Giant Boyfriend: Horvath (complete)

My village is close-knit. We all work together to help each other out, sort of like a big family. My father is the village head, as my grandfather was before him, and my great grandfather before him too. I’m the first girl born into the family for thirteen generations, a rarity. My father named me Opal, for the gemstone our village is famous for. 

My father has always enjoyed having me tag along with him on his business, helping out the people of the village and solving problems. He thought it was best I learn how to lead the village when the time came. He wanted me to be prepared for anything, as there hadn’t been a chieftess in ages. My mother’s family owns the most fruitful land for opals, and it was she who found the largest thunderegg to ever come from the territory. The giant opal became a centerpiece for our home, but also a source of arguments between her and my father. 

My father wanted to sell the opal and put the money back into the village. However my mother wanted to keep it in case of an emergency, or to provide for me and my little brothers’ futures. My father thought it ridiculous that we could possess so much wealth, and that the village should have it. My mother found it equally ridiculous that he was putting the village above his own children. So the opal remained in our home, a strange knickknack tucked into the shelves. 

My brothers became opal miners, going out every day to our mother’s territory while I accompanied our father. Our mother’s mine was located at the edge of the Colossal Hare Wood - perhaps one of the most frightening places in all of Miror. It was named for the monstrous trees that looked like the infamous Hares. The forest was like an ocean - endless, deep, and full of things we knew nothing about. 

My brothers would come home with stories, talking about how they could hear voices beckoning from within the wood. They said it felt like something was watching them while they worked, eyes on them all the time. They claimed, like many, that there was a race of giants living in the woods, able to blend in with the colossal trees and remain unseen. 

Their tales sent shivers up my spine. They terrified me. The trees were so massive I could not imagine there being a creature that met their stature. But legends of giants have woven themselves into the fairy tales of the village, becoming stories parents told their children to make sure they did not wander too far from home - or god forbid, into the wood itself. It was the cause for many of my nightmares, and many others’ nightmares,  I’m sure. I didn’t understand how my brothers continued to work so close to those trees every day, confident that they weren’t really giants.

In a way, I was happy I never had to go hunting for thundereggs like my brothers. I wasn’t one for heavy lifting or getting my hands dirty. They called me Princess Opal in jest, but I felt lucky. I got to help my father, which was a different form of hard work, but I thought it was easier than theirs. 

One afternoon, my brothers and I are arguing about our respective jobs. They call me ‘Princess Opal’, saying how much easier I have it. I throw back that they wouldn’t be able to talk a bird into flying if they had to. It gets heated, and my parents have to step in.

“Opal,” my father’s voice booms. “Tomorrow you’ll be going to work with your brothers.”

“What?” I nearly screeched. 

“End of discussion, Opal!” My father sits back down at the table. “You’ll see what work they put in, and later they will work with us to see it’s not as easy as they think.” He gives a decisive nod and sniff. 

I clutch my hands around my chest as my brothers sneer and giggle. “But I’ve never been to hunt opals! I’ll only get in their way.”

“We’re used to that,” Soloman chortles.

I shoot him a nasty glare and my father sighs. My mother shakes her head. “They will teach you, and you will not come home until you find a thunderegg of your own.” She gives me a terse look. “I have hunted opals all my life. So have your aunts, your grandmother, and so on. I say it’s high time you learned too. I fear we’ve pampered you too much, Opal.”

I’m used to waking early, but I am not used to the rush my brothers go through each morning. They hurry through a small meal and a quick cup of coffee, then gather their gear and head out towards the plot. I follow along behind them, still bewildered by this punishment. We’ve had these arguments dozens of times. Why are our parents insisting on this now?

“You gotta keep up, Princess!” Frankfurt laughs over his shoulder.

Soloman titters. “Don’t wanna get dragged into the forest, do ya?”

Only Benji, the youngest, seems to show any mercy. He slows his gait to keep pace with me and walks along beside me. “You really shouldn’t walk behind like that.”

“I’m used to following along behind Father,” I huff. “What does it matter out here?”

