{"id":4018,"date":"2010-03-02T14:04:55","date_gmt":"2010-03-02T20:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamingwithchildren.com\/?p=4018"},"modified":"2010-03-02T14:04:55","modified_gmt":"2010-03-02T20:04:55","slug":"4018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2010\/03\/02\/4018\/","title":{"rendered":"Harvey Stickman Saves Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"
Chapter One<\/div>\n
When Harvey Stricklund was born, his Father screamed. His Mother screamed too, but there’s nothing unusual about that, but Father\u2019s scream was unusual. It was a scream of horror.<\/div>\n
Harvey remembered everything even though as an infant he didn\u2019t really understand what was going on. With tiny ears and tinier eyes, he took it all in.<\/div>\n
“Wh-what IS that?” Father sputtered, pointing at Harvey with a trembling finger. “What is that – thing?”<\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s your son!\u201d said the nurse, her lips pursed underneath glaring blue eyes. Harvey noticed that she wouldn\u2019t look at him either.<\/div>\n
There was a pause. Father cringed, the nurse glared, and Harvey dangled from her outstretched arms like a spindly wooden puppet. A stringless marionette.<\/div>\n
\u201cWould you like to hold your son,\u201d the nurse insisted.<\/div>\n
\u201cNo! That thing isn\u2019t normal!\u201d Father tore off his hospital gown and ran from the room. \u00a0Harvey never saw him again.<\/div>\n
The nurse snorted and placed Harvey in the bassinet.<\/div>\n
“Is something wrong with my baby?” Mother asked urgently.<\/div>\n
“Well, he’s thin,” said the nurse. “Very thin,” she amended almost immediately. Then she paused as if thinking it over. “Unnaturally thin,\u201d she tried, seemed to like it, and then looked at the doctor for support.<\/div>\n
“Why! He\u2019s impossibly thin!” the doctor blurted. His bald head appeared over the bassinette and his beefy hands hoisted Harvey into the air.<\/div>\n
Harvey kicked and squealed, very much alarmed.<\/div>\n
“Dr. Gein,” Mother said darkly. “Give me my baby.”<\/div>\n
“Just look at him!” said the doctor, holding Harvey at the end of outstretched arms. “He looks like a twig with four branches for limbs!” The doctor grinned. \u201cOtherwise healthy too remarkable!\u201d<\/div>\n
Harvey looked at his mother for the first time. Her soft brown hair flowed down to her shoulders. She was a plump and the lines on her face made her look mean, but her pale blue eyes glowed as they looked back at him. Harvey remembered this as the first time he saw love. The tiny boy held out his stick-arms out to her.<\/div>\n
“Dr. Gein, give me my son!” Mother demanded.<\/div>\n
The doctor looked startled, “Of course!\u201d<\/div>\n
Mother clutched Harvey close and cooed to him softly. Harvey nestled against her bosom with a small smile of satisfaction.<\/div>\n
\u201cMy dear woman,\u201d Dr. Lepak said, in a comforting tone, as he smoothed the tufts of gray hair that decorated the back of his head, \u201cYour boy is a freak!\u201d<\/div>\n
Mother looked up with fiery eyes, \u201cHe\u2019s not a freak, Dr. Gein. He\u2019s just . . . thin.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLet me explain,\u201d the doctor continued. \u201cThere\u2019s never been a baby born this thin!”<\/div>\n
\u201cAnd his name is Harvey!\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYes, yes! His name is Harvey! Lovely name,\u201d the doctor smiled. \u201cBut he\u2019s still a freak and that\u2019s why I think you should leave him with me.\u201d The doctor\u2019s smile grew, his voice turned syrupy and soothing, \u201cGo and have a normal life. Find your husband. Just leave this baby here and I will study . . . er, take care of him! It will be for the best! It will be . . . Hey! What are you doing?\u201d<\/div>\n
Mother exited the room carrying little Harvey, her small bag of belongings, and her coat, leaving the startled doctor behind.<\/div>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t go!\u201d Doctor Gein called after her. \u201cYou don\u2019t understand! Your baby is special!\u201d<\/div>\n
