Everyone in the town knew of Ol' Man Tubby, he is the ideal image of a cantankerous farmer. He keeps to himself when ever he comes to town never looking at anyone always looking hollow. Normally he just stops in town to get supplies for his farm, but on Sundays he stops by the graveyard where his wife Kohlerie along with his two sons Bubba and Suds are buried. No one knows his story or where he came from so I am going to tell you since you are new in town and I don't want you to base your opinion on what the towns people say about him. First things first we will have to visit his farm where he works all day to provide the towns people with apples. Now that we are on the farm take a seat and look around you.What do you see? Not some run down place like everyone thinks it is. It has a rustic farm house, a big oak barn where he keeps his animals and a garden along with a flower bed. Why you may ask is his place so nice looking it is because he tries to keep his place nice to remember his family. Now to the story of Ol' Man Tubby.
It was a warm sunny day when Ol' Man Tubby decided to take his family on a trail ride with their horses. He saddled all the horses up and rode into town with the horses to pick up Kohlerie, Bubba and Suds. They then headed off on the trail that leads to Scum Pond where they went every Sunday to have a picnic and swim.
At the pond Bubba and Suds jumped into the water not waiting for their parents to set up the picnic. While they are swimming Ol' Man Tubby and his wife Kohlerie prepare a spot under a willow for their picnic. All set they watch their sons swim and play in the water.
"Hey Papa watch what I can do," yells Bubba. He goes under water and starts making bubbles.While Bubba is making bubbles, Suds swims behind him and pulls on him. This scares Bubba and he comes to the surface where he gets an applause from his parents, who notice after their done clapping that Bubba looks scared. Suds starts to laugh and tells Bubba it was he who grabbed his leg.
"Now Suds that is not funny to mess around like that with your brother," says Kohlerie with a stern look.
"Okay, Mom,"Suds replies.
After that the brothers swim around and about the time the are going to head back to their parents something bumps Bubba's leg.
"Suds stop messing with me, mom told you not to," Bubba says
"Bubba that was not me who bumped you, I am two feet away from you," Suds replies in a timid voice. Then as Suds is finishing talking something grabs hold of his leg and pulls him under. Everyone looks at where Suds used to be and all they see are bubbles and then the water becomes still.
"Bubba, get over here NOW," Ol' Man Tubby sternly replies. Bubba starts to swim franticly towards the shore. While Bubba is swimming towards shore, Ol' Man Tubby goes to meet him at the shore. Ol' Man Tubby hears Kohlerie scream and quickly looks out in Bubba direction to only see bubbles and then still water.
"NOOOooo," Ol' Man Tubby screams. He wants badly to go and try to get his boys, but he knows it is to late there is nothing that he can do. He walks back to his wife who is in shock and starts to pack up the picnic they will never have again.
When they get home Kohlerie is hysterical and runs off to their bedroom were she weeps for days. Ol' Man Tubby goes back to work on the farm in a depressed state of mind, replaying the events of what happened at Scum Pond.
Years pass and Kohlerie has passed away from depression and now it is just Ol' Man Tubby left on his farm. He started to ignore people when they would say they were sorry for his loss and would try to talk to him. He shut the world out. Every Sunday he would ride into town and take the trail to Scum Pond where he would sit on his hand carved bench he made in memory. Later on he would carve things out of wood to pass the time away when he was done with work on the farm. Another thing is he would cook his wife's and sons favorite meal on Sunday in memory of them.
So when you walk by him you will now know why he is the way he is. Maybe someday he will meet someone who will cheer him up, it could be you. For now he will just sit in his rocking chair and watch the world pass by, and every once in a while he while come to town.
In case you didn't find them
Name: Ol' Man Tubby
Family: Kohlerie (wife), Suds and Bubba (sons)
Occupation: working on the farm, selling apples
Past time: Carving wood, building houses (like his)
Hidden talent: Cooking really good meals
