The Quirky Tale of April Hale (Quirky Series #1)

BONUS CHAPTER: The Throwback Tale of Ryder Black

The Throwback Tale of Ryder Black

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Age 6

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This is the day he first realised that his father was not the kind of man he thought he would. In his long six years old of living (hey, when dogs are six, they're considered middle age, okay?) his Dad has been a figure of the highest paramount. His dad provided him everything: his knowledge, his laughter, his food, his Christmas gift.

But this year, His father finally showed that he was not the daily-dose of Santa Claus he thought he would be. He was just human.

His father wanted the family to move to a different house.

Ryder had grown to love the old house. He loved his crib, he loved the dents, the fireplace, the slightly musty smell coming from the laundry. Most of all, he loved that it was the very first place he got to memorise.

And then Daddy wanted him to erase all that hard-earned memories and replace it with new ones.

It doesn't help that the new House is uglier, too. It felt like a legitimate downgrade. A knockoff, just like Ryder's this year's Christmas gift. Last year he got the latest, biggest LEGO package. Now, he only got the China-version. They didn't stick well and the colors were off (Spiderman was supposed to be blue and red, not teal and orange).

Daddy started coughing again, and Ryder knew that it was his cue to stop hanging upside down in the inflatable pool.

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Age 6 and a quarter

Ryder first saw her today.

It had been a really boring day. Like usual, his pre-school teacher always forced the whole class to nap after lunch. Who would be that lazy to nap after lunch (Later Ryder would forever regret on that thought and wished that his boss would let him nap after lunchtime) ?! There was this girl Sally in his class who kept following him, and he took a really great Gundam from one of his boy classmates. The boy didn't fight him or anything, and simply cried when Ryder took the toy, which made it extra boring.

And then he saw her.

The girl who lived beside his house was pretty. She had long, brown hair that was straight and silky, just like melted milk-chocolate. She had huge eyes, the size of Ryder's favourite ketchup saucepan. When she smiled, her whole teeth were showing, and Ryder liked that, because it showed sincerity, and because most of the girls in his class had really bad teeth.

And then the neighbour girl noticed him, and called him onto her. Blushing, staggering, but ultimately steeling himself, Ryder walked onto her and introduced himself.

"What a brave young man!" the neighbour girl exclaimed, bringing more red onto Ryder's cheeks. "I'm Meredith, would you like to meet my kids, April and Quentin?"

Ryder was still smitten, so he neither nod or shake his head. A few minutes later, a miniature version of Meredith came out. Same milk-chocolate hair, same saucepan-sized eyes, same bone-thin wrists. Ryder shook her hand, but she never met him in the eyes.

"Come on, say your name," Meredith coerced her daughter.

"I'm April," the miniature Meredith spoke softly. "N-Nice to meet you."

Ryder decided that he liked the small version of Meredith better.

What was the name again?

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