Bubba “Armadillo” Gaspareaux

We did a writer’s exercise today at work, where we made up a name, passed in on to the next person, and then had to write a sketch about the name we were given. Here’s what I did with the name Mary picked out for me:

Bubba “Armadillo” Gaspareaux

He never really understood how he came to be called Bubba. His real name was James. James Dillon Gaspareaux, but ever since his baby brother Samuel could start talking—and boy could he talk—James’s real name was forever forgotten by everyone but his patient, loving mother. Sammy was never able to say James very well, so when he started saying “Bubba” one day, that’s what all the aunts, uncles, and cousins immediately adopted as well, and they always said it in that obnoxious baby voice that James couldn’t stand. There wasn’t a whole lot James could do about it, and he wasn’t about to complain and make it worse. Everyone had always loved Samuel from the day he was born and “just popped right out with the cutest baby face you ever had seen.” James was pretty sure that some would claim his baby brother was born with wings and a halo the way they doted over him all the time. He himself had long been forgotten as the favored child of the family. His curly red hair, freckles, and glasses embodied the face that only a mother could love. And thankfully she did. His mother was the nicest person he figured he would ever know. She would let him curl up in her lap after a long day, even though he was a bit old for that sort of thing by now. But she didn’t care. She would sing to him and read him stories about the old west where cowboys and Indians ruled the day. He always wanted to be a cowboy with a real horse, leather chaps, and a bandana to keep the dust out of his face while he rode off into the sunset. His favorite book was about a cowboy who had earned the nickname “Armadillo” and so, that’s what his mother had nicknamed him since it sounded much like his middle name “Dillon.” It was her special little name for him, and he loved it. No one else knew about it, and he liked it that way.