Thumper

You are Thumper, a lonely, introverted, only child in Worcester Massachusetts during the 1950's and 60's. Your mother develops a mysterious paralytic disease, and your father never wanted you. Worcester, a once-vital manufacturing city, is peopled by such marginalized, colorful characters as the Last Gypsy, the Last Ragman, the Last Sidewalk Preacher, and an ex-boxer turned short-order cook at the Blue Belle Diner, your daycare center.

At the age of four, you witness your mother's collapse as the washing machine overflows and sends clumps of soapsuds scudding past her across the kitchen floor. When your father goes to work, he leaves you next door at the Blue Belle Diner, under the watchful eye of Charlie, an ex-boxer turned short-order cook. The Diner becomes your day-care center as your mother waits for remission. Deprived of a mother's physical affection, you become increasingly aware that your father resents you. Spending more and more time on the streets of Worcester, you befriend such marginalized and colorful characters as Worcester's Last Gypsy, Last Ragman, and Last Sidewalk Preacher.

Life-long singer-songwriter, journalist, and socio-political activist Stephen B Martin lives with his wife and his parrot on Nantasket Beach, a peninsula south of Boston. He is currently at work on his next collection, titled Thumper Grows Up.