1.Simple Man: The Stinky Peterson Story
I reckon this will be the last time I ever see this here farm.
A tall, skinny boy mused out the window as his family drove away from the only home he'd ever known. This boy was Stinky Peterson, a hard working country boy, with the most stereotypical southern drawl imaginable. He felt the helplessness and loneliness one can only experience during a move. He's father told him they were moving to the city were they could become taxidermists or work in factories.
Now you may be asking "Why would a family move away from a perfectly good farm"?
Well the farm simply wasn't growing anymore. What was once was prize winning cabbage had become nothing more than a few leaves. Uncle Stinky's vegetable cart began to lose business, and the family went into bankrupt.
So they made the decision to move the entire house hold (literally) to the city; in hopes of a new and more prosperous life.
Stinky remembered the way the farm used to be, before it began dying. It was lush, and beautiful, with rows and rows of golden corn. The tomatoes were deep red and juicy. The lettuce and cabbage grew and went on for acres. In Stinky's mind The Garden of Eden wouldn't have held a candle to the family farm.
Now Stinky watched out the window as the country side slowly became more populated, houses began popping up more often and they grew closer and closer together. Then he felt the car ride become dramatically smoother as they left the old gravel roads behind for paved ones.
'I'll miss that dang farm…' Stinky thought, sadness washing over him. Stinky wondered if they're would be hog races or vegetable shows in the city. He also wondered what the kids and schools were like. Would they be kindly? Would they accept him? Would he be able to make new friends?
"We're here" Mr. Peterson announced in an accent much like Stinky's.
Stinky sat in the old truck as they moved the house off the wooden bed and into place on the blank lot that the family had bought with the last of their money.
Stinky sighed thoughtfully as he looked at the tall buildings. It all looks like it's made of that that dang steel. No dirt, no grass, no rocks. Who would live here? There's nothin' to look at. Just gray…gray and black.
Stinky was slightly disturbed by the lack of greens and blues…even the sky seemed to be dull, and the thin wispy clouds were gray. The only nature he seemed to find was the little dirt patch that the family's house now sat on.
"Stinky, why don't you come in here and look around the yard, son?" he father suggested as he put his spittoon and chair out on the front porch.
"Okay, pa" Stinky exited the truck and stepped out into his new home. The air was cold compared to the temperature of the truck. Stinky looked around the visible areas of the city again. Even the air smelled different. Stinky did a few paces around the yard and then decided to go inside, where everything would be the same.
As he stepped onto the porch he noticed two kids walking on the side walk in front of his house.
The first was a boy with a ridiculously shaped head, it looked like a football. His blonde hair stuck out at random angles around his tiny blue hat. He was wearing a green sweater, blue jeans and what looked like a kilt around his waist. Next to him was a black boy with tall dark hair, he was wearing a basketball jersey with the number 33 on it. They were both carrying baseball bats and their gloves were hanging from the ends of the bats as the walked.
The foot ball headed boy stopped as he saw Stinky. He said something to the black boy. The black boy shook his head and muttered something to himself as the other boy began to walk up to Stinky.
"Hello, did you just move here?" the boy asked.
Stinky nodded.
"My name's Arnold, the guy over there is my best friend, Gerald" Arnold said as he held out his hand, hoping Stinky would shake it.
Shook his hand, being polite was the law in the country towns, "Why thank you Arnold, my name is Stinky. That over there is my pa, his name is Stinky too, and my ma is in the house with my Uncle Stinky".
Arnold raised an eyebrow over one of his half lidded eyes, "Your uncles named Stinky too?" Arnold did his best to sound polite as he said this.
"Why yes, all the men in my family are named Stinky"
Arnold wasn't sure what to say on that matter, so he changed the subject, "He, me and Gerald are going to play baseball, do you want to come? I've got and extra bat and glove you can use"
"Baseball? What in the heck is that?" Stinky asked.
Arnold was shocked that Stinky didn't know what baseball was, so he explained it, "Well some one throws a ball and you hit it with a bat, then if you hit it and no one catches it you get to run around the bases"
"Oh, you mean stickball, me and Johnny Mill used to play that in the market place all the time" Stink said smiling.
"Okay, so do you want to come?"
"Yeah, hang on lemmie tell my pa"
Stinky went over to his father and said, "Pa I'm going to play ba-se ball with some kids, okay"
Mr. Peterson spat in his spittoon and said, "Alright, Stinky. Be back before supper though. Uncle Stinky is making fish lemonade and squirrel"
"Okay, pa" and Stinky went off to join Arnold and Gerald…
Whew...I wrote that in 30 minutes. It was just a spur of the moment thing. Anyway I'm up for suggestions. Anything you think I should add about Stinky would be nice.
