Shilpa's Epic Journey

The girl was small.

The giants were not.

It was a good thing the girl was small because the giants were large. They towered over her, and they leaned down, and they each took one of her hands in theirs. Then, with a loud crack in the air, time stopped and all fell silent.

The girl looked up at the giants’ faces. They were beautiful, like sunsets splashed across granite hillsides. Their eyes were blue, and their hair was fiery red. In one hand each giant carried a sword that shone like stars on a moonless night. The flame etched into the flat of their swords flickered like fireflies, and blackness swallowed the space where their shadows met the ground.

“We must leave, child,” said one of the giants in a quiet voice that still rocked the world around them. “You are in danger here.”

“But how can I leave? I am just a little girl! I can’t even walk! My mother will never let me leave our hut! She will….” Shilpa trailed off as she realized what she was saying. She had just managed to utter three words in succession: ‘I can’t even walk’ – which meant that she could now walk! She jumped up and down, whooped for joy, then ran around in circles until she was dizzy enough to fall asleep on the spot. When she awoke again, it was nightfall and then the sun rose again and Shilpa forgot about having ever fallen asleep in the first place because it turned out that now she no longer needed sleep because she had already slept for so long that surely if there had been any point to sleeping in the first place then she would have done so by now? But also when she awoke again it felt like she hadn’t slept at all so maybe that meant that you couldn’t really get tired anymore either? That would be great because then she wouldn’t have to eat or drink ever again either but wow did that mean that she might die? So maybe it wasn’t such a great thing after all? Or maybe it actually was such a great thing after all because now she didn’t need to eat or drink but maybe by eating or drinking things you could make yourself feel better so therefore now that you didn’t need food or water you would never be sad? But wait…maybe not…because you also used to do things like run around in circles and jump up and down whenever you got excited…so maybe by not doing those things anymore made you sad? But if you never ate or drank ever again then wouldn’t you just get really really hungry really really fast? So maybe it was better not to think about food at all? Or drink? Or anything else that required eating or drinking either? Like talking or thinking? Oh no! That sounds terrible! So maybe there is something better than this after all…but what could possibly be better than being able to do everything without needing to eat or sleep or drink or walk anymore…oh wait! Maybe if you wanted to be able to talk or think then you could do those things by using your magic sword instead of your brain which would be easier…or would it? Ugh! This is confusing!

In an effort to clear her head before it exploded from trying too hard, Shilpa looked around herself to see where she was. She seemed to be sitting on top of a giant mountain with two giant men beside her. One giant was holding both of her hands; he called himself ‘Saulo’ and said he had come from far away lands beyond her imagination to bring her safely somewhere else far away from here before something bad happened. The other giant told Shilpa his name was ‘Miguelito-who-is-not-Miguelito-at-all-but-is-actually-Miguelito-in-a-different-way-but-he-doesnt-know-itbut-i-doand-i-will-explainjust-hold-onone more secondwhileimnotquitefinishedhereyetfinishingbeforethisguygetshereokayokaywhateveritshouldbefinejustwaitonesecondokayokayokaythanksbyebyebyebyebyebyebyebyebyebyebyegoodbyebyeBYEBYEGOODBYE BYE BYE BYE BYE BYE BYE BYE BYE BYE bye! Bye!Bye!ByeByeByeByeByeByeByeByeByeByeByeByeByeBye ! Bye!!! Byeeeeee!! Bye!!!!!!!!! Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!! Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!! Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!! !!! Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!! !!! ! Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! ! Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!! !!!!! !!!!! ! Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!! ! Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !!!!!! !!! !!! ! Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!! !!!!!! ! Bye????????????????? ? ??????? ? ??? ? ?? ?? ? ? ?? ?? ?? ?? ? ? ?? ?? ?? ?? ? ? ? ? ??? ? ?? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???????!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?????

The woman woke up gasping for breath as if drowning underwater with no hope for rescue. Sweat covered every inch of her body as her heart tried desperately to pick up its pace again after hours of sprinting at top speed through dark caverns deep within herself only for fear itself to trip her flat on her face with exhaustion at every single turn. Her pulse slowed with each heartbeat until finally returning back down to normal range as her lungs burned with smoke from too many cigarettes put out too quickly and too often between long rips from a joint whose contents were not nearly enough but had been enough anyway while another joint waited patiently half finished on parchment atop a pile of crumpled papers containing scribbled notes containing scribbled thoughts containing scribbled titles containing scribbled ideas containing scribbled dreams containing scribbled memories containing scribbled words containing scribbled characters containing scribbled descriptions containing scribbled sentences containing scribbled paragraphs containing scribbled chapters containing scribbled stories containing scribbled lives containing….

She looked around herself once more: two mountain ranges surrounded by clouds within clouds above a vast landscape filled with tiny people dotting an ocean shoreline beneath a sky filled with stars within stars above…wait…what did this remind her of? It seemed familiar somehow…like déjà vu almost but not quite…like something very similar but different from...something very similar but different from….something very similar……to what!? What was very similar but different from what!? What!? What!? Where did this leave us exactly!? What!? Who is Shilpa anyway!? And what is Saulo!? And Migu–no wait hold on I know who Miguelito is already–ow my head…my neck is sore too–Saulo is taller than Miguelito–Miguelito is younger than Saulo–where are we right now!? Oh yes we were leaving weren't we–we're on top of a mountain right now–but where is this mountain!? Is it ours!? Are we going there!? No no no no no no no no we can't go there yet there's too much evil there we have...to go somewhere else first...first……first..first……..first……..first......What's happening...? Why does my body feel so weird...? Why am I flying!? Where am I going...? Why does my forehead hurt so much why does my hair hurt so much why does my neck hurt so much why does my chest hurt so much why does everything hurt so much why am I screaming why can't I stop screaming why am I crying why won't anyone hear me why isn't anyone helping me why am I alone where's Saulo where's Miguelito where are they they're gone they left me they left me alone alone alone alone alone alone alone alone…..