There was only one male giant around Techtelphia. His name was Trent Berlinger.

He showed up in the area last, after Lorraine, Jennifer, and Valerie, and he was also the one the citizens of the city knew the least about. He kept to himself, more than most of the giant people, staying away in his home as if he was afraid that the world was too much for even a person of his size could handle. His home was near the Bradsons house, which was good since Trent felt more comfortable around Valerie than the others. Lorraine was very pretty, and Trent always had trouble speaking to pretty women, no matter how tall they were. Jennifer had never been too harsh to Trent, but he was often intimidated by her, and most especially Garth Brokers, the Metal Man who worked for her. Valerie, on the other hand, was warm and welcoming, probably the friendliest person that he had ever met. Her husband, Raymond, was also a great guy, and something of a father figure to him. So, Trent, whenever he did venture out of his home, often visited the Bradsons and had 'dinner' with them.

But, for now, Trent Berlinger sat alone in his 'kitchen', looking out the window. Earlier, he had seen Lorraine Pruess walking towards the city of Tectelphia in the distance. The eighteen year old giant blushed just at the sight of her, but he was glad that she wasn't here to see it. When people saw him get all nervous, it just made the conversation more difficult. It was why he always acted on his best behavior when out and about around Tectelphia, because the very last thing that he wanted was to be called to Jennifer Stark's office when she wasn't going to be happy with him. Oh, boy, how unpleasant that would be! So far, he'd only been to Jennifer's office twice, the first due to him not knowing about the Giant Only roads in Tectelphia's streets and trying to use the general population's paths, and another for his elbow breaking windows of a tall buidling. Both times, Jennifer had spoken softly to him, but he knew that she wasn't a woman who would always be soft if the message wasn't getting across and he quickly adjusted his behavior. So, far, he had not been called back since, a very good thing.

The giant looked down at the bottle in his hand and sighed.

“One...two...three!” He called.

He quickly downed the bottle in four swallows and grimaced as it went down. It was nice to have something to keep you full and healthy, but the stuff could some work in the flavor department. Lorraine had once actually complained to Jennifer about it, who had merely shrugged and said there was nothing she could do about it. He tossed the bottle away and looked out the window again. He was thinking about her, again.

Once upon a time, soon after arriving near Tectelphia's borders, Trent Berlinger had been invited by Valerie and her husband to join them at a little 'hangout' that the two of them had out on the northwest part of the city. Trent, thankful that people were welcoming to him, had eagerly gone along. The hangout had been a cliff over looking the Atlantic, right next to the beaches. According to Mrs. Bradson, it was where she and her husband first met. In Trent's opinion, it was a perfect place for that. They had gone during a sunset, and the boy had to admit that it was quite beautiful. The great blue was sparkling like the world's biggest jewel, the waves calm and soothing, it was just the perfect place for love to brew. With that thought, it was ironic that during that trip Trent would see the girl of his dreams.

Across the beaches from where he was, Trent Berlinger saw a young girl with her family. Her hair was short and brunette and she looked to be just his age. She was stretched out on a beach towel, her folks nearby, looking out across the big blue as he had been doing. The woman seemed to be lost in thought, as she regarded the mighty expanse of the Atlantic. She was so beautiful. She was normal sized, though, he knew that, but that didn't matter! Raymond Bradson was normal sized and he was married to a giant woman! Why couldn't the vice versa work for him? Surely it could. All he had to do was go introduce himself, and...

Oh, god...

Being a giant, Trent knew the reaction that the normal sized people using gave off to folks his size. They screamed, they ran, they usually wanted nothing to do with him. What if....what if this girl here was just like that? Raymond wasn't like that, but, he was probably just a special case. Trent had never met anyone as open to giant people than Raymond, except maybe for Garth Brokers, but Trent didn't know that man too well, and actually wanted to keep it that way. If he were to go over there, she would get scared and scream. He didn't know how he would react to that. He wasn't sure that he could handle it. What was he going to do when the girl of his dreams screamed at him like he was some kind of flesh eating monster from the Black Lagoon? No. He couldn't just walk up to her. That was insane! Him? Walk up to her? She probably wouldn't even be interested in him anyway! Of course not. A girl like that? Yeah, right!

Trent had jumped when he felt the nudge.

“So...what are we looking at?” Valeire had asked, trying to see where he was gazing.

“N..nothing!” Trent had gone red immediately. “I...I...uh...”

“Oh...are you looking at one of the girls over there?” Valerie had teased. Raymond had chuckled.

“No!” Trent immediately got defensive. “Of course not! Why...why would you think that?”

“Well, then, what are you looking at?” Valerie challenged.

