Patrick felt the pressure of the snow shovel against his sore fingers as he tried to chip away at the hard ice that adhered itself to the concrete of his driveway. "Nngh...fuck..." He bit his lower lip in frustration. Why did he have to be the one who shoveled the snow today, when he already did it once yesterday? His sister should have a crack at it. Then again, he thought, he would probably be more fit for this kind of menial labor, since his sister was on the smaller side.

                Patrick was a fit young man with short, scruffy brown hair. He had not combed it, but he didn't see much reason to if he wasn't going to be heading out in public. Regardless, his hair was covered up by the hood of his black and brown striped jacket, light due the temperature rising a bit since this morning. Though that certainly didn't make the ice any more tolerable.

                He straightened up and leaned against his shovel as he stood it on the ground, looking at how much he'd accomplished. It took him a couple hours, but a good portion of it was cleaned off. Anything that wasn't was simply ice, but he did his best to make sure it was tire-friendly for when his parents would drive in.

                As he reflected on this, however, he realized it had been a while since his parents had come home from work. "What time is it...?" He spoke quietly to himself before digging into his pocket and pulling out his phone, finding it to already be 4 PM. "What the hell? They should've gotten here an hour ago." He scratched the back of his head with an annoyed grunt. It was odd, but he wasn't going to think much of it as he put away his shovel and headed back inside. They were probably just busy shopping or something, it was getting close to Christmas after all.

                "Hey Emily, I finished the driveway! I'm gonna take a quick nap!" He called out down a hall to his left, but didn't hear anyone call back. "Sleeping herself, eh? She didn't even do any work..." He sighed to himself as he headed to his room, quietly closing the door behind him so that he wouldn't wake his sister up.

                Meanwhile... an invisible figure lying outside of Patrick's senses watched the young man from across the room as he kicked off his shoes and laid himself on his bed. He didn't sleep, but he stared up at the ceiling, seeming to be thinking about something. "What a curious creature..." The suspicious figure thought to itself. It peered into Patrick's mind as he thought.

                "Still, it's kind of weird they'd be this late without at least calling me..." As Patrick thought this, the ominous being smiled knowingly. It found that Patrick was still ignorant to his predicament.

                Patrick, meanwhile, oblivious to the creature that secretly stalked him, reached into his pocket and once again pulled out his phone. He typed into it in hopes of giving his father a call. As he pressed ‘dial', the phone rang for a brief second before a robotic voice spoke back to him.

"Sorry, the number you wanted to call has been disconnected."

                "Wait what?!" Patrick sat back up in surprise, looking at his phone's screen as the call automatically hung up. Did he hear that right? ‘Disconnected'? It would have been one thing if it said the call couldn't be reached, but the number was disabled? Just to make sure he heard that right, he typed in the number once again and listened.

                "Sorry, but you won't hear from your father ever again."

                These robotic words sent a chill down Patrick's spine that he couldn't describe. What the hell was this? That's not something an answering machine was supposed to say! Was he dreaming? He felt awake! A sense of dread wash over him, but he didn't know why. None of this made any sense, it couldn't have been real. And if it's not real, then there's nothing to worry about!

                These thoughts went through Patrick's head again and again just so he could calm himself down. Even so, a biting paranoia gnawed at the back of his mind. Just to make sure one last time, he typed in his father's phone number and listened to the answering machine's response.

                "Sorry, but the holy goddess chose you for the trial."

                "Wha-" Before Patrick could finish his thought, he found his body forced to lay back down on his bed. The invisible being above him traced its fingers up and down his body, using its index finger to carve some kind of symbol over him. The young man himself could almost see this action. As they traced its finger over his body, a glowing line followed it, adhering to his flesh. He tried to struggle and scream, but he was firmly held in place, unable to resist. He could hear the answering machine's voice echoing in his head, sounding like a beautiful siren as his consciousness was beginning to slip. Everything around him seemed to be breaking down, and he was losing his vision.

                "Sleep." The voice said. "Sleep and rejoice, knowing that you'll awake from any slumber."

                These were the last words he heard as everything went black.

Patrick slowly opened his eyes, his vision too blurry from drowsiness to take in his surroundings. "Nngh..." He groaned as he turned under the covers of the bed, his memories not entirely pieced together from last night. As he was slowly regaining his vision, he heard the sound of a fireplace crackling somewhere in the room... Wait, a fireplace?

