The morning sun woke us up. It was still pretty early judging by the pinkish color of the sky but the sun was a bit high up on the horizon. Recollecting memories from the evening before, I could reconstruct what happened after we had satisfied our thirst, and once again our lust.

We decided to try and eat the trees on the mountain. Mimi went first. There were mostly coast pines, pretty tall and firm. She eradicated a bunch of them from the mountain side and put them in her mouth. She started chewing and with the wood still in her mouth she confirmed it was edible and had a curious taste. And after that she started eating increasingly more trees. I followed her example and that’s when it kicked in. A sensation of insatiable urge to keep eating, biting, chewing, swallowing without pause. After the first two or three minutes of total madness I regained consciousness but not the control of my body.

Mimi looked like in my same condition. She was literally grazing the mountain side and my body was fighting with hers for the small space of the bay. Ca va sans dire, the trees on the mountain side were not enough to stop that visceral hunger, and we both climbed the mountain and kept eating acre after acre of forest. Mimi was ahead of me and she was bulldozing everything in front of her. She kept eating everything, she encountered the first pylon of the mountain power line and ripped it out of the earth with the cables still attached, without further thinking she put it in her mouth and chewed it like it was licorice, she sucked the cables tearing them from the line, it led her to the next pylon and so on for a good while.

I didn’t have time to process our capability to chew metal because my body dragged my consciousness up the road. I started tearing a mountain street handful after handful, guardrail and streetlights included. I couldn’t distinguish if there were cars, but I strongly hoped not. My hope were in vain though, because among other things the road brought me up to the location of a very large mansion in the wood. I tried to oppose any resistance but neither hands nor legs seemed to respond to my command. I licked the big black steel gate and part of the wall dividing the wilderness from the property and then started sucking the trees planted in the very large garden one by one. Finally my head was directly upon the roof of the four stories high mansion.

But I couldn’t sink my face in it because Mimi preceded me by an instant. She bit the top floor of the mansion leaving the insides of the building visible from up there. And she kept biting like she was consuming a slice of melon. It didn’t take more than four or five bites to completely cancel the mansion from existence. She innocently continued eating the trees around. On the one hand I was relieved I hadn’t eaten someone’s house, on the other I felt a little like someone had stolen the food from my plate.

Our hunger didn’t find any satisfaction for a good fifteen minutes. I had the occasion to eat two smaller mansions on my path of destruction and also an abandoned construction site. At that point, Mimi was out of my sight. Only when I finally regained control of my limbs I could stop one moment a breath. I turned to both sides and finally saw Mimi again sitting in a small valley. She was plucking street lights from a larger street on the mountain side and eating them lazily.

“Mimi, stop! I know it’s crazy, but you have to stop!” I held her hands.
“What? Why?” She answered.
“Oh gosh! You’re conscious!”
“Yes, I have been conscious for a while, but I could control my body only since a couple minutes.”
“Yeah, it happened to me too. What was that? It was crazy! Wait, you regained the control of your body and you were still eating street lights.” She looked at me with the base of a larger pylon in between her lips. She sucked it in and answered.
“Well, apparently we won’t starve. Because we can eat everything. And I am still hungry, so I was eating what’s on the menu.”
“I am still hungry too, but I just regained control. I don’t know if it’s right to eat human constructions.”
“Zack, you hate at least three houses!”
“I think it was two, and apart from that … I didn’t do it on purpose!”
“Don’t worry. I ate at least four.” She looked a little in distress thinking about it. I surely was. After a moment of pause she asked.
“Do you think that …?”
My face whitened “I don’t know. I hope not.”
“I mean, I didn’t see any light turned on.”
“Yeah … but …”
“What?”
“Well, you ate the power line so who knows.”
 “Wow, can you imagine that? You chilling in your house and then the lights go off and a moment later you’re tumbling down someone’s throat.”
“I don’t want to think about that. I mean, these are almost all vacation homes, they should be empty!” I tried to argue.
“Yeah, but it’s summer now …” Mimi said with the tone of someone speaking to herself, then she continued. “Well, I’d be very sorry for them, anyway. But I didn’t do it on purpose and neither did you. If anything, that was an accident, like a landslide or an earthquake.”

I thought about it. I was sure that even though it was my mouth that swallowed those houses, it wasn’t my mind that allowed those acts. I didn't like to think about it, instead in Mimi's tone I had the impression to read more like a curiosity about that possibility rather than the repuslion I was experiencing.

