Once upon a time there lived a family, a father, a mother, a son and a daughter.  The father’s name was Ansel and he was a carpenter by trait.  The mother’s name was Gerta and she did her best to provide and keep house.  The children’s names were Jakob and Marta.  Jakob was ten while Marta was eight.  The family loved each other and was very happy until Jakob and Marta noticed that their parents weren’t eating anything and the food seem scarce.  That was when Jakob and Marta decided to run away.

“Mother, Jakob and I are going to go pick some berries,” Marta said as she grabbed her basket.

“Be careful, my dearest and don’t stray from the path.  The Black Forest is a dangerous place,” Gerta tells her daughter as she boils water over the hearth.

“I won’t mother, I love you,” Marta says as she gives her mother a hug.

“What’s this,” Gerta said with a smile and returned the embrace.  Marta hated having to lie to her mother but she had no choice.  “I’m serious, my child.  Many wild and bad creatures live in that forest.  Some say that it’s enchanted.  I don’t want you getting lost.”

“I’ll be careful, mother.  Jakob is coming with me, to protect me,” Marta told her mother and kissed her cheek.

Jakob packed his knife and his slingshot in his knapsack with what little bread he could find, he even filled two canteens with water and off towards the Black Forest the two siblings went.

Jakob and Marta went against their mother’s wishes and strayed from the path.  It wasn’t long before the two were lost in the Black Forest.  Both were starving and cold.  Jakob went hunting while Marta built a fire with what twigs and branches she could find.  The fire lit easy for Marta, almost too easy from the slate she had found.  The fire burned perfect.

Jakob returned with a hare the size of a very large dog.  Marta was shocked by the size of the animal.  This forest truly was enchanted.  Jakob and Marta ate their fill and still had plenty left.

“Look at these berries I found,” Marta showed Jakob the largest blackberries the children have ever seen.

“I found a stream close by.  The water is as clear as the Queen’s diamonds and taste as fresh as spring.  I filled our canteens and tomorrow we can bathe in its freshness,” Jakob said.

“This shall be the perfect place to make our home, Jakob.  I didn’t like leaving mother and father,” Marta sobbed as she thought of her parents.

“This is for the best.  Mother and father couldn’t afford to take care of us anymore.  Father has taught me his trait and I brought my tools.  Tomorrow we will make plans for a cabin.  Maybe someday we will go back and share our bounty with them,” Jakob said with hope in his heart…

The following morning, Jakob and Marta bathed in the stream.  They drank of its waters and feed on the hare and blackberries.  Jakob and Marta did this daily as Jakob worked on the cabin.  The two out grew their clothes and made garments from animal hides until Jakob made Marta a spinning wheel and loom.  Marta learned how to make garments from her mother and had become quite good at it.  Jakob and Marta grew up together and on their own, enjoying the bounties the Black Forest brought them.

The cabin was a grand place with a great stone hearth and grand garden were Jakob and Marta worked daily.  Marta grew up into a fair beauty with eyes as blue as the seas while Jakob grew into a tall and slender lad.  Jakob and Marta never ventured out of the Black Forest in the ten years they lived there although that hare that lasted them for a week when they first came to the forest is now one meal between the two.

One morning, Marta went to the stream for her bath when all the sudden she spotted a small form on the other side of the water.  The form looked like that of a man passed out from exhaustion.  Marta did not know what to do since she had not seen another human in ten years other than Jakob.  Marta thought for a moment and then decided that the right thing to do would be to help this man.

Marta crossed the large stones to the other side of the stream, careful not to soak the hem of her silken gown.  The man lay on his stomach.  Marta walked up to the man surprised at how small he seemed.  He looked no bigger than she was to her parents when she left them all those years ago.  Marta could see that the man was still breathing.  She turned him over and gasped at the sight of his face.  It was her father, Ansel… 

Marta skipped her bath and decided to bring Ansel back to the cabin where she could nurse him.  Marta carried Ansel like a babe since Ansel was so much smaller to her now.  Marta laid him down on the bed of animal hides and nursed his wounds.  Ansel had been cut by the briar berry bushes and was still unconscious.

Jakob entered the cabin noticing that his sister seemed to be nursing some wounded small animal again.  Jakob gasped when he noticed that it wasn’t an animal but his own father whom Jakob used to look up to.  Now he appeared no bigger than a babe.

“It that father?” Jakob asked his sister and Marta nodded.  “What happened to him?”

“I don’t think anything has happened to him, dear brother.  I suspect that the forest has enchanted us,” Marta answered.

“How?”

“Do you remember how big everything was when we first came to this place?  The trees were taller and the hares seemed to be the size of large dogs and one blackberries was the size of our hands.  It is not like that anymore for us.  The forest has somehow made us into…giants,” Marta could barely say the last word.

Tears fell from Marta’s eyes when she realized this.  Jakob embraced his normal size sister…

The last thing Ansel remembered was being chased down by a fox the size of a horse.  Ansel had never seen such a beast in his life.  In fact everything in the Black Forest seem much larger to the lowly carpenter.  Day and night for the past ten years Ansel searched for his children to no avail until his wife fell ill and Ansel had no choice but to search the Black Forest for his son and his daughter.

The fox chased him into some briar berry bushes.  Ansel thought he was safe until he realized the bushes thick long thorns cut him.  Ansel crawled out of the thick dark bushes and to a stream as clear as glass with fish as big as Ansel had ever seen.  He lost his pack and his horse refused to enter the forest and so Ansel thought he would try to drink the clear fresh water but before he could do that, he fell from exhaustion.

Ansel felt something wet patting his cheeks.  He let out a moan.  Ansel stretched a bit before opening his eyes to the sight of a fair maiden with sad and familiar eyes.  Standing next to the seated maiden stood a tall thin lad with the same familiar eyes.  Ansel eyes widened and he jumped when he realized that the maiden and the lad were giants.

“Don’t eat me, please!  I hardly am nothing more than bones!” Ansel pleaded.  “I am but a lowly carpenter who is only seeking his lost children!”

The two giants looked at one another with sad eyes.  The female’s eyes began to fill with tears as she said, “He does not recognize us.”

The male giant pats the giantess’s shoulder.   “I knew this would happen,” said the giant sadly.  “We are not the same.  Even if we were normal, we are still not the same,” the giant with the curly brown hair mumbles.

“You do not wish to eat me?” Ansel then says, surprised at the giants.  As a child, Ansel heard tales of the giants that lived in The Black Forest.  Tales told through the generations of children that lived in his village.

“No we do not,” said the giant in an almost angry voice.  Ansel cowered at the pitch of the giant lad’s voice.  The giant softened his feature to the babe sized man.  “Do you not know us?” the giant than asked.   Ansel dared look up into the giantess’s soft youthful face and her sky blue eyes.  The same kind of eyes he remembered his Marta had.

“That’s impossible,” Ansel mumbled in shock.  “My Marta?”  He then looked to the giant lad and noticed the small scar above his right eye from when his son fell from a tree.  “My Jakob?  How can this be?  My you have grown.”

Jakob stifled a laugh when Marta elbowed him.  “It is us, papa.  We have lived here for the past ten years.  Jakob built this cabin and I made our fine clothes.  We never realized what happened to us until…” Marta’s excitement dwindled.  She did not want to say it.  Sadness filled her eyes once again.

“It is all right, my dear girl.  You and your brother can’t help that you were enchanted.  Maybe I can find an old and wise wizard to make you as you should be,” Ansel said, looking up at his sad but beautiful daughter.  Marta had grown fair and healthy just as Jakob had grown handsome and strong.  Marta was a willowy creature despite her size.  Her long white fingers reached out to fix the animal skins that made up the homemade bed Marta made just for her father.  Ansel grabbed one of her fingers as if he would hold her hand.  “I promise my dear and beautiful daughter,” Ansel said as he squeezed her finger.  Marta gave him a small but sad smile.

“Why have you come for us, papa?” Jakob asked.  Ansel looked up at his strong and slender son and realized that both his children couldn’t fit into the home they once shared.  Ansel knew that he must tell them of Gerta’s condition and how he didn’t want to leave her side, but Gerta insisted that her children be found before she is to die.  Ansel let out a sigh.

“Your mother is ailing.  I fear she is knocking on death’s door.  I didn’t want to leave her side but the stubborn woman insisted that I find the both of you and return to the village before she dies,” Ansel said as tears formed in the corner of his eyes.  “She wants to know that her children are alive and well.”

“Oh papa,” Marta said as the tears begin to form in her eyes.  She gently lays her hand on the fur skin bed.

“I fear we cannot leave our home, papa.  The villagers will most definitely try to slay us,” Jakob said as a tear rolled down his cheek.  Jakob always tried to be the strong one but hearing of his mother’s illness broke the giant lad.

“You are not well either, papa.  Those briar berry bushes hurt you severely.  You must stay and get your strength back,” Marta said to her diminutive father.

“Besides, we don’t know the way back to the village and even if we do find our way back… look at us papa.  The villagers will not take too kindly of two giants, even if they are the carpenter’s son and daughter,” Jakob said, pointing out his and Marta’s sizes.

“We can enter the village veiled by the night.  You two should at least fit in the barn where you can hide during the day.  At night you can visit with your mother,” Ansel said, trying his to best figure out how to hide two giants.

“We can stay until she…” Marta couldn’t finish her sentence as tears began to fall once again.  Jakob embraced his weeping sister.  Ansel hated seeing his daughter like this.  Ansel remembered Marta as a happy little girl with an endless smile, even when things seemed their darkest, Marta’s smile shone like the sun.  Ansel wanted so much to embrace his little girl once again but Marta wasn’t a child anymore.  Marta had grown into a lovely and fair maiden that Ansel hoped would find the perfect suitor someday, after she is restored back to her true size of course…

Marta nursed her father’s wounds from the briar berry bushes.  Her long fingers and large hands gently dressed the cuts and scrapes.  Ansel never feared his giantess daughter’s hands as she carefully took care of him.  Ansel did understand that Marta was being as gentle as possible with him.  She treated her father as if he were a newborn babe since that is what Ansel’s size was compared to her own.

Ansel had greedily eaten the hare that Jakob hunted for their meal.   To Ansel it was more like a feast.  Ansel had never seen a hare so large in his entire life.  Ansel even drank of the clear clean water.  Everything on the table tasted much different to Ansel.  The water tasted clean, the hare was tender and the berries were the sweetest he had ever tasted.  Marta and Jakob both excused their father’s poor table manners because of his hunger.  Both of them understood their father’s excitement about the food placed before him.  They remembered the poor carpenter that struggled to keep food on the table for his family.

Ansel let out a loud belch after he had stuffed himself full of his giant children’s food.  Marta suppressed a giggle while Jakob smirks at the small man sitting on wooden blocks Jakob put into place so that his father may join them at the table.

“Very good, my daughter, you have become quite the cook.  You will make a good wife someday,” Ansel declared.  Marta looked down at the table shyly and blushed.  Marta knew that she was on the verge of becoming an old maid.  Girls much younger than Marta’s eighteen years have already wedded and started families of their own.  Marta always hoped for that but now truly understands the impossibilities of that happening now that she is a giantess.  Now Marta only wished that her father was right about finding a wizard to restore her back to the size she should be.

“And you my son are quite the great hunter and provider.  Many a maiden would be proud to make you their husband,” Ansel then declared.

“Thank you, papa,” Jakob said, knowing the impossibilities of finding a maiden willing to wed a giant.  Jakob and Marta both gave each other sad eyes knowing that there is a chance they may truly never return home…

“He is a fool, Marta,” Jakob said to his sister who was sitting on a log out in the darkness of night with only the warm glow on the cabin windows as their light.

“Oh Jakob, he seemed so proud of us and everything we have accomplished together, after all, he is still our father and not a fool,” Marta said, looking up at her brother who was pacing about.

“The way he spoke to us as if we were his size!  Look at us Marta!  Father barely stands to my knee now!  Imagine what the villagers will think when they see us and the fool has the nerve to speak to us as if we were of normal stature,” Jakob fumed.

“Keep your voice down.  You might wake him,” Marta said trying to calm her brother.  “He promised to find a powerful wizard.”

“Unlikely Marta, we have lived in these trees far too long to reverse what has been done to us.  I doubt a wizard can help us,” Jakob said, sounding defeated.

“Maybe there are others like us?  We have just never found them yet,” Marta said, sounding hopeful.

“Hmmm, you might be right, dear sister.  Maybe if we venture home with father, we just might run into others like us.  I just fear that the enchantments of this forest have been with us far too long for a mere wizard to fix.  We have taken in the bounties the Black Forest has given us for over half our lives,” Jakob said as he stopped pacing.

“You think the food and water has made us so large?”  Marta gasped and Jakob sat down next to her on the log.

“I believe so, dear sister.  We were just average children when we first entered this place.  You remember our first full week here?”

“My dress became too small and the hem seemed a little too high for just being a garment mother had just sewn me.  You pants and tunic appeared to do the same,” Marta said.

“Then about another ten days we started making garments from the skins of the hares I had hunted for our meals.  That was when I started building our cabin.  I remember feeling stronger with each passing day,” Jakob said and he looked to the cabin with sad eyes.  Marta looked to her brother with the same expression.  “Marta, we must leave as soon as possible.  We must get father back to mother before the forest claims him too.”

“Oh Jakob, but he is still weak.”

“True, but we must leave in the morning.  We both can carry him if we must.  Papa cannot stay,” Jakob said as he held his sister’s hand and Marta began to weep…

Ansel awoke the following morning feeling refreshed and better than he felt the day before.  His soreness left his body and he felt much stronger.  Marta and Jakob were watching him as he rose.

“Morning papa,” Marta said cheerily.  She wasn’t wearing the long natural gown she had worn since Ansel first discovered his giant children.  Marta wore a natural tunic with brown pants and tall fur skin boots.  Her shining golden locks braided back.  She looked the part of a warrior goddess.

“Morning papa,” Jakob said with a bow of his head.  Jakob looked dressed for hunting with the same natural tunic and brown pants as his sister but Jakob carried a dagger on his belt and a quiver on his back.  “We are ready for our journey home,” Jakob announced, giving his father a crocked smile.

“You are better now, papa.  If the journey becomes too much, I can carry you,” Marta said, turning around to show Ansel the empty pocket on her pack.  “I had sewn it just for you, papa,” Marta said, giving Ansel that warm sweet smile of hers.

Ansel did not want to leave The Black Forest and all its spoils but he knew he must be getting back to his ailing Gerta.  He thought of how she will react when she sees her two long lost ‘little ones.’  Ansel hoped that she wouldn’t be like he was.  “All right, my children.  Let us take leave of this place,” Ansel finally said to Jakob and Marta’s relief…

Early in the morning, before their father arose, Jakob and Marta had a conversation concerning their father.

“Marta, we must ration out papa’s food and drink.  We only have but a few days to return him to mother,” Jakob said as he filled his quiver with arrows.

“But Jakob, what if papa is hungry?  He needs to eat to keep his strength,” Marta said as she filled the canteens from the well.

“We cannot risk papa becoming as we are, dear sister.  He will only get food and drink as needed.  The sooner we find the village, the better,” Jakob said and Marta gave him sad eyes.  “’tis for the best, dear sister, papa needs to go back to mother.  She is ailing and we cannot risk this.”

“I know, but what if he begs?  You remember our old appetites.  The temptation of the fruits, we would eat till we were sick.”

“All the more reason to ration out father’s portion of the food.  Once the game becomes smaller, we will cease his rations,” Jakob said as he flung the quiver onto his back and tucked his dagger into his belt…

With their canteens full and food packed, Jakob, Marta and Ansel set out through the enchanted forest.  Jakob and Marta paced themselves so as not to leave their father behind.  Both of them didn’t feel it was necessary to carry their father unless that was his wish.  Jakob was feeling frustrated knowing that they could cover more ground but it didn’t take long for Ansel to feel the effects of traveling with two giants. He felt fatigued from trying to move as quickly as he could.

“My dear daughter, you don’t mind hauling your poor old papa around?  Do you?” Ansel asked his giantess daughter.

“No papa, I don’t mind.  Can I get you some water?” Marta asked her father.  She got down on one knee and filled the canteen cap full of water.  Ansel drank of the cool liquid.  Ansel knew that the water in the village tasted nothing like this clean water.  He handed the cap back to Marta after he had emptied it.  Marta asked Ansel if he wanted more and Ansel declined even though he did want more, he had no idea why.  The water made him feel different.

Ansel did his private business before crawling into the pocket on Marta’s pack.  Marta effortlessly put her pack back on and Ansel realized just how gigantic his children had become and Marta wasn’t as tall as Jakob either.

“Do you feel secure, papa?” Marta asked.

“Yes I do, dear daughter,” Ansel responded.  He could not see the smiles exchanged between the two siblings as they began to move at their normal speed.  Ansel held on to the pack when he realized the speed of his daughter’s strides…

Jakob and Marta made it to the stream where they bathed, the same place where Marta had found her small father.  Marta turned her back to Jakob so that he may speak to Ansel.

“Marta found you over by the briar berry bushes.  We shall start in that direction first.  Do you remember what happened, papa?” Jakob asked. 

The stream was one of the few places in the forest where the sun shone.  Ansel noticed the paleness of his two giant children.  Both looked as though they rarely saw the sun, but still they grew tall and sturdy like an oak.

“I will try my best to recall.  A fox chased after me.  That is how I ended up in the briar berry patch,” Ansel answered his son who was looking down at him.

“That is all I ask, papa,” Jakob said with a smile that reached his blue eyes.  Ansel found it strange that his son has blue eyes.   Ansel always remembered them as being brown like his.  In fact, he remembered Marta as having green eyes, like her mother.  It was strange how the forest changed his children.

Marta and Jakob found a way around the briar berry bushes where Marta found a small pack, it was Ansel’s pack.

“Papa, is this yours?” Marta asked as she picked up the small pack.

“It is, my dear girl,” Ansel exclaimed, glad to have his belongings returned to him.  Jakob handed the pack to Ansel.   Ansel looked into his pack to find that everything was untouched.  His bread still looked as fresh as the day he packed it and a few portions of dried fish; also his canteen was still full.  For some reason, the creatures of the Black Forest showed no interest in his belongings.  “I packed enough for two days.  I shall eat what is in my pack so that it doesn’t spoil,” Ansel then said.

Jakob and Marta both sighed, relieved to be given more time to find the village or possibly, more like themselves.  The siblings ventured on with their diminutive father in tow…

As they walked on, Jakob and Marta found a strange path.  The path was wide enough for both of them to walk side by side.  Ansel hadn’t recalled seeing the path, but a long clearing.  Ansel then realized that his view is far more different than that of his children.  Marta felt like a child again as she recalled the paths and roads of the village.

“Shall we walk it, Jakob?” Marta asks her brother.  “I wonder if it’ll lead us to the village?”

“I don’t know, sister?  We can walk it to find out.  What do you think, papa?”

“I don’t see any harm.  This is a big place,” Ansel said, admiring the enormous trees and flowers.

“It’s settled then, we shall follow the path to see where it leads,” Jakob said.

“It could lead up to a powerful wizard,” Marta said, sounding hopeful.

Jakob and Marta walked the path until they noticed the path became narrow.  The trees started to seem smaller to the two giants.  Then a deer cross the path and the giants knew they were no longer in the Black Forest.  A family of hares even crosses the trail and to Jakob and Marta, the hares looked the size of mice to them.

“We are no longer in our forest, Marta,” Jakob said.  Marta held up her hand and a tiny bird landed on it.  Marta couldn’t believe her eyes.  The bird seemed like an insect to the giantess.

“We are in father’s forest,” Marta said with joy in her voice.  Ansel didn’t like that his children didn’t think of themselves as they were supposed to be.   Then Ansel thought it over for a moment.  His children have lived over half their lives in an oversized world that they grew into, of course this would all be small to them.

As they walked on, they came to a small cottage made up of elaborate carvings.  The house looked like it was made of gingerbread and painted in many bright colors.  Two stone lions flanked the strangely carved porch.  Of course this house was only made of wood and not of food.  Several cats laid on the railing of the large porch and many flowers and herbs hung in pots.  The house looked inviting but Jakob and Marta stayed out of sight of the house as they admired its beauty.

“The witch’s house,” Ansel muttered…

Ansel approached the colorful house while Jakob and Marta stayed hidden within the trees.  They had to stay low because they stood as tall as some the trees.  Ansel had heard tales of the witch in the rainbow house.  She is a good and fair witch but could never live among the villagers because it was told that the witch was horrendous in appearance.

Ansel approached the house with caution.  The cats moved around the porch of the house, meowing at the approaching man.  Ansel reached the steps when the two stone lions moved and growled.  Ansel trembled in fear.

“Who goes there?” a voice cackled from the door.

“It is I, Ansel the carpenter from the village,” Ansel answered with a shaky voice.

“Aye, the carpenter with the runaway children, I know of you.  Look with your heart and not your head,” the voice cackled.  Ansel thought about what the witch said.  “Look with you heart and not your head.  You shall see me as I am,” the voice cackled again. 

