The Storyteller and The Gentle Giant

The Storyteller and the Gentle Giant

by Paul McCann

 

He woke up from a deep sleep alone . The people who had come to the lagoon to listen to his stories had all gone and around him were some small gifts that they had left . Some fruits and drink with items of clothing and shoes . Scattered all around the ground were large loaves of bread .

He ate some of the fruit and put on the new lace up boots and in his mind, he had the vision of what he had seen in his dream running through his in his mind .

All around him he heard the sound of wolfhounds howling which made him aware of the need to leave soon to the place he had been shown in his dream . A large raven descended at the feet of the Storyteller and mimicked the sound of the wolfhounds and then it uttered a few words .

“The fierce one is dying . Go now to the Island . “

Then the raven calling out various sounds of other birds who came swooping down from the sky and picked up all of the loaves that were on the ground and in a few seconds, they were gone . There was only one loaf of bread left so he took that and put it into his bag .

The raven flew up and sat on the storytellers’ shoulders and whispered the words ,

.“The bread of life Storyteller awaits across the waters on the Island of man you must go to through the fields of fire to the wild forest where the fierce one lies among the tall trees . Give him the  bread of life and then tell him about his childhood and the story that only you know of . “

Then the large raven took off into the sky .

Many times, during his life , the storytellers was visited by guides and given signs of the places he had to go . Often, he had visions that brought an understanding of what  had to be done .

He left the lazy dawn behind and wandered from the lagoon to the shoreline where he sat down upon the racks and looked out at the e small waves on the water .

The sun shone down around the him as he looked out towards the Island of Man and he pondered how he could cross over there to the island that was visible to his eye and as luck would have it three fishermen presented carrying a small wooden boat down to shoreline ,

He called over to them .

.“A  good day for it . Any chance of taking me over to the Island ?”

They waved over and urged him to come over .

The storyteller made his way to them and one of the fishermen asked ,

“So do you know who lives on there on that island ?”

“Sure, enough I do “

He spoke

“Are you not afraid of the giant ?”

They asked and he replied , 

“I have nothing to fear .”

The call it the Island of Man but there are no men left on the Island because the Giant has killed them all and anyone else who would go there “

One of the fishermen  said

Well, there is something he needs that I have .“

He said ,

“What’s that ?”

Came the reply .

The storyteller opened up the bag on his back and took out a large loaf of bread . They all smiled and one of them said .

“Ah so the giant likes bread ?”

 “Well, this is not just ordinary bread , it’s the storyteller bread “

He replied and the fisher man said ,

“Let’s go then Storyteller , get in the boat and we’ll bring you to the Island.“

They placed the boat into the shallows of the water’s edge and as they steadied it   the storyteller got into the small boat followed by the fishermen and two of them took the oars and rowed into the deeper waters towards the Island of Man .

Some seagulls flew overhead calling out to the sea .

 

“She gives and she takes life?

Said the storyteller and one of the fishermen replied .

“Who does ?”

“The ocean“

The Storyteller replied ,

“Oh, that’s true , she does indeed ,

said the fisherman with the sea spray splashing up unto his face and another added   .

“It can be a cold cruel sea that demands something in return. “

The wind rushed through his hair as he faced the breeze at the back of the small boat .The storyteller continued ,

.
“There have been many who have left the land for faraway places but never got there and some have set out to fish but never returned with their catch “

 

The fishermen smile turned to a frown and the lines of sorrow appeared on his  weather-beaten face as he said ,

“Isn’t that’s the truth though , but that’s what we do . The ocean is our life in this part of the world and we have no choice but to go out and make our living from the ocean. We take what she gives us and also accepts what she takes away. “

They rowed across to the Island and when they arrived, they tied the little boat to  

a fallen tree and said

“We’re here tomorrow for you if you need to return”

He walked over the pebbles and seashells to the path that brought him to a rope bridge with wooden tread boards where he made his way across the escarpment to an old tower that overlooked the sea . From there he saw the fires burning in the fields and knew that was the direction he had to go . As he made his way to the fields of fire there were stones that never answered back when he questioned the creator of life .

 

“Do the trees grieve form the lost leaves in autumn or do the crops ask for payment ay harvest . So why should I seek payment for what I do and why should I grieve for lost time in this world ?”

The sun shone down around the place where he walked and before too long, he stood there surrounded by fields with huge bonfires still burning . There were dead bodies of warriors and bones that were scattered all around . These fields were more like burial grounds and battlefields .

