Runt Quotes

“Poll looked at him, thinking of sweets, but there was a real pig poking its snout out of the milkman's coat pocket. It was the tiniest pig she had ever seen. She touched its hard, little head and said, "What's a peppermint pig?"

"Not worth much," Mother said. "Only a token. Like a peppercorn rent. Almost nothing."

"Runt of the litter," the milkman added. "Too small for the sow to raise. He'd only get trampled on in the rush."

Mother took the pig from him and held it firmly while it kicked and squealed piercingly. She tipped it to look at its stomach and said, "Well, he seems strong enough. And even runts grow.”
― Nina Bawden, The Peppermint Pig

“Pepper-mint pig, peppermint pig, I'm a peppermint boy, so there's two of us, runts in this family.”
― Nina Bawden, The Peppermint Pig

“She crouched down, Bee spilling out from her arms to go play-fight with her siblings. It was apparent just how much smaller she was, her bright ginger coat sticking out in the bunch of black-and-white. Rosemary heard a deeper, softer yowl from the living room and watched a fully grown cat, a tortoiseshell, walk into the hall to break up their play-fighting when it got too rough. There was a glimmering sheen around the cat, and her feet padded silently on the floorboards.
"Their mama is still there," Rosemary said. She crouched down and reached out a hand, the ghost cat coming over and giving her hand a head butt. She couldn't feel anything but a wisp of momentary cold across her knuckles, like a soft exhale of breath.”
― Nadia El-Fassi, Love at First Fright