Ansel looked deep within himself and cloud of smoke appeared on the porch among the noisy cats.  As the smoke cleared, a creature of great beauty appeared before the carpenter.  Wavy golden hair hung freely to her ankles and eyes as blue as the sky.  She wore a dress of white gossamer with a golden girdle tied around a small waist. She appeared willowy like his children but of a normal size.

“Who are you?”  Ansel gasped.

“I am the witch of the rainbow house.  You are Ansel the carpenter and you have broken my curse.  You see me as I am.  Many a wanderer has not been able to do that, you are a first, for which I am grateful,” said the beauty with the soft voice.

“Curse?”

“Yes, I have been cursed by a wizard many ages ago.  I refused his hand in marriage, so he cursed me to be ugly and unwanted.  The wizard died but his curse never did.  Only one pure of heart can break it and you are the one, carpenter.  I am now in your debt,” the maiden said with a bow.  “Name your price and I shall pay it in full.”

Ansel looked to the trees where his giant children had hidden and turned back to the maiden.  The maiden stared intently into his eyes.  “You have been in The Black Forest,” the maiden said.  “You looked older before you entered but the forest hasn’t fully claimed you.”

“How did you know?” Ansel asked, startled at the beauty staring at him.

“Your hair was gray and your back hunched with age.  You wear the scars of your hunt, your hunt for your missing children.  It has been for naught,” the maiden said looking up into Ansel eyes.  “They are alive and well, unlike your wife.  She lives, but she is ailing.  Your children, they are here.”

“Yes m’lady, they are.  I must warn you…”

“The forest has claimed them,” the maiden said.  “They may come out, I will not fear them.”

“But m’lady, can you fix them to as they should be?”

“I will not know until I see them.  Come out children!  I will not fear you,” the beautiful maiden said.

Jakob and Marta stood, unsure whether to go to the maiden or not.  The beauty stood of normal stature, just like their father.  It could be a trick or an illusion.  Marta trusted her instincts and stepped out of the trees with Jakob following her. 

The maiden smiled as they approached.  “Such beautiful children,” the maiden cooed as she looked up at the approaching giants.  “The boy is strong and sturdy.  The girl has a face minstrels sing about.  Such fine children, Ansel the carpenter.”

“Can you make them as they once were?” Ansel asked.

“Sadly, nay, no magic is powerful enough.  They have lived in the forest far too long.  The forest has claimed them as her own.  The sunlight hurts their eyes but their bodies are stronger than any other,” the maiden said.

“Papa, she is right. The sun does hurt my eyes,” Marta said, as her and Jakob shaded their eyes from the bright clearing.

“That is why they are the color of sky.  Once that happens, there is no way to reverse it.  I can fix you, carpenter.  The forest hasn’t completely spoiled you,” the maiden said.

“I don’t feel any different,” Ansel said.

“Nay, but it has healed you.  You have not been paying close attention,” the maiden said with a smile.

“Papa, your garments appear a size smaller,” Marta said.  Ansel looked down at the sleeves of his tunic.  The garment did feel ill fitting.

“Your children were wise to make this journey when they did.  Any longer in those trees, you will become as they are, then you cannot go back to your ailing wife,” the maiden said with a frown.  “Only now is the time you can make the journey back, unnoticed and unspoiled.”

“Is there anyone who can turn us back?” Jakob asked the maiden.

“Nay my child, but there are others like yourself.  Not all live in the forest and not all were lost,” the maiden said, giving the giants a warm smile.  “Destiny has made you who you are.  If you and your sister had not run off, your path would have been a dire one.”

“What do you mean?” Marta asked.

“Starvation, Ansel the carpenter would not be with us today if you two had not run off and made your own life.  Take the water of the Black Forest to the one who has given you two life.  Let the water heal her and make her well.  Share in your bounty my children and only then will the carpenter’s wife live,” the maiden said.  Just as mysteriously as she appeared, the rainbow house and the maiden vanished.  A vile of blue liquid appeared and a voice said, “Drink this carpenter for it will heal you of the Black Forest.”   Ansel took the vile and drank of the elixir.  He noticed no changes in his ill-fitting garments or his vigor.  Ansel still felt strong and young.  The vile filled with more elixir.  “For your wife, once she is healed,” the voice then said.  Ansel fell to his knees and looked up at the sky.

“Thank you, m’lady,” he yelled loudly to the phantom voice.  Ansel then felt an invisible kiss on his cheek and heard a sweet melodious laugh that faded in the breeze…

“The village should be close,” Ansel said as he recognized his surroundings.  Marta looked down at her father who was walking.  Marta had been pondering the witch’s words.  She didn’t want to be a giantess just as she knew Jakob didn’t want to be a giant.  The children that they once played with will be adults like the two giants.  Marta remembered her friends and wondered how much they had changed.  The girls would be wives with children of their own.  The thought saddened Marta because Marta wasn’t a wife or a mother.  She was still a sister and will always be but nothing more.

“Papa, are you upset that Jakob and I can’t be as you are?” Marta asked her small father.

“No my dear daughter, I am upset for you.  I know that you want to be as I am but that doesn’t mean I can’t love you.  You are not the same children I remember.  You have grown in more ways than one.  I can accept that my children are giants even if they look differently than how I remember.  Marta, you are more beautiful than I could have ever hoped for.  You would make a princess envious of your great beauty.  You will find a husband worthy of your love,” Ansel said, looking up at his gigantic daughter with a warm smile.  Marta returned his smile.

“We should rest for the night,” Jakob said as they came to a clearing.  Evening touched the skies.  Jakob and Marta didn’t have to worry about the brightness of the sun.  They never realized how bright the world was outside The Black Forest.  Ansel even noticed their eyes narrowed in expression at the bright daylight.  Maybe that was why the large creatures never ventured outside the trees?

Marta lays out blankets on the grassy clearing while Jakob prepared some dried fish for a meal.  Ansel did the same with the contents of his pack.  Ansel looked at the sleeve of his tunic once again.  The sleeve seemed a tad higher on his arm than it once was.  His body seemed fitter and leaner.  Then he looked at the two giant siblings eating their small ration of food.  Jakob and Marta both had pale white skin and tall slender bodies, their limbs and necks appeared longer than a normal person’s, even their torsos were long and slender.  Jakob and Marta talked quietly among themselves.  One of them would smile now and then.  Ansel could see that Jakob and Marta were more than just siblings, they were friends.

“Papa, I would offer some of our food but I don’t think it wise since the witch’s elixir,” Marta said.

“No, I don’t think it wise either, my dear girl.  I have my own,” Ansel said and took a bite from his bread.

“Papa, what are you looking at?” Jakob asked.

“My two children and how different you look now, not at all like the giants in the tales,” Ansel answered his son.

“What do you mean, Papa?” Jakob asked.  “We are older now.”

“Aye, you are but you do not look at all like the giants in the old tales,” Ansel said.

“Please explain, Papa,” Jakob then said.

“We were told tales of The Black Forest and its giants.  It was always said that the giants were large creatures in every way.  The men were big and broad just as the women were.  It is said that these giants can move mountains and uproot trees with their great size.  I look at you my children, you are tall but there is nothing broad.  You two are slender but you are strong, perhaps the tales were exaggerated.  Maybe the giants of The Black Forest are different from those tales,” Ansel said, looking up at his two ‘little ones’.

“Papa, we do not know of these tales,” Marta said as she wrapped up in her blanket by the bonfire.

“You wouldn’t, would you?  There is only one way to know, you must find others as yourselves,” Ansel said, looking down at the ground.  Ansel prayed that his children could be restored.  They could come back to the village where Jakob could help him and Marta could find her husband but it would be for naught.  Jakob and Marta stood taller than the abodes and inn.  They couldn’t even fit into their old home anymore.  This made Ansel sad, not for himself but his two children.

“Papa, we wish to see mother first.  We want to help heal her if we can,” Marta said.

“And help you with the house and animals for a while,” Jakob said.  Ansel felt happy for the first time in a long time.

“I don’t know if the cows will like you, son.  You remember how they can get, although they are the size of lap dogs compared to you and Marta now.  Maybe you can intimidate them into abiding,” Ansel said and Jakob smiled.

“Papa we will do what we must to help you and mother,” Jakob said.

“We must work by the darkness.  The sun is too much for our eyes to take and we cannot risk the village knowing about us,” Marta said and let out a yawn.  The day had been long and so have their journey.  The two giants were fatigued.  Marta lays her head down and Ansel walks over to her face and kisses her cheek.

“Sleep well my little one,” Ansel said in a fatherly way as he ran his finger along her soft hair.

“I will Papa,” Marta says as she takes Ansel’s small hand into hers.  Ansel grabbed her index finger and gently squeezes it.  “I’ve missed you Papa.  Now you are here to keep me safe again.  You sleep well too,” Marta whispers, looking up at her standing father.

Ansel turns to his son.  Jakob stayed seated and alert with his dagger close by.  “I will watch over us for the night, Papa.  I knew Marta would be fatigued,” Jakob said, looking down at the small man.

“She is still delicate despite her size.  Marta was always a delicate one,” Ansel said as he glanced over at his already sleeping daughter.  Jakob smiled.

“You sleep too, Papa.  If you are right, we should make it to the village by mid-day,” Jakob said as he pulled out a piece of wood and began carving the horse he had been working on in his free time.

“I will my son.  Wake me, if you start to feel slumber coming.  I may not be able to frighten off bears but I am perfectly capable to keep watch,” Ansel said and Jakob quietly laughed.

“I will Papa, for now, I’m still wide awake.  You sleep well, Papa, so that you may see mother again,” Jakob said as he watched Ansel lay down in the blankets next to his sister.

“Good night, my son,” Ansel said with a warm smile.

Jakob woke Ansel up when he felt the fatigue of the day take over.  Jakob lies on the opposite side of the bonfire as Marta.   The fire wasn’t much anymore.  Ansel watched over the two peacefully sleeping giants.  He still couldn’t believe the size of his two children but understood that this is the life they have lived for the past ten years, lives as tall slender creatures with eyes that can’t handle the bright day but in small doses.  Marta stirred a bit as if having a dream.  “No Jakob, I don’t want to go,” she moaned quietly.  Ansel's heart broke, Marta had been dreaming of the day her and Jakob ran away from home…

Before daylight broke, Ansel found a clear stream where he could refill his canteen.  The full moon reflected of the mirror like water that ponded at the end of the stream.  Ansel decided to see if his reflection showed in the water.  The moon gave off enough light for Ansel to see.  Ansel had been curious to know how The Black Forest had changed him.  The elixir the witch gave him only stopped the effects of the magic but never reversed what had already been done.  Ansel knew he was different now.  He felt younger and his back straighter.  He even felt taller than he did in his younger days.  Ansel even thought his arms and legs seemed longer.

Ansel looked at his reflection and realized that this is not the same person that left the village to search for his children.  His gray hair turned the brown color of his youth.  His face appeared to be thinner and younger despite the beard that had grown into the same brown color as his hair.  His eyes were the same brown color they had always been but on a much youthful face with a slightly different structure.  Ansel had never thought himself handsome but he was never ugly either, he was plain in his looks but now his cheekbones seemed higher and his jaw more defined.  He had the looks of a warrior the ladies in waiting would swoon over.  Ansel didn’t look and feel like a lowly carpenter anymore.  He had the looks that royalty would envy.  He hoped that Gerta would recognize her own husband….

Ansel watched as the two giants stirred from their slumber.  Daylight barely touched the sky but Ansel knew that his children could sense the impending brightness of the sun.  Ansel had shaved his bread by the moonlight to reveal his newly youthful face.  Marta smiled when she woke to see this.

“That’s my papa I remember.  You look as you did before,” Marta chocked on her words when she realized Ansel looked the same as he did when her and Jakob ran away from home so long ago.  Sadness filled the giantess’s eyes and Ansel soothingly patted his daughter’s enormous hand.

“I am here now, my girl.  I am not going anywhere,” Ansel said and Marta gave him a small smile before sitting up.  Even sitting up, both of Ansel’s children were still much larger than him.  Ansel was roughly the size of a newborn babe despite his small but magical growth spurt from the waters of the forest.

Jakob felt the stubble of his own chin and ran his hand through his messy curls.  He stretched and yawned.  “Thank you so much papa for letting me rest.  Perhaps a shave shall refresh me as well,” Jakob said, still yawning.

“Nay, my son, you look the part of the man that you truly are.  The small growth on your chin becomes you,” Ansel said, smiling up at his giant son.

“Perhaps, I hope that the waters Marta and I used to swim in are still there and have not dried up.  I doubt I will fit in our old bath tub,” Jakob said with a laugh.

“Maybe your foot, Jakob,” Marta said with a laugh and Ansel joined in.  It was nice for Ansel to see his children made light of their situation but Ansel knew that Jakob and Marta were still very unhappy about being giants. 

“Well, my little ones, we must be onward if we are to make it home in time to see your mother,” Ansel said, sounding every bit the father figure and worried about his wife’s health.

“You are right, papa.  I hope mother is happy to see us again,” Marta said with her head down.

“She will be, just as I am grateful you have discovered me,” Ansel said in an understanding voice.  Ansel tried his best not to bring up his children’s current condition.  He treated them as he would if they were of normal stature and looks.  Marta gave Ansel a small but sad smile.  Marta and Jakob’s skin is as white as freshly fallen snow with a slight blush of pink to their cheeks and eyes as blue as the sky itself.  Marta and Jakob’s eyes both began to narrow as the morning sun touched the clearing.

“We should move on, my children,” Ansel said as he noticed their painful gaze.  “We should travel by the cover of the trees.”  Jakob and Marta both nodded as they began packing their goods.  Marta’s braid glowed of gold in the bright morning sun as she kept her eyes from the bright light.  Jakob did the same.  Growing up in The Black Forest for the past ten years have changed both of Ansel’s now adult children in ways other than their size.  Their eyes are now sensitive to the light that they once played in when they were smaller, much smaller.

Ansel climbed into the pocket of Marta’s pack and Marta gently picked it up and put it on her back.  Marta and Jakob shielded their eyes till they were into the safety of the trees.  The darkness they have lived in made their eyes sensitive to the natural bright light.

Jakob looked at his father with his sad blue eyes.  Ansel could see that his son was in pain from the light of day just as he knew Marta was the same way.

“I’m sorry we have to travel in the darkness, papa.  Our eyes hurt too much,” Jakob said with tears of pain tumbling down his cheeks.  “Unfortunately we are creatures of The Black Forest now.  The sun even burns our pale skin,” Jakob said as he showed Ansel a blister on his wrist. 

“Hopefully we will adapt, brother,” Marta said as she looked down on her own blisters on her arm.  Ansel didn’t like seeing his children in such pain but the longer the giants stayed in the shade of the trees, the more the blisters seemed to fade.

“Such a cruel enchantment,” Ansel said.  “It is as if you have turned into creatures of the night.”

“Unlikely papa, creatures of the night would not be able to walk during the day as we have.  Marta and I are not used to such bright light as you are.  I say Marta is right, we must adapt to the light.  We only blister if we are in direct sunlight for longer than we are used to,” Jakob said.

“You may be right son; I just hope the barn is big enough to house both you and your sister.  Otherwise you will have to stay in the woods,” Ansel said.

“If the barn is not large enough, I will build a new one by the light of the moon,” Jakob said giving Ansel a smile.  “Marta and I single handily built our cabin, a larger barn will be child’s play.”

“Jakob, you are such a braggart,” Marta says over her shoulder and Jakob stands taller as they walk along.  Ansel couldn’t help but smile.  His children were still there inside those giants they have become. 

“Dear sister, did we not accomplish such a feat?” Jakob said playfully.

“Over nearly five years’ time, there was a lot of trial and error if I recall.  Remember how many times we had to fix the roof?  Besides, the trees of these woods may not be as strong as the ones in The Black Forest,” Marta said in return and Jakob frowned but still pressed on, following his sister…

Marta’s eyes widened when she found the small carving Jakob left on an oak tree so many years ago.  She pointed it out to her brother who had remembered leaving the carving as a reminder.

“I left these on the trees so that we would remember our way back but the ones I carved in The Black Forest disappeared in a day’s time.  I never thought we would see my markings ever again,” Jakob said proudly.

“Much better than the bread crumbs I wanted to leave,” Marta then said as she lowered her pack to the ground so that her small father can now walk with them.

“The village is not far, papa.  Unlike you, we cannot just walk down the road.  We shall stay within the trees,” Jakob said.  Ansel craned his neck upwards to get one last look at his children.  Like most parents, Ansel wanted his children to grow up big and strong.  Ansel got his wish but unlike the other children Jakob and Marta’s age, Ansel’s children just kept growing and becoming stronger than a couple of oxen each.

“We will meet you in the woods behind our house, papa,” Marta said as she knelt down.  “Be safe, papa,” she then said and kissed his forehead.

“You do understand, papa,” Jakob said, looking down at the much smaller man.

“Aye my son, I do.  You be careful yourself.  Children still play in these woods.  I do not wish to think about what would happen if you two were found,” Ansel said as he readied his pack and went his separate way from his two extraordinary children…

Ansel found his way back to the village.  He ignored the stares of the people as he walked his way down the dirt path to the little house he and Gerta had shared all these years.  He ignored the whispers as he passed his neighbors.  He ignored that his strides were much longer.  Ansel also ignored that people he once had to look up upon had to now look up upon him.  Ansel did not want to be stopped; he only wanted to see his ailing Gerta.

Ansel ignored that the door handle was now much lower than when he had left on his journey or that it seemed smaller in his hand.  Ansel just opened the door and proceeded to step in.  It was only then that Ansel realized the extent of the enchantment as he hit his head on the top of the door.  “Oww,” Ansel said as he rubbed his head and stepped back to see that he is now eye level with the top of the door that he could comfortably pass through at one time.

“I have grown,” Ansel mumbled to himself as he looked down at his newly tall and slender form.  “I thought the elixir turned me back to what I once was?”

A strange and beautiful laugh tickled Ansel’s ears; it was the laugh of the witch.  I only stopped the effects of the forest.   I cannot reverse it, Ansel the carpenter.  You are not a giant but a very large and youthful man now.  I have filled your cask with the waters of the forest to heal your wife.  Give her a goblet of it every night before she sleeps.  It shall heal her and make her strong again.  On the fifth night, give her the elixir so that she may be as you, the voice said and disappeared in the sweet sound of laughter.  Ansel looked at his canteen and felt that the nearly empty cask is now full.

“Thank you, great witch.  I shall do as you say,” Ansel said to the air.  He ducked his now much larger frame and entered his home…

Jakob and Marta found their way to the woods around their old home.  The midday sun shone on the small mud and thatch house like a dream.  Everything is as it once was except for the large wooden barn and the many animals in the pasture.  Father had done well for himself.

Jakob and Marta looked at the barn and saw that it was big enough for the both of them but it was still going to be snug and tight as they could see no way of standing up straight once inside the structure.  So they decided to wait till nightfall to claim the barn as their temporary home…

“Gerta?  Gerta?  Gerta it is I, your husband,” Ansel said as he walked into the house.

“Ansel,” Ansel heard his wife moan from the bed they shared.  “Is it really you my husband?”  Gerta sounded weak.  She coughed and moaned.

“It is,” Ansel said as he made his way to their room.  Ansel stopped at the door, looking straight ahead at the top of another doorway he entered once upon a time without hitting his head.  Ansel stood there for a moment wondering about his wife’s reaction to his newer, bigger, and younger form.  Will she scream or even die from the mere sight of him?  What of their children who are hiding among tree that they are no taller than?  Maybe the sickness has stolen her of her sight as the village doctor said would happen?  Ansel held his head down and looked around a room that at one time he could fit comfortably in.  Ansel then realized that he wasn’t the same man anymore.

Ansel slowly opened the door and entered their bed chamber.  “Ansel is that you,” Gerta said as she stared blindly ahead.  Ansel let out a small sigh of relief and felt guilty for it.  Gerta is blinded by her illness.

“Aye, it is I my dear wife,” he said quietly as he walked to her bedside.  Ansel frowned at the sight of his small and underfeed wife.  Her cheeks looked hallow and her green eyes looked like glass.  She coughed and wheezed, barely able to catch her breath.  Her once golden locks are now gray and straw like.  Ansel held back his tears.

“I haven’t been able to leave my bed for two days because of my sight.  I see nothing but black and the doctor refuses to come until we give him payment.  Oh Ansel, tell me you have happier news,” Gerta said as she held out her hand.  Ansel took her small fragile hand and kissed it.  He also looked at how much smaller her hand is now that he has returned.

“I have found our children and a cure,” Ansel responded.

“Jakob and Marta, my little ones.  Where have they been?” Marta asked.

“They are well.  They have both built a life for themselves,” Ansel said, avoiding the question.  “Now I must give you the cure, my wife.  Drink well of it, for it will make you strong again,” Ansel said as he poured the water into the goblet.  He held the goblet to Gerta’s mouth and she slowly began to drink the pure, sweet water.

“Water?  It is like none I have ever drunk of before.  Where did you find this cure?” Gerta asked.

