YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT I FOUND (PART 2)

The group of tiny people, totalling between twenty and thirty, huddled together. The Giant woman had just departed. And her footsteps had shaken the earth. There was no telling how long until she returned. But they all agreed that she would. The Giant’s face was so long and tall and wide that reading her expression was easy. She was concerned. And they were going to take advantage of that to get out of their current predicament.

In the camp was a mixture of reactions to what they had just seen as well as their next course of action.

“But what’s the point? Where do we want her to take us? And why?”

“We’d just be trading one prison for another” a man protested.

“Here’s the thing…out here we’re exposed. There’s no reliable shelter and we’re all starving” said another.

Christopher, who looked like the defacto leader, walked towards her and Becky felt herself step back from him. Just a little.

“You’ve established contact...You touched her. You trusted her enough to let her lift you hundreds of feet...like a baby bird--”

 “So why don’t YOU go then?” Becky snarled.

Christopher was upon her now. The discussion had been settled.

“She’s going to relate to you. You two can talk in a different way than we can. Don’t think of yourself. Think of the group. Think of the loyalty we feel for one another. We’ve died with these people. We have to stick together for all our sakes if we’re going to survive. You know that.”

Christopher turned to the group. “Francois…Michael. You go with her.”

* * *

Emilia rushed through her modest home in a huff. Oh what things she had found! No big deal at all, really…just A VILLAGE OF TINY PEOPLE!!!

She smiled in a crazed sort of way at the absurdity of it all. Who were those people???  How did they get like that? Was she right to just leave them there and HOPE they stayed alive long enough for her to go shopping??

Had she lost her mind? Maybe taken acid by mistake?  

Moments later Emilia ran down the sidewalk, looking at her phone. If she caught the number 101, she could get to the nearest mall in 45 minutes.

The mall was crowded. Emilia hated malls. But her mind was set. She grinned to herself. She was going to care for those poor little things whether they liked it or not (hah-hah).

Emilia bought berries and nuts, she bought cheese. A small bag of rocks, a ball of string. All of it Giant to them, but she determined would still be of use. Lastly a small water proof canvas that they could use for rain shelter.

It’s as Emilia’s in cue to pay that doubt began to seep into her mind. She was a grown woman. She needed a job, she needed schooling to get a better job…not to take care of a group of people smaller than her pinky finger. What was she thinking?

She played over in her head what a phone call with her friend Angela would sound like.

“So what you been up to?”

“Well, funny thing, actually. I was hiking earlier in this sectioned off area I always go to. I found this tiny group of people. They're really tiny. Like I could probably hold four of them in my hand at once, you know? So I’m just here buying some food for them.”

Yeah. That’d go over well.

This line of thinking did have its benefits though. It forced Emilia to think about what she was doing. Would it be better if she called the authorities? Or a park warden?

* * *

Emilia was back on the path she hiked earlier. The wind had died down, but otherwise everything looked as it had earlier. The difference now was she was carrying goods she had brought for the group of tiny people. She was heading towards where she had found the their village. It ought to be right up ahead.

But then she stops in her tracks. Wait a second.

The village, the makeshift tent, the people…it was all gone.

Emilia set down her bag and searched the ground for what she knew was there earlier.

Maybe she got the spot wrong. She looked around. Nope. This was the spot. One hundred percent.

She bent down, pushed some tall grass out of the way to better see the ground.

There was nothing there.

* * *

Some distance away, Becky peered out from behind a tree that was actually just a shrub. She could see the Giant woman in the distance, on all fours, searching through the grass.

It wasn’t hard to see the Giant. in fact you’d have to look directly at the ground to avoid seeing something that massive traversing around above you. Even if she was on her hands and knees.

Becky was with the two men Chris had instructed to accompany her. Michael was slender with a beard, late fifties. Francois was in good shape and obviously worked out. He was late twenties. Both had tattoos.

“How do we know she’ll come this way?” asked Francois.

Becky looked back at Francois and shrugged.

* * *

Emilia finally stood from her crouched position and dusted off her knees. Her face had sank. She had totally wrecked this situation. Why did she ever leave? She should have stayed with them. They were smaller than sparrows. They needed her and she left them.

And now she had nothing.

Emilia took a few steps around the vicinity, estimating correctly that the group couldn’t have gotten too far. What happened to them was another story. Had they been discovered by an animal? Another person?

The color drained from her face. Life had given her an opportunity to help. And she failed. There was nothing to do. Except to go home.

Head down, Emilia began down the path she’d taken to get here, walking slowly, just in case she did see the group of miniature people scuttling on the ground.

