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Danger was a constant fact in the life of a borrower. Being so small meant that there were many things that could put their lives at risk if certain precautions weren’t taken.
One of those dangers was being discovered by the owners of the house in which they decided to live in. It meant that their secrecy had been broken, and that they needed to move fast unless they wanted to be at the giants’ mercy.
Because of it, it was not uncommon for the tiny people to scout different homes from the ones they still lived in, to see if they would be a suitable new home should the situation call for it.
And that was why Walnut was currently in the front of a hole leading up to one of such houses, waiting for her father to return. Normally she would have followed, but he had insisted that she’d remain outside while he did a small, surface patrol of it.
“You’ll never know what kind of dangers may lay there”, he had explained when she demanded an explanation “The human may already know of our existence and set traps for us, or they could have a pet like a cat. It is territory unknown to us, but especially dangerous for someone as young as you”
“But I know how to take care of myself. I’ll be fine!”, had been the child’s thoughts, and her previous borrowing experiences combined with their dad’s teachings were proof of it. Still, she didn’t voice her complaints; he had a point, after all.
So here she was, checking the contents of her borrowing bag for what felt like the third time. This wasn’t exactly a borrowing trip, but one might never know if they would find anything useful on the way.
As long as they didn’t make their presence obvious, it would be fine.
Eventually, as she was taking a look at her climbing line, a soft scraping sound was heard from the hole. Walnut’s ears perked, turning towards the sound. As it became apparent those were the sounds of footsteps, the child straightened her posture and closed her bag, looking towards the entrance.
And after a moment, her father appeared, standing at its edge.
“Did you find anything , dad?” She asked, trying to read his expression to get a clue of his answer.
“Nothing dangerous, thankfully,” he said “there weren't any animals or giants that I could see, and the halls were full of dust and cobwebs. It seems no one has taken this place as a nest”.
“Great! Does that mean I can finally come with you?” Walnut chirped, unable to hide her excitement. When the older borrower narrowed his eyes, she immediately did her best attempt at a puppy- eyed face, her tail twitching “Pleaaase?”
Her dad looked at her for a moment, clearly thinking the situation over, before eventually relenting with a sigh.
“Alright, kiddo”.
“Yay!”
“But remember: Be cautious and do not stray far from me, understood?”
The borrower child nodded, remembering that she needed to be careful even if she really wanted to satisfy her natural curiosity and intrigue.
Her father gave her a small smile and extended his hand towards her, helping her climb over to the hole in the wall. And after a brief check up to make sure she had all of her borrowing tools, he took her hand and started to guide her towards the house.
Just like he said, the halls were a mess; daylight barely managed to reach the insides and the wood was littered with piles of dust and cobwebs. That, and the fact that there were no things like lines embedded on the ground or markings to signal directions, made it apparent that no borrower had settled here.
Or at least, not yet.
Walnut stuck close to her father, watching the surroundings as they passed and turned in the halls until she caught sight of something different: an outlet, left partially open to let the light in.
The kid instantly tensed, a wave of both nervousness and anticipation going through her. Outlets were one of the most common ways of both getting in and out of the walls and they practically found everywhere in the homes of giants. Most importantly for both of them and others, they were found in rooms.
Her dad stopped just a few inches from the outlet, taking a brief look at his child. When he found no outward signs of hesitation nor distress, he let go of her hand and signaled to her to remain in place before approaching the human made entrance.
The kid watched his movements, noting how he walked towards the outlet and listened around for any strange noise. Seemingly satisfied, he risked a peek outside. Behind him, Walnut copied his earlier actions. She believed her dad when he said there wasn’t any danger nearby, but it never hurt to check.
Thankfully though, there was no signal of a giant inside the room. They were going to be fine
“Ok kid, I think we are clear”, announced the older borrower, catching his daughter’s attention “Let´s have a look inside, shall we?”
Walnut nodded, walking as silently as possible towards him. When she was close enough, her father pulled the outlet cover aside and carefully climbed to the floor, subsequently helping his daughter do the same.
