The True Story of Harold Dumpington.
“Come on kiddo, its time for bed. Climb aboard.”
Daina jumped on her dads back, her brown curls bouncing back and forth in front of her baby blues. His hands, worn rough from working since high school were hard against her soft skin. She ran her hands over the stubble on his face, thinking it was like sandpaper. As he carried her up the stairs towards her room she blew a kiss goodnight to her mother.
“Here we go.”
He tossed her playfully into her bed. He tucked her in tight beneath her new Beauty and the Beast comforter. When he walked over to get her teddy he treaded carefully through the minefield of toys careful not to step on a single one. He tucked Teddy in bed with her, gave her a kiss on the forehead, his stubble tickling her, and started out.
“Wait!” a big voice coming from such a little source.
“Yes?”
“You have to wead me a stowy.” There was still a bit of a whistle to her words as air moved between the gap in her teeth where she had so proudly lost her first baby tooth.
“Oh I do, do I?” he smiled at her.
“Yes.” She stated very matter of fact, tightening her mouth and nodding her head.
“Well then, which story should it be?”
“Hmmm…” she gave great thought to the decision. “Humpty Dumpty!”
“Humpty Dumpty… good choice. Now, Mommy’s told you the true story of Humpty Dumpty before, hasn’t she?”
“The twue stowy?” she scrunched her face.
“Yeah, there are two versions of Humpty Dumpty, the true story, and this one.” He said raising her book. “Which would you like to hear tonight?”
“Twue one!” She was bursting. Two versions, how could no one have told her before?
“Alright, are you ready to hear it?”
She adjusted the blankets, moved the pillow, and brought Teddy closer.
“Yes. Go ahead.”
“Ok, well first off, his name wasn’t Humpty Dumpty.”
“It wasn’t?”
“No. It was Harold, Harold Dumpington. Humpty Dumpty was just a nickname that his aunt had given him when he was little, because he was a little chubby. Harold was, well, Harold wasn’t very popular. You see, most of the townspeople disliked Harold, because a long time ago he had bought the only public park in town. People used to go there all the time, they would go to picnic on the soft green grass. The would bring their small boats and go out onto the clear blue pond to fish, or swim, and the children would go to the jungle gym by the hundreds to play games of lava where they couldn’t touch the woodchips, or pirate ship, or space station or any other number of games. There was always a softball game going on too, or football. They would toss the Frisbee, dogs would run back and forth, and at night everyone in town would gather there to have a bonfire where they could tell ghost stories and roast marshmallows. Everyone loved the park, except for Harold. You see, Harold’s house was right next door to the park, and he hated the noise. During the day he would sit inside and try to read his books, but the children made too much noise. So he would go outside to tend to his garden, only to find that the dogs from the park had eaten all his vegetables. And at night the light from the fire would keep him up, so he couldn’t go to sleep. He hated that park and all the people who went to it.”
“Why was he so mean daddy?”
“Well, he wasn’t always mean. He had started off much like you, sweet and cute and lovable and one of the greatest people in the whole entire world. But when he started to gain a little weight some people made fun of him. He also had terrible allergies so he couldn’t go outside with all the other children and play red rover or tag or hide and seek. He had to stay inside, where he got white and pasty, as white as an egg, so the other children didn’t really understand him or get a chance to know him, and they all made fun of him. As you know, its not nice to make fun of people because it makes them feel bad, so Harold, imagine how he felt, everyone making fun of him all the time. It made him real sad, and eventually his sadness turned into anger.”
“Oh. That wasn’t vewy nice of people to make fun of him.”
“No it wasn’t.”
“What happened to the park?”
