Handsome

Hi dave,

Thanks for you rsubmissionHandsome (Chapter 1)

By Dave McMillan

"Life's a bitch and then you die," said Ray as his Uncle Thomas started again. "Did you know that Ray was such an ugly baby that the midwife didn't know whether to slap his backside or his face, there just wasn't much difference you see", the guests laughed.

Ray hated parties, especially when Uncle Thomas dropped by. Uncle Thomas continued, "When Ray went to school, it was the other children's mothers who cried when they left their children at the school gates". "They saw Ray and screamed". Unfortunately for Ray this was true, he had put the fear of God into the mothers. The children were more forgiving, or had been until Ray had reached puberty.

On his first day at High School some of the senior boys had chained him to a filthy toilet in the Sixth Form house. Uncle Thomas was just finishing, "Yes they chained him to a filthy toilet, they wanted a mascot for the Form Year and he looked like a dog, so why not!" More laughter. This would go on until Uncle Thomas became too pissed to put a coherent sentence together.

Raymond's mother smiled at her son, Rosie had grown accustomed to her brother's cruel ways. However she knew that standing up against him was useless. She still remembered the bruises from the last beating he had given her. Her Brother's influence on them was absolute. He had housed them in one of his flats and he was a shocking Landlord, but beggars couldn't be choosers. So twenty years later saw both Rosie and Raymond still under the forceful guardianship of his Uncle Thomas.

Ray watched the last of the guests leave. Before going to bed he stared at his sleeping Uncle. "You fat bastard," he said. As Ray walked away, he turned and said " I hope you die soon you fat fuck". Such crude language came easily to Ray, he had heard far worse. Once upstairs he popped into his mother's room and saw that she was sleeping. He kissed her gently on the cheek and went to bed.

Raymond Smith had been born with a severe harelip and a terrible squint in his left eye. This had been his only crime. He had undergone several operations and now he had a twisted top lip and wore spectacles. His left nostril was longer than his right and there you have it. He was no oil painting but his appearance did not warrant such cruelty from the man sleeping downstairs.

As Raymond drifted off he thought, "What If I had been born handsome?"

The dream was weird, it was both real and unreal, shifting colours and flowing objects. He was in a room without walls or was it an open space with walls? Ray thought it looked like a Doctors waiting room, but the room was unusual in appearance. Something he could not easily put his finger on. It was very hot with gushers of steam appearing from the floor and he had to keep moving his legs to avoid them.

Ray wasn't impressed, if this was a Doctors Surgery there was a lot of screaming going on. A nurse appeared and called his name, "Raymond Smith, room 666 please".

Ray was in a room, he was seated and it was probably room number 666, but he had not seen the door and what's more he did not remember leaving the Waiting Room.