The Misfortune of Humpty

Disaster strikes at bedtime for a 4 year old Howie...

     The worst thing ever had just happened�
     It was bedtime. I pulled Humpty out of his toy box and watched the little, green army men tumbling from his rotund smiling form. (Clearly Wednesday had been mountain training day). Evel Knievel clung resolutely to his foot swinging back and forth, his face a mask of austere concentration � then he dropped. Luckily, a red and blue Play-Doh sausage broke his fall.
     I hefted Humpty up into my arms and hugged him, pressing my nose against his jiggly button eyes and ran my fingers through an excitement of woolly blue hair. That�s when I noticed it.
     Humpty�s right arm flopped back unceremoniously and began to gently spin in a clockwise direction. A tuft of white cotton stuffing poked through a large tear in his side running from his tartan pants to his purple waistcoat. I stared at him horrified; he seemed not to notice, remaining as ever, bubble-eyed and jovial with his left arm half-raised in a cheery wave. I lifted the tattered remains of the other arm, it hung by a single yellow thread.
     I could feel the hot wetness of tears prickling the backs of my eyes. I could tell that he was braving this awful injury purely for my benefit. I tried to press the arm back onto the gap but it fell away, useless and spinning. One of my tears dropped onto Humpty�s plastic button eye and rolled down his felt cheek.
     �Please don�t cry�� I whispered, cradling him gently.
     That�s where Mum found me, sitting beside my toy box in a pool of scattered soldiers, with Humpty in my arms. Wiping away big blurring tears with my pyjama cuffs, I informed her that he was hurt� badly. I sniffed and told her that I feared that he wouldn�t recover. Mum smiled down at me, took him gently from my grasp and told me to follow her.
     In the kitchen we had a First Aid Box, replete with plasters, bandages, gauze pads and Savlon. Carefully, we laid Humpty on the table and with measured skill Mum began to wind a bandage around the injury, pressing his arm against his round tummy. Dad ruffled my hair and told me not to worry, I tried not to, I really tried�
     Mum held Humpty up broken and bandaged but seemingly unbowed. He smiled vacantly at me; I hoped it wasn�t due to the pain.
     I climbed into bed and took Humpty in my arms. Mum told me not to squeeze too hard as he was still healing; I promised not to. I closed my eyes but not before pressing my nose against Humpty�s cheek and telling him I loved him and that everything would be all right � Mum had said so.

     I woke the following morning and blinked against the shaft of summer sun that streamed through the chink in the curtains. I followed the dancing dust motes with my eyes and imagined they were tiny people tossed on a breeze. I could already hear Mum and Dad in the kitchen and smelled toast and bacon. I rolled over and pressed my cheek against Humpty. Everything suddenly came flooding back, the awfulness of it all.
     I sat up and set Humpty on my lap asking him if he had slept okay. Then with all the gravity of a master surgeon, I began to unwind the bandage�

     �Mum! Mum! Mum!!! He�s better, he�s better! He�s all better!� I thundered down the stairs, a herd of elephants in my wake. I crashed into the kitchen, Humpty waggling madly in my arms. Mum and Dad looked up from the table.
     �Look, he�s all better, just like you said!� I gently and amazedly ran a finger down Humpty�s right side, he had healed. Dad grinned and shoved some toast into his mouth and Mum laughed and gave me a wink.
     I hugged Humpty and ran back through the house, tearing up the stairs to show Evel and the members of the Play-Doh Barber shop. They�d be so impressed, I know I was�

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Music by Sigur Ros.

Author's Note

And I often wonder how I ended up as a Medic...

Reviews

[Chantal-lise Mirman]

What a great story, Howie! You've captured that wide-eyed innocence of childhood perfectly! The immediacy of raw emotions, the flights of imaginative fancy, the solemn trust in parents! It makes me realize that the hours of writing letters from the Tooth Fairy in tediously tiny script was probably worth it to my 4 children! I once overheard one telling the other, "But a human could not possibly write this small..."

How many items fit in favorites? You might as well funnel all your stuff directly there!

[Dezaraye]

This is such a sweet story. What a wonderful memory.

[Zephyr]

aww what an adorable piece...

put a Band-Aid on the injury and fix it while you slept...how sweet

you had some pretty awesome parents, Howie =)

[Gillzy]

"I closed my eyes but not before pressing my nose against Humpty�s cheek and telling him I loved him and that everything would be all right � Mum had said so."

Tears pricked my eyes at that point. Mum's are ALWAYS right!

Such a sweet, sweet story. Innocence is a virtue. Truly!

Thank you x

[Emily B]

What a perfect mom! To know how to make it all better, and teach you about magic in the process. This is a lovely story.

[the ghost of pauls]

Technically prefect, beautifully controlled tone and the sense of something deeper happening behind surface, all accomplished without apparent effort. Joyful.

[Narnie]

There you go! I didn't read this first and Im glad I didn't because it's faultless. Do you ever read your stuff and just go 'wow?' Fibber...;)

Excellent.

I'm trying to think... how many of these childhood ones could you weave together... there's the girlfriend split one, the dad one, the little girl one maybe could be changed to a boy, this one... and you have four/five chapters? Put in a few of your navy stories in the middle and maybe a personal drama unfolding towards the end and you have one hell of a book. I'd buy it.