“They want me to do what?” Trish asked, exasperated. “They realize I’m huge right?” 

“That might be the point.” Margaret replied. It was one of their weekly meetings with the legal team. Trish, Thomas, Jeb, were all seated at a small table on top of Trish’s larger table. The trial was tomorrow, and Margaret had just gotten finished explaining why Trish would actually have to appear in person at the courthouse after the court had rejected efforts to accommodate Trish’s condition. “They’re hoping for a circus. They’re hoping that you’ll slip up and scare people.” 

Trish huffed in frustration. It was true that she was getting scarily big. Just this morning she had hit a new milestone of thirty feet tall, that height she had dreaded being since Thomas revealed to her that she was going to surpass merely being tall to become gigantic. 

Gigantic she was. She was at least five times larger than any of them, a fact punctuated by her need to lean down to listen even while she sat on the ground. She was looming over the proceedings, sitting cross legged with her hands on her knees.

“...Will I even fit in the courthouse? Do they even have doors big enough for me?” she asked anxiously. Thomas ventured a look down at her butt and the way it curved underneath her. Her hips, the widest part of her, were wider than he was tall by an entire foot. Her thighs were around nine feet long. Theoretically, she should be able to fit down a hallway, so long as the doors were bigger than the hospital’s. He imagined her squeezing her body through the courthouse on her hands and knees, her butt almost slamming into the ceiling as she crawled. She would be able to break down walls by just shaking her ass at this size.

“The courtroom in question has 18 foot ceilings…” Margaret started, but was cut off by a huff from the giant.

“Great, so I'll have a few feet of head room so long as I sit on the floor.” Trish spat sarcastically.

“I don’t know why we’re even entertaining this.” Jeb interjected.

“We risk them trying to pull a stunt with her bail to take her into custody if we don’t comply. The only real way out of this is to apply public pressure to the court.” She said.

“So that’s that.” Trish declared, putting an end to it. The meeting dragged on as they rehearsed their respective testimonies and prepared for the prosecution’s badgering for the hundredth time. The relentlessness of the process rivaled the pointlessness of it, in Trish’s mind, as she likely wouldn’t be able to maneuver herself in the courtroom anyway. They prepared late into the evening, stopping only when it was time for dinner.

Everyone was signaled to leave when the pallets of food necessary to feed the five ton woman were delivered and started to be unpacked for her. It was meal times, more than any other times, where Trish felt most like a monster. The sheer amount of food was the worst part. Pound for pound, the spread weighed more than Thomas. This fact was punctuated by Thomas making his way past the staff carrying a huge sheet pan with a quarter of a roasted cow, bones and all. The comparison made her think of the particularly nasty thing she had read on the forum by people who wanted a person like her to eat them.

She felt herself begin to slide down a bad mental spiral. Maybe it was right to lock her away. Maybe she should just turn herself in so the government could contain her, the monster woman that in a year or two will be eating whole cows by the handful.

Thomas was almost out the door, knowing that Trish preferred to eat her meals alone, when he turned to look back at her. The distressed look about her made him stop in his tracks and turn back around. He made a show of sniffing the roasted cow as it moved past him to gain her attention.

“Mmm… would you mind if I stayed here and ate with you? I bet I could eat as much as I want and you won’t really notice.” He said, gesturing to the piles of food. The comment made Trish’s mouth draw into a line somewhere between a polite smile and a guarded warning to him that he was stepping on dangerous ground. Thomas met it with a boyish, expectant gaze that quickly melted Trish’s defenses.

“Ok.” She relented, and lowered her hand to help Thomas sit on her lap as the two waited for the rest of the food to be unpacked. Besides the quarter of the cow, a huge tub of grain porridge, fresh fruit and vegetables were unpacked. Trish ate simply mostly out of necessity for how much food needed to be prepared for her. Once it was all laid out, he transferred from her lap and onto the table to mingle with the food items, picking some odd morsels out of the heaps of food. Trish was still nervous to eat in front of him, but her hunger was swiftly overpowering her self consciousness. She reached down and picked up the snow shovel that served as her spoon, then poked it into the mound of porridge next to where Thomas was standing, then guided the bite up to her mouth.

“I think it’ll backfire.” Thomas said, taking a bite himself. Trish put a hand to her mouth to cover her chewing as she talked.

“What will?” She asked, returning the shovel/spoon down to scoop up another bite.

“Making you come to the courthouse. They don’t know what they’re getting into.”

