A Collection of Stories that I probably will never finish

The Giant and I

A shadow in the distance... What was this figure I saw. I don't know. So mysterious... I wanted to just know.

But I couldn't. I knew what lurks in the mountains... the horrible creature. Though they are beautiful, they will deceive you. They are not nice. They are terrible.

I knew I should have stayed away from the mountains but here I was, halfway into a cave. A snowy, white cave.

The cave rumbled like a giant's hungry stomach. What if this was the mouth of a giant? No, it couldn't be. Giants have been extinct for many years already.

"Time travel?" I wondered out loud. "No... Giants would be too dumb for that..."

"Who are you calling dumb?!" demanded a voice throughout the cave.

I was confused at this point. Was the voice just a figment of my imagination?

I discovered that it certainly was not because a creature — no, person — towered over me as they walked to the opening of the cave where I was.

"Who are you calling unintelligent?" They demanded again.

I never thought Giants could be so small.

I shrugged.

The giant tasked. "What are you doing in my cave, human?"

"I was curious," I answered him. No, not him. Them. I couldn't assume. "about the shadow I saw in the mountains."

"A shadow?!" The giant looked alarmed.

"Was it not... not you?" I asked, puzzled.

"It was not me, yeah." They replied.

Suddenly, they scooped me up and put me on their shoulder.

"It is not safe in the opening," The giant mumbled.

No kidding, I thought but didn't say anything.

The giant ran farther into the cave with me on their shoulder.

"What's happening?" I questioned them. "Where are you taking me?"

"Back to my home," They answered. "You will be safer there."

I nodded, holding onto their neck but at the same time, trying not to choke them on accident. Their neck was the width of a normal human being. It was just their shoulders that were broader and their height that was much taller than any human I've seen before. I knew this giant wasn't human. I don't know why. I just somehow knew this. They were still a person though.

As we got farther into the cave, I started to see a space that we were coming closer and closer to. And it certainly looked like someone's home... Well, a person's home...

There was a small bonfire in the middle of the area and a log beside it that was probably used as a bench. A large tent lay behind the fire. The material of the form of shelter looked scale-y like dragon's hide.

"Is this your home?" I asked.

I felt the giant's head bop up and down as a nod. "It indeed is. You will be safer here, human. In the morning, I will bring you back to your village so that you are the safest there."

"Thank you, uh," I had realized that I didn't know the giant's name. "What's your name?"

They paused. The giant seemed hesitant to tell me their name. I wondered why. "You do not need to know my name, human. It is irrelevant since I will not see you again after tomorrow."

"I will call you Ire for short, I guess then." I laugh-giggled.

The giant that I had newly named Ire sighed. "You may call me whatever you want, human. Just don't make my dallenem insulting."

"What's a dallenem?" I rose my eyebrow in confusion. I had not heard this word before and I wanted to know its meaning.

"I supposed it would be what humans call a nickname," Ire replied. "To us, the term would be described as a name without purpose or a name that is a waste of time."

Ire set me down on the log and rekindled the bonfire with some sticks near the tent.

I sat up. " 'To us'? There are more of you?"

"Yes," they said in a whisper like tone but it wasn't as quiet. "but there are not as many of us as there used to be..."

————————————————————————————————————

(Author's note: That's the end of the first warm-up story. I may write more and then post the rest in the future. I hope you guys enjoyed this!)