Chapter 2 The Flashback

Abigail's Point of view.

"But why can't I read it? You read it don't you?" Six years old Abigail wailed from the backseat of her father's fancy car. She still wondered why it was black and not pink. It should've been pink. Her mother chuckled softly and shook her head.

"Well, honey, I write the novels. You really compare the role of a writer and the reader. They differ. A lot." Her mother said, staring at the rearview mirror. Abigail didn't blink. She wanted her mother to know how serious she was. And an unblinking Abigail was a serious Abigail.

"Why do they differ? What does that even mean?"

Confused, her mother's burrows furrowed. "What does what mean?"

"Differ."

Her mother sighed and only waved her hands in the air a few seconds, in an attempt to explain, before glaring at her father who sat behind the steering wheel, taking the mother-daughter conversation with a smikton on his face. His nose was almost red. He was holding in laughter.

"You know this should definitely be the place where you butt into this conversation. This girl's questions don't ever stop, I need backup already, you should know this."

"She's your daughter." Cackling, he takes his eyes off the road but only for a while.

"She's got the neverending inquisitiveness from you, ya know?"

"Hmm, tell me about it."

Her mother opened her mouth to answer, but Abigail just couldn't take it anymore. She needed answers. And she needed them now, before she forgets, like she always forgets her homework. If her parents were going to be throwing big words around, they should also explain it. "What does differ mean?"

Her mother thought for a while. "Um... You know what the word 'different' means, right, honey?" She nodded. "Great, I want you to take out the last three letters away from 'different', what does that leave you with?"

Abigail quickly flipped her drawing book and grabbed her pencil, bent on getting this task right. Her eyes itched but she paid it no heed. Maybe if she did this right, her parents would finally get rid of the maths teacher who was also obsessed with multiplication tables. "Differ, it leaves you with differ."

Her mother smiled while her father nodded slowly. Impressed. Her father was her favorite, he always gave her candies at night behind her mother's back and he could still throw her in the air. "See, you get it. Differ is taken from different, so it means that things are not similar."

"So, that's what you meant when you said that you and your readers differ?" She said and her mother clapped, excited.

"Yes, yes, Abby. Precisely what I meant."

She paused for a while. "Do I get to read the book now?"

"Still no. Honey, mummy doesn't want you reading things that are not good for you. Not now anyway, definitely another year. Another time. I promise you, you will get too. Alright?"

She nodded, but it didn't douse her curiosity. Not even a bit. "When?"

"When you have grown a little more taller than you are now."

"Okay." She murmured and stared at Fitz. The dog couldn't get enough of the fresh air this road trip brought, his eyes remained closed.

Her mother sighed and relaxed back in her chair. She stared outside the window and then at her father. "I am going to love it here and you are too, I just know it." Her hand hung outside. At that moment she looked like a Barbie Doll.

"I don't know, darling. Don't get me wrong, I like the quietness of the road and I'm not even there yet. I love that there's no traffic, waiting to drive me out of my mind, but at the same time, we're a long way from home. We're a long way from work, and it's just a little bit unnerving. It just keeps making me feel like I'm not prepared and you know how I hate being unprepared."

Her mother rolled her eyes and withdrew her hands back into the car.

"You're not going to say anything?" Her father asked after a while. Her mother shrugged.

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know... Something. Anything. A response, you know that thing that people get when they talk to someone? That's what I would appreciate at this moment." Her father said and laughed alone. Why was he laughing? Nothing was funny.

"You've hardly been with us for a day and you can't wait to get out and go off in front of some camera."

"That's not fair, Isadora. You know that is not true. I love spending time with the both of you, you're my girls and I love you both so much."

"Then act like it. Spend time with us. I mean it was the whole idea why we went ahead and bought a house in a rural town, in the middle of nowhere, where we've never been before. So that we could get quality time with each other, so that you can spend time with Abby. Get to know her a little bit more. A little bit deeper. I don't know if you see it, John, but your daughter is growing every day. It was just the other day that she was born, and now she's back there asking questions. A lot of questions. Like why are you not with us for eight to nine months in a year-" Her mother was trying not to raise her voice, but Abby knew she was failing. Her father, on the other hand, looked like he'd been slapped across the face. He glanced back at Abigail and then his wife and then the road.

"She really asked you that?"

"Yes. And I didn't know what to say to her because I didn't have any answers. You insisted you wanted her to be good at math, well, she's getting good at math. Really good, John."

"Woah. I don't know what to say to that. The last thing I want is for my daughter to think I don't want to spend time with her. I mean, when I'm on set, the thought of you both keeps me going. When I feel like quitting, I know I shouldn't. I hold on to the thought. I love her so much."

"Yeah, well, show her. Don't just tell her, show her. Or else one day you're gonna wake up and she's all grown and you're wrinkled and then she'll not want to spend time with you anymore." Her father's eyes widened. Her mother smiled slowly and her hand moved to the back of his neck. She caressed. "These years, you see, you can't get back. Once it's gone, it's gone."

Her father didn't say anything else. The car was awfully quiet and even the wind grew too loud to listen to. Fitz whined softly but didn't open his eyes. It was close to an hour before her mother spoke again. "I'm sorry I upset you."

He glanced at her. "Are you kidding me right now? You're trying to fix what I am ruining because I don't recognize a backup moment. You were a blessing back then. You are a blessing right now." He raised her hand and kissed it. "You didn't upset me. I was just thinking."

"About?"

"Something that would fix this. Anything at all that would just start the beautiful adventure I'm sure we're going to have in this small town."

Her mother smiled deeply. "That's my John. But you don't have to figure it all, right now, you know? You can take your time. Slow down. We have time."

Her father chuckled, shaking his head. "Okay, now you're just contradicting yourself. I know you're just trying to make me feel better but I don't want to wake up in the next twenty years to a daughter who hates me."

