b'From:Illustrated Stories 2005The NovelI am going to write a novel, he announced one day. His wife and kids didnt see him for weeks and when he finally emerged from his room they were allTotal height 2400mmrelieved and hoped that normal life would resume. He, however, disappeared again, to sit on the roof, explaining that he needed higher inspiration. But the roof wasnt adequate, so he built himself a huge column, just like Simeon in the Bible. The family, with fear in their hearts, watched as he climbed up. Hefinally reached the top and just as he yelled down, This is it! a gust of wind took off with his novel and brought his words back to earth.A perfectly solitary existenceHis whole life he had been in rebellion against. well, just about everything. Proving to himself (and in fact to all those who usually ended up turning away from him) that he could live without conforming to the society he rejected, he built his own little world, high above daily life. Just a bit of grass to lie on and a few good books to read, and a fence around it to protect him from the world he left behind.Now, he told himself,he was happy in his perfectly solitary existence.Total height 1500mm78'