Trent hadn't been able to answer that question and just clammed up. Valerie laughed, and gave the boy a hug and took the pressure off of him by changing the subject a few minutes later. Trent later looked to see that the girl was gone. He had been sad. He hoped that his loud defenses of himself against Valerie Bradson hadn't scared her off. The love of his life...and he'd never see her again. How depressing.

But...luck had been on his side.

A few weeks later, when he ventured out of the house again, she was at the park. And he had seen her. When he had, he was so overwhelmed that he quickly hurried back to his home before she could even so much as look at him, let alone notice his stares. In his haste, he had accidentally broken windows with his elbow, and a few hours later, Garth Brokers came to him, informing him that Jennifer Stark, the Giant Relations Person wanted to see him. When he came to see Jennifer, he at first tried to make up a story on the spot, but she wasn't fooled and asked for the truth. He then told her about the girl and what had happened. Jennifer had been silent for a little bit, and then, softly, told Trent that she understood his emotions, but asked him to keep them under control to avoid causing anymore damage to Tectelphia's buildings. Trent had nodded and then he had been allowed to leave.

Then, the next day, he went out of his house the next day and headed for the park. Again, the girl was there, sitting on a bench near a little pond. Trent had stood, hidden behind a building, looking at her, wanting to approach, but too afraid to see what would happen to try it. He stood there for so long that Garth eventually flew up and told him to move along before he started blocking pedestrians and traffic. He quickly went home, embarrassed.

But the girl continued to appear at the park. Some days she wasn't there, but a lot of times she was. It seemed to be a special place to her, and Trent was, on one hand, praising his luck of discovering this, and on the other, cursing it. Knowing where the girl went during the day made it all the easier for him to potentially approach, removed all excuses for putting it off, made it difficult for him to ignore. Each day that he didn't made him feel like a failure and he sometimes wished that she had just disappeared, feeling that only one day's regret would be better than many months of it. He looked out the window now, knowing that the girl would be there. Would today be the day where he would stop being such a coward? Or would he add just one more regret on the building pile of them?

There was a knock at the door.

Trent turned away from the window and looked at the door curiously for a moment. Then, he went up to see who it was. On his doorstep was Valerie Bradson, her husband on her shoulder, wrapped in some of her hair. She smiled at him, pushing her glasses up her nose as he opened the door.

“Hey, Trent,” She said, warmly.

“Oh, hello Valerie. Mr. Bradson.” Trent replied, bowing a little to the two of them. “How are you two?”

“We're doing well, thank you,” Valerie replied. “We were just heading into Tectelphia to go to the baseball game today, and I thought about you and wondered if you wanted to come with us.”

Trent smiled at the invitation. The Bradsons were always nice to him. He was glad that they were his neighbors here.

“Sure.” Trent replied. “Is...is that okay with you, Mr. Bradson?”

“Sure!” Raymond told him. “The more the merrier! And we're gonna need all the merry we can get when the 'Terriers' get their butts kicked today!”

“Well...thank you,” Trent said, grinning. “I'd be more than happy to go with you. Thank you for inviting me.”

“Don't mention it,” Valerie replied, smiling. “We wouldn't want you to gather dust in their by yourself.”

Trent grinned sheepishly at that. She was right, really. He had been spending a lot of time in his home alone as of late and it would be good for him to get some fresh air. He came out of the door and locked it behind him and then he followed Valerie and Raymond towards Tectelphia. He wasn't sure what baseball was. Was that sport where the normal sized people whacked a ball back and forth over a net, or the one where they hit the white ball into a hole with a club? He couldn't remember. Keeping track of all the sports that the normal sized folks had was difficult.

“Hey...Valerie?” He asked.

“Yeah?” Mrs. Bradson turned her head to him.

“Which one is baseball again?”

“Oh, it's the one where they hit a white ball,” Valerie told him. “And then they run around the white bases. Hence the name, and all.”

“Oh, yeah!” Trent replied, now remembering. The bases of course! Duh! “Then, which one is the one with the yellow ball and the net?”

“That's tennis!” Raymond called.

“Right, okay!” Trent said, nodding. “What about the one with the white ball and the holes?”

“Golf?” Valerie asked, looking at Raymond.

“Yep, that's it.” Raymond nodded.

“Okay, now I get it!” Trent said happily. “I'll try to remember that.” He paused. “Uh...Mr. Bradson?”

“Yeah?” Ray asked.

“Uh...what are the rules to baseball?”

Raymond laughed. “Don't worry Trent,” He said amicably. “I'll explain it to you as it happens, alright?”

“Sure,” Trent replied, smiling.

They all continued down the road, heading for Tectelphia.