Mr. Big: A Tale of Pond Life

Mr. Big: A Tale of Pond Life — page 5 — INTRODUCTION n high school I volunteered as an aide for a youth camp with children of physical exceptionalities As many of the attendees were wheelchair bound planning camp activities took some effort One activity that was greatly anticipated by the entire camp was the induction of three newly acquired ducks for the camp pond We lined up the children to ensure the best vantage point for them to witness the ducks release As the three young ducks began their first swim the audience watched in horror as the last duck was silently and efficiently pulled under the water Of course the younger kids immediately began to cry while the older ones began to ask questions The head counselor attempted to say the duck was diving for food but the children insisted on waiting for the duck to resurface After fifteen minutes and many tears the counselor confessed that the duck was probably serving as a meal for an unknown underwater predator What could have caused so much terror and destruction A snapping turtle Twenty years later Matt and I found a relaxing spot at a small pond tucked away from the biking trail that runs near our home in Northern Virginia We would spend lazy weekend mornings lounging on the pond s dock feeding the resident population and watching nature unfold During one of our visits we spotted a giant snapping turtle slowly making its way toward us in the murky water It occasionally surfaced to breathe and to observe the surroundings The closer the snapping turtle got the more animals seemed to flee despite

Mr. Big: A Tale of Pond Life — page 6 — the number of breads and cereals floating on the water It seemed like the pond critters were aware of the snapper s presence and knew to get out of its way unlike that poor duck so many years ago We enjoyed watching the turtle whom we dubbed Mr Big and his habits that seemed to challenge natural rhythms given the impact of human interference such as ours It was during one of our visits that I mentioned doing a little comic about what we witnessed Matt liked the idea so we did The original concept was to create a one shot self published comic with full page panels But a funny thing happened The people who purchased the short comic liked it In fact we received emails inquiring about more installments So Matt developed the next book and soon the trials and tribulations of our Mr Big began to unfold This book serves as a collection of the Mr Big minicomics in a larger format We hope you enjoy it Carol Dembicki

Mr. Big: A Tale of Pond Life — page 7 — o were double In part diameter

Mr. Big: A Tale of Pond Life — page 8 — O O tWN Mr Big is waking

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