Frankfurt and Soloman start setting their equipment down as they come upon our plot. Just behind them, the Colossal Hare Forest looms through the mist. It’s a cold morning, so every breath is icy, but the one that fills my chest as I gaze into the woods is a particularly chilling one. It hits the back of my throat, making my eyes water and frost creep down my spine.

Benji claps his hand on my back. “Best you just ignore it.”

“Ignore it?” I demand. “How on earth do you ignore it?” I follow along beside him as he sets his gear down.

Benji places a pickaxe in my hands. “I work.”

I grimace as I hold the pickaxe, bringing it close to my chest. I look back up to see the mist billowing between the trees, as if the forest is breathing. I shiver and follow Benji as the boys lower themselves into a trench.

“Come on, Princess.” Benji offers me his hand. “It isn’t too far if you fall.”

“Oh, ha-ha,” I sneer at him. I lower myself down as Frankfurt takes me from below. He swings me, making me scream before setting me down on the rocky ground. “That’s not funny, Frankie!” I yell at him, and slap his arm while he cackles.

“Then don’t make it so easy to scare you, Princess.” He takes the pickaxe from me. “Come on, I’ll show you where Mum found her thunderegg.”

I scowl after him, although curiosity has taken hold. 

“Oh, and don’t look up,” Solomon says with a grin.

My brow puckers. “Huh?” 

Soloman points up. “Don’t look up. The trees are watching.”

If it wasn’t for Benji walking right behind me, I would have frozen in my path. I peer up from the corner of my eye, and it appears as though the forest is leaning over the edge of the trench. I whine low in my throat, then look ahead and grab hold of Frankfurt’s elbow.

“Oh, great, now she’s going to cling!” Frankfurt scoffs. “Way to go, Manny.”

“What?” Soloman laughs. “She would have seen it sooner or later.”

We come upon a wider divot in the trench that opens up into a sort of gaping maw. One wall is marked with chalk, showing a tunnel that goes deep underground. Frankfurt points inside with a grin on his face. “Mum found this tunnel and crawled inside on her stomach, she was about your age.”

I frown at him. “She was pregnant with me. I know the story.”

Frankfurt looks back into the tunnel. “None of us can fit, so we’ve never tried to see if there are any more opals in there.” He motions up to the roots weaving in and out of the earth above the tunnel. “And that is why we cannot dig there. A Hare tree has its roots in it.”

“Then why don't you chop them away? Not afraid of the trees, are you?” I sneer at him.

“They say the Hare Trees ooze blood when you cut into them,” Benji replies grimly. “The story goes that the trees are really giants sleeping, and if one is cut or brought down, then all of the forest will wake up.”

Another breath freezes my insides. 

“Then why the hell would someone build a village so close to this place?” I shiver. 

“You work with Dad. Don’t you know the answer to that?” Soloman starts digging, chopping into the ground, then kicking away debris with his foot as he inspects the hole.

“Come here.” Frankfurt tugs me to a different spot. He uses the pickaxe to cut an ‘X’ into the dirt, then hands the tool to me. “Start digging here.”

“Is that...” My eyes dart back and forth. “Is that all?”

Frankfurt’s eyes widen at me. “You know what a thunderegg looks like, right? Dig until you see one.”

I scowl and shake my head. “That’s not enough instructions, Frankie!”

Benji lets out an exasperated scoff. “I can help her.”

“Nah, nah,” Frankfurt shakes his hand. “Princess is going to do this on her own. She’s going to lead an opal-mining town, so she’s got to know what it’s like.” He points to the X. “Now dig.”

“I’ll dig you,” I grouse. I raise the pickaxe above my head when Benji whistles loudly at me, startling me and nearly making me drop the tool on my head. “What?” I hiss at him.

Benji waves both his hands at me. “Put on the work gloves Mum gave you. Those fancy ones won’t do you any good.”

“But the other ones are so bulky!” I reach into my pocket to produce the work gloves. 

“You’ll thank them for that later.” Benji returns to his work while I slide the gloves on.

I go back to digging, mimicking what I see my brothers do. I’ll dig for a while, then brush the loose dirt aside and feel around. Occasionally I look up, feeling as if someone is watching me, but all I see are the trees. I grimace, looking back down at the ground and working in hopes of ignoring them. 

