Jake hefted the large ax over his shoulder, and began the long trip to the trader gathering in the eastern colonies. A young man of 16, Jake was a strong young lad with his fathers bright blonde hair and his mothers deep blue eyes. They were of a middle class family, who lived in one of the new colonies of america, his father and mother had both fled britain with the colonists when he was six, and he had lived in america ever since.
Times here were not easy, his life in britain, from what he could remember, was a cushy one, exotic teas and foods everyday, lunches with governors and royalty, but here he had learned true life skills, like how to survive. The trek from his small farmhouse into the wilderness typically took him a few weeks. He brought enough food for a few days, and the rest he found himself. It had become routine to gather as much firewood and other supplies before winter settled every year. sometimes he would come across traders from other villages, or he would trade with the natives for food and clothing. It was this lifestyle that had made Jake so independent, he was truly able to fend for himself, but that didn't stop his mother from worrying.
As always, he'd spent most of the morning discussing his route with his mother.
"yes mother", he'd say, "I'll stick to the road, I'll stay nice and warm, I won't talk to strangers, I promise".
His father on the otherhand, had a different send off. they'd both wake before the sun roze, and sit on the roof of the barn.
"you'll come back with something for little tod won't you"? his father would ask.
"of course I will", Jake would reply, and his father would grip his shoulder and say, "you'll make a fine man someday lad", and they'd both watch the sunrise.
Before he left, jake would always sneak quietly into his little brother Tod's room and say his goodbye's while he slept.
"I'll bring you back the biggest damn pumpkin you've ever seen, the natives grow 'em larger than old nan's head"! he'd ruffle his dark brown hair and stand in the doorway awhile, just watching. Then he'd quietly gather his things and attempt to set off on his journey, but was always stalled at the door by his sobbing mother.
"Promise me"! she'd yell at him, "you'll stay safe"! I will mom, he'd said. Shed turn to his father and cry into him, his father would nod, and jake would turn and leave. That was the hardest part, saying goodbye.
jake trudged along, enjoying the early morning sun on his face. The birds were just waking, and the peach trees were filling the air with their scent.
Jake relished these moments of peace, they gave him time to think.
School was definetely not a large part of his town's society, but he did manage to read a book now and again. Most of his time was spent either tending the fields and livestock at home, or in church, as was expected.
He would have hated church, if not for Katrina being there. Katrina was the most lovely girl in the world to him. They had met as children when the town had first settled, and had been together ever since. They had both discovered their sexualities with eachother. Her bright red hair brought a smile to his face everytime he looked at her. More than once he had been called to the podium by father matthews for not paying attention to the sermon, and was forced to read many a verse, but Jake enjoyed these punishments, they gave him a chance to show he wasn't just another farmhand, but also an intellegent young man. He was able to pronounce almost every word correctly and amazed everyone with his knowledge of the bible, refrencing verses and other things from scripture.
Jake smiled once again as he thought on his beautiful Katrina, he wished he could have said farewell to her as well, but then they would be given away, and friendships at their age were often looked down upon, due to the "urges" they both had.
But they managed, every day at mass, they would see eachother, father matthews would teach a smaller sermon in the mornings for the youth of the small town, and whenever Jake wasn't needed at the farm he could always find Katrina attending the sermon, as her parents were strict and kept to puritain beleifs in god and church.
But other than church, where they managed to see eachother from across a crowded room, festivals were the only time they actually touched one another. The coming of the Natives in the spring was when they discovered themselves, it had been both a terrifying and exciting experiance.
They both knew from that point on that they would be more than friends, they wanted to be together. They wanted to marry.
Unfortunately, betrothing was a difficult process in their town. The man must present the father of his love with some of his belongings, and if Jake could not find honest work, he could not marry katrina.
That was why he was here, on his way to the eastern colonies, not just to help prepare his family's home, but to find a job for the coming winter, one where he could work, and then return home to present Katrinas father with the fruits of his labour.
Jake hoped he would be successful, if he and Katrina were to be together, he would need work, money, a house, a herd, and a strong reputation.
He shook his head and continued onward, it would not be an easy process.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jake had been walking for hours, the hot mid-day sun now beat down on his neck. beads of sweat crawled down his face and fell to the dirt road below. The ax now burdened him deeply, causing him much pain in his shoulder. Jake dropped his pack and set the ax down on it, here was fine.
