“Have a nice summer,” Sam’s English teacher said to his class.  Sam picked up her books and exited the classroom along with the other college students that attended her English class.    Sam couldn’t help but feel excited that class was over.  It wasn’t because she hated English, but because it was her last class, meaning that she was done with school for now.  Samantha looked around and noticed one of her friends waiting for her outside her class.

“Sam!”  Bethany ran over to Sam and gave her a big hug hello.  Bethany was roughly 2 feet taller than Sam, so when she gave Sam a hug it was almost impossible for Sam not to be picked up off her feet.  Sam knew Beth since high school; in fact she was her first friend she made there.  Bethany hit a growth spurt half way through their freshman year.  Due to her height Beth made the varsity team for volleyball and knew a lot of upper classmen. But Beth never became one of those kids that acted like she was better than everyone.  That is what Sam loved about her.  As Beth became popular and everyone thought she was a senior, Sam too became popular.  Sam and Beth were the most known high schoolers throughout their high school years.  To this day they have been best friends since.

“Whoa, Beth come on,” Sam said.  “We just saw each other a few hours ago.  Besides you know I hate it when you pick me up like that, I feel so small when you do that.”

“Sorry Sam.  I’m just excited that class is over.”  Sam was more relieved that now she had some time to relax and not worry about school.  She didn’t have any plans yet but she was sure to find something to do.  Beth walked with Sam through the building to head to the parking lot where Beth’s car was.  Along the way they met some friends who tagged along with them.  It wasn’t long before they had a small group joking around and talking about their lives.

There was a reason Sam loved this school; it was because of all her friends she made here.  It wasn’t just Because of Bethany being here but all her other friends hanging out with her right now.  Matt, Frank, Tiffany; almost her entire class from high school went to this college.  Not to mention the college was close to her house which made the commute to it was perfect for her.  Sam lived in a decent sized neighborhood that was barely a 10 minutes’ drive.  The best thing about the college is that it offered her major.  The only down side to the college is that her boyfriend (or ex) went to an out of state college.  They both agreed to break it off due to the distance that was between them.  Sam didn’t want him to be tied down to her when he was so far away.  It didn’t seem fair to him, so she asked if they should just stay in touch and be friends.  Mark agreed and they went their separate ways. 

“So ladies what do you feel like doing now that it’s officially summer,” Matt asked.

Beth gave him a grin, “Wouldn’t you like to know.  I might go to the beach and try on my new swim suit and work on my tan.”  She started to sway her hips seductively in front of him causing everyone to laugh.  “Or better yet, I could get rid of the tan lines and not even wear a bathing suit.”

Blushing Matt said, “Well I bet it would be difficult to put sun lotion on.  Maybe you might need some help putting it on?”

Seeing where this was going Beth couldn’t help herself.  She nodded her head, “Your right.  It is difficult to put sun lotion on my back without help.  But who can help me?”  She but on a playful sexy pout that caused the other guys to start to blush too.  She scanned over the faces and winked at a few guys.  “Ah I know who it will be.”  She slowly closed the distance between Matt and herself.  Matt started to act uncomfortable as Beth came closer and closer to him.  “Do you want to know who I want to rub me down?”  She asked in a seductive voice.  Matt could only nod as his voice suddenly died.  Slowly Beth said, “I… Want… Sam!”

Sam couldn’t react as Beth spun around and picked Sam up in a hug and spun her around.  Sam tried to protest but was overwhelmed.  When Beth set Sam down, she couldn’t move as her face started to glow red from embracement.  This caused everyone to start to laugh.

Sam looked at Beth with anger in her eyes.  Beth quickly gave her a meek look, “Sorry Sam.  I couldn’t help myself.”

“I’m out of here,” Sam said as she quickly turned around and left everyone.

“Oh come on Sam don’t be like that!” Beth shouted “It was just a joke!  Sam?  Ok, I’ll just text you later than!”

Sam rolled her eyes as she left the parking lot and headed to the parking lot that she parked at.  She should have parked closer to the building that held her class but the lot was full so she had to find another spot to park.  The only available space was near the end of campus next to the woods.  Sam was still upset that Beth would manhandle her in front of her friends like that when she reached her car.  Thinking of a way to get back at her she went to unlock her car when she saw something out of the corner of her eye.  It was a figure walking away from her.

Instinctively she looked to see who it was; it was a man in a gray hoodie with its hood up, heading toward the woods.  Sam paused as something about the figure that stirred up memories causing her to continue to watch the figure walk off into the woods.  When the person disappeared into the woods was when Sam could move again. 

