Perspectives

Chapter 26

When Piper woke up, it was to the sound of thunderous voices and the feeling of the earth quaking beneath her. Her eyes flew open to see a pair of vast figures in the distance, making their way toward her. 

Heart beating wildly, Piper shoved herself as far back into the crevice in the tree's trunk as she could, ignoring the discomfort the cramped space caused. 

"Jerrod, this is lovely and all, but I was hoping perhaps we could do something a bit more exciting today." The giantess of the pair said. 

"Exciting? I thought you wanted romantic. What's more romantic than a walk in the park?" The giantess' partner asked.

"I didn't say it wasn't romantic, I was just hoping we might go to that performance at the Brenton Theater..." The woman replied.

Piper held her breath as the couple drew closer and closer to her hiding spot. She half wanted to get out now and get a running start while she had the chance, but she knew if she moved now, they'd see the movement and notice her for sure. Her only option was to remain where she was and pray that they didn't look down at the base of the tree. 

"You should have just said so." The man said bitterly, halting his steps to turn and look at his partner. 

The woman stopped alongside the man. "I assumed if that's what you had wanted to do, you would have planned it." She told him. "If you don't want to, then we don't have to."

The man chuckled, "I did want to go, but I figured that you wouldn't want to since you asked for a romantic date today." 

With a giggle the woman took hold of her partner's hand. "We can still make it if we hurry, surely the tickets can't all be sold out." With that the couple turned around and began to jog back the way they came, holding hands and laughing as they did. A frankly sickening display in Piper's opinion.

Once the two giants has disappeared from view, Piper slipped out of her hiding place. She glanced down at her right arm to see that the wound had stopped bleeding, leaving a dried smear of blood on her arm as well as her left hand. 

Piper let out a long sigh as she glanced up into the sky at the sun. Seeing as Piper had no real clue how to read the sun for time, she didn't know how long she had been out for, but she could tell it was past noon. She was beginning to feel twinges of hunger in her stomach, normally she'd already have had lunch by this time, but now she doubted if she would eat again the rest of the day. She hadn't the slightest idea where she would find food in a public park, not to mention drinkable water. 

The only thing she could do right now was to keep moving, and hope she stumbled across something that would be useful. 

For an hour Piper trekked, stopping occasionally for very brief breaks, and once hiding beneath a dried leaf as an elderly giant passed by. Her throat was parched, and there was sweat pouring down her face. Had it not been for the constant cool breeze, Piper was certain she would have been hiking in 80 degree heat. 

Just as she came over a small ridge, Piper caught sight of four giants sitting down on the ground several feet away. Piper quickly lowered herself to a crouch, peering through the stalks of grass to take in the scene before her. 

There was a man and a woman who looked to be in their 30s, both dressed in the same vintag-esque style as all of the people in this world. Sitting next to them were two little girls who looked to be twins. It was the first time Piper had seen any of the children of this world. There was something entirely jarring about seeing young children who would easily tower over you, and could pick you up in a single hand. 

The family seemed to be on a picnic in the park as they all sat on a large checkered blanket with a picnic basket placed in the center. Piper could see that the kids were currently enjoying slices of watermelon, while their parents were sipping from purple glass bottles. 

Piper then realized that this could be her one and only chance to get something to eat for herself. The big and obvious problem was that in order to get anywhere near the food, she would have to get near the giants. 

"Shit, shit, shit." Piper cursed, running a hand through her hair in exasperation. With all of their food sitting out in front of them, there was no possible way she would be able to sneak something away. But the gears were beginning to turn in her head and a plan was beginning to form. Granted, it was a pretty stupid plan, one that could easily turn bad quick. At the same time, this could very well be the only chance she would have to get food in days. Out on her own, she would be forced to take risks if she wanted to survive.

"I must be crazy." Piper mumbled to herself as she began jogging over to a nearby tree. She went to the side opposite of the one that faced the family and pressed her back up against it. She closed her eyes and took in a long breath, then screamed at the top of her lungs, "HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" 

"Did you hear that?" Asked the father, to which his wife and children responded with confused murmurings.

"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME! I'M STUCK!" Piper wailed as loudly as she could manage.  

"Come on, let's check it out." The mother said, followed by the sound of two giants getting to their feet. "Girls you stay here, we'll be back as soon as we can." Piper's heart sank at these words. She had been counting on all four of them leaving the picnic unattended. 

The ground began to shake as footsteps pounded towards her. Piper sucked in a sharp breath and pressed herself up against the trunk of the tree as much as possible. "It sounds like it came from somewhere over here." Came the thundering voice of the father. A second later the two giants walked past the the tree, thankfully not bothering to look at it. 

Now Piper had a decision to make. Should she attempt to take some food despite the presence of the two immense children, or should she abandon the operation all together. It would be so risky to go anywhere nears those kids, but at the same time she had already removed the two biggest threats. Kids were more likely to be less observant, if she could plan it right, she could be in and out of there before they even looked her way. 

"Goddammit." Piper hissed before she broke into a sprint around the tree and made her way towards the picnic blanket. Once she got close she slowed to crawl, ducking her head low as she assessed the situation. 

The two girls sat next to each other, now giggling over a video they had displayed on a holographic screen in front of them. There were four plates laid out on the blanket, two sitting in front of the kids, the other two on the other side of the blanket, likely belonging to the parents. The two unattended plates had partially eaten slices of watermelon on them as well as half eaten sandwiches. Her best bet would be to crawl through the grass to the unoccupied side of the blanket. One of the plates was near enough to the edge that Piper should be able to tear off a chunk of watermelon without having to actually get onto the blanket. With the girls absorbed in watching their video, she should be able to do it without being seen. Once she had the food, she could crawl back to safety. 

Not wanting to hesitate anymore, lest the parents return, Piper began to slink her way over to the blanket. Having reached the edge without incident, Piper then cautiously began to rise up to a standing position. Once she was on her feet, Piper reached through the grass towards the plate. Slowly and carefully she took hold of the already partially loose edge of the dripping watermelon and pulled back. Met with only a small amount of resistance, she managed to take off a sizable chunk, enough for at least two meals.

With her mission complete, she now only had the task of getting away unseen. Piper fell back down to a crouch, the oversized piece of watermelon gripped in her right hand. She began to awkwardly shuffle away from the giant family's picnic. She'd made it several feet before she was stopped in her tracks by the voice of one of the twins. "What is that?" Asked the girl curiously. "They might not be talking about me, I could be fine, I--" 

"It looks like a little moving doll!" Exclaimed the other sister excitedly. At that, Piper broke into an all out sprint.