***<\/div>\n
\u201cWelcome to Wauwasota Falls, Harvey.\u201d Mother sat in the back of the cab and held Harvey so he could see out the window. The cab driver kept staring through at the rear-view mirror, gawking at the strange thin baby. Mother stopped that nonsense with a glare. They passed the local Elementary School, Harvey stared at the children at play. \u00a0They passed a small playground complete with a swing set, slide, and a crouching spider-like merry-go-round. and then they passed an old woman walking alone and staring into a hand mirror. Little Harvey felt a chill run up his tiny spine as he gazed at her, then she looked up and scowled at him.<\/div>\n
Soon the cab stopped in front of a quaint little house with torn awnings over each window. Mother paid the fare, carried Harvey inside, and sat with him on a faded duct-tape repaired couch.<\/div>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re alone now Harvey, that awful doctor is far away now and you\u2019re father is . . . gone.\u201d She sighed and watched as he curled his tiny thin hand around her pudgy finger. \u201cPeople think you\u2019re a freak, but I\u2019ll keep you safe.\u201d She stared into his eyes for a long moment.<\/div>\n
The doorbell\u2019s chime broke the silence. “What now?” Mother sighed heavily and went to the peephole. “Oh no! Harvey I have to let her in or she’ll never leave us alone.” She opened the door and a women pushed past her and into the room.<\/div>\n
\u201cI suppose you can come in,\u201d Mother said with an annoyed tone.<\/div>\n
\u201cI’m here from the Ladies Auxiliary!\u201d said a large woman with her hair tied into a tight bun, her eyes were green and her demeanor arrogant. \u201cYou have a new baby? Yes?\u201d She looked around the room.<\/div>\n
\u201cWhere is that husband of yours, Mr. Gacy?\u201d she said, a trace of a smile on her lips.<\/div>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s gone, Mrs. Gacy,\u201d said Mother. \u201cAnd please, call me Miss Stricklund now. I\u2019m taking my name back.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSensible,\u201d said Mrs. Gacy. \u201cOh, and I\u2019m sorry to hear he\u2019s gone.\u201d Harvey didn\u2019t think she sounded sorry at all.<\/div>\n
\u201cThank you . . .\u201d Mother began.<\/div>\n
Just then her eyes darted to the couch, and Harvey lying there, and, as one, they gasped.<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat is that? Is that a doll?\u201d she leapt forward and hovered over Harvey as he kicked his spindly legs and waved his skinny arms.<\/div>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s Harvey!\u201d said Mother, she rushed past her and gathered Harvey up in a protective embrace.<\/div>\n
The woman clucked her tongue and snorted, “Figures you’d have a weird one Hortense.”<\/div>\n
Harvey\u2019s Mother turned and laid Harvey gently on the couch again. Then she grabbed Mrs. Gacy and rushed forward pulling the women out the open front door. She landed in a heap on the stoop. Mother brushed her hands together and slammed the door:<\/div>\n
Through the door they could hear, \u201cWell I never! No wonder your husband left! Your baby looks like a stickman!\u201d<\/div>\n
Mother went back inside and sat on the couch heavily, she sighed and held Harvey close. She stared at Harvey and a smile crept across her face.<\/div>\n
\u201cMy little Harvey Stricklund,\u201d she began. \u201cIf we\u2019re going to live here in Wawausota Falls and you should know that this is a small town.\u201d She sniffed loudly. \u201cEverybody knows everybody in a small town and it\u2019s well known that small town people don\u2019t like people who are . . . different. \u00a0You\u2019re wonderful, special, and delightfully impossible Harvey, but you\u2019re also quite different.\u201d She cleared her throat. \u201cNow, the people of Wawausota Falls really don\u2019t like people who are different.\u201d She looked grave, haunted, as if she could see into the future. \u00a0\u201cThey\u2019ll never accept you Harvey, and you\u2019ll never be safe among them.\u201d Shaking her head and smiling at him, she continued in a brighter tone. \u201cBut that doesn\u2019t matter. I keep to myself anyway, you might say I\u2019m a recluse, a hermit, and that means I\u2019m going to keep here, at home, where you\u2019ll always be safe.\u201d<\/div>\n
\"imgres-2bhbi\"Harvey Stickman is my second novel and boy is it weird. I followed my gut with this one and ended up with something special but there’s no way a publisher would risk this one on a no-name author – I could be wrong about that, but I’m still going to sit on it until I have some success – it is just too strange. But that’s why I love it. This one is Middle-Grade best for 9-12 I think.<\/div>\n