“Maybe we should eat more and see if we can control ourselves. I mean, maybe we were starving to the point of losing our minds.”
“I don’t know. It’s like the first time we had sex. It was almost like I wasn’t even there.”
“Yeah! - she exclaimed – but the more we had sex the less it was mindless. I mean, last time I was in complete control of myself. Didn’t you too?”
I thought about it, it didn’t seemed noble to affirm proudly that I had fucked my girlfriend from behind while smacking her ass, but on the other hand, to think that the mindlessness was only temporary was heartwarming.
“Yeah, maybe it’s like you say. The more we do something, the less we lose control.”
“So it’s decided. We can keep eating stuff.”
“I think the best thing is to take turns for now and see. You go first, if I see you losing control, I’ll be able to stop you”

Mimi looked at me and nodded like she was accepting a dangerous mission. She then turned back to the street and put one streetlight after the other in her mouth. After she had eaten a hundred meters of tarmac, steel and cables she turned back to me and smiled “Ok, it’s fine. I didn’t lose control. I think it’s safe now.”

Still not sure I started collecting oaks from the ground and as soon as I had a dozen in my hand I put them in my mouth and chewed. I checked every movement of my jaw in order to observe if it felt an action of my making or an act of madness like it had been until a moment ago. I looked like Mimi was right. I turned back to her and jumped in fear.
“Mimi! What are you doing?”
“What?” she asked innocently.
“You have a building in your hand! Have you lost control again?”
“Me? No. I checked it. It was all dark so I thought I could eat it. Do you want it?” She offered me the building. I took it and put it close to my face. I tried to look inside from the large windows. It seemed empty, but it was a complete mess. It was very difficult to be sure.

I hoped for the best and gobbled it up in two bites. Mimi took that like a final permit and from that moment on she ate whatever she wanted without asking my opinion. I did the same, but just to be sure I avoided other buildings. After we had cleared the valley from almost all the forest and possibly all human constructions we sat side by side at the center of our devastation.

