Rump

Rump lived in a mountainous region of an unnamed country. Rump’s father died in an accident in the gold mines before Rump was born. His mother died giving birth to him. With her last breath she told his grandmother what the baby boy’s name would be. She said “Rump. . . Rump. . .” but didn’t have enough life left in her to tell his grandmother the rest of his name. The baby was henceforth known as “Rump”.

Rump was twelve years old and small for his age; he stopped growing when he was eight. He not only had a terrible name, he suffered from not having a mother who he often thought about. Rump was teased unmercifully by two bullies named Bruno and Frederick. He was the “butt” of their jokes and, in fact, they even called him “butt”. Rump’s best friend was a tough girl named...