metropolitan chair #1, pen and ink on paper

metropolitan chair #2, pen and ink on paper

metropolitan chair #3, pen and ink on paper

metropolitan chair #4, pen and ink on paper

metropolitan chair #5, pen and ink on paper

The Giant's Feast chapter 10

I'm not sure of the lineage of other storybook giants, but  our dear protagonist was actually the child of normal sized parents. The young couple were very poor but much in love and looking forward to having a delightful baby. When the little fellow started doubling in size every day, they were concerned. When he could no longer fit in his crib after a week and had to be moved to the bed, they were worried. When he was too big to fit in the building and he could eat their entire month's supply of food in one sitting, they were bankrupt and desperate. Things quickly spiraled out of control. The only option, sad as it was, was to leave the young fellow on the steps of the orphanage. They didn't even have a basket big enough to hold him, and had to just leave a little note. It was all very heartbreaking, really.  The note read simply,  "please take care of our boy, he has grown too large".

Being the only giant at the orphanage, they simply named him the Giant and moved on. When you're the only giant in the town, it's pretty obvious who you are. 

Thusly does our giant friend find himself, years later, in the uncomfortable situation with the young lady giant in the belfry. He could only reply " I am the Giant", which sounded totally silly to him the minute the words left his lips. She didn't laugh, but rolled her eyes and said, "I see you are writing your own reviews now as well!" His cheeks flushed and he was a loss for words. She stepped towards and took his arm. "Well my name is Viola, and we'll just have to come up with a name for you". Looking out across the wide valley, she tapped her forehead thoughtfully. Then she turned to him and said "I have it, you are to be named Bertram. It was my grandfather's name and it would suit you well." She then held her hand out and shook his hand. "A pleasure to meet you Bertram" she said with  mock formality. He held her outstretched hand and said, "It is indeed a pleasure to meet you as well Viola". 

There they stood for moment, unsure of what to do next. Bertram finally broke the silence.

"What are you ringing this bell for"? he asked. Viola's expression went suddenly dark, here eyes narrowing. "The bell is an alarm to warn people in the town", she said as she looked anxiously out the window. Bertram was puzzled for a moment. Then, envisioning the sorry state of the mostly burning and unpopulated town he had just passed, he asked "What are you warning them about"? Viola leaned close to him and whispered one word. "Giants" .

sheltered lake, pen and ink on paper

The Giant's Feast chapter 9

The door to the bell tower swung open when the giant turned the knob. The staircase before him was, like the floor of the hallway he had just traversed, also made of pine. It faintly held the scent of the tree and the dusty smell that only time can leave. He mounted the stair and slowly began his ascent, the bell was now ringing directly above him, shaking bits of dust and pine loose with every stroke. The pain in his back was growing. After the long hike down the interminably long hallway his strength was already taxed. He climbed steadily nonetheless, his rising anger over the way the whole situation had developed overpowered the pain.

 As he climbed from landing to landing in the dark staircase, the facts of the matter slowly became clearer to to him. The dog that had retrieved him from the foot of the hill had caused his fall and subsequent injury. There was no way he would have run down that hillside without some kind of provocation. And the owner of this dog had some responsibility in the matter. Who lets their huge dog run around untended, he wondered? Only irresponsible pet owners, that's who! He had been brought to this strange place and put out of danger by someone, but maybe their intentions were less than honorable, maybe even criminal! So far, he had not encountered any living soul inside this bizarre building. Surely, if someone was trying to help him they would have revealed themselves by now. And then there was the minor issue of his missing bag of gold and treasure. Certainly a problem to say the least, and a possible grand theft at most! The more he thought about the whole situation the more anger welled inside his giant soul.

The bell was nearby now, too close, thrumming with a vengeance. He could almost swear his vision was slightly blurred by the each low note as it reverberated down the staircase. His sweat soaked through his shirt. He paused on a landing to take off his overcoat and catch his breath. He sat for a minute and rested on a stair.  The darkness of the stairway was slowly giving way to a dim light. He could see the motes of dust hanging in the still blue air, quivering with each strike of the bell. He stood and continued his ascent, the flaming pain in his back making him see yellow at the edge of his vision with each footfall. After what seemed an eternity, he rounded the last landing and finally came to the belfry. 