“Well, it was indeed satisfying.” She commented.
“Yes, I really needed that!”
“Well, it’s getting dark, we should rest.” That said she leaned on on side, her feet excavated their way into the mountain range. I stretched behind her and hugged her with one arm.
“Mimi?”
“What?”
“This whole day was crazy!”
“Don’t tell me!” she commented ironic.
“No, I mean. Maybe we should talk a bit about it.”
“What were you thinking of in particular?” I was caught a little off guard.
“Ehr … I don’t know, not anything in particular but. I mean, we are immense, we can eat everything we see, we can displace mountains. What happened?” She paused a moment to think.
“It was the honey, probably. I was thinking about it too, anyway.”
“What?”
“Well … it doesn’t seem like something temporary. We did whatever and we never shrunk back. I don’t know. What if this is how we live now?”
“Like what? Eating forests …?”
“And buildings” she giggled. “But yeah – she continued – what if this is us now? I mean, I confess I like it a little. Don’t you?”
It was a very strange confession. It struck me. “I don’t know. I mean, think of everything! Your parents! My mom? Oh god, she will kill me!” Mimi laughed softly.
“Hehe, my father will kill you first. You fucked his little angel in front of the whole city. Wooo, what a pervert!”
“Come on, Mee, don’t joke on that!”
“Why not? You titanic daughter-fucker!”
“I mean, right. But his little angel spent more time attached to my dick than breathing clean air today.”
I tickled her on the side, she giggled. She turned on her side until we were face to face. She kissed me on the nose, then she went for my mouth. Our tongues met repeatedly. I could taste all she had eaten and I think she could do the same. After a while we detached. She spoke first.
“I think it’s going to be fine. I am with you. Even if we stay this big, I have all I need. We can stay together, do whatever we want, food and water are no problem. I mean, we are stranded on a deserted island, just the island is made of food.” I rolled my eyes a little.
“What?”
“Nothing! You’re right … If this had to happen, at least I am lucky enough to share it with you.” She kissed me again.
“It’s just … - I continued - It’s not a deserted island. I mean, the food is forests, streets, buildings, houses.”
“You’re thinking about the people!”
“I mean, I was thinking about the city. We destroyed it. Well, at least a part of it. And then the wheel, the cove. We have just finished eating a whole landscape. What if we ate also its inhabitants?”
Mimi took a moment to think about it. “I don’t know. It’s possible. But I don’t think it’s that serious.”
“What? Why? People may have died.”
“Yeeeeah – she shrugged – but we didn’t do it on purpose. I mean, we didn’t mean to grow, or to crush or eat anyone. If it happened, it happened to us too. It’s just fate, as I see it. We have been given this size and this power, but we didn’t use it to do harm, just to live. And if by living at this size some people perished, that’s unfortunate. But I won’t take the blame, and neither should you. Have you ever felt guilt for ants?”
“But these are not ants, it’s people we are talking about!” I protested.
“Yes, and that’s why we don’t want to hurt them. But they are also minuscule. And we can be just that good at avoiding them. I mean, who knows if we trampled someone while walking between these mountains. Who knows if there were people beneath us before we lied here. I mean, if I have to live like this from now on I accept it. But I can’t become paranoid for every minuscule person not attentive enough to avoid walking under my soles.”
“I don’t know. Think about your parents, or your sister. What would you think if a giant were to trample them?” She pondered it for a moment.
“Honestly? I think my family is big too. I mean, if it really was the honey they had more than a spoonful of it this morning. Jo ate three slices of bread covered in it in front of my face. I think they grew.”
“Ooookay!”
I wasn’t thinking about that since the conversation we had some hours earlier. Mimi was probably right. At that moment, Micheal, Hannah and Jo were probably titans like us and they were strolling who knows where. Did they lose control too. They were visiting the city of corals, if they lost control there the situation may have become pretty dire for the inhabitants of the city. I thought what they may be doing now if they were gigantic.
I had known them for a while, they were kind and welcoming. They always treated me with respect and affection. Micheal was a funny guy, and he was very down to earth. He liked to note resemblances between him and me. Hannah was extremely affectionate. She liked to cook for me. I knew that because every time I had dinner at their house Jo complained for they ate that well only where I was around. She was a little jealous of me, but still she had gotten used to my presence. They were a common family, like a million other.
And now they were probably titans roaming the coast and the countryside like a beach at their feet. Micheal liked to play the role of the king of the house and Hannah did her best to confirm his undisputed queen. If they had retained their attitude at that size, they could proclaim ownership on entire cities without being too far from the truth. I was wondering what kind of monarchs could the Yates be. But then another thought hit me.
“Well, think of my mom then! What if a giant crushed her? I don’t think I could take that as an accident.” Mimi had closed her eyes but she was far from sleeping.
“Cynthia is a strong and intelligent woman. She would never be so stupid to let someone trample her. And besides, we can always grow her.” She then opened her eyes like the proverbial bulb had lightened in her mind. “You know what? We have to grow her!”
“What? You want to grow my mom?”
“Yes, of course. If my family is already big, which I think it is, we need to go home, take the honey and use it to grow everyone we want. Oh my god! That’s brilliant!”
“What? Why? Who are we going to grow?”
“Think about it. If we are this big and we cause the damages we cause … people may recognize us, and from that trace our families for … who knows, retaliation or worse blackmail. But if we grow them all, we are free of any threat.”
“What are you talking about? Who do you want to grow?”
“Well, I think my family is done. Next step is Cynthia and Nana!”
“WHAT?! Your grandmother Ginevra?”
“Well, she is alone. The whole family is already gigantic, it would make no sense to leave her small.”
“Your words make no sense!” “No, they make all the sense instead. If we manage to grow your mom and my nana we are done, for starter!”
“For starters?! Instead of thinking how to reduce giants, you want to increase their number?”
“Yes!” Mimi was looking in front of her but to nothing in particular if not her current vision of a gigantic future.
“Shouldn’t we, I don’t know, get in contact with … scientist or doctors and well see how to … ungrow?”
“Why would you want that?”
“I don’t know … to get back to normal.”
“Pfff. And besides, I don’t feel like involving scientists would be a great move.”
“What? Why?”
“Well, if it’s magic we are talking about, and honestly, I am no scientist but it doesn’t seem like this is anything but magic here, scientists won’t find anything.”

I considered that statement. I knew only the science taught in school and in online magazines, but everything about our transformation, size, powers. It all didn’t sound very scientific. And if so, maybe there was no cure. Possibly a magic potion to get back to normal. But where would we find an alchemist or something like that? And who made the honey in the first place. It didn’t have labels but just its cap covered by a small chequered cloth. Mimi interrupted my wondering.

“Also, I don’t think that giving to this knowledge to scientists or governments is a good idea.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, a crazy scientist may use this power to do harm, sell it to greedy industrial corps or fabricate supersoldiers. And the same goes for governments. I don’t think people in power should be given … well, more power. Think if a dictator were to obtain the secret before anyone else.”

She was right. In the last year or so she had matured this disenchanted and kind of hostile attitude toward governments and a bit of anti-capitalism. But this was another thing. If I were to have the secret to build a magic weapon I don’t know if giving it to the government would be the greatest idea. We studied WWII last year and as soon as a world power had the magic weapon capable of destroying cities, they used it twice, and they were the “good ones”. And then the whole world lived under that threat for a very long time. Maybe Mimi was right on this. Governments can’t be trusted so much.

