To Trust a Giant

Chapter 3

Stella groaned as she started to wake up but something felt different. The air was a lot warmer than before and the ground was much softer than usual. The last thing she remembered was….. the giant!

Stella’s eyes shot open as she promptly sat up, ignoring how lightheaded and dizzy she felt. She suddenly realized where she was. She was on a counter of a small room. As she looked beyond the counter and saw a small brown couch and table in the middle of the room and small box TV against the wall. All the way in the left corner of the room was an unmade bed and a wooden dresser nearby.

The door to the right swung open and the giant emerged. His eyes locked onto hers.

A smile appeared on his face. “Oh, thank god, you're awake. I was worried, you would never wake up.”

To her horror, the giant man began to approach her. Stella scrambled backwards near the edge of the counter. Realizing there was nowhere else to go, Stella did the only thing she could do and use her arms to shield herself.

“Back off!” she yelled out.

To her surprise the man stopped. A look of concern appeared on his face.

“You need to get away from the edge. If you pass out again and you might fall over.”

“Well, maybe that's what I want.” Stella snapped.

His eyes widened as she said that. “No, no, no, don't do that.”

“And why not?”

“Please, you're tired, you're confused, you need to drink.”

“I'm not…. I'm not taking anything from…. From you.”

Jason sighed. “Okay, look I get it. I'm not you're owner, but I'll help you find them if you just cooperate.”

Without thinking, Stella quickly shot up to her feet. “You don't get it at all! I'm-” Gravity began to pull her body off the counter.

“No!” The man shouted before he extended his arm out. Stella squeezed her eyes shut and braced for a fatal impacted, however she was met with a fleshy surface. Her body now hovered just over the counter. Her green eyes opened wide as she realized where she was.

“See, I told you to stay away from the edge.” The giant said.

A sick feeling formed in the pit of her stomach. She was in a giant’s hand! She began to remember all the horrors the last time she was in a giant’s hand.

“Let me go! Let me go!” Stella shouted as she squirmed and twisted to get out of his hand. She lunged herself forward out of his hand and unfortunately, crashed hard onto the counter, causing her to bite her lip. Blood poured onto the counter and into her mouth. Stella let out a small whimper as she covered her bloody lip with her hand.

“Oh god, is that blood? Please tell me you're okay.” The giant asked in a panicked voice.

Stella refused to respond, she only continued to lay there motionless, hoping he would just leave her alone.

“Miss, please tell me you're okay.” His fingers began to nudge Stella to get a better look at her face.

She reacted by pushing herself up to her knees and swatting his fingers away. “Get the fuck away from me!” She screamed. She glared up at the giant with a wild, angry look in her eyes. His jaw dropped in shock as he stared at his hand with wide eyes and Stella then realized what she did.

She just struck a giant. Her angry demeanor shrank away into nothing. If he wasn't going to hurt her before, then he certainly was now. “Oh god, I'm so… so sorry.” She said in a shaky voice.

The hand that she struck reached out towards her. Stella could do nothing more but back away, however, his hand prevented her from moving any further. It pushed her towards him. Any resistance would be futile. Stella squeezed her eyes shut and prayed her punishment wouldn't be severe.

Then something soft and gentle brushed against her lip. She opened her eyes to see the giant man dabbing her cut lip with a napkin. Stella was stunned. She had no idea someone so big could be so gentle.

Once the bleeding stopped, the giant man threw away the napkin and grabbed a spoon. He dipped it into the bowl full of water and brought it to her.

“Please, drink.” He said.

Stella nodded and nearly drank all the water from the spoon. “Th-thank you.”

“You're welcome.” He replied. “Now do you have a name?”

“My name… my name is Stella.”

He smiled. “That's a lovely name, Stella. My name is Jason. I know we got off on the wrong foot but I would really appreciate it if you stayed here with me, at least for tonight.”

Realizing she didn't have much of a choice, Stella nodded in agreement.

Jason looked over at the clock on his dresser. It was after one A.M. “It's getting late, we better get some rest.” He extended his hand out as a signal for her to climb on. “Come on, I'll let you crash on the couch.”

Stella was very hesitant to willingly climb onto a giant’s hand, and Jason seemed to noticed this.

“Or you can just sleep on the napkins. If you want.”

“I think that would be… would be best.” She replied awkwardly.

“Alright, but if you change your mind, let me know.” He walked over to the light switch and flicked it off. The only thing illuminating the room was a street light outside a small rectangular window from the top left corner of the room.

“If you get hungry, I laid out some crackers for you.” He said as he climbed into bed.

“Thank you.”

“Good night, Stella.”

“Good night.”