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............