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The Giant and the Midget

The Giant and the Midget
by Jace Daniel (b. 1969)

Once upon a time, in a land not that far away from where you are now, there lived a giant, all alone. Not your ordinary giant, mind you; not the kind of giant you’ve read about in storybooks and fairy tales. This giant was different. He was only three feet tall.

Every day the giant took a walk through the fields near his home, overlooking the sea.

“I must be the biggest giant in the world,” he thought. “Why, there couldn’t possibly be any giant bigger than me.”

Once upon the same time, in a land not that far away from where you are now, and not that far from the fields near the giant’s home, there lived a midget, all alone. Not your ordinary midget, mind you; not the kind of midget you’ve seen in movies and television shows. This midget was different. He was ten feet tall.

Every day the midget took a walk through the fields near his home, overlooking the sea.

“I must be the smallest midget in the world,” he thought. “Why, there couldn’t possibly be any midget smaller than me.”

One afternoon, the giant went for his daily walk. Deciding to try something new, he wandered through the fields near his home, and kept going, and kept going, and soon, he wasn’t near his home at all.

That same afternoon, at the same hour, the midget went for his daily walk. Deciding to try something new, he wandered through the fields near his home, and kept going, and kept going, and soon, he wasn’t near his home at all.

It wasn’t long before the giant saw a ten-foot man walking toward him through the fields, overlooking the sea.

“Wow,” thought the giant. “I’m not the biggest giant in the world after all.”

It wasn’t much longer before the midget saw a three-foot man walking toward him through the fields, overlooking the sea.

“Wow,” thought the midget. “I’m not the smallest midget in the world after all.”

And the giant waved to the midget.

And the midget waved back to the giant.

And they both went home, walking through the fields, overlooking the sea.

7 comments… add one
  • jaced.com April 11, 2007, 8:19 am

    I wrote this short story last night. It was based on a spark of inspiration I had during the afternoon while walking my dogs through the fields near our home, overlooking the sea. I found myself way up in my head, thinking about how easy it is for us to lose sight of who we are, and what we are, if we’re not careful. It was there that I met the giant and the midget.

    My brother Jed read it today and pulled out a copy of our favorite childhood storybook, “The Book of Giant Stories” by David L. Harrison, Illustrated by Phillippe Fix. Jed’s got two young sons, two years apart, as we were, and the book is in heavy rotation on their bedtime story list.

    After reading last night’s tale, Jed scanned the following photo from our old book that he felt visually captured the spirit of the giant and the midget:

    Thanks bro.

  • matt April 11, 2007, 11:21 am

    Jace

    Great story, it is truly a lesson in judgement. The right lesson.

  • andreas April 11, 2007, 12:21 pm

    i love this story. i also love giants and midgets. (and i love monkeys and beer, but that’s a different story.)

  • jaced.com April 11, 2007, 11:49 pm

    andreas said:

    i love monkeys and beer, but that’s a different story.

    Indeed it is, and thanks for the inspiration. This one’s for you.

    Cheers.

  • vincenzo April 12, 2007, 9:37 am

    cool story. one of my favorite childhood memories is listening to storybook records (anyone remember those?), including one “Jack and the Beanstock” which had a great album cover to boot. I kept all those records (including a particularly demented “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” told by the inimitably gifted Danny Kaye) and am eagerly looking forward to sharing them with my little girl when her vocabulary’s a bit more developed.

  • Anthony December 20, 2008, 9:26 am

    A timeless classic. Already. This is great, Jace.

  • kevin vargas June 28, 2015, 12:22 pm

    Just goes to show there’s more to explore out there we don’t understand kewl store bro

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