breath away. All in an awe inspiring way, but also a jolt of pain she couldn’t explain. She tried to ignore it the best she could as she slowly walked along the underground tunnel that viewed directly into the pool of water that housed the dolphins. Above, she could have seen the way they jumped and twisted out of the water, landing with a splash back in, but she didn’t want that. She wanted to see them in their habitat—or at least what was close to it.
The dolphin swam around, spinning and twisting not far from her. And Amaryllis couldn’t help the giggle she let out at the goofiness displayed before her. It acted like it wanted to play, but that was impossible.
The longer she stood there and watched, the closer it got until it swam back and forth in front of her, jolting away quickly and coming right back.
“I’m sorry, girl. I can’t play with you.”
Amaryllis’s eyes widened as she felt sorrow course through her. It didn’t feel like the sorrow she had for denying the creature she couldn’t play with, but the disappointed kind. The kind of being rejected.
Her chest hurt. It ached with a hollowness she couldn’t explain.
“Lissie. What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. It’s like I can tell their disappointed at not being able to play. But that’s crazy, isn’t it Harry? I’m really crazy.”
Harry grasped her shoulder and turned her to face him. His emerald green eyes—so close to her own, yet so different, we’re hardened with unrelenting determination, compassion, and concern. “You are not crazy, Lissie. You never were. Remember that time in school a few years back that I ‘pushed’ someone? Does that make me crazy? No. You just feel for everything and everyone more than most. It makes you a good person, unlike Dudley. Don’t ever mistake empathy for crazy.”
Amaryllis turned her head away from her brother. She raised her hand to the glass, feeling the coolness seep into the tip of her fingers. The dolphin that had been watching her swam back over and tapped the glass with its rostrum. “That doesn’t explain everything else.”
“Does it matter? You’re not hurting anyone. Besides, we’ll figure it out. Maybe that weird school has the answers. Dudley can’t keep a secret for long and he hasn’t nagged us at all about it today.”
Dudley couldn’t. He had never been able to keep something that would get them in trouble for more than a few hours, and it had been a whole day.