* * *

“Right. Here she comes” said Michael.

All three of the tiny people were sweating. Their breathing labored.

The plan was to get in Emilia’s path and wave their hands in order to catch her attention. This was easy to speculate, but more difficult to perform.

You can stand on the path, yes, that part was easy. But when you see a Giant walking towards you, a Giant whose boots were more than the length of two cars, you fight every instinct to run. And that’s what was now happening. The Giant woman was heading towards them.

Francois, babbling something incoherent, quickly disappeared. He was soon followed by Michael, who tugged at Becky’s arm to follow him. But she remained in place.

They had one shot at this. And time was running out.

…boom

…boom

…BOOM

Becky waited until the massive woman was quite close before she made the questionable decision to run out in front of her. She may be running to her doom, Becky thought briefly. She would be flattened into mush beneath those terrible boots. Would the Giant woman even notice that she had trampled one as small as her? Or would she be ground into muddy paste as the Giant continued up the hill, unaware that her footfall had ended Becky’s life?

…BOOM

The Giant was almost directly overtop of them when Becky ran out, arms flailing wildly, trying to catch the Giant’s eye.

And it worked. The Giant woman froze in mid-stride.

* * *

Emilia stopped. She was conscious of not moving a muscle. So great was her size, compared to these tiny things, that she could easily step on one of them without even knowing. She had to be careful.

So she just stood there, gawking downwards. If she were more aware, she would have realized that she had essentially the same pose as the first time she’d come across the tiny people.

There was no longer a village, but rather just the woman she’d held in her hand, along with two other men. Again, their size made it difficult to even discern their age.

Emilia took a breath. She wasn’t going to fuck this up.

Slowly, she began to sink to a squatting position.

* * *

As the Giant woman lowered herself to the ground, Becky felt exactly the way she had the first time…that is, her heart was in her throat.

“Where are the others?” said the Giant Woman down to her.

Becky yelled up at the Giant, but her voice wouldn’t travel far enough to be heard.

So Becky waved her arms in the air, gesturing that Emilia lower herself even more, which she did, in order to hear her reply. The two men – Michael and Francois – remained in their hiding places, peering out. They knew the Giant woman had seen them, as her gaze had locked on them as she descended. Just the same, they couldn’t bring themselves to leave their hiding spot.

“Something attacked us. Killed some of our group. We need to get out of here! We need shelter.”

The wind had died down and Emilia found that if she were really close, she could discern several of the words….

“…out of here…” and “…attacked us.”

That’s all Emilia needed to hear. She wasn’t leaving these poor, pathetic creatures to the elements or to the wildlife.

* * *

When the Giant woman’s hand suddenly moved towards Becky, her fight or flight kicked in. She found herself backing away from the hand, but it was absolutely no use. The enormous hand moved towards her, fingers spreading apart as it brushed over the earth and grass at surprising speed. The next thing Becky knew, she was once more in the Giant’s hand.

Emilia reached for the two men as well. She knocked the rocks they hid behind aside with her fingers, before seizing both of the men with her other hand.

Michael and Francois were terrified. Becky had had this happen to her before, but this was new for them. As the Giant stood to her full height, they clutched onto the flesh of the Giant’s palm with all their might.

Once the movement stopped, Becky and the two men looked up at the Giant’s face, who seemed pleased at having them in her possession.

“I’m taking you with me” the Giant Woman said.

This wasn’t a question. It was a statement. She was taking them with her with or without their consent. But despite their nausea, the three of them were happy that the first part of their plan had been accomplished.

Emilia was relieved. There had been twenty, thirty of them, she estimated. And although she only had three in her possession, this was considerably better than going home empty handed.

* * *

Emilia was thinking three steps ahead as she walked, unaware that each of her steps would take those she carried twenty to ten to fifteen seconds to traverse. She did her best to hold them appropriately, not too loose and not too tight. She kept her huge brown eyes on them as she ventured closer to home. 

As she neared her street, Emilia grew concerned as to how she would get them to her home undetected. Hers was a busy street with condos and coffee shops.

Emilia glanced around. No pedestrians approaching.

Yes. This was going to work. And once they were at her place, she could feed them, clean them and find out how else she could help both them…

Maybe she could even find the others.

No sooner had she thought this, then did she hear—

“I think you dropped something!”

Emilia turned. A little old lady stood there, holding up Emilia’s pendant. Emilia was so concerned about not having the little people detected, that she almost kept walking.

But this was the pendant her Mother had given her.

“Oh, did that thing come off again?” said Emilia, turning and heading towards the woman. As she walked, she deftly gathered her three companions into a single hand, then, not all together gently, stuffed all three of them into the pocket of her shorts.

