Chapter 1: Our Story Begins...
The hot summer wind of the night blew as Detective Robinson waited in front of the diner. Looking around, the streets of Anaheim seemed a bit less busy tonight, minus some people, like couples taking nighttime walks on date nights or teenagers hanging out during summer vacation. As a detective of the Anaheim police, having served the force for nearly twenty years as a detective, he still had to be on the lookout for trouble even when off-duty for the night.
Jonah was an olive-skinned man in his 50's, though some could mistaken him as being in his 40's, and he had dark brown hair that showed signs of grey, but they were only noticeable if people looked closely at him in the mirror, and he had a neatly trimmed goatee, and he had dark blue eyes. He wore a neatly tucked in bright peach button shirt, black jeans and grey shoes, and he also wore a brown trench coat, which hid his gun holster resting on his shoulders and his police badge.
He stood next to a newspaper vending box that served the Anaheim Post, looking at today's news on the front page with the front page announcing the opening of a new store downtown. Usually, Jonah liked to read the paper in the morning during breakfast and at his desk at the precinct he worked at, but this newspaper article didn't interest him that much. What did interest him was the paper he had with him.
The issue was from last week, which was also the same time he was on a case. Taking out the paper, he took a quick look at one of the pages, his main focus, as he waited for someone he was meeting up with to help him with the case he had last week. Finally, a few minutes later, a car parked in one of the spaces in the lot. The owner of the car stepped out. He was overweight and appeared to be in his thirties, and he wore a periwinkle suit with a white dress shirt, a purple tie that had patterns that looked like an action bubble in a comic book all over it and black shoes, and he had brown hair tied back in a ponytail.
Recognizing Jonah when he looked over, he greeted the detective as he held his hand out with a smile, "Detective! Been a while, babe!" Despite knowing Jonah for only a short time, which only started a week ago, the man acted like he had known the detective like an old friend.
When the man came over, Jonah responded as he took his hand and shook it, "It's only been a week since we last saw each other, Phil, but good to see you too."
The man, Phil Palmfeather, walked with Jonah towards the diner. He asked as they reached the door, "So, what made you want to talk to me again, Joe-mind if I call you that?"
Jonah responded, "First of all, don't call me Joe, just Jonah. Secondly, wait until we get a table to answer that question." After stepping inside, Jonah approached the counter and asked for a booth for him and Phil. The hostess showed them to a booth at the window before returning to her post. The booth they were given was perfect for Jonah, since he liked keeping an eye on his car and other things going on outside.
The diner was built in the 80's and although there were some changes to it the last few years, it managed to keep the 80's vibe it started with, minus the jukebox that broke a few years ago but they still kept it for decoration. The walls were painted an off-white and the seats in the booths were well taken care of so the customers wouldn't complain about rips and tears.
While waiting for their server to come over with their menus, Phil spoke up, breaking the silence between him and the detective, "So, detective, why'd you wanna speak to me? This isn't about that busted headlight on my car, is it? Because I meant to get that looked at and-"
Jonah stopped him and held his hand up to silence him. "Calm down, Phil, that has nothing to do with why I wanted to meet with you tonight. I only asked you to meet up with me regarding last week." He took out the newspaper he had with him, and showed it to him. Phil read the article on page 3.
ORPHAN SAVED BY HOCKEY HEROES
On the front page, it showed the city's local hockey team, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim; not only was that their team name, but they also happened to be giant ducks. To be precise, they were aliens who came from another planet in another universe two years ago to chase after an alien overlord who went by the name of Lord Dragaunus and his henchmen. It also just so happened that these alien ducks played hockey, and they were really good at it. In fact, they were so good at hockey that they made Anaheim an even bigger tourist attraction with their games they held at the Anaheim Pond arena.
Below the picture was a little girl who appeared to be seven years old, and under the picture were the captions that read, LITTLE ORPHAN AVRIL.
"I remember her." Phil grinned, recognizing the little girl. "But why are you asking me about her?"
Jonah answered, "Because if you remember correctly, I was part of that case last week involving her and your team, and after your team saved her, she was put in the children's home. But I want to know more about her and how she came into their care."
"I'm getting a sense of déjà vu here; first Klegghorn asks me where the Mighty Ducks came from two years ago, and now I'm being questioned about how a little orphan girl came here." Phil muttered to himself. He remembered how skeptical Captain Klegghorn was when he told the police captain how the Mighty Ducks came to Earth and continued their fight with Lord Dragaunus two years ago, and now he's being questioned by a police detective about a child they were involved with. He straightened himself up and said with a proud grin, "Sure, detective. You've called the right guy."
Right before he could begin his story with Jonah, their waitress came over with some menus and they both ordered some coffee to begin their meal with. After the waitress, a pretty blonde with her skin tanned from the California sun, left their table, Jonah said as he handed a menu to Phil while reading his own, "Order whatever you want. Everything's on me."
