The Giant Forest - COMPLETED - True to life adventures of preteens.

Feeling Left Out

From his perch on the crag that he and his badger friend, JD, had just popped out of, Sybil had the best view of the field where Og and Mousi were sitting. His heart leaped when he saw his other friends. Roci was to Og's left and Mousi's right. Sycamore stood tall almost directly opposite Roci on the other side of the field. Aimi was standing on the edge of the field almost directly behind Mousi and to her left. There was a small hill that rose up behind Sycamore that held a lake back almost dam-like. From the lake Sybil could see streams heading out. Behind Sycamore was one stream. Two other streams veered off, one in the direction of Roci and the other towards Aimi. Sybil was directly behind Og, but high up on the rock face.

Og and Mousi appeared to be having a lively conversation of some sort. None of Mousi's friends could hear Mousi say things like, "We should be friends big fella. Do you like chocolate? How long have you lived in this area? I don't think you really would want to eat somebody like me. I am small and don't have much meat on me."

All of the friends could see Og flail his arms about as he bounced up and down from the sitting position. He rocked to the left and to the right. He drew figures in the air with the knobby index finger on his left hand. They thought that Og also might be trying to respond to Mousi's many questions but, Mousi being very Mousi-like, never gave him a chance to speak. Mousi hardly gave anyone a chance to speak. Slow talking giants simply had no chance to converse with her.

Roci may have been first to think that something was 'off' about Og's gestures. Though the gestures appeared random to the others Roci, who was always very observant began to pick up some repetition, some regularity to his movements. His left hand did the same thing, in the same direction with the same motions several times.

"Is this how giants move their hands when they talk? Or is he ...., maybe signaling something ... to someone?" She thought to herself. Roci scoured the field but saw nothing. The darkness of night and the tree cover also prevented her from seeing anything crisply. That is, till she looked up. Roci saw Sybil sitting on a ledge. Sybil had used the face of his wrist watch to catch a reflection from the moon to create a visible reflection. Roci saw it. Aimi saw it, also. Sycamore, always slow to catch on was oblivious to the attempted communication between Roci, Aimi and Sybil. Og and Mousi were engulfed in their one-way dialog.

Roci and Aimi independently of one another scoured the field to the left, right and in front. Aimi had a pocket knife that was given to her by her dad who had received the knife from his dad. She used the small blade of the knife to also try and catch the moonlight to signal back. Roci wore contacts. She had an emergency pair of glasses in her backpack. She pulled them out and used one of the lenses to also create a reflection.

Aimi and Roci caught sight of one another's signaling efforts. Because their eyes had adjusted to the darkness they could make out each other's identities. The motioned to one another and each acknowledged that Sybil was up on the ledge. Neither of them noticed Sycamore who also didn't notice the other three either.

Sycamore, however, did see Og and Mousi in the middle of the field. His inclination was to go immediately to see if his friend was okay. He took a big step to enter the field with his right foot but his left foot got caught in an exposed branch. He pulled hard but couldn't get loose.

A pebble-sized rock broke loose beneath Sybil and rolled down the rock cliff where Sybil sat. One of Og's big ears turned towards the sound. Another rock followed. A bigger rock chased that one. Crack! The ledge Sybil was sitting on gave way and Sybil found himself tumbling down the side of the crag from the ledge where he had been sitting. Beneath him rocks worked like rollers to give him a somewhat smooth ride to the bottom.

Og and Mousi were startled. Og spun around to see what had happened. Of course, giants spin slowly, too.

Mousi leaped to her feet and squealed with delight. "Sybilllllll!" The 'l' came from deeper down in her throat than it ought to have.

"Sybil. I have made a new friend! This is Og. He's big. But he's much nicer than he looks. Oh, Sybil, come! Come! Meet my friend. Og I want you to meet my good friend, Sybil." Mousi had conveniently forgotten all the times she had made fun of Sybil. Sybil hadn't forgotten. He went along with Mousi's uncharacteristic-to-him friendliness.

Og smiled a giant smile. He showed his crooked canine teeth and warty tongue. His gleeful laugh sounded more like a gurgle. That he was delighted to see Sybil was unmistakable. He licked his lips.

Og patted the ground. Mousi did as well. Sybil understood they each wanted him to join the conversation, sitting with them in a small circle. Sybil took up as much room at the edge of the circle as Og did. When Mousi sat this time, both she and Sybil were within Og's reach.

Aimi and Roci looked at each other and tried to mouth words to one another. They could barely see one another's faces much less read each other's lips and soon abandoned the idea. Each picked up one foot and pointed toward the three sitting in the center of the field.

Aimi and Roci rocked back and forth in unison then with their hands motioned - one, two and stepped out ... into the field ... towards Og, Sybil and Mousi.

Even in the moonlight it was noticeable how big Og's eyes became when he saw the two girls approaching them.

Og's big arms began to wave. Not randomly as before. It was clear that he was 'saying' something with his big hands as the girls approached. The girls understood that he was happy and waving towards them and welcoming them to the group. Mousi's big smile was a warm sign as well. Sybil thought to jump up and welcome them also, but once again, only his arms 'jumped.' He couldn't be sure, anyway, they would be happy to see him. They never had been before. Why now? He remained sitting and gave Roci and Aimi a wave and a smile.

No sooner had the two girls joined the group and before they could sit down, did everyone ... but Sycamore, of course ... realize what Og had been doing.

In the center of the field was Og, Mousi, Sybil, Roci and Aimi. On the edges of the field the trees began to sway. Lean is a better word. Trees leaned to the left and right. From out of the trees where the edge of the forest met the field another giant stepped out. Then another followed by several more. One by one, giants stepped out into the open. In a matter of minutes Og, the girls and Sybil were nearly completely surrounded by a large brood of giants. Not four giants, but forty giants. Maybe more.

Only Sycamore was on the outs after having freed his once stuck foot. Instead of joining the group. He decided he'd better step back under cover of the trees and darkness and first see what happened

Though it was contrary to his usual character, it proved to be the best course of action for Sycamore to stay back rather than charge into the fray. Only the giants knew what to expect next.