“A beautiful and powerful witch.  Now sleep my dear.  You will feel much better in the morning, I promise,” Ansel said as he fluffed his wife’s pillow and took the goblet from her weak hands.

“Tell me more of your adventure,” Gerta said with a yawn, fighting the sleep.

“In the morning.  You need your rest.  Perhaps I shall prepare you a feast, my love,” Ansel said and kissed her forehead.  Gerta fell fast asleep…

“Jakob?  Marta?” Ansel whispered into the trees, keeping his voice as low as possible.  He knew his children could hear him with their extraordinary ears.  Their size had given them many great gifts.

“We are here, papa,” Marta said as darkness filled the sky.

“Good, now we must move to the barn.  Your mother is asleep.  Try not to wake her,” Ansel said as he looked up at the two giants.  Jakob and Marta nodded.

Marta crawled into the small door first and stood up the best she could and then Jakob followed.  Both the giants held onto the ceiling beams as they slouched to fit in.

“It is a little small but I think it will do, papa,” Jakob said.

“I’ll have to keep the animals out to pasture until you are ready to move on,” Ansel said looking up at the two giants.  Ansel felt big in his home but around his children, he was no longer a big man.

“I shall build a small barn for the animals, papa.  I can start work tonight.  I will be quiet so I do not wake mother,” Jakob said as he put down his pack.  Ansel noticed that his son packed his handmade tools.

“That will be wonderful, son,” Ansel said with a smile.

“How is mother?” Marta asked and Ansel then frowned.

“Not well, my dear one.  Your mother was blind and starving today.  Death looked as though it was knocking on her door,” Ansel managed to say.  Marta held her head low and a large tear puddled onto the barn’s dirt floor.  Then another fell.  Jakob put his arm around his weeping sister.

“Mother is dying,” Marta chocked out as Jakob patted her shoulder.  “We must see her.”

I have feed her the water of the forest, just as the witch said to do.  I have faith she will pull through,” Ansel said.  “I don’t want her to see you and your brother until she is well.”  Ansel patted Marta’s knee.

“But papa…”  Marta said.  Then she understood as she looked down at the small man.  “We are…monsters,” Marta then chocked out as the tears began to fall steadily.  Marta fell to her knees on the soft hay.  Ansel felt the earth shake under his feet as his daughter did this.  Ansel reached up and touched his daughter’s moist cheeks.  He did his best to wipe her tears away.

“You are not monsters.  You are my daughter just as Jakob is my son.  I want you to see her well and happy,” Ansel said in a gentle tone.  Marta’s large white slender hand engulfed Ansel’s hand.  “I will bring her to you once she is well enough to walk.  I have faith,” Ansel then said as he moved a stray hair from Marta’s pale sad blue eyes.  Marta gently squeezed Ansel’s small hand and gave him a sad smile.

“I have faith too, papa,” Marta whispered as she used her size to pull her father into a hug.  She lifted Ansel off the ground as he put his arms around her neck.  Jakob patted his sister’s back as he knelt down next to her.  Tears fell from his pale blue eyes as well.  He put his chin on his sister’s shoulder and pulled Marta into a hug.  He held Ansel as well as the two giants wept for their ailing mother.

Ansel slept in the chair next to his wife’s bed.  The chair barely fit his newly larger size.  His long legs propped up onto a wooden stool and a blanket that didn’t reach his feet.  Ansel awoke slightly sore from his uncomfortable arrangement.  Gerta still lie fast asleep as the morning light touched the leaded glass windows.

Ansel kisses his wife’s forehead as she still slept.  Ansel could see that her cheeks looked fuller and her lips pink.  Even her gray hair appeared to have gold spun through it.  Ansel was pleased to see the improvement in his wife as he smiled to himself.

Ansel went outside to see a new and fully constructed barn next to his much larger barn.  The barn looked to be made of the best wood and constructed masterfully by the hands of a giant.  Ansel looked proudly upon his new building to find that all the animals are where as they ought and already well feed.  Even the milk jugs were full and the eggs delicately collected in the straw baskets.  His two giant children did days of work in the matter of one night.

Ansel went to the old large barn and gently opened the door so as not to let in too much light.  Ansel knew that the two giants were sensitive to sunlight.  Marta and Jakob both lay beside one another on a large mound of straw.  Marta’s hair blended in with the golden straw and her braid appeared ropelike as it lay in front of her pale face.  Marta wore a white gown with one of her giant blankets covering her.  Jakob was covered up in a blanket too.  He had no skirt on showing off his pale skin and dark curly chest hairs.  His exposed arm showed long slender muscles of a hard working man.  Both giants were fast asleep despite the noises the animals made outside the large wooden barn.

“My children have worked hard all night long so that I may care for my Gerta.  You have made your old man proud,” Ansel whispered.  He walked over to Marta and kissed her cheek.  He then kissed Jakob’s forehead.  Both the giants stirred and fell back into their dream state.  Ansel then patted Marta’s large slender hand before leaving the barn to attend to his wife…

Ansel made a large meal for his wife over the large stone hearth.  The bounty his children worked so hard for helped Ansel greatly as he slaved over the fire doing what is normally woman’s work.  Ansel never minded, he only wanted to see his wife well again.

“Ansel, my husband,” Ansel heard Gerta calling for him.

“I am here, my dear one,” Ansel said as he brought his wife her morning feast.  Ansel frowned when he noticed that her eyes were still that glassy green of blindness.  “I have brought you some food.”

“Good, I am starving.   I think the cure is working.  I feel so much stronger this morning,” Gerta said to her husband.  “I think even some of my eyesight is returning.  I see colors.”

“That is wonderful, Gerta,” Ansel declared and kissed his wife’s forehead.  Ansel then saw an unsure and suspicious expression on his wife’s face.  “What is wrong, my dear one?” Ansel then asked as he took her small delicate hand.

“You feel… different,” Gerta said and Ansel quickly let go of her hand.

“What do you mean?”

“Your hand feels much bigger than I remember,” Gerta said and Ansel stared down at his hands.  His size hasn’t changed that he could notice.  Not since the witch had given him the elixir had Ansel noticed any changes.  Everything around him was the same as it was the day before.  Then Ansel realized that his wife was far too ill to notice the day of his return.

“Something extraordinary happened to me, Gerta.   You will see in time.  Drink the water every night and you will see,” Ansel said with a small smile that his Gerta couldn’t see.

Ansel feed Gerta the feast he had promised.  Gerta had eaten more than Ansel had expected.  Ansel knew that Gerta hadn’t eaten anything in two days since the blindness stole her of her sight.

“Eat well, my love,” Ansel said as he feed her with his own hands.

“I will, my dearest.  I want to see my children and this extraordinary husband of mine,” Gerta said with a small smile.  “I’m feeling stronger by the minute.”

“That is wonderful my dear wife,” Ansel said happily.  “Sooner you are stronger, the sooner I can take you to see our beautiful children.”  Ansel ran his large hand through Gerta’s hair and feed her some more.  Gerta fell back to sleep shortly after eating her meal.  “Rest my beautiful wife,” Ansel then said and kissed her forehead…

Ansel went out to his new barn tend to his animal when a visitor came, Erik the blacksmith.  Erik is a young man of twenty-two who moved from the palace shortly after the loss of his wife.  He lived with his sister and his young daughter.  He worked as an apprentice to the royal smith and quickly moved up as he gained a reputation for being the best around.  Erik is tall and handsome with golden hair and intense blue eyes.  Some say too handsome to be a smith but Erik ignored the fawning women and took care of his family instead.

After moving from the palace to the village, Erik befriended the carpenter who had suffered a great loss of his own.  Erik and Ansel found solace in each other’s company.  Erik sometimes looked to Ansel for guidance and Ansel looked to Erik for his great skill as a smith and the son that he lost so long ago.  Erik could not recognize the tall man feeding the pigs in the strange barn on his friend Ansel’s property.  He had heard of a mysterious giant of a man entering the carpenter’s house, so Erik thought it only right to see if his friend and his wife are safe.

Erik could not believe the size of such as man as he watched for a moment as the strange man filled the doorways.  Oddly the very large man was wearing garments too small for his lofty frame and there was a familiarity about him that Erik could not deny.  Maybe this was Ansel’s missing son, Jakob?  The man seemed older than the twenty years of age Ansel’s son would be.

The strange man spotted Erik and gave him a smile, a very familiar smile.

“Greetings my friend!  I have returned,” said a familiar sounding voice coming from the strange man.

“Ansel?  Is that… you?” Erik managed to say, staring at the man.

“Aye, it is dear friend,” the man answered as he approached Erik.

“What happened to you?  You look different,” Erik said as Ansel kept walking in his direction.  Ansel stopped in front of the younger man who had to look up.  Ansel smiled when he could see that Erik had only come as far as his shoulders.  Ansel had always been a bit shorter than the younger man but now since he returned, he was truly different.

“The journey has been kind to me,” Ansel said, looking down at Erik.  “But not my garments,” Ansel then said with a laugh.

“Have you been enchanted?” Erik asked, still stunned by his friends appearance.

“Aye, but witch of the rainbow house saved me.  I have even brought back a cure for Gerta.”

“That is wonderful.  Is the cure working?”

“Aye, it is.  She will be well enough in a day or two,” Ansel said, stunned himself at his size.

“I must be on my way.  The merchant needs new shoes for his horse.  I thought I would come by and check up on Gerta on my way,” Erik said as he walked away, still stunned by his friend’s appearance…

Marta looked out a crack in the barns wood to the world outside.  She woke up after a long night’s labor; helping Jakob build a barn worthy of their father and making sure his animals were taking care of.  Marta wanted so much to go out and greet the new day but knew that it wouldn’t be wise for a giantess to make herself seen in a village of humans.  She saw her father duck out the doorway of the small house.  Marta never remembers her father being so tall before, at least not before he went to The Black Forest.

Marta watched her father feed the pigs and she wanted so much to help him.  Then Marta watches a young man from afar observing father feeding the pigs.  Marta sighed for the man’s beauty captured her.  Tall and broad with golden hair and eyes that looked to be much older than the man himself.  He dressed like that of the old blacksmith Marta remembered from her so long ago childhood before her and Jakob ran away.

The man knew father as Marta observed the two men talking.  The young man must have been a friend of her father’s.  Marta giggled at the stunned look on the man’s face when father approached him.  She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.  Marta turned around to see the Jakob had awoken from his slumber.

“What are you looking at sister?” Jakob yawned and Marta hushed him.

“We must not be too loud Jakob,” Marta whispered to her brother.

“I want to know what has piqued your interest dear sister,” Jakob then whispered with a smile picking up on his sister’s emotions.

“There is a man talking to papa,” Marta whispered.

“Can I see?”

Marta moved over so that her brother could look out the crack.  A smile played across Jakob’s lips when he saw the man his father was speaking to.  Jakob knew then and there that this little man has captured his fair sister’s heart…

Marta couldn’t keep her mind off the little man her father had been speaking to.  Jakob had never seen that look on his sister’s face before.  It was a look of longing.  Marta had not seen a man that was not her family in ten years, this was a new feeling for the giantess and it scared her.

“Marta, are you alright?” Jakob asked his sister who seemed to be lost in herself.

“Who was that man papa was speaking to?”

“I think I heard papa call him Erik,” Jakob said, unsure of his sister’s new feeling himself.

“Erik…” Marta said with stars in her eyes.  “Such a strong name.”

“Marta, you cannot be falling for this man.” Jakob said as he remembers his boyhood crushes.  “We are not like them, we are different.”

Marta looked around the barn for a moment.  She and Jakob had grown into a world much larger than this.  She couldn’t even stand straight in a barn that is considered large.  The only person that made her feel normal was Jakob who stood almost a whole head taller than her.  She picked up a pitchfork that her father used to bail the hay.  It looked like a child’s plaything as did all her father’s other tools.  Tears began to fall once again as Marta realized her true size.

“We should have never run away, Jakob,” Marta sobbed.  “I should be a wife and a mother, not a monster.”

Marta sat down in the straw nest Jakob and her made and wept.  Jakob sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder.  Marta leaned into her brother and cried.  Jakob felt helpless for his sister that he had always been close to.  Marta is his best friend and now he was at loss for how to help her.  Jakob just let his sister cry as he held her close just like he did the day they ran away from home…

Ansel went back into the house to check on his wife.  Gerta had been awake and sewing.  This meant that his wife could see again.  Ansel watched her from the doorway, hiding his hulking form.

“Ansel, is that you my love?  My eyesight has returned, although not as well as it once was, I can see again,” Gerta said with a smile as she sat up in the bed and worked on mending one of Ansel’s shirts.  “My legs still don’t wish to support me but I feel so much better than I did this morning.”

Gerta looked at the doorway for a moment.  She could make out the shadow near the door.  She narrowed her eyes to try and focus on the shadow, “Ansel?” she then said.

“Aye, it is I my love,” Ansel quietly said.

“Come where I can see you,” Gerta said.  Ansel saw that the sun covered the bed where Gerta lay.  Her hair appeared more golden than it did this morning.  Even her green eyes seem to sparkle.

“I am not the same man,” Ansel said in a sad tone.

“It doesn’t matter, Ansel.  You are still my husband.  I will still love you even if you are hideous in appearance.  I just want to see the man I love,” Gerta said with a warm smile.

“I have warned you, Gerta,” Ansel said as he slowly ducks under the doorway.  Gerta’s eyes widened at the sight of the tall figure before her. 

“Ansel, you are young and…bigger,” Gerta said as she stared up at the man that claims to be her husband.

“It is still me, Gerta,” Ansel said as sadness touched his brown eyes.

“Oh Ansel, you look so…different.  You are much more handsome,” Gerta said with a smile.  Ansel knelt down at his wife’s bedside.  He took her small delicate hand into his much larger one.  Gerta reached up and touched his face.  The lines that were there before his journey were not there anymore.  Gerta ran her thumb over his cheek.  Then she looked down at the large hand that held hers.  Ansel was now the biggest man she had ever laid eyes on.  Ansel took her hand to his lips and gave Gerta a gentle kiss.

“I love you and miss you so much,” Ansel whispered.

“Big or small, I will always love you my husband,” Gerta said with a warm smile.  “It looks like I’m going to have to make you some new garments.  I don’t think I can save these anymore,” Gerta then said as she looked at the hems and seams.   Ansel laughed and kissed his wife’s cheek.  “I hope I have enough fabric?”

“I will make sure you do my dear one.  You should have seen Erik’s face when he saw me.”

“Erik was here?”

“Yes, he was on his way to the merchant’s house.  I have to look down at him now,” Ansel said with a smirk.

“He is such a good man Ansel.  It is sad that he lost his wife during the birth of his daughter,” Gerta said with a frown.

“It is my love,” Ansel said and kissed her hand again.  “I shall give you your cure so that you might be strong enough to see our children tomorrow,” Ansel then said, trying to change the subject.  Gerta smiled at the prospect of seeing her little ones again.

Ansel poured the water into the goblet and Gerta drank of its contents.  Gerta yawned and looked up at her husband.  “Stay with me,” Gerta said and Ansel abided by crawling into bed next to his wife.  He held his small wife in his long arms and curled his long body so he could fit into the bed that was now small for him.  Gerta felt safe in her husband’s arms as she fell into slumber…

Marta wanted to bathe while Jakob took care of his father’s animals.  By her own memory she found the lake where she and Jakob used to swim so long ago.  The full moon reflected off the still water as Marta slipped off her long dress and hung it on the high branches of the nearest tree.  She took her hair out of the braid and her long golden hair fell past her firm buttocks.  Her hair appeared silvery and her pale skin looked stone like in the moonlight as she slowly stepped into the waters.

The lake seemed much smaller than Marta remembered as she found the deepest waters that barely went to her shoulders.  Marta wanted to wash herself of the day’s soil and her mind of Erik the blacksmith.  No matter how much Marta tried, her mind kept wandering to that intense blue gaze and strong chin.  She let out a sigh as she soaped and splashed herself clean.

Marta was unaware she was being watched from the other side of the lake.  Erik the blacksmith took a walk every night around the lake.  It was one of the rare times he had to himself.  It got him away from the heat of his shop and helped him think about the important things in his life, his daughter, Elisa whom was his life and his sister, Maria who helped him during the most difficult time of his life.  Of all the women who would throw themselves at him, there were only two that meant the most to him.

Erik hid quickly behind a large willow tree when he saw the giantess on the other side of the lake undressing.  The tall slender body seemed unreal; Erik had never seen a creature quite like it.  She stood as tall as the tree she hung her white dress from.  Erik watched as she washed herself with a large bar of soap.  Her paleness shone in the full moonlight.  Erik was unsure of the large fair creature as she did something so human and normal.  Erik felt fear and shame all at once.  Fear of how the giantess will react if she finds him and shame for watching a lady bathe.  Erik always tried his best to be a gentleman and watching a lady bathe wasn’t something a gentleman would do.

Marta lazily floated in the cool water as she paddled around.   Marta looked up at the stars as her mind began to wander back to the blacksmith.  She then decided to come out of the water where she dried herself off with a blanket and combed her hair as she sat on the bank in her undergarments.  Marta put her hair back in a braid that went past her slender waist.  She stared at the stars again and sighed.  Then Marta’s strong ears picked up on small footsteps coming from behind the trees.  Marta stood up and quickly slid her gown back on and gathered her belongings.

Marta knew she was quicker than the people around her except maybe Jakob but Marta didn’t want to fight the small people.   Just as she was getting ready to hide in the safety of the trees, the young blacksmith stepped in her path looking up at the giantess and shaking in fear…

Erik wanted so much to flee but the look in the giantess’s clear blue eyes stopped him.  Sadness filled her fair face.  Erik forgot for a moment that the creature before him made him look the size of a newborn babe or that he barely came to her knees in height.  All Erik could see was a fair and beautiful maiden with sad and hurt eyes.

“I am sorry fair maiden for crossing your path,” Erik said nervously with a bow.  Marta blushed and shyly turned away.  She was tongue tied and shy.  She hadn’t spoken to a stranger before.  Erik smiled up at the shy creature.  He found it odd that the giantess seemed so shy but was also slightly amused by this at the same time.  “Does the lady not speak?”  Erik then said, looking up at the fair creature.

“I-I-It is quite alright, kind sir,” Marta said shyly, trying to avoid the man’s gaze.

“I must be on my way,” Erik said with a warm smile as he began to walk away.

“Wait,” Marta said quietly.

“So the lady has an extensive vocabulary,” Erik mused as he turned to the giantess.  Marta giggled.  “What is it you want, fair lady?”  Erik asked the giantess.

“Why are you not afraid?”

“Afraid of what?  A lady?”  Erik asked as he looked up into those sad eyes.

“I am not a lady.  I am not even as you are.  I am much too different,” Marta said as tears started to fill her eyes.

“I see a very tall and very fair lady, nothing more.  If you do not wish to be a lady then I guess that is your choice,” Erik said, giving her a kind smile.  “But I see a lady and no can tell me otherwise, not even the lady in question.”

Marta smiled for the first time in a long time.  The little man didn’t treat her like a monster but as another person.

“W-W-What is your name?” Marta shyly asked.  “I want to know the name of the man trying to get in my good graces.”

Erik let out a hearty laugh as the giantess blushes.  “Erik the Smith,” Erik said with a graceful bow.  “I can think no other graces to be in with a maiden such as yourself.  Do you have a name, fair one?”

“Marta,” was all she could manage to say.

“Marta, as in the carpenter’s daughter?” Erik asked with a stunned look upon his face.

“Aye,” was all she could say.

“I know the carpenter Ansel well, my fair one.  I befriended him a few years back when I moved to this fine place from the palace.  Ansel spoke of the children he lost so many years ago.  He used to search the woods.  It wasn’t until Gerta fell ill that he decided to take a journey.  He knew in his heart that you and your brother were still alive.  How did you grow to such great size?” Erik asked Marta with a kindness in his intense eyes.

Marta felt comfortable enough to put down her belongings on the ground and sit down next to the small man that had treated her so kindly.  Marta was still shy but she felt she could trust a friend of her father’s.  Even sitting Marta made Erik look small.  Her long blond braid that Erik could use as a rope coiled next to her.  Erik couldn’t believe that a being so large could look so delicate and fragile.

“Jakob and I ran away from home when food became scarce.  Momma and papa refused to eat until Jakob and I have eaten.  We couldn’t bear to see our parents struggle any longer.  We ran until we were lost in The Black Forest.  Of course momma had told Jakob and me the tales but we thought it was like any other forest.  We stayed there and built a cabin.  We were never fully aware of what was taking place until I found papa…” Marta couldn’t say anymore, a large tear fell from her crystal blue eyes.

“So the forest turned you and your brother into giants?  Can’t a wizard or a witch turn you back?” Erik asked the weeping giantess.

“Nay, Jakob and I have been spoiled by The Black Forest.  That is what the witch in the rainbow house told us.  She did save papa though but she couldn’t fully change him back,” Marta said to the little man standing before her.

“That is a shame, fair one.  If it’s all the same, you have grown into a beauty,” Erik said, trying his best to cheer the weeping giantess.

