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Thunder rang through Virgil’s ears as he ran through the forest. A heavy wind made the branches on the trees sway violently, some falling to the ground. Rain struck at the ground, making it slippery and dirtying his clothes. All he wanted to do today was go on a hike through the woods, but now he was hopelessly lost in the middle of a raging thunderstorm. The rain seeped into his hoodie, making it stick to his body. He shivered at the feeling, hugging himself as he continued to find some shelter. A lightning bolt struck a tree in the distance, making him jump as he saw it. The clouds became darker and there was no sign that the howling storm would stop anytime soon.
Virgil thought of his warm, cozy home, hoping it’d give him some hope and he’d maybe find the trail again. He berated himself for not charging his phone enough, it dying as soon as he noticed he was lost. He wished he could have some comfort from his two friends Patton, and Logan. The smell of fresh cookies filled his mind and he thought about cuddling with Logan watching a documentary. Instead, he was stuck in the middle of nowhere due to his own stupidity. He grumbled to himself as he felt his damp clothes stick to him. A shiver went down his spine, the coolness of the water now getting to him. It was already hard finding some shelter while a million raindrops splashed on his face, and now the cold was making him slow down.
Virgil stopped for a second, taking in deep breaths to keep himself calm. He couldn’t panic now. He needed shelter before some wolf or bear saw him. The thought scared him, being mauled to death, and being treated like food. There was no way he’d be a wolf’s lunch today. Once he caught his breathed, he continued to walk, though his head seemed to spin in all directions. His feet were tired from walking so long and his eyes were growing heavier every time raindrops splashed on them. There was a heaviness in his chest until he saw something in the distance. A cave. He dashed there, his feet in massive pain, but he couldn’t care anymore. He desperately wanted out of the rain.
Suddenly, Virgil’s foot slipped, and his heart stopped. He tumbled down the hill he tried running on, mud now all over his clothes. A sharp pain cut through his foot. He screamed in agony as he finally stopped rolling down the hill. Quickly, he looked over to his foot. He flinched and whimpered as he tried to move it. Tears flowed down his face as he realized it was broken. He looked up at the hill, seeing a big rock. Now that he thought about it, he must’ve hit his foot on it on the way down. The rain poured down on him as he cried. How was he supposed to get to the cave now? He was vulnerable out here, and if he couldn’t get any shelter he’d die. Desperately, he tried to stand, but quickly fell back into the mud, screaming in agony.
The ground shook all around Virgil and his eyes widened. Another lightning bolt struck at the ground near him and the rain became heavier. The ground shook again, distracting him completely from his injured foot. This wasn’t the doing of the storm. Suddenly, the ground shook, thumping as if the earth itself had a heartbeat. Finally, a shadow loomed over him as another lightning bolt struck the ground, making his heart race. He held his breath as he dared to look up. There stood a giant at least five times his size. His body shook as more tears flowed down his face, terrified at the sight. Desperately, he tried to get away, but it was no use as he was suddenly picked up by the giant. His heart sank, convinced he was going to die. He curled up, his face in his knees, bawling his eyes out as he was squished against their chest. There was nothing he could do to make them stop whatever horrendous thing they planned on doing to him.
Virgil waited for more pain as he laid in their humongous hands, but nothing came as he noticed the rain and thunder become quieter and quieter. He looked out for a moment to see he was in the cave. It was hard to see much through his tear-filled eyes, but he saw the giant was going deeper and deeper into the cave. Finally, the giant shifted and sat down, deep enough in the cave that it was quite warm but there was still enough light to see each other. Suddenly, he felt himself being pulled away from their chest, now in clear view of the giant.
“Just please kill- kill me…” Virgil practically whispered as he curled up and cried. His body shuddered and he cried from the pain and fear. He was helpless and he was vulnerable.
“What? I just saved you from that awful rainstorm! Also, you were screaming in pain and saw you running to my cave!”
At that, Virgil blinked, now fearful and confused. He dared to look at the giant, tears still dripping down his cheeks. They wore a white shirt with a red sash. He watched as they took the red sash with their free hand and started to wipe off the mud with it. Every time they touched him, he shivered, scared they’d crush him every single time, but still no pain came, that is until they tried to wipe the mud off of his now swollen foot. He flinched as he tried to hold in another scream.
“Oh geez, you broke your foot? No wonder…” the giant said as they put the sash down.
Virgil started to bawl again at the mention of his broken foot. A panic rose in him, scared of what they might do to him now that they knew he couldn’t walk. Suddenly, their free hand started to glow a light red and came towards him. He curled up, thinking their patience with him was finally up, but nothing happened. That is, until he tried moving his broken foot. Not an inch of pain shot through him as he moved it, in fact, his entire foot was healed. He slowly started to stand up, grabbing onto one of their fingers as support. His eyes widened as he felt walked around a bit on the uneven surface of the giant.
“You… You healed me…” Virgil stammered, “How?”
“Oh, I know quite a bit of magic to fix things like that.”
“So… you’re not gonna kill me? Crush me ‘til my head explodes?”
“Geez, you really are one gloomy storm, aren’t you? Of course not!” the giant exclaimed, “I certainly wouldn’t have healed you if I planned to hurt you!”
Virgil’s ears rang as the giant shouted, shaking with a new thought. If they didn’t want to hurt him, would they keep him as a pet? That would be even worse… He curled up again, about to bawl. Death was much better than becoming some helpless pet. Just thinking about it stung at his chest.
“I don’t want- want to be a pet!” he yelled.
The giant seemed to freeze, silence filling the cave. Only the sound of rain and thunder could be heard in the distance. Virgil curled up tight. He was horrified at their presence, scared he made them angry and now he’d be this giant’s pet or toy.
“No, no…” their voice cut through the silence, “I’m… I’m sorry I frightened you, but can I at least know your name? My name’s Roman…”
Virgil blinked at how much softer Roman’s voice was and was a bit startled by the question. He looked up at them once again, seeing that it was almost night as well.
“Virgil…” he said as confidently as possible.
“Well, Virgil…” Roman started, “you have a very beautiful name.”
Virgil’s face went hot and his heart beat fast. He never thought that would be Roman’s reaction to his name. Why in the world would a giant compliment his name? They suddenly felt them shift as they reached out to grab their sash on the floor. They lifted it up to him and he backed up instinctively.
“You’re still wet from the storm,” Roman said as he handed the sash to Virgil.
He quickly took it, trying to dry himself as much as possible. He looked to the entrance of the cave. The storm continued to rage on, and the sky started to turn a dark blue. There was no way he could go back home at night during a storm that heavy. He shivered still cold even now that he was dry. Suddenly, he felt Roman’s hand shift again and was pressed into their warm chest. With a bit of hesitance, he snuggled into them, absolutely exhausted.
“You can stay here for the night, of course, if you want to that is,” Roman said.
Virgil thought about it for a moment. Roman hadn’t hurt him at all, well, except for scaring him, but it made sense considering their size. He did fix his broken foot and saved him from whatever wolf or bear would want to maul him down. He would’ve been a goner if they hadn’t saved them. Of course, he still kept his guard up, as he didn’t exactly know what their intentions were, but he had a small feeling in the back of his mind hat maybe he could trust them.
“Alright then…” Virgil said, his eyes now heavy. He snuggled into Roman’s chest as he felt them lay down on the ground. In all honesty, he didn’t mind snuggling up on top of a giant, as scary as it was. They seemed to have good intentions…
“Sleep well, my little prince,” Roman whispered as they yawned, “I promise I’ll protect you.”
Virgil smiled, finally falling asleep on their chest as he listened to their heart. Maybe being with a giant wasn’t so bad after all.