Excerpt of "Lunch with Rufus" from "Lessons from a Barbed Wire Fence"

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Rufus. Now, Rufus was pretty ordinary. He was never the smartest in class, and found history his most difficult course. He had a male teacher who could put the fear in any boy, no matter how well-behaved the boy might be. Rufus’s favorite subject was ‘lunchtime,’ where he could get off by himself, open his sack lunch, and privately feast on what mother had made.

Times were very difficult, so Rufus was glad to have any kind of lunch. He always ate every bite and wished there had been a little more. The conditions of poverty that existed caused most of the boys, like Rufus, to be very protective of something as precious as food. Actually, a spirit of selfishness usually prevailed.

One day Rufus’s friend James, much smaller than Rufus, either forgot his lunch or had nothing at home to bring. When lunchtime came, Rufus saw Little Jim (that’s what everyone called him) by himself flipping rocks at a nearby tree stump.

Rufus asked him why he wasn’t eating. Little Jim mumbled something that Rufus couldn’t hear, something about his father paying taxes. It was all mumbo jumbo, so Rufus didn’t push the issue any further.

Rufus was somewhat moved by the frustrated look on Little Jim’s face as he looked into his own lunch sack containing three biscuits and a small piece of cheese. “Now that’s not much for a growing boy like me,” Rufus thought as his mouth begin to water at the smell of those lovely biscuits. “Boy, am I hungry,” Rufus thought as he again looked over at Little Jim with nothing at all.

“What to do?”

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That was an excerpt from the story, "Lunch with Rufus" from our latest book - "Lessons From a Barbed Wire Fence" & Other Bible-Based Stories for Children, by Gary W. Long. There are 34 stories in all. 228 pages. Illustrated. Hardcover with a Scripture index. $16.

Get your copy today by visiting our website at PBPress.org. Better yet, purchase one or more as gifts to children you know. An order of 10 or more qualifies for 40% off the retail price. Contact us for the quantity discount by calling 417-883-0342 or sending us an email to contactus@PBPress.org.