“So it’s yours then?” asked the little old lady.

“Yes”, Emilia said. “Thank you so much for letting me know it came off.”

Emilia took the necklace, looked at the pendant. Smiled at the woman.

* * *

Inside the Giant’s pocket, the three miniature people struggled. Francois had Becky’s foot in his face, while he himself was practically suffocating Michael at the same time. There was no stable ground and virtually no source of light.

The motion of the Giant they could, of course, detect . Each step the Giant took vibrated and shook them, causing them to sink deeper and deeper into her pocket, until they came to rest against her thigh.

Though everything they heard was muffled, they could all hear keys unlocking a door, followed by the outside ambience becoming distant.  They had been taken into the Giant’s home.

It was moments later when the three tiny people, Becky, Francois and Michael were gently extracted from the Giant’s pocket and lay down onto a soft surface. She did this one at a time, starting with Becky.

The three of them were definitely ruffled and not all that happy with the Giant’s choice of transport. But considering what had happened (being picked up by a Giant, transported who knows how far away from their house, only to be shoved in her pocket), they were happy to be alive.

Each of them took in their surroundings at a different rate. It was much warmer than outside. And much, much quieter. They appeared to be in a kitchen, a fact that was  confirmed as the Giant woman kneeled down next to them with a coffee cup in hand.

“Say something. So I can tell if I can hear you” the Giant woman said.

The trio of miniature people just stood there. They’d been in a giant jungle before (which was in reality just a cliff that led to a series of rivers), but never in a formal structure like this. Not at least since they’d been shrunk.

“Are you okay? Did I hurt—Is anyone hurt?”

The three tiny people looked to one another. They were intact. Michael had a sore jaw from Becky’s foot in his face, otherwise they seemed fine.

“I’m Emilia” the Giant said, smiling down at them.

Still no response.

“It’s okay”, said Emilia, “I would never hurt any of you. In fact, I’d like to know more so maybe we can…I dunno, find your friends.”

Becky stepped forwards.

“My name’s Becky”

“Hi, Becky”, said Emilia. “You’re the one I picked up earlier, right?”

“Yes”, Becky said, before turning to the two men who were evidently too nervous to speak.  Either that or they elected to let Becky speak for them.

“This is Francois and Michael”

Emilia stretched out her hand and all three of the little people flinched.

Emilia smiled, reassuringly.

“It’s okay. You have nothing to fear from me. Promise.”

With that, Emilia extended her pinky finger, not too close, but close enough that one of them could “shake her hand” should they want to.

Becky took a few steps and grabbed hold of Emilia’s pinky finger. It was absurd, of course, since her pinky was basically the same size she was.

Emilia’s smile widened as they made physical contact.

“I’m Francois” came the next reply, followed by Michael.

“It’s so nice to meet you tiny people” said Emilia.

With that, she shot up to her feet.

“Who’s hungry?”

* * *

The three diminutive people, still in Emilia’s kitchen, sat on a cutting board, devouring an absolutely huge piece of cheese. Nearby was the knife Emilia had used. When Emilia saw Becky eyeing the knife nervously, she immediately removed it from sight.

“Sorry, sorry… I can’t exactly say this has happened to me before.”

Emilia bent forwards to watch them. It occurred to her that she could do this for hours on end. It was fascinating, not to mention extremely cute.

“I have questions” she said down to them, her voice barely a husky whisper, “but I can wait until you’re done eating.”

Becky stood and came closer to where Emilia’s face was.

“I’m ready” the tiny woman said, raising her voice to be heard.

“What…happened to make you like this?”

Becky was about to answer, when Francois stepped in front of her.

 “None of us know”, he said. “We woke up like we are now”

“You have no idea how this happened?” Emilia asked.

They shook their heads.

Michael stood now and approached.

“We were abducted. And left to die”

“Abducted?” Emilia asked. “By whom?”

“We don’t know!” yelled Michael.

“Did you know each other before waking up like this?”

There was a brief moment of silence. If Emilia was squinting (or her face even closer to them, but she suspected that might be overwhelming) she would see Michael and Francois exchange a brief nervous look.

“It’s okay. You three need to rest.”

* * *

Emilia stood at the doorway to her bedroom, peeking inside like one might do with a sleeping infant. It was evening now and the three people she had brought home were fast asleep. She had lay the three of them on her bed, just below the pillows, covered in tiny bits of an old shirt she had cut apart.

The three tiny humans slept like the dead.