Against the will of his tired body, Patrick managed to push himself to sit up. He rubbed his eyes and looked around as his vision began to clear up. What he saw was completely foreign to him. It was a quaint, simple room, like something out of a primitive hut. There were some chairs and tables carved out of wood, the walls seemed to be made of stone, as did the fireplace against the wall to his right. When Patrick looked down, he found he was in a bed, the covers conspicuously made from haphazard patches of cloth.

                "What the hell is...?"

                "Ah hello!" Patrick jumped in shock to the sudden gruff, manly voice that spoke to him. To his left he saw a burly, hairy man with a white shirt and brown overalls. He had a bushy black beard, hairy sideburns, but a conspicuous bald spot on the top of his head. He seemed to be sitting in a rocking chair, moving back and forth as he was whittling away at some wood in his hand. "Gotta say," he said with a chuckle. "Ya gave me quite a scare. Saw you just passed out on the ground while on one of my hunts. You doing okay?"

Patrick stared at the man wide-eyed and in disbelief. He didn't know this man. He certainly never met anyone like him in the neighborhood he lived in. "U-uh...yeah, just a bit tired." This had to be a dream. He couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he looked down at the covers again, rubbing his eyes to remove any remaining drowsiness.

The gruff looking man quietly rested his knife and the wood he was working on on top of the table next to Patrick's bed and shook his head. "Most people who feel fine don't go passing out in the wilderness. It's a dangerous world out there." He looked toward the hut's front entrance. "Village's doctor said you seemed well enough. Just what the hell were you doing outside?"

Patrick shook his head as he rubbed his head. He was remembering what happened before he fell asleep. He worked on shoveling snow for his parents, before strangely being forced to sleep by his answering machine and an unknown entity. Could that have also been a dream? "Outside? Uh..." He tried to think about the best answer he had. "Shoveling snow...I guess?"

The hairy stranger gave him a look of disbelief, leaning back in his chair as he crossed his arms. "Snow? In the middle of the Blooming Season? Yeesh, you must really be out of it."

Patrick raised his eyebrow at the befuddled man. ‘Blooming Season'? What on earth did that mean? Regardless Patrick could tell he couldn't say anything that made sense at the moment so he just shook his head. "Sorry." He chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "I must be pretty out of it. I don't remember much."

To that the man immediately gave a jolly laugh and slapped Patrick on the back, making him heave for a moment. Holy shit, this dude was strong! "Think nothing of it!" He stood up. "Still, you seem well enough! Maybe you could even help with hunting later today. Might house ya for a while, so might as well put ya to good use!"

Patrick looked at the man curiously. The hell was this man talking about? This may have been a dream, but does he just put any random person he comes across to work. "Err...I don't know what you mean sir, but I don't know if I can work right-"

"Aw, don't be like that." He put his hands on his hips, giving a grin. "Work is good for the body and soul, especially for people like us! Just rest for a bit and we'll see where your strengths are!"

Before Patrick could get in another word, the impatient man immediately left the room, slamming the door behind him, leaving a confused young man alone in that room. All he had in his head were questions. Where was he? Who was that man? How'd he get here? However, the biggest question he had on his mind was the man's comment: ‘especially for people like us'. Just what did that mean?

                Meanwhile, in a rather busy town that wasn't too far from where Patrick lived, a cute young woman was walking down the street with a book she recently bought from the library. The woman was the picture of a pure angel. She had long blonde hair that reached to her shoulders. She wore a long white dress, that reached to about her knees, and below her knees were some sturdy brown boots with dark soles, perfect for walking in mud. Complimenting her brown boots was a vest she had over her upper torso, middle-aged in design, but provided a nice contrast to the white underneath it.

                In her elegant left hand she held a straw basket filled with sunflowers, roses, and other such flowers. She looked from side to side at the various people that passed by. Some wore normal, regular peasant clothes, while others had more formal attire, perhaps visiting the town on business.

                "Excuse me?" She said in a sweet voice to some of the people passing. "Would you like a rose? A special something for the Mrs.? If you buy two I could throw in a violet for free?"

