Author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings never reveals the last name of the young orphan boy, Jerry, in her short story "A Mother in Mannville." Marjorie comes to appreciate Jerry's tireless work around her cabin, and she tells him how much she and her dog, Pat, will miss him when she returns home. As a parting gesture, Marjorie visits the orphanage before leaving to inquire about his mother, who Jerry claims lives in Mannville. But when Jerry talks to the director of the orphanage, she finds that Jerry has no mother: He has made up the stories about her and the gifts he has supposedly received.