The Yates were common people, sometimes a bit shallow, sometimes whimsical, but most of the time really goodhearted and well disposed toward anyone.
“So what’s the alternative? - I asked – We keep this power to us, we grow whoever we like and become a mega family?” Mimi looked at me disapproving my ironic tone.
“We will be a small … well, not numerous, tribe of …”
“Gigantic monsters?”
“If you want to put it that way … I was thinking more of modern days patricians.”
“Eh?”
“Like Roman patricians. Our families can be benevolent patricians and the minuscule people will be the pleb.”
“Just a little bit classist!”
“Just a little bit” She smiled.
“But not so bad. I mean, we don’t need people to do anything for us, because we can find food and water in abundance ourselves. So they will not be like … servants or stuff. They will just be lay people and we will be noble protecting patrons. We may be of help to people!”
“Like how?”
“Well, we can provoke disaster but we can also prevent them. Think of an avalanche, we could dig everyone out in minutes, or solve a flood like the washing machine spilled. I mean, we are like superheroes, more than superheroes! It’s almost … our duty to do that.” I was not convinced at all, but Mimi was not discouraged.
“Think about your mom. She does all that work to protect the environment, she is involved in so many battles. But she always complains they are few and they can’t do much. Think what would it be like if she was as big as us. She could take the situation in her hands literally. Why fight for years in order to close a polluting factory when you can just sit on it?”
It sounded like the strangest environmentalist slogan ever. It was also a little worrying. My mom had been fighting for the environment since I was born. And things got even worse when my dad died because of cancer. The lawyers could never prove it in court, but it was due to the lead dispersed in the subterranean groundwater of his native hometown by the local refinery. If she had the opportunity I think my mom would have just razed the place to the ground.
“And my parents would join! They are so engaged with all her causes now. I mean, they could really make the difference now!”

The thing worrying me the most at that point was that she was starting to breach into my mind. I had seen my mom fight and fail for all my life. It felt strangely satisfying to imagine her able to finally pursue her causes. To imagine her victorious and happy.
“I don’t know. It’s crazy. All of us gigantic and doing whatever we want. People won’t like it.”
“At the beginning, but soon they will see we are fighting for them and not against!”
“Well, your grandma surely won’t do that!”
“What do you mean?”
“Come on, Mee. She is very fond of her aristocratic origins and uses it as an excuse to deem almost everyone as inferior. Can you imagine her with her superiority complex magnified to this scale? She would take complete advantage of such a power and none would convince her not to flatten everyone she dislikes.”
She thought about it for a while. “Well, it’s a cost I am willing to pay. I mean, we can make her reason. She is a bit posh but she is a reasonable person …”
“But will she be a reasonable gigantic monster!”
“Surely she will be a very elegant ... titan. And we will be the rest of the Olympus. Come on, don’t say it’s not tempting!”
“I … I can’t deny that. But it’s still difficult to process. One moment ago we were talking of just the two of us in front of the world and now we are discussing about a tribe of immense beings ruling over people”
“Don’t think it like ruling, it’s more like protect, preserve and … cultivate.”
“You look like a politician or a saleswoman … with our titanic package your planet will get a troupe of immense benevolent rulers to serve and worship!” I joked to ease the tension … well, my tension.
“I don’t think we will need people to serve us, but they surely will want to worship. After all, am I not the pretties little goddess?”

She smiled. I smiled a little. I think she took that as a sign that I was backing her plan. I could not deny that. After all, at least it was a plan. Maybe it wouldn’t deploy as neatly as Mimi described it, but probably to grow mom and even her snooty grandmother was for the best, for now. And then we would see. After another moment of silence I started again.

“But, aren’t you worried?” “What about, now?” Her voice communicated she was far more sleepy now.
“Well, if you family is already big, and we grow my mom and your grandma … well, it would not be like the two of us on a deserted island anymore and more like the two of us at a Sunday party with family. I mean, aren’t you worried for … our privacy?”
Mimi puffed. “I thinhhh – she yawned – I think that it would be a little like that. But it would be a different life. Who knows. Consider it would be a Sunday party with everyone naked. That’s a peculiar starting point.”

Her voice died down softly. I was going to reply again, but I could see she had surrendered to sleep. I followed her example and closed my eyes. The next day the plan was set, find her family and possibly the honey. We would need to trace our way back to the city. I felt also a brush of worry. I realized it was for my mom. I had called her that morning, so maybe she was not looking for me still.

But, either to get back to normal or to grow her, I needed to reach her as soon as possible. I thought no phone would’ve helped me in that situation. I would’ve had to walk up to our hometown. I wondered how far would it be. It was 580 miles to the west. If our previous calculation were right I was tall something above two thousand feet or so. Crazy. And still, it came quite in handy. It would have been just a walk to reach our town and tell my mom everything was alright. Well, almost alright. That thought reassured me, and this reassurance accompanied me into a deep and dreamless sleep.