                The man in the formal attire didn't give a verbal response. He just shook his head before going about her day. As he left, the woman's sweet smile turned to a disappointed frown and she gave a soft sigh. This was another poor business day to sell flowers. Normally the blooming season would be perfect for her. A season where many wished to declare their love for someone, or some just wanted to celebrate a special occasion. Today, though, everyone seemed far too busy to pay a girl like her any mind

                She shook her head and decided to head home. If she wasn't able to sell anything, she could at least see how her father was doing.

                Eventually Patrick was able to get out of bed and changed into some clothes that was left at the side of his bed. It was a white shirt and brown overalls, similar to the attire the hairy man wore, though much smaller to fit his physique. After getting changed, he headed outside to see just what he was dealing with.

                What he saw left him stunned. A far-cry from the cold, snowy suburbs he found himself in a day ago, now before him he saw a primitive peasant village. It wasn't exactly a pretty sight. The village had, at most, a dozen houses, and the plains that the houses rested on were nothing more than mud and dirt, not a single sign of grass to be found. Most of all, it seemed to be night time, as the only source of light were the torches that were lined alongside the pathways connecting the stores and homes. It was odd though, as Patrick looked up, there didn't seem to be a star in the sky. Was it cloudy?

                Before he could continue these thoughts, Patrick felt a very familiar slap on his back that almost made him lose his footing. "Ho ho ho! There you are, m'boy!" The hearty sound of the hairy stranger that looked after him snuck right next to him. "I see you got your clothes on! Good, really had to go out of my way to buy them!"

                As the man laughed without a care, Patrick straightened himself up, recovering from the slap. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" He said with an annoyed groan. "Keep doing that and someone will give you a black eye..."

                The man smirked at him. "Funny, I get that a lot." He brushed the comment off and continued. "So I see you seem relatively healthy." As he said that, he handed me a stick of meat. "Here! Good protein."
                "O-oh I don't-" Before he could finish, his stomach gave an audible growl. He blushed and took the food without saying another word. Biting into it, it tasted like it was finely smoked, but kind of dry and lacking any spices. It did the job though.

                "Felt like it was important to fill your belly before going on your trip!"

                Patrick looked at the man confusedly. "My...trip? Wait, you're really going to put me on a hunt?"

                He nodded. "Of course, why wouldn't I?"

                The young man shook his head. "How about the fact that I just got here? And don't have any training?"

                "Yeah you do seem on the scrawny side compared to the other folk here." He teased giving him a poke. "Still, for people like us, we need to make sure we can gather as much resources as possible. Can't have anyone slackin' not even for a second!"

                There he goes with his ‘people like us' talk again. "So, why're you going to have me hunt if I don't have any training."

                Just then a voice came over from behind the bulky man. "That's where I come in." In came a fit-looking young man with dirty purple hair. Definitely an...unusual hair color, but for a dream like this it would probably be normal. "Name's Cornell. I'm a hunter, and Hatch here told me to help show you the ropes."

                Patrick looked at Hatch. "You already got someone on the job huh?" At this point he wasn't even going to question it. This ‘Hatch' fellow seemed to be the type to act on his own without warning.

                Hatch chuckled. "Of course! You don't remember much right? Well at this time of the season it ain't safe to take you to wherever your home was, so it's for the best we take care o' ya and put ya to work as soon as possible!" He patted his shoulder, but more gently than before. "...What's your name by the way."

                "O-oh!" He only just realized he never introduced himself. "Sorry, I'm Patrick."

                Cornell looked at Hatch with a questioning look. "You had him put on a job before knowing what his name even was? I know you're impulsive, Hatch, but come on!"

                They talked for a little while before Cornell and Patrick were set on our trip. We headed to the edge of town, to which Patrick looked back and forth in confusion. "Um..." He started, there was a lot he still didn't know. "So, Hatch says we're going hunting, but...is it really safe to go hunting at night?"

                Cornell looked at me in confusion for a second, but then his face brightened with a chuckle. "Oooh, right, yes. You're new here, so you don't know! It isn't night time."

                Patrick gave Cornell a skeptical look. "Um...excuse me? It's nearly pitch black!"

                Cornell bit his lower lip, looking unsure how to explain. "I'll tell you what. Once we're out, you'll see what I mean."

