So, er, this was a bit longer than I intended it to be. Oops. LOL

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As a boy, Eugene didn't have much to smile about. Being abandoned by your parents for no apparent reason had an ability to make one bitter with life, Eugene had once told another kid in the orphanage.

But all of that changed when Miss Anna came to him with a gift for his tenth birthday.

It was a book.

The Tales of Flynnigan Rider.

He opened the book, smelling the old pages, feeling the crinkled paper under his small hands. It didn’t matter to him that the book was second-hand, it was the only tangible object outside his well-worn clothing that he could call his own.

He flipped the pages until he found the beginning of the book. Eugene didn’t just read the book; he devoured it. For the first time, he had a male role model in his life: Flynn Rider. He was brave! He was strong! And, most importantly, he was rich! Eugene didn’t know why Flynn Rider seemed to like the company of girls so much – he still thought they were rather annoying – but it didn’t matter much to him. He still wanted to be like the adventuresome and handsome rogue.

This book and its adventures shouldn’t be kept to himself, he decided. As soon as he was finished, he called the rest of the kids to him and read the book aloud to them. When he read the whole story –he couldn’t stop in the middle! – he saw Miss Anna standing at the doorframe next to the rest of the kids who were listening intently.

After she tucked the younger children to bed, she came back to the room where Eugene was still flipping through the pages.

“That was very kind of you to share your gift with the other children, Eugene,” she said softly.

“I’m not Eugene anymore, Miss Anna. I’m Flynn Rider,” he said with a wide smile.