When Jake awoke, he was lying on something soft. It was unfamiliar; it definitely didn’t feel like his bed. His body was still sore. The last thing he remembered was getting thrown against the fence and the millisecond of unimaginable pain that followed.

“I must be in a hospital. Yes, that’s it, someone found me and called an ambulance. That must be why…why is the ceiling so far away?”

It was the first time he’d noticed this odd detail. Lying on his back, he couldn’t see around him. He decided to sit up and examine his surroundings, and got the shock of his life.

The room he was in was big. Enormous. Unbelievably, mind-bogglingly huge. It was the biggest room he’d ever seen. And that wasn’t all. Everything else inside it was also gigantic. Windows, curtains, chairs, doors. The pillow he was lying on was forty feet long and twenty feet wide. It was in turn lying on an even more enormous table, with a massive flowerpot containing, not flowers, but small trees. He couldn’t see the floor, but got a sickening feeling that it was very, very far below him. And there, in the corner of the room, was a bed. It was 110 feet long, at least. And on it lay a truly colossal person.

It was a girl. She looked a little younger than him, with a pretty face and nice-looking body. But her size was just…wrong.

“She must be bigger than a whale!” thought Jake, unable to believe what he was seeing. Then, trying to make sense of it, he came to the conclusion that he was dreaming.

“I’ve got to wake up! I‘ve got to escape this…this nightmare!”

He pinched himself hard. Nothing happened. He slapped himself in the face a couple of times. It hurt, and still nothing changed around him. Then he began to get really scared. His breathing became more panicky, and he let out a moan of despair, immediately regretting he’d done so. The giant girl on the bed had heard him. She stood up and came walking towards him. With every step she took she grew larger and larger in Jake’s eyes. Her pink top covered a torso big enough for him to live in.

Jake began searching for an escape route. The pillow was five feet above the table top, and he leapt off without looking. But that’s as far as he got. There was no way to get off the round table. He scurried around the edge, searching in vain for a way down, while trying to avoid the giantess on the other side. Suddenly the sound of giggling reached his ears. He looked up, and there was the giant girl’s face, her hand in front of her mouth, trying to suppress her laughter. Jake sat down, closed his eyes, and began saying over and over:

“This can’t be real, this is just a dream, this can’t be real…”

“Oh no, don’t cry! Don’t cry, little man! I’m not going to hurt you; I just want to be your friend. Sorry I laughed at you, but you just looked so funny, running around like that. I never wanted to scare you, I promise. Please don’t cry!”

Susan looked at the tiny figure of the boy, cowering on her table, and felt sorry for him. It had seemed like a good idea to bring him here, take care of his wounds, maybe give him some water and food. Now she wasn’t so sure. Seeing her seems to have scared him out of his wits. She wanted to take him back and let him go, but a new problem became clear. What if he told everyone in the town about her? All her father’s hard work in keeping her existence secret would be undone, thanks to her thoughtlessness. She tried to talk to the boy again.

“Listen, I’m really sorry I frightened you, but you have to believe me! I mean you no harm! My name’s Susan, Susan Adams, but everyone calls me Susie. This is where I live, here, in this house. I know my size can be a little…well, scary, but that’s just the way I am. I wish I was normal like you, though. Then I wouldn’t have to stand here and explain things to you, and you wouldn’t feel afraid of me for no reason.”

There was still no reaction from Jake. He remained in a sitting, curled-up position, his face hidden in his arms. Susan gave up talking to him and sat down at the table. She sighed and wished for the billionth time that she didn’t have to be like this. After a long while Jake found the courage to stand up and look at his captor. When she saw him do this she extended her hand towards him. He backed away quickly.

“Don’t touch me!” he screamed. “Don’t touch me, you…you freak! Let me go, now!”

Susan sighed again.

“How can I let you go if I’m not allowed to touch you?” she asked, her patience growing thin. Jake looked around him, trying to find an answer. He got none.

“That’s right,” she said. “You’re trapped on my table. It’s fifty feet to the floor, and there’s no way down. If you want to get home, you have to let me help you. That’s what you want, isn’t it? To go home?”

Jake thought for a moment before answering.

“Fine!” he shouted. “Just get me down, okay? Get me down, then leave me alone!”

