Red Sky: Chapter 37

When I was two my world was ruled by a giant. There were dangerous creatures with fangs the size of my arm and mysterious gremlins that would slither out of my closet at night, but the giant protected me. The giant’s fingers would magically appear and caress my face when tears formed in my eyes. The giant’s hands like soft warm shovels would hold my body and pick me up when those eyes grew heavy, depositing me in an oversized bed, covers up to my chin.

I would look up to the skies with a mixture of bewilderment and awe straining to see the giant’s face as it moved through my daily life. I would mimic its movements trailing close behind, imitating the way it walked and the way it talked. The giant spoke in a foreign language, a crazy sort of gibberish that only made sense to other giants. She used gestures to get her point across to me while speaking those unintelligible syllables. Eventually, the giant helped me understand some of those nonsensical sounds, sounding them out over and over again in a soothing voice. The other giants all had deep voices as loud as a freighter. They frightened me. But my giant spoke soft gibberish that warmed me.

Water poured down from great heights during much of this time. I would stand on my tiptoes to control the handles that turned off the rain only to have them turned on again by an upset giant. Fire would appear above my head when food was made. I wish I could remember the food, the smells, but a two-year old doesn’t care about food. Candy. A two-year old cares about candy. The food is only the appetizer before the candy.

There were other giants besides the one that protected me. Too many other giants, in fact. Occasionally, I would see another miniature trailing after their giant holding a blanket as though it were a magic carpet, but for the most part I stayed alone in my giant’s world. A world that consisted of angular knees and plush thighs and few faces. Sometimes, I would be down on the ground and the giant’s shovels would appear holding another distraction. Then I would see the familiar knees come crashing down beside me, followed by a torso, then a gigantic face many times the size of my own. White eyeballs like dinner plates with a green apple in the middle would stare at me for long periods. They would draw me in while projecting a force field that kept all of the dangers of the world away.

“Everything will be okay,” she said when she found me inconsolable. Giants always said everything would be okay, that didn’t mean it was true. Still, I believed her. I always believed what my giant told me.

And then she was gone. She vanished along with many other giants two and a half months after we celebrated my fourth birthday together.

Curled up onto myself with hate in my heart and plans in my head, I thought of her warmth once again. The door to the box would open in a day, or two days, or maybe three days and my memories of her would disappear as suddenly as they had appeared to me in the darkness. But I didn’t want to forget her. No matter what happened to me after I left the box, I always wanted to remember that time when my world was ruled by a giant.


Next Chapter: Chapter 38
Previous Chapter: Chapter 36