H. Dumpty

         Once upon a time...
                   There was a man named Humphrey. He was a short and round little man, but very kind. He also happened to be one of my best friends. My name is Geoffrey. Humphrey and I lived in the small English village of St. Albans. It was a quiet little town, with a great big wall surrounding it; protecting its people from those who wish to take over our lands.
         Like I said in the beginning, Humphrey and I were friends, the best of friends. In our youth we would play knight and robber, sword fight and our favorite King's men. Humphrey wasn't like the rest of the children in our village. He was a little small, rounder and always just a bit clumsier. But he was the one guy you could really count on! He had his share of people who picked on him; a favorite nickname given was Humpty Dumpty. However that didn't damper his spirits. He knew who his true friends were...and I was lucky he counted me among them.
         We grew up as children tend to do. I became one of our King's most courageous knights. A great honor for my family! Humphrey became a healer, like his grandmother before him. We would meet up every Thursday to have dinner and to catch up. During one of these occasions, Humphrey expressed how he wished he was a knight like me. "I wish I was as strong and brave as you are Geoffrey", he sighed softly turning his eyes down towards the wooden table. "But Humphrey" I exclaimed! "You're a great healer"! He looked up from the table as I went on. "You saved the life of the parish priest when he caught that terrible cold"; a tiny smile began to creep forward, "and who was it that saved over half the village from the great pestilence last winter"? Eyes shining bright Humphrey answered "me"! "We all have our strengths, Humphrey" I said taking a swig from my ale; "Mine is to protect people and yours is to heal people".
         Humphrey seemed to accept his place in society. But I still saw a little glint in his eye that he wanted to make his mark on the world. Sadly yet heroically; he didn't need to wait too long. After morning prayers on Sunday the bakers son came sprinting from an area where parts of the first wall still stood its ground. The powers that be always meant to have that part of the wall fixed, but just never got around to it. The child came bellowing and pleading to all that could hear; "My sister! My sister". "The boy stopped in the middle of the square, where a fountain had been placed by the first King after a long, hard war was won. " My sister" the boy screamed out again. A small crowd had gathered more out of curiosity than anything else. Among them was Humphrey. "I dared my sister to climb the old wall", the boy began; "She was doing well until one of the boulders came loose"! The boy now sobbing, "she fell and her foot got caught, please, please somebody help her".
         The villagers knew the part of the wall the girl was trapped on was an unsteady portion. The villagers began talking amongst themselves on who would be the one to go. The boy looked frantically towards one elder on to the next, his eyes pleading for a hero. After a few minutes of debating, the coppersmith announced that this was a job for the King's men. The town crier was charged to alert my crew and I. Nobody had even noticed that Humphrey and gone on ahead, as soon as he had heard the boy's cries for his sister.
         A good fifteen minutes later we arrived at the wall to find the little girl on the ground, her eyes red from crying. Her family and everyone else rushed up to greet her and to examine any damage. As her mother picked up her child she began wailing. "He's gone, he's gone". "Who"? I asked as I was the first of the King's men to greet the little girl. "The healer, Humpty". "He can to rescue me ". In disbelief I asked her to continue. "He got my foot loose and tried to pick me up, instead he lost his footing". "Humpty pushed me towards the road as he fell". She then buried her head in her mother's shoulder.
         I was sad for my friend. But in the end he became a local hero. A few years after, my son; Humphrey came home from school reciting a rhyme. "Humpty dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty dumpty had a great fall, the entire King's horsemen and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again".

The End.