Sam felt like she’d seen that hoodie from somewhere but couldn’t place where she saw it.  Searching through her memories she finally found out where she last saw a hoodie like that; high school.  It belonged to her old childhood friend, Nick.

“Nick?  Nick!”  She shouted trying to get his attention but it was too late he was already too deep into the woods to hear her.  Before she could stop herself Sam started to head into the dense forest trying to catch up with Nick.  Entering the woods she was instantly assaulted by the cool air produced by the shade of the tall oak trees that towered over her.  Glancing around she tried to find the hooded man when she caught a glimpse of him off in the distance as he went behind a tree.  Samantha called out but to her aggravation he didn’t show any sign of hearing her.  Letting out a sigh of annoyance she quickly chased after him deeper into the forest.

Sam tried to catch up to the man but every time she thought she caught up he would disappear behind another tree.  Samantha was getting mad now but the only thing that kept her going was the fact that she really wanted to talk to Nick.  As she followed deeper and deeper into the forest Sam tried to remember the last time she saw Nick, which was freshmen year in high school.

They use to be such close friends… when Sam was 3 she meet Nick at the park and they played together as friends.  Ever since then they were the closest of friends; they did everything together.  When Nick wanted to play soccer Sam would play and when Sam had her tea parties Nick would come over.  They went to the same school and helped each other when they were having trouble with school.  If something ever bothered Sam Nick would fix it.  Like when she was bullied on the playground by a group of kids, Nick didn’t hesitate to intervene and stop it. 

Nick was always happy and fun to be with.  He knew how to make Sam smile no matter what.  Then something happened.  It was the summer after 8th grade and they were going to go to the same high school.  Sam’s parents where having a family reunion at the beach all summer long.  Sam wasn’t going to be able to talk to Nick until school started. 

Something happened over those few months.  Sam didn’t see Nick until her first day at high school.  She just made friends with a couple of kids, one of them was Beth, and she noticed Nick walking down the hall way.  Sam called out for Nick to join her.  What happened next changed them both.  Nick gave her a sad smile and walked on as if he didn’t know her.  Sam didn’t understand what happened.  After that day she tried to find Nick but he seemed to avoid her at all times.  She would have gone to his house and confronted him but didn’t want to embarrass him in front of his parents which might ruin whatever friendship was left.  Sadly after freshman year she slowly started to forget about Nick completely as she made new friends.

Sam didn’t know what was up with Nick but now she was going to find out, but what was he doing out here in the woods?  Slowly a thought occurred to her… was he on drugs?  That would explain a lot.  While she was gone Nick must have gotten hooked on drugs.  All through school he must have been doing drugs.  It would explain why he looked tired and depressed; and that was why he never tried out for sports. One of the major reasons Sam became a cheerleader was to talk with Nick; but he never tried out for any of them, and Sam knew that Nick wouldn’t have turned down soccer try outs unless something was wrong, he might have failed the drug test.  It would also explain why he is in the woods; he’s meeting his drug dealer! 

“Oh no…” Sam said as she felt grief wash over her.  It was her fault that Nick got hooked on drugs.  If she didn’t leave that summer she could have prevented him from getting pressured into taking drugs.

Samantha quickened her pace as she chased after Nick.  She finally came to an opening in the forest with a U shape clearing that bend around a set of rocks that were the size of trucks in the open field.  Sam saw the grey hooded man walking toward the rocks.  Sam quickly hid behind a tree that was at the edge of the clearing.  Poking her head out, she looked out into the field and saw that Nick was meeting a man lying down on one of the rocks.  He seemed to be asleep.  Sam knew it!  There wasn’t anything she could do to stop Nick from getting the drugs so she would just wait until he came back and confront him then.

Nick slowly walked out toward the designated meeting point.  Nick flipped his hoodie down and headed to set of boulders that were in the middle of the field.  Even in the hot weather Nick was fine with his long sleeve hoodie.  The hoodie had always made Nick more comfortable when he had to meet someone like this.

“You’re here earlier than expected,” The man said as he sat up from the rock that he was lying on.

“There’s nothing wrong with coming earlier than agreed, Ralph.”

Ralph let out a chuckle, “I guess not.”  Ralph sat up and pushed himself off the rocks and landed on his feet.  It was an impressive feat, or would be if Nick didn’t know Ralph.

“Well?  What’s your answer Nick, do we have a deal or not?” Ralph asked as he took a step closer.

Nick gave him a glare, “You know my answer Ralph.”

“Really?” Ralph said as he started to walk around Nick.  “That’s a lot of money I offered you, 30 million.”  As Ralph circled Nick, he kept his eyes on him at all times. 

“I know how much you offered and I’m not interested.  Now it’s my turn to give you an offer you might want to consider.  Leave now and I won’t hurt you.”

