Quilt When Jac goes to visit the family farm on a chilly day, there's one thing that she looks forward to more than anything else. It was surprisingly not her dad's wonderful singing, nor was it hanging out with the vegetable sheep herd and sleeping on their wool (though that would be a close second). That distinction belongs to staying in the living room and wrapping herself all around with her favorite quilt. This luxurious fabric was hand knitted by the nature giant himself from the fleece of the very sheep that he had raised. It used to be a part of a much larger throw that had decorated the sofa for more than a decade. But after seeing that his adopted daughter loved it so much, Gerald decided that it would be better for her to have a piece of it to claim for herself. So he had cut off a portion and presented it to her one fateful dawn, and the young woman had been enamored with it ever since. Jac was so comfortably snug in the center of her thick, warm veil atop her resting place on the back of the couch. Her figure reminded Gerald of a chrysalis, for the tiny human remained completely still in that exact position all throughout the morning. He knew she was awake, but he was also aware that she would not be getting up anytime soon. "I'd be careful if I were you, Jac!" Her father teased, "I wouldn't be surprised if you will turn into a butterfly in a few more days." "You know what?" Jac finally spoke in a muffled voice. "Let's test that theory." "I never saw a giant butterfly before, so I'm sure that would be truly remarkable! I bet you'll become a very beautiful one." "Thanks dad." And with that, she was done speaking for at least another hour. As the day rolled by and the nature giant was mostly done with his morning chores, he sat down to relax with a nice cup of joe next to the human cocoon. While she failed to notice his presence at first, Jac listened intently as more and more sounds began to perk up her ears. The creak of a tin opened, which was immediately followed by a plastic wrapper unzipping, that would then unleash a sweet yet tart smell that tickled at her nose. Jac slowly turned her head around to witness the majesty that was her dad's famous cookies, her eyes then widened to about the size of an owl's. "Well! That got your attention," Gerald said with a soft chuckle. "You want some?" Jac gave an audible gulp that even the giant was able to hear. But as soon as she unfurled the quilt that had protected her small body, she was quickly reminded of why she had it on in the first place. After merely a moment exposed to the surrounding air, which in turn caused her to shiver quite a bit, Jac backed up and took refuge underneath the safety of her quilted shield once again. "I think I'm good for now." She said. "Are you sure..?" "Yeah..." Jac was reluctant, but she had mostly made up her mind. "Well, that's too bad. I suppose I'll just have to eat the last remaining ones myself. Wouldn't want to let good food go to waste after all." One by one, the noise of soft crunching slowly reverberated through Jac's ears, which had made it excruciatingly difficult for her to ignore. The thought of missing out on this rare treat pained her, and it wasn't long before she had to take back her initial decision. Gerald patiently waited as Jac's inner turbulence was swirling around in her mind. After a time however, he felt that he needed to speak up. "Why don't you come on down here and help yourself? A bit of exercise will do you good! Besides," The giant was hesitant to suggest this but he thought it would be the next best solution. "You can always go back to that spot when you're done." "Deal!" Jac exclaimed in lightning speed. As much as Jac would have hoped to keep herself from tripping over her blanket as she made her way to the seat, this proved to be next to impossible for the tiny human. Thankfully, Gerald offered to lend a helping hand quite literally, so that she can enjoy feasting on a part of a cookie without the need to unwrap herself from the safety of her fluffy cocoon. Nothing could beat devouring one of the most delicious sweets that Jac has ever tasted, while simultaneously being nice and snuggly with the best quality quilt that she owns. Gerald watched in silence as his adopted daughter happily chewed away like a rodent, and during this time he had a good thought. "Why don't you take that blanket home with you? I know how much you like it, so it would only seem natural I think." Jac nearly dropped the cookie she was holding and swung her head to face her father much too quickly. "This is part of a set with the other quilts isn't it? I'd hate to break it up after all this time." "Doncha worry about it. I never cared about keeping a complete set or any of that hullabaloo. It's yours Jac. Feel free to take it and do whatever you please with it." It took a little bit for Jac to fully realize just how happy she actually was by that statement. With a great big hug to her pops, she thanked him wholeheartedly for the gift. "I promise I'll take good care of it!!" "So long as you remember to go to work and exercise and get out of bed every once in a while then I'm fine with it." Gerald suggested. "Sure thing dad." Somehow her father couldn't believe that, but he went along with it with a slight sigh.Melody The morning announced it’s arrival with a brilliant orange that blanketed the entire eastern sky. Jac was early to rise, which was typically unusual when it came to weekends. But what prompted the young woman to remove the crust particles from her eyes was a sound so soothing, yet breathtaking that it resonated throughout the family farm. A nostalgic feeling welled up over her, and she was eager to watch and listen as the voice continued to echo across the fields and into the canopy of the resting trees. It came from none other than her stepfather, Gerald B. Fincher, who was singing a hymn that had been past down through generations of the Nature Giants since ancient times. It took on a strong baritone for much of the first half, with it bridging to a surprising yet seamless higher note which Jac describes as fluffy and ‘light as air.’ The song looped continuously as soon as the alto reached its climax, a true endless tune that only ceases when the vocalist deemed it so. The human understood not a single word of it but that didn’t deter her from becoming completely enamored by it’s sound. The best part of being a spectator of her pop’s “concert of the fields” so to speak is observing the reactions from the farm animals and the surrounding nature. The Giant's primary stock and trade are the fleece of giant vegetable sheep, and every morning he rounds up a herd of nearly a hundred of them simply by the calls of his song. The very melody seems to hypnotically tame the entire masses as they never fail to follow his every move; no need for a shepherd dog if he can do everything himself. What intrigued Jac the most was that he never seemed to tire or take breaks to catch his breath, working till the morning’s end largely without ceasing his tune. That to her was an amazing accomplishment all by itself. Unfortunately for the young woman, her stepfather stopped at its midst as soon as he spotted her in the clearing. He had successfully herded the sheep into their grazing pasture, so there was no need for him to continue at this point regardless. Jac however, was kicking herself internally for not making a better effort to hide. “Morning Jac! You’re up early.” “Mornin’ pops…” Jac said plainly. “You… don’t have to stop, you know… because of me…” “What do you mean?” “Your song! I love listening to it.” “Oh!” Traces of a blush could be seen on her stepdad's cheeks, but he kept focus on his work as he continued to speak. “Well, my song isn’t like other giant’s, you see… My voice is carried through the wind, so it vibrates across the fields far and wide! If I see you’re close by, I couldn’t possibly resume knowing that it could potentially hurt your ears.” “I know dad.” Jac tried her best not to groan, but traces of this could be heard from her voice. “I could get out of your way then..” “Now, now…” Gerald walked over to the human and bent down with the equivalent of a couple of yards away from her. Compared to the common giants his frame was enormous at a whopping ninety five feet, it still amazes her just how big he is in comparison to what she was used to. “If you want to leave, then I’m not going to stop you. But it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you 'round the farm. I could use your company, even if only for a short time. It would give me a much needed break to clear my throat after all.” Jac considered his words. After awhile she would nod, and while she was dissatisfied by not hearing the song again for the duration of their union, she was certain that she would be given the opportunity when the time came for the sheep to return to their pens. So without further delay, Jac hopped on to the hand that was presented to her, which then carried her steadily onto the giant’s right shoulder. For the next hour or so, the two would talk about this and that while Gerald kept a watchful eye on the herd. Jac couldn’t help but bring up the hymn after the topical subjects had run dry, and while her stepdad was hesitant to bring up the details surrounding it at first, he figured that it likely wouldn’t matter if he told her at least some of what he knew. He trusted his own daughter to keep it just between the two of them. “I mentioned to you before that my father taught me when I was a growing boy,” he explained, “The song has deep meaning to us, and is one of many that hold the primary source of magic for our own kind. When we utter it, the breeze will carry it adrift, making sick and dying flowers healthy again. When we sing it out loud, it’s like a gust that travels across distant lands. Or so I’ve been told. This has the power to tame beasts as you have seen, as well as hold other positive benefits.” “That’s amazing! I guess that the second one worked on me too?” “I wish it would calm humans down the way it does with you.” Gerald laughed. “But I’m glad you think it’s worth listening to.” “Of course! You’re the best singer I know!” “Oh please! You flatter me! You should have heard my grandmother, she was one of the best vocalists of our town! Folks from all around would gather to hear her voice.” The elder then had a darker expression over him, his eyes contemplating deeper thoughts that made him silent for a minute. Jac’s smile slowly fell upon realizing this, and she asked if there was anything the matter. The Nature Giant declined to elaborate at first, but he decided to ease her into the details bit by bit. “Jac, it’s important that you don’t speak a word to this to anyone.” “Uh… sure thing. I promise.” After a long sigh, her stepfather spoke. “The lyrics to our songs are from a language from this part of the world that is widely believed to have gone extinct.” As Gerald told his story, he took momentary pauses to wipe the hint of tears in his eyes. “Not even I know the meaning behind them. I wish I had asked my grandparents or my elders about it, but they have all left this world now…” Jac’s eyes began to water as well. This is the first she’s heard of this and it contradicted some of her previous thoughts. “I thought Nature giants can live for a millennia or more. That’s what I, heard..” “That was the case for a time..” Her father spoke with his voice hung low. “But… not sure if it’s true or not… but I have a theory that since we are like the plants and trees, I suspect that it may be to do with the ever increasing pollution in our planet. While we pretend that nothing’s wrong when we speak to everyone else, I suspect that there aren’t very many of us left…” “That’s terrible!” Jac exclaimed. “Why do you want to keep that a secret? Don’t you think that there’s folks that could help you in some way?” “I don’t want to be held captive in a greenhouse!” Jac was shaken by the words that came out of his mouth, as well as the pained anger that fueled the volume of that last statement. To his fright, Gerald put a hand to the tiny woman’s back and began to stroke her ever so gently. “I’m sorry..” “It’s okay dad. I’m just… I don’t know what to say…” “I was just as shocked as you were when I first heard about it. Simply put, it’s a domed city where they house small populations of Nature Giants in at least one other country. To try to 'preserve their lifespan’ under a controlled environment, or so they claim. They provide good food, good housing, clean air, but… I hate to think that I’d be forced to stay stuck in one place for the rest of my life. To me that sounds no better than a prison.” He shook his head. “If keeping my freedom to go wherever I please means that I will whither away sooner than so be it. I don’t want to be cooped up like that, I’m sorry.” After that there was silence, as the two tried to comfort each other the best they could. Afterwards what little conversation they had was small and light, as in what ice cream flavors they will be having after the workload had mostly been accomplished. While the topic was never brought up again, the gravity of the revelation weighed down on Jac for the rest of the day. Soon it came time for the older Giant to round up his herd. Jac was placed far enough away from the fields and the barnyard as Gerald thought was acceptable, which got a complaint from the smaller woman, though she chose not to dwell on it. Soon enough, the song was heard once more from a distance, which Jac couldn’t help but get a closer look but only slightly. As she watched her stepfather exercise his vocal chords and move the massive crowd of rams and ewes into their pens, a new sense of realization clouded Jac’s mind. The day her father passes away, the song will likely die with him. With a wipe to her eyes, Jac sought to appreciate the moment to the fullest and never failed to look away until the last sheep was brought in and the tune was done for the day. And she would continue to enjoy listening to the concert of the fields for many more years thereafter.