The outlet came out from under a bed, which became apparent to Walnut when she looked up to find a cushion above them, creating a small dark area below. But apart from that, the room was finely lit with a light bulb.
Both borrowers made their way towards one of the bed’s wooden legs and, after checking for danger again just in case, got out from under the furniture’s shade.
Walnut’s eyes widened.
The room was small in comparison to previous ones she’d seen before, yet it still felt huge and wide. There were typical bedroom things apart from the bed, like drawers and a closet, but there were also various papers scattered around on both the floor and furniture.
The kid pulled out her magnifying glass and approached one of them, noticing the amount of letters in it. Before she could get too close however, strong hands reached and pulled her upwards.
“Hey!”
“Do not step on those papers!” her dad warned before settling her down“ If you do, your footsteps may leave signs that we were here. Be careful”
“I will, dad!” The younger borrower chirped. She turned her eyes to the sheet once again “I just wanted to know what was written in it, that’s all”
Her father’s gaze passed from her to the wrinkled paper.
“‘Just some plain old paperwork” he mused. It was something he himself was familiar with, considering his work. Still… “Which means there is also…”
“Paper clips and pens?”
Her dad’s eyes twinkled
“Exactly!” he said proudly reaching a hand to ruffle Walnut’s hair, earning a chuckle “Now, let’s get those supplies”
Walnut nodded, checking her bag to see if there was enough space, before following her father.
It was clear that this human, professional as they might be, was a very disorganized person; only a minute into their search, they already found their first paper clip beside the leg of one of the drawers. The kid was swift to pick it up, pausing briefly just to look at the underside of the furniture. There was nothing. That was alright.
The two continued their exploration of the room, checking every corner and object. Walnut was especially careful to not step on the papers and stay close to her father like he told her. But after a few minutes, he allowed her to explore a little while he inspected one of the drawers; an opportunity which she took gladly.
So here she was, analyzing the fabric of one of the curtains. Her bag was now stuffed with three paper clips, and while that didn’t seem much, it was enough to be useful while not immediately alerting the human of their missing things.
Their trip had been, so far, good. They still need to check the other rooms, but by now it was clear that they could at least get enough of their supplies from here.
“ We still need to know the schedule of the giant, though” , she thought as she took some notes of the place in her notepad “ Dad said he didn’t see them, but…”
As if to answer her thoughts, a sudden, shuffling sound came from outside the room.
Walnut jumped, barely managing to suppress a startled gasp. Her body tensed automatically, and all her senses turned towards the door.
The shuffling sound came again, approaching ever so slowly until eventually she realized it wasn’t shuffling at all. They were footsteps .
Footsteps that made the ground shake in their wake. Giant, loud footsteps that could only belong to one thing. And that could only mean…
“ There is a human here…”
The realization instantly made her freeze in place, a shiver running through her entire being. Her eyes locked on the door, her mind spinning in terror and questions.
Why was the giant here?! Why didn’t her dad see them?! Why-
“Walnut!”
The borrower snapped from her trance, daring herself to look at her dad. He was on the other side of the room, standing on the edge of the underside of one of the room’s objects. He signaled towards himself, eyes filled with worry and urgency.
“Walnut!” He repeated in a hushed yet hurried tone “ Move!”
The girl looked at him, eyes widened, and then back at the door. The footsteps were closer. Finally, she sprung back into action.
She immediately pulled her things back into her borrowing bag, not caring, not daring to pause to check if she did it right or not, The borrower slung the bag over her shoulder and readied her legs to run towards her dad, but not before turning once again-
To see the door handle turn.
Walnut froze, mind racing ,She wouldn’t make it. Even if she did, she would be spotted in seconds, for unlike the older borrower, she was in a very open space with nothing to cover her.
Her head spun around, frantically searching for a hiding spot, and when she didn’t find any , she bolted to the closest thing that could serve as a cover: the curtain, which she barely managed to get behind before the door opened with a loud creak.