Marta looked at the little man with a sad small smile on her face.  Marta still couldn’t believe that this man would treat her so kindly.  Erik reached up and patted her large slender hand.  Marta took that same hand and touches him delicately with her long slender fingers.  Erik let her knowing the giantess’s curiosity of him.

“You are so small,” she whispered.  “I don’t ever remember being small.”

Erik smiled as she touched his face and hair.  Meeting a stranger was a new experience for Marta, let alone a stranger as kind and gentle as Erik.  Erik reached up and grabbed her index finger.

“You are so big.  I don’t think I’ll ever be as big as you,” Erik said with a warm smile.  Marta blushed and giggled.  There was something about Erik that made Marta’s stomach flutter.  Of course he was handsome but there was a sadness to him that made Marta wanted so much to pick him up and embrace him.  Marta restrained herself and let the little man hold her finger as if it were a hand.  He kissed her fingernail as if it were her hand.  Marta blushed again.

“I should be on my way, fair lady,” Erik said looking up at the sitting giantess.  Her eyes didn’t seem as sad anymore.  She gave him a smile that made his heart soar.  The giantess was like no other woman he had seen since the death of his wife.  “Will I see you again?” Erik then decided to ask.

“Y-Y-You want to see me again?” the giantess asked in a disbelieving tone.

“Only if you want me to, fair one,” Erik said with a warm smile.

“I am staying in my father’s old barn with my brother.  I can only come out at night.  Papa is afraid we will frighten people and he does not want giant killers after us,” Marta said.

“Understandable, fair one.  His heart would break if he were to lose you again,” Erik said as he looked up into the two pools of Marta’s eyes.

“Jakob and I cannot take the sunlight too well.  Living in the forest we have adapted to the dark shade of the trees.  Sunlight hurts our eyes and can blister our skin if we are out in it too long.  That is another reason I can only come out at night.  I guess we can meet here?” Marta said as she looked into his intense eyes.

“I guess we can, fair one.  I would like to get to know you and your secrets are safe with me,” Erik said warmly.  Marta and Erik said their farewells.  Marta watched as the small man walked away and sighed…

Ansel woke up that morning to the smell of the hearth and an empty bed.  Gerta had been well enough to stand on her own.  Ansel smiled when he saw the small blond woman busily stirring a pot. 

Ansel sneaked up from behind her and wrapped his longer than average arms around his wife and kissed her cheek.  Gerta squealed in delight as her very strong husband lifted her off the ground.

“Good morning my husband,” Gerta managed to say once Ansel put her back down.  Gerta weighed as light as a feather to Ansel.  Ansel studied his wife’s youthful face and golden locks.  Then Ansel realized just how much The Black Forest had changed him when he noticed Gerta stood lower than his chest.  Gerta didn’t seem to mind as she threw her arms around his narrow waist.  “I am well enough to see my children,” Gerta then said.

“So you are,” Ansel responded…

Gerta took Ansel’s hand and just as promised, Ansel took his wife to see their children.

“Since when did you find time to build another barn?” Gerta asked as she spotted the ornately carved building.  Ansel put his finger to his lips to hush his wife as he reached the doors of the old barn.  Ansel still couldn’t get over how small his wife is to him now.  Before, Ansel only stood a few inches taller than his wife, but now his perspective was so much different.  Gerta seemed child sized to him now.

“They are sleeping, Gerta,” Ansel whispered as he looked down at his healthy wife.

“Ansel, why are they not in the house with us?” Gerta asked as Ansel peeked in on the two sleeping giants, making sure his wife couldn’t see past him.

“Gerta,” Ansel said as he took his wife’s small hands into his very big ones.  Ansel wasn’t sure how he was going to break this to his loving wife.  He let out a sigh as he had his back to the closed door.

“What is wrong, Ansel?  Did our children get enchanted too,” Gerta said, looking up at her extremely tall husband.  She reached up and ran her small hand through his think hair.  Ansel just looked down at her but Gerta could read her husband well enough.  “It doesn’t matter, Ansel.  I love will them the same.  I didn’t mind standing on my stool this morning to kiss you.  I love my big husband even if he isn’t that same old man that left on a journey and came back a giant.  The same goes for our children.”

Ansel grabbed Gerta’s hand and kissed it.  “Their enchantment is much deeper than my own, Gerta.  The Black Forest has completely spoiled them and there is no way of changing the enchantment.  I must warn you of this before entering,” Ansel said with deep concern for his family.

“I don’t care so as long as we can be a family again.  I will love them all the same,” Gerta said.  Ansel practically doubled over to kiss his wife on the forehead.  Ansel then took his wife’s hand and carefully opened the large barn door.

Gerta stood frozen by the sight of a giant and a giantess sleeping in the barn.  The giantess yawned and blinked awake.  She then smiled at Gerta.  “Momma,” the giantess moaned.  “You are well now?”

“M-M-Marta?  Is that you, my little one?” Gerta said as she stepped into the darkness of the barn and then came another loud yawn coming from the other side of the giantess.  The giant sat up and stretched his long arms.  “J-J-Jakob, my son?”

“Momma, so nice to see that you are well,” the giant said in a deep voice.

“My children…” Gerta muttered silently.

Gerta knew that her children had grown up but not quite like this.  Both were very slender and very pale despite their great size.  Jakob had some muscle to his slender frame that showed he had worked hard all these years.  He quickly slid his tunic over his naked torso, slightly embarrassed to have his mother see him like this.

Gerta just stood there silently studying her now adult children.  Jakob was handsome indeed and there was no denying that he was Ansel’s son.  He had the same dark curly hair and strong chin but instead of the brown eyes Gerta remembered, Jakob’s eyes were now a pale blue color.  Marta turned out to be very fair just like her golden hair.  An oversized angel came to Gerta’s thoughts, especially dressed in her gown of natural fabric.  Just like Jakob, Marta’s eyes had changed from green to the same light blue color as her brother’s.  Gerta even noticed that both the giants winced at the light pouring through the barn door.  Ansel quickly shut it.

“They are sensitive to daylight,” Ansel said to his petite wife.  “Living in the forest caused it.”

“Momma,” Marta said with a smile that Gerta remembered.  “It is really us.”

“I see that, my little one.  It has just been far too long,” Gerta said with a warm smile.  She promised herself and Ansel that she would love her children no matter and now here she is keeping her word as the reunion with her children went well.  Gerta wanted to embrace her two long lost children but wasn’t quite sure how you hug a giant.  Marta sat up and delicately pulled her mother into a hug, lifting her off the ground.  Jakob then did the same.  Gerta knew in her heart that the two giants were hers.  They were the same creature she had given birth to and in every way, Gerta was proud of her two giants…

Exhausted from her reunion, Gerta went to take a nap.  She still coughed and wheezed from the sickness but it was very little now.  Ansel helped her to bed.  Ansel kissed her as she went to sleep.  Ansel then decided he needed to tend to his chores and that is exactly what he did.

Erik visited Ansel that afternoon.  Erik still couldn’t get over his friend’s size and youthfulness.  Ansel knew that he was now much stronger than before he left on his journey.  Erik laughed when he saw his friend pulling a plow like a mule would.

“The damn beast tired and so I thought I would give it a try.  Don’t know what that animal’s problem is, that plow barely weighed a once,” Ansel told Erik and Erik laughed.

“Let me give it a try, friend,” Erik said, jokingly.  Erik put the harness around his neck just as Ansel had and started pulled.  Erik barely made it a foot and he was spent.  Ansel laughed and so did Erik. “My friend, you have the strength of an ox,” Erik then said and Ansel laughed.

“So why have you come, Erik?  It is not to make a pathetic attempt at plowing my field?” Ansel said.

“Nay, I wish to see a fair lady,” Erik said with a smile.

“Gerta is napping now.  She has had a long morning,” Ansel said.

“Not Gerta, the other fair lady that resides here.”

“There are no other fair ladies here,” Ansel said defensively.

“I met your fair daughter last night, my friend,” Erik said with a warm smile.

“Marta?  Where?”

“By the lake.  I was taking my nightly walk when I crossed her path.  Not to worry my friend, your secrets are safe with me,” Erik said as he motioned to the old barn.

“Erik…” Ansel mumbled.

“I will not tell a soul, Ansel,” Erik said.

“But Erik…”

“I don’t care that she is not as I.  Just in our short meeting, she has stolen my heart, friend.  No woman has been able to do that since my wife,” Erik said honestly.

“Her and Jakob plan to search for others as themselves,” Ansel then manage to say.  Erik frowned.

“I don’t care about that.  I wish to see her,” Erik said and Ansel could see that Marta deeply affected the blacksmith.  “I haven’t told a soul about her, not even my sister,” Erik then said with his blue eyes afire.

“Papa,” Ansel heard Marta’s voice coming from the barn.  “It is alright.  I want to see Erik too.”

“Alright child, I shall show him to the barn.  There is still too much daylight for you and Jakob,” Ansel responded to the soft voice.

Erik followed the unusually tall man to the large barn.  Erik couldn’t get over Ansel’s long strides as he did his best to keep up.  Once to the barn Ansel turned around and looked down at Erik with a father’s protective gaze.  “Not a soul, Erik,” Ansel finally said.

“You have my word, friend,” Erik said with his hand over his heart.

“Very well,” Ansel said as he opened the door…

Ansel went to check on Gerta while Erik was in the barn with Marta and Jakob.  The little man had poured his soul out to the carpenter.  Ansel didn’t know what to make of this.  Marta and Erik were from two different worlds.  It was odd.

Gerta had woken up from her nap looking even better than before.  Ansel kissed her cheek and took her hand but there was something different about Gerta. 

“My sickness is gone.  I can’t explain it but that it’s gone,” Gerta said.  Ansel had one more goblet to give his wife and then the elixir.  He had to do as the witch told him even though Gerta was feeling better.

“One more goblet just to be sure,” Ansel said as he poured the last of the water from the cask.

Gerta’s hands touched Ansel’s once again as he handed her the goblet.  There was something different about her touch that he didn’t notice earlier.  Ansel still had no idea what it could be…

“Marta, this is madness!” Jakob protested when Erik entered the barn.  “We are not like them!  We may have been a long time ago but no more!”

“Jakob, please,” Marta pleaded.

“You cannot be in love,” Jakob said to his sister as if Erik wasn’t there.

“Jakob, I have never felt this way before,” Marta said.  “It is the only explanation I have.”

Erik swiftly made his way over to the giantess, feeling her distress as she fought with her brother.  Erik patted Marta’s knee to not only give her moral support but to also let her know that he was there.  Jakob stood up as best he could in the crammed barn.  He frowned down at Erik.  Erik knew that Jakob was trying to intimidate him but Erik showed no fear of the giant.  Erik looked up at Jakob with his intense eyes.  If both men were the same height and weight, Erik would have taken the challenge of a fight but a giant was something altogether different.

“Do you love my sister?” Jakob growled as he glared down at Erik.

Erik decided to fight fire with fire and so he returned the giant’s glare.  Erik did his best to keep his fear under control.  He had faith that Jakob would not harm him, especially with Marta sitting close by.

“I am not going to lie to you, Jakob.  I have loved before and lost that love long ago.  Many maidens have tried to win my heart since but to no avail.  Your sister has captured me.  She is a maiden like no other,” Erik said as he looked up into Marta’s light blue eyes.

“Maiden like no other,” Jakob repeated in distaste.  “Of course she is a maiden like no other to you.”  Jakob huffed.

“True, she is not as I.  She can be as I and still capture my heart,” Erik said as Marta put her hand out to him.  She smiled down at the small man.  Erik held her index finger.

“You cannot even hold hands like a proper couple,” Jakob scoffed.  Erik could see that he wasn’t getting anywhere with the overprotective giant.  Erik also understood Jakob’s actions; he would be the same way if it were his sister taking on a suitor.  Erik thought for a moment, is that what he is, a suitor?  Erik decided then that he had better change his strategy.

“I will ask your permission then,” Erik said and Jakob gave him a puzzled look.

“Permission?”  The giant finally said.

“As I man of my word I wish to ask for your permission to see your sister.  If you say no, I shall take my leave and never return to your…home,” Erik said, looking around the large barn knowing that this was only a temporary stay for the two giants.

Jakob pondered Erik’s words.  Jakob secretly admired the little man’s courage.  Not many would stand up to someone much bigger and stronger than them, but Erik did.  Jakob then looked to his sister who seemed so happy, happier than she had been in years, happier than even before that fateful day they both ran away from home.  A small smile played on Jakob’s lips as he looked away.  Jakob liked seeing his sister happy for once and he could see that this Erik genuinely cared for his younger sister.  Maybe if this becomes serious, Erik can come with them back to the forest and maybe then the forest will accept him as well?  Jakob thought of these many things as Erik patiently waited for the giant’s response.

“I believe that you are a man of your word, otherwise my father would have never befriended you.  As a man of my word, I give you my permission to see my sister but know this, break her heart and I will crush you under my own foot,” Jakob said and smiled to himself when he heard Erik nervously gulp…

Erik mounted his gray mare while Marta walked alongside.  Instead of lovers hand and hand, the giantess and the human stood side by side.

“What did you mean when you said you have loved before?” Marta looked down and asked the little man.

“The truth?” Erik said.

“The truth.”

“I was married once before, fair one.  We were happy.  I had just gotten out of my apprenticeship with the royal blacksmith and was set to take his place in which I did.  All was well and then my wife gave me the news that she was with child.  We were both so joyous and happy,” Erik stopped his mare.  Tears began to glisten in the moonlight from those intense and serious eyes.

“What happened, Erik?”  Marta asked gently.

“My wife passed on after the birth of our daughter,” Erik said sadly.

“Oh Erik, that is so awful,” Marta said as tears began to fill her eyes.  “Was the babe alright?”

“Elisa was such a healthy babe but her poor mother wasn’t strong enough.  I named my daughter after her mother so that she may not be forgotten,” Erik said as he wiped the tears from his eyes.  His memories of his wife’s last moment were quite painful.  “I care for my Elisa with the help of my sister Maria.  We have built a small life here and quite like it much better than the palace.”

“You lived in the palace?” Marta asked, enthralled by royalty since she was a little girl.

“Aye, but none of those ladies in waiting’s beauty compares to yours, Marta,” Erik said, lighting up the conversation and enjoying the blush from the giantess that this statement caused.  It went on like this through the night.  Marta told Erik of her life in The Black Forest and Erik told her about the knights and ladies in waiting.  The blacksmith and the giantess bonded…

Ansel awoke to see his wife trying to dress herself.  Gerta definitely looked different and much healthier than the day before.  Ansel smiled as he watched his now youthful try to decide on a dress as all her wardrobe was tossed carelessly around the room.

“Good morning my dear husband, I seem to have a dilemma.  You have feed me so well that none of my garments seem to fit right.  My feet must have swollen as well because my shoes can’t seem to fit either,” Gerta said as she pulled on a different dress.

“That is quite a dilemma, my wife,” Ansel said as he got out of bed.  He walked over to Gerta who seemed to be trying on her last dress when he realized why his wife’s garment wouldn’t fit.  Gerta had barely stood to Ansel chest the other day even with her shoes on, now she stood halfway to his chest without her shoes.  The hems of her dresses that had once reached the floor, showed her feet and part of her calf.  Gerta now looked to be the same height as Ansel used to be before his journey.  Ansel laughed.

“It is not I that have feed you so well, my wife.  For you see, you have grown,” Ansel said with a smile.  He kissed his wife’s forehead.  He didn’t have to bend down as far.  Gerta looked stunned.

“I thought the house seemed a little different this morning.  I could reach for things that I couldn’t reach before and my dresses seem short,” Gerta said as she looked up at Ansel who still towered over her.  Ansel took her hand.  It felt bigger than it had, almost right.

“After I give you the last of the cure, I will take you to the cobbler tomorrow and have a new pair of shoes made for you.  You should have seen his face when I had him measure my feet for new boots,” Ansel said with a smile.

Ansel and Gerta had their morning meal when a visitor came.  It was Erik.  Gerta answered the door when Erik gave her a stunned look.  Gerta’s new appearance didn’t go unnoticed.  Gerta barely had to look up at the tall and slender Erik.  She secretly enjoys this new development.

Just as the days before when Ansel had given Gerta the water, as soon as she had eaten, she felt tired and sleep overtook her.  Gerta lays down for her nap not knowing of what will happen when she wakes…

Gerta stirred awake with Ansel sitting beside the bed in a too small chair.  Ansel knew that Gerta would be awake soon and decided to be there for when she arose.

Gerta blinked and wiped the sleep from her eyes.  Ansel took her hand and it felt right to him.  Exactly the size it once was to him.

“Have I been dreaming?” Gerta asked and yawned. 

“Nay my dear wife, this is not a dream,” Ansel quietly answered.

“You feel like you use to,” Gerta said as she let Ansel hold her hand.  Then as Gerta woke up, she felt that her head was up against the headboard and her feet hit the footboard despite her body being curled up.  Ansel feed her a blue liquid from a glass vile.  Gerta tasted the sweet and bitter on her tongue.

“You are as I am, Gerta,” Ansel said after giving his wife the potion.  “I have been working on the doorframes till I knew you would wake.”

“I am bigger,” Gerta muttered, afraid to leave the bed.

“Aye, but there is nothing to fear, you are through growing.  The elixir will keep you as I,” Ansel said with a gentle smile and kissed Gerta’s hand.

“But Ansel, if I am as you are.  I am bigger than even all the men in the village,” Gerta said with fear in her eyes.

“Not all, not your husband.  We are now both younger and stronger.  I would love it if my wife stood up,” Ansel said as he stroked Gerta’s hair.  Gerta did as her husband asked.  As she pulled the covers back, she noticed that her body seemed thinner under the lose nightgown.  She also noticed that the hem of her nightgown came well above her knees.  Gerta was a very modest woman and felt embarrassed.  As she sat up on the edge of the bed, her legs seem much, much longer than before her nap and the bed felt as if it was on the floor but it wasn’t.  Ansel then helped his wife stand.  Gerta only had to look slightly up at her husband.

“Oh Ansel,” Gerta said as she wrapped her arms around Ansel.  It felt like she had her husband back.  Then Gerta looked around the room and the small furnishings and the small dresses that she could have easily fit into at one time.  Gerta knew that her life is going to be different now.  The world had just gotten much smaller to her.

Gerta looked up and reached for a ceiling beam that she could now easily touch with her arm still cocked.  The chairs and table were now way too small for her new giantess frame.  She watched Ansel struggle in the past week to make himself comfortable in a chair or on the bed.  She picked up one of her dresses that she disregarded earlier and could see just how child size it was.

“I have nothing to wear,” Gerta said sadly as she picked up a small shoe.

“Aye, you do.  Our lovely daughter has made new garments for the both of us,” Ansel said and Gerta then noticed the fresh tunic and pants her husband wore.  Ansel then produced a simple cotton dress.  It was of a simple natural material that hadn’t been dipped in any dye.  “She guesses on the size so it may be a little loose,” Ansel said and Gerta kissed his cheek and took the dress from his hands, grateful to have at least one garment to wear.

Ansel made himself some wooden clogs to wear till he could get his boots.  He had made himself two pairs.  He let Gerta wear the other pair that were still a little too big on her feet but she didn’t mind so as long as she had shoes.

Gerta stood at the doorway of their bedroom for a moment.  She was only a few inches shorter than her husband now and she stood slightly taller than the frame.  Ansel let out a laugh.

“We have nearly outgrown our home my wife, I am fixing this problem.  The house is still good but the doors are a little too small for us now,” Ansel said with a smile.

“So are our furniture and our garments.  I think we should make all new and give our old belongings to the poor,” Gerta said as she looked around and remembered a time when her and Ansel had nothing but a small amount of food to feed their children.  Ansel and Gerta have lived a more prosperous life since Ansel started working with the old royal blacksmith.  “But we will require more now since we are almost twice our old sizes,” Gerta said with sad eyes.

“Aye my wife, but we are also much stronger and can work twice as hard as we could before.  We will still prosper.  Giving our old belongings to the poor is a wonderful idea,” Ansel said as he took Gerta’s hand and kissed it.  Gerta smiled.  She was curious of the world outside their small house.

“Come with me, Gerta.  To the cobbler where I shall buy you a new pair of shoes fit for a lady.  We must go before he closes shop.  My new boots should be ready,” Ansel said as he took Gerta’s hand and she follows ducking her way through the small doorframes.

Gerta felt eyes upon her as they walked through the village.  Some of the men barely stood to her shoulder in height and those were the big men of the village.  Woman talked and kids stared at the two small giants walking through the village.

“Enchantment, that is what I heard,” Gerta picked up on one woman telling another.

“They are so monstrous,” one told another.

“The carpenter and his wife?” others whispered.  Gerta tried to make herself look small but she couldn’t no matter how hard she tried.

“Ignore them, my wife.  Let them say what they like.  Stand tall and be proud of who you are,” Ansel whispered in Gerta’s ear.  Gerta did stand tall and the men of the village glared at the very tall woman but Gerta didn’t care, she had the love of her husband.

