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.