                ‘Get out'? As Patrick thought this, he took notice of a small light up ahead. It got brighter and brighter, the closer they got, nearly blinding Patrick. However, the closer he got, he realized that there was a wall ahead of them, a wall with a hole that the light was shining in from. As they reached the hole, they both stopped in their tracks. Cornell looked at Patrick with a friendly smile. "After you!"

                Patrick gave an unsure look to his companion, but against his better judgement, he followed his advice and headed through the hole. He covered his eyes, which stinged from the sudden brightness. As he stepped out he could hear many sounds at once. Birds singing, crickets chirping, the sound of the win. What most grabbed his attention, however, was the feel of warm sunlight touching his skin. As his eyes adjusted to the light...a sight laid before him that was more otherworldly than anything he had ever experienced.

                A forest...a forest filled with trees the size of monuments. It was absolutely impossible to describe the sheer magnitude of the numerous trees that surrounded him and Cornell. No, not even just the trees. EVERYTHING! The grass, the leaves, flowers in the distance. They were several times larger than the sizes of Patrick and Cornell combined could ever hope to match. Noticing a nearby blade of grass, Patrick found that he must've been no larger than half its size. Practically the size of a bug! This was...impossible! The trees alone were larger than anything he'd seen in his entire life.

                "I-I...!" Patrick was wide-eyed and in shock, collapsing on his knees.

                "...! Patrick!" Cornell kneeled by his side, putting his hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay? You seem to be in shock. Are you getting sick?!"

                Patrick looked around in a daze at the expansive trees that casted intimidating shadows over them. Being just barely able to process Cornell's words, Patrick shook his head. "N-no just...this is impossible!"

                Cornell tilted his head, looking at Patrick in a strange way. "Hm? What is?"

                The shocked young man turned and looked at his companion in disbelief. "Are...are you not seeing what I'm seeing?! The gigantic trees! The Leaves! The grass! None of them should be this big!"

                He gave back a confused look as he turned to analyze their surroundings. "I'm not sure what you mean. They've always been this big. Been this size my entire life."

                Patrick shook his head. This was too much...just what was going on?!

                As the blonde, young flower girl opened the door to her home, she looked around to see no one in the living room. She let out a sigh and she called out. "Father! Are you home?"

                From upstairs she heard a man's voice. "Yeah, I'm home, Elizabeth! I'm taking a nap so could you please be quiet?"
                "Tsk tsk..." Elizabeth clicked her tongue as she rested her flower basket on the table. Ever since her mother passed away, it seemed her father would rarely ever take the time to have some small talk with her. She understood he was in grief, she was too. Still, since she's currently the breadwinner, it'd at least be nice to hear a ‘thank you' from him! Not that she'd say this out loud.

                She once again sighed and looked in the cabinet for anything to eat. There was still some bread left, so she took some and had a bite. She sat down in the dining room's chair and stared out the window. Just beyond the fence and a grassy plain, she saw the wood to a dense forest not far beyond the town's borders. It would normally be the place she'd visit to pick some flowers for the flower shop she worked for. The wildlife in this area was benign, so it had never been much of an issue for her to explore the place on her own. She didn't mind going in alone. Honestly the quiet time and getting to take in the Goddess Bell's natural wonders always helped to ease her nerves and take her mind off of...other things.

                As Elizabeth thought this over, she looked back toward the stairs just outside the kitchen. She knew just up there was her father, taking a nap, and probably not wanting anyone to bother him. With an annoyed groan she stood up. "Maybe another trip wouldn't be a bad idea..."

                Having said that out loud she grabbed her flower basket and opened the door. She stopped for a second and looked back at the stairway once more, giving a longing glance. After a second she continued her way to the forest, closing the door behind her.

                Patrick and Cornell walked their way through the dense foliage of grass and fallen leaves. It took a good while for Patrick to regain his will to move, if anything because of his partner's encouragement. As shocking as it all was, Patrick was indeed able to get a better grasp on the situation. It seemed that the world he was in was much larger than he expected. The trees, the animals, everything! The people, however, were much smaller. Judging by the size of the blade of grass he saw earlier, he had to have been no larger than an inch tall. Talk about a humbling experience, being reduced to the size of a bug!