* * *

Emilia watched television, flipping through channels, stopping on nothing longer than ten seconds. She was absorbed by these people in her room. Is this actually happening? Are there three tiny people asleep in her room? How big must her bed seem to them?

Emilia dozed at one point and awoke at three AM. Her sofa was too small to stretch out on and there was a kink in her neck from the way she slept.

She stood and went to her bedroom, tip-toeing towards it, when a horrible thought occurred to her.

What if they were gone? What if one of them had fallen off the bed?

Her pace increased until she was outside her room. She peeked in the door. It was too dark to tell what state they were in.

She crept closer. Slowly.

Then she exhaled deeply and her shoulders relaxed.

Becky, Francois and Michael were still fast asleep. And by the looks of it, they hadn’t moved an inch.

Emilia smiled like a complete idiot. These weren’t baby kittens. They were people. People smaller than a cigarette lighter.

She stood there for a long moment, looking to how inviting her bed seemed. She could sleep off in the corner and they wouldn’t even know she was there.

But what if she rolled over and squashed them? She wouldn’t though. She would never.

Emilia gently took hold of the quilt they lay on and gently pulled it so all three of them moved in unison, away from the centre of the bed.

She looked down at the space she’d created. Lots of room for her.

Emilia took off her shirt, her jeans, socks, then grabbed an extra large shirt that she slept in and slid it over her head.

Then SLOWLY, she crawled into bed next to them. Laying next to them was thrilling in a way. She wanted to take care of them. To hold them. Hug them, comfort them.

* * *

Emilia woke and flinched, her Giant hand brushing her face, her nose. Silence.

Then another tickling sensation.

Emilia opened her big brown eyes and struggled to focus on something that was too close for her to make out.

She leaned up and stare down at the covers of her bed. It was Becky who stood there. And yet the two men continued to sleep behind where Becky stood.

“Is everything okay?” Emilia asked.

Becky gestured with her hands, indicating that Emilia lower her voice.

“Oh. Sorry” she said.

With that Emilia’s Giant face lowered to the surface, then lay her cheek down on the bed so that she could look at Becky. It was dark outside, though she didn’t bother to check what time it was. It had to be late though.

“What’s up?” said Emilia to the tiny woman on her bed.

Becky approached Emilia’s huge face and cupped her hands.

“Why don’t you whisper in my ear?”

Becky nodded and headed closer as Emilia’s brushed the hair from the side of her head, exposing her ear to Becky. Now she could hear exactly what this little lady had to say.

* * *

“I need to talk to you about those men”, Becky said.

Emilia’s face grew concerned. What could the tiny woman mean?

Becky faced the enormous woman, whose face took up her entire field of view. Becky was quick to notice the giant woman spy something behind her. Becky turned, only to see Francois approach, putting on a smile.

“How long have we been out?” he asked.

Emilia smiled at the two of them standing on her bed. The third man, Michael, remained asleep behind Becky and Francois.

“I’d say about six hours…seven maybe?”

Francois stood next to Becky, almost possessively. Emilia was close enough to them to see their facial expressions. She noted that Becky tensed up the moment that Francois appeared by her side.

“We needed it, believe me” he said.

“I’m going to go sleep on the sofa. I’ll wake you three in the morning, okay?”

Becky nodded worriedly as Emilia stood to her statuesque height.

“What was that about?” Francois asked her once Emilia had left the room and closed the door.

“Nothing. We were…we just talked for twenty seconds before you woke up.”

Francois believed her. Mostly.

“I’m going to catch some more sleep”, he said. “Coming Beck?”

Becky looked to the Giant, who was so very easy to track, given her immense size, half smiled, then back to Francois. “Right behind you.”

* * *

Becky was asleep when she had a dream that the Giant woman was gently picking her up. Her fingers were firm, but soft. Becky dreamed that she was floating through the house, out from the room and into what must be the living room.

As she came to, Becky realized at once that she wasn’t dreaming. The Giant woman had indeed picked her up while she was asleep and was in the midst of moving her to another room where she would be out of sight from the two men.

Becky sat up and clutched onto the Giant’s finger as she felt herself descend. She closed her eyes, but the dizziness remained. She’d never been a fan of amusement parks and still wasn’t. This would take some getting used to.

Once on the coffee table, the Giant woman’s fingers gently opened, allowing Becky to step off and onto the wooden surface. The Giant was wearing cotton shorts and an undershirt. It was night time. The Giant had obviously waited for the men to drift off, before moving her to the living room.

“What did you mean earlier…when you said something about the other two?”