\n

<\/div>\n
Chapter One<\/strong><\/div>\n
When Harvey Stricklund was born, his Father screamed. His Mother screamed too, but there’s nothing unusual about that. Father\u2019s scream was unusual. It was a scream of horror.<\/div>\n
Harvey remembered everything even though as an infant he didn\u2019t really understand what was going on. With tiny ears and tinier eyes, he took it all in.<\/div>\n
“Wh-what IS that?” Father sputtered, pointing at Harvey with a trembling finger. “What is that – thing?”<\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s your son!\u201d said the nurse, her lips pursed underneath glaring blue eyes. Harvey noticed that she wouldn\u2019t look at him either.<\/div>\n
There was a pause. Father cringed, the nurse glared, and Harvey dangled from her outstretched arms like a spindly wooden puppet. A stringless marionette.<\/div>\n
\u201cWould you like to hold your son,\u201d the nurse insisted.<\/div>\n
\u201cNo! That thing isn\u2019t normal!\u201d Father tore off his hospital gown and ran from the room. \u00a0Harvey never saw him again.<\/div>\n
The nurse snorted and placed Harvey in the bassinet.<\/div>\n
“Is something wrong with my baby?” Mother asked urgently.<\/div>\n
“Well, he’s thin,” said the nurse. “Very thin,” she amended almost immediately. Then she paused as if thinking it over.<\/div>\n
“Unnaturally thin,\u201d she tried, seemed to like it, and then looked at the doctor for support.<\/div>\n
“Why! He\u2019s impossibly thin!” the doctor blurted. His bald head appeared over the bassinette and his beefy hands hoisted Harvey into the air.<\/div>\n
Harvey kicked and squealed, very much alarmed.<\/div>\n
“Dr. Gein,” Mother said darkly. “Give me my baby.”<\/div>\n
“Just look at him!” said the doctor, holding Harvey at the end of outstretched arms. “He looks like a twig with four branches for limbs!” The doctor grinned. \u201cOtherwise healthy too remarkable!\u201d<\/div>\n
Harvey looked at his mother for the first time. Her soft brown hair flowed down to her shoulders. She was a plump and the lines on her face made her look mean, but her pale blue eyes glowed as they looked back at him. Harvey remembered this as the first time he saw love. The tiny boy held out his stick-arms out to her.<\/div>\n
“Dr. Gein, give me my son!” Mother demanded.<\/div>\n
The doctor looked startled, “Of course!\u201d<\/div>\n
Mother clutched Harvey close and cooed to him softly. Harvey nestled against her bosom with a small smile of satisfaction.<\/div>\n
\u201cMy dear woman,\u201d Dr. Gein said, in a comforting tone, as he smoothed the tufts of gray hair that decorated the back of his head,<\/div>\n
\u201cYour boy is a freak!\u201d<\/div>\n
Mother looked up with fiery eyes, \u201cHe\u2019s not a freak, Dr. Gein. He\u2019s just . . . thin.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLet me explain,\u201d the doctor continued. \u201cThere\u2019s never been a baby born this thin!”<\/div>\n
\u201cAnd his name is Harvey!\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYes, yes! His name is Harvey! Lovely name,\u201d the doctor smiled. \u201cBut he\u2019s still a freak and that\u2019s why I think you should leave him with me.\u201d The doctor\u2019s smile grew, his voice turned syrupy and soothing, \u201cGo and have a normal life. Find your husband. Just leave this baby here and I will study . . . er, take care of him! It will be for the best! It will be . . . Hey! What are you doing?\u201d<\/div>\n
Mother exited the room carrying little Harvey, her small bag of belongings, and her coat, leaving the startled doctor behind.<\/div>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t go!\u201d Doctor Gein called after her. \u201cYou don\u2019t understand! Your baby is special!\u201d<\/div>\n
***<\/div>\n
\u201cWelcome to Wauwasota Falls, Harvey.\u201d Mother sat in the back of the cab and held Harvey so he could see out the window. The cab driver kept staring through at the rear-view mirror, gawking at the strange thin baby. Mother stopped that nonsense with a glare. They passed the local Elementary School, Harvey stared at the children at play. \u00a0They passed a small playground complete with a swing set, slide, and a crouching spider-like merry-go-round. and then they passed an old woman walking alone and staring into a hand mirror. Little Harvey felt a chill run up his tiny spine as he gazed at her, then she looked up and scowled at him.<\/div>\n