He stretched his arms high above his head and craned his neck to get a good view of his surroundings. Thick green forest guarded either side of the empty road. somewhere nearby to his right, he heard running water.
Jake lifted his belongings and set them against a stump and memorized where they were. he then set off through the brush, until he came across a small stream. The water was clear, so he decided to have a drink. He cupped his hands and drank deeply from the stream, washing his face and neck. He stood to leave, when he spied an apple tree just a bit further past the stream.
Jake looked back to the road, which was still slightly visible.
stay on the road ,his mothers words echoed in his head. he pondered a moment, and decided it couldn't hurt.
Jake lept across the small body of water and landed neatly on the other side. he climbed through a few bushes and found the tree. He plucked the biggest apple he could find and bit into it. It's sweet juices poured onto his chin, and he sucked it dry, the apple was definetely good.
Without consciously knowing what he was doing, Jake began to explore the surrounding area, walking aimlessly through the woods, welcoming the shade the trees brought him.
When the apple was done, he wiped his face and tossed the core away into the grass and turned to go back, when he was faced with a problem, he had no idea where he was.
He looked left and right, climbed a small tree, but could not figure out where the road was.
He began to panic, despite what his head told him.
Once again he found himself wandering aimlessly around the forest, stumbling over rocks and roots, seeing shadows running past his vision.
He began to run, even though you must never do this when lost, he ran, bolting into the forest, away from some unseen enemy, charging through bushes and trees, over rocks and roots. he did this until the sun grew low in the sky.
Night was coming, fast.
Jake was now terrified. His eyes darted from left to right, searching the forest for danger he wasn't even sure was there, he wished he'd brought his ax.
Jake was beggining to believe he would die here, alone, when light reached his eyes as he pulled away some branches blocking his path. It was coming from a small cottage in the distance. Jake ran for it.
As he ran to the cottage, Jake didn't notice as the trees seemed to grow, stretching into the sky, as blades of grass were soon taller than him.He was so happy as the cottage grew closer, that he didn't notice until he was in its yard how big it was. It was a house built for a giant.
The front door stretched high into the horizon, dwarfing the small man at its steps. The steps themselves would have required him to get a running start to climb over them.
Jake froze. something about this place felt unfriendly. he had never imagined a house this large could exist, and whoever was inside must have been a giant. jake had heard tales of giants who delighted in eating tiny people like himself.
But when he turned and face the ever darkening forest, whos trees now stretched high above him, he could not force himself into them. The house was his best bet.
Jake mantled up over the cracked stone steps one at a time, taking care not to fall. The process didn't take him long, and soon he was at the massive front door, he was able to crouch beneath it and slide into the house.
The room he was in was well lit. In its center was a table, decorated with flowers, a large comfy chair sat before it, decorations of all sorts marked the walls. Portraits of old men and young women, a lamp shaped like a dragon's mouth, all manner of odd items litterd the room. Jake wandered through this "living room", until he heard humming, coming from the next room over.
Jake crept silently againt the wall and peeked in through the door frame, but what he found, he did not expect.
It was a kitchen and standing near one of its counters, chopping vegetables, was a woman.
She had long flowing bright red hair, like katrinas, that curled when it met her shoulders. Unlike the women of Jake's small town, she did not feel the need to hide her body.
She wore all black, a blouse that lifted her breasts and ended in the smallest skirt jake had seen in his life. Her feet and arms were bare, to reveal toes that were painted bright red, same as her fingernails, and her lipstick. Dark ashes had been wiped under her eyes to help show off her bright green pupils.
She was stunning.
Jake watched her roam about her kitchen, gathering items for her dinner. suddenly being eaten didn't seem so bad.
But Jake had no plans to die, somehow he would need to get her attention. He had no idea who this giant woman was, but he needed her help if he was to live, and if he was to figure out how he had gotten so small.
Jake made his way quickly from the towering doorframe to the massive leg of one of the wooden chairs set around the dining table. He covered the distance quickly and was hidden well in the shadows beneath the table.
He watched her closely. She resembled a regular women in everything but size, and the sense of hiding one's body. From his position, Jake was tempted with a view up her blouse. From what he could see the titanic woman was definetely well developed, her backside was the perfect amount of plump, she was easily a master over the deadly sin of lust.
Katrina, Jake remembered, and forced himself to tear his gaze from beneath the giantesses skirts'. He must remain faithful, temptation is the devil's aid.