The belfry was open on all sides, allowing the peals of the bell to pour out and the morning light to brightly shine in, causing the giant to shield his eyes. When his eyes had adjusted to the brightness, he began to make out the third most amazing sight he had ever seen. Clinging to the bell rope and steadily pulling was possibly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen!  A giant to be sure, and his own size at that. Not surprisingly, as he was the only person of any size barging into the room, she noticed him at once. She let go of the rope and regarded him as the bell tolled it's last mournful notes. She then asked him something that no one had ever asked him. "What is your name?"

summer stugas, distressed pine

The Giant's Feast chapter 8

The morning light crept into the room through the single window, the cricket's chorus slowly giving way to the call of songbirds. The giant slept still, dreaming now of wine barrels stacked in perfect pyramids. The sun rose over the hilltop, reflecting off the pine floor and filling the room with a golden light. The giant rolled over and gathered the quilt over his face. He was awakened by the sound of the bell.

The thing was starting to get on his nerves. What was it tolling for? Bells in his town rang for a reason, the noon bell told the villagers when to stop their toils and eat lunch. The five bells rang out to call them to their pints in the local pub. Sometimes it would toll for a bit to mourn a fallen villager or to celebrate a wedding, but only for a bit and then silence. This stupid bell just endlessly rang from dawn to dusk! It's long low drone would shake the house off it's foundation if it were allowed to go on like this indefinitely. 

The giant sat up in bed in anger. Then he remembered the pain in his back. It was still there,  but dull enough now to not send him straight down. Encouraged by this new development, he gingerly swung his legs over the side of the bed. With what seemed a great deal of effort for such a simple act, he stood up.

If you've ever been confined to your bed due to an accident, you probably know what a great relief it is to get up and move about. It sounds maudlin, but you don't really appreciate little things until they are not available to you. If you can't move about freely, my heart goes out to you.  Our giant friend, having had some time to ponder the gravity of things of this nature, thanked the stars above for the fact that he apparently had not suffered a permanently debilitating injury and did what anyone of any size would probably do in this situation. He grabbed his coat off the hook on the door, put it on and opened the door.

A long hallway stretched in both directions as far as he could see. There were doors like the door to his room spaced evenly down the hall, all closed. To his right, the sound of the bell was a bit clearer. He was torn between the desire to leave the whole place behind him and take his chances with the dog, or finding the giants that must certainly live here and inviting them to the feast. Either way the ringing of this confounded bell was driving him half nuts and he resolved that any decision he made would be made under undue pressure and possibly later regretted. The bell had to stop. He turned right and headed down the hallway towards the sound. 

The floors were well made of pine and did not squeak as he slowly made his way down the hall. He crept past closed door after closed door as the bell grew louder. There were no markings on any of the doors and he didn't want to risk opening of them to discover what lay within. Maybe there were other victims of the dog recovering, maybe there were towns folk, busy preparing food for a feast he was not aware of. He really didn't want to take the time to explore the mysteries before the bell was silenced. Then he could think a little more clearly and respond to any new challenges with which he might be presented. After creeping past what seemed like a hundred doors, he finally stopped before the last door on the right. There was a simple sign upon the door. Affixed to the door were brass letters forming two words, Bell Tower. 

  

rose cloud, acrylic on camvas

The Giant's Feast chapter 7

Regarding our protagonist's rather fragile emotional state, please be assured it was a short time before he scraped himself together and began to formulate some more coherent thinking as to his situation. First of all, he reasoned, it would be foolish for any giant to be lying around crying over such small a matter as how anyone felt about him. His good name was immaterial in the town where he lived. After all, he was a giant! He towered over all whom he surveyed. He could have cared less whether he was liked or well regarded by the people of the town. They were fortunate to have him there, gold or not! He had every intention of returning to his town with the satchel when his invitations had been issued. He was no thief! In fact, he thought, if it were gold and treasure he was after he could scoop some up in almost any town he came to. He promised himself he would not be dragged down the emotional drain by feelings of guilt and remorse, and would rather focus his limited energy on getting out of the situation he had found himself in.

That said, he was in a bit of a bind. He realized that nothing was going to be accomplished from a bed, and the first move he should make would have to involve getting up. He tried wiggling his toes and found that he could move them with no problem. Reassured that he wasn't paralyzed, he pushed back the heavy quilt and covers and sat up a little. Again the pain in his back forced him down. He decided that it would be best to rest a bit and try more later. As the sun faded over the hilltops and the shadows turned gently to dusk, the tolling of of the bell mercifully stopped. The sound of crickets soon replaced the droning thrum of the bell. He closed his eyes and allowed the sweet escape of sleep to overtake him.

