Getting Too Tall to Be a Giant Too

Getting Too Tall to Be a Giant Too

     Jazon grabbed YaVoni by her shoulders and pushed her away from him. Then he stepped back just as the shadow above them finished stepping down with their giant shoe. YaVoni hit the ground just as the other shoe barely missed her. If she were an adult, she would have been stepped on.

     Running over to YaVoni, Jazon helped YaVoni sit up. “Are you okay?”

     “I think I am.” YaVoni finished getting up. She started brushing the dust and dirt from her clothing. “The only thing that is wrong with me is that my clothes need cleaning again.”

     “If that’s all that is wrong with you, you’re lucky.” Jazon started picking up the food around them. “You know you need to be more careful when we come into one of the giant’s communities.”

     YaVoni started helping Jazon. “I thought I was being careful. There are just too many giants here right now.”

     “There are a lot of giants around here today.” Jazon and YaVoni finished picking up their food and started carefully walking among the shoes stepping down all around them. “It’s getting too dangerous for us. We need to do something before more of us get hurt or worse.”

##

     “What are we going to do about our giant problem?” Jazon asked after pushing his way past the four Protectors at the entrance to that room.

     Two of those Protectors ran just after Jazon. All sixteen members of the Leadership for this sector of Ranus stood up when Jazon entered. The male, Falcun, held up the palm of his hand, and the two Protectors stopped. “Let him be. He’s not here to harm us.”

     “Jazon, isn’t it?” The female, Ronnea, standing beside Falcun asked.

     Fifteen of the Leadership members sat back down behind half of a circular table. All except for Ronnea. “What is your problem with the giants now?”

     “My Young One is barely thirteen, and she was almost stepped on today while we were collecting some food for our community.” Jazon kept walking toward the sixteen members.

     “We are sorry about what almost happened to YaVoni, isn’t it?” Falcun stood back up to stand next to Ronnea. “She knows the risk when we are among the giants here. There is nothing we can do about that.”

     Jazon suddenly stopped. “That’s not what I have been hearing. Do we have a way to stop these giants or not?”

##

     Walking down a long hallway, Jazon walked with Falcun on one side of him and Ronnea on the other. Three Protectors were in front of them, and three walked behind. At the end of that hallway, they stopped in front of four more Protectors. Those Protectors stepped aside for them to enter a large room.

     They stopped just after they entered. Jazon slowly looked around. “Why have you brought me here?”

     Falcun looked at Jazon. “We don’t know what you have been hearing, but you are right. We’re working on something that will help us to stop the giants from hurting any more of us or worse.”

     “There are about a hundred million of us all over Ranus, and we are eight inches tall at the most. Our Young Ones are about half that size or smaller.” Ronnea was now looking at Jazon too. “There are several billion giants. If we go to war with them, we will lose very quickly, and most of us won’t survive it.”

     “The only way we may survive, and win is if we are giants too.” Falcun used his arm to gesture all around him. “That’s why we are here. We are going to become giants.”

##

     Jazon’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened as he saw what was going on in that room. Everywhere he looked he saw rows of tables with scientific equipment on them and the Ranusians in Protective Clothing working with the equipment on these tables.

     “What’s going on? How are we also going to become giants?” Jazon asked after the Head of Scientific Research, Mannia, came up to them.

     Mannia looked at Falcun and Ronnea. They both nodded once at him. “We are going to become giants the same way the giants who have been helping us make the small round metal coins bigger for them to use. The only problem we have been having is that we can’t use it on humans yet.”

     “We think we may have come up with a way to use it.” Mannia started walking toward one of her Researchers. “It’s the opposite of how they make our coins bigger. How we make them smaller for our us. Now that we know how to make ourselves taller, we can become giants too.”

     “How soon can we become giants?” Jazon asked. “The sooner we can do it, the better.”

##

     Mannia walked up to one of her Scientific Researchers, Kattuel. “This is my Scientific Researcher who came up with a way to solve our giant problem. If you have any questions, I’m sure he will have an answer to them.”

     Kattuel turned his head toward the others after Mannia tapped him on his shoulder. “This must be my first one who wants to become a giant too.”

     “I haven’t asked him yet if he wants to be the first one, but by the way he’s been acting today, I think he will be.” Mannia looked at Jazon. “Do you want to be our first?”

     “My Young One almost got stepped on a few hours ago,” answered Jazon. “If becoming a giant too stops that from happening, of course, I want to do it whether I’m the first one or not.”

     Kattuel slowly looked at Jazon from head to foot. “Do you know what might happen if you try this? It may not happen, or it could kill you.”

     Jazon stepped forward. “I don’t want to die, but I would rather die trying to save my Young One from being stepped on if I don’t.”