The human was there.
Walnut sat on the floor, trying to look as small as possible. Her tail curled around her body, and after a split second of doubt she pulled her bag close as well. The ground trembled once again as the human entered the room, and it took all of her willpower to not manifest her fear in a way that would get her noticed.
The human was there, the human was right there . The curtain’s were semi translucent, so while she couldn’t properly see the giant she had a pretty good look of their silhouette as they walked around. And if she could tell they were there in spite of the cover, what stopped the human from doing the same?
She heard the sound of paper being crushed, followed by a muttered curse that made her bite her quivering lip. Then there was another sound, this time of paper being lifted combined with other muttered words coming from the giant. In safer circumstances she might have been curious about all of this, but right now she could only pray that her father was alright and listen as the human continued their task.
But then, a question popped in her mind. Were there any papers near the curtains?
Walnut looked around as cautiously as she could, not noticing anything at first. But when she looked to her side, sure enough, there was a paper. Right beside her.
Oh no.
Her ears perked, noticing that the giant was moving closer. Her heart thumped fast, threatening to pop out of her chest. Carefully, she reached out a hand to try and pull the thing away from her. But when it creaked with her touch , the borrower pulled back in an instant.
Thankfully, the giant didn’t seem to notice the noise. Still, they continued with their recollection, gradually getting closer until eventually their figure stopped just in front of the curtain.
Walnut went as still as a statue, though that didn’t stop her from shivering.
“Please don’t see me please don’t see me ”
Oh but they were going to see her. With her own shape being so noticeable and so close to the paper there was no way that wasn’t going to be the case.
So she could only press her ears against her head close her eyes shut as the human kneeled and reached their large hand towards the paper, waiting for the inevitable moment in which they were going to notice a shadow behind the curtain and then-
A loud, high-pitched ringing filled the room.
Both borrower and human yelped, and the kid’s hand instantly clamped against her mouth. The giant let out another curse, making her shiver once again. But then, instead of going to retrieve the paper, the human stood upright and moved away, towards the door and away from the room.
Walnut watched with wide eyes, both astonished and confused at her luck until she put the pieces together.
“ They left their phone outside!”
This was her chance.
Without missing a beat, the girl turned to the direction in which she saw her dad before and sprung towards it as fast as her legs would let her. On the way she had almost stumbled to the floor, but in a few seconds she had made it behind the side of the bed, and subsequently in front of a drawer.
Only then she dared to pause to catch her breath for a bit, although that didn’t stop the shaking. Still, she forced herself to calm her nerves a little and looked around for her father.
“Dad?” she called in a hushed tone, not noticing his presence. Did he hide somewhere else?
Before she could call again however, a strong force grabbed her. Walnut screamed, instinctively attempting to get out of the grip until a familiar voice spoke through her panic.
“ Shhhhh. It’s okay, kiddo; it’s just me”, her dad whispered in a soothing tone, and his child soon recognized that he had pulled her close to himself, hands gently moving in her back. Slowly, as small sniffles replaced her scream, her own hands lifted and curled around him as well.
For a moment, there was only silence, apart from the loud beating of their hearts. After a moment, Walnut lifted her face to look at him, instantly noticing a look of intense worry in her dad’s face.
“Are you alright?” he continued, placing a hand over her shoulder “Did the giant-“
“No”
“Hm?”
“No. To both questions” Walnut clarified, her tail twitching between her legs.
She could feel her father relax as he let out a sigh of relief, although the sorrowful look he gave afterwards made it clear that all his worries haven’t been quelled yet. And now that she took the time to notice, it became apparent that she wasn’t the only one shaking.
She knew she was young, but she was smart enough to know that even the all knowing adults weren’t incapable of feeling fear.
“Are you-“ the borrower was about to inquire, until the sound of footsteps and a certain human voice reached her ears, making her tense.
Oh right, they were still in danger.
