GDD – Day 8

I went through the papers in my haversack. Madison had collected a list of requests and suggestions from the townspeople with regards with the North's coming to our town, and I helped read through them. It started as a petition for whether or not to allow the giantesses in at all, but to Madison's surprise, almost everybody seemed up for it, and they've been piling on support for the meeting.

I reached into the envelope holding the petitions, and pulled out the first one I felt. On it were the words 'YES' or 'NO' filling almost the entire page, and two equally large tick boxes beside each of them. This one had 'YES' ticked with a bold black marker; presumably so that it'd be large enough for Madison to see. On the back was a bunch of suggestions, ranging from Northern cuisine to giantess fashion. This one's probably written by a girl.

I flipped through more pages. All had the 'YES' ticked, and the suggestions varied from a Northern history exhibition to local folk dance to a meet and greet session, where tinies and giantesses were free to approach each other. Some of the saner suggestions included a cultural exchange booth and a tour program, the not so sane ones involved strip dancers and foot massage parlors.

I was jolted by a rough bump from where I sat. I was inside Madison's chest pocket, and her breast provided a comfortable incline, letting me lie down on top of her soft, cushiony bosom. I could tell Madison was doing her best to keep the ride as smooth as possible; I felt only a gentle rise and fall of her breathing as she made her way down the open road, and the only time I felt any disturbance was when she needed to avoid something.

We were on our way to the North. It's been a week since Claire had been to our town, and she had conceded that a meeting between the two countries had its merits. There was a lot of preparation to be done, but the town council promised that they would handle it. All that needed to be done now was to get the Northern side sorted out. It's my school holidays, too, so I asked if I could tag along.

I poked my head out of the pocket. We were walking alongside a highway, with a few cars zooming by. Some slowed down to gawk at the presence of the giantess, others taking a quick picture with their phone as they drove by. Sometimes, we had to cross an exit, and Madison had to time her footfalls with the traffic, giving everybody below a brief view of her upskirt.

“Say, Madison,” I said, watching as Madison stepped over an exit lane, her skirt lifted on either side to give her legs enough space to lunge forward, “Why do we need to go to the North again?”

A giant finger reached for me, landing gently on my head and ruffling my hair. “There's a lot of things which need to be sorted out,” Madison said, “There's never been an event like this before, so we need the consent of either country before we could even begin. Sinclaire's already taken care of the Northern side, and I'll be representing our side once we're in the North.”

Madison gave a small sigh, and looked off into the distance for a bit. “There are other considerations, too. Inviting giantesses over unlicensed is a clear violation of our conventions, and having more than twenty at a time is against environmental safety regulations,” Madison looked down into her pocket where I was, “Did you know? There's a restriction to the number of giantesses in one place in fear that too many of us moving about would cause sinkholes or avalanches to advance prematurely. Not to mention a small town like ours probably can't support that many people at once...”

Madison was so deep in thought that she barely noticed a knee-high billboard in her way, and took a sudden leap to avoid it. I fell back into the pocket as the force of the jump pulled me in, landing at the bottom of the pocket with a thump.

There was a loud crack as the tumbling stopped, and I peeked out of the pocket once more. Madison was knelt down on the floor, having tripped over the billboard, it seemed. I was hanging off the fabric of the pocket with Madison's chest above me, and the ground was only a short distance below me. I braved the drop and landed on the dirt floor below, cursing as a sharp pain met my knees. I ran forward to right under Madison's head, where she was panting labored breaths, clutching the ground as she tried to get up.

“Madison!” I shouted out to her, “Are you alright?”

Madison rubbed her head with the palm of her head, eyes clenched shut as she tried to shake the feeling of disorientation from herself. “I...” Madison began, then turned around behind her. The billboard she tried to avoid was torn in two, leaving a gap where her foot had torn through. The billboard was some chocolate ad, and the only legible bit of writing left was the phrase “Have a break”.

