Meet Me Past the Stars

Chapter 5

I wake up on a couch with groups of scattered leaves and pillows a few feet from a fire. A blanket is cascaded over me as I realize that I'm inside a cave.

The cave was comfy, not in the way anyone would expect as someone refurbished it into a home. There were books on shelves and scattered on the ground. A light came from further into the cave.

I feel vibrations coming from the floor as I see James holding a leaf as he comes from a further place in the cave. I try to get myself up but trip over myself.

"Don't stress yourself." He says as he kneels and places the leaf filled with water. "I'm not going to hurt you. Please don't run." he grabs a cup. The cups almost looked like Barbie doll mugs in his hands.

I scooted away from him slowly, trying not to give myself the headache that was holding me from completely running out of the cave and back into the forest. I carefully sit up, still keeping eye contact with him.

"I did tell you to go back home and not to worry about me." He laughs lightly as he scratches the back of his head. I kept my straight face on him, uncaring of the joke.

"Yeah, because I thought you were having stomach problems and needed to go to the hospital, not-" I didn't finish that sentence because he already looked upset.

"I'm sorry you had to see me like this" He hands me the mug carefully in front of me, even though his hand was shaky. Once he handed me the mug filled with water, he turned away from me. "I know I'm a monster, and if you never want to see me again, that is perfectly fine. We don't have to-" His voice trembled, as he sat down, still not facing me.

I sip on my water loudly, not looking at him but at the ground. My thoughts were a bit muddled. I didn't want to answer that.

He looks around the cave like this is the first time he has ever seen it, then back at his hands. "I'm not as the rumors say I am. I'm not going to eat you. I would never eat you- or anyone in that matter." He into my eyes apologetically.

"And how do I know this isn't a lie?" I say as I go back to sipping on the water.

"Well, I mean... you trust me a little bit." He smiles a bit and I look about questionably.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I tug at my hair.

He points at me holding the mug in my hands. "I mean, I could have poisoned the water in your cup, or I could've let that bear claw at you for trespassing." We looked at each other for a couple of minutes. The fire between us was crackling on the wood. "I might be a monster, but I'm not a monster."

I'm not sure if he's actually dense or something. Even though he didn't poison the water it wouldn't matter when I was unconscious for who knows with a whole ass Giant. I looked down at my reflection in the cup of water and sighed. I need to breathe and calm down. "So you're telling me that all those rumors about Giants living in the Woods were true, but just not the evil part?"

He looked at me blankly. "Well, I'm the only Giant who's here. I don't have anyone except the critters that live with me." He smiles fondly at the outside of the cave.

"Do you have parents? And how are you even a human-like all the times I've seen you?" I looked at him questionably.

"I don't know." He starts to draw circles in the dirt and places one of his hands on his forehead. "There's no Giants around here, so I really wouldn't know why... I- I just know that on most nights; I turn into one and after I calm myself down, then, turn back into a human."

"So that's why you live so far from the main area..." I mumble. If I was a building foot tall, I would probably hide in the Woods so that no one knows.