“I’m sure they can do the math.” She scoffed, and gestured to her body. "I will probably squash the building just by looking at it funny."

“That’s not what I meant.” He said, putting his hand on hers when she brought the spoon back down to the table, rubbing the back of it. Trish let the spoon fall into the porridge, and turned her hand to put the fingers of her three foot long hand on Thomas’s chest. She leaned forward to hold her chin in her hand, and waited for him to explain himself.

“You’re big, sure. And you might accidentally break some things.” He said, bringing his hands to her fingers stroking his chest to stroke them in return. “But I think they’re underestimating how much people are going to love you.”

“I dunno, I’m pretty scary.” She said, tilting her head and stretching her fingers up to rub them them against his face, feeling the scratchy little hairs of his five o’clock shadow, once again comparing the length of her hand to him. 

“I mean it!” He insisted, squeezing her middle finger with both hands and pushing it aside. “People might be scared at first, but I truly believe they won’t be able to help falling in love with you. You’re simply too charming.”

“You're biased.” She said, turning her head to hide the smile creeping up on her face from him. She could almost believe it, almost. His unshakable optimism sure made it a lot easier to believe. As long as she could learn to see herself like he saw her, she would be fine. She turned her head to see him still standing there looking at her with a fierce and determined expression, and her lips curled all the way up into a wide and bright smile. Thomas was so good to her, her omnipresent cheerleader. Her big heart felt so full.

“Mmm, I see something else down there that looks good.” she purred. She pulled the hair over her ears to prevent it from getting in her porridge as she lowered herself down to give him a kiss.

—

Later that night, Thomas woke up to a tapping on his roof. He sat up in bed and looked out the window to see Trish sitting in a curled ball outside. He rolled out of bed and exited the cabin to meet her. Her eyes were puffy with worry and she was sucking on her lips nervously.

“Can’t sleep?” He asked, drawing close, positioning himself between her feet. Trish shook her head sadly, shamed that she was acting weak again.

“You’re going to do great tomorrow.” He said, reaching up to give her shin a reassuring rub. She didn't respond. She just sat there silently and motionlessly begging for more comfort.

“Do you want me to spend the night with you?” He asked. Trish paused, then nodded, a faint smile returning to her lips.

“Ok.” He said, and lifted up his arms to signal he was ready to be picked up. She did, bringing him to her chest and holding him there as she rose to stand. Her strong hands kept him pinned to her as she walked deftly back to her living quarters. She held him there firmly as returned to bed. Thomas rubbed the back of the hands that now served as his blanket, and took deep, intentional breaths. Trish followed Thomas’s lead, matching her breathing to his. Trish fell into an uneasy sleep after a few minutes.

—

Nancy was on the grounds of the courthouse early that morning in order to make sure that their crew got a good location to see the spectacle to come. Every national news outlet was showing up for the trial of Patricia Hostettler. The tall woman hadn’t been officially heard from since their interview, and hadn’t been seen since she was moved to her new living situation. There was one shot of her on her father’s property taken with a telephoto lens, but it was so far away that you couldn’t really understand the true scale of her. Her size was of course what everyone was interested in, especially Nancy.

Nancy was feeling the gurgling feeling of impending doom in her stomach. She had not been able to get her out of her head since the young woman picked her up and held her like a baby to her hip. There was a big part of her that was terrified of Patricia Hostettler, especially what she would be capable of as she continued to grow. Could this person really be so strong that a mere flick of their fingers was enough to knock out a grown man? There was another part of her that pitied her, understanding how hard it must be for someone to go through what she was going through. There was another part that was lured to her, that wanted to be close to her and to witness her, and maybe be witnessed by her in return.

Nancy’s complicated feelings reflected the nation’s feelings as a whole. Fear, curiosity, and empathy clashing and the only way to sort it all out was to see what happened today. Nancy hoped Trish was ready for it.

They heard her before they saw her. Sirens from her police escort leading her from the edge of the small city to the center where the courthouse stood. Then, the sound of large, thudding steps echoing between buildings.

“There she is.” The cameraman gasped, pointing his camera to the rooftops a few blocks away. There, just barely visible over the roof of the two story building, was the top of a brown head of hair bobbing up and down with her foot steps. The other camera people gasped and zoomed in on her location. A police car with its lights on rounded the corner followed shortly by a massive bare foot pointing its toes onto the street, stepping as softly as possible as it carried the massive woman forward.

