Alice furrowed her eyebrows and turned her head. "What?"

"C'mon it'll be an adventure!" Hogarth replied excitedly. He took Alice's hand and began to lead her off the porch.

She didn't hesitate to follow, but her response blatantly showed how she felt. "But what if it's dangerous? Or we get lost? Or we get hurt? And won't your parents notice you not being at your own birthday party?"

"There's nothing in these woods, aside from a few stray deer. I know my way around the forest. We won't get hurt if we just look out for stuff." Hogarth shot a glance back at his house, seeing his cluster of friends in the backyard. No one was looking at him and Alice as they made their way to the forest. His mother or Dean would've been outside, calling them back in if they'd seen them by now. "And I don't think anybody will notice us not being there for a few minutes."

Alice gripped his hand tighter for a second, biting her lip. She looked back at the house, then at Hogarth. "Okay, then."


The air is filled with sound. Wind, insects getting used to the nearing transition of summer to fall, the stomping of his own feet.

It's almost nighttime now. He can't wait another night. He's waited too long, fought too much, rested too little.

"Following." He says to himself in a deep, breath-taken tone. He has to stop. He just has to. He stands with and above the trees, looking over the forest floor. He remembers a night almost like this one, watching the boy disappear. He almost died that very same night. A treacherous, painful death.

He remembers that, but still struggles with his name.

This frustrates him and he frowns, wanting to see the small boy again. He knows the boy will be happy to see him. He can hear his much higher voice beckoning to him in the beginning and imagines it doing the same now.

"Giant!"

He hears it over and over again until it fades out, leaving him with the noisy and lonely atmosphere around him.

"I find." He says, looking down at his feet. He begins to move again, slowly, cautiously. "I… Find."


"It's already dark outside, Hogarth." Alice said worriedly. She let go of Hogarth's hand when they first made it into the woods, and now twists her long hair in her hands nervously. "We need to go back soon." She jumped as a bug flew by her head, gasping. "Okay, we need to head back now."

Hogarth smiled, grabbing her arm gently. "We will, just give me a few minutes."

Alice sighed, letting go of her hair and grabbing Hogarth's arm back. "You said that a few minutes ago."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I just haven't done this in a few months and I'd like to see what's going on out here."

"It's okay. Just hurry up and reminisce. I don't like bugs." Alice replied, looking at the trees.

Hogarth reached down for her hand again. Alice automatically held it, not fully paying attention to the gesture. They were both scanning the trees, looking for entirely different things. Alice was searching for any monsters that might jump out and horrify them, and Hogarth was simply looking for the horribly damaged trunks of trees.

They made their way to the back woods of his house by walking through the woods on the left side of his house. It was a long walk, but totally worth it. Although, they were losing a lot of light. The sky was already a dark blue; purple and pink on the edges of the horizon.

Hogarth narrowed his eyes, trying to pick out the shapes of the trees. He walked over to the tree line, lifted his palm up, and felt the tree. He frowned when he realized that there weren't any defiant grooves in the side of it and lowered his hand. "They've gotta be back here somewhere." He whispered as he started to move to the back of the forest.

"What exactly are we looking for, Hogarth?"

"Trees."

Alice laughed uneasily. "Um. They're everywhere."

"No, no. Not these ones. Special ones. Torn up ones…" His voice drifted as he lifted his hand up again, allowing it to skin across the bark of the trees he passed.

Suddenly, Alice stopped. Hogarth turned to face her, a questioning look on his face. She looked back with a look that could almost be described as remorse. "What's wrong?" Hogarth asked.

She sighed before quietly saying his name. "Hogarth."

He let go of her hand and crossed his arms. "What?"

"I just… This isn't right. Or okay. Or good in any way."

"What do you mean?"

"Look I know you what you're trying to do right now. I shouldn't have asked you what I did earlier. I'm sorry. I need to go back."

"Wait, what? You think this is about the Giant?"

Alice's face went blank. "It's not?"

Oh God, now I have to tell her that I just wanted to be alone with her longer. Hogarth turned his head, trying to avoid looking Alice in the eye. "I, uh, just guess I wanted to y'know talk some more."

Now a smirk was turning up in Alice's face. "You want to talk-"

CRACK!

They both jumped and Alice let out a small scream. "Oh my God, what was that?"

"Hell if I know." Hogarth muttered, shaking a bit.

They stood there for another moment. Alice quickly walked over to Hogarth, grabbed his arm, and began to drag him backwards. "C'mon we need to leave. Right now. This is enough."

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

The ground shook with each thud, making Alice's grip tighter. "What's going on?"

He held onto her. "Earthquake?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "We live in Maine. Now c'mon let's go!"

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

"I go! You stay. No following!"

Hogarth froze.

"Hogarth? Hogarth, come on!" Alice pleaded as the thumping got louder.

"It would be easier for him to find me out here."

"He's back." Hogarth whispered. Alice let go of him in confusion, and Hogarth shook off her arms. For a moment he stood still. Then he started to walk.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

He's here. That's the only explanation.

"GIANT! GIANT, I'M HERE!" Hogarth yelled as he broke into a run. He ran almost blindly through the ruined woods.

The thumping got continually louder. He didn't remember it being that loud. But, he still kept running.

"GIANT!" He yelled again.

The trees gave way then, and Hogarth revealed himself to the power station. He stopped, spinning where he did. "GIANT!"

That's when he noticed the thumping had stopped.

Hogarth was out of breath as he rounded himself over and over, searching for his first friend. "WHERE ARE YOU?"

It was completely silent.

Hogarth stopped spinning and finally caught his breath. He realized then what he'd been feeling earlier. It had been hope for the Giant's return. He knew that now that he saw nothing in their meeting place.

"Giant, I'm right here." He whispered to himself. "Where did you go?" He sank to his knees, feeling the full effect of disappointment. He buried his head in his hands.

I should've known better. There's no way he could be back. He was blown up. I just got a remnant. I have to face facts.

THUMP! THUMP!

Hogarth's head snapped up, shock coursing throughout him. He saw trees split faintly in the glowing blue light of the power station.

No way.