chair village, porcelain

movable cabin, pine and twigs

The Giant's Feast chapter 11

Viola sat him down and the head of the staircase and explained the situation. The house they were in was indeed the home of a giant. A benevolent giant, known unsurprisingly to the townspeople only as "The Giant", had built this massive structure himself. The section of the house Bertram had seen and bell tower had been specially constructed in miniature to accommodate the "normal" sized staff members and guests. There were other sections of the house made even smaller to accommodate the tiny villagers, should they ever stop by. 

The Giant had been away on a trip when the town was visited by a trio of younger giants. As is often the case with the young, they were looking for a party.  They quickly consumed the town's wine and cheese supply and roasted all the livestock. One them drunkenly stumbled into the fire pit and caught his pant leg on fire. He frantically hopped around, batting at his pant leg, smashing buildings and spreading flames as he went. Finally he came to the rivers edge and was able to extinguish the smoldering material. His friends quickly caught up with him and rolled about the fields in gales of laughter, recounting his inglorious  contortions.  Behind them the town burned as the sun set.

The surviving town folk quickly retreated to the relative safety of the Giant's house, following the sound of the distress bell, so valiantly rung by our new friend. They straggled up the same rocky hill that would so nearly been the undoing of Bertram, clutching what small possessions they could carry.  The young band of giants could be heard hooting and hollering up and down the valley until late that night. In the morning they were gone. 

The exhausted villagers met the following morning and discussed their options. It was decided that they would return to the village and attempt to recover anything of value and search for other survivors. They made their way to the top of the hillside and silently surveyed the smoldering ruins of the town below. The morning sun hung low in the smoke blue air, barely a light hole in the sky. The silence was broken by a low growling sound coming from the smoke below. Then from the shroud of smoke emerged Bertram, scrambling up the steep hillside, clutching a satchel and overcoat.  Fearing for their lives, the villagers scattered as he neared the top of the hill. 

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