It really was a lovely day outside today.
Up above, the heavens shone a pure light blue, as the luminous white ball of fire and gas dutifully ran its course over the neighborhood. Not a single cloud lingered in the sky. The wind was nice and warm to the touch like a mother's hug as it swirled and flowed throughout the suburbs, putting all who brushed against it at ease. Everything and everyone felt like they had just a little bit more color and life in them than usual, and, for just a moment, you could feel all your worries melt away with the spring breeze.
It was such a shame - on a perfect day like this, there should have been nothing but fun and joy up ahead for the children of Everberry Elementary School. Maylah Park had gone all out in providing all kinds of pleasures and entertainment for the Summer Festival - everything but the kitchen sink was here, all just to ensure that the kids had a Summer Festival to remember for the rest of their lives. There should have been no worries, no mores, no rules or troubles or any of that other guff. There should have been no reason to think about anything other than carnival rides, bumper cars, three legged races and hopsack games, music concerts and petting zoos and so, so much more!
But no. Instead, those children, those tiny little pale and brown dots that Eric couldn't even see without squinting as close to the ground as he could, were left to cower under the shadow of a gigantic eldritch thing, trapped helplessly in the tiny little patch of green they called a park. They were all at the complete and total mercy of a being whose scale they had no hope of truly grasping or comprehending; all they knew was that an endless wall of pink flesh had blocked away the sky and thrust all they knew into the most suffocating, overbearing darkness imaginable, with no chance of escape.
He couldn't even begin to imagine what they felt as they saw dozens of their homes brushed aside as effortlessly and unconsciously as some bedside lint by him. They probably couldn't even begin to believe that the oppressive landscape of flesh and bone that shot up into the clouds was actually a person. There was no way they could even stand the sight of his toes, which were magnified a thousandfold to cartoonishly grotesque proportions. Each tiny line on his calloused skin was a cavernous ridge that could swallow up entire blocks, each tiny blemish a massive, pulsating hill jutting out like barnacles on a grimy boardwalk, each pore a massive hole secreting droplets of sweat capable of crushing a house. Even the tiniest fleck of dead skin cells that hung off may as well have been football stadiums, the flakes hanging over the park as a dark omen, waiting to put everyone out of their misery.
A part of him still hurt, knowing how much they no doubt hated him for being there, for being the cause of their misery, for not knowing when he wasn't welcome. But he knew he deserved it, every last bit of the hateful stares that were undeniably heading his way. No doubt it was because of a home he had carelessly brushed aside with his pinkie toe, or a brother or sister that had the misfortune of ending up beneath his tread, or...or...
And here he was, his foot having already bulldozed over countless livelihoods and as though they were little more than dirt, all because he was too much of a coward to say no.
As Eric's vision became blurry with unshed tears, his resolve hardened in turn. He knew that there was only one person standing in the way between him and complete devastation, and that was himself.
Unfortunately. (Why couldn't it have been anyone else? Someone who maybe could've been far better at this than him, anyway?)
He had to get out as soon as possible, but how? Everyone knew he was here, whether they wanted to or not. No matter what, there was always going to be someone watching him thanks to him being so huge that he was basically a living landscape! He had no idea where to even start!
Perhaps he could just walk away from all of this and go home. But then everyone would all know he ditched, and they would think he was a coward and hypocrite, not even having the dignity to stick around after coming and destroying so much, taking away their homes and livelihoods and everything!
Besides, mom would be mad at him if he just left without saying a word. When she was mad, she would start screaming at him about how much she had to work just to support him, and then she would end up crying and crying over how much of a burden she had as a single mom, and then she would go out and leave him alone for the rest of the night. He didn't want to sleep out there all alone; he barely wanted her to sleep with him to begin with. You never knew what kinds of dangers were out there, and she wouldn't have him to protect her if anything went wrong!
And he then wouldn't have her with him to pat him on that one sensitive spot on his scalp that made him feel nice and warm inside! That would be the worst!
So, if walking away wasn't an option, perhaps he could sneak away instead...?
"..."
...he couldn't think of any better ideas, so might as well try to make this one work. But how exactly would he even do that?
Well, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, so ignoring that question and pretending everything would just work out eventually like every other adult in his life looked to be his best option. In that case, if he wanted to protect as many people as he could, he had to use every last bit of the skill and dexterity he had accumulated over the few short years of his life:
It was time to play Twister.
Slowly, far too slowly, Eric lowered himself down to his knees, making sure that he was facing straight down as he agonizingly contorted each and every limb in his body away from any houses. His massive, massive feet gingerly found their way through the narrow clusters of suburbia, feeling out for whatever area seemed the least densely populated, as the vast, fleshy plains of his calloused soles were laid tentatively down like there were hundreds of thousands of tiny pins strewn about on a hardwood floor. Meanwhile his gigantic knees were set right in two conveniently large patches of green forest, and his hands were extended outwards, fingers contorted around the fine rows of suburbia like
Eric tried not to imagine the panic and mass hysteria that was doubtlessly ensuing as his body clumsily bulldozed through rows of houses, his toenails scraping away at the concrete and asphalt like they were potato peels, leaving behind a mess of gaping wounds on the Earth laying bare underground pipes and wires for all the world to see. He wouldn't have any way of knowing for sure, of course: for all that Eric prided himself on having crystal clear vision, his ears were another story. Even if there were actually any screams occurring, he would have no way of knowing without placing himself all the way down to the ground. The only exceptions were when-
He suddenly heard a loud, piercing shriek halfway down. Welp, there goes some rich lady's garage!
Eventually, though, Eric's diligence was rewarded; with a final, earthshattering thud, he managed to lower himself to the ground without crushing too many buildings. He even managed not to cause most of the topsoil to explode all around him on impact!
Inwardly, Eric couldn't help but cheer, a small, earnest smile breaking out He did it! He made it all the way to the ground! The euphoria! The elation! The...the...!
...now that he was starting to come down from his little high, Eric was beginning to see a few problems with his approach now.
If a plane were flying overhead from the airport right around now, any passengers looking out would be greeted by a massive plane of blond-haired boy, as his limbs awkwardly contorted around entire blocks and pavilions and arched over an endless procession of white houses. Though, if Eric was being honest with himself, it was more like he was completely smothering a whole bunch of neighborhoods underneath him, with most only barely avoiding being completely bulldozed over thanks to Eric managing to figure out exactly where to anchor each limb such that he managed to avoid crushing them altogether. It was a delicate balancing act that Eric was barely able to hold together as he tried not to think about everything that could and did go wrong.
He failed.
There was no stopping the mental image of Eric's toe accidentally slipping on nothing, his whole body tumbling down and crushing everything, with no survivors; of everyone cowering as they were reduced to little more that tiny red stains on his infinitely vast body, so insignificant that they would never be found among the slurry of wrecked homes and mulched trees; of every square mile of him being left exposed, as thousands of eyes all looked at a mountain range of stitched-up denim, laced cotton, and peach-toned flesh resting barely at the edge of their own homes.
His mind was beginning to reel from the onslaught of worry, his limbs shaking as his nerves began to get the better of him. He couldn't let that distract him, though! A little bit of dignity and a lot of property damage was a small price to pay for salvation!
...wait a minute, why was he even trying to crawl away in the first place?
Instantly, Eric's heart stopped at the unbidden thought. He couldn't believe how stupid he was! It wasn't like there was anyone who could stop him if he got caught. He could have just walked away this whole time!
But wait, his mom would still be upset with him! But why should he care about what she thought when trying to get away was so much more important!? But then... then...!!
Oh, what was he even doing anymore!?!
And then...
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