As the only living child of Jody’s parents, Jody was isolated. After losing six kids, his mother, Ora, had become unapproachable and was always serious and not fun. Because his father, Penny, was always out maintaining the survival of the family, he was also too busy play. Physically and mentally, this left the boy lonely. Jody had always felt jealous of his friends because they all had a large collection of pets. He always wanted one for his own but his mother declared no because it would only mean there would have to be another mouth to feed and there wasn’t even enough food as it was for just themselves let alone a pet. When hunting one, Penny gets bit by a rattlesnake, and to get the poison out to save his father, Jody needs to kill a doe
