Original character: Samuel

“When they spoke about Samuel they only said how charming he was, how generous and beautifully-mannered; how he never raised his voice, or denied a request, and was always nice to cats. But I couldn’t stop thinking about how his house is guarded by gargoyles bigger than Stonehenge, how his right-hand-woman is an actual harpy, and how his mother set fire to a desert – and I don’t mean ‘dessert’, I mean ‘an endless horizon of sand haunted by dung beetles and the memory of camels’, actual desert. It burned with a blue flame for nine days straight.
But what I’d like to know now is: what’s he doing in London? Samuel with his harpy, his secrets, and his flames, what’s he after? Because I reckon he’s looking for someone. And I wouldn’t want to be the poor bugger he’s looking for.”

(From my work-in-progress story.)

Pastel, pencils, acrylics, and gold paint on paper, 21×29 cms