Giant Boyfriend: Horvath 2 (special preview)

“I used to want to live in a dollhouse when I was small.” I then grin and laugh. “Well, smaller to you.” I look down at my hands. “I had my mother’s old dollhouse that her grandfather had built for her. I wanted to live in it so badly, especially after Benji was born,” I scoff. “Three loud, screaming, earth shattering boys around all at once.” I frown. “I never got a moments peace and now I would give anything to hear them yelling through the house again.”

Horvath pats the top of my head. “You’ll hear it again. Do not fret. You won’t have to miss it for very long.” He rises back up. “Sleep well, Opal. I’ll see you when you wake.”

“How will you know it’s dawn down here?” I ask.

His soft chortle sounds like distant waves crashing. “Like I said, when you wake.”

I huff and lay back in the makeshift bed, sinking into the plush, warm comfort of the nest. I take off my dress, laying it to the side before I snuggle into the blanket. It feels so soft and warm, it does not take long for me to drift to sleep.

When I wake, it is a bit disorienting. I could smell the fire and hear it crackling behind me. Everything around me felt so looming, I could have sworn I was still in a dream. I sat up from the bed, struggling to remove myself from it. I stepped out, finding myself in Horvath’s kitchen.

I let out a long, slow breath. “Ok, so not a dream.” The front door is open as I walk further out. Stepping onto the porch, Horvath is visible in his mushroom garden. He’s harvesting small batches, gathering them up into a basket on his hip. As I stand there, I can hear him singing, a low soft hum that travels along my skin and hums in my ears. His voice is soft and beautiful, singing in a language I do not understand that comes from his chest rather than his throat.

Horvath looks up, spotting me on the porch and he waves. “Welcome to waking, Opal!” He says with a jovial smile. “Give me time, I’ll have breakfast ready.”

“Take your time.” I then gasp, realizing I am still only in my slip. I rush back inside, hurriedly dressing before Horvath comes through the door.

“I think there are some doll’s clothes around here somewhere.” Horvath grunts, tossing the mushrooms into a basin. “Let me look around to find you something clean.”

“I can wash this, do not worry about it.” I try to argue.

Horvath shakes his head. “You’ll be here for a time, you’ll need something else to wear or else that will be falling apart.”

I follow behind him where he goes into a room that was closed off. Inside is a grand bed with four posts, each carved to look like a braided vine. The room is dusty, but clean, the air inside stale and unmoved. He goes inside and opens a chest of drawers that he starts searching through.

“Who lived here?” 

Horvath closes the drawer. “It was my bedroom.” He then hands down a handful of dresses which fill my arms. 

“Was?” I look at the bed, remembering what he told me yesterday. “Oh,” I gasp softly. “I see. I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize.” Horvath shoos me from the room and closes it back. “It is just, I prefer memories these days.”

I look at the dresses in my arms. Each one is delicately made, hand stitched, probably from old scraps. I can tell they are hand dyed as well and they still maintain an earthy scent. “This is very nice, thank you. I’ll wear them with pride.”

Horvath chuckles. “I’ll go make breakfast. You enjoy your new bounty.”

After breakfast, Horvath begins working on building me a little house. He tends to his garden as well, and prepares meals for us. It is strange having no sense of time, but it doesn’t seem to bother Horvath at all. He eats when he is hungry, sleeps when he is tired, works when he is able, and plays when it matters.