Ralph let out a tsking sound and stopped right behind Nick.  “Nick… are you sure you want to do this?”

Nick turned around and flipped up his hoodie.  “Why else do you think I picked this spot?  No one will get hurt.”

Ralph laughed out loud for a few seconds.  When he was done laughing he stepped closer, “Well if you insist.”  Before Nick could throw up his guard Ralph drew his fist back and punched him in the face sending him flying back a couple of feet.

Sam didn’t know what happened but she let out a gasp as she saw Nick take a punch to the face from the man who was on the rock.  She had to cover her mouth as not to let out any sound as she watched the man walk over to Nick and let out a laugh.  He pulled back his right leg to kick Nick, only to have Nick grab his other leg and pull it out from under him.  In one quick motion Nick flip himself up off the ground and got into a fighting pose that showed that he meant business.

The man slowly rolled to his feet and laughed again.  He said something that she couldn’t hear from this distance.  Then he charged Nick.  What happened next stunted her beyond belief; Nick instantly disappeared and reappeared in front of the man and punched him in the face.  The man went flying only to stop in midair… FLYING!  Sam couldn’t move as she stood there flabbergasted at what she was seeing.  The man in midair quickly flew at Nick and started to punch him, which in turn Nick started to block his attacks and counter with punches of his own.  They were punching and kicking each other in fluid motions that reminded Sam of some kind of dance almost.  To Sam’s surprise Nick landed three punches to the man’s gut which sent him reeling back holding his gut.  The man let out a growl and brought his hand up.  What happened next made Sam shake in fear.  There was a bright light that shot out of his hand and went straight for Nick’s head.  Nick quickly dodged it and threw out his hand and an orb of light flew out and hit the man in the chest.  It exploded with a loud sound as a shock wave blew air across the field and into Sam’s face.  Sam had to cover her face until the wind died down.  When she could see again she saw Nick and the man back into a fist fight punching each other.  They were landing blow after blow not letting up on each other as she could feel the blows from where she was.  Nick took a punch to the face and staggered back.  The man followed up to deliver another blow only to be met with an upper cut.  The man went flying about 20 feet and landed with a thud.  Sam watched as Nick slowly walked over there. 

Sam wanted to leave but she latterly was unable to move her feet.  She clung to the wood of the tree like her life depended on it.  Thoughts flew in her mind: What was going on?  Why were they fighting?  How could they do what they were doing?  Most importantly:  This can’t be the Nick I know… is it?

Nick slowly walked over to Ralph.  He wiped his face as he felt blood dripping down his face.  He never wanted this to happen but Ralph left him no choice.  If Nick didn’t stop Ralph he would have hurt the ones he loved.  Nick stood over Ralph who lay on the ground breathing heavily. 

He gave Nick a growl and said, “You should have taken the money!”  He quickly flipped backwards and jumped up into the air.  He hovered over Nick and let out an evil laugh, “If I can’t win THEN NO ONE WILL!”  He started to glow red as the air around him started to swirl around him. 

“What the hell are you doing,” Nick shouted over the air.

“I’m taking you with me!”  Ralph started to glow a dark red and then the air grew darker around him.  Nick couldn’t believe what he was Ralph was doing.  He was building up his energy to self-destruct himself. 

“Ralph stop!  You’re building up too much energy!  You’re going to destroy half the world!”

“Then so be it!”  Ralph laughed as he started to glow a brighter red until it was almost blinding. 

“You left me with no choice then,” Nick barely whispered knowing that it was too late for Ralph to stop; he was too far gone.  The only thing Nick could do now was try and prevent the explosion from destroying the world.   There was only one way to stop it and Nick wasn’t sure he could do it.  Concentrating, Nick held his hand out; the air around him stilled as a dark orb started to appear in the palm of his hand.  Slowly the orb grew to the size of a basketball.  The air all around stopped blowing and everything became deathly silent.  This is it, Nick thought, either I die trying to save the world or I die saving the world…

Sam should have ran a long time ago but her feet just didn’t want to move.  She watched in bewilderment and horror as the strange man started to glow red.  The air around her screamed at her making her wish she could budge from her spot but couldn’t.  She looked at Nick and watched as he held out his right hand and a black dot appeared.  It slowly grew bigger and bigger until it stopped.  The air slowly died down and there wasn’t a sound to be heard when the orb stopped growing. 

Suddenly there was a shockwave sent out by glowing man.  The shockwave hit Sam and knocked the air out of her lungs as she struggled to breathe.  The tree’s branches were being blown back.  As soon as Sam got use to the force that was still pushing her back she saw that the man started to flash and then it happened; he exploded. 