“I suppose I need a rest...” Madison said with a sigh, straightening herself to a sitting position with her legs tucked behind her, “I'm sorry Eliot, there's just so much on my mind right now.”

I climbed up onto Madison's lap, and patted her massive belly. “Hey, it's alright,” I said, trying to comfort her, “Let's just concentrate on getting north, alright?”

Madison didn't say anything at first, but eventually looked down to me and smiled, “Yeah, you're right. We'll sort it out when we're there.”

I don't think I've ever asked what made Madison dislike the North so much. Even when I told her I'd like to tag along, she was adamantly against it. It took the combined efforts of Sylvie and myself to convince her otherwise. I told her how much I wanted to know more about the giantesses and Madison's homeland, and Sylvie reasoned that at the rate we were going, I would be going there sooner or later. So here I was, traveling to the North with Madison. Hopefully, I could shed some light on why Madison felt the way she did about her kinsfolk.

After our rest, Madison continued our trek Northward. I kept her occupied with conversation whilst sitting on her shoulder, shooting the breeze to pass our time with topics like the many visits Madison had to make around town to collect the petition forms, and how dapper people seemed of the prospect of having more giantesses coming to the town.

“It's really strange,” Madison mused, “Most tinies would be afraid of the presence of more of us.”

“I suppose the town has you to thank,” I said, “You've been a big influence on the people in town, you know? You're nice to everyone, you're always considerate of what you do around people, and...” I scratched my head, finding the words to fit my thoughts, “I guess you don't treat us tinies any lesser than yourself.”

Madison blinked once, mild surprise showing through her dazzling blue eyes. It took her a second to look away and suppress a giggle. “Oh Eliot,” she said, “I've never thought of it that way. It's just that...we're all living together, so we should make the most out of each other's company, shouldn't we?”

So it was just basic courtesy which compelled Madison. Nothing extreme like racial equality or equal rights; just consideration for your neighbors. I guess deep down, Madison was a lot more simple than most people make of her. It was her secret to befriending the town.

I let out a laugh of my own, patting the large shoulder I was sitting on. “That's Madison for you,” I said teasingly. I was met with a disapproving prod from Madison's finger, jabbing me a few times in the stomach. I just continued laughing as I clung onto the finger. Madison gave a pout, but eventually mellowed back out into her smile. “I guess I can be a little too accommodating, sometimes.”

“But that's what I love about you,” I said, leaning closer to put my head against Madison's cheek. Instantly, her face was flush with a luminescent blush, and I felt that her steps became a little more hurried than usual. Madison really is too honest, wearing her heart on her sleeve like that.

And soon enough, we had crossed the border between the two countries, and we were finally in the North. A few changes were immediately apparent: it was much colder here, and the roads were completely devoid of traffic, save for the occasional truck or two.

I retreated back into Madison's pocket, where it was still warm. “Aren't you cold at all?” I called up to Madison.

“We giantesses used to live up in the mountains,” Madison explained, “Our bodies were adapted to snow, so we aren't bothered that much by cold weather, even without clothing.”

My thoughts wandered to a snow capped mountain filled with naked giantesses romping about its slope. Was that how ancient giantesses were? My train of thought, however, was derailed by Madison's sudden stopping.

“We're here,” Madison said to me.

I poked my head out of the pocket, and gave a low gasp. Before me was a city; not a giantess's city, but a tiny's. The buildings were worn, dirty and falling apart. The roads and pavements were grimy and numerous holes remained from the lack of maintenance. The day was drawing close to evening, and several metal barrels were out on the street with fires lit within them. Several tinies were drawn to them, huddled together in blankets. There were tents pitched up on whatever vacant lots were available, and throngs of tinies milled about them. Even as the sky got darker, only a few lights were on in the buildings.

Madison took a tentative step into the city, but the tinies below didn't budge. They just sat and stood there even as Madison's foot came exceedingly close to stepping on them. They just felt so...defeated. Like they accepted their fate to be beneath the giantess's attention, and pretended she wasn't there.