That night the giant dreamed of terrible things. The tower bell rang incessantly in his dream. He was being chased relentlessly through thickets, fields and forests by the huge dog. It seemed his feet were made of wet clay and his each step was impossibly slow and sloppy. The dog was so close to him he could feel moist hot doggy breath on his neck (imagine!). Just when the dog was upon him, he woke up. 

His sheets and blankets were in a snarl around his legs, the quilt had been pushed halfway to the floor. The room was dark with not even a ray of moonlight coming through the window. His eyes slowly adjusted enough to make out the outline of the room, the nightstand, the coat hung on the back of the door. 

As he lay in the darkened room, a thought slowly occurred to him. If the gigantic dog belonged to the impossibly large house and soaring bell tower, then what was he doing in a room of his own proportion? The bed was exactly long enough to hold him. The nightstand and windowsill were the same height as the bed. The hook on the back of the door was just at the right height to hold his coat. He sleepily came to the encouraging conclusion that, as bad as it seemed and as big as the dog was, at least he must be dealing with normal sized giants. Maybe everything would be alright after all. Maybe they would like to come to his feast. He gathered up his covers and soon fell asleep again, dreaming of pots of cheese and roasted meats.   

morning window, pencil on paper

The Giant's Feast chapter 6

It occurred to the giant to run, maybe back down to the burning town where the smoke would be his ally in his attempt to escape. Maybe, if he could elude the dog, he could run all the way back to his town. He stood and looked down the hill he had just climbed. The dog was almost upon him. He clutched his satchel and held his breath. He took one step down the hill, tripped immediately on a small tree and began tumbling down the rocky slope, knocking over trees and brush until he came to rest, unconscious in the rocky scree at the bottom of the hill. 

When he awoke he was in a bed. His vision was blurred, making the scene seem somewhat dreamlike. The walls were a clean white and the furniture was simple pine. The bed was made up neatly in crisp cotton sheets and a colorful quilt. The nightstand held a vase with flowers. Sunlight streamed through the single window. The giant tried to sit up and look out the window, but was immediately immobilized by a searing pain in his back. He could only lie still and listen to the sound of the huge bell, tolling persistently but muffled a bit through the walls. He searched his memory for a clue as to how he come to be in this strange place. He remembered the burning town, the giant bell tower and the giant dog coming upon him, but that's where everything went blank. 

He was tucked into bed tightly so he couldn't see his body but his arms were free and covered in scratches, probably caused from falling through the scrub down the hill, he supposed. He tenderly moved hands and happily found all of his fingers to be intact and working. He rubbed his face tenderly, feeling the scratches on his cheeks and nose. He scanned the room again, his vision coming more sharply into focus. On a hook on the back of the door hung his coat, torn and dusty from the rocky hillside. Suddenly he remembered his satchel of gold and treasure. It was nowhere to be seen!  

For a giant, life has many fine things in store. Feelings like fear, jealousy and blind panic are rarely, if ever, experienced. It was a strange new sensation for our giant, this sense of helplessness and fear. He lay in the sunlit room as the shadows moved slowly across the wall, not sure what he should do about his missing satchel. The people from his town would be ruined without their treasure. His good name would be worthless if it came to be known that he was responsible for bankrupting the town, and the fact that the whole ruinous loss was brought about by a simple thing like a dog running up a hill towards him, this was all unthinkably horrible to the giant. 

It wouldn't matter that the dog was impossibly huge or the hill steep and precarious. Future re-tellers of the story would gloss over all of that and focus in on the embarrassing fact that he, a giant, was so frightened by a mere hound that he took flight like a schoolboy from the schoolyard bully, tripped up by a mere fluff of a scrubby bush, and ultimately retrieved by the scruff of his coat like a wounded duck by the very same hound to this strange place. 

It was all too much for our giant friend. He closed his eyes and from them came something else entirely new to him. A giant tear rolled down his cheek and plopped onto the clean white pillowcase. 

purple dog, pencil on paper

The Giant's Feast chapter 5

The giant had to climb slowly, as the air was thick with smoke and he could neither see nor breath very well. The hill was thick with scrubby brush and prickly trees. Several times he stumbled and slid back down the loose stone underfoot. Once he nearly lost his precious satchel filled with the gold and treasures from his hometown, as he had to quickly regain his balance on an outcropping of jagged rock. After a long climb the smoke from the ruins below began to clear and he could breathe a little better. The slow tolling of the bell seemed to get no closer as he climbed, but pealed persistently, a low, long droning note rolling down the hills and echoing in the valley below. The giant came to a spot in the hillside that was not too steep, and sat down for minute to catch his breath. He surveyed the valley from his lofted perch and pondered the destruction below. 

