"the good stump" was the first thing to come to mind when reading this chapter. for some reason, that reminds me of "the good son", have you ever seen that movie? with Macaulay Culkin as the young sadomasochist...gah, i'm rambling now.
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I picture Zebidiah looking like Macaulay Culkin. My own little brother was mistaken for Macaulay once when he was little. Never seen the movie though.