The Hidden

Chapter 15

        He just stood there several feet away with his back to me, showing no sign of moving anytime soon. This was my chance to escape, he wasn't looking, I could turn around and run. Maybe I wouldn't be able to outrun him if he tried to chase after me, but if I could find somewhere to hide...and yet I remained standing where I was, I couldn't bring myself to move.

        How could he be reacting this way, he didn't really care what I thought of him, did he? This was all so confusing to me, my emotions were muddled, the past couple of hours had been an emotional rollercoaster. One moment I'd be afraid, then sad, then angry and now I couldn't even tell what I was feeling. 

        After several long moments the human turned back around to look at me from several feet away. He wore a look of a regret and seemed much more self conscious than he had previously, as if he suddenly felt uncomfortable in his own body.

        "I--uh...I didn't mean to scare you, I guess I didn't think about what I'd be like from your point of view." He admitted solmenly, his massive brown eyes searching my face for my reaction.

        I didn't really know how to respond. His apology seemed genuine and he seemed to really have just realized what meeting a giant person might be like. Yet I was unwilling to believe that he meant me no harm, after all, all humans were monsters.

        "I don't know that I forgive you." I said, but from the distance apart we were and my considerably quiet voice, the giant did not hear.

        In two swift strides the human was back in front of me, once again crouching down to be closer to my eye level. His movements were all so sudden and large, I could help jerking backwards. For once, the human seemed to notice this reaction.

        "Did that scare you?" He asked worriedly.

        I didn't want to come off as weak and helpless, even if I was exactly that, I didn't want him to think that I was. I wished I could stop being afraid of him, but since I couldn't do that, I'd have to do the next best thing: pretend. Maybe if I could convince him that I wasn't so afraid, then I could convince myself.

        "It didn't scare me, it...just surprised me is all." I said, trying to be confident.

        "You're not scared then?" He asked, eyebrows raised.

        I was starting to wish that I hadn't told him I was scared of him earlier, but at least he hadn't stuffed me into a pocket or dropped a box on top of me in the past few minutes, that was progress. 

        "No, I only said that earlier to make you feel bad." I lied.

        Maybe him thinking I was afraid of him was a good thing, that way he was more conscious of himself, but I hated feeling weak. Besides, I still was unconvinced that the human didn't mean me any harm and if I acted all helpless then that might just encourage him.

        "Oh, good." The human said and seemed to relax a little. He still acted a bit self conscious, but it hadn't taken much convincing to make him stop looking at me like I was a wounded animal. I still wasn't sure if this was good or bad. For my safety, probably bad, but for my pride is was good.

        "So listen, my dad is going to be back any minute now but I still want to talk. Would you be willing to meet me back here tonight, after the sun sets?" The human asked hopefully.

        "I guess so." I said. I wans't going to make he same mistake twice.

        "Great, I'll see you then." He said, a big grin spread across his face.

        I offered a small smile and then turned and went back into the bushes and then into my hut. I then grabbed my basket of things, went around the back of the hut and began running far far away.

        Sucker.