The town looked much worse from above, the total devastation revealed in one panorama. He could see the flattened fences and burnt and broken buildings as they smoldered in a cloud of grey smoke. It was hard for him to imagine what could have caused such total destruction. Maybe the town folk were roasting up a bunch of meats for a feast of their own when the fires got out of control. That would certainly explain the lack of livestock, but where were all the people? Surely some of them could have made their way to safety amid the conflagration. And why had the fields been harvested completely in the middle of the season? The giant wearily stood, gathered up his satchel and coat, and continued his ascent. 

As he neared the crest of the hill he could hear the low bell more clearly. It was so low that when it rang it shook the ground and the leaves of the trees trembled a little. The giant had been looking down at the precarious footing so as not to stumble. When he finally reached the crest he looked up and saw the most amazing thing he had ever seen in all his days. A bell tower stood towering over him, so tall that he could barely see to the top. The bell tolling in the tower was so high up that it almost disappeared into the clear morning sky. Birds flying above would seem to need to navigate around it so high did it rise. The giant stood in slack-jawed astonishment, unable to conceive of how such a structure could even exist. In his humble town his own home was known to be a landmark for miles around, as it dwarfed all nearby buildings by a comical factor, but this thing was positively enormous! 

He finally crested the hill and came to view the rest of the building attached to the bell tower. He sat down and stared in total wonder. The building was as impossibly large as the bell tower was unbelievably tall! It filled the valley completely, stretching out from hillside to hillside and outward to the left and right beyond his vision. The peaks of the roof were level with tops of the hillside and chimneys of the many fireplaces reached up further, wafting smoke into the midday sky.

Now, the giant had seen a lot of things in his day. Being a giant means you usually have pretty good view of anything you care to regard, but this was hard for him to take in. As he struggled to understand what he was seeing, he heard a sound coming from down the valley. It was much different from the tolling of bell tower high above, more like a low whooshing sound. He turned around just in time to see the second most amazing thing he had ever seen. A dog was running up the valley. The biggest dog he had ever seen! It looked like a normal sized dog until he realized that it was still about a mile away. As the dog clambered up the valley and hillside towards him the giant began to feel something he had never felt in his entire gigantic and long life. He was afraid.

the bell tower, pencil on paper

The Giant's Feast chapter 4

The valley before him widened as the giant walked for hours through the fields until he came along a winding river. As the sun sank gently behind the hills a cool breeze began to blow. The next town was said to be only a few more miles up the valley, but the giant thought it might be best to get a good night's sleep before continuing his journey. He found a spot in on the banks of the river that was clear of trees and, making a pillow of his satchel and a blanket of his coat, stretched out and soon fell fast asleep.

That night he dreamed about the perfect feast. The evening was warm and scent of honeysuckle from the garden wafted through the courtyard. His guests (giants all) danced to the music of a string quartet and laughter and conversation could be heard in the garden. Everyone was well dressed and the food was excellent and abundant enough for all to have their fill. The wine flowed endlessly and everyone complimented him on the vintage. His staff was attentive to the needs of his guests but careful to avoid being accidentally crushed as the evening wore on and the giant's footfalls became less planned. Everyone agreed it was the best feast ever and begged to be invited to the next one, whenever it might be held.

The morning sun awoke the giant. As he rose and stretched he noticed a slight haze in the morning air. The faint smell of wood smoke tickled his nose. He gathered up his satchel and walked up the valley along the river's edge.