                Patrick shook his head as he thought all this, continuing to reason himself that it was all a dream. It must've been! Talking radios, invisible entities, being transported to a different world, even the scale of the place! None of it could be real! ...Even so, he couldn't help but have doubts. Even for a dream, this one had been far longer and far more realistic than any he had ever experienced. Still, he had to hold on to some sort of semblance of reality, so he just held onto that explanation.

                "We should find it soon." Cornell stated, snapping Patrick out of his trance. "Soon enough we'll find a group of ants and jump them! The buggers can be quick, so we have to make sure to deal a fatal blow before they can get away."

                That's right, they were leaving to get some ant meat to bring back to the village in the tree...god, the fact that an entire village would be staying in a hollowed-out tree was surreal in itself. It made sense, wanting to not be out in the open, but the lighting just made everything so bizarre.

                Just then, however, the world had one last surprise that would change Patrick's life entirely. As they moved, they both stopped in their tracks as they felt the ground shaking. "Did you feel that?!" Cornell shouted, looking around with a cautious demeanor. "I know that feeling... it's..."

                Just then the ground shook again. And again. Along with the shaking came loud ‘thuds', which almost sounded like thunder. As they continued and got louder, Cornell's cautious look soon became terror as he slowly shook his head. "No...no! Why this far out!?" Before saying anything else, he turned and grabbed Patrick's shoulder. "Change of plans! We're leaving! We're heading back to the village!"

                Patrick gave a surprised gasp. Before, Cornell seemed more confident and brave than anyone he'd seen. Suddenly, however, Cornell's words dripped with terror and fear. "I-I don't understand-"

                "I don't care, just go!" Cornell yelled at him, and that was all he needed. Without another word, both Patrick and Cornell made a break for it, running back from where they came. As they continued to do so, they just heard the thunderous noise get louder and louder, and the shaking equivalently got more severe. Against his better judgement, his curiosity pushed Patrick to look behind him to see what was making the noise. The sight was beyond anything he could've ever imagined. Just around the tree, a beautiful young blonde woman wearing a pretty white dress and a brown vest came walking in. This woman, however, was the size of a god! No, a titan! With each step her boots made on the ground, it came with a thunderous ‘boom' and shook the area around them like an earthquake. Worse yet, she was walking in their direction! "Shit!" Cornell, who apparently was looking at the goddess too, stumbled a bit as he noticed the oblivious woman's feet fast approaching the running duo. In just a second, it seemed her right foot was about to collide with them. "Move!" Was all Cornell said before grabbing Patrick, and shoving him ahead. The moment he did, he stumbled on the ground and fell.

                It all happened in just a second, but felt like an eternity for Patrick. As Cornell shoved him ahead, he fell to the ground. The adrenaline pumping through the young man led him to immediately try to scramble back up, as he looked back at Cornell, who fell to the ground. He was about to go help the young hunter up, when suddenly he noticed the boot of the blonde woman closing in. He could see it all. The foot greater than the size of a hole building, the mud and dirt caked to its sole from frequent use, the little specks of said dirt that would fall like rain for each movement the girl made. Slowly, he saw her right foot land just behind Cornell with a thunderous boom, the tip of her toes literally right at his feet. Noticing that he hadn't been crushed, Cornell seemed to immediately work to scramble his way back up, but fate had different plans. As he tried to move, the woman's left foot took a step forward, and following through with the motion, her right foot leaned forward onto its toes, pinning down the legs of the poor man. As it did so, Patrick could hear a sickening and audible ‘crack' echoe out into the air, a crack that only got louder the more the woman's right boot moved. This prompted Cornell to let out an ear-splitting cry of agony as his legs were being pulverized under the cute lady's sole.

                Elizabeth was having a relaxing time walking through the woods. She appreciated listening to the birds singing, the crickets chirping, and feeling the breeze through her hair. This peaceful walk would be interrupted, however, as Elizabeth could swear that she heard a slight ‘crack' coming from her feet. She also felt as if something under her right toes were giving way under their weight. Stopping in her tracks for a second, she looked down at her feet. The first thing she noticed the inch-tall person, seemingly sitting in shock at her feet.

                "Oh my..." She trailed off a bit at the sight of the tiny thing, but there wasn't a hint of surprise in her voice. "Is that one of those humanoid bugs I heard about?" She kneeled down to get a closer look.