He walked through the fields to the edge of a forest where he heard the roar of a savage beast that chilled him to his core . He stopped for a moment and smiled and whispered ,

“That must be a welcome for me , nothing to worry about ?”

Then he ventured into the forest .  He heard the roar of the savage beast getting closer and looked for a place to hide . Suddenly he found there a huge tree that was hollowed out in the middle that left a large space like a small room carved by hand with a sharp blade . On the floor of that room there was a trapdoor that opened where a wooden ladder stood . The storyteller climbed down the ladder to the bottom where he discovered a tunnel . Along the tunnel there was a passage of light reflected from mirrors that were placed in various spots that captured the sunlight from above on the forest surface .

At the end of the tunnel there was another ladder that he climbed and on the top of the ladder there was a ledge that brought his to a door . He opened the door to find himself in the back in the forest , The door was part of a tree that had also been carved out by hand . As he looked around, he saw the giant lying there on the ground surrounded by tall trees . He walked softly towards the giant who seemed to be asleep .  h

Suddenly The Giant had lost one of his hands and blood was flowing from where it had been severed . Suddenly many birds swooped down dropping loaves of bread all around the place where the giant lay . Then a few rays of sunlight shone down from above upon the giant and the storyteller walked over stared to put the bread into the giant’s mouth .

The giant opened his eyes and the storyteller said ,

‘Receive the bread of life that I bring to you . Enjoy the taste that will always linger with you always  .

As the giant ate the bread the blood stopped flowing from the place where his hand had been. There was great sigh of relief from the giant who was receiving a healing come over him . He smiled at the storyteller and said ,

 

“Thank you “  

 

Then as the storyteller continued to feed the giant the bread, he started to share a  colourful story for the giant . It was the story of the giants as he had been told .

As the storyteller listened  to the soft whispering voice of the storyteller he was sent into a trance .

 

Suddenly the large raven arrived and perched on a tree branch to listen to the story as did many other birds from the sky come down to perch nearby to listen to the storyteller . Other forest creatures arrived to listen to the story and they all sat  around the giant without fear . There was a great audience now there eager to hear the story of the  giant .

 

Every now and then the storyteller fed more bread to the giant who lay there as he began to tell his story ,        

 

“ I remember the day were born inside the mountain in bloom as the fairies all arrived on horseback to welcome the arrival of the King of their domain . It was great day and the world was a better place however there were those who did not you to live because they knew would become a threat to their cruel reign and put an end to their

dark forces falling over the land . On the day you were born the mountain shook and crumbled to the ground as your rivals came to kill you but you were taken away by the giant phoenix bird to causeway sanctuary where Mother Nature and Father time nurtured until it was time for you to take the throne as The Warrior King of All  the Land . You protected the land from many invades who desire to rule was never achieved . You already knew that there would come a day when you would have to fight your greatest rival who wanted to claim the throne as the dominant King to rule all the land and resume the control of the dark forces upon the land .

That is why you came here to live alone on the Island of Man because you knew the on the day of that battle there would be no other lives put in danger apart from the army that your rival would bring to help him to destroy you.

So, you pretended to be a fierce and angry giant so that no one would come to live here on the Island in order to protect the people on the mainland .

You have lived here alone for so long without human company awaiting the day when your rival would come this way looking to take your life . Now I can tell you that I already seen the decapitated body of that rival giant lying at the bottom of a cliff and his severed head is left in the fields of fire that has many dead bodies of the warriors he had brough here to help him win the battle for your throne .

When you awake gentle protector of all the land you will be healed and can continue your reign as the ruling King of all the land “

All the forest creatures made sounds of appreciation and the wild birds chirped and squawked and then raven talked  .

“We of the forest and sky are grateful that you have healed our gentle giant and for telling the story of our hero and King ‘

The storyteller replied

“Long may he reign and may he be revered and not feared for who he is .“

 Now I have to leave as I need to catch a boat that awaits to bring me back to the mainland .

The Giant awoke and said ,

“Why do you need to catch a boat friend . It’s only a short walk for me and with that  

He sat up and gently placed the Storyteller inside a pouch on his belt and got to his feet and walked away in the direction of the ocean .

All the birds of the air flew around the giant and whales and fish of the ocean accompanied him as he walked across the sea to the mainland where he took placed the storyteller back on solid ground .

He looked down at the storyteller who waved at the giant and spoke .

”Thank you for the safe passage across the sea Gentle Giant .“

The Giant waved back and spoke

“ Feel free to go anywhere on the sea or land storyteller for you have my protection always. “

The Giant and the storyteller both went their separate ways in peace .

 

The End