Anton, The Wood Carver
Anton arrived in Ganse-Stadt a few years ago.
No one is sure where he came from however, there is suspicion he came from someplace where wood carving is common. He was sort of quiet and shy, kept to himself, and didn’t say much to anyone. He spends many hours sitting on his front porch with a pocket knife in hand whittling away at small pieces of wood, converting the wood into various pieces of art. Some pieces of Anton’s “art” are very good, while others require some imagination to see the “art” in them. He tried to carve a whistle once, but Anton didn’t think it was tuned right. His neighbor, who was a musician, thought it sounded very good, so Anton gave it to him. Another time he carved what was supposed to be a fancy broom stick for the broom maker. One “whoosh” of the broom with the fancy stick, it shattered into hundreds of pieces. Children in the neighborhood passing by Anton’s place on their way to the park, would point to the wart on his nose, giggle and comment about it. Anton, not looking up would gently brush the wart with his sleeve as if to polish it for more shine and would keep on carving. One day when the children were going by, Anton noticed from the corner of his eye that one child was not passing by, instead, was slowly approaching him. Not looking up or saying anything, Anton, thinking the child just wanted a closer look at his wart, continued carving. After a few minutes of silence, Anton couldn’t resist glancing up at the child. To his surprise, the child was not looking at the wart on his nose, but was intently watching Anton’s hands as he skillfully carved the wood. Anton slowly leaned over so the child could have a closer look. Before long the two were chatting like old friends about the art of wood carving, the child, asking questions, Anton, answering them as best he could. Other children, and neighbors too, started stopping by to see what Anton was doing. In time, carving wood on Anton’s porch became a special event for anyone from Ganse-Stadt who wanted to raise their artistic skills to a new level. |