“Gerta?” said a familiar voice.  It was Erik.  Erik approached the carpenter and his wife.  Gerta looked down at the tall and proud blacksmith and smiled.  “Glad to see that you are well now,” Erik then said, returning the smile and giving her a playful wink.  Erik knew their secret unlike the rest of the village.

“Erik,” said a petite blond woman holding a three year old tot with curls. “Where on earth are you running off to,” the woman scolded.  She then looked up at Ansel and Gerta with her mouth agape.  Erik let out a laugh.

“I was just saying hello to our friends, Marie,” Erik said with a laugh.

“Ansel and Gerta?  Is that really you?  You look young and… bigger,” said Marie.

“It is us,” Ansel simply answered.

“I heard that a witch enchanted you but…I simply could not believe it,” Marie said in wide eyed shock.  Marie looked like a child standing near Ansel and Gerta.  She barely came as high as both their chest.

“Partially true, the witch cured me,” Gerta said looking down at her friend.  The tot smiled up at the two giants.

“Big people,” said the curly haired tot known as Elisa.  Gerta felt monstrous as the tot stared at her.  “Big people,” little Elisa repeated with glee.  Gerta looked down at her hands and back to little Elisa.  Her one hand probably covers half the tot’s body.  “Gerta pretty,” Elisa finally said and smiled up at the very tall woman.  Gerta smiled at the little girl.

“I am taking Gerta to the cobbler.  She is in need of some shoes,” Ansel said as he took Gerta’s hand.  Erik and Marie wished the carpenter and his wife a good day and went along their separate ways.

The cobbler was a small and gentle man named John.  John looked on in shock as Ansel the carpenter ducked through his door one day looking for new boots.  John the cobbler of course had no boots to fit the man and so he took Ansel’s measurements and crafted the finest pair of boots around.  He had just finished the last stitch when he heard the bell ring.  John looked up to see the large man enter his shop but nothing prepared him for the large woman following the carpenter.  She too had to duck before entering the cobbler’s shop.

The woman was fair and willowy.  Golden wavy locks trailed down her back and eyes that sparkled like emeralds.  John had never seen a creature quite like her.  She stood only a few inches shorter than the carpenter.  Both nearly took up John’s shop as they entered.

“A-A-Ansel, I have just finished your boots,” John managed to say, somewhat afraid of the two giants in his shop.  He watched as the woman picked up a shoe and frown.

“Good, I would also like to get some shoes made for Gerta,” Ansel said and John eyes immediately shot to the very tall woman.

“Gerta?” John managed to say as the woman looked down at him.  Just as with Maria, John barely stood as tall as both their chest.  Gerta gave him a smile.

“The finest shoes there are.  Money is no object,” Ansel said.

“Of course,” John answered.  He looked down at her feet in the big wooden clogs.  “I will have to make them just as did your boots, Ansel.  I am afraid I have never made shoes so big for a lady.  I will have to get your new measurements, Gerta,” John said, looking up at the small giantess.

Gerta sat down in a chair that was much too small for her lofty frame.  She removed the large wooden clogs to reveal that her feet were much smaller without the clogs.  John got down on his knees with his tape measure.

“I have not even made men’s shoes as large as your foot size, dear, except for Ansel’s boots.  Your feet fit your size, Gerta,” John said as he kept taking measurements admiring the perfect feet in front of him.

“How long will it take to make the shoes?” Gerta asked.

“Not as long as a pair of boots.  I’d say a couple of weeks.  I promise that they will be fit for a lady,” John said as Gerta stood up and put her clogs back on.

Ansel paid for his boots but noticed that John charged him less than what he did for an ordinary pair of shoes.  That was when Ansel realized that the village seemed afraid of him and his towering size.  Ansel gave John double and told him to keep it and took his lovely wife back home.  They both walked in strides that an ordinary man couldn’t keep up with as they tried to distance themselves from the village and back to their quiet home.  If the villagers reacted to Ansel and Gerta’s size in such a way, imagine if Marta and Jakob went into the village.

Gerta found the advantages of her new body.  She decided to clean up the house while Ansel worked on the doorframes.  Gerta neatly put her old dresses and pair of shoes away in the small wardrobe.  The wardrobe was once a big grand piece in her bed chamber but now it was rather small to her.  She thought she would test her strength.  The wardrobe needed four strong men to move, Gerta lifted it off the floor as if it didn’t weigh an ounce.  Despite Gerta’s slender and willowy frame, she amazed herself with her new strength.

Gerta heard a knock on the door and went to answer it.  She ducked her head slightly to see that it was Erik who come calling on her much larger daughter.  Erik is the most handsome man in the village and also one of the tallest and broadest.  Erik looks up at her with a smile on his face.  Erik’s height only came to her shoulders now whereas before Gerta barely came to his shoulders.

“I have come to see the fair lady,” Erik tells Gerta.  “I didn’t want you or Ansel to be alerted by intruders.”

“This is kind of you, Erik.  We would have just thought that you were a fox after our chickens,” Gerta joked and Erik laughed.

“I am glad that you are well,” Erik then said.  “The waters of the forest has certainly changed you for the better, Gerta,” Erik said, still amazed that he had to look up at a woman who was once smaller than him.  Gerta gave him a shy smile that reminded him so much of the giantess that has captured his heart.

“I feel like a big old ox,” Gerta said with a slight frown.  “Did you see the stares Ansel and I got in the village?”

“Aye, they are just jealous is all,” Erik said.

“Jealous?  I wouldn’t be jealous of me.  I can barely fit through a door.  I’ve almost knock myself out a few times and I have to have shoes made for my feet,” Gerta said as she looked down at her bare feet.  She then looked over at Erik’s booted feet.  Even with his boots on Gerta still towered over him.  Erik could see the sadness fill Gerta’s face.

“You wished Ansel had never given you that cure?  Do you?”  Erik asked the sad woman.

“Yes and no.  Yes because I want to be well and see my wonderful children again and no because I feel like I don’t belong here anymore,” Gerta said as she fought back a tear.  Erik reached out and took her hand, a hand that was now much larger than his own.

“You belong to Ansel,” Erik said quietly and Gerta smiled.

“Thank you Erik, for reminding me,” Gerta said as she wrapped her hand around Erik’s.

“That is what friends are for,” Erik said as he chastely kissed Gerta’s hand.

“She is in the barn, where she always is this time of day.  Jakob and her should be awake by now,” Gerta said as she smiled down at the small man.

Erik walked to the barn and knocked before he entered.  He didn’t like what he was seeing.  Jakob and Marta looked paler than normal and their slender frames appeared even thinner.  The two giants looked as though they haven’t eaten anything.  They even appeared weak.

“I don’t think I can help papa with the fields tonight, Marta.  I don’t feel like I have the strength,” Erik heard Jakob tell his sister.  They seem to not notice the small man that had entered their makeshift home.

“Oh Jakob, we must try.  There is a little food left.  You can have my share.  I’ll go forage the trees for fruit,” Marta told her brother as she gave him the last of her dried fish.

“Nay Marta, that is yours,” Jakob tells his sister.  “I will just not work as hard tonight.”

Erik quietly exited the barn but not before seeing the unshed tears in Marta’s eyes.  It broke his heart to see his giantess this way.  Jakob and Marta had done so much for the carpenter and his wife, hadn’t they not noticed that their two grown children had been eating scarcely just so Ansel and Gerta can live comfortably?  Surely Jakob and Marta wished not to trouble their parents for a bite to eat after Ansel and Gerta sacrifice many meals so that their children can eat?

Erik wondered how much two giants can eat.  Then he came up with an idea to help.  He went back to his home where Maria had been picking apples from the orchard.  Erik had wealth that being a royal blacksmith once allowed him.  He had the most land in the village and his crops were good.  So good that every harvest he ending giving some to those without, right now he could name two souls that were dangerously close to being without.  His crops had been better than usual.

Elisa played under the tree Marie had been picking apples from.  The hands all went to their home, to their families and Marie just kept on working.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do with this entire crop we have.  I’ve given to all the ones we usually give to but there is still quite a bit left.  Maybe the neighboring village could use some,” Maria said as she descended the ladder.

“Nay, I know of two souls who have secretly moved to the village.  They are without food,” Erik said as he picked up his daughter.

“We have enough left to feed twenty large families, Erik,” Maria said and Erik smiled as Elisa had her arms around his neck.

“These two souls are very special, my sister.  They could eat enough for a family in one sitting.  This should give them five day’s supply,” Erik said and Maria gave him a funny look.

“No one can eat that much, Erik,” Maria said with a frown.

  “Nay my sister, I know.  I must tell you this but it must remain a secret.  No gossip around the village shall be told of this,” Erik said as he hugged Elisa.  “You must promise not to tell a soul Maria.”

“I promise Erik, what is this secret,” Maria said with her arms crossed.

“Ansel has found his children.  Truth be told, his and Gerta’s new appearance has contributed to this.”

“That’s wonderful but what is it that has grown them to such great height?”

“Ansel found them living in The Black Forest,” Erik said and Maria’s eyes widened.

“Erik, that place is…”

“Enchanted,” Erik finished her sentence.

“No one dares go in there.  It is told that monstrous creatures live there.”

“Jakob and Marta had been living there for the past ten years.  Ansel grew from the water and that same water healed Gerta of her ailment,” Erik said and Maria gasped.

“If Ansel and Gerta grew from such a small amount…” Maria said in shock.

“I had the privilege of crossing paths with a creature that I stood under her knees.  She was very shy and very beautiful.  I was afraid of her at first but I soon realize that she was more afraid of me.  We spoke to each other.  That was when I found out that she was Ansel’s daughter, Marta.  I even had the privilege of meeting Jakob as well.  He is taller than his sister of course.  Anyway my dear sister, the two have scarce food and I could tell you that they have no intentions of troubling Ansel and Gerta for any.  I say we give our excess to the giants.  Kindness always gets paid thrice,” Erik said and Maria gave him a strange look.  She thought it over and agreed with her brother partly because she didn’t want to go the trouble of loading their wagon and making the trip to the neighboring village.  This made Erik very happy.

Erik took his horse shortly before sunset to his neighbor’s home.  Erik knew of a way the giants could have safe passage to his home without having the eyes of the village upon them.  As he rode through his orchard, he noticed quite a few ripe apples on the top most branches.  The giants can pick from those while Maria busily cooks over the hearth.  The blacksmith’s property connected to the carpenter’s small patch of land so it would be easy for the giants to travel without being seen.

Erik had a few of his trusted hands that stayed late to help him clean out one of the barns so that his friends could have security of a shelter as he felt a storm brewing far off.  The barn was also much bigger than Ansel’s.  Erik wanted to see if maybe the two giants would be more comfortable there.  He knew Marta’s answer but Jakob was a whole other issue.  Erik felt that the giant didn’t completely trust him in which he understood.  Erik hadn’t known the giants very long.

As Erik rode to the barn he noticed Jakob crawling out the door on his hands and knees.  At that moment Erik realized just how massive the giant seemed.  Jakob heard the padding of horse hooves on the dirt and ground.  Jakob let out a sigh of relief when he saw Erik riding in on his gray mare.  Jakob gave the man the best smile he could muster despite his slight distrust of the little man.

“Hello friend,” Erik said with a smile trying not to show his fear of the giant.  “I have come with an invite for you and your fair sister.”

“An invite?” Jakob rightfully questioned and then he saw a frown play upon the little man’s lips.  Sympathy showed in Erik’s eyes as Jakob managed to stand on his weak legs as a grumble of hunger roared from his stomach.  Jakob refused the last of the dried fish Marta had packed for their journey so that his sister may eat.  The two giants had also refused to eat of their parents’ supply of food and had been carefully rationing their own.

“Aye, I have some apples that are much too high for my hands to get to safely.  We have picked all we need and I was wondering if you and the fair lady would be interested in cleaning out the rest of my trees?  You may keep whatever you pick otherwise they will all rot on the branches,” Erik said, smiling up at the giant.

“Jakob?  Who is here?”  Erik heard Marta’s soft voice say.  Then he saw the giantess crawl out of the barn just as her brother had.  Even in the moonlight, Erik could see that she wasn’t at all healthy.  Both Marta and Jakob had bags under their eyes and their garments fitted loosely on their tall frames.  This made Erik sad to see the two giants in this condition.

“It is Erik sister, he has offered us an invitation to pick from his trees,” Jakob tells his sister as he helps her to her feet.  “He said that we may keep whatever we pick.”

Marta smiled.  “I am still so hungry,” Marta said as she clutched her stomach.

“As am I sister, we must make the journey back soon or we will starve,” Jakob said as he sadly looked to his sister and then he looked down at the little man.  “We accept your kind offer, Erik.”

“Good, I have told my sister of you two so that she may not be alarmed and I have prepared a place of shelter,” Erik said with a smile looking up at the two hungry giants.  “Follow me, my home is not far and we can travel unseen,” Erik then said as he pulled the reigns of his mare…

Marta delighted as she picked apples and put them on her gown that she held like a makeshift basket.  Once in a while she and Jakob popped the small fruit into their mouth like pieces of candy.  The apples were roughly the size of berries to the two giants.  Erik smiled as the two giants helped themselves to his orchard.   Erik felt happy to have appeased the giants’ appetites if even a little. 

Jakob picked the last apple and put it in Marta’s makeshift pouch of her gown, pleased with all the apples they had collected.

“That is not all, my friends.  I have more waiting near the house if you will follow me,” Erik said as he looked up at the two happy giants.  Jakob still seemed unsure of the little man but Marta was more than willing to follow.  Jakob followed his sister to make sure she is safe.

Marta marveled at the two story home she used to admire from afar as a child but as she got closer, she could see that both her and Jakob now stood almost taller than the stately home.  The house once belonged to a wealthy old merchant that would always chase the children off his land.  The man had sold the house to Erik for a bargain as the once stately home fell into shambles.  Erik cleaned up the house and made it a home for both him and his sister so that they may care for his motherless daughter.

A small blond woman stood in the glow of an open door.  Erik had all the hands light up the lanterns before he dismissed them back to their homes for the night.  The woman wore an apron and looked as though she had been slaving over the hearth.  She too did her best to show no fear as she saw the two giants approach the house.  Maria put on her warmest and kindest smile as she looked up at the lofty creatures standing outside her kitchen door.

“Welcome to our home.  You must be Marta and Jakob,” she spoke to them as if they were any other ordinary person at her steps.  “I am Erik’s sister, Maria.  Elisa is asleep.  There is no need to worry; no one else is here but us.”

Marta lowered her head away shyly and Maria just smiled warmly while Jakob seem a bit bolder than his younger sister.  “Thank you for inviting us,” Jakob said and returned Maria’s smile as he eyed the pretty little lady with the full lips and pert nose.

“Erik, I have everything prepared,” Maria tells her brother, completely amazed at the size of the two giants.  Jakob caught her eye with his strikingly handsome face and curly dark hair.  What struck Maria’s attention the most was the shy and quiet demeanor of the two giants.  Maria could tell they haven’t had contact with other humans in a long time.  She also understood her brother’s generosity as well.  The two giants appeared to be malnourished with their thin and gaunt appearance.  Maria felt bad for the two souls.

“Follow me,” Erik tells the two giants.  Erik leads them to a barn that is a little bigger than Ansel’s.  Lanterns lit up the interior revealing a bed of straw in one corner and a small meal set out in another.  The meal appeared to be a feast to a normal person but to a giant it looked like a small meal.  “Maria has prepared a meal for you.  Since the sky looks  like a storm is approaching I thought it would be best to serve the meal in here,” Erik said with a welcoming smile but Jakob frowned.

“Erik, this is so kind of you,” Marta said but Jakob looked unhappy.

“Is this a trap?”  Jakob finally said and Erik gave him a surprised look.  “Are you going to lure us in here and lock the doors?  I am not a fool,” Jakob said, tapping his foot.

“Jakob,” Marta said in an unhappy way.  “Erik is a friend.  He wouldn’t trap us.”

“That is quite all right, Marta.  I will join you if you want trust,” Erik said as he entered the barn and sat on the floor next to the food.  The aroma caught Jakob’s nose as he watched Erik crew on a piece of beef.  Jakob barely remembers the taste of cow; it had been long ago since he last tasted beef.  He held Marta back until he could see no ill effects of poison strike the man.  That was when both gianst cautiously entered the large barn and joined Erik.

The giants felt better after they had eaten.  Marta kissed Erik on the forehead.  Her lips felt like two giant rose petals as they gently touched.

“You are very welcome, Marta,” Erik said with a laugh and Marta blushed.

“I wish I could kiss you like a normal person,” Marta quietly said.  Marta sat with her legs underneath her and her hands on her lap.

“I am glad that I can make you happy, even if we can’t kiss like normal people,” Erik said as he rubbed her hand.  Jakob watched his sister with the little man.  Marta felt trust for Erik, that much was obvious to the giant.  It was an emotion new to the both of them to have towards an outsider.   Jakob felt that he could trust Erik just as his sister has.

A flash lit up the sky as the storm came blowing in.  Wind blew the barn doors open and Erik struggled to close them.  It wasn’t until large hands reached out to help him.  After the doors were shut, Erik looked up to see that it was Jakob who had helped him.

“Thank you, that wind is very strong.  I hope Maria and Elisa are alright.  I should go to the main house and check on them.  It is much too far to your home, you may stay until it subsides,” Erik tells the two giants.

“But momma and papa… They do not know we are here,” Marta cries.  Erik turns to the giantess with a solemn smile.  He pats her hand once again.

“Marta, they know.  I would never steal you away from them without telling them.  I know you and Jakob mean so much to them,” Erik said as Marta dried her tears.  To Erik a giantess is supposed to be a strong and fierce creature, Marta was strong but instead of fierce, she was fragile.  Erik loved that about Marta, she never flaunted her size like her brother had.

Jakob put his arm around Marta as the giants sat on the straw.  Jakob looked down at Erik with a serious look on his face. “Go do what you must before it gets any worse out there, I’ll take care of my sister,” Jakob said to the little man.  Erik just nodded and pushed open the barn door...

The storm is promising to be a bad one as Erik managed his way to the main house.  Maria was holding Elisa as Erik opened the door.

“We have to go to the cellar,” Maria tells her brother and Erik nodded, deeply worried about his guest out in the barn.  Elisa cried for her father and Erik quickly relieved his sister of her as they quickly made their way to the cellar.

“Papa,” Elisa cried as Erik made a comfortable little bed for her with blankets and tarp that was left in the cellar for emergencies such as this.

“Sleep my daughter,” Erik calmly tells his little girl.  The wine and cheese that Erik’s farm produced surrounded them in the rock walled cellar.  Erik pets his daughter’s blond hair and sings her a lullaby as she slowly drifted to sleep.

“Erik, I hope they are safe.  That storm is a dangerous one,” Maria whispers to her brother.

“As do I, my dear sister,” Erik said as he and Maria waited out the storm…

Marta cried as Jakob stayed close to his sister.  The boards of the barn walls creaked and moaned as the heavy wind blew.  Thunder sounded and lighting cracked while Marta prayed to herself that all will be well.

Jakob watched as the latch of the barn door was being tested by the wind.  He held Marta closer to him when a board from the barn wall blew away and rain starting coming in.

“It’ll be all right Marta,” Jakob repeated over and over as he protected his sister from the harsh elements coming in from the hole in the wall.

“Momma and Papa, what if they are too big to go down in the cellar?” Marta said with tears in her eyes.

“They are not too big.  They will have to be careful of the ceiling but they are not too big,” Jakob reassured his sister who had curled up in his embraced.  Marta cried as Jakob held her in his strong arms doing his best to weather out the storm…

Ansel and Gerta were careful as they went down the cellar steps.  They both had to duck and slouch due to the low ceiling.

“Now I know how Jakob and Marta feel like when they are cooped up in that barn all day,” Gerta tells her husband.

“Aye my wife,” Ansel responded as he sat down on the stone floor.  Ansel looks over at his wife and sees her tears.  She is worried much like Ansel is about their two gigantic children.  “Erik will take good care of them,” Ansel tell her and takes Gerta’s hand into his own…

The storm subsided and Jakob let go of Marta.  They both looked out the hole in the wall to see that the rain was only light.  Marta stood up careful of the beams.  It was nice not to have to slouch like she had in her father’s barn.  Jakob stood up and still had to slouch slightly.  The thatch roof surprisingly stayed in place.  Marta dried her tears while Jakob patted her back.

“I didn’t think we would make it,” Marta sobbed and Jakob hugged her.

“We have been through much worse,” Jakob whispered while Marta began to cry again.  “We’ll be alright, Marta.”

The barn door opened to Erik looking up at his two giant friends.  Marta’s sobbing subsided and turned to relief at the sight of the little man.  She pulled Erik into the barn and picked him up into her massive embrace.  She was careful not to hurt him but completely had Erik engulfed in her arms.

“Oh Erik, you are safe,” Marta said and Erik smiled up at the giant woman.

“You worry about me just as I worry about you.  I have come to see if you are safe and I get attacked,” Erik joked as he looked up into those loving blue eyes unaware his own feet were no longer on the ground.

