It was an early June morning in the suburban outskirts of Boise, Idaho.
Randy Veltman didn't try to hide his annoyance as he loaded the suitcases into the back of his black SUV, grunting in annoyance rather than exertion as he listened to his wife, Norma, fritter about behind him. He must have been either bored or particularly weak to have agreed to her idiotic and expensive plan for a 'second honeymoon'. Randy was content with his life, work hard during the week and come home to a full meal and later a beer to nurse until sleep, with the weekends reserved for ballgames, fishing trips and more beer. It was just a waste of time doing all this packing and money going somewhere he didn't even like! The only saving grace was that his friend Carl and his wife were coming along, and Randy hoped the women would entertain themselves while he and Carl slipped off to a strip club or three.
"Oh Randy, it's just going to be wonderful! I know we'll have a great time on this trip! Don't you think so?" Norma's voice was shrill and echoed off the walls of the two car garage as she brought out the last of the travel cases, setting them beside Randy's trunk-like legs before stepping back and staring at the broad, flannel wearing giant that quickly loaded them on top of the other three suitcases.
"Norma, right now the only thing I can think about is the giant gaping hole in our bank account where money used to be. I don't see why you chose Las Vegas. We could have saved a ton of money if you'd just let me pick the place" Randy turned to face Norma, staring down at her much smaller form as he closed the SUV's back hatch.
"Well, I don't want to smell like fish or get bitten by bugs. Las Vegas is fun! I promise, we'll have a great time!" Norma's voice was almost too happy, as if she was trying to convince herself of what she had said, but Randy paid this no mind. He simply rolled his eyes and walked past her, out of the garage and into the kitchen, the door slamming shut behind him.
"I just want you to give it a chance..." Norma whispered to herself, hearing the telltale sounds of Randy pulling a beer out of the fridge, his heavy footfalls fading away deeper into the modest two story house that her family had lived in for fourteen years. She just wanted to keep it that way, Norma was grasping at any straws she could find to keep her from leaving Randy, and this was the very last thing she could think of.
'Maybe' she thought 'He'll have so much fun he'll forget himself' The long suffering housewife though to herself as she followed through the door shrotly after. One downside, outside of Randy's negative attitude that it, was inviting Carl and Jennifer along for the ride. While Norma like Jennifer somewhat, the younger woman's mannerisms and abrasive attitude towards his wife long a foul taste in her mode.
Speaking of which, with a slam of a door acrss the street, Norma heard the distinct sound of a door slamming. Walking over to one of the window slats in the garage door, she was greeting by the greatly mismatched pair of the Fischels leaving their house across the street and headed for hers. Carl, as usual, was lugging more than his fair share of the baggage on his small frame while Jennifer clipped across the pavement in the latest fashions that upper middle class fashion allowed her to buy. And both of them looked unhappy, though Norma wasn't quite sure if that was just the almost comical amount of bags Carl was carrying or just a general look of unhappiness. As their husbands were best friends (or, Norma sometimes wondered, boss and minion) Norma knew about the stresses that Jennifer found herself under. During couples night or seemingly endless fishing vacations or cleaning up dinner while their husbands drank beer in front of a football game, both wives had confided in each other. Jennifer feeling trapped in a marriage of convenience more than a marriage of love, and Norma desperately trying to keep hers from fading away.
The two women were friends, more or less, though Norma did resent Jennifer being so self-centered and general unwillingness to talk about Norma's problems. But Norma didn't have anyone else that understood what she was going through. Just the PTA momsquad and her old, now distant friends through Facebook.
"At least we'll be able to distract each other if this goes wrong..." Norma said as she hit the hit, causing the garage door to start it's slow, noisy crawl open and giving a forcibly cheerful wave hello.
_
Meanwhile, on the otherwise empty second story of the Veltman home, Laura Veltman was busy checking all of the window locks, lightbulbs and everything else the sixteen year old girl was being expected to take care of while her mom and dad were in Las Vegas. It was summer, so at least she didn't have to worry about having to get both of them ready for school in the mornings, but still, Laura had a lot on her mind, as did her brother.
Her eight year old brother Jonah sat on the top step of the stairs and tapped listlessly away on his tablet, waiting for the inevitable parade of goodbyes before he was left alone with his sister for a week. Jonah loved his sister and wasn't afraid or angry he had to spend a week following her rules, but it was the reason why his parents were going on the trip that made him feel uneasy. And the fact that Laura clearly knew but wasn't telling him made him frustrated.
"So, Squirt" Laura said, finally finished with her preparatory chores and taking a seat on the stairs beside him, "I was thinking pizza and Iron Man tonight? I bet if we start at the beginning we can watch ALL of the superhero movies by the time mom and dad get home!"
"I don't care" Jonah pouted, sticking his head further into his tablet, tapping away at some mindless game.
"Oh come on, it'll be fun! Maybe, if you keep it a secret, we'll invite Lindsey and Brandon over and we can play video games on dad's big TV~" Laura said, her voice playful and singsongy as she tried to lift her little brother's spirits, even if she was hiding the same general feeling of helplessness and fear on the inside. She was rewarded with Jonah's face lighting up with a hushed "Really!?" as she lifted him out of his mood.
"Yeah little bro, mom and dad arent't the only ones who get to have fun this week! But you gotta keep it all a secret!" Laura said as she brought him in for a big sisterly hug.
She wasn't blind to her parent's dissolving marriage and the way her dad more or less ignored the three of them. Sure she knew that on some level her dad loved her and Jonah, but it had been a very long time since Laura had last heard him say "I love you" to any extent to any of them. And she'd seen mom trying not to cry when Laura had asked about the possibility of a divorce last month. Unless Jonah directly asked, she wasn't going to say anything about the looming divorce, and she was determined to make this week a fun one for him. If things didn't go the way mom wanted them to go in Vegas, it could be the last enjoyable one that Jonah would have for a long time.
Laura tussled Jonah's hair and gave him a quick big sister tickle as he ran off to his room, a huge smile on his face. As soon as he was out of earshot Laura's own smile faded and she rested her head in her hands.
"I just wish that something would happen this week to fix this mess!" She whispered, and wiped back a stray tear as she heard the garage door opening and Mrs. Fischel call out to her mother.
Little did Laura know that her words would set loose a chain of events that would change everyone's lives, for better or for worse. Something flickered on the back porch of reality and the screen door that divided the realm of the impossible from the possible was flung open as a nameless force that some would call 'magic' filled the Veltman house and everyone in it. Laura had extended an invitation of sorts, the right combination of words and emotion that made the veil thin enough for 'magic' to make it's way into our world. And although it wasn't 'intelligent' like Laura or any human, it was not mindless. It was brought into this reality to serve a purpose.
It spread itself through every inch of the Veltman house, feeling the emotion and the history within it's walls, experiencing decades within the span of a few seconds and feeling completely sympathetic to the families within. With a flash of light visible only to those able to see 'magic', it decided to grant the young human's wish by bonding itself to her, the younger human, and all four of the older humans.
And although the intentions of 'Magic' were very well meaning, it's actions had an adverse affect on reality that would change all of their lives forever.
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