                The words of the woman above him barely registered for Patrick. All he could focus on was his companion, who was still pinned under her toes and clearly in horrible agony. He wanted to step forward. Help pull him out from under there. But the striking fear froze him in place at the sight before him. A gigantic human being just crushed someone's legs into the dirt. How could anyone process this!

                "HM?" The loud voice of the woman speaking, soft in nature, but incredibly loud to the tiny young man, echoed in the air around him. As Patrick stood there in silence, the young Elizabeth's eyes looked down, focusing on the toes of her boots, and noticed the other ‘bug' pinned under her toes. "OH MY! MY APOLOGIES!" Having said that, she lifted her foot, which prompted Cornell to scream once again, his now flattened legs stuck to the sole of her shoes, lifting him up a bit. The lady herself seemed aware of this, and kept her foot elevated in the air until the flesh and gore on her sole slowly began to peel off, allowing Cornell to fall face first into the dirt.

                Elizabeth tilted her head at the injured creature, and took note of his crushed legs, which made her frown a bit. "OH DEAR, DID I HURT YOU? AWW, SORRY LITTLE GUY..." Though loud, her voice was so sweet that Patrick couldn't interpret  the sympathy in her words as anything other than genuine. But... her saying it in such a matter-of-fact and casual way sent chills down his spine. She was clearly guilty, but she was quick to brush it off as a simple mistake, as if she just hurt a bug and not a human being. "ARE YOU STILL...?"

                As she trailed off, her finger came forward and poked Cornell's back. To her it was a gentle touch, but to the man himself it was like having a boulder forcefully slamming him into the ground, and he cried in incomprehensible pain. He tried to crawl away, tears streaming down his face, but his lack of legs and the woman's overpowering finger kept him in place.

                As Elizabeth poked the ‘bug' she noticed the wriggling reaction it gave, and her hand instinctively reeled back. "EEK...!" Her squeal echoed through both men's skulls. Her momentary look of fear quickly subsided, and was replaced with the same look of sympathy she had before.

                After a brief pause, she stood back up, and Patrick looked at the goddess in awe. The fact something so large could make such a simple, yet gigantic movement from his perspective seemed to completely incomprehensible. "DON'T WORRY..." The girl said. "YOU WON'T HAVE TO SUFFER ANYMORE..." Patrick didn't know how to take the lady's words, but he would soon find his answer. The next moment, he witnessed her titanic boot hover into the air, its shadow being cast over Cornell. He could see it all. The mud firmly adhered to the treads of the boot, the various specked of dirts that fell like rain over them as it hovered in the air, and even the blood plastered onto the toes of the boot from crushing Cornell's legs. "QUICK AND PAINLESS..." The giantess spoke softly to herself as she trailed off, but these words alone made it click in Patrick's head what she was about to do.

                "N-no! Don't...!" He tried to call up, but it was too late. Faster than anything he'd ever seen, the ball of her foot came down on Cornell's entire being, kicking up a fog of dust before the young man. As it landed, he could hear the sickening crack coming from underneath, and the sound of Cornell's cries coming to a brief end. The dust quickly cleared up and she saw the boot ground into the dirt. Elizabeth's foot seemed to be grinding back and forth for good measure, further releasing the sounds of Cornell's already pulverized body. After a second, she lifted her foot, revealing a horrific spot of blood and gore before Patrick. Plastered on the ground, as well as the boot, was a spot of blood, and even some trails of guts and flesh that still connected the two spots as she removed her foot.

                Elizabeth leaned down, looking at the spot of blood, and nodded to appreciate her work. She clasped her hands together, as if in prayer. "MAY THE GODDESS OF NATURE BRING YOU TO NIRVANA..." As she said this her eyes opened, and locked onto Patrick, who looked back in unadulterated fear. After all that, she gave Patrick a sweet, innocent smile. It was angelic, pure and beautiful, but to the young man it was a sight more chilling than anything he'd ever seen. "SORRY FOR YOUR FRIEND...BUT I HOPE YOU'LL HAVE A GOOD DAY REGARDLESS!" Having said that, she lifted herself up and walked away. The blood on her sole was likely being scraped off with each step she took, until she was out of Patrick's sight.

                Patrick just watched her leave, a look of horror and unending fear plastered on his face. How could he describe what he just witnessed? How could he describe a sight more terrible than anything he'd ever witnessed? How could he...