Madison stepped over several more groups of tinies, minding the limited space they left between the buildings. The buildings here were pretty tall compared to back in our town. Some were easily ten storey apartments which towered over even Madison, and others were large commercial buildings, abandoned and boarded up. Whatever this place was, it used to be a pretty densely populated city, converted into nothing more than slums. I noticed that traffic lights and hanging power cables had been pulled from where they would usually be, rather crudely allowing for giantesses to pass through.

Further down, another large figure was making her way through the city. She had auburn hair trimmed at the shoulders, hidden under a red hat with its brim pressed up. She wore a white jacket over a deep red top and a brown skirt. Her feet were clad with furred boots, and a small pouch was tied just above her right ankle. The giantess was bent down, pulling out some tinies from her jacket and placing them onto the street. She wished them a good night before standing up again.

The giantess turned around and, upon noticing us (or just Madison, it seems), waved us over. “Hey there, stranger!” she called out, stepping through the throng of tinies callously. Her feet paid no heed to where they were sitting, but curiously, not once did she step on one. From my vantage point, I couldn't really make out a pattern; was there some secret to moving through the city?

“There's a curfew in this city,” the giantess continued, stopping next to Madison, “The tinies have this city to themselves after sundown, and it's getting late.” She spun around and took a step in the opposite direction, “Why don't I show you back to the main city?”

Madison followed her down the street, gingerly placing each footstep around the throng of people below. It was a good five minutes before we cleared the taller buildings, revealing the way ahead. Beyond the city was a mountainous ravine, blanketed by thick greenery which extended even into the outskirts of the city. At the bottom of the ravine was a carved path deeper into the valley, which for once towered over even the two giantesses entering it. A row of lights on either side of the ravine lit the way forward, casting long shadows against the stone cliffs. A bend ahead blocked my view of what's ahead, and I felt a growing anticipation as to what a giantess's city would look like.

“I'm Stephanie, by the way,” the other giantess said. She turned to face Madison, tipping her hat with a smile. “Whereabouts are you from?”

“I'm from the South,” Madison said with a blink, “Although, I was originally from garden some east of here. I work as liaison officer now.”

This had piqued my interest. Madison does tell me about the North ever so often, but she never says anything specific, including where she was raised in. And she was from...a garden? I had a hard time imagining that Madison would fit in a garden, or that a giantess would be able to maintain one in the first place.

“Hey Madison,” I called out, poking my head out from her pocket, “What did you mean when you said you were from a garden?”

“Oh,” Madison said with mild surprise, “That's what we call our cities, Eliot. Gardens are where we live.”

“Hmm...” I pondered that for a moment. A weird name to call a city, to be sure. I decided maybe Stephanie would know more.

“'Scuse me, Miss Stephanie,” I shouted to the giantess ahead of us, “But what's it like in this garden?”

It was at this juncture that I realized Stephanie had not noticed me previously. She leaned closer until her face filled my entire view. “Oh, a tiny,” she remarked before looking back up to Madison, “Is he yours?”

I felt like she had just completely brushed me off, and Madison too was of the same opinion, it seemed. “Eliot is his own man,” Madison said hotly, “And I believe he asked you a question.”

Stephanie looked blankly at Madison with a dumbfounded look. She took a blink or two before regaining her composure, drawing her face back into a friendly smile, “Ah, you said you're from the South, didn't you? My apologies, I didn't mean to offend. Here in the North, we always ask for consent before handling or engaging someone else's tiny.”

“Oh, umm. okay,” I said, unsure of how I should react. Madison was still scoffing at Stephanie, and held a hand over me protectively. Her fingers curled around the pocket, leaving only enough space for my head to peek out from behind her enormous grip.