“Remember, you’re not allowed to go back to working with Pa until you find an opal.” Frankfurt taunts me with a smug grin on his face.

I grumble under my breath as I suppress the urge to cuss him out. My arms ache, and my hands sting horribly. When I take off the gloves, my pretty hands are red and chapped, and even with the thick gloves I am starting to get blisters and sore spots. 

I go home that evening empty-handed, save for a handful of blisters. I will have to head back out with my brothers in the morning, and keep working until I bring home a thunderegg to my parents. 

For two more days, I toil in that trench while the Colossal Hare Wood looms over me, breathing down my neck and judging me for my failures. On the third day, I can no longer take it. I can’t stand the trees, the pain in my hands, the heavy material clinging to my fingers to protect them from the pain. Most of all, I can’t take how it feels like the forest is breathing. I can hear it, too. I can hear the long, soft susurrations as it breathes in, exhaling the thick clouds of mist that sinks into the trench and obscure my view. 

I toss my pickaxe aside and take Benji’s head-lantern from his bag. I stomp over towards the tunnel and launch myself inside, crawling in so only my legs are hanging out.

“The fuck are you doing?” I feel someone pull at my ankles, but I grab hold of the walls inside so my brother can’t budge me.

Dirt falls on top of me. “I’m going to find a thunderegg!”

“Not in there you aren’t! This is crazy!” Frankfurt snaps at me.

“Let me go!” I kick him, knocking him back, and am able to worm my way inside the tunnel. I crawl through, agitated enough to forget how stupid I am being. 

“Opal, get back out here this instant!” Frankfurt screams after me. He tries to reach inside the opening, but I am just out of reach.

“I’m finding another thunderegg in here! I’m not coming back here tomorrow!” I look deep into the tunnel as the light of the lantern lances ahead of me. I crawl, dragging myself on my stomach while keeping my head low.

“This isn’t worth it! Princess!” Soloman yells behind me.

“No way! You say you guys can’t get in here to dig, and I...”

The ground opens up beneath me, swallowing me whole. I scream like I have never screamed before. I fall and fall and fall. The wind rushes around me and I grab at it, hoping it has somehow turned solid around me. But there is nothing to grab, so all I can do is fall.

I wake slowly, gazing up at a lit lantern above my head. I blink one eye at a time, focusing on the warm glow. The lantern appears close to my face, but when I stretch my hand out to touch it, I can’t reach it. I sit up, and a blanket falls away from me. I am in a sea of blankets... no, just one enormous blanket. I prop myself up further to see that the bed stretches out beyond me like a cliff towards the horizon. Breathless, I look around. There is a table beside the bed that looks like a massive plateau.

“What is happening?” I whisper. I crawl towards the edge of the bed and look down. My insides squirm, and I reel back. If I tried to get off the bed, I would fall and break my neck. Perhaps I am still dreaming. Perhaps I have died, and this is some strange world in the afterlife. I mean, I’m so small compared to what comes after. It makes sense. Right? Right?

I hear a rumble, a low thud, thud, thud. Footsteps, massive footsteps. I panic and hide under the blankets, hoping to appear like a tiny wrinkle in the giant expanse of fabric. The footsteps come closer and closer, stopping just before the bed. 

“Are you awake?” The voice is loud and booming. “Hello?”

I remain still, hoping that the creature will keep moving. Lowering down my head into the sheets, I imagine I am still in that tunnel, crawling to find a thunderegg like my mother.

The blanket is lifted off me, and I remain frozen there.

“Hiding, were you?”

“Don’t hurt me!” I scream.

The creature shifts, layng the blanket at the foot of the bed. “No, no, see here,” he says softly. “I’m not going to hurt you. If it wasn’t for me, you’d have woken up in the stranglevines.”

I peer up from the sheets to see a gray tunic with opal buttons. Further up I see a massive hand with reddish skin. I gasp and duck my head back down again.

“It’s okay,” the creature soothes. “No need to fear old Horvath.”