The first real shot of Patricia Hostettler in so many months was her rounding the corner. She was dressed in a cornflower blue sundress with no pattern that fell to her mid shin. The garment was girly, cute, and almost achieved making the incredibly large woman look delicate. Her shoulders were rolled forward, hunching so they looked smaller than they already were (proportionally, that is). Her arms were twisted around in front of her, clasping each other in front of her lap. Her head was pointed down, focusing all of her attention at her feet stepping ever so slightly pigeon-toed. She was chewing her lips and keeping her attention on the world beneath her with her pretty, innocent blue eyes. The first word that would come to Nancy’s mind to describe the whole picture was ‘adorable’, were it not for her outrageous size.

Because of course, her size was outrageous. She stood taller than the two story buildings around her.  The roof of the police SUV escorting her did not even reach the bottom of her knees. And the sound of her footsteps! It reminded Nancy of scenes from that movie with the dinosaurs. This giantess would not have to hold Nancy like a baby, she could pick her up with one hand, easily.

“What’s that on her shoulder?” Nancy asked, urging the camera to pan up and zoom in. There was a little man sitting there. Well, a normal sized man sitting on the shoulder of a giantess. He seemed familiar, but couldn’t place him. He was holding on to her earlobe, leaning forward and whispering to her. He was handsome, too. Nancy noticed. The giant was giving him sidelong glances and nodding along as she listened.

She froze in the middle of the street when she saw the cameras, her face turning a bright red. Her head immediately turned to the man on her shoulder and gave him a look begging for comfort. The man gave her a nod, reached forward, and planted a kiss on her cheek. The giantess smiled almost involuntarily, relaxing her arms in front of her and bringing her hand to shoulder, laying her fingers gently across the man’s legs. She stood up straighter and rolled her shoulders back, approaching the press with renewed confidence. 

The press took instinctive steps backwards as she reached the sidewalk in front of the court house and planted feet that could easily crush them. She brought her other hand up to her shoulder and lowered her passenger gently to the ground, and then continued to squat, pressing her legs together and tugging on the dress so she didn’t flash the cameras. She scanned the press with her big blue eyes, and then raised her hand up to give a small wave.

“Um… hi everyone. I’m Patricia Hostettler.” She said, repeating a rehearsed speech for the cameras. “I’m here today because some people are scared of me, but there’s really nothing to be scared about.” She said. “I’m just a girl who got really big. I just want to live my life as peacefully as possible.” Her eyes lifted up to the courthouse. “I might be too big to get into the courthouse. We tried to get them to accommodate me but they refused. I think they want me to accidentally break something or hurt someone trying to get in there.” Nancy looked to the seven foot tall double doors that were the entrance to the courthouse, and then up and down the body of the giant woman. There was no way.

“So, I showed up, but I’m not going to try and squeeze in there unless they make me. I hope that the issue is that they didn’t realize just how huge I am. Now that they see…” She said, gesturing to the self evident problem her large form represented. “...will agree to accommodate me.” 

There was a long pause. The idea of a courthouse press mob being silent enough for their target to make such a speech would be unthinkable under normal circumstances. The only reason it worked was due to Trish’s size stealing the breath from their lungs. Trish’s lawyer emerged from behind her, ready to hold up her hands and say ‘no questions’, but none came from the dumbstruck press. They could only manage to watch as the giant woman stood back up and shyly crossed her arms over her stomach to guard herself.

Trish’s lawyer, satisfied, marched into the courtroom to begin yelling at the judge. Trish stood in front of the courthouse, scanning the press below her just in case they made a move. She wasn’t supposed to answer any questions or talk to them after giving her speech, so even though she hated how scared they were of her, she was glad that they didn’t try anything.

“Trish!” A small woman’s voice called from below and to her right. She panned over the crowd, looking for the source. It was a small woman in a blue pantsuit, waving up at her. ‘They’re not small Trish, you’re big.’ She reminded herself.

“Nancy?” She asked squinting down at her to see her face. “Oh, hi!” She said, and returned the wave, turning her body to face her and stooping down to see her better.

“Do you mind answering some questions?” She called up.

“I’m not supposed to.” Trish said, shaking her head.

“How about just a picture then?” Nancy asked. Rare for the press to ask permission like this, rarer to have the wishes of their target respected, but what else could they do but respect a woman who was taller than a house?

