Life is Warm and Buttery Outline

I've been thinking a lot about this today. and over the last week. This is slowly coming to life. Here's the first outline:

Happy is abandoned at birth. Dad steals him from hospital as mom has plans to sell the infant for money. He wants to leave the cihld at a convent but stupidly finds it's a boy and thinks that would be inappropriate. He drops him in a delivery truck outside instead (not humor, just a panicked, stupid man.).

Delivery truck is for fishhouse (possibly city dump, must be something stinky. I want Happy spending his first years becoming immune to stink and filth). Old man that runs place keeps Happy. Whether it be fishhouse, dump, or something else, Happy will become friends with the cats that are kept to catch rats. He also grows to love all animals from the old man. The old man raises him until he dies or is arrested.

Happy goes to orphanage about age 10-11. He is a huge child, but innocent. Not stupid, but reserved, quiet, non violent. He is tried at the orphanage and succumbs to a degree. Eventually he takes an opportunity for escape (or does he make the opportunity?) and in doing so will probably achieve a little vengeance on his tormentors.

Once on the road, Happy stumbles upon a trailer park. He is a teenager, 13-14. He travels with a dog he brought from the orphanage. A huge raccoon attacks his dog and Happy accidentally kills the raccoon defending his dog, sustaining some fairly bloody wounds in the process. The trailer park manager finds him and is impressed as that was a raccoon he had been trying to kill for a long time, a legendary raccoon in the park. He offers Happy a maintenance, exterminator position when he learns Happy is homeless. Happy only accepts on the condition that he can bury the raccoon.

Happy then walks the bassett and meets the little girl (9 or 10) in the parking lot. She has no fear. He becomes friends with her. Happy is about 20 at this point, living in a trailer the manager rented to him years ago. The friendship between the two is misinterpreted by the little girl's drunken (meth head?) father. Happy will leave the park over this dispute. Or maybe the father and little girl. Either way they separate.

Not exactly certain of the remaining parts but the key is Happy reuniting with the little girl when she is a grown woman and he a grown man. Their age is only 10-12 years apart, nothing disturbing. Perhaps I'll follow a path with Happy involved in defending animals, not sure, still thinking. There will have to be a battle or fight of some sort. Still lots to iron out.

But this is starting to take shape............

Thoughts on Life is Warm and Buttery

I was walking my dog today, the basset hound in the picture, when a little girl yelled "Hey Tall Bald guy!" She wanted to see the dog.

I always have the idea that as I walk my dog around my neighborhood, tall, bald guy with dark sunglasses and the basset, that people may look at me and be suspicious, fearful, or just concerned. I've always had an image of intimidation more than welcome. At least that's what I've heard and interpreted through some conversations. This little girl wasn't concerned or intimidated. She wanted to see the dog.
I felt something like acceptance. It was a pleasant moment. I saw friendly humanity completely without prejudice. It warmed me like the splash of a Caribbean wave.

I started thinking about Happy and this story. I want Happy to be simple but not a simpleton. I want the Gump vibe without requiring a physical or mental challenge. I just want to calm, patient, kind person. But could Happy be intimidating too? Could he be big, bald and tall?
Maybe. Perhaps that can lend the missing aspect that launches this forward.

Happy will be handed off by his father as is written. Still not 100% on who will be the receiving parent. The parent will be good to Happy and then he'll die. Happy will go to a boy's orphanage. It'll be easier to write about his survival when he's the biggest kid in the orphanage.

After the orphanage he'll get a job somewhere doing something that will use his size and power. Perhaps the world will view Happy as a monster he's not. All the world except the girl that wants to see his dog. Perhaps Happy will have a basset hound too.

I'm liking this.

Bitching instead of working

There's a lot I don't want to write here. So I won't. Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Unless I have something productive to write, then that will be written instead.

But I was thinking of bitching and revealing my hexes of life. Or my hex in a nutshell, all of the reasons I don't think life is worth living in a nutshell. But who wants to hear that? That's negative. And I don't want to put myself in a negative mood. Besides there are countless reasons why life IS worth living. The problem is those reasons only get about 20% of my time. 20%, that's a really poor fail if you're grading. But I won't go into specifics. I'm in a good mood right now believe it or not. I'm in that 20%!

All right, back to my positive Gumpish life affirming story!

Nothing tonight

I had to post something even if it's not material. I don't want this to become an online diary but I need to give some effort. I will be on vacation next week and plan on writing a lot. For tonight, "That'll do Pig. That'll do."