“well one year, the town was having a lot of trouble. They ran out of money, and they couldn’t afford to run the busses, or the hospital, or schools. They were in trouble. So in order to help, they tried selling some land among other things. So when they put the park up for sale Harold jumped at the opportunity. He bought it right away. He made signs that said, ‘Private Property: No trespassing.’ And he put them all over the park. He was really happy because he thought that finally he would be able to get some sleep, read his books, and maybe even turn the whole park into a garden where he could grow his vegetables. Finally he would have peace and quiet. However the same day he put the signs up, he heard people in the park. He looked out his window and there were more people in the park then ever that day. It was a very gorgeous day after all, the sun was shining, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and there was a cool refreshing breeze blowing. The people were using the signs he had put up and paddles to hit a ball back and forth, or to row their boats, and the kids were even using it in their newest game, mean old Dumpty, where one kid played Harold and if he caught you on his property you had to freeze. Harold was angry. His face was turning red. That night as the people gathered around their fire, Harold thought.”
“Why didn’t they invite him to join them?” Daina’s young innocent voice asked the most obvious question of all.
“I don’t know, I guess they just never thought of it.”
“Well Teddy and I would have invited him to play.” She said, pulling Teddy a little closer.
“I know you would have honey. The townspeople didn’t however, which made him mad. So the next day early in the morning before any of them got there he went to the park. The signs hadn’t worked so he thought of a new idea. He began to dig, he dug a hole all the way around the park. Then he grabbed his hose, tossed it in the hole and filled it with water, creating a moat, like castles have.”
“Oh yeah!”
“Yeah, he was very pleased with himself. He thought for sure it would work. So he went back to his house and started to read one of his books from his big, dusty bookshelf. He only got a couple of chapters in before he heard noise outside again. He ran to his window and looked outside. There were even more people than there were yesterday! They were swimming in his moat! They had built a small bridge over the moat. The children were even using it in their games, they were now playing castle. And Harold became even more angry than he was yesterday. That night, as the townspeople sat around their fire he thought. The next morning he went to the park with six dogs he had bought that morning. They were guard dogs, they were mean and vicious, with big sharp teeth that protruded from their snarling mouths, and they had a permanent scowl on their faces, kind of like your aunt Ruth.”
Daina laughed and Teddy laughed, and the dad smiled.
“Youre funny daddy.”
“Ha thank you, so are you.”
“Daddy. Keep going.”
“Well, Harold leashed the dogs up at the park so that when the townspeople came by they would be scared away. Confident that this time his plan would work he went back to his house and started reading. He got a few pages in when he heard some barking. He got excited thinking his dogs were barking at the townspeople, scaring them away, he ran to the window to watch them scared and running, but when he got there he was angry with what he saw. His dogs were playing with the townspeople’s dogs. The children had unleashed them and they were running with them and playing catch. His mean guard dogs had become as sweet and as gentle as Teddy. He became the angriest he had ever been. That night as the people and his dogs sat around the fire he plotted. The next morning, very early in the morning, Harold went out to the park with a lot of bricks and cement. And he began building a large stone wall around his park. This time the people wouldn’t be able to get in! As he built the wall brick by brick he began to smile, thinking of their sad faces as they got to the park and had to go home because they couldn’t get in. He got lost in thought about he would finally be able to read his books, tend his garden, and go to sleep at a reasonable hour. And without realizing it he had built his wall up to twelve feet high with no way down. He was stuck up at the very top of it. He knew the people would be coming soon and he wanted to get out of there before they did or they might yell at him. So he grabbed on to the edge of the wall and started to lower himself. But he was short and chubby and he was only able to lower himself five feet. Still seven feet off the ground. As he was dangling there he heard the people coming closer. He was scared, so he closed his eyes, took a breath, and let go of the wall. He fell all the way to the ground. Just as he smacked into the ground the people arrived. They saw Harold lying there. They didn’t know what to do so they called the mayor over who didn’t live too far away. Mayor Kingsley and his constituents came rushing over. They got Harold to the hospital as quick as they could, but it was too late. Dr. Horseman wasn’t able to save Harold. Everyone in the town felt very sad about what had happened. So the mayor had the wall taken down, and reopened the park under the name, ‘Dumpington Park’ and in the corner of the park he made a small garden with a plaque that read, ‘Thank you Harold for this park which we know you loved so well.’ And once more the children played, the dogs ran, and they had bonfires at night, in name of Harold Dumpington.”
He looked over at Daina who was asleep underneath her comforter. He smiled at her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Tucked her in tight once more and gave Teddy a kiss on the head.
“Good night.”
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