A picture couldn’t hurt, Trish decided, and lowered herself to her knees. The complicated feelings about Trish that Nancy was experiencing were competing wildly. The curious part, the interested part, made her blurt out her request in the first place. The giant had to curl all the way up into a ball to even get close to her, and now that Trish was getting closer, the fearful part of her screamed to run. But that part was tamped down when she looked into the giantess’s eyes and into her soul. Comfort her. Help her. These thoughts finally won the war inside Nancy.

“Would you pick her up?” The director asked from behind her. Nancy and Trish looked at the director, and then at each other. Trish shrugged her shoulders and nodded, then lowered her hand down next to Nancy, offering for her to sit on it. 

Nancy gulped, and took a seat in the hand. Trish wrapped her thumb over her lap and gently lifted her skyward. Nancy gripped the thumb with white knuckles as Trish brought her other hand over to usher the reporter up. It was mostly for Nancy’s benefit so she didn’t get too scared. Trish handled Thomas like this all the time now, but there was something different about doing it to a relative stranger. I’m holding a whole person in my hand, she thought in amazement.

Trish brought Nancy up to the side of her face. Nancy felt the palm underneath her shift, her long fingers extending up her back like a seat back. Nancy peeled her eyes away from the ground 15 feet below her and over to Trish’s face. The larger woman was looking at her sheepishly and with great concern, making sure that the litter woman was ok with what was happening. Nancy reassured her by giving her a wide smile and releasing her death grip on the thumb, reaching one hand over to pat the giantess’s cheek.

Trish smiled wide, her heart soaring at being trusted. She looked back down at the camera, and removed her other hand for the picture. Nancy and her both turned their palms upwards as if to say “Tada!”.

After the picture was taken, Trish began to lower Nancy back to the ground. Nancy tapped Trish’s wrist and signaled her to bring her back up to her face.

“I just want to say that you’re very brave. I’m rooting for you.”

Trish beamed widely at the woman in her hand, tears forming at the corner of her eyes. 

“Th-Thank you, that actually means a lot to hear.” She stammered. Trish’s smile became permanently plastered on her face. Thomas was right. People do like her.

The moment was interrupted by the sound of the courthouse doors opening. Trish looked over to see the judge, a gang of lawyers, and Agent Grisham congregating on the front steps. The judge was a mean looking old man. He had a cold, steely look about him that signaled bad news to Trish. She found herself wishing that they were more scared of her.

“Ms. Hostettler.” He yelled, a little more louder than was necessary for Trish to hear. “I am not accustomed to having to retrieve the defendants from the sidewalk. Your trial is set to begin at 9 am. It is currently 9 am. If you aren’t present in the next fifteen minutes, I will hold you in contempt of court.”

“Your honor…” She started, lowering Nancy all the way to the ground. She rose to her feet and took a single large step, casting her shadow over them. Some of the lawyers broke rank, quietly shuffling towards either side of the door. “I think I might break something if I try to squeeze in there. Could you please make some accommodations for me?” She pleaded. Agent Grisham had a huge smirk on his face. The judge just ignored her, and turned to reenter the courthouse.

Trish shifted her weight from foot to foot, looking at the tiny entrance they were demanding she squeeze through. She hoped Thomas was right about people liking her, because she was about to look scary. She turned and looked back to Nancy, who gave her a thumbs up in support.

“Looks like they want to be unreasonable.” She said to the press. “I’m sorry if I break anything.” She said. Then the cameras watched as the giant woman got down on her knees in front of the court house, still as tall as the first story, and leaned forward to try to push herself inside. She stuck her head in easily enough, but when it came time for her shoulders she had to turn diagonally to squeeze them through, reaching a long arm forward into the courthouse. She pushed herself forward, clearing one shoulder through. When it came time to squeeze her breasts in, Trish brought a hand up to try and coax it through, the soft flesh rolling over the door frame, then the other.

The opening of the double doors was about six feet wide, which posed a problem for Trish’s 7 foot wide hips. She tried to relax her legs and pull herself forward with her arm., but she kept stopping when she felt the pressure of the door frame. She knew any amount of force she applied, no matter how gently she did so, would cause the frame to crumple and the glass on either side to shatter.

Thomas walked up to her head laying on her arm in the lobby, and knelt down to look her in the eye. “You’re doing great honey”. He encouraged her. He could see how careful she was being, despite her massive strength. The dark part of him wanted to see her smash through, but he knew it wasn’t in her nature.

