Aster pushed through the tall grass. She leaped a few pebbles & climbed her way to the top of a small rock. She spotted a small river down below. There was the sound of clear water rippling over smooth rock. For the average-sized person, it was a small stream. But for the tiny girl, it was a roaring river.

Aster was a Borrower, a thumb-sized humanoid creature. Most Borrowers lived hidden in the houses of human beans. They made hovels in walls or under floorboards. Beans unknowingly provided Borrowers with food & objects to borrow to use as tools, but beans were also extremely dangerous to the little people. The most important rule for borrowing was "Remain unseen." Whenever a Borrower was spotted by a bean, terrible & unspeakable things happened. It was one of the reasons Aster had left her home, much to the dismay of her worried parents.

Aster shook her head as she walked down the slope towards the stream. Her parents were too old-fashioned. They relied too heavily on those big ugly human beans. There was a whole world outside the house she had lived in for most of her life. She yearned for the adventure. When the girl was of age, she packed her knapsack & gave her parents a bittersweet farewell.

That was several weeks ago & she had already seen so many unimaginably astonishing things since then. The world was so lush with green & colorful plants. And the animals & creatures she met along the way were beautifully unique, although some were quite unfriendly. But Aster was a crafty & astute girl. She battled the elements & scavenged for food, mostly nuts & berries.

Aster set her knapsack on the riverbank & looked at herself in the reflection of the water. Her jet-black hair was short & curly. It bunched around her pointed ears. Her face was soft & rounded. Her sparkling eyes were bright blue. And her pale skin was now a few shades darker after so much time in the sun. Her dress was patchy & sewn of fabric borrowed from the boy bean at her parents' house. Aster had swiped a pair of the ugly bean's boxers & her mother had helped her cut & sew the fabric together. She hoped her mother was well.

Aster leaned forward into the stream. She splashed her face with the cool mountain water, which quenched her thirst.

Suddenly, the ground shook & the trees swayed. There was the sound of booming footsteps.

"A human bean? All the way out here?" Aster questioned with panic.

The small Borrower quickly snatched up her knapsack & ducked behind a fallen branch. In the next moment, a gigantic silhouette appeared through the bushes. It was a giant woman wearing a straw hat. From her rough appearance, she looked to be a farmer. Her skin was tanned & spotted with freckles with slight age wrinkles around her green eyes. The bean looked to be around her mother's age. She wore flannel & a pair of blue dusty overalls.

Aster crouched behind the fallen branch & ducked under a leaf. She timidly peered up the slope of the giant woman's legs. The giantess lumbered forward & sat down on a rock. This bean was much too close for comfort. Aster didn't dare to move a muscle. Her best option was to remain hidden & wait for the seated woman to leave.

The farmer giantess sighed & set her hat on a nearby log. Her hair was blonde & braided into pigtails. She leaned forward & pulled at her embroidered leather boots. Her lumber-sized legs stretched & her bare toes flexed. Aster winced at the sight of the giant woman's bare feet. Her feet were long & wide, much larger than the tiny girl. She could see the sparkling of sweat coating the imposing peds. Her giant feet were callus & her soles were moderately darkened with dirt. A few thin hairs sprung atop each of her big toes. It was a small detail that only a tiny girl would notice.

Aster hated beans. They were huge & smelly. And their massive feet always tramped around noisily & dangerously.

The giant woman leaned forward & dipped her sweaty toes into the cool water of the flowing stream. The woman's shoulders relaxed & she sighed with relief.

"Oh, Betsy," The giantess grumbled to herself, "You've really overdone yourself this time."

Betsy? Beans always had such strange names. The woman named Betsy slowly dragged her overworked feet through the water. She relaxed by the spring & enjoyed the cool mountain water flowing between her toes. She rolled up her blue dusty overalls & stepped into the stream. There was nothing quite like relaxing in the spring after a hard day's work. It was her favorite spot.

Aster rolled her eyes & slouched behind the branch. She wished the bean would leave already. The small Borrower only wanted to finish washing up & refill her water. But she needed to wait for this gigantic galoot to finish trampling & splashing through the water.

Although now that Aster had some time to think, perhaps this bean could prove useful to her. If she was a farmer, there was a high chance she had plenty of food on her farm. And Aster had eaten her last berry a day or two ago. She was already beginning to feel the pains of hunger.

She peeked back up at the giant farmer woman. The woman's backside loomed overhead. Her wide hips & thick thighs packed into her dusty overalls. For a moment, Aster just stared up with awe & disgust. Yes. This bean appeared to be just as big & dumb as most of the beans that Aster had encountered. She was sure that she could easily borrow for this hillbilly woman. Aster decided she would follow the bean to her farm & see what there was to borrow.

Several minutes later, Betsy stepped out of the spring. Her trampling foot splashed water out of the stream & onto the tiny girl hidden under the leaves below. Aster squealed & curled up next to the branch as the water drenched her little body. She silently pouted over her wet dress. She brushed her soaked hair out of her blue eyes & glared up at the gigantic woman who sat on the rock above.

"Big stupid bean," Aster grumbled in a tiny voice only she could hear.

Betsy pulled her embroidered leather boots onto her feet & grabbed her straw hat. She whipped her blonde braided pigtails to the side & set the hat on her head. She turned & tilted the hat, ensuring it would keep the blazing sun out of her eyes.

Aster watched as the giantess walked away. Her wide hips swayed as the colossal cowgirl lumbered into the distance. The booming sound of her footsteps slowly grew distant. The borrower girl rushed to the river & refilled her handcrafted canteen, which she gathered into her knapsack. She threw the pouch over her shoulder & turned toward the direction where the big human bean had gone. Luckily, something so big would be easy to track. Aster smirked to herself when she spotted a gigantic boot print in the dirt.