####

     Sitting with his legs up against his chest, Jazon looked up at Kattuel, Mannia, Falcun, Ronnea, and the other fourteen members of the Leadership for that community. “I’m ready. How long will it take for me to become a giant?”

     “We’re not sure,” answered Kattuel. “It could take minutes, hours, or even days before it happens. We don’t think it will be longer than that, but we just don’t know.”

     “If it happens at all.” Kattuel stepped behind Jazon and pushed his head forward. “It still may not happen.”

     Kattuel placed a small round metal circle on the neck of Jazon and pushed it into his neck. Jazon started screaming. The circle was removed almost instantly. A small needle now appeared in the center of this circle. “Now all we can do is wait and see what happens or doesn’t happen.”

     Jazon stood up and looked at the others there in a large field of fallen leaves and tree branches. “I think that something is happening already.”

     Suddenly, Jazon started to become a giant. One moment he was standing there and the next he was getting bigger. “I think something has gone wrong. Don’t think I can stop getting taller.”

##

     Havvin used a tree branch in a tall tree as a backrest as he looked all around him. From his advantage point, he could see for miles. “No giants anywhere near here.” He looked down at Jazon. “Except ours.”

     Just then Fridora stepped off a ladder in the center of that tree and walked up to Havvin. “It’s my turn to watch out for giants. Especially the giants who want to cut down our communities.”

     “The only giant around here is ours.” Havvin got up and Fridora took his place. “Look at him. It’s only been a few hours, and he’s already five times his normal size. He’s going to be as tall as the other giants within a day. If it even takes him that long to get there.”

     Looking down, Havvin and Fridora saw a light green glowing, pulsating, light appear all around Jazon in the shape of his body. Suddenly, it got a little bit bigger. Jazon did too. “He’s been doing this every few minutes. I think it’s going to be a whole lot less than a day. What I want to know is what happens when he gets as tall as the other giants on Ranus.”

##

     A small piece of a large tree opened inward and Kattuel came out of it. Followed by Mannia, Falcun, and Ronnea. They walked down a tree branch and stopped just before getting to the end of it. That branch was parallel to the head of Jazon. “How are you feeling?” Kattuel asked.

     “I’m feeling hungry. I could eat a tree full of food right now. That’s how hungry I am.”

     Mannia smiled. “We expected that may happen. It’s your body growing. Your hunger is too.”

     “We will get you some food.” Kattuel stepped forward. “It’s already on its way. It should be here in just a few minutes. Any other feelings you having?”

     “My hunger isn’t the only thing that’s gotten bigger. So has my hearing. I just heard Havvin comment about what will happen to me when I get as tall as the other giants here on Ranus. Do I suddenly stop growing?”

     Kattuel looked at Mannia, Falcun, and Ronnea. They all nodded their heads once. “We think we can stop your growth, but we’re not sure if we can or not.”

     “What are you trying to tell me? That I’m never going to stop growing.”

##

     “Why did you do this to me if you couldn’t stop me from growing?” Jazon asked after another one of his growth spurts. Now he was as tall as the other giants on Ranus.

     Kattuel stood just inside of another opening in that large tree with a much bigger branch. It was also longer and higher than the other one. Mannia, Falcun, and Ronnea could barely be seen poking their heads around Kattuel. “Because we are like you. We don’t want anyone else to get hurt or worse by these giants.”

     “The only way we can do that is if we become giants too.” Jazon was now in a standing position. Kattuel had to look up to see him and talk to him. “Besides, I’m sure we can stop you from growing once you become a giant.”

     “I’m a giant now. So, do whatever you need to do to stop me from growing.”

     Kattuel used a large piece of machinery to slap fifteen metal round circles connected to each other to form one large circle on the back of Jazon’s neck. Almost instantly that large circle fell off his neck to show fifteen small red spots on his neck.

##

     Instead of stopping his growth, it increased it. Now he was getting taller by the second instead of the minute. “What’s happening? What have you done to me?”

     “I don’t know.” Kattuel and the others came out of that tree opening to watch Jazon get bigger and bigger. “It should have stopped your growth.”

     “We can’t stop your growth,” Mannia shouted to be heard by Jazon. “You need to run as far away from here as you can.”

     Jazon looked down at Mannia and the others. “Why do I need to do that?”

     “Because once your head goes into space around Ranus your head will explode.” Mannia continued shouting. “If what remains of your head doesn’t kill everyone near you, your body will when it returns to Ranus.”

     “It’s better for you to kill a whole lot of the giants than it is to kill all of us.” Jazon had already started running away from them.

     Jazon ran as fast as he could. As he ran, he looked up at the light blue clouds above him. He was getting closer to them. It would be only another minute or two before he exploded. Jazon smiled. “At least I will be killing several hundred thousand giants by doing this.”

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