When We Met

When We Met is the first book in the Rudi Trilogy — part memoir, part reflection, and part imagination. Told through three intertwined perspectives, it follows a man learning to trust, a woman finding her way through trauma, and a puppy born into chaos who becomes the quiet centre of their lives.

Across five acts, the story moves between lived memory and reconstructed experience, tracing the small moments that shape a family across two continents.

Act I — A Wedding by the Sea
A tender, cinematic retelling of Leeman and Amber’s wedding day in northern Germany. Through Leeman’s eyes, the act captures anxiety, wonder, family, and the quiet magic that begins to stitch two lives together, including the small signs that hint at the love still waiting to arrive.

Act II — The Day the Wind Smelled Like Popcorn
Told entirely from Rudi’s perspective, this act imagines his birth and early days with humour, innocence, and surprising wisdom. It blends playful chaos with gentle philosophy, offering a glimpse into how he might have sensed the world long before he met his humans.

Act III — Until the Phone Rang
Told from Amber’s perspective, this act traces the emotional aftermath of Leeman’s departure from Germany. The grief, the emptiness, and the weight of trauma that resurfaces when the person who made life feel safe is suddenly gone. Through loneliness, therapy, and the slow rebuilding of her world, Amber finds her first real friend, her first sense of stability, and eventually the courage to imagine a companion of her own. After weeks of searching and heartbreak, one unexpected phone call changes everything. The moment that sets Rudi’s story into motion.

Act IV — The Girl from the Wind
From Rudi’s point of view, this act explores his early life in a home marked by instability, confusion, and shifting human moods he cannot understand. Through scent, sound, and instinct, he navigates fear, hunger, and the longing for safety. When everything feels darkest, a new scent appears: warm, familiar, and strangely comforting. In a quiet, life‑altering moment, Rudi meets Amber for the first time, recognizing in her something he has been missing: the feeling of home.

Act V — The Case of the Blobby Bandit
A whimsical, fictionalized adventure told entirely through Rudi’s imagination. He casts himself as a Snout Scout on a mission to solve a neighbourhood mystery. Through playful exaggeration, heartfelt courage, and a touch of chaos, Rudi’s inner world comes alive, revealing the spirit, humour, and loyalty that defined him. It’s a light, joyful closing act that celebrates who he was beyond the hardships of his early life.

Paperback Edition
The paperback version of When We Met includes additional visual and physical elements not found in the ebook:

• A full front cover, spine, and back cover
• Eight full‑page, full‑colour images inside the book
• A total length of 93 pages
• A tactile reading experience that mirrors the emotional tone of the story

Cover Painting: Amber Cheng (https://www.instagram.com/lilcanvasbean/)