“Oh Erik,” Marta said as she rubbed her cheek in Erik’s hair.  Marta’s golden hair blanketed the small man and Erik took in her scent and warmth.  He didn’t care about her size; Erik knew then and there that this giantess captured his heart in more ways than one.

“Now Marta, if you could please put me down, I wish to go see how the village and your parents fared through this storm,” Erik said as he looked down from his giantess’s grasp.

“I am so sorry, Erik.  I forget,” Marta said shyly as she put the small man back down on his own feet.  Erik reached up and touched her cheek.  He found himself lost in her blue gaze.

“It is quite alright, Marta.  You were just happy to see me,” Erik whispered.  Marta kissed his forehead once more.

“If it’s alright with you Erik, I’d like to come along.  Perhaps I can be of some help,” Jakob said.

“Jakob,” Marta scolded.  “The giant killers, what if they send for giant killers?” Marta said as she grasped her brother’s forearm.

“It’s a chance I am willing to take dear sister.  If anyone is buried or injured, I can get to them much faster and help them,” Jakob said as he took Marta’s hand.

“If you find any injured, bring them here.  Marta and I shall nurse them,” said a female voice.  It was Maria holding a frightened Elisa in her arms. 

“What about Elisa?” Erik asked his sister.

“What about Elisa?  We should introduce her to our new friends and perhaps she can help in her own way,” Maria said as she held the little girl close.  Jakob crouched down when he realized the child was afraid.  He gave her a warm smile.  Marta sat down next to Jakob but her eyes were solemn.  Marta realized that the child was no bigger than her own hand.

“Elisa, I want you to meet our new friends,” Erik said calmly as he took Elisa from Maria.  Elisa snuggled into her father as close as possible.  Erik saw the tears in her eyes.  “Now Elisa, they are good giants.  They are not going to hurt you.”

The word giant became a reality to Marta and Jakob when it was spoken from the normal sized person’s mouth.  Jakob and Marta still considered themselves human until they saw the fear in those innocent eyes.  This revelation shot through them like an arrow.

“We won’t hurt you, little one,” Jakob whispered and moved slowly like you would around animals.  “My name is Jakob and this is my sister Marta.  Do you have a name, little one?”

“My name is Elisa,” the little girl got up the nerve to say.  She refused to look at the giants as she said this.

“Elisa that is a fine name, do you want to be my friend Elisa?” Jakob asked the little girl in her father’s arms.

“As long as you don’t eat me,” Elisa boldly said and Jakob’s smile turned into a quiet laugh.

“I promise, can Marta be your friend too?” Jakob asked the little girl.

“Yes, I know she won’t eat me, she’s too pretty,” Elisa said as she looked up at the fair giantess.  Erik laughed and hugged his daughter.  He kissed her rosy cheek and thanked her for being such a sweet little girl.

Erik and Jakob loaded up Erik’s wagon with tools and blankets, everything needed to help out neighbors and friends.  Erik took his place on the wagon and held the reigns.

“You sure you still want to do this Jakob?  It is hard to know how the villagers will react to a giant,” Erik said as he looked up at the giant.  It was hard for Erik to see from his view of the giant but Erik could have sworn that Jakob seemed a bit taller than when he first met the giant.  Then Erik remembered that Jakob is still young and still in his growing years.  The giant was still naturally growing.

“Aye, I do.  Can we go back to our home first?  I’d like to see if my tools survived,” Jakob said with a boyish grin and eyes that seemed older than his twenty years.

“I want to see if Ansel and Gerta made it through the storm.  That was to be our first stop anyway,” Erik tells the giant.  Marta came out of the barn and hugged her brother.  Erik could see that his Marta was still the same as the night he met her so he was relieved to see that Jakob’s growth was only natural.

“Be careful, Jakob,” Marta said as she put both her hands on his cheeks.  “Run away if the villagers can’t accept you.  I’ll find you.”

Jakob took her hands into his and gave his sister a serious look.  “I will be alright as long as I’m with our friend.  I trust Erik,” Jakob said as he gazed down at his sister.  Jakob could tell that he just had a growth spurt recently.  Marta seemed a tad shorter to him but they were both still propionate to each other.  Jakob still wondered if there were others out there like him and Marta and if so, are their attitudes and demeanors the same?

“Oh Jakob, I’m glad,” Marta said and gave her brother another hug.  Marta then kissed Erik on top of his head again.

“I’ll protect Jakob with my life, my lovely giantess,” Erik said with a smile and off the two went, the giant and the human…

Jakob and Erik made it to the small patch of land that Jakob has called home recently.  The giant picked up his stride making it difficult for Erik’s horses to keep up.  Erik understood Jakob’s haste.  The giant worried about the ones he loved.

Jakob frowned when he saw half the barn that he and Marta were staying in was half blown down by the wind.  Jakob also let out a grateful sigh knowing that they weren’t in there during the storm.  He also sighed when he saw that the mud and thatch house still stood.  In the darkness of night Jakob could see things that no one else could.  His eyes were used to the dark after living so many years in it.  He smiled when he saw Ansel and Gerta ducking out the door.

“Jakob!”  Gerta exclaimed as she ran to her son and hugged his leg for all it was worth.  Jakob crouched down and blanketed his mother with his hand and slightly held her closer.  Gerta stood as high as his knee while Erik was nowhere as high as his knee.

“We are all right, momma.  I’ve come to see if you and papa are safe.  Erik and I are going to see if others need our help,” Jakob said and Gerta gave her son a protective gaze.

“Is that wise my son?” Gerta asked.  Jakob just smiled.

“Erik promised to protect me with his life,” Jakob said and Ansel laughed.

“That sounds like a true friend to me.  I will protect you too,” Ansel said amused.

“Ansel!” Gerta said.

“What woman?  Am I not bigger and stronger than I used to be?  I will go with you,” Ansel said giving his son a fatherly glance.

“What shall I do then?” Gerta asked.

“Maria and Marta are going to nurse the injured, perhaps you can help?”  Erik said to the tall woman.

“I am bigger and stronger too.  If Maria can get others to help maybe Marta and I can work with the boys,” Gerta said with a playful smile.  The men all laughed.

“Perhaps you can,” Erik responded, knowing that Gerta is stronger than he is.  Erik has come to accept the giants in his life, big or small.  He knew that Ansel was now the biggest and strongest man in the village after his journey to The Black Forest.  Gerta made all the men look like children with her recent visit to the village so needless to say her strength had to compare.

“Help the women my wife, the men might not like being around a woman that is much taller and stronger.  You know how fragile the male ego can be,” Ansel said, giving Gerta a wink.  Gerta knew that her husband was right and so she went to Erik’s stately home instead…

Gerta hugged her daughter much like she did her son.  She was so grateful to see that her children were safe.  Marta fixed the hole in the barn wall as the women waited.  Elisa attached herself to Marta unafraid of her new giantess friend.  Marta held the small tot in the palm of her hand and Elisa giggled as Marta tickled her with her long slender finger and played games with the little girl.

“Papa likes you.  You’re pretty,” Elisa tells the giantess and Marta blushes.  “I like you too.  You make me a good mommy.”

Marta didn’t know what to say.  She had grown quite fond of Erik and his kindness.  He didn’t look at her like she was a monster but just another person.  Marta liked that most of all.

“I want to be big and strong like you,” Elisa rattled on with a child’s fascination.  “You a really big lady.”

Marta had a thought at that moment.  Maybe Erik would be willing to go back with her to the forest and they can start a new life together with little Elisa?  Maybe the forest will claim them just as it had claimed both her and Jakob?

Marta gathered firewood for the hearth while Elisa helped her out by picking up twigs.  Marta smiled as the tot did her best to put the twigs in a small pile.

“I help you get wood like I do papa,” said the little girl.

“You are doing a fine job, Elisa,” Marta said as she yawned.  Marta stayed awake well past dawn and fatigue was starting to take over.

“You need nap.  Maria makes me nap when I do that,” Elisa said.  Marta looked down at her with a warm smile and an armload of firewood.

“I’ll nap after I put the firewood where it needs to go,” Marta tells the little girl and puts down the firewood.  Marta didn’t want to be delayed by Elisa’s pace so she offered the tot the warm pocket of her apron.  Elisa thought it would be fun and she fit just perfect.  Marta gathered the firewood and headed back to the house where she stacked the wood near the kitchen of the stately home.  The aroma of Maria’s stew lingered in the air making Marta feel a little hungry but Marta knew that the stew was for the displaced people of the village.  Then Marta realized that both her and Jakob are now displaced themselves since Gerta told her about the barn.  Of course Maria told Marta that she and Jakob are welcomed to stay in Erik’s barn for as long as they like and if Erik has a problem with that, Maria will take full care of it.

“That was fun,” Elisa giggled while Marta carefully deposited the little girl next to her mother.  Marta stretched and yawned.  Maria gave her a kind smile.

“The barn is yours.  Sleep as long as you like,” Maria kindly said.  “Gerta and I should be able to take care of whoever comes.”

Marta smiled kindly down at Maria before heading back to the barn she and Jakob now call home.  Marta lies down in the nest of straw and quickly falls asleep.  She had a strange and vivid dream.  She dreamt of Erik and Elisa.

Erik had made the decision give up his home and life in the village and sunlight to come live with the lowly giantess.  Marta never thought herself as beautiful much less pretty.  She could never figure out what it was about Erik that made her weak.

In the lucid dream, Jakob, Marta, Erik and little Elisa made the journey to the enchanted forest.  Erik lived with them in their normal sized cabin.  Elisa cried at first but enjoyed living with the big people.  The dream kept jumping time.  Marta watched as Erik and Elisa slowly change with each passing day.  Growing bigger and stronger to match her own size.  Erik’s eyes becoming a lighter shade of blue and Elisa’s never really changing.  The happiness Marta felt in her heart of the family she always wanted.

Then the dream changed again.  The tall blond woman that Marta knew as the witch of the rainbow house appeared to her.  The witch gave her a kindly smile as Marta realized she was no longer giant.  The witch embraced her and kissed her forehead.

“Sweet Marta, I have come to tell you that love is about making decisions.  I cannot make you as you once were before entering the forest but the forest can give you what you most desire.  The choice is yours,” the witch said as she faded and Marta awoke.  Marta sat up in the lonely dark barn.  She then realized that her and Erik needed to speak of their future.  She didn’t want to trick Erik in joining her on the journey back to her rightful home but she hoped he would accept this and let it grow into a love so true.

Jakob frowned when he spotted the house before Erik and Ansel.  The house was no longer there, it was a pile of thatch and boards.  Erik and Ansel both told Jakob that this was the home of a widow and her five children.  Jakob silently prayed that they all made it to the cellar in time but knew that if they were all in there, he would have to dig them out.  Jakob’s walk turned into a slow run that shook the ground.  The horses and the wagon wouldn’t be able to keep up with the running giant.  The morning sun hurt the giant’s eye but this didn’t matter to Jakob.  All he cared about were the faint cries coming from the rubble.  Jakob was the only one who could hear these sad cries of scared children trapped.  Jakob sighed a bit when he counted all the different cries and realized that there were six.

The cellar appeared to be buried.  Jakob heard the voice of a woman shouting out from under the rubble.  “Is someone there?” the female said in a voice that sounded like she had been crying along with her children.

“Aye, is everyone safe?” Jakob asked the voice.  Erik and Ansel had just stopped the horses in time to see Jakob pick up some of the boards and rubble. 

“Aye, just a little scared but safe all the same,” the woman answered.

“I will have you out in no time, just don’t be alarmed by my appearance for I am new to the village,” Jakob said as he dug through the boards, thatch and mud.  Jakob felt it was best not to reveal that he was much more than a Good Samaritan.

“I won’t kind sir but do you have a name?” the voice asked.

“Jakob,” he simply answered as he found the small wooden door.

“Jakob is a friend of mine who is staying at my house, Hilda,” Erik said in a loud tone that wasn’t quite shouting.

“Erik, is that you?” the voice asked.

“Aye,” Erik simply answered.  “Jakob is an extraordinary friend of mine.  Please do not be alarmed by his appearance, Hilda.  Jakob is not like us, he is so much more.”

“I will do my best if you put it that way,” Hilda’s voice said.

Hilda waited in her cellar with her crying children.  She held her youngest in her arms trying her best to calm the babe.  Her other little ones stayed huddled around her legs.  She heard the boards being tossed aside and scrapping on the door.  Hilda wondered what made this Jakob so much more different than any man in the village that his appearance would alarm her.  The children sobbed.  The older ones surely remembered the bad storm that took the life of their loving father.  If it wasn’t for the kindness of the wealthiest man in the village, Hilda would have never survived his death.

Then she thought of the kindly carpenter who had lost his children so long ago.  The merchant was never as kind as Erik the royal blacksmith.  Erik had saved her and her family from starvation and grief.  Erik did that for all the villagers but he had a personal way about him.  Hilda understood why the women of the village threw themselves at his feet.  He was not only handsome but kind as well.  He was always sharing the bounty of his lands that was always known for the best growing of crops.  The merchant that lived there before him had been greedy and sold his crops but not Erik.  It was also rumored that Erik is the rebellious son of a land baron and had no need for knowing a trait but learned one against his father’s wishes.  Erik had sold his father’s lands after his death and has lived off the money since but those were all rumors.

Hilda looked up at the door as she did her best to stop her children’s tears.  She went up the steps with her baby still in her arms and undid the latch, she stepped back and waited.  Hilda then watched as sunlight spilled down the cellar stair and two silhouettes stood in her view.  One of the silhouettes was Erik but the other silhouette was a big man that Hilda didn’t recognize, she smiled all the same and grateful to be free of the cellar.  Erik helped her and the children up the steps while the big man held the door open.  When Hilda got out in the light she recognized the big man even though he appeared much younger.

“Ansel, is that you?” she asked the big man and he smiled at her.  “It is you!  I heard rumors that you and Gerta have changed.”

“Aye, it is true,” Ansel responded with a smile.

“I take it that she is well.  Is she as big and young as you are?” Hilda asked.  She paid no mind to the fact that she was now homeless; all she was interested in was the giant of a man before her.

“Aye, but it ‘tis a secret,” Ansel said with a wink.  “I want you to meet my son.  He has come to stay for a while.”

“Jakob, I forgot.  I want to meet my savior and thank him dearly,” Hilda said as she looked up at the much younger Ansel.  In the light she saw that he was still very much the old friendly carpenter just in a whole new shell.  “You found your children?”

“Aye Hilda, although they are no longer children, I am still quite proud of them.  They have grown up quite a bit,” Ansel said with a glint of happiness in his eyes. 

Hilda’s oldest son tugged on her apron and Hilda looked down to see that his eyes were wide like he had seen a ghost.  “M-M-Momma, there is a giant sitting over there,” said her son.  Ansel and Erik both laughed while Hilda looked in the direction her son pointed to.  Amongst the shade of the trees there sat a mountain of a man clad in a cloak with a hood that covered his head and shaded his eyes.  Hilda could see that the form of the figure was trying to appear small but was failing miserably.

“That is my son, Jakob,” Ansel said.  Hilda smiled when she realized that not only was the giant trying to make himself appear  small, he was also shy as he fiddled around with his gloves on his hand.  The giant also appeared to be dressed unseasonable for the warm summer’s day.  Hilda decided to approach the giant and try her best to talk to him as if he were ordinary.

“Thank you for saving my life and my children’s, we would have been trapped for days.  I owe you,” Hilda said in the kindest voice she could muster.  She looked up at the hooded face and saw two blue pools nervously and suspiciously staring down at her.  She then caught a glimpse of exposed skin between his gloves and his sleeves and noticed that it was red with sunburn.  She walked closer to the giant that had been sitting Indian style.  She gently touched his exposed wrist and the giant winced.  The pale creature felt pain and Hilda felt bad for him.  “I am sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Hilda then said with compassion filling her eyes.

“I will be alright,” the giant known as Jakob shyly answered the small woman.

“Poor Jakob can’t be in the sun long,” Erik said.  “He has lived in darkness far too long.”

Hilda looked up at the face under the hood.  The giant was handsome and no doubt his father’s son except for the abnormally blue eyes.  “What made you this way?” Hilda curiously asked.  Jakob didn’t know what to say.  “I have heard of giants but I’ve never actually seen one before, much less one that was a human at one time.”

“I am still human, just a much bigger human,” Jakob simply said and Hilda smiled.  Hilda was a beautiful woman with a gypsy like quality about her.  Flowing dark hair and tan skin, it was hard to believe that she was the mother of five children under the age of eight with her youthful appearance.

“So you are,” Hilda said, amused by the shy giant that had dug her out of the rubble that was once her home.  “My name is Hilda,” she finally said as she held out her hand.

“Jakob,” was all the giant could say as he offered his index finger for her to shake.  Hilda took it in her hand and did the motions of a handshake.  She gave the giant a kind and warm smile.

“Jakob, I shall speak nothing but good of you.  The village will know of the kind gi…man that saved my family,” Hilda said as she looked up into those strange blue eyes.  His face may have been that of a young man but his eyes were that of a much older man.  Hilda felt sorrow for the creature and she wondered if his sister is the same as him.  Hilda then felt four little bodies pressed against her, trying to hide behind her voluminous skirt of her dress.  Her two year old took refuge under her apron.  The giant then gave her a sad look.

“They are afraid of me,” he whispered sadly.  Hilda then felt pity and knew she couldn’t argue the point.  “They have no need to be afraid of me.  I will not harm them.”

Hilda turned around to her oldest, a boy by the name of Hans.  Hans was only eight and inherited his father’s blue eyes and blond hair.  Hans gave her a fearful look and Hilda frowned.  “Go to him,” she mouthed and Hans shook his head.  Hilda shrugged.  She turned back to Jakob, looking into those sad blue pools.  “I am sorry Jakob, you are new to them.  Give them time and they’ll see,” Hilda said, feeling pity and sorrow for the giant.  Hilda feared that Jakob will get a lot worse of a reception from the others although she hoped for nothing but kindness for him.

Hilda cried when she finally got a look at what was left of her house.  Erik and Ansel had loaded the children onto the wagon but Hilda stood there and cried.  Jakob finally stood up, the children gasped at the sight of the standing giant.  Hilda didn’t pay any mind, she was weeping at the loss of the house her and her husband so lovingly built.  Jakob knelt down next to the small woman and gently wrapped his hand around her back.  Hilda looked up into those sad and understanding eyes.  It wasn’t Hilda’s turn to feel pity but the giant’s.

“It will be alright, Hilda,” Jakob said in a soft voice.  “I will build you a new house.  One that is much stronger and bigger so that you and your children can live comfortably.  I shall build it with my own hands.”

Hilda noticed that Jakob had removed his glove before he gave her his version of an embrace.  Hilda could see now why the giant burned from the sun so easily; his skin was the palest she had ever seen.  She hugged his thumb back and Jakob smiled.  “I know what it is like not to have a home,” Jakob finally whispered, remembering those night where him and Marta only had the canopy of the trees to protect them.  Jakob wasn’t going to let any more children go without a place to call home.

“Let me take you to my house, Hilda.  You can stay as long as you need to.  I know you have no other family,” Erik said with a compassionate look in his eyes.  “I have plenty of food and shelter.”

“I and my sister will be your neighbor,” Jakob added with a smile.  “You will be much safer at Erik’s place.”

“I will go,” Hilda said and Ansel helped her onto the wagon…

Jakob spent the day digging people out of cellars.  Few were afraid but most accepted the giant with open arms.  By the time Jakob, Erik and Ansel finished helping people; Erik’s wagon was completely full of displaced villagers.  Some of the children feared the giant while others were curious of the large creature that had saved them.  Hilda’s son Hans became attached to the giant as Jakob let him ride in the pocket of his knapsack.  The little boy laughed when he realized that Jakob’s strides were faster than that of the horses pulling the wagon.  Jakob smiled.

Maria feed all the hungry villagers just outside her kitchen.  Jakob returned Hans to his mother and went to seek out his sister.  Being around small people all day made Jakob long for the companionship of another giant.  Marta was the only one who made Jakob feel not so out of place.  Much like his sister, Jakob had become introverted after living alone for so long.

“She went to take a nap in the barn,” Maria said to Jakob as she served some stew.

“Thank you Maria,” Jakob just quietly said and started his way down to the barn when Maria stopped him.

“You must be starving.  I made an extra pot for you,” Maria said.  She gave Jakob a compassionate gaze.  Maria has felt sorrow for the two giants residing in her brother’s barn.  Maria knew what it was like not to fit in.  She was considered an old maid at the age of sixteen since she refused the suitors her father found for her.  It wasn’t until he died and Erik inherited his wealth did Maria feel truly free.  Maria smiled when she saw the giantess coming.  Jakob turned around to find his sister.

“Jakob, you made it back alright,” Marta said as she took him into her arms.  Tears fell from her eyes as she was unaware of the people sitting on the long benches staring up at the two giants.  Jakob returned her embraced, grateful to see the one person who made him feel right.

“I told you that I would protect him with my life,” Erik said, walking out the open kitchen door.  He smiled up at Marta and gave her a wink of his eye.

“Erik,” she said as she picked him up and held him in a hug.  She was gentle when she did this as she held back her strength.  Erik snuggled into her embrace as he rested his head on her soft breast.  Her long golden lock blanketed him.

