Grimm - Chapter 1

The family was on their way to Disney. The trip to Florida was a long one coming from Connecticut, but Kevin's father insisted they make the journey in one long (extremely long) car trip. Kevin had come prepared though. He had stopped by his favorite hole-in-the-wall book store and happened upon a newly acquired tome of fairytales. Was, in fact, handed it by the owner himself.

Kevin had frequented the store over and over again throughout high school, burning through all sorts of books. Histories, science fiction, fantasy... anything to make the mundane world around him more interesting. What had been interesting at that moment was meeting the owner, a man he had heard about from store employees but never seen. Not in nearly four full years as a constant peruser of their inventory. The owner had been an elderly man, slightly hunched forward. A well-worn button-down shirt open on a chest covered in sparse hair and liver spots, with leather suspenders. He had a friendly demeanor and unsettling eyes, but he pulled out a thick old tome, ripe with the comforting, musty smell of books that have passed many hands, and that caught Kevin's attention more.

Kevin had a naturally athletic build, relatively hairless except for his happy trail. Clean-shaven. An average teenage boy in a tight yellow T-shirt and jeans (the same outfit he was wearing in the car, in fact), and yet the owner seemed to know just what would pique this boy's curiosity. Nothing about Kevin yelled to the world, let alone this stranger, that Kevin was a sucker for a story. He could have been in looking for college textbooks for the start of his freshman year in just two months. He could have been picking up the latest romance novel for his mother or a girlfriend, perhaps. He could have been there for any reason at all, but he was there looking for exactly what the owner slammed down onto the counter. Kevin wasn't even really aware of what he was looking to find for the endless car ride, but as soon as his eyes settled on the title (was it German?) he couldn't understand, he knew it was exactly what he was looking for.

"What is it about?" he asked tentatively, reaching out two curious fingers. He traced the spine of the book as he spoke.

"What isn't it about?" the man replied enthusiastically, pronouncing 'what' with a hard 'v'. "It is a collection of tales."

"Like... fairytales?"

"Some, yes. But let it not mislead you, for there is horror, too. Fairies yes, but also ghosts, nature spirits, goblins, ogres, giants--"

"Giants?" Kevin interrupted.

"Of course." The old man grinned, and despite those unsettling eyes, Kevin began to smile. Just a little. "The kind that terrorize the countryside, stomping through cottages and eating anyone who dares cross their path."

"How do you stop a giant?" Kevin asked, curious.

"Sometimes a plucky young lad outwits the giant."

"Just sometimes?"

At this, the owner laughed. "You'll have to read through it and find out."

"I'd really like to, but... is it even in English? I mean, the title..."

The old man pulled the book open, seemingly at random, and there on the right-side page was an old-fashioned illustration, brown lines on yellowed paper, of a towering giant. He had a prodigious belly hanging out over his loin cloth, and it cast a shadow over a trio of cowering girls in long dresses and aprons. The left-side page was, surprisingly enough, printed entirely in English. Kevin started to browse the text, but the owner promptly closed the book.

"I'm sold, man," said Kevin, but even as he spoke his smile faded from his face. He dug a hand into his pocket and the man answered.

"For you, I can let it go for a modest price. How about..." The old man paused, narrowing his unsettling eyes as Kevin's hand found the crumpled up bills. "Seven dollars?"

Kevin pulled out the bills and set them on the counter, unfolding them. A five, and two ones.

"We have a deal, man!"

"Glad to hear it," the man replied, smiling as he palmed the bills and placed them neatly into the cash box.