---
It smelled like the sun.
And it was blinding.
It played along the edges of his dream.
---
She wondered what giants ate.
As Elaine picked her way through the dunes, following the little lights that winked incessantly, she had the time to think on questions like that. The time in this place was as slow as the steps of its inhabitants. Nothing moved at the pace she had once been so used to. The only things that matched the rhythm of her thoughts were the intrepid motes that blazed her path. They danced playfully along the edges of her vision, coaxing her forward.
Once she had succeeded in trapping one of the nagging specks within her cupped hands. Sand in her face did little to dampen her sense of triumph. The tiny thing listed lazily in the crease of her palms, while its companions seemed to laugh at the edges of her vision.
“Where are we going?”
The mote was unperturbed.
She assaulted it with questions a while longer before letting it rejoin its companions. It seemed such forceful inquiry wasn’t going to get her anywhere. It wasn’t as though she wasn’t happy to follow their lead. The sun traced its path across the sky, and she followed her little lights till it disappeared over the shattered horizon. Silhouettes of giants pierced the line, sun splashing across their flanks.
When night fell everything went still. Even the howl of their breath stopped. Only the stubborn thumping of their hearts continued. It never felt right to move on then. She lay down and stared up at the sky. She had never seen stars before.
“Those must be your friends, maybe your cousins?”
Her pinpricks seemed offended at the notion. She laughed and they were content to settle by her side.
Their time was bound to this place now.
---
It was ringed by stars.
---
She didn’t see any other living thing on her path.
Save for them.
It really was a place for giants.
“I do see you, no need to be indignant.”
Her lights seemed satisfied with the assurance, and resumed their winking crawl.
---
It drove forward implacably.
---
“Hey, you’re going too fast!”
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Her toes sunk into the sand, each step belabored. The lights didn’t hear her in their eagerness, they simply continued their forward sparkling. She gathered her breath and pressed forward with them, but not before launching a final complaint.
“It’s not as easy for me as it is for you!”
---
It knocked on the door to his reverie.
---
“That’s way too high, how am I supposed to get up there?”
An exasperated glimmer was the only response she received. The spire she had been entreated to scale towered over her, as everything seemed to tower over her. It did tower a bit less than everything else though. It leaned almost precariously, it would seem barely balanced if the base of the structure wasn’t enormous. The curve of the outcropping was gradual enough that it approximated flat ground. Maybe her initial complaints hadn’t been warranted.
An impatient sparkle.
She threw up her hands in defeat, “I’m going.”
It was a bit refreshing to gain a new vantage. This was a place that wasn’t meant to be seen from the ground, it wasn’t built for humans after all. She had thought of the giants’ pace as plodding, but her own progress must look excruciating from their perspective. A single step from them was countless bounds for her. The sun was her stalwart companion as she marched, and her little lights fervently denied any relation.
“Are you sure that’s not your father?”
If motes of lights could grimace Elaine thought this must be what it looked like. She finished her journey with the sun just past its zenith. It hadn’t taken nearly as long as she thought it would, but she tried not to think that. The lights were naggy enough as it was.
“What are we doing up here?”
No sooner than she began to voice her doubts, the world shifted.
She heard its breath.
She heard its heart.
She wondered why she hadn’t heard it all this time, had they heard it all along? She could see the light, but she could never really grasp them. The once inert protrusion rose into the air and curled and she was dragged with it in its newfound motion. Her vision spun, but she didn’t feel afraid. There was no prickling at the back of her neck, no goosebumps forming on her skin. As she slid down what she now realized was a finger she felt a gentle, if wary, intent.
Elaine had plopped into the palm of its hand.
And she stared into its eyes, the color of slate. Their pooling, rich darkness reminded her of his face. It opened its mouth, splitting the smooth surface of its face. The giant’s voice was all impression. She couldn’t hear a thing, yet images popped into her head.
A sleep deep beneath the earth.
The shape of a question.
It, he had never seen something smaller than himself.
Fascination.
“I’ve never seen anything as big as you.”
She opened her mouth, and tried to pour out her impressions, as he had. He quirked his head in response, concern? Another haze of images flashed before her eyes.
Shadows drowning her from overhead.
He hid.
He was small.
“How long have you been sleeping here?”
An intractable length of time.
“Some things might be scary, but they’ll all be wondrous.”
She heard the beating of its heart.
“Didn’t you wake up to see wondrous things?”