“I think you should be telling Eliot that,” Madison said, hostility still laden in her voice. Stephanie only gave a short laugh, and said, “Of course. Mr Eliot, was it? I'd be happy to show you around.”

Stephanie extended a hand out to me, and I felt Madison's grip tighten on me. I was in an awkward position; I was pretty curious about the garden, but Madison was clearly agitated by Stephanie. I just froze there in indecision like a deer in front of headlights, unsure of what to do.

What Madison just said struck me, though. “Eliot is his own man,” she said. I guess I should make good on those words.

I pushed against Madison's thumb and index fingers, purely a gesture of my own freedom. In truth, I hadn't the strength to pull those fingers apart myself, and it would have been easy for them to hold me down, but Madison loosened them for me when she felt my attempts to pry them open.

“Eliot...” Madison began, but I only shook my head.

“I don't know what happened,” I said, crawling out of the pocket and jumped onto Madison's now open palm, “But you've been on edge ever since we made the trip up North. Whatever happened here, it's still no reason to get upset so easily.”

I held onto Madison's thumb, trying to give a comforting pat as I continued, “Just take it easy, I'll be alright. We came here not just for work, don't let a little temper ruin our trip. Stephanie didn't mean anything when she asked about me, and it won't hurt if she showed me around, right?”

Madison's lip curled, herself conflicted as to what to do. That's when I decided to say, “I can make my own choices. I'm my own man, aren't I?”

Madison looked like she wanted to protest at first, but she eventually relinquished a sigh. “Alright, Eliot,” she said, “Just try not to be reckless.”

I gave Madison the best smile I could muster, and turned to be received by Stephanie. Instead, a giant hand came down on my head, patting me briskly before withdrawing back to Stephanie's figure. “That's real sweet, of you, Mr Eliot,” she said, “But I'm sure you can see the garden from Madison just fine.”

Stephanie gave me a quick smile before turning back to the path ahead of us. Madison and I were just left there in an uncomfortable silence, not sure of how to face each other now. Madison just cupped me in her hands and said, “Well...let's go then.”

As we cleared the stone valley, the vegetation grew thicker exponentially. All around the grey rocks were replaced by a layer of greenery, dotted with colorful patches of flowers every few steps or so. The green slowly rose up as shrubs and trees became an increasingly frequent sight. Finally, we were out in an open space, the pathway still visible, but surrounded by a vast collection of flora. I looked around, and realized that some of the cliff walls we passed had in fact had windows carved into them, and that a good many of them had been hollowed out to form buildings scaled for a giantess. What was striking, however, was how everything had plants and trees growing around them. A vast canopy of trees and vines created a natural roof against the elements, and the pink and yellow and orange leaves of various exotic plants brought color to the green canvas, like a giant mural in the sky.

It was a beautiful sight.

“This is our old garden,” Stephanie said, pointing up at the canopy above, “Most of us have moved further in, but a couple of us still make use of the old buildings in the mountains on occasion. They're pretty useful for noisier work.”

We went further in still, but the further we went, the less overgrown the place looked. Soon, we were walking between rows of neatly trimmed bushes, trees planted tightly together in rows to form makeshift fences, and carefully mowed fields of grass to denote individual plots of land. Most of it only came up to Madison's waist, and we had a clear view of what was beyond it. The houses here were of more modern architecture, simple stone terraces decorated with artfully placed vines or flower patches, making for vibrant walls which stretched down the street, like a vertical flower field.

Stone steps made up this street's path, uneven to a tiny but smooth enough for a giantess to walk on without a hitch. Around us were several giantesses, a pair were busy fiddling with a light hung on a lamp post, switching it on as the sky darkened. Another was talking to her hand, and I had to take a second look before I realized a tiny was sitting in her palm just like me. We passed by a few more giantesses, but it still felt like there were scarcely any people here for a district of such size.

“This is our residential area, the eastern garden,” Stephanie said, “We all live here, and it's everybody's job to keep the garden looking like a garden.”