“Oh, I’ll leave you alright! I’ll just leave you on my floor and forget about you! I mean, you obviously know the way home, don’t you? And how to get over the fence, of course! I’m sure you know exactly how to do that!”

Susan didn’t mean to yell at him, but her frustration was becoming too much too handle. It did have an effect on Jake, though. He stared at her in silence, before feebly uttering the word: “F-f-fence?”

“Yes, you dimwit! The fence that surrounds my house and keeps people away from me! The one on which you nearly got yourself killed! The one I had to reach over to pick you up, because I thought you were badly hurt, and I wanted to help you, only to find out you’re the kind of guy who’ll instantly hate someone like me because I’m different! That fence!”

Jake fell to his knees, and felt like fainting. The way she’d shouted at him had been terrifying. He wondered if she was going to kill him. Quietly, he began to pray. Suddenly he was caught between two massive fingers. Susan gripped him on either side of his chest. Slowly she lifted his trembling body and dropped him into her other hand. He curled up into a tiny ball, and began to sob.

“I’m taking you home, okay?” she said softly. “I hate seeing you like this, you know. All I wanted was to help you, and make friends with you, and get to know you. I get so lonely out here, and some company would have been nice. But it’s your decision, not mine. Come on, let’s get you home.”

She went outside and headed in the direction she’d found him. By now it was getting late, and the sun was low in the western sky. When she got to the fence she put the still sobbing Jake carefully on the other side. She watched him jump up and run in the direction of his useless bicycle. He climbed on it, then remembered the flat tires. Swearing to himself, he began pushing the bike ahead of him, when he heard a voice call out from behind him: “Goodbye!”

He turned and saw the giant girl standing behind the fence, which looked small and flimsy beside her towering legs. She was looking back at him, and, to his surprise, there were tears in her eyes.

“Snap out of it!” he told himself, and, without another glance back, began hurrying down the dirt path back to the town. He’d not gone twenty yards when it hit him.

“What am I doing?” he thought. “How could I have been so… so stupid? I’ve just screwed up my only chance to make a friend in this shitty town! Now she thinks I hate her, and…”

Without another thought, he dropped his bike and began to run back. When he reached the fence there was no sign of her. He began to shout frantically.

“Hey! Hey!! Susie! Susie, it’s me! Come back! Susie, I’m sorry!”

At firs nothing happened. Then the group of trees closest to him began moving. The nearest one was pushed over, and there was Susan, looking down at him, her eyes still teary. Jake got his thoughts together and began speaking:

“Susie - it is Susie, right? - um, well, I just want to, uh, say sorry for the way I acted and…and for shouting at you and everything. And for calling you a freak. That was wrong of me, and I’m really sorry, so…yeah, well, that’s it, I guess. Please…please forgive me.”

“Apology accepted.”

“So,” said Jake, breaking the silence. “I guess this is goodbye. I mean, I’d love to come and visit you again, but…”

“You would?” she asked excitedly. “You’d really come and see me? Oh, please come and see me again! I’d love to have a friend like you, I really would!”

“Uh, okay,” he said, rather taken aback. “Um, when can I come back? Can I call you, or something?”

“No, I don’t have a phone,” she sighed. “Easy to guess why, huh? But I’m free tomorrow, the whole day. Just come back to this spot, I’ll wait for you here. Then I can take you to my home.”

“Well, I have to go to church tomorrow morning. So…how about I come at twelve o’clock, noon. I’ll tell my mom I’m going for a ride in the forest, she won’t suspect anything.”

“Twelve o’clock? That’s perfect! Oh no, I forgot. Your bicycle, isn’t it broken?”

“My bike? Nah, that’s just a couple of flat tires. I can fix them tonight. Anyway, I have something to ask you…”

“Come back tomorrow, then I’ll tell you all about me,” she smiled again. “It’s a long story believe me. But there is something I want to ask you, a favour.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Could you…could you please not tell anyone about me. I’m kinda supposed to be a secret.”

“Sure, I won’t tell anyone about you. I really have to get going now, sorry. It’s getting late. Goodbye.” He turned down the path and began to walk.

“See you tomorrow!” she called. “Goodbye! Hey, wait! Wait! I never got your name!”

“It’s Jake!” he called back. “Jake Darren!”

He turned around a bend in the road and left her view. For a long while Susan remained where she sat, in full view of anyone who might happen to stroll past that spot. Eventually she stopped daydreaming and headed home.