Becky had weighed whether or not it was a mistake to have brought it up, but it was too late now. There was something about being faced with a being as large as Emilia that made her incapable of spinning a tale. She sensed no danger from the Giant, but just the same, she wasn’t about to go against her will.

“I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Emilia sensed her reluctance and slowly crawled off the sofa and slid her torso to the floor, so that she might be close to Becky. Emilia’s face loomed large over Becky.

“It’s alright”, she said. “You can confide in me. Us girls need to stick together, right?”

Becky smiled up at Emilia.

“I suppose you’re right.”

“Now what were you going to tell me?”

Becky swallowed.

“Those men…Francois and Michael…the whole group in fact…”

Becky looked up at Emilia’s huge brown eyes, noticing every time she blinked. The Giant seemed to be studying her. Waiting. Expectantly.

“The reason they were where you found them…well, it’s because they’re – “

“Okay, look”, the Giant said down to her, scooping her up with her hand and bringing her up to her enormous face. “You’re going to tell me now or I’m going to stuff you in one of my dirty socks.”

Becky’s blood froze. Was this woman deranged? Had Becky misread the situation?

Silence hung in the air for a long second before Emilia broke into a smile.

“Kidding. I’m kidding!” she laughed.

Emilia did not lower Becky to the coffee table, but held her in place, staring at her, compassionately.

“Bad joke. I’m sorry”

Becky nodded.

“Now what were you going to tell me?”

“What you stumbled across was…was a prison compound. Those men, those women, they’re convicts.”

Emilia’s Giant face wrinkled with concern.

“I know it must sound weird…to find a tiny group of—“

 “And you? Are you a convict as well?” Emilia said to the tiny woman in her hand.

Becky dared herself to look directly up into the Giant’s face.

“I was a guard. My job was to watch them.”

“But why…I don’t’ understand. Why shrink them?”

Becky must have looked nervous because the Giant Emilia had loosened her fingers, from which thereand began stroking Becky’s back with her large finger. Whatever Emilia’s intent, it worked. Feeling such tenderness from such a colossal being, a woman so large that she could crush Becky in the very hand she held her in, was lulling her into a more relaxed state.

“It was part of a…I don’t know, some new technology to reduce prison populations…or at least the size of them.”

“But why out there? You could have died. Surely that wasn’t their intent, was it?”

“It was a pilot project, but also…also a punishment, I suppose. They wanted to see what sorts of environments people – little people – could survive in.”

Emilia’s face, her mouth specifically, had opened into a large “O”.

“How terrible.”

Becky nodded. “I was there in case a riot broke out. I had a firearm, but they took it from me right after we were left there. Yesterday I guess it was. Or maybe it was a week ago. I don’t know!”

Becky put her face in her hands while Emilia tried to imagine what this must be like. Of course, there’s only so far she could go in empathizing. She herself had never come across a hundred foot tall woman such as herself, but she could definitely relate to the fear. Emilia’s first instinct was to comfort Becky.

Emilia gently lifted Becky’s droopy head with her pinky finger. Becky had no choice but to look at this Giant beaming face.

She took no small amount of relief in this. Having a Giant on your side tends to boost your confidence. But still, the concern remained.

“You can’t let the other two know we spoke about this…”

“No, of course, but— why don’t I keep you separately from them?”

“I’d like that”, said Becky, as Emilia’s Giant hand descended towards her and slowly enveloped her within her colossal fingers.

“Can I—?

Becky rose into the air as Emilia stood up.

“Whoa—”

“What was that?” asked Emilia?

“Can I touch your face?”

“Touch MY face? Of course. Here, let me set you down.”

Becky crawled from Emilia’s hand and stepped down onto the desk. When she turned, Emilia had lowered herself to her knees and shuffled forwards, so that she could place her face within tiny Becky’s reach.

That meant getting VERY close.

At first Becky wasn’t sure what to do. Emilia’s face was so…huge that even with her chin resting on the same surface that Becky stood, she could not reach much higher than Emilia’s lips.

“It’s soo crazy how—”

“How big I am?” Emilia laughed.

Becky nodded, continuing to caress Emilia’s bottom and upper lip. It was spongy, but firm. It gave under pressure, but only by a little bit.

Emilia closed her mouth and chuckled, partly because she felt awkward. Her mouth, her skin…her teeth, all of it must look terrible from Becky’s magnified perception.

“You’re so beautiful” said Becky.

Emilia smiled. She didn’t know what to say.

Emilia pulled her head back, leaving the tiny woman standing there, embarrassed.

“Should I take you back?”

Becky looked embarrassed for a moment.

“Did you want to sleep with me instead?”

Becky looked up at the Giant, suddenly hopeful.

* * *