Cedric's Giant Curse

Chapter 4: Tight Spaces

Chapter 4: Tight Spaces

Cedric was relieved when they finally left the Dunwitty village behind, now travelling down a dusty dirt road through a small forest. He hated how careful he had to be while treading through town, constantly having to look down to make sure he didn't step on anything or anyone. With the buildings in the village being so close together and the streets narrow, this made it a challenge for him. Thankfully, the only casualty was a small vegetable stand that Cedric hadn't seen, though he came very close to crushing the vendor along with it. He did feel a little bad though that Sofia had to pay the man for all the vegetables he squashed as well as the small stand itself.

"Try to be a little more careful, Mr. Cedric," she had told him with a sweet little smile on her face. "I know you're not used to being so big, but we wouldn't want anyone to get hurt." While he understood where she was coming from, he still did not like the fact that he was being chastised by a mere child. It put him in a bit of a sulking mood for the rest of the journey home.

He especially did not like how all the villagers would scramble inside the nearest building when he passed, cowering at the sight of him, yet still curious enough to gape at him as they went. While he did want to use his giant size to take over the kingdom, he didn't want people to fear him. He just wanted to show everyone that he really was a great sorcerer, to be admired and treated with respect as one of the greatest sorcerers in the world. But with the way the villagers looked at him, he felt more like a monster in their eyes. But that will soon change once I figure out how to get back to normal , he reasoned with himself, trying not to be affected by their constant staring. Then I can finally, FINALLY take over the kingdom! His only concern was losing the power if he did, in fact, find another way to shrink himself. He figured doing a good deed was out of the question now. What good could he possibly do with the way he was anyway? And he didn't want to do anything that would lead Sofia to become suspicious and figure out that he had her amulet. No, he would have to be extra careful about that.

As they journeyed through the woods, Cedric could see the castle looming up ahead long before Sofia and the coachman did. That was at least one thing he liked about being a giant: he could see so much more than what he could at his normal size. It was fascinating to him how he could see things miles away from where he stood! Normal people could only see what was in front of them, being so close to the ground. But being so tall, he could see everything around him, even over the tops of the trees surrounding him. Even the brilliant blue sky above his head felt so much closer at this height. So close that he was almost tempted to reach out his hand to see if he could caress one of the puffy white clouds drifting by with his fingers. He wondered if birds, such as his raven, Wormwood, ever thought this way when flying through the sky.

Probably not.

Even though the castle was now within his view, it still felt as though it would take hours for them to reach their destination. His legs were so long now, he could have easily reached the castle in no time at all. But the fact was he still had to go at the same speed as the carriage. Slower, actually, since he had to walk a bit behind it. This left him no time for his evil daydreams as he had to pay close attention to his pacing less he accidentally overtake the carriage, or worse, crush it. Every now and then as they travelled, Sofia would look back to check and make sure that he was still following alright. Not that he could possibly get lost or separated from the coach, but she was a little concerned about the sorcerer given his current state. As much as she liked him, she knew how clumsy Cedric could be, and being giant sized did not help in that matter. Still, she had full faith that he would be careful. Minus the vegetable stand incident.

Cedric knew they were finally getting close when he heard Sofia shout to him, "I can see the castle! Don't worry, Mr. Cedric. We're almost there!" He had known that long before she did, but he nodded his head anyway without saying a word. Still, upon hearing this, he began to feel a little nervous. Even though he wanted to overthrow the king, he still cared what the people at the castle thought about him. To an extent anyway. He just knew that as soon as King Roland saw him, he would think that Cedric had bungled a spell or had an accident with a potion. It seemed that whenever something went wrong, whether it had anything to do with him or not, Cedric was the one to blame. He had lived with this unfairness ever since he became the royal sorcerer of Enchania, and now this was the icing on the cake. He could already hear the voices of the royals and the castle staff laughing at him, believing he had made another huge blunder. He hoped that he was wrong, but somehow he doubted it. It was either that, or they would treat him like the villagers had. Neither one of those options set well with him.