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Hello internet. After months of prioritizing in summer classes. I am back with a new chapter. As always, further commentary is at the end. Enjoy!

Chapter 4

Jack

Unaware of his current dilemma, the young farmer awakens from his "eternal" slumber and starts panicking. "Where am I? His anxiety skyrocketed when he found himself being tossed and turned. The unsteadiness of the ground made Jack uneasy to the point he felt his last meal from the land below rising up to his throat. The ground was swaying back and forth, only accelerating the rate of Jack regurgitating. His worry came to a halt as he found himself slammed to the side of a wall.

Expecting to have injured his back from the impact, he found himself in the exact opposite scenario, the wall was soft and squishy. The tiny human gave it his all, but his efforts were futile. During his struggle, he couldn't help but feel the texture of the strange wall that got the best of him. His back felt warm, the air started to give a funny smell, it reminded Jack of something he was not found of back at home. What struck out was whatever the boy was stuck against, it molded his back perfectly and felt something dripping from above.

It was then, Jack remembered what had happened before he passed out. "I was climbing the beanstalk, looking to bring back anything of value. I made it to the top, and that's where I saw-!" the human exclaimed loudly and at that moment, realized that the giantess who spotted him earlier, took advantage of his weakness. He feared he was in the belly of the beast. Without the light to illuminate any suspicions, the darkness enveloped the hysteria, the anxiety, and the loneness no human, let alone a child, should ever experience.

Whereas the farmer had every right to be scared and accept defeat, he remembered his mother in his train of thoughts. He remembered just how much she needed him to get by. How at any given moment, his mother would have to sell the family cow if it was unable to produce any more milk. It pained Jack to even imagine his mother making such ultimatum to either keep the cow and lose the farm, or sell the cow and retain her property for a month at best. It would be a lose-lose situation because as a widow, she would be unable to claim anything without a man by her side. Worst of all, Jack never got to tell his mom just how much he loved her before taking off to uncharted lands.

After some time to ponder, Jack concluded he could not bear to see his mother suffer the way his father did after he died. The boy focused his strength into his arms, planted his feet firmly to the ground, gritted his teeth, and heaved as he successfully pulled them out swiftly from his prison. Jack congratulated himself but was snapped out of it when the feeling of turmoil returned.

This time, Jack ran to the other side of the wall and cling onto it. He felt relieved that this side of the wall was not sticky and was surprisingly easy to climb. As he travelled upwards, the human noticed an oddity in the ceiling. The boy scaled left until the oddity was at arms length. He didn't have time to question it, if this was a way out of his captor's belly, so be it. Although he quietly hoped he was going out through the mouth.

Jack found himself blinded by the light, yet he didn't mind. Once his eyes adjusted, Jack looked around his new surrounding and became dumfounded when it was only a basket. "I was in a basket this WHOLE TIME?!" He exclaimed and covered his mouth his hands, frightened as to how his captor would react if she found him alive.

He couldn't get a good look at her face but if his judgment was correct, she didn't seem to take notice. Jack however, wasn't willing to take the giantess's oblivion for granted and hopped off of various bulges he could use as stepping stones to the nearest handle. From there, he held on tight and didn't dare to look down.

Inma

In the time lapse of Jack's predicament, the giantess continued to skip along happily in her own little world. She couldn't get over the fact that the stories her father told her about humans were true, and now she had one inside her basket. She couldn't wait to get home and tell her papa.

Inma stopped and uncovered the blanket just a bit to create a small hole so she could check on her tiny human. She felt relieved he was safe from harm. She looked up and saw a tall field of corn a few feet from her. Inma was hesitant to enter the field not because the she was afraid, but because she didn't want to disturb what resided within it. Lost in her thoughts, the giantess heard a loud sound coming from her belly. Inma's face was swelled up in embarrassment.

"I could've sworn I ate breakfast before heading out to buy goodies. This is unacceptable for a lady to have an upset tummy!" She huffed and crossed her arms. The giantess's fit ended when she heard a buzzing sound heading to her direction. Inma flinched, but after a moment passed, she lowered her guard and realized that the buzzing belonged to the birds from the land below. Big or small, all birds compared to the giants were equal to a fly is with a human; insignificant.

For Inma, these miniscule creatures were actually much more common to find in her than humans. Despite unable to marvel these critters for their colors or wingspans, she stared at awe for the sheer mass of number, they outnumbered her significantly. The girl giggled as flocks flew past her and their wings skimmed her face, she didn't mind for these grazes if anything, tickled.

Once she was sure all the birds had migrated safely, Inma picked up the pace and dashed through the fields. Unlike the birds, the cornstalk nearly blocked her view completely, if she couldn't find the old path, she might find herself lost indefinitely. Fortunately, Inma was able to find such path and sure enough, made it out unscathed for the most part.

The giantess took a minute to catch her breath. The moment passed and she could not have been happier to be back at her home. After all the running she did, Inma took her time and walked to the front door. The house itself wasn't too bad. It was a similar to Jack's place where it was a two story with a large field for crops. Where the similarities ended was the ascetics; this residence was kept in great condition from its patched roof with no holes to dust-free furniture.

Inma placed her feet lightly on the welcome mat and knocked the door with just enough force that didn't come of aggressive or docile. