Haystacks and the Great Red Spot
Another illustrated escape from the 24/7 news cycle.
Firstly, happy Easter! Along with Christmas, the most joyous and electric holidays of the year for me.
Secondly, here’s a short study of haystacks. Or consider, if you will, a tiny art film:
And lastly, below is a short story from my illustrated book World Exhibition, available to pre-order from Mist Castle Press. Thanks to all who have already ordered!
THE GREAT RED SPOT
Bill stood there in his son’s doorway, the outline of his lanky body framed in the warm glow of the hallway light.
‘It’s three in the morning, dear boy. What’s wrong?’
‘I had a bad dream,’ came the voice of the little boy, pronouncing the ‘r’ in ‘dream’ as a ‘w’.
Bill stepped into the darkness of his boy’s room. It was cool, like a jeweled cave. ‘What was the dream?’ he asked softly, sitting down on the floor beside the boy’s low bed.
‘Jupiter’s red spot,’ came the boy’s voice, scarcely a whisper.
‘Jupiter’s spot?’
‘Yeah. It’s a storm. And it’s bigger than the whole Earth. I dreamed it swallowed us up. It swallowed up everything.’
‘That won’t happen, dear boy. You don’t have to worry about that.’
‘It tore up the trees and the houses and blew our whole family away,’ the boy said, voice trembling with emotion.
‘You don’t have to worry about that,’ the father said, reaching out in the dim light to hold a small hand.
‘But I dreamed it did. And we’re so small,’ the boy said, his voice like a tiny pinprick of light in the darkness.
Re-reading this, I was thinking it’s perhaps an appropriate story to ponder in light of Easter. We’re so little, and yet we’re held and loved.
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