“I am happy to see you too, Marta,” Erik said with a smirk and some of the villagers laughed.  Marta blushed but still kept her hold on Erik.  She shifted him so that she cradled him in her strong but slender arms.  Erik didn’t want her to put him down.  He had grown quite fond of the shy and beautiful giantess.

“Can we go to the lake?” Marta asked Erik.

“My horses are exhausted, my dear,” Erik said as he enjoyed being held by his giantess.  “Of course we can go, if you don’t mind my being a burden,” Erik then said with a smile.  Marta returned his smile.

“I don’t mind,” Marta said shyly and kissed his forehead.  “I need to refill my cask anyway.  What is another load for someone as strong as I?” Marta then said and Erik laughed.  Marta then carried Erik to the lake with her and a cask that strangely refilled itself on the walk there.  Marta knew the responsible party, the witch of the rainbow house.  The water was that of The Black Forest.

Erik bathed while Marta sat at the edge of the water.  She was lost in her thoughts as she held a stick and drew random shapes in the dirt.  Erik smiles up at her as he scrubs himself clean and splashes water all over himself.

“What are you thinking about?” Erik asks the giantess.

“Home,” Marta said as she thought about the forest she left behind.

“You are home, fair lady,” Erik said but he knew what home she was thinking about.  Erik had grown to love both the giants.  Jakob had opened up to him today and now thought of him as a friend.  He loved Marta as much as his beloved deceased wife, Elisa.  The shy giantess stole his heart like no other woman other than Elisa could.  She frowned at him.

“I miss the forest,” she said quietly.  “The village is far too small for Jakob and me.  We feel right in our old home.”

Erik stepped out of the lake and behind some greenery.  Erik felt he had to be a gentleman towards the shy and naive giantess.  He knew that she had never seen a man nude much less lay with one despite the fact that at eighteen she is considered old.  Erik groomed and dressed himself out of the sight of the giantess.

“I wish to go back soon,” Marta then tells Erik.  Erik’s heart drops at the thought of not seeing his giantess again.  “Jakob and I have heard of others as ourselves.  We wish to seek them out.”

“Marta, will I see you again?”  Erik asked as he stepped out of the greenery.  He looked up at Marta beautiful and fair face.  She looked deep in thought.  Erik is never going to get that face out of his mind.  Her full lips and small turned up nose, the way she blushes when she is shy or embarrassed.  Erik is going to miss her.

Marta gently gathered Erik into her arms and cradled him onto her lap.  As much as she loved Erik, Marta knew in her heart that this was not how it should be.  Marta then started to weep.  Erik should be the one holding her and cradling her in his lap.  Erik should be the strong one, not her.  He should be the one protecting her from all that is bad and evil; instead she is the one with the size and strength, not him.  “I do not know,” Marta finally answered, afraid to look down at the man on her lap.

“My heart will break if I cannot see you again,” Erik said in a clam yet quiet voice.  This caused tears to come out of Marta’s eyes.  She knew her heart would break as well.  Marta had fallen in love with Erik in such short time.  “I understand you and your brother’s need to leave but I cannot go until the village is repaired,” Erik then said, this caused Marta to turn her teary gaze to him.

“Y-Y-You would be willing to come with Jakob and me,” Marta sobbed.

“Maria and Elisa too,” Erik said, giving the giantess a small smile.

“Erik, you know you cannot come back.  At least not the way you left,” Marta said as she gently cradled her little man once more.

“I am well aware of that, besides it’ll mean I can hold you instead,” Erik said.

Just then the water began to glow and shimmer.  It wasn’t the moonlight but a light much brighter.  Marta held Erik closer to her as the water changed shape.  It spouted up and formed into a beautiful and fair maiden, a maiden that Marta knew well.  It was the good witch.  The witch smiled warmly at the unusual couple.

“Love’s first kiss will make you as you should be,” the witch said and mysteriously disappeared as quickly as she appeared.  Erik and Marta looked at each other for a moment.

“What do you suppose she means?” Erik asked the giantess.

“I do not know,” Marta said looking down at Erik.

“Maybe we are supposed to kiss?” Erik shrugged.

“Maybe,” Marta responded while Erik crawled off her lap.  “I don’t know how we are to do this?”

“We will make do.  Just try to level yourself with me,” Erik said.  Marta got down on her hands and knees.  She lowered her face to where she was eye level with him.  Erik put his hand under her chin and raises her lips to where they would be level with his and began to kiss the soft tender flesh of her lips.  Marta closed her eyes as Erik nipped at her much larger mouth.  Marta ignored the awkwardness of the kiss and let bliss cross her mind. Marta had grown to care about Erik and his unusual family.  Marta didn’t care that Elisa wasn’t her daughter but she had grown to love her in just short time she has had with the girl.  Maria seemed smitten with Jakob and even though Jakob was silent, Marta knew he felt the same.  The kiss all the sudden felt right despite their size difference.

Nothing changed.  There were no fireworks or magic, Erik and Marta appeared to be unchanged.  Marta was still a giantess while Erik was still human.  Marta frowned at the revelation.

“Maybe we are not meant to be?” Erik said in a sad tone.  Marta gathered him up in her arms all the same and walked him back to his house.  She then joined Jakob in the barn where she slept restlessly.

Erik woke up that morning feeling very hungry.  He dressed and groomed himself all the while his stomach growled.  He thought about the disappointment in Marta’s eyes when he told her that he couldn’t leave his home.  Erik ignored his hunger.  He had grown to love the giantess in a way he thought he could never love again.  Elisa seemed to like her and that was important to him too.

He went out on his balcony and looked down the hill toward the large barn.  As nice as the barn is, Erik knew in his heart that it was no place for a lady to live.  It was bad enough that the two giants had to live in darkness but even giants deserved some comfort.

Erik watched as a cloaked figure crawled out the double doors of the barn.  It was Jakob who looked as though he was ready to start his day.  He laid his knapsack of tools by the door and stretched towards the sky to greet the dawn.  Erik still could not believe that two children who ran away so many years ago returned as full grown adult giants.  His stomach growled again and this time he clutched it.

“I better eat something even though I really don’t feel like it,” Erik said to himself, still unhappy about last night.  Marta’s sad blue eyes played through his mind.  Erik wanted so much to be happy with the giantess.

Erik sat in the kitchen with Elisa while Maria sat out the morning breakfast.  His poor sister is exhausted from cooking and making sure everybody was comfortable.  Erik grabbed a plate of ham from his sister and made her sit down.  Maria tried to protest but Erik wasn’t having it.  Then Maria heard a loud growl coming from Erik’s stomach.  Erik clutched his stomach and nearly dropped the plate.  Then Maria ordered him to sit and eat.

“You have worked too hard around here,” Erik protested.  Maria gave him a stern look.

“I cannot have you starving either.  You are the man of the house,” Maria said as she filled his plate.  “Eat!”

Maria soon regretted those words as she watched her brother shovel food into his mouth.  Even little Elisa watched her father’s lack of regard for table manners.  As soon as he finished one plate, he made himself another and another, each as full if not fuller than the last.  Erik couldn’t seem to get enough food.  Finally he belched and patted his extended tummy.

“I never meant..,” Maria struggled with her words while Erik laughed.

“I never realize I was so hungry dear sister,” Erik said as he sat back.  Maria still couldn’t believe her brother’s voracious appetite.  “It was really quite delicious,” Erik said as he stood up and picked up his daughter.  Elisa laughed.

“Papa, you eat like pig,” Elisa said as Erik kissed her cheek.  Erik put his daughter down and felt a strange tingling sensation work its way through his body.  Erik never felt anything like it but it had passed as quickly as it came on.  Maria was too busy to notice her brother.  Not even little Elisa noticed.  Erik just went about his day.

Erik walked out the door to a cloaked figure looking down at him.  Jakob gave Erik a small smile just barely visible under the hood of the cloak.  Jakob dressed in layers to protect his skin from the sun.  Jakob and Marta could both handle the sun, but only in small amounts.  Erik noticed that neither of the giants had proper footwear.  They both wore what looked to be fur skins on their feet or homemade wooden clogs.  Maybe he could make a deal with John the cobbler and Markus the tanner to make shoes for giants.  The bulky fur boots were more suited for the winter months.  Since the village now knows of Ansel and Gerta’s secret, maybe Erik could barter a few things to make Jakob and Marta feel more accepted and comfortable.

“Good morning friend,” Jakob said.

“Good morning Jakob, are you ready to help rebuild some houses today?” Erik asked the giant.

“Marta wants to help.  She seems to think it’ll go faster with another set of hands,” Jakob said, obviously hiding something from Erik.  Erik picked up the giant’s body language by the way he looked away.

“So you and her can be on your way, is that the real reason Jakob?” Erik said and the giant turned away.  Erik noticed that in the short time he has been around Jakob, the giant was really a pacifist.  Jakob didn’t like being confronted despite the fact that he could easily crush whoever did the confronting.

“Yes,” Jakob said quietly.  “She wants to go home.”

“I see.  Does this have anything to do with last night?” Erik boldly asked, knowing that Marta tells Jakob everything.  Jakob turned away again.   “You don’t want to go?”

Jakob turned to look down at the much smaller man.  Under the darkness of the hood, Erik could make out the two sad blue eyes.  Jakob frowned.  “No, I do not want to go but Marta does.  I cannot have her venture out alone.”

“Why does Marta want to go?” Erik asked the giant and his frown deepened.

“She wants to find others as ourselves,” Jakob said with a slight distaste.

“Why don’t you want to go?  I know you feel out of sorts here, but why stay?”  Erik asked and Jakob’s eyes wandered to the open kitchen door where Maria stood at the washtub washing the morning’s dishes.  A twinkle formed in the giant’s eyes and Erik knew that the giant had eyes for his sister.  Jakob blushed when he heard the steps of the small woman heading in the direction of the open door.

“Jakob!  Good morning to you,” Maria said with a bright smile.  “Did you sleep well and get enough to eat?”

Jakob could only nod.  The small woman made Jakob feel tongue tied.  Erik smiled at the unusually shy giant.  Jakob was shy until he got to know you but with Maria he seemed to stay that way at times.  “Thank you,” Jakob managed to say and Maria gave him a warm and compassionate smile.

“Think nothing of it,” Maria said looking up at the cloaked figure.  She frowned.  “’tis a shame I cannot see you in the sunlight.  You are far too handsome to be hiding under all those layers.”  This only caused Jakob to blush some more.  Jakob pulled back his hood long enough for Maria to see him.  Jakob had kept himself well groomed.  His curly dark hair was brushed and cut; even the hairs on his chin were trimmed.  His blue eyes matched the color of the cloudless sky.  Maria smiled up at the giant and he smiled in return.  Erik had a strong feeling that there was something going on between his sister and the giant.

“You are far too beautiful to be hiding away in a kitchen,” Jakob said with a smirk and Maria blushed.

“Jakob!” a little voice shouted as little Elisa ran out of the kitchen.  Jakob gently scooped her up in his large hand and the little girl giggled.  Jakob gently tickled her with his index finger.  Elisa felt that she was the luckiest little girl to have two giants for friends.  Jakob made funny faces at her and Elisa laughed.  “You funny,” Elisa tells the giant.  Jakob began to feel the heat of the sun burning his pale skin.  He put Elisa back down so he could pull his hood back on.  The giant noticed it took a little longer than normal to burn his skin today.  Maybe he was starting to adapt?

Erik found Marta by the barn wearing pants and a cloak and gloves just like her brother.  Erik wondered what happened to his vulnerable lady in her dainty natural cloth gowns.  Marta stood a bit shorter than her brother and had frailness to her slender frame, like that of a tree during a wind storm.  Her golden locks were braided back and hang out from beneath the hood.  Despite her appearance, Erik knew that she was strong.  Strong enough to carry a full grown man like a baby cradled in her arms.  Erik loved when she would do that, although he knew in the back of his mind he was never going to have that privilege again.

“You have decided to help the men today?” Erik asked the giantess.

“Why not, I’m stronger and just as capable.  My dear brother knows this,” Marta said in a cold tone.  Erik didn’t like the way she talked, it was as if she was already distancing herself from the small man.

“I don’t doubt that fair lady,” Erik said in an equally cold tone that Marta didn’t like either.

“I am not a lady,” she retorted.  “I am a giant.”

“More like a giantess,” Erik mumbled and sighed.

“Are you making fun of me?” Marta frowned down at Erik.

“Nay, I was only correcting you.  You are not a giant but a giantess.  Meaning lady giant,” Erik said unafraid of Marta.  Marta was getting angry at Erik.  She stomped her foot and the ground shook causing Erik to fall on his ass.  Marta laughed, unaware of her own strength at that moment and enjoyed the shocked expression on Erik’s face.

“I am so sorry,” Marta said as she got down on her knee and helped Erik to his feet.  She dusted him off.  Marta felt bad for what she just did.  Erik wasn’t talking, he just stood there stoic for a moment and slowly a smile formed on his lips and he started to laugh.

“Woman, remind me never to anger you ever again,” Erik said, still laughing and giving Marta a wink of his eye.  Marta smiled when she realized that there were no hard feelings between them.  “Besides, I don’t care what that silly witch said last night.  You are still beautiful to me,” Erik then said and Marta blushed.  Marta turned away.

“But you are not as I,” Marta said quietly as her mood changed.  Erik walked around the kneeling giantess to meet her gaze but Marta turned away from him again.

“Does it really matter?  I can still love you, can’t I?”

“But I want to find other giants.  I want to know for certain if this is true,” Marta sobbed.  She moved from kneeling to sitting and covered her face with her hands and hood.  Erik realized that Marta hadn’t seen the big wide world like he had.  She had never ventured out of the forest and probably never would have if it wasn’t for finding Ansel.

“Please stay for a few more days at least,” was all Erik could think to say.

“My momma is well now.  Jakob and I wanted to stay till she was well,” Marta answered.

“Then stay as my guests,” Erik said, giving her a warm smile.

“I guess we could.  Jakob seems to like your sister and I don’t want his heart to be broken too,” Marta said and Erik reframed from telling her, all the heart break because of one kiss?  Erik was at least happy she was staying a little longer.  That strange tingling sensation returned to his body but he ignored it.

Marta decided to leave the building to the men so she changed into her dress and apron.  She still had to wear the cloak and gloves but the dress was much more comfortable than the pants.  Marta thought she would be of more use running errands and food to the men. 

Elisa begged Marta to take her along and Marta did.  Elisa rode in the pouch of her apron.  She laughed at the speed the giantess moved, much faster than her father’s horses.  Marta took food and water to the hard working men.  Erik was grateful for the giantess as he found himself starving throughout the day.  No one question Erik’s appetite as all the men worked up appetites.

They worked all day and some of the night.  Erik came home not only hungry but exhausted as well.  This went on for about five day when on the fifth day.  The strange sensations Erik experienced came and went.  Erik woke up to a great surprise on the day Marta and Jakob were getting ready to go back to the forest…

Erik woke up with a heavy heart knowing that his giantess is leaving.  Maria cried to him last night and confessed her love for the giant Jakob.  Funny how both siblings fell in love with another set of siblings.  Maria told Erik about her nights with Jakob in the meadow.

“He is such a gentle man.  Nothing like those pompous idiots father would bring around to court me,” Maria said to her brother in the study last night.  “In fact, he is rather sweet and kind, almost like he is still a boy.”

“They are both still children in their own ways, Maria,” Erik tells his sister and Maria nods in agreement.

“I feel a longing and a sort of awkwardness in him.  I can tell that he is not used to being around people but it is as if he is trying to be more social with me.  He seems like a childhood crush in some ways,” Maria said as she fiddled with her apron.

“Aye, Marta is much the same.  Neither has ever had the opportunity to truly love before.  They have been alone half their life.  I had to tell a few of the men that Jakob is more afraid of them despite his size.  They wouldn’t believe me at first until they have gotten to know him.  Jakob talks but he is still very shy of people just as Marta is,” Erik said as he felt his ill-fitting garments against his skin.  Erik blamed it on all his eating he has been doing lately.  The tingle returned to his body only for a moment but long enough for Maria to see that there was something not quite right with her brother.

“Are you alright?” Maria asked as she stopped fiddling with her apron.

“It will pass, it always does,” Erik said as he braced himself on his chair.

“No wonder, you have been eating as much as our giants,” Maria said with a crocked smile.  Erik returned that smile.

“You are right, dear sister.  I am going to need my garments taken out,” Erik said as he felt the tightness of the cloth against his skin…

Erik woke up the following morning like he would any other morning but he was sad because his giantess is leaving him to look for other giants.  Erik looked out the door of his chamber and saw the two giants packing for their journey.  Erik frowned.

Erik started to get dressed when he realized his garments didn’t fit at all.  Yesterday his garments were only tight; today the garments didn’t fit at all.  Erik called out to his sister to see if she had altered any of his garments.

“My stars Erik, what is it you want,” Maria said as she entered his chamber.  Maria’s eye widened at the sight of her brother.

“Well, do you have any garments I can wear?” Erik said, unaware of Maria’s reaction.

“Erik, have you looked in the mirror yet?”

“Mirror?  Why?” Erik said as he turned to his sister.  Maria seemed smaller than usual. 

“You look different,” Maria said as she reached up and grabbed Erik by his shoulders and walked him to the small mirror hanging on the wall.  Maria definitely did look shorter compared to his own height but his face looked thinner.  Erik noticed some resemblance to Ansel and Gerta’s transformation.

“Papa, you look big,” Elisa’s little voice came from the doorway.  Erik turned to his daughter and even she seemed smaller than normal.  “Papa, you grow.”

“You have grown, Erik,” Maria said as she patted Erik’s shoulder.  “I’ll see if Gerta will be willing to give up some of Ansel’s garments.  They may be a little big on you but I have a feeling not for long,” Maria then said with a wink of her eye. 

A knock came from the balcony door.  This startled Erik and Maria.  Maria went to the doors and pulled back the curtain to see who it is.  Bright blue eyes and golden hair filled her vision.  Maria watched as Marta gently tapped the door again with her finger.  Maria opened the doors and smiled at the giantess.

“Good morning, friend,” Marta said with a warm smile.  “Is Erik awake?”

“U-mmmm, yes he is…. “Maria wasn’t sure what to tell her.

“Can I see him?  Only if he wants to see me,” Marta said bashfully.  Her pale cheeks tinged pink and she gave Maria a shy smile.  Maria shut the doors behind her after stepping out onto the balcony where she was eye level with the giantess who was slightly bending down.

“He is having… a slight problem at the moment,” Maria said as she fiddled with her apron.

“Problem?”

“He can’t find anything to wear.  Nothing seems to fit anymore.”

“No wonder, he’s been eating so much all week.”

“It’s not just that, Marta,” Maria said and Marta eyes widened.  “He’s taller.  I have never seen anyone grow so quickly.”

“Taller?”

“Not as tall as Ansel or Gerta, but he is taller.  I don’t understand,” Maria said, looking down at her apron.

“Erik is growing,” Marta said quietly with a smile playing on her lips.

“He needs garments,” Maria said.  “I was wondering if maybe Ansel has some to spare.”

“I have some garments I haven’t given to papa yet.  I can spare those,” Marta said.

“He will be ever so grateful,” Maria said as she watched the giantess walk back to the barn.

Marta came back with a pants and tunic.  She handed the garments to Maria.  Maria held up the pants and couldn’t believe the length of the pant legs.

“Those are to papa’s measurements,” Marta said to the startled woman.

“I can modify them a bit,” Maria said as she walked back into the room.

Erik put on the much larger garments.  He may have been taller but Ansel was still much bigger.  Maria rolled up the pant legs and the sleeves on the tunic.  She smiled at the sight of her brother wearing oversize garments.

“I don’t want to alter them in case you grow some more,” Maria said, looking up into her brother’s eyes.  A smile spread across Erik’s face.

“Dear sister, I intend to grow a lot more,” Erik said as he picked Maria up into a hug.  Erik even felt stronger.  Maria gave her brother a stunned look and Erik smiled. 

“How did you grow?” Maria asked.

“A kiss of true love, dear sister,” Erik answered.

“Your love for Marta is making you grow?”

“Aye sister, we love each other and a witch’s magic is making this possible,” Erik said and opened the doors to the balcony and took in the sight of the beautiful giantess before him.  Marta’s smile beamed at the little man and Erik laughed.  He held his arms wide open to welcome Marta to pick him up in which she did.

“I don’t want to leave,” Marta said as she held Erik in the cradle of her arms.  “Now that I know we are meant to be.”

Erik just smiles and then he looked toward the balcony at Maria and Elisa.  The grand old house stood a little taller than the giantess but not by much.  Elisa seemed so small from Marta’s prospective.  Elisa was roughly the size of Marta’s hand and Marta handled her as delicately as a butterfly.  Erik knew in his heart that if they stayed, Maria and Elisa would always be small to him.  Smaller as the days passed and then he too would have to live in the already too small for giants barn.

“Jakob plans on leaving after we rebuild Hilda’s house,” Marta said sadly.  This gave Erik an idea, an idea that would make both him and the homeless mother happy.

