The Baker, The Butcher and The Brewer, Part One: The Baker 23
Serial Novel
The Baker woke up with keen senses ready to splash his mind on the canvas. He immediately penciled down the lengthy colorful dream he had before it faded away.
It was something like this:
The sun rose on the horizon. Drops of water speeded down among the rocks. The snow and ice quickly melted away. A giant boulder squeaked as it was freed from the icy grip and started rolling down hill. It pushed through a group of young trees and gathered speed. The sharp edges of the rock shattered into an older group of trees and the giant came to a stop. It grinded slowly and quietly with the force of its weight. The sun shined tireless high in the sky. Snap. Branches and trunks gave way and split into bark as the boulder made its way down hill. It gathered speed again and rolled furiously towards the first house on the edge of the town.
The house was still and silent. Smoke came out of the chimney. A car pulled in and a young smiling man came out of it. He walked up to the house. Behind it the boulder was rolling on target. Just before he reached the front door the rock landed on the frail colonial home flattening it with the ground, bounced off the ruin, flew over the young man and crashed his car to bits.
The young man found himself lying on the ground. The sun was right above him in the sky shining hard. He got up dusted himself off and looked around. Giant tears started raining down to the wet ground. He turned around and walked to the remains of his car. Pulled out a small bag from it and started walking slowly.
He walked among houses. He walked in the open field after town. The open field turned into a forest. The path in the forest grew narrow and dark. He looked aside to see the shining eyes of packs of wolves on both sides. He walked on, there was a light at the end of the dark path. The forest cleared out. He walked on to a vegetable garden.
He looked older, battered and out of breath. Little rabbits run around in the garden. A scarecrow mounted on a stick was waving ‘hello’ in the distance. He walked on in that direction. Around the scarecrow giant watermelons littered the ground. The scarecrow looked menacing now holding a knife. The young man walked among the giant watermelons in the direction of a solitary tree. By the tree was a girl crying. A basket full of broken eggs lay on the ground. The young man looked at her and smiled. She took a cracked egg from the basket and handed it to him. He took it and poured its contains down his throat. All the little rabbits gathered around the tree to watch. He attempted to walk away when the girl extended her empty hand. He smiled once again reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a shiny wolf eye and dropped it into her palm. All the little rabbits started jumping and cheering as he walked away.
He walked into a sand dune and started climbing it. Many people were coming down as he went up. He reached the top and peeked on the other side. The ocean, and not far in it was an island. He walked on the edge of the ocean nearing a small settlement. Old fishermen were patching their nets up. A group of children was torturing a little rabbit. A girl in front of a blue house holding a fish was waving him in. He walked on by and sat in front of the island with the sun setting behind it.
In the twilight the girl from the blue house pushed a boat into the water and set out for the island. The young man got into the water and swam after her keeping a good distance. It got very dark, he could hardly see the boat. Suddenly the rowing stopped. He saw the shore. The girl pulled the boat on the beach and disappears into the thick vegetation. He was about to climb on the shore when she came back carrying firewood. She started a fire and pulled a bag full of giant onions out of the boat. The young man hesitated for a moment and stayed hidden in the water. The girl put one of the onions in the fire and sat on the sand by it. The young man rubbed his hands on his shoulders evidently getting cold. The girl took the giant onion out and split it in half with a pocketknife. She reached in and pulled out a fist size diamond. The young man’s jaw dropped. Her face turned sour she griped the diamond hard, stood up and threw it in the ocean with all her might. The young man followed the trajectory of the flying diamond and saw it disappear in the dark water. The girl put another onion in the fire. The young man made for the shore and came out on the sand into the light. The girl took the second onion out of the fire and split it open. She was about to reach in when she saw the young man, jumped on her feet and run into the jungle. The young man speeded ahead picked up the open onion and reached in. To his surprise he pulled out a baby rabbit. He dropped all on the sand and run after the girl into the woods.
The narrow path led out of the woods and faded into a rocky hill side. He started climbing the hill. It got steeper, rocks rolled down behind him. He reached a small cottage with an old man eating a piece of cheese. The old man went in the cottage and came out with a bottle of water and a piece of cheese handing them to the young man. He took a sip of water and put the rest in his bag. He set the bag on the ground for a pillow and fell asleep. The sun on his face woke him up. The old man pointed up to the top of the hill.
The young man climbed on. He looked around, it was deserted. He rested on a big rock, bit on cheese and drank water. Then climbed on. He reached a small plateau on the top in the evening. There was a fire burning next to an unfinished stone cottage. He sat by the fire and looked at the sky. There were only a few tiny stars. The fire illuminated the rocks around him. Around the plateau in every direction down was a dark abyss. The young man leaned back and stretches his legs hypnotized. He dosed off.
He opened his eyes to see a little rabbit standing in front of him. He reached over but the rabbit run away into the unfinished cottage. He stood up and walked to it, picked up a rock and put it on the wall. He looked around for more rocks and attempted to build up the walls of the cottage. He ate cheese and drank water. He brought rocks to a pile near the structure. He picked a brick-shaped rock from the base of a boulder at the edge of the plateau. As he turned back to carry it to the pile the boulder slid down a little. He turned around and the boulder rolled down the hill.
PREVIOUS CHATER – THE BAKER 22
more by PETER ODEON
Photograph from unsplash.com
