AnElephantCant forget this Giant
That he meets in long ago days of yore
AnElephant is not a bad dude
He usually tries to be good
But he knows other folk who are worth so much more

AnElephant launches another assault on this great weekly challenge hosted by his friend Al.
Please take a moment to check out this page to see some superb interpretations of the Japanese Haibun, a literary form which explores the relationship between the human experience and nature.
This week as his prompt AnElephant chooses this quote:
To have the sense of one’s intrinsic worth … is potentially to have everything
~ Joan Didion

A giant Giant built by little Giants

The Giant of East Kilbride
They sit in the car staring at each other, both with lumps in their throats.
They are not young men, both with a long history in a cut-throat business field.
When they sold the business he started to write, Phil went back to his art, and between them they created a successful children’s book.
Their minds go back four hours….

They walk into the school for children with special needs.
He has no idea what to expect, but trusts Phil’s significant experience.
They are shown to a classroom and gape in amazement.
Standing before them is a ten-foot tall giant.
Created by this group of children with serious emotional and learning difficulties.

life provides an opportunity
to accept something special
from someone more special

He reads them the story of Jack the little Giant, the reason they have been invited here.
The children listen in pretty much hushed silence.
Then Phil does his ‘Magic Art’ class, rolling metres of wallpaper across the floor and handing out charcoal.
Chaotic joy ensues for fifteen minutes.
Then he reads the story again, but with a difference.
To the children’s great delight he invites them to act out the characters as they appear.
They include a little Giant who runs, skips, and lifts up buildings, AnElephant, and an assortment of other animals including, wonderfully, Katy the nice Kangaroo!
Bedlam, magical bedlam, rules.

So they sit looking at each other in the car.
That is just about the best day I can remember, they agree.
To think we spent twenty years working with retailers as clients.
Including two Knights of the Realm.
We meet a much better class of person now.

each child is a child
with special needs
deserving of the same love