...

...

...

                After a moment of silence, Patrick vomited. 

                The walk back to the village after that horrific scene was slow and tiring for Patrick. His face dirty and twisted into a sickened expression after the sight he just beheld, he could hardly remember what he was thinking as he eventually found his way back to the very tree he came out of. By the entrance was Hatch, who was continuing his whittling, but immediately came to the young man's side as he saw him approaching. He didn't hesitate to ask what happened, where Cornell went, why Patrick looked so horrible, and through all these questions Patrick just had a look of shock.

                His mind, almost as if it were against his will, continued to replay his memories of Cornell's death over and over again in his mind. He remembered everything about it. The screams, the sound of the woman's incoming footsteps, the scent and taste of the dirt that lifted into the air in response to her movements, the sickening crunch of Cornell's bones and organs... it was all permanently etched into his mind. He couldn't take it. He hated it, remembering all these details. The look of Cornell's teary face, the angelic smile of the woman after having snuffed out an innocent life beneath her sole, he just wished it would all disappear...

                For Elizabeth, her memory of the ‘bug' she just killed, and the other she left behind, quickly faded from her memory as she just went on to take in the environment. It was a very clear and sunny day today, a far-cry from the horrible rain that was coming down a few days ago. As she stepped over an exposed tree root, she felt the soft cracking of a stick under her shoe, making her giggle a bit at the sensation. She continued her walk, looking about the grassy fields and trees surrounding her. It reminded her a lot of her childhood.

                The thought of her past prompted her to stop for a second and lean back against a nearby tree. After sitting down, she looked up, seeing the waving leaves above her. The moving shadows they casted along her face, and the various trails of light that peeked inbetween them, set her in a trance. It was just like that day seven years ago...

                She closed her eyes, feeling the wind in her hair as the voice of her mother came back to her, still clear in my mind.

                ‘You're rather curious, aren't you?' Her mother had given a lighthearted chuckle to a thirteen-year-old Elizabeth, who watched her picking flowers from the shade. The young Elizabeth had her arms neatly folded around her legs, watching her mother do her work and looking about the grassy field.

                ‘Why do you like working at the flower shop so much?' The young girl asked, tilting her head. She knew her mother as someone who sold flowers ever since she was little, but she never really stopped to think why her mother would want such a seemingly boring job.

                Her mother wiped the dirt off her dress as she stood back up, basket filled with freshly picked flowers in her arm, as she turned to face her daughter with a sweet smile. ‘Why, flowers are very special to the country of Bellith!' She said with a voice filled with pride. She walked over and sat next to her. ‘Elizabeth, you've learned of Goddess Bell in school, didn't you?'

                The girl nodded as she started drawing in the dirt with her finger. ‘She's the eldest of the Three Sisters...' She trailed off for a second, remembering the exact stories told to her by her father and the town priest. ‘She's the Goddess of Nature, and the creator of all life.'

                The mother nodded. ‘Yes, that's why flowers are so important to the people here, and why selling plants is such an important job! We have a strong attachment to nature, and as such we use flowers to indicate many different emotions!' As she spoke, she started digging through the various flowers she had picked on their hike through the forest, showing to Elizabeth the various different flowers they use. ‘Red roses, as you know, indicate love. Violets represent death, as their purple hue we believe to resemble the hair of Aisha, the Goddess of Death. So what does it mean if you show person both a red rose, and a violet?'

                Elizabeth thought for a second, before speaking. ‘It means your love is dying out?' She was sharp enough to pick up on these sorts of things, though she found the answer to be pretty basic.

                Regardless, her mother was satisfied. ‘Yes! More specifically, sending both of these is something one sends to their lover to say they don't love them anymore...A somber thing, but you understand yes?' Elizabeth nodded, and her mother continued. ‘When you give people flowers, it allows them to communicate feelings to others they wouldn't know how to put into words. These are only two flowers, and there are various more out there that hold different meanings, as well as many other ways to combine the flowers' meanings. If you want to know why I love selling these flowers...' She leaned into her daughter and put her arm around her shoulders. ‘...It's because it makes me feel more connected to people. That's why I love my job.'

