Holiday G/T Stories:
Cold and Shivering
Matteo huddled under the car, as snow fell around them in flurried waves. His tiny little sister, Ri, clutched his arm, quivering like a leaf. His father and mother had them encased in their arms, their skin cold and clammy.
They had never been cold before.
Even when the winter breeze snaked through the walls, his mother and father remained warm and comforting. But out here, in the harsh, deadly winter weather, they were just as cold as Matteo. Just as helpless.
They remained there, clutching their thin, worn clothing as if it was the only thing keeping them alive, away from the wind snapping at their legs, biting at their fingers and flowing through their stuttering lungs.
Ri coughed, lightly and softly, and whimpered, hugging her freezing hands on Matteo's neck. Matteo resisted the urge to flinch, leaning in to rest his head on Ri's, running his fingers across her clothes and squeezing her hands with his. He could barely even feel her fingers. Where they should be chubby and warm, they were bony and weak. Where he could trace every thin wrinkle on her hands, laughing and cooing, he was clutching then tightly, fighting the cold tears that were rolling down his cheeks.
His ears detected the faintest sounds of laughter, carried along the deathly silent wind. Cheer, joyous grinning, cries of happiness that Matteo could only dream of hearing now...
And it was gone, as if he'd imagined it.
He squeezed Ri closer, huddling into his mother and father even more, letting a choked cry rip out of his throat. He began to cry, and hiccup, his raspy, anguished wails snatched away in the merciless wind.
Thump.
He froze, hands covering his mouth. The snow underneath the car fluttered briefly.
Thump.
His mother and father clutched each other, and Matteo, sliding together as their faces turned ashen gray, paler than he could ever imagine.
THUMP.
It was closer now. What little light seeped from the outside was blocked out as a boot bigger than Matteo could ever imagine landed right outside the car, a resounding thud reaching his ears, as the snow was crushed beneath the solid rubber, a loud crunch making Matteo shrink into his mother's cold side.
There was a loud shuffling, and suddenly two enormous hands, covered by gloves, landed onto the ground. Matteo's father let out a strangled, muted cry.
Two large brown eyes appeared, staring at them, pupils dilated. The eyes widened, and a loud, sharp inhale of breath made the small family of four flinch.
"Woah... hey, little guys..." The human's rumbling voice echoed, rattling some melted droplets of snow off of the rusty car bottom. A drop splashed right in Matteo's hands, and he yelped at the sudden chill. His eyes locked back onto the human fearfully.
"It's alright, don't be scared." The human's hand slowly approached them. Matteo felt his mother's heartbeat speed up, as she clutched Matteo tighter.
"I won't hurt you."
The hand encircled them all, none of them any larger than any of the large, gloved fingers. Matteo thrashed weakly, unable to comprehend a being so incredibly large. And now the titanic being would take them, make them pets, kill and torture them...
