The Giant in the Spruce

Below I'm going to share a short piece I wrote a while ago. Actually, I was curious and checked the date and it looks like I wrote this in the summer of 2007. I was perusing my files today, opened this one up, and went, huh. Kind of a fun little story that I'd completely forgotten I wrote. I added the ending, and then decided to post it here. I hope you enjoy it. :)


The Giant in the Spruce

That afternoon, I was doing as I always did. The sitka spruce surrounded me on all sides, and the forest stretched on and on. I walked and walked, as I did every day, through the forest near home. When I came upon it, I didn’t realize at first, until the slumbering giant sneezed and grunted in his sleep.I stopped in shock.The creature was huge, fifteen feet tall at least, its feet and hands big and broad.You must be dreaming, I told myself. No one came here; how a giant would have gotten here I couldn’t imagine.With another glance, I moved past the creature, trying not to make any noise.It shifted, and I moved more quickly, trying to put a little distance between it and me. Rushing, I tripped over a large branch, and the creature stirred.Glancing back, I was surprised to see it staring at me, its large eyes dark in the shadows of the forest.I flinched and turned to go, intent on returning to the cabin, and ignoring what I had just seen.“Wait,” it called.I hesitated.“What are you?” the creature asked.“I’m a man. What in god’s name are you?”“Ingodsnamaru?”“What are you?”“I’m a dwarf.”I sputtered. “Traditionally, a dwarf is somewhat smaller than average size.”“Where I’m from, I am smaller than average.”“Ah, and where is that?” I asked, sensing a scheme.“It is a different place.” He nodded, as though this was all he was sure of. “I came through somehow. We’ve always known you were here.”“Came through…”“And now I can’t seem to find the entry. It must be here somewhere, but I’ve been stuck for days. Do you have anything to eat?”My mother once told me about picking up strays, that time when I fed the neighbor’s cat. If I fed him, would he try to stay? How could I prevent it if that’s what he decided?“Not here,” I told him.“What is this place?”“This is earth.”“Of course it is earth.”“This is the United States of America, the most powerful country – nation – on earth.”“I am far from home,” he said sadly.“And where is home? I’ve never seen your kind here, and I’ve walked this forest for years.”“Others have come before me. But they knew the way; they would have avoided your kind.”“How did you get here?” Looking at him one question piled over another in my mind, though he still hadn’t answered the first.“If I knew I would not have stayed.” He paused, great eyes crinkled in thought. “It seemed to me that the forest stretched on and on that day, further than I’d ever noticed before. When it got dark, I sat down and slept. When I rose before dawn I continued to walk, but I never reached the end of the forest. I think it was somewhere close to this spot, but the true moment of crossing over evades me. Was I in your world before I ever fell asleep? Or did sleep bring me here? They’ve never spoken to one like me about the way of it.”“They?”“The priests, the ones who have explored your world.”“And they’re giants?”“How did you know? They are much larger than me, yes, and they have foul tempers.” He glanced around, unsure even now whether he should speak of them so.“Foul…but you dwarves, you’re gentle?”“Not much is gentle in our world. We must stand up for ourselves,” he said peevishly. “But we do try to get along.”“Sounds familiar.”“Do you have anything to eat?”“At home.”“Will you lead me there?”“You do plan to return to your own world if you can find the way?”“Of course.”“You’d better eat something then. Maybe the way back will occur to you if you get your mind off it.”The trail closed around them, especially the giant. The forests of the northwest coast grew densely. “Do you remember when the trail got so narrow? You’re hardly fitting in here, you must have noticed when that changed.”The creature looked around, and shrugged. “I was deep in thought. I did not notice.” We walked much of the distance in silence, the miles melting away under my stride, and his considerably longer one. I grew more nervous as we neared my home…I knew nothing about this creature, yet I was leading him to the place dearest to me. He just seemed so bewildered. I couldn’t just leave him seeking his way home, knowing he could starve just a few miles from my door.“What is this?” His voice boomed in the silence as my house came into view.“My home. Will you sit here, and I’ll go see what I can find to eat?”He obliged, his brow furrowed as he took in my small, rustic cabin. With a final glance at my visitor, I edged inside and went straight to the fridge. I had just bought lunch meat and sliced cheese, so I grabbed that and a loaf of bread, and began assembling simple sandwiches. I looked to the fruit bowl, which was about half full of bananas, oranges and apples. My stomach dropped a little. I didn’t know where I’d get the funds to replace the food I was about to feed this visitor from another world. I refused to worry too much about it. I knew I’d be taken care of – caring and giving are the key to that. I emerged with a plate stacked high with four sandwiches, and one of each fruit.“You are kind,” the giant told me, tears glistening in his dark eyes. “Your gift is generous.” He set in, eating quickly but neatly, and I leaned against my porch and watched a pair of squirrels scampering in a nearby tree, trying not to be rude by watching him.When he’d finished, he licked his fingers, and with a flash of guilt I realized he was still hungry. But he rose, and wiped his hands on his rough pants. He gestured to the building. “Why do you not live in the earth?”“In the earth?” I asked.He stepped back and looked at the sky, thinking. “We live in the earth, under the ground. Our houses are built into the hills themselves. We are safe there. Are you safe in this thing?”I chuckled. “My house is a little run down. Many of my kind live in nicer houses. But I have everything I need here.”“The giants would kill me easily if I lived here.”“That’s why we have law and order.”“We also have laws. Giants set them up. They do not protect us.”“I am sorry,” I told him, unsure what to say.He shrugged, and looked to the forest path. “Thank you for the meal, man. I will remember your kindness.”“Will you be alright?”“I believe so. I will retrace my steps, and I’m sure the solution will come to me.”It was hard to believe I was about to watch a giant walk out of my yard and back into the forest. But I had no claim on him, and wasn’t even sure I’d like him to stay. I just wanted to know what happened next, and I had to admit I wondered about where he was from, though it didn’t sound like an especially nice place.Still, disappear he did, and I never saw him again. Days later, I awoke to a thump outside my house, and listened, tense, trying to figure out where the sound that had woken me had originated. When I heard nothing else, I drifted back into sleep. When I went out for my daily hike, I found a velvet pouch on my porch, tied with a red silken thread. I tugged it open, and within found a handful of gems; diamonds, rubies, sapphires that appeared to be high quality. I sucked in a sharp breath of cold air. My kindness had been repaid, and despite the fact I didn’t know what had become of my forest friend, I knew then of the balance, the ebb and flow as what we give returns to us…even across the boundaries that stand between worlds.