“I am giving Hilda my house,” Erik said plainly.

“What?”

“I’m giving Hilda my house so that I can go with you and Jakob.  Maria and Elisa are coming to.”

“Oh Erik, you will give up your home for me,” Marta said as she held him closer.

“Of course I will.  I won’t have much need for it much longer and besides, I don’t want to leave Maria and Elisa to be a giant,” Erik said.

“Jakob will be so happy when I tell him,” Marta said as she hugged the little man gently.

“Erik and I will be packing,” Maria said from the balcony.

“I going to be big like Jakob,” Elisa said and Erik laughed.

“Someday, my little one,” Erik tells his daughter knowing that the forest will change her just as love’s true kiss is changing him.

Maria informed the villagers of her and Erik leaving.  Maria had promised they would return someday.  The villagers were stunned that Maria and her brother were willing to give up their stately home and livelihood to live in the darkness of the forest.

“What if you grow?” the baker asked.

“I plan on it,” Maria responded.

“But what about the little one?” the seamstress asked.

“She will grow right along with us,” Maria answered.

Several questions were asked of her and Maria’s answer was basically the same.  “I want to be a giantess if it means I’ll be happy.”  No one understood this more than Hilda and it wasn’t because Erik had given her his whole human life.  It was because she had found love at one time.  Hilda gave up being part of a wealthy family to marry a poor farmer.

Maria couldn’t wait to start her new life with Jakob the giant.  Jakob made her smile just by the mere sight of him.  She enjoyed their nights in the meadow where she would lay on his chest and look up at the stars.  He smelled of the forest and his blue eyes shone.  Maria was amazed to learn that Jakob’s eyes weren’t always blue like the sky but she couldn’t envision them being brown.  She even looked at her reflection in the mirror and imagined her dark blue eyes turning lighter as she grew.  She also enjoyed hearing the loud sound of Jakob’s heartbeat.  She then wondered if it would be as loud once she grew into her giantess form.

Maria only packed the essentials, a couple of garments and the rest food and water.   She left her stately gowns for Hilda to do with what she will.  Maria had no need for her possessions that she will be far too big to use once the forest accepted her.

The knock outside her bedroom door only meant that it could be one person, her sweet giant.  Maria smiled when that kind handsome face filled her vision.  Jakob was much taller than his sister leaving him to be as tall if not taller than the stately house.  Jakob was well protected by the sun with the hood of his cape.  It saddened Maria that she couldn’t see her giant in the sunlight long but soon she will join him.

“We are ready to move on.  Erik gave Hilda the keys to the house.  Marta took care of feeding Elisa.  All we need is you, my dear one,” Jakob said rather shyly.  Despite spending time with Maria, Jakob still let his shy demeanor show through.  He blushed every time he called Maria an endearment.  This only caused Maria to fall for the giant more.

Maria was getting ready to grab her cask and knapsack when Jakob’s large hand stopped her.  “I will take care of that.  I cannot have my woman carrying her burden,” Jakob said with a shy smile.  Maria smiled in return as she stepped closer to the railing.  Jakob’s face was close enough to her that she climbed the railing and kissed the tip of his nose.  This only caused Jakob’s pink cheeks to turn red.

“I can’t wait to be held by you the way I was meant to be, my beautiful giant,” Maria whispered.  Jakob returned her kiss with one to the forehead. 

“Soon my dear one,” Jakob whispered back as he took Maria’s bag and cask.  He packed it into his own large knapsack and then held Maria in his arms like a mother would a babe…

Marta watched as Elisa was eating her porridge.  Marta gently wiped the mess from the tot’s cheek.

“I thirsty,” Elisa tells Marta.  It was then that Marta decided against giving Elisa the water from the well.  Marta instead filled the tiny glass with water from her personal cask, water that had been put there by magic.

“I have some special water for you.  It’s a secret,” Marta tells the little girl.

“Will it make me big?” Elisa asked.

“Yes,” Marta said as she smiled down at the little girl.

“As big as Aunt Maria?”

“Yes, but it’ll be our secret,” Maria answered.  She wanted to give Erik a gift.  Secretly feeding Elisa the magic waters is her gift to him.  By the time they journeyed back to their home, Erik will be his proper size, so it seemed only right that Elisa will be right there with him….

“Are we ready to go home?” Jakob said to the three humans and his sister.  Marta held Elisa in the pocket of her tunic while she held Erik in her arms much like Jakob did Maria.  The arrangement is much different than when Ansel traveled with them.  Jakob and Marta both wanted to see the wonder in their lovers’ eyes.  Ansel and Gerta stood alongside Hila and the children as they watched the giants and their friends go on their way.  Gerta cried while Ansel held her close.   Gerta looked over at Hilda and realized that she and Ansel are now the resident giants.

“We can go anytime you wish my wife.  All you have to do is say the word.  First we must let our children build a new life for Erik and Maria.  They will return and when they do, we shall go with them and become as they are,” Ansel reassures his wife. 

Being bigger than all the men in the village hasn’t been an easy change for Gerta.  The villagers would stare at both her and Ansel.  The women of the village were half her size just as she originally was before Ansel feed her the magic water.  She was also much stronger than all the men and even the oxen and mules.  Gerta felt out of place.  Not quite a human but yet not quite a giant either.

Gerta did enjoy her newfound youthfulness that came with her size though.  The villagers did admire her beauty as did her Ansel.  That part of being big never bothered the small giantess.  The fear some of the villagers had of her and Ansel did.

“They promised to return once Erik, Maria and little Elisa finished growing,” Ansel whispered into his wife's ear.  “Then we will move with them, for now we must stay and help the village.”  Gerta nodded.  She had promised along with Ansel that they would stay and help the village until the giants return since both Ansel and Gerta were the biggest and strongest people in the village.  Their day of true gianthood will come, just not at the moment…

Jakob and Erik hunted the woods for food while the women set up camp for the night.  Jakob had brought with him two full grown bucks while Erik brought back two large hares.  Jakob prepared the beast for cooking while Erik took care of Elisa.

“I hungry papa,” Elisa tells Erik.  Erik smiled at his little girl.  Erik knew that he had grown throughout the day.  Ansel’s borrowed garment needed rolled down a bit when he returned with the food.

“I am too, my dear one,” Erik said as he held Elisa in his arms.  Erik knew a whole hare would suffice for him while Maria and Elisa would share the second one.  Little did Erik realize, Elisa had eaten more of the beast than Maria had.  Marta secretly gave Elisa the water that only made the tot’s appetite even more ravenous as the journey went on…

“You are getting too heavy for your Aunt Maria,” Maria told Elisa as she picked her up.  “Usually one loses weight on a journey but I swear you are growing like a weed, Elisa.”

Marta knew she should say something about feeding Elisa the water from her cask but she wanted this to be a surprise for Erik.

“Nonsense sister, Elisa feels no heavier to me,” Erik said as he looked down at his sister.  Erik noticed with each passing day that he was looking farther and farther down at his sister.  Ansel’s oversized garment now fitted Erik’s strong frame perfectly.  “Besides, this journey I have found myself growing more and more like a weed,” Erik then said with a smile.

“So you are,” Maria said, returning her brother’s smile.  Maria didn’t care that she felt small.  She rather enjoyed the company of the giants.  Jakob and her would steal away from camp to enjoy the last moments of her human life.  Maria knew in her heart that once she drank and bathed in the waters of the forest she would no longer be considered human.  Now her brother is teetering on the borderline of humanity and is currently growing into his new gigantic form.  In a few more days, her brother will be wearing the garments of her lover.  This didn’t frighten Maria as much as having to make garments for a tot bigger than her current size.  By then, Maria hoped to have her newly gigantic frame as well…

Under the full moon Maria curled up into a ball on the chest of her giant as they lay in a field.  Jakob lazily stroked the small form of his lover.  Maria listened to the soothing sound of Jakob’s heart.  She could even feel it pulse under her.  Jakob’s fingers pulled Maria’s honey colored hair from her eyes and he looks down at her blissful expression.  This made Jakob smile.

“What are you thinking about my dear one?” Jakob asks her.  Maria felt his every word as he spoke, the soothing rhythms of her giant.

“I was wondering if your heart will sound the same once I am of proper size,” Maria said as she looked up into that blue gaze.  Jakob let out a small but gentle laugh.

“I wondered if your hair will be just as soft but in my heart I know the answer,” Jakob said as he stroked Maria’s hair.  Maria giggled as she rolled over onto her stomach.

“And what might that answer be, my giant?” Maria asked playfully.  Jakob smiled.

“Always my little one.  Your hair will always feel like spun silk to my fingers,” Jakob bashfully answered.

“As I am sure your heart will always beat loudly for me,” Maria said playfully to the giant underneath her.  Jakob was big but Maria never felt small around him.  In fact for the first time, she truly felt loved.

“Hold still Elisa while I put your dress on,” Maria said after she bathed her niece in the creek.  Jakob sat close by to keep both the humans well protected in case bandits showed.

“I holding still, Aunt Maria,” Elisa declared.  Maria had noticed that her niece seemed to be growing lately but she hadn’t noticed that the growth wasn’t all that normal.  Maria thought Elisa was going through a growth spurt like most children but Jakob noticed the signs as he kept a tight lip.  It had been close to a week since the giants and the three humans started on their journey back to the Black Forest.  It was about the same amount of time Jakob and Marta lived in the forest when they started noticing their change.  Jakob cursed to himself when he realized what Marta had done.

Jakob watched as Maria struggled to dress Elisa in the tight garment.  Maria frowned and started going through her knapsack.  She struggled to pull the dress back off of Elisa and dressed Elisa in a blouse she had packed.  “This will just have to do,” Maria said to the tot.  “You are having one growth spurt Elisa,” Maria said, exasperated from her struggle of dressing a three year old.  Elisa giggled while Maria rolled up the sleeves.

Erik now stood as tall as Marta’s waist and took to walking on his own as he found he could almost keep up with the two giants.  Erik’s growth seemed to be quickening as the days went on.  He barely noticed Elisa’s growth which seemed to be helped along with the water.  Maria watched her brother’s ever expanding height.  Sometimes his growth could be seen.  Erik even noticed his expanding stride as they walked through the woods.  Everything began to appear smaller.  He only wore one of Jakob’s tunics as he had to discard Ansel’s garments.  By the end of the day, Erik stood as high as Marta’s breasts.  This made Erik smile as they sat up camp.

“Here soon I will be looking you in the eyes, dear one,” Erik said as he put his arms around Marta’s waist and looked up into those two blue pools.  Marta smiled down at her little man with his oversized tunic and pants.  Erik had been walking with bare feet since he had outgrown everything.  Jakob’s garment made him appear boy like to Marta.

“The way you have been growing, I guess by morning.  It is like your body can’t wait to hold me,” Marta quietly said the last sentence.  Erik smiled up at his blushing giantess.

“That is because I can’t,” Erik responded with a smirk that made Marta giggle.

“Your eyes already look like mine and Jakob’s but you still seem to take the sun better than we can,” Marta said while Erik let her go.

“Maybe it is because I am not growing in the darkness like you and Jakob have,” Erik said as the two sat down by the fire where little Elisa lies fast asleep dreaming of her new giant world.  Erik gently kissed his little girl’s forehead as she slept.  Marta’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of the giant father with his little girl.

“We should probably sleep too.  Tomorrow we will be in the Black Forest.  I noticed the trees are starting to get taller,” Marta said.  “That is a sign we are getting close.”

Erik yawned and lay next to his daughter while Marta lay down next to him.  Marta took Erik’s little hand into her own as they lay there.  “Goodnight my love,” Erik said and kissed the giantess’s hand.  Marta blushed and fell into a slumber.

Jakob woke up his sister.  It was still dark and the humans were fast asleep.  Jakob noticed that Erik’s lying form seemed to slowly expand.  He shook his head and thought it only an illusion.

“We need to talk sister,” Jakob said in a serious tone.  Marta wiped the sleep from her eyes knowing that Jakob had something important to tell her.  “Not here.  Someplace private,” Jakob whispered as Marta stood up.

Marta followed Jakob away from the camp.  Being a giant meant that Jakob and Marta were beyond the reach of Erik and Maria.  Jakob stopped and looked at his sister with a furious gaze.

“What are you doing to Elisa, Marta?” Jakob barked out, upset with his sister.  “Can’t you wait till we are back at our cabin?”

“I’m doing it for Erik.  I want him to be able to hold her like he should,” Marta said, upset with her brother for yelling at her.

“Has it ever occurred to you that Maria cares for the girl while Erik provides?  The poor woman can barely lift her and besides, we need at least one normal sized human traveling with us.  Maria can’t do that too well if she’s hurt.  Who’s going to distract the humans for us?” Jakob spat out, concerned for his human lover.  Tears filled Marta’s eyes.  Marta never realized her ignorance of practical matters, all she thought about was her lover.  Jakob realized how hard he was being on his sister as she broke down crying.  He put his arm around her.  “I should have never raised my voice like that.  The damage is done.  I’m sorry, Marta,” Jakob then said in a softer tone.

“I understand Jakob,” Marta sobbed out.  “I should have never given Elisa the water.  I should have waited just as you are with Maria.  I’m sorry.”

Jakob sat down next to his sister with his arm still around her.  Jakob pulled out a cloth and handed it over to his sobbing sister.  “You are going to have to tell Maria first thing in the morning.  She needs to know Marta.  She will know by then anyway.  I figure Elisa will be twice as big as a child her age should be.  Maria will know for certain,” Jakob gently tells his sister and Marta nodded.

Erik woke up the next morning staring at the face of his love.  Marta’s braid coiled in front of her sleeping form.  Erik reaches over and moves some stray locks from her closed eyes.  He catches a glimpse of his hand as he does this.  Marta’s peaceful face seems small.  Erik sat up and noticed the sleeves of the tunic seemed to have ridden up during his slumber as well as the legs of his pants.  He then looks down at the sleeping form of his daughter.  He holds his hand over the child to see that she could easily fit in his palm.

“I am giant,” Erik whispers to himself as he looks down at his newly enlarged form.

“Erik,” Maria said in shock of her newly mountainous brother.   “You have grown and you’re big.”  Maria seemed shocked by Erik’s new size even though it was expected.  To Erik, Maria appeared to be the size of a child’s plaything even though he was still seated by the cinders. 

“Fully grown now,” Erik said with a smirk and Maria smiled as she looked up into her brother’s eyes to see that they are now the same color as the two other giants.  Erik’s face seemed slender just like to rest of him but Maria suspected Erik to be taller than her giant now as she noticed the length of the garments.

“How does it feel brother?” Maria asks aware of the sleeping giants and little girl.

“I feel stronger and more alive.  I see and hear everything around me more clearly than before,” Erik quietly tells his sister.  Erik slowly stood up, feeling a little unsteady in his nearly enlarged frame but he managed to stay on his two bare feet.  Maria gasped as she looked up at Erik.  Erik was wearing Jakob’s borrowed garments noticed that the legs of his pants went up a few inches higher than should be.  Then Maria fretted.

“I have no time to fix this,” Maria said as she grabbed the cuff of Erik’s borrowed pants.  Erik just smiled down at his diminutive sister who was only as tall as his mid-calf.  He wanted to laugh but reframed from it.  “And shoes dear brother.  Where are we ever going to find shoes big enough to fit those feet?” Maria joked with a big smile on her face.

Erik took his sister by surprise when he picked her up and held her in the crook of his arm.  “The same place we’re going to get shoes to fit these feet,” Erik said as he gingerly removed Maria’s shoe.  She yelped and kicked at her brother’s large hand.  Then she giggled at Erik who smiled at her.  “Soon sister you will get your turn.  Till then, I’m going to enjoy being your big brother,” Erik playfully tells her as he gently puts her shoe back on and puts Maria back down on the ground.

“It should be soon from the way Jakob talks.  He said the forest isn’t far.  The taller trees and the larger animals are a sign and I’ve noticed some large birds flying around,” Maria said as she looked up at the sky.

“Papa,” Erik heard his daughter moan in her early morning slumber.  Erik went back to sitting on the ground close to where Elisa lays.  Erik gently picked up the sleeping form and held her in his palm.  Elisa was so small to him now as he gently rocked her.  This had Erik content.  He even tucked the blanket around her.

“I am here my child.  I am big enough to protect you,” Erik whispered to her as he gently stroked the small bundle but to Maria, Elisa looked anything but small.

Marta awoke to Erik sitting next to her, holding his daughter but not in a way Marta ever thought possible.  She smiled at Erik who was gently humming to the small form in his palm.  Erik seemed much bigger than Marta ever imagined as she studied his new growth.  Erik took his free hand and caressed the giantess’s cheek.  Marta couldn’t believe the size of his hand.

“I am a giant now,” Erik whispered to her as she looked into his intense gaze to find that his blue eyes were much lighter now and his face much thinner.  He looked more like a giant than the human she fell in love with.  Marta wasn’t sure of what she thought of the new Erik.  Erik noticed this in her eyes and gave her an unsure look.  “Do you not like me like this?” Erik asks her and Marta gives him a gentle smile.

“Much more,” she says and kisses his hand.  Erik all the sudden felt right to her.

Jakob looked upon the new giant with startled eyes.  Erik grew quite a bit overnight.  He barely came to Marta’s shoulders before he went to sleep the night before and now Erik was a few inches taller than Jakob and also a bit broader.  Jakob then realized that his boot heel gave him some extra height leaving Erik to be even taller with his bare feet.  Jakob suspected this much for Erik always appeared taller than the other humans so it only made sense that he would be a tall giant as well.  Jakob also realized how much nicer it was going to be to have an extra set of strong hands around to help him with the cabin and the upcoming expansion. 

“You are my brother,” Jakob tells the new giant and gave Erik a hug.  “This is cause for celebration and for a much shorter journey.”

Marta started feeling guilty when she saw the very small yet very happy Maria.  Marta knew that she must tell the small human of her misdeed.  Maria will know once Little Elisa awakens.  Marta’s only experience with children had only been recently when she helped the villagers.  To Marta, just like with the average humans, they all seem small and delicate.  Marta couldn’t tell the size difference between a five year old and a seven year old, to Marta they all looked far too fragile.

The two giant men laughed and celebrated.  Marta looked somber.  Maria noticed this as the smile on her face turned to concern for the giantess.

“What is wrong, Marta?  Are you not happy for my brother?” Maria looked up at the giantess and asked.  Marta hung her head low, avoiding Maria’s gaze.

“I am, it just that…”

“What Marta?”

“I did something wrong,” Marta mumbled.

“What is it?” Maria asked.

“Aunt Maria,” a small voice moaned.  The bundle that had been Elisa was waking up.  The little girl stood up and Maria gasped at the sight of her three year old niece.  Elisa stood as tall as a child twice her age.

“I have been giving Elisa Black Forest water,” Marta admitted. 

Maria walked over to her niece who was still wearing one of her tunics.  Maria still couldn’t believe her eyes as she got closer to the tot.  Elisa would have looked the right size in Ansel and Gerta’s arms but not hers.  Elisa body even took on the slim characteristics of Marta, Jakob and even her father despite her cherub face.  Elisa eyes even looked different, blue as the sky.  Elisa looked up at her aunt and noticed she didn’t have to look as high.  The little girl then giggled.

“Aunt Maria, you look little to me,” Elisa pointed out.

“You have been growing Elisa?” Maria asked the giantess.  Marta looked away, ashamed.  Maria then understood the giantess’s motive.  “You’ve been growing Elisa for Erik.  You want Erik to have his daughter,” Maria said in a gentle voice as she patted Marta’s calf.  “You truly love my brother.”

Marta looked down at Maria.  Maria seemed sincere to the giantess.  Maria looked at Marta with sad yet kind eyes.  “You want to make Elisa your daughter and give her a mother’s love.  Just like the love your own mother gave you before you left her,” Maria said as Marta began to cry.

“I didn’t mean to,” she sobbed.  “I couldn’t wait till we were home.”

Erik put his arm around Marta and pulled her close to him.  As a human, Erik thought Marta was far too delicate for a giantess and now that he is a giant himself, this only confirmed his thoughts.  To Erik, Marta is a small and delicate creature unlike his sister who was tall and sure much like the stock he came from.  Erik gently kissed her forehead.  Marta felt protected for the first time in her adult life.  Erik was like a warm blanket to her as she took in his scent.

“My little Marta,” Erik whispered in her ear.  “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Marta quietly sobbed.  She looked up into his intense blue eyes.  Erik touched her cheek and held her.  Marta never thought she would have the strong arm of another giant encircle her.  Erik leaned down and kissed her cheek.  Marta moved until their lips met.  Erik guided Marta as he officially gave Marta the giantess’s first kiss.  Marta was stiff at first and then relaxed.  She put her arms around Erik’s neck and gave in.  Soon she was in rhythm with her giant.

“Papa, does this mean Marta my Momma?” Elisa's little voice asked.  Erik and Marta broke from the kiss and laughed.  Marta buried herself into Erik chest as he held her close.

“Someday, my sweet,” Erik said as he smiled gently at his little girl.