The Assumption (The Hypothesis of Giants Series, Book One)

Chapter 7: The Handshake

A loud crash of thunder was the prelude to an onslaught of raindrops. Otus screeched to a halt, and Aurora ordered him to help her down from his pocket. His fingers picked her up gently and planted her down on the grass. She recognized that they were in the wooded picnic area of Candlewick Park, where she had come with her parents for a family picnic every summer since she was eight years old. She didn't care to reminisce on those innocent days as she trudged through thick mud up to her ankles. All she wanted to do was go home.

"Where are you going?" Boreas shouted after her.

"Everyone knows the worst place in a thunderstorm is under trees, which is exactly where we're standing right now."

Otus chased Aurora and put his foot out in front of her, but she continued under his legs like a tunnel.

"We can go somewhere else," Otus offered, wiping the raindrops out of his eyes. A lightning bolt illuminated the sky over his head, and Aurora looked up momentarily but then kept walking. Like playing a game, Otus charged in front of her, blocking her passage of escape.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She tried to run around him, but he cut her off at every turn, his calf muscles playing the part of walls blocking her escape; it was as if he was dancing the mambo around her.

"I won't let you pass until you answer me."

"Answer him, Aurora," Boreas cried out, turning a shade of green. "Or I'm going to get sick."

Aurora glared up at the gargantuan face nearly hidden by the gray clouds hovering overhead. Another flash of lightning struck nearby, and she wished it had struck his head, being the tallest point in that space.

"You want to know what's wrong? Fine. Where the hell were you, Otus?"

Otus stared back at her, confounded. "I came back."

"Exactly. Came back. Why did you leave us in the first place? Boreas was nearly arrested, and I commandeered a Common Good vehicle. And now they probably have every soldier in the Common Good army looking for us and especially you right now. You are not inconspicuous. You're a giant!"

"Aurora," Boreas whispered, "he did rescue us."

"After the fact! After he was off gallivanting or wherever he was. Now I am a fugitive, and this fugitive wants to get far away from you and your ridiculous mission, and from you too, Boreas. I never want to see either of you again."

The blistering wind stung her face as she made a mad dash past Otus's thick ankle and dodged through the slight gap that had opened up between his feet. The park exit was only a few more feet away, and she ran against the wind, fighting the warm wet pellets exploding against her skin. Her indigo dress was now smeared with mud and unrecognizable from that morning. The block party itself felt like a lifetime ago, and she pictured her bed and her sanctuary away from this madness. She wanted to close herself away from the world again and not let a conch shell drive her away from who she was. She was Fatty Alvarez! That was all she ever was going to be.

She reached the exit and nearly collapsed under the gazebo, catching her breath as the roof took the brunt of the raindrops. She heard Boreas calling out to her, but she ignored him and wished herself invisible under that safety net. No such luck, as Boreas bounded into the gazebo, tracking mud and dripping wet. He took a moment to catch his breath and noticed her huddled in the corner. He kept his eye on her in the event she bounced to her feet and took off again.

"You can't just run away from this," he finally spit out. His fingers combed through his wet black strands, and his intense eyes focused only on her. The rain ricocheted off the wooden beam like a musical symphony overhead.