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.gifFragileThe most terrifying thing in the world for Bo was when Jac got seriously hurt, all because of a careless oversight on his part. After sheltering these memories for so long, he failed to understand why he was beginning to recall these events ever so vividly. The exact scenes would play over and over again in his mind, from his being late to go home due to soccer practice, to the fateful incident when he threw the ball at the human girl upclose. It was in that moment that his worldview shattered simultaneously with her bones, and he began to understand that these tiny people were much more fragile than they appeared to be. For a good while thereafter, he wouldn't dare pick up or handle anyone human sized or smaller. But given enough time and through some encouraging words from Jac herself, Bo managed to overcome his fears and would ultimately use this lesson as a resolve to better himself as a person. The chronicles of this particular past experience had been put in the back burner of his mind for some time. So why was he having relapses now all of a sudden? As was usually the case however, the Bunyan giant kept quiet about his thoughts. Off days were seldom had and relaxing outdoors with his little sister with no sneaky Wile giants lurking about was even rarer still. Bo wanted nothing more than to sit on the park bench and just relax without a care in the world. If only Jac would just stand still then he wouldn't have to get paranoid on keeping an eye on her, but then again that's asking too much of the energetic human. Just as he was about to doze off, a rustling noise caught the giant's attention. It was too loud to have been a friendly Wile, yet it was too quiet to be potentially caused by a comnon giant's footsteps. He turned his head to the source of the disturbance when he spotted something off the distance on the arch of a human sized bridge. A strange, smaller person, who looked as if he was rattling something hard within his fists. Curiosity had gotten the better of the Bunyan, so he decided to approach this lad while being careful not to draw too much attention to himself. Using a nearby bush as cover, Bo was still some ways away from the scene, but he was able to make out a figure: a boy who looked to be no more than ten years old. He was laughing and hollering at the object in his hands, swinging it around as if it were a toy. While Bo's hearing was no where near as good as a Wile giant's, the Bunyan was able to put two and two together when the sight of something on the side of the young man's hand caught the attention of the giant. His eyes widened gradually upon realizing what was going on. A skinny tail with a turf of fuzzy hair on the end hung mostly limp from the opening between the boy's digits. The Bunyan giant had only laid eyes on this humanoid a couple of times, but he knew immediately that he was looking at a telltale sign of a Maurognome's tail. Bo was readying himself to go over there to do something about it, but as soon as he had gotten up, he froze. He couldn't understand why this was happening. On normal days, he wouldn't hesitate to step in to try and defuse a situation like this, but this time he was low-key panicking. Once more, something else plagued his mind, a thought that was getting in the way of his efforts to stay calm and to keep his head together. Just then, a familiar voice cut through the air like a knife. "HEY KID! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Jac stomped onto the wooden bridge, her expression was seething with rage but she tried to keep it together overall. "I found him under my bed," the boy yelled, "he's mine! Go get your own!" Jac was just about ready to blow her top, but she took a deep breath through her nose and continued her interrogation with as much of a straight face as she was able to pull off. "I know a doctor," Jac exclaimed, "I've been around a few cases like this so I can tell that your 'friend' is in a lot of pain right now. So please, can I have a look at them?" "No! I'm taking very good care of him, so he can't be sick!" The boy said as he jerked his hands away from Jac, the little gnome's tail was now dangling dangerously close to the side of the bridge. "I gave him a little house to play in and he eats a lot of snacks and stuff. I wanted to get him out in the sunshine, but he keeps trying to run away!" "Gee I wonder why? Maurognomes can't be out in the sun for too long!" "Mauro-wah?" "You don't even know!" Jac sighed harshly. "Alright, hand them over." "Why?" "If you don't, I'll call the police." "Wha~?" "Maurognomes are protected! If you hurt one or have one as a pet, you could go to jail! Did you know that?" "No...?" The boy was beginning to whimper. "It may not be like that in other parts of the world, but this is the Beanstalk Society, and we take this sort of thing VERY seriously." The boy had gotten nervous, not only due to this revelation but the fact that everyone else in the park had now gathered around the bridge. Feeling smaller than usual, the young man finally give up on his prized possession, hesitating frequently before Jac verbally showed her displeasure with him not hurrying things along. The human woman opened her hands to see a middle aged gnome gasping for air. The clothes on his back as well as his carrier bag was left in tatters and he was as thin as a pencil. "Not a moment too soon," Jac thought. After the ambulance drove away with the Maurognome on board, Jac turned around to face Bo who had remained planted in place since the beginning of this incident. "What's eating you?" She asked. The smaller sister knew that Bo didn't enjoy that terminology, but she figured that would snap him out of his own thoughts. "I really don't know myself to be honest." He finally admitted. "I never dealt with a child handling someone much more smaller before and I guess, I was worried that I might escalate things if I approached too hastily. He may not be used to giants like me after all." "I guess that's valid." "But you were amazing, Jac!" "Ah, I'll admit. It was hard to stay calm. But I saw that a life was at stake, so I charged right on in." "You're braver than me..." "Nah, it was just circumstance. If you were human height I bet you would have done the same thing." Jac then rubbed the giant's hand as he proceeded to lift her up. "I know you're scared of your own strength sometimes, but you're the gentlest person I know, giant or otherwise. You don't have to worry so much!" "I saw myself in that little boy." Bo finally confessed his thoughts. Jac paused for a moment, she couldn't believe what she just heard. "You're comparing yourself to that brat? Bro! You were much better than him even when you were his age! You had a steady hand even then and you were never rough with any of us! Sure you weren't as good as you are now, but that's the point!" Bo paused for a bit as he began to contemplate what was said. "I keep thinking about that accident, Jac..." "That was thirteen years ago!" Jac shouted. "You take a lot of effort to prevent stuff like that from happening again! You're great at it! You should be proud of yourself!" That was what he needed to hear. Bo couldn't help but be touched by those words, as he turned his head to view the spectacular start of a sunset. Yet again, Jac had made his eyes water, even though he tried his best not to let his tears drop this time. "Thank you.." He whispered. Jac understood that he was feeling bad, so she thought about cheering him up the best way she knew how. "How about we get some ice cream before we go? My treat!" Bo took a moment to gather himself again and he spoke softly after clearing his throat. "That sounds great. Remember you can't eat off of my cone. You need to get your own, little lady!" "Not even one lick? Please?" There was Jac with her puppy eyes again... Bo couldn't help but sigh. "I guess one lick wouldn't hurt." He laughed.