She looked up to see her dad staring at the direction of the noise with wide eyes; then she felt his grip on her once again as he turned and pulled them both under the cabinet.
They had made it to the wall hiding behind the object when the ground shook once again, signaling the human’s return. Walnut instantly ducked underneath her father’s coat, while he held one of her tiny hands as he carefully watched the giant.
They, if their voice was anything to go by, were actively talking to whoever was on the other side of their phone, as they went back to their previous position and retrieved the paper from the curtain. The younger borrower couldn’t help but wince a little about how close she had been to being caught.
The human kept talking even as they stood up, their legs facing the bed. Walnut heard as they continued the conversation, hands presumably making a shuffling noise as they messed with the collected papers. Suddenly, the legs spun and walked towards the cabinet they were hiding in.
Both borrowers tensed.
They hadn’t been seen. There was a very low chance the giant would even sense their presence. They knew that. And yet… both couldn’t help but hold their breaths and tremble as the legs came to a stop just in front of their hiding spot.
Above them, the cabinet shook a little, likely because of the papers the giant had sent down on it. Walnut risked a peek from behind her dad and felt herself freeze at how giant the shoes were, to the point of partially obscuring the light from them. Yes, like almost all the stuff worn by the humans it was of an appropriate size, but properly seeing them that close was a reminder of how utterly tiny she was compared to them.
And if the human saw them and decided to squash them in disgust…
The kid gulped and pressed closer to her father, who in turn gave her his best reassuring look and held her hand tighter.
“Don’t worry, Walnut. This will pass soon ” she imagined him saying, if the circumstances had been safe enough to make noise without much risk.
Suddenly, something fell off the cabinet with a loud noise, startling them both. They soon saw that it had been a pen, which rolled a little until it was partially under the furniture as well. This was soon followed by a groan of frustration before a giant hand reached down towards it.
Both borrowers tensed, dread filling their bodies. Walnut covered her mouth to hush a rising scream as she saw the way those fingers felt the pen before curling around it, trapping it in place.
Her father- judging by how he was dripping sweat and had his own hands positioned around her, ready to carry her away from danger-wasn’t faring any better.
It had only been a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity when the hand pulled away, taking the pen with it.
And finally, after what seemed like forever, the human closed their call with a sigh and walked away from the room, loudly closing the door in the process.
Still, the borrowers didn’t dare make a move, in fear of the giant suddenly coming back and catching them. But when it became apparent that that wasn’t going to be the case, her dad turned his gaze towards the bed before laying his eyes on his daughter.
“Still with me?” he asked. After a moment to collect her nerves, Walnut nodded “Good. Now let’s get out of here!”
Without hesitation, the two got out of their hiding spot and sprinted towards the underside of the bed. The younger borrower was the first to enter the safety of the walls, while her dad helped her up and entered as well, firmly closing the outlet’s cover.
Upon finally making it to safety, the kid collapsed on the floor, letting out deep breaths and clutching her bag tightly. Beside her, her dad let out his own sigh of relief, before searching in his own bag and pulling out a small makeshift pen.
“ Alright, I think this will be enough for today”, he said as he drew a small signal beside the outlet. One that indicated that the place had not been explored completely, but that it was a good place so far “We better be careful next time, right Walnut?”
No response.
“…Walnut?”
He turned, and the sight made his heart ache. His daughter was curled around herself, her tiny body trembling as she tried to muffle her sobbing. She was terrified .
“ And all because you rushed the inspection so she could accompany you sooner” an angry voice on his head scolded, making him wince. And while this was true, this was no time to scream at himself.
“Sweetie, are you alright?” he murmured, approaching the younger borrower.
And the instant he was close enough Walnut lunged at him in a tight hug, her cries muffled by the fabric of his shirt. At first he gasped in surprise, but when he processed the situation he returned the hug, allowing himself to sit on a corner as he whispered reassurances and comforting words in her ears.
This trip hadn’t exactly gone as smoothly as he would have wanted, but at least now, they were safe.