The Anti-Fairy Tales The Beanstalk And The Giant Arc Part Two

 The Giant's Home

When she woke up, she looked up. For a moment, she wondered if she had dreamed up the events of the day before.

Oh. So all of that was not a dream… She thought in her sluggish half asleep state of mind.

Then she felt her stomach hurt with a painful hunger as it loudly rubbled. Her mouth was dry. She had decided to, before planning anything, get something to eat. She looked around to see where she could get something to eat. She soon found an apple tree outside the Giacouse Estate. She noticed that the apple and tree were both large.

Looks like I am going to have to climb another long climb.

She then walked on and on. She felt her hunger become more and more painful. She also felt her arms and legs were still painfully aching from the day before. The moment that she arrived at the base of the tree, she climbed the base of the roots. She walked along the top of the root. She reached out and started to climb. 

She found it easier to climb the tree than the cliff face. She could feel the pain in her arms and legs increase and her stomach had started to feel like she had been stabbed again and again. She looked up and kept her eyes upon the apples in the tree. She forced her arm on and on, yet it felt more like her limbs were made of jelly rather than meat and bone. It took all the power in her mind to continue climbing and use all her strength. 

It took her an hour to reach the lowest branch,by this point her arms and legs were shaking and she was covered in sweat. She took her time to take a break before she climbed up. She noticed that there was a green apple above her. She reached out and pulled and pulled. Then the apple fell and she almost fell off as she fell back. She pushed herself forward and placed the apple on the branch and pushed up on it. She was able to get back on the branch. 

She lowered her mouth to the apple and bit into it. It was hard and it may have been her hunger but it tasted extraordinarily sweet and with a sour tang. It was juicy and with one taste, she felt her mouth become watery and sticky. Yet she still wanted more. She had to have more. So she took another bite and another and another. It felt so good to have some food in her stomach. She had to eat more and more, as her hunger was not quite yet quenched.

That was when her mind went back to the Sweet Demon and her stay there. When she pulled back, she was slightly afraid that the sweetness of the apple and the addictive sugar that she used were made of the same thing. Yet she also wondered if that sugar was made of this apple. 

No, silly! Sugar is made of crystal, not apple.

Oh yeah!

So she continued to eat. As she did she noticed that the branches were long enough to reach into the Giacouse Estate. Then as her eyes followed the branches and over large twigs. She noticed that it led directly beside the window ledge of the mansion.

Well at least I can use that and climb down anytime soon.

What a relief!

She continued to eat,not wanting to waste a single bite of the apple. So she ate until the whole apple was gone. She dropped the seeds and looked at the mansion.

Wow! I must have been hungrier than I thought!

Anyway, I have no time to think about that.

She climbed to her feet. She crawled like a cat along the branches. She had to ignore the pounding of her heart in her ears as she knew that one wrong move would lead to certain death. She then felt her foot become shaky and slipped. The branch slammed right into her groin. Despite the pain she could not afford to lose her grip. She felt herself shaking as she clung to the branch.

I can't do this! I can't do this!

Yes you can. You must. Ignore your fear, ignore the ground. Push on! Go on! Push on!

She could feel her breath become rapid and deep. She could feel herself breathing deeply as well. She had to close her eyes as she clung to the branch. She forced her mind to think of something else. She imagined that she was in a garden and walking across the bridge. So she started to calm down and when she knew that she was calm she opened her eyes again.

She then crawled on almost like a monkey. She thrust her hand forward again and again and pushed on and on. She did her best to not focus on the miles beneath her. She knew that if she looked down then she would fall back into a panic again. So she pushed her body on and on. She could feel her arm and chest muscles starting to ache as she moved on and on again and again. 

She then pushed herself back on top of the branch,knowing that her arms would need a break. She then started to crawl, again like a cat and kept her eyes upon the end of the branch. Seeing that she needed to be on a different branch, she climbed to her feet. She then bent her legs and then jumped. She raised her arms up and clutched the other branch above. 

She noticed that she had misjudged the branches and knew that she needed to be on a different tree altogether! So she swung her arms and then jumped upon the tree opposite. She ficked out her hands and pulled herself up and sat upon the branch. She then breathed in and out as she took her time to calm down. It took it all that she had within her to resist the temptation of looking down. No, she needed to keep herself from doing anything that would cause her to give into fear.

She saw that the window was not far from her now. This came to her relief. She knew that should she have to stay up here, before long she would have given into her fear. She did not want to be a nervous wreck before she could get anywhere near the mansion.

She, slowly and carefully, climbed to her feet. She then ran, not allowing herself any time to think, and jumped upon the windowsill. She let out a sigh.

Good! I made it! She thought.

Her heartbeat became faint as she spotted that her body was shaking. She then felt herself start to chuckle slightly. Then her body then forced more laughter to be released. She laughed and laughed. Soon she was giggling like a child after hearing a funny joke. 

Why am I laughing? I don't get it! I'm scared and there is nothing funny about this. So why am I even laughing.

That was when she heard a group of footsteps coming. This stopped her from laughing. She then looked back and saw the door to the room was about to open. Quickly she scrambled to the windowsill and dived into the corner. She hoped that her body was well hidden in the thick framework of the wood. She could feel her heart back in her ear. She tried to keep her breath as quietly as she could as she listened carefully for the giant. Her eyes closed for a moment to help her hear more.

That was when she felt the sun being blocked from her. Her eyes opened and she was looking at the underbelly of a large spider. She then spotted that the fangs were inches from her head. Quickly she drew a sword and stabbed it in the head. She then pulled back and cut the head clean off. She kicked it off her body.

That was close.

She let out a sigh. She looked back to see if the giant had not seen her. She soon noticed that he had not. She then noticed that the window was open and she had to cut through some webbing before she flipped her legs up. She landed and then she walked in.

Alright just find the way to get back to my friends and get out of here. No mess, no fuss and don't get distracted.

She walked around. She then knew that she must have been hungrier than she thought for the moment that she passed a loaf of bread, the size of her body, her stomach rumbled. She reached out her hand and plucked a handful of bread. It was in her mouth before she knew it. 

That was when she heard another creek of the door. She looked back to see that the foot of the giant was coming in. She quickly ran, while his attention was on something else, she looked for a place to hide. She quickly saw a cupboard next to the bread. She dived for it and closed the door behind her. She looked out of the keyhole and just hoped that she would not find her.