                The young Elizabeth didn't say anything else to her mother that day, she just thought over her words. She always was a shy one, and didn't always know how to talk to people. Never really growing up with many friends, she just found her own ways to entertain herself, like reading books, or accompanying her mother on walks. After hearing this, though, she was having second thoughts. Could a life as simple as selling flowers help her know people better?

                As this thought came to the Elizabeth of present day, she opened her eyes, mulling over these thoughts as her memory of that conversation ended. "Connect with people, huh?" She spoke thoughtfully to herself, thinking about why her father wouldn't talk to her. Frustrated at the thought, she sighed and hugged her legs. "I miss you, mom..."

                After being snapped out of his trance, Patrick made sure to explain everything that had happened during his trip with Cornell to Hatch. The usually jovial man had a grim look about him as he listened, taking in every word with an understanding nod. Afterwards, he guided Patrick back to his cabin over in the far side of town.

                On the bed Patrick slept in earlier in the morning were some books that Hatch bought from a local librarian, hoping to inform the young man about the town's history and workings. "The old doc gave me these books for free." He explained. "Thought it'd be helpful to let you know the place better..." The bearded gentleman scratched the back of his head, not knowing how to really handle talking to someone who's been through so much trauma. "Look kid, I...I'm going to tell Cornell's family about what happened." He shook his head. "Don't feel like you have to come along, you've got your own shit going on. Just read...or not. Up to you." Patrick didn't say anything after sitting down on the bed. He just stared at the books in silence. "Well...I'll be seeing you then." Hatch said before closing the door behind him.

                It took about a minute of sitting in that silent room before Patrick decided to pick up that book. He didn't know why he wanted to read them this very moment, it wasn't like he was in a particular mood to. Perhaps he just wanted a reason to be distracted by something other than the grizzly scene he had witnessed.

                As he read a book titled ‘The Curse of Man and Giants', he was coming to understand the ordeal of the village he found himself in. It seemed based on a true story, though he wasn't sure how much of it was true or mythical.

                "Hundreds of years ago, a village known as Graham sat in the middle of a mountainous valley, separated from the outside world with only their own customs and resources to lean on. Still, the valley they lived in was rich with water, animals, and game, and they lived a life of peaceful isolation from the rest of the world. One day, however, the leader of this village, no longer to be named, committed a sin grave enough o anger the Goddess of Nature, Bell."

                Patrick read a little bit on this Goddess that the book mentioned. Apparently she was meant to be the most powerful of this world's pantheon of gods and goddesses, and was the eldest of ‘Three Sisters' who were said to be the pantheon's greatest.

                "The Goddess, finding the man to be one who saw other humans as nothing but ‘lowly animals', decided to punish him and the village in its entirety by putting them at the bottom of this world's food chain, to let them know what it truly is like to be a ‘lowly animal'. There is much we don't know of about the actions of our ancestors, but the words of the goddess persists throughout history: ‘Let it be known, mortals,' the Goddess says, ‘those who angered me shall know what it is to be lowly bugs. We shall instill in humanity a ‘blind spot of the mind' and as such you shall be regarded merely as insects in human clothing!'."

                Patrick paused for a brief second, finding himself fuming with anger. He wasn't sure how true this story was, but it was to be believed, he couldn't help but look to such a goddess with furious rage. These people, as well as himself, were forced to endure this because of some man many years ago? It seemed ludicrous! Regardless, he continued reading.

                "These enigmatic words of ‘blind spot of the mind' were no mere jest. Throughout the history of our kind's survival, there have been attempts to communicate with the giants we hide from now, only to be met with either severe cruelty or chilling apathy. Humanity, we found, incapable of understanding the words of us smaller men. Further, any signs of human engineering, as our kind is fully capable of, is invisible to the human mind. It would appear that the goddess, perhaps with the aid of her youngest sister Cathel, Goddess of Intellect, disabled the human ability to recognize us. Such is our historic curse and punishment. The Curse of Man and Giants."

                With that, the story concluded, leaving Patrick with many questions. It answered the history behind why the Tiny race is incapable of communicating with humanity, but why would the goddess go this far? For punishment? No, this could only be seen as unjust cruelty. Flashes of Cornell's crying face as he was snuffed out by the beautiful human who crossed their path continued to dash through Patrick's thoughts, making him bite his lower lip in contempt. He gripped the book before him, with only one thought in his mind: "If I could kill this goddess, I would."