Phil nodded in appreciation. Then he continued, "So anyways, I'll tell you everything about Avril Ackerman."
Phil narrated as Jonah listened, "It all began three years ago, in beautiful New York City. Little Avril Dawn Ackerman was a happy smiling little girl. She had a wonderful life, and two wonderful parents, James and his wife Elinor."
In a small area of New York's Central Park, a little girl was playing in a patch of flowers chasing after a butterfly. She had golden blonde hair tied up in two pigtails on the sides of her head, fair skin and hazel eyes, and she wore pink overalls over an orange short-sleeved shirt and a pair of white and pink Velcro shoes.
While she chased the butterfly in the flowers, a man who appeared to be 29 years old came over to the little girl with a sneaky grin on his face, quietly sneaking over to her without her hearing or seeing him; he had neatly combed dark brown hair, a nicely trimmed goatee, hazel eyes and fair skin, and he wore a red t-shirt, blue jean capri pants, and brown shoes. When the little girl stopped chasing the butterfly after it flew away towards the other side of the park, the man came over and playfully grabbed her.
"Gotcha, ya little monkey!" the man chuckled as he picked her up. The little girl squealed with laughter as he tickled her playfully.
"Daddy! Stop!" the little girl laughed, and once her father, James, stopped tickling her, she hugged him tightly.
"Avril!" a woman's voice called out. "Come on over, baby! Time for lunch!"
Avril, the little girl, ran towards the tree where her family was having their picnic, where her mother was waiting. She was a young woman who was around the same age as her father, and she looked like on older version of her daughter, with blonde hair and fair skin, but the only difference was that she had green eyes. She wore a silver bracelet and necklace, dangling gold colored earrings, and she wore a green sun dress, tan leggings, black flats, and a magenta sweater.
She sat down on the yellow blanket with her mother and her father joined them. Her mother had set out all the food for their picnic lunch. Potato salad, sandwiches, apple slices and grapes, even some juice boxes for Avril and cans of soda pop for her parents. But the centerpiece of their picnic was the little plate of six cupcakes that had icing flowers on them, and four of them had a candle on the top of them, for today was Avril's fourth birthday.
After lunch, Avril's mother, Elinor, lit the candles on the cupcakes before holding them up to her level. She smiled, "Happy birthday, baby."
"Don't forget to make a wish before you blow the candles out." James said, sitting by Avril. The little girl nodded and thought hard on what to wish for on her birthday, then with a big breath, she blew all four of the candles out before she and her parents started eating the cupcakes.
"Avril's life was like a happy dream. She had her loving, caring parents, who both worked great jobs; James worked for a company in the Empire State Building and Elinor was a hairstylist who knew what style was perfect just by visualizing them. To Avril, they were the greatest parents a little girl could ever have, both making good money while also loving their child at the same time." Phil narrated.
Avril's life was, indeed, wonderful. James and Elinor may have had great jobs, but they still made sure to have some time to spend with Avril.
On days when her father took her with him to his workplace at the Empire State Building, in which he was working for a company that published children's books, he would leave her at the daycare area when he had meetings and he let her draw in his office where she had her own table while he worked at his desk, and during his breaks, he took her to the observation decks in the building to get a good view of the city.
Elinor worked as a hairstylist at a salon on 5th Avenue, and she made good money after taking an apprenticeship at the salon when she was in college, and all her clients came out happy with the hairstyles she gives them thanks to her talent of visualizing what the client wants, and since she had a photographic memory when it came to looking at the pictures of the styles. On her days off, when James also worked, she would take Avril to Central Park to play at the playground or to the pond to feed some ducks.
When both parents had the day off, they would take Avril to the park on picnics and even took her to the Central Park Zoo. Sometimes, when the skies were clear at night which was very uncommon in the city due to the clouds in the sky, they all went to the park together to do some stargazing and maybe even get to see some shooting stars.
Their home life was great, too. Thanks to their well-paying jobs, the house they lived in was cozy and well-kept. Elinor had a garden of beautiful flowers in the front yard and the backyard was big enough for the Ackermans to run around and play in together, and there was even a tire swing on the tree in the front yard for Avril to play on. Avril's room was also very cozy, with her own little bed and lots of toys to play with and picture books to read. And every night, her parents would tuck her in, with the little stuffed polar bear that James gave to her the day she was born at Belleview Hospital, and they would kiss her goodnight before one of them went to their bedroom while the other stayed behind for a bit and read Avril a bedtime story. After that, the little girl always fell asleep with a sweet dream in her head.
One evening, after her parents tucked her in for bedtime, Avril's parents told her that they were planning to have her enrolled into preschool after summer was over. Avril asked them, holding her stuffed polar bear close to her with the sheets just below her neck, "But if I go, how can I still be with you while Daddy works and Mommy has no work?"