Soon the cab stopped in front of a quaint little house with torn awnings over each window. Mother paid the fare, carried Harvey inside, and sat with him on a faded duct-tape repaired couch.<\/div>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re alone now Harvey, that awful doctor is far away now and you\u2019re father is . . . gone.\u201d She sighed and watched as he curled his tiny thin hand around her pudgy finger. \u201cPeople think you\u2019re a freak, but I\u2019ll keep you safe.\u201d She stared into his eyes for a long moment.<\/div>\n
The doorbell\u2019s chime broke the silence. “What now?” Mother sighed heavily and went to the peephole. “Oh no! Harvey I have to let her in or she’ll never leave us alone.” She opened the door and a women pushed past her and into the room.<\/div>\n
\u201cI suppose you can come in,\u201d Mother said with an annoyed tone.<\/div>\n
\u201cI’m here from the Ladies Auxiliary!\u201d said a large woman with her hair tied into a tight bun, her eyes were green and her demeanor arrogant. \u201cYou have a new baby? Yes?\u201d She looked around the room.<\/div>\n
\u201cWhere is that husband of yours, Mr. Gacy?\u201d she said, a trace of a smile on her lips.<\/div>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s gone, Mrs. Gacy,\u201d said Mother. \u201cAnd please, call me Miss Stricklund now. I\u2019m taking my name back.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSensible,\u201d said Mrs. Gacy. \u201cOh, and I\u2019m sorry to hear he\u2019s gone.\u201d Harvey didn\u2019t think she sounded sorry at all.<\/div>\n
\u201cThank you . . .\u201d Mother began.<\/div>\n
Just then her eyes darted to the couch, and Harvey lying there, and, as one, they gasped.<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat is that? Is that a doll?\u201d she leapt forward and hovered over Harvey as he kicked his spindly legs and waved his skinny arms.<\/div>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s Harvey!\u201d said Mother, she rushed past her and gathered Harvey up in a protective embrace.<\/div>\n
The woman clucked her tongue and snorted, “Figures you’d have a weird one Hortense.”<\/div>\n
Harvey\u2019s Mother turned and laid Harvey gently on the couch again. Then she grabbed Mrs. Gacy and rushed forward pulling the women out the open front door. She landed in a heap on the stoop. Mother brushed her hands together and slammed the door:<\/div>\n
Through the door they could hear, \u201cWell I never! No wonder your husband left! Your baby looks like a stickman!\u201d<\/div>\n
Mother went back inside and sat on the couch heavily, she sighed and held Harvey close. She stared at Harvey and a smile crept across her face.<\/div>\n
\u201cMy little Harvey Stricklund,\u201d she began. \u201cIf we\u2019re going to live here in Wawausota Falls and you should know that this is a small town.\u201d She sniffed loudly. \u201cEverybody knows everybody in a small town and it\u2019s well known that small town people don\u2019t like people who are . . . different. \u00a0You\u2019re wonderful, special, and delightfully impossible Harvey, but you\u2019re also quite different.\u201d She cleared her throat. \u201cNow, the people of Wawausota Falls really don\u2019t like people who are different.\u201d She looked grave, haunted, as if she could see into the future. \u00a0\u201cThey\u2019ll never accept you Harvey, and you\u2019ll never be safe among them.\u201d Shaking her head and smiling at him, she continued in a brighter tone. \u201cBut that doesn\u2019t matter. I keep to myself anyway, you might say I\u2019m a recluse, a hermit, and that means I\u2019m going to keep here, at home, where you\u2019ll always be safe.\u201d<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter One When Harvey Stricklund was born, his Father screamed. His Mother screamed too, but there’s nothing unusual about that, but Father\u2019s scream was unusual. It was a scream of horror. Harvey remembered everything even though as an infant he didn\u2019t really understand what was going on. With tiny ears and tinier eyes, he took […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4018\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}