She looked down, unable to tilt her head too much, and sighed. There was no way she was getting through here. She started the process of backing out of the door to find another way in. She squeezed her fingers up through the door to compress her boobs again as she pulled them out, and then slowly slid out of the opening. Oh how I miss just having to duck under doors, she thought.

She turned and sat her butt on the courthouse steps, her legs extending most of the way across the little plaza in front of it. She shook her hair to make it fall back into place before looking at the press.

“See? I’m too big.” She said. “I’m going to walk around and look for another way in.” She said, rising to stand and taking a step forward so her feet were in front of the reporters. “Excuse me please.” She asked, gesturing with her hands for them to make an opening. They dutifully obeyed, and when she began to circle the courthouse searching for a way in, a few of the bravest crews turned to follow at her heels.

Inside, the judge had taken his seat on the bench and was looking through his papers when he heard her footsteps approaching from outside. The courtroom had big windows stretching 10 feet up to the ceiling, letting in lots of natural light. A shadow came over the room as the windows became obstructed. He looked out the window to see her giant legs folding down and her body filling the entire window. She put a hand on the roof to steady herself as she squatted down, then blocked the sun with her hand to peer inside. Her big eyes scanned from the back to the front of the courtroom, until they landed on the judge with his fear hidden beneath his cold mask. She gave him a sheepish look, like “what do you expect me to do?”, then stood up and continued her lap around the building. He could hear her steps reverberating off the halls as she made her way all around. Stubborn as he was, he was beginning to regret listening to the prosecution on this one.

Trish rejoined the press at the front of the building. She raised her arm and rested it on the corner of the second story roof, and put the other on her hip. She didn’t actually rest any of her weight on it, afraid that it would send the building crashing down.

“Definitely too big.” She said, looking down to the press. “I can’t get in there without damaging things, so I’m not going to. I’ll just wait out here for them to come to their senses.” She waited there, the press dutifully and silently filming her, as the deadline for the trial to begin came and went.

The judge charged her with contempt, and Margaret, the brilliant lawyer, insisted that the court provide the charges in writing to her client. The court clerk appeared on the stairs with the cameras of the national news on him, as he read out the charge to the giantess. The shot that was used in all the papers the next day was Trish’s large hand reaching down from the top of the frame, none of the rest of her body visible, as she pinched the paper in her fingers to accept the charges, looking no bigger than a stamp to her.

The circus continued the next day to similar results. Trish showed up at the courthouse as ordered, but would not enter lest she risk destroying the building. The judge handed down another charge of contempt. The news crews, over the shock of seeing the massive woman for the first time, quickly got their feet back under them. The airwaves became filled with shots of Patricia Hostettler, calmly and patiently sitting cross legged in front of the courthouse. The news framed it as a protest of sorts. Trish wanted to comply with the lawful proceedings, but could not under the circumstances. She was a victim in this.

The government’s gambit had backfired. Public opinion swung wildly in Trish’s favor as the news reporting settled on the narrative of a humble, if giant, woman quietly demanding justice. A small crowd of supporters came out to cheer on Trish later that morning. The prosecution’s plan had been to arrest her on the third day for felony contempt, but it was clear that such a move would incur severe public backlash, so they had to change course.

On the morning of the third day, Trish sat cross legged in the road as usual, talking to her supporters and answering their questions, and reaching down her finger for them to shake. The crowd erupted into loud boos when they saw the judge exit the courthouse, expecting another charge of contempt. Trish looked down and over her shoulder at him as he stood there and crossed his arms.

“On further review, we have decided to grant your request for accommodations, and to drop all charges of contempt of court.” He said simply, and returned to the courthouse. The crowd erupted in loud cheers, waving up to the giantess to congratulate her and share this moment with her.

“Thank you everyone for sticking with me.” She called down to her supporters. “And thank you to the national news organizations for reporting on this case fairly. I’m sure you’ll all see me again real soon!” She beamed. 

The celebration was wild, the crowd storming the barricade to mingle around Trish’s legs. Trish froze and waited for the police to come and push the crowd back, afraid to move lest she hurt anyone.

“You were right.” She admitted to Thomas later as they reclined in her bed. He was laying on his back with his eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of her chest rising and falling underneath him as she breathed in and out.

“I knew it.” He said. “You’re a lovely person. All you had to do was be yourself, and people would fall in love.”

Trish closed her eyes too, and wrapped her hands around Thomas to squeeze him affectionately. She left her hands over him as they both drifted into the first restful sleep either had had in weeks.