James replied, rubbing his daughter's head, "You'll still see us, just not as much as often. Because you'll be doing all sorts of fun stuff and learning new things. Maybe even stuff you never known before."
Elinor nodded. "Plus, you might also meet some other children."
"And the best part is, you might make new friends out of them. And unlike daycare when you only see them when you come with me to work and I'm busy with meetings, you'll get to see the friends you make every day." James added. He leaned over to Avril and hugged her. "But that doesn't mean we want to be replaced, because we love you too much for that to happen."
"We just want you to have a friend for life, because we might not be around forever for you." Elinor kissed her head. "But we'll be there long enough to watch you grow up."
"You promise?" Avril asked.
"We promise." James got up and kissed her forehead before turning off her lamp, with the glow of the pink nightlight illuminating the room softly. He and Elinor then left the room to go to bed. Before leaving, they both looked at Avril, and James said to her, "Good night, baby. We love you."
After closing her door, Avril fell asleep as she held her polar bear in her arms, hoping to have a sweet dream in her head.
"Yep. Life was perfect for Avril," Phil narrated. "And she hoped this amazing life would never end. But like all good things in life, it was too good to last forever. Because just two months after her fourth birthday, tragedy struck for the Ackermans. It was when James and Elinor took their daughter to a carnival that was in town. It wasn't Coney Island, but it was fun for her, and a great place to spend time as a family. Anyways, it all happened during the drive home."
A couple months later, the Ackerman's were walking through the carnival, trying to pass by the dying crowd. It was late at night, and they decided to head home after a fun day going on rides and trying out some games, with Elinor winning a stuffed duck for Avril from a balloon dart game, and Avril enjoyed some cotton candy with James. They decided to stay the whole day until night to watch the fireworks display on the Ferris wheel. After watching a great show, it was time to go home.
Before leaving, James stopped at a snack stand and bought a candy apple. When he gave it to Avril, Elinor scolded him, "James, it's too late for Avril to have anymore sugar. She'll be up all night."
James chuckled, "Ellie, she'll be fine. She's just going to have to brush her teeth twice when we get home."
He strapped Avril into her seat and said to her, "Now careful eating that while we're driving, okay, sweetie? Don't want you to choke on any pieces of apple."
Avril nodded, "Okay, Daddy."
After making sure Avril was buckled in safe and sound, the family took off in their car, with James being behind the wheel, and drove out of the parking lot and onto the road. After fifteen minutes on the road, they were heading towards the highway. Luckily for them, there was no traffic and barely any cars on the road, so getting home wasn't going to be an issue for them, and they would be home in time for James to get some good sleep for a meeting her was going to have in his workplace tomorrow.
In the backseat, Avril took a bite out of her candy apple, enjoying the first bite of it. After swallowing her first bite, she was about to take another bite, but then something shocked her.
From where she bit into the apple, a brown worm was wriggling through the core, and it was looking up at her. Seeing the worm made Avril scream in fright.
Startled by his daughter's screams, James looked behind his seat and said with worry, "What's wrong, sweetie?"
While his face was turned, James failed to see that he was driving the car into the other lane, and a car was coming towards them. Elinor, having woken up from her nap during the drive from Avril's screams, gasped when she saw the oncoming car. She cried, "James, look out!"
James looked back to the front, and he yelled in alarm when he saw the car was in the opposite lane and another was coming up and honking. In his haste, James turned the steering wheel hard to move the car away and avoid crashing into the other driver. Unfortunately, he turned the car too hard that it swerved to the side of the road, and James struggled to hit the brakes, but it was too late. The car swerved into a ditch, and after hitting a huge bump, it spun around on the ground and through the air, crashing onto the ground and shards of the windows flew everywhere.
Avril screamed as she struggled to stay in her car seat, and she felt something rip across her chest and glass shards flew into her face.
"MOMMY, DADDY!" she cried.
The last thing she remembered was seeing a tree coming closer to them, and then everything went black.
"Poor Avril. All it took was one scream to make her life end." Phil said sadly as he finished his last sip of coffee.
Jonah, who was listening, shook his head in sympathy for the poor girl, "I can't say I don't feel bad for what happened to her. But when are you going to get to the part where she meets the Mighty Ducks?"
"In a minute, there, booby, I'm not there yet." Phil assured him. "Just need to give you a few more details about what happened after."
Before he could continue, the waitress came back and took their first orders; the two men ordered two orders of the potato skins and mozzarella sticks. After the waitress took their orders and refilled their coffees, also writing down orders for their drinks (diet cola for Phil, and a lemon-lime soda for Jonah), Phil continued as he took a sip of his freshly poured coffee, "So, as I was saying, after the crash, James and Elinor were sadly killed on impact. But miraculously, Avril survived only with a few injuries. But that one scream from her ended her happy life, and her parents were gone, out of her life. And just like that, Avril Ackerman became an orphan."
Mighty Ducks belongs to Disney, and I own Avril, Jonah, and James and Elinor.