Through a small opening, a figure sat silent watching as the sky progressed from a red dusk to a navy blue blanket of stars. A slow tear tracked its way down his cheek. In a shelf on the corner sat a wrecked Vespa. Turning, he studied the vehicle and the layer of dust gathered on it. That moped, untouched for over a year, was what led him to her, Gretha.
It had been a year since she had died. The giant race lived lonesome lives and tried to steer clear of human activities. Those savage apes tend to want to kill anything that they do not understand or like. They are not compassionate, gentle or loving - they were nothing like Gretha. He fell for her when she saved the driver of that Vespa. A loving act that no one would have blamed her for not doing. She showed this love to him, growing close and forming plans for a brighter tomorrow. Her heart was so big it became her undoing when she sacrificed herself to save a school bus and its cargo of children from a collapsing bridge. While many children were saved that day, their envisioned child, along with the rest of their lives together, was lost.
He grasped the Vespa and opened its gas cap. Placing a finger over the opening, he collected a tiny drop of fuel and he dabbed it on his neck. Gretha loved this smell on him. In this past year, he couldn't wear it though. Not without her, not without the life they promised one another. However, he owed it to her to try and carry on. Perhaps a walk through the human neighborhood would begin him on this path.
The air was cool and crisp. In the sky the Milky Way was clearly visible. It was under these stars that Gretha would pull him close and they would complete each other's universe, in quiet and in secrecy.
Reaching the edge of the woods, he looked up and down the street to ensure there was no motion. Stepping out, he carefully crossed fences and stepped over cars. He had no desire to harm anything. He would pause to look into the windows. He wondered what life was like as a human. An existence so compact, but with such vibrancy. He was confident it was a life full of noise and busyness. Perhaps the Giant lifestyle was not so bad after all.
Coming upon a particular cape style house, he peered into the window. On the bed sleeping was a tiny human girl. She looked so peaceful. Gingerly reaching in, he pet the child's hair with a single finger. Gretha and he wanted children, but that dream would never come to be now. The child stirred and he pulled his finger away. Seeing her shivers, he pinched her blanket and laid it over her. As she settled down, he kissed his finger and patted her back before resuming his walk.
A few houses down he noticed a low flickering through the picture window in the living room. Kneeling down, he peered through and saw a woman dressed in the classic black dress. She sat at a finely decorated table with a candle flickering over a dinner she had prepared. Her head was in her hands and she was sobbing heavily. His heart reached out to the woman. Seeing no one there to comfort her, he was compelled to act. He was moved to action the way Gretha was.
He tapped on her door.
The finger sized woman looked around wondering who would be calling at such a late hour. He tapped again and he saw her pat her eyes dry and come to the door. Throwing it open, she became angry when she saw nothing. "Damn kids and your ding-dong ditches. It's hard enough without you little shits. I hope you enjoyed yourselves!"
He found his voice, "Tiny woman, I am sorry for disturbing you. I saw you crying...and...while I normally avoid humans...I am experiencing great sadness today too. So I was hoping you would want to talk."
Every fiber of her being told her to run. Before her stood a man of at least 30 feet. He shouldn't exist - giants aren't real, but assuming they do exist, they are dangerous, right? However, she suppressed her normal response. She felt a gentleness in him and in her heart she felt his sadness too. So she stepped forward. "Yes Giant, I would love to speak to you." She sat on her stoop and looked up at him.
"Why are you crying, little one?"
"A year ago today I lost my husband Samson. He was a soldier and fighting to make the world a better place." Tears again issued from her eyes. Wordlessly, he dabbed her cheek with his finger.
Tears began issuing from his eyes as well. "Tell me about him." As the hours grew longer the two hearts shared their deepest feelings and thoughts. These two bound by a tragic loss of a partner.
As the night reached its peak, he looked down at the little one. "Little one, there was a spot Gretha loved where we would go often. May I take you there?"
She stood, wiped her cheeks and nodded with a smile. He lowered his hand and she climbed on. Whisking her away as if by a magic carpet ride and they settled down on a cliff overlooking the city. Above stretched the Milky Way and below the humans had replicated the splendor. Looking up from her place on his knee. "Samson loved this spot too. He took me here on our first date.” She paused and he studied her beautiful face as she worked to pull a fact from the recesses of her mind. “Come to think about it, it was on that date he told me that this massive person pulled him away from a burning Vespa. Was he speaking about your Gretha?"
Gently fluffing the woman’s hair and stroking her back, he smiled. “I don’t know little one, but it would warm my heart if that was the case.” They continued their conversation and both shared their desire for a family which would never be.
As the earth grew cool and damp, she felt a chill come over her. He noticed his little one was cold and placed a hand over her legs. She pushed on the fingers until the hand was covering her body, only her head sticking out. Coyly sliding back, she leaned against his stomach and drifted off to sleep. His heart full again, soon he had joined her in sleep.
A few hours later he woke with a start, waking her as well. "Oh no! I need to get you back. I can't be seen or your people will want to kill me!"
She patted his leg and shushed him, "Breathe Giant - the Sun has not yet risen. I trust you will bring me home safely."
Sneaking through the woods, the return trip was slower in order to avoid people heading off to work. Pausing briefly just inside the woods outside her house, both were taken aback by the scene. Her house was a smoldering pile surrounded by firefighters spraying the embers. He brought her to his chest and hugged her. He was so sorry for her house. Her heart immediately jumped to her throat, but then she felt something strange - she felt relief.
That was their house and since Samson was gone it felt like a crypt, a prison. Now it was gone there was nothing holding her here. She called out to her giant. "Giant - I am certainly no Gretha, nor could I ever pretend to be, but I feel I can trust you. If you would take me, I would like to travel with you. Perhaps we can find a place where we can make a home - together."
He gently stroked her cheek. "My sweet little one, let's make this world ours. We will carry Samson and Gretha with us, but they would not want us brought down by their memory. I accept your offer. Let's make a new world for each other."
As he turned away from the fire, they set off into the woods.
Many years later, outside a local community hospital in Oregon, the staff found a woman excessively pregnant. They helped her deliver a healthy baby weighing seventeen pounds, a record for the hospital. The next morning she and her baby were gone, replaced by several pounds of gold and silver. When the sheriff came at the request of the hospital he shook his head, "It seems you were more than adequately paid for your services. It's probably best to let it go."