Before Sam could move the black orb in Nick’s hand expanded and grew outward and absorbed Nick and the explosion.  It kept expanding and quickly washed over her.  Sam blacked out the moment the wave hit her.

Sam rolled over in her sleep and realized she was sleeping on a bed rock when she felt the hard rocky surface poke her from below her.  Slowly opening her eyes she looked around and sat up in confusion.  All around her there was a white greyish rocky desert that she went off to her left and her right.  In front of her and behind her was a long line of tall green trees.  The ground was completely level and flat.  She looked behind herself to see Nick lying down on his back.  Sam didn’t move as the events that transpired came back to her.  Nick… what was he?  Could she trust him after seeing what he did?  Debating on what to do, she finally realized that she was in a strange place and Nick was the only one who could answer her questions.  Getting up off the ground Sam walked over to Nick and kneeled down over Nick.  She gently woke him up.

Nick was fast asleep when he felt himself being shaken awake.  Quickly he opened his eyes and sat up.  To his shock he saw Sam sitting next to him.  “Sam?”  Looking around he came back to Sam, “Where are we?”

“Good question Nick where are we?”  Sam asked giving him a stern look.

Nick flipped his hood down and looked up into the sky to see a blue sky and the sun shining down at them.  It was about 2 or 3ish in the afternoon, roughly an hour after the fight with Ralph.  After a few moments Nick shrugged as he stood up, “Beats me.”  He held his hand out to help Sam up.  He noticed the shock on her face as she looked up at him. 

“What do you mean?  You don’t know?”

Nick just shrugged again, “I have no idea where we are.”

“But aren’t you the one that sent us here with that … black thing!?  What was that anyway… no what were you doing… who were you fighting?  Why were the two of you fighting?” Sam quickly asked Nick.

“Whoa, slow down.  First let me help you up,” Sam hesitated at first but then grabbed his hand.  Nick helped her.  “Ok before you start asking a million questions we should find some shelter.  Which direction do you want to head to, there;” Nick pointed over to his left and then his right, “or there.”  Both directions had the same weird looking green trees growing that headed all the way down the desert like terrain they were on. 

“Let’s head to the one closest to use.”  Sam said as she was about to head toward the forest that was in front of them.  It wouldn’t take too long to reach she thought when out of nowhere the sun was blotted out.  Sam barely had time to look to see a giant shoe come crashing down on them.

Nick barely noticed the giant shoe about to squash the life out of the both of them.  Nick quickly shoved Sam out of the way where she landed on her back.  Nick quickly poured his strength into his arms as he felt the pressure of the shoe bear down on him.  Nick let out a roar as the shoe pushed his arms down with such force that he fell to his knees and even then the weight increased more and more ever nanosecond.  Nick suddenly felt a pop and heard a crackle as his left arm snapped.  He lout a shout of agony as pain washed over him.  His right arm would soon break too and he would be nothing but a red stain under the shoe.  Nick couldn’t help but start to black out.  When he thought it was over the shoe immediately let up off him.  As the sun light came back he heard Sam call out to him but couldn’t do more than fall down onto his face as everything started to fade to darkness.

Sam cried out as she was shoved.  Turning around she watched in horror as a giant sneaker came crashing down on where she was just at.  The size of the shoe made her breathless as she realized what was going on.  They weren’t in a desert; they were on a giant sidewalk.  Those weren’t trees they were heading to but was actually grass.  The sneaker belonged to a giant who was walking on the sidewalk. She could see Nick holding up the sneaker but was slowly losing the battle as the weight of the sneaker seemed to be just too much.  Suddenly Nick let out a cry as Sam heard a sickening sound.  As if the sneaker heard it too, it quickly rose off of Nick allowing Sam to rush to Nick and see how he was doing. 

Sam kneeled down next to Nick and saw the broken arm and the bone that was sticking out slightly.  Holding her hand over her mouth she tried not to lose it at the sight of the injury.  Sam didn’t know what to do as she looked up at their attacker.  The attacker seemed no older than a child.  The child noticed them and was bending down toward them.  Sam did the only thing she could do, she asked for help.

“Please, help him.” She begged the child hoping that she understood her.  The child’s mouth hung open in shock.  Sam was about to say something, but was picked up gently by the giantess and placed into her pocket.  “No!  You have to help him!  He’s injured, please,” Sam yelled out hoping the child hoping she would listen and take pity on Nick.  

“Don’t worry little buggies I’ll be your new owner now.  You don’t have to worry; I’ll take good care of you.”

Sam held Nick’s unconscious body close to her not only for his safety but for some comfort.  Each passing second that Sam was in the dark only made her fear rise higher and higher, fearing what was to become of the two of them…