"She's not going to hate you."

"Yeah, well, if I find something fun for all of us to do, I know that she won't." He slowed the car down, moving at a steady speed, he pulled his phone out and started scrolling frantically.

"John, are you really doing this right now?"

"Yeah." He didn't raise his head. Neither did Fitz.

"What are you even looking for?"

"Aha! I've seen something. I've seen something really cool. They say a festival is happening just thirty minutes away from here." He smiled so widely. He turned to her. "Baby, what do you say we walk around and see different people, eat different people, taste different kinds of candy?" He had her in food, but Candy did it. It was her turn to clap now. She clapped, startling and waking up Fitz. His eyes were wide. Abigail leaning forward, she nodded.

"I'd like that. let's go, let's go, let's go!"

They were there in twenty minutes and Abigail couldn't hold in her excitement. The moment they left the car, the air was filled with baked goods aroma. The place was pretty loaded. Sellers, selling. Buyers, buying. Bargainers, bargaining. The children had the biggest smiles on their faces. We're there also having the baked goods? Was that the foundation of their excitement too?

"I thought they said this place is a small town? Looks anything but small to me." Her father peered over the flier he had in his hands. Her mother's hand gripped hers and she held Fitz's leash. "Where do we even start?"

"By asking questions. We can't just start wandering about, I don't know if you've noticed but this is not a movie set." Mom said. She looked like she immediately regretted it too.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. That didn't come out right. I was trying to be playfully sarcastic, I guess I carried it too far."

"Don't worry, it's okay. If you're getting cranky, we can just go home and return to this place tomorrow. I know that it's probably less crowded." Dad said, gesturing around him. Her mother stared down at her and shook her head. Abigail had one question, though. Why were they both on shades? The sun wasn't even out.

"Too late. We can't go back now that you've promised her all the foods and candies this place has to offer." She shrugged. "We're going to have to ask. Ask around, you know the drill. Some of us do it better." She said and her father chuckled softly.

"Stay right here, honey, and don't move, okay? We're going to get your candy."

"Don't you mean candies?" Abigail's eyebrow raised suspiciously.

"Sure thing, kiddo." She laughed. "Sure thing." Her father gave her a thumbs-up as they headed away. Abigail's stomach grumbled as the grows seemed to grow and she lost her parent's heads in them. She was too short to stand on her tiptoe and there was no bench around. Just as she left Fitz's leash, he ran. Running after a bunny. How had she missed that before?

"Fitz!" But her tiny voice got swallowed up by the crowd. With each breath, Fitz's figure became smaller and smaller. With one final glance at where her parents were supposed to be, she ran after him, passing some shops and houses. Just as her legs began growing wearing, she heard a bark. Fitz's bark. She stared at the homestead that sat there, it seemed to be coming from behind the house.

"Fitz!" She called. He barked. When she arrived behind the home, she saw Fitz hiding behind a worn-out table. He sat comfortably with his belly on the floor and his paws under his chin. He'd always been such a lazy dog.

"Why did you run off like that?" She scolded. He whined. He was not a puppy but somehow the look he gave her resembled that of a puppy's. She sighed. She couldn't stay mad at him. Even if she tried. It was just simply impossible. He was too sweet. She patted his head and stood up straight again. When she looked around, her heartbeat quickened. Where was she? She didn't even know her way out of this place. Looking around again, the sounds of the animals only made her anxiety grow. How far was she from her parents?! She swallowed. Hot tears formed in her eyes and the more she wiped her eyes, the more the tears came. With full force. She bent down and joined Fitz under the table. Maybe that would ease her. He looked pretty chill about their situation. But after she sat down, the tears increased. The whimpers and wailings did too. She cried and cried until she heard footsteps and then sighted a leg. The person bent down. It was a boy. About her age. His blonde hair was a little bit lighter than Fitz's fur and he seemed surprised to see her there.

Her wailings had stopped. They both just stared at each other. After a while, he bent his head more and came to sit beside her.

"What's your name?" He asked after a long silence.

"Abigail." Her mother said anyone around her age was her friend, right? Well, there was no need to be formal. "But my daddy, my mummy, and my nana calls me Abby. You can too."

He nodded. He offered his hand for a shake. That had to be her first handshake, she took his hand." My name is Jack." When he released her hand, her hands were no longer that sweaty and sticky. He'd taken some of that, but he wasn't complaining. "I guess you can call me Jack."

"Hi, Jack."

"Hi, Abby." More silence. "Are you new here?"

"Yes. I think so. I've never been here and I've never read about it, so I guess I'm new here."

He pursed his lips. "So if you read about a place, then you've been there?"

She nodded. "That's what mummy says. She says you don't need a plane ticket to go places. She writes stuff sometimes on the computer and publishes it. But she wouldn't let me read it, no matter how hard I try to give her puppy eyes." She wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. "Maybe Fitz is not teaching me well, he's pretty lazy, you know."

He smiled, reached close to Fitz, and scratched his head. "Hey, Fitz," Fitz whined softly. Lazily.

"Does your mummy write stuff too?"

He shook his head. "No. She farms. She goes to church. She farms some more and then she sees the town's doctor. That is it mostly every day."

Abigail frowned. "People only go to the doctor when they're not feeling good. Is your mummy not feeling good?"

He shook his head again. "They say she has cancel."

"You mean cancer?"

"Yeah."

Abigail patted his hand. "Sorry." She whispered. She knew cancer was bad. It was what took her Nana away to heaven after all.

He smiled and shrugged. "One day I'm gonna be a doctor and save her completely."

"Abby! Honey!" Her parents' frantic voices slashed through the silence she had no idea she'd been enjoying with Jack. That was until it was no more.