#1 Little Big Man

The tree rose above the garden, tall and proud, like a sentinel, observing, but saying nothing.
The boy was close to the top,
'I'm going to do it', he thought to himself, 'I'm going to be the first'.
A branch, weakened by the years, bent and then snapped, the boy screamed and his friends on the ground starred with fear in their eye's, the boy in the tree instinctively grabbed a branch, arresting his fall, hanging like a decoration, he found a footing. Shaking, he made his way to terraferma.
"You almost made it Bob, you were almost the first",
hiding a grimace, the boy looked at the tree,
"Yea almost, next time!"
a small diminutive figure rose from the porch and turned to the back door, with a quick backwards glance he made his way into the Foundling home.


They met every week, discussing the progress of their charges,
"Next we have Eugene Judd, seven years old, mother died just under a year ago and we've had no luck finding the father. He's having lots of problems; he gets the brunt of it from the other kids, because of his height. To be quite honest, he unnerves me, he just watches and stares, like he's reading you".
"Academically, he's doing fine, in fact to be honest, he's doing more than fine, if it wasn't for his size, he could be anything he wanted to be".
The doctor turned to the teacher,
"I brought Eugene into this world, and sometimes I think maybe I should not have tried so hard, but apart from his dwarfism, he is a normal seven year old child, my only concern is, that he always seems to have more bruises than the other kids".
"As I said doctor, he gets the brunt from the other kids, but he will not fight back, they pummel him, and he just soaks up the blows and then when they've finished he just goes back to whatever he was doing, I think this rankles the others more, because they are having no effect on him".

Another blow hammered into his body, Bob Clements was frustrated, he had almost defeated the tree, he would have been the first in the history of the home to do so, someone had to pay for that failure, Eugene Judd would have to suffer the consequences of that frustration. The next blow stung, but Eugene Judd made no reaction as the blows rained on to his body, in his mind he could only feel and hear his mother, she was singing their song, the one she sang whenever the taunts and beatings had got past his defenses. Another blow, more painful than the others hammered into the small of his back, 'his mothers face',
"Walk Tall, Walk Straight",
another blow hit home,
"And Look The World Right In The Eye".
His frustration gone, pounded into the unresisting body of Eugene Judd, Bob Clements turned away,
"Unlucky Monkey Boy", he shouted over his shoulder as he left the room.


1922 He watched the other kids playing, he hated recreation time, and this was when they started their jibes. Billy Robins moved behind Judd, his friends and other kids slowly gathering, anticipating some entertainment.
"Oi midget, is it true that your father walked away when he saw how ugly you were and your mum actually wanted to die, because she was embarrassed that she had given birth to a FREAK",
Judd did not even look up from the book he was reading, trying to focus past the stinging words, he had no real memories of his father, apart from a vague recollection of a man who avoided contact wherever possible, the jibes about his mother stung the most, "Or is it really true that your mom had it with a goat and your the result", No-one saw what happened, it happened so fast, one minute Billy Robins was jibing Judd, the next he was lying on his back with blood pumping from his nose and Judd was retrieving his book from the ground.

Later He slid out of bed, quietly he dressed, nubbed fingers fastening buttons, a small pack the sum total of the belongings of an eight year old foundling, having dressed he waited, listening for any changes in the sounds of regular breathing emanating through the room, when he was sure all was as it should be, he left. Leaving by the back door, he stood a while on the porch where he regularly sat, crossing the garden he paused once more, leaving his small bundle on the ground he looked up for a brief second, then he started to climb. Reaching high he pulled, stretching muscles in his back, he never knew he had, each minute seemed to take him passed another broken branch, a sad tribute to some other Childs endeavors. Nearing the top he realized for the first time why this tree offered up such a challenge, difficult branches seemed to block his way, but some inner instinct guided him to where the route was easier, with a final flourish he stood on branches which enabled him to touch the top of the uppermost branch, a brief pause and then he started down, eventually reaching the ground. Picking up his bundle, he began to walk once more, a glance backward, a small smile playing across his lips, with that he turned and walked into the night.