I tremble, clinging to the sheet. My mind has totally gone blank from fear.

“I’m not going to hurt you, promise.”

I wish there was a way to make myself smaller. “How can I be so sure of that?” 

“I do not know I can prove it unless you try to listen to me.”

I peer up from the bed, looking further up the body to see a long, blonde beard. I see a face with deep-set eyes, a sharp brow, and a long, hooked nose.  He smiles at me and touches his palm to his chest. “I am Horvath, and who might you be?”

I rise slowly from the bed as I look at him. My hands shake, so I clutch them together tightly. He’s gigantic, and I feel like a doll next to a grown man. I take in a short, sputtering breath. He’s a giant!

“I am, uh...” I look over his face and bite down on my lip. “M-m-my name is Opal,” I stammer.

Horvath’s smile grows and brightens. “Opal, huh? Is that a joke?”

I shake my head rapidly. 

“Well then,” he sighs. “You are a pretty thing. I haven’t had much company in a long while, so I am unprepared.”

“Where am I?” My voice squeaks.

“This is my home,” Horvath replies. He points behind him. “I was outside tending to my garden when I heard a horrible scream. I thought perhaps another bobcat had found its way here, but when I looked up, I saw your light. It’s lucky you fell into the stranglevines, or else you could have ended up much worse.”

“Oh… Thank you, then,” I say unsurely as I look up at him. His hair is extremely thick, hanging down in three huge braids. His beard is bushy and large, braided from his bottom lip to its center, where an opal bead caps it.

“What were you doing?” Horvath asks. “How did you fall like that?”

“I was...” I gulp down the lump in my throat. “I was digging opals with my brothers, and I crawled into a tunnel.”

“Opal hunting, eh?” Horvath runs his fingers through his beard. “I’m surprised the humans are even able to find any more on the surface.” He turns, reaching for something behind him.

“Oh?” I sit so I am not pinching my legs.

He holds out his hand and presents me with a tin tray, with a cup filled with water and a large chunk of bread. “You must be thirsty.”

I take the cup into my hands, drinking the cold water. Horvath smiles brightly. “I didn’t have any cups small enough, so I had to fashion one before you woke up.”

“It’s nice.” I say, taking a deep drink. My throat is sore from screaming, so the cold water feels good rushing down. Then I take the hunk of bread, breaking off only a piece of the giant loaf. It’s silent while I chew, and I am uncertain of what to do or even say. I look back towards Horvath, seeing the same look of uncertainty on his face. 

“Where am I?” I say. “What is this place?”

“You’re in my home,” Horvath says with a nod. “You’re in the Dwelling Place.”

I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. “What’s the Dwelling Place?”

“The Home of Giants,” he says, and his smile fades. “Or it was once.”

I furrow my brow. “What do you mean? Are there no longer any giants?”

Horvath hangs his head and clasps his hands together. “Very few,” he replies. “Very few.” His voice fades away as he drops his eyes to the floor. 

I take another bite of the bread, slowly chewing. I don’t know what to say, so it’s probably best that I remain silent. 

“You’re probably wondering how you can get home,” Horvath sighs.

“Yes!” I gasp and accidentally choke on the bread. I cough and wheeze, gulping down the rest of the water. 

“You all right?” Horvath asks in concern.

“I’ll be fine,” I cough. “But when can I go home?”

Horvath frowns. “Once spring comes. The only way out of the Dwelling Place will open once the thaw comes.”

“But… but that’s going to be months from now!” I slam the cup down on the tray. “Are you telling me I am going to be stuck down here for months?”

Horvath’s expression is sympathetic, but all he can do is shrug. “I’m sorry, Opal. I wish there was more I could do.”

I sink back, dusting crumbs from the corner of my mouth. “Well,” I grumble. “I’m sorry to intrude.”

“No worries,” Horvath chuckles softly. “It will be nice to have the company for a change.” He stands and takes the cup from the tray. “I’ll get you more to drink. You can just sit back and relax. OK?”

“OK,” I whisper.

I hold my head in my hands. Why did I have to act like an idiot and crawl into that tunnel? I’ve doomed myself to solitude with a giant.