As he approached the town he could see something was very different than the last town he had visited. The farmer's fields had all been harvested and sat untended. The livestock was nowhere to be seen and the fences lay partly on the ground. The haze of wood smoke filled the air and made it hard to breathe or see very far. Coming upon the town proper, the giant was disheartened. The buildings were mostly destroyed by fire. Timbers stuck out at odd angles and smoldering piles of ash and empty and broken cheese pots littered the streets. The well at the center of town miraculously had been spared, but when the giant lowered the bucket it came up bone dry. Except for the occasional crackle of fire the place was dead silent. Then, faintly from the hills above the town, came the sound of a large bell ringing. The giant could not see where the sound was coming from as the smoke was too thick. He carefully made his way out of town and up the hill towards the sound.

yellow dog, pencil on paper

The Giant's Feast chapter 3

The giant gathered his household staff in the great courtyard and informed them that he would be away for many weeks. In fact the length of his his journey would be unknown. He also informed the towns folk that, for safekeeping during his absence, it would be best if he took with him the gold and heirlooms which he had been entrusted with. He packed a satchel full and headed out of town and over the hill. His plan was a simple one. He would travel throughout the land and extend an invitation to any giant he could find to come to his feast. Giants are usually pretty easy to find because of their large size, so he thought this would be a fairly easy task.

The first town he came to was peaceful hamlet nestled in a valley. The place was neat and the livestock and surrounding fields were well tended. The giant made his way to the town center and sat down to rest and drink some water from the town well. It was a little frustrating for him, as the bucket was normal sized and it was like drinking from a thimble for him, but the water was cool and refreshing and he drank several buckets full. After a time the town folk ventured out from behind their closed doors. They greeted the giant warily, as they had no giants living in their town and were not quite sure what to make of this. The giant was hungry after his long walk and inquired after a snack. 

The town folk held a hurried meeting and it was decided that it would be best to feed the giant so that he might regain his strength and continue his journey. They quickly gathered firewood and built a roaring fire in the town square and began roasting meats for the giant. He ate the meats and small pots of cheeses they brought from their cellars, washing it down with several barrels of wine. The giant rested a bit longer while he spoke with the town folk. Apparently there was word that the next town up the valley had a couple of giants living in the hills above. The giant thanked the town folk and took his satchel and made his way up the valley. 

The weary town folk watched as he strode away up the valley. Their livestock was mostly roasted, well dry and wine supply exhausted and empty cheese pots littered the town square. All agreed that they were glad to see him heading out of town.

lone tree, colored pencil and pen and ink on paper

The Giant's Feast chapter 2

As some of you may already know, hosting a proper feast is no small feat. There are lots of minor details that, if left overlooked, can result in a less than successful event. The giant's first feast was a good example of such an event. The first mistake he made was overlooking the fact that giants are much bigger than normal people and need a lot more of everything to get their fill. The giant welcomed his guests from the town and wished all a wonderful feast. With that he proposed a toast and drank the town's entire supply of wine. The guests felt a little put out as they had to drink water, but looked forward to the feast none the less. The staff had been cooking all day preparing the various dishes and the food smelled delicious as the guests entered the dining hall. The giant wished all a great feast and loaded up his plate with a giant serving of food, leaving little behind for the towns folk. Now things were looking decidedly less festive.  The third mistake was the most damaging. The giant stumbled a bit getting to the rest room, crushing several tables and fatally surprising a number of guests in the process. It was obvious to the giant that if he wanted to have a truly memorable feast he would have to seek out other guest more his size. He sadly bade farewell to the surviving towns folk and prepared to set out on a journey.

telling lies, pen and ink on paper

The Giant's Feast chapter 1

It was pretty easy to spot the giant's place from town. For starters he was a giant so the place was huge. The grounds alone took up many square miles, as his stride was long and he could cover a decent bit of ground even on a short stroll. The gardens stretched away from the great house in a maze of honeysuckle vines, which the giant loved to smell when they bloomed in the summertime. 

The people in the town kind of liked having a giant around. It gave them a sense of security as well as a sense of importance. There was no way anyone would mess about with their town with a giant in the area. Also, having such a large structure made their town easy to find, as it became a bit of  landmark, to say the least. 

The giant was smart as well, and came up with great plan to watch over all the gold in the town. After all, who would be brave enough to steal from a giant? He soon came up with an equally brilliant plan to watch over all of the town's other valuables, and everyone soon lined up at the gates of his compound with baskets of jewelry, artwork, silver and family heirlooms of every sort.  

Of course he employed many of the townsfolk directly, as his home and grounds required a fair amount of upkeep. There were acres of gardens to tend, a tremendous kitchen to cook and clean, courtyards to sweep and and lots of laundry to wash. The window washing crew were constantly hoisting their platforms up and down the many windows in the house. He even had a small crew on hand to polish his boots.

The giant was interested in a lot of things, but his most recent passion was entertaining. He decided he would  host a feast.