Now, how to get her attention he schemed, or better yet, do I even want her attention?
His wet nurse had told him many stories when he was younger, of the many creatures that dwelled in the forests. Giants, Witches, Trolls, Elves, Fairies, Pixies, Goblins, and the drak one himself, Lucifer. If any of it had been remotely true, she would probably have more reason to harm than help him.
He would watch for now. He desperately wanted help, to get out of the situation he was in, but he had to be sure. He would watch from afar, this woman, and he would discover what kind of giantess she was.
He returned his attention to her, watching closely. She was still mixing ingredients into the large glowing pot before her.
Handy in the kitchen, as a good woman should be Jake joked with himself.Suddenly though, he felt a shiver crawl up his spine.
She waved her hand in the air and immediately, all manner of kitchen utensils hopped up and began to move about, as if they had minds of their own.
Jake's eyes grew wide with fear. A WITCH!? He felt fear grip his stomach. This was definetely not good. A GIANT and a WITCH!? A combination that definetely did not bode well for him.
He backed further away from her as spoons and ladles danced about the kitchen countertops. Jake's mind began to formulate an escape plan.
No, no that won't work, I can't leave! He thought to himself. If I leave, I could be eaten, or worse! well, that's probably as bad as it gets but still! eaten! Like it or not, he had to stay, to figure out a way to fix his predicament. No doubt one of her spells did thsi to me, well then, it only makes sense that one could undo it too, right?
He was torn from his thoughts as she turned and approached him. She had turned from the countertop and walked towards his current hiding place, the ground shook slightly beneath her bare feet.
Jake gasped as her right foot landed directly in front of him, so close that he was almost standing between her big and second toe. He froze and held his breath, not just in fear, but the odor here was more than unpleasant.
Her toes wiggled, bright red polish gleaming, she was fiddling with something on the table above, completely unaware of the tiny boy so close to her massive foot.
Jake backed away slowly, cautiously taking each step, until he backed into the chair leg bbehind him. He held himslef against it, the witche's foot still ominously to close for him to relax yet.
She began to tap it on the floor in impatience, buffeting Jake with waves of her foot odor. He felt it then. A cough. He held his hand over his mouth and tried to hold it back. He heaved as the cough welled up inside him. It caused him to lurch forward, and he accidently stumbled right were he was trying to avoid.
He rammed face first between the witche's toe's. At his touch, she instinctevely clenched her toes, wrinkling her sole. As the life was crushed out of him Jake managed a weak groan, but he dared not make more noise than that.
The air escaped his lungs and he felt his face begin to grow hot. He barley managed a pathetic inhale of oxygen. She continued to tap her foot again, and jarred Jake's body up and down.
Jake used his free legs to push off of her foot, the shaking of her foot helping to free him.
He rolled across the floor, gasping for air. He scooted himslef as far away from her foot as possible. Bloody thing's a death trap! He raged.
She returned to her countertop, her task had been finished. Jake watched her a bit more cautiously now, his eyes darting to her feet now and again. She rummaged around her drawers, adding items to the large pot that now had a distinctive green glow. She approached it and began to mutter into it's boiling opening.
What's she up to? Jake wondered. I have to find out. Jake looked around for some kind of vantage point he could use to observe what she was doing. The chair he realized, and set to climbing it.
Jake hugged the chair leg and began to scramble up it's smooth wooden surface. The engravings it had made his job much easier. He wrestled his way over the edge and sat there panting. Quite the ordeal.
He stood and snuck to its edge, looking to where the giant witch was still muttering into her coffin. Ah much better he thought to himself.
From what he could tell, the woman was muttering nonsense, a spell most likely, that gave Jake a cold feeling. The devils work was a disgusting blight on Gods beautiful world.
He watched on warily, until she raised herself from over the cauldron and wiped her hands on her bodice.
Seems she's done Jake thought.
Then she turned suddenly, towards him, and began to approach.
Caught off guard, Jake stumbled and fell on his hindquarters. Oh no! She'll see me! He panicked. He was rocked violently as she pulled the chair he sat on from beneath the table. Jake gaped in awe.
The witche's massive rear end began to descend on him, the fabric stretched thinly across her cheeks. Jake managed a weak cry before he was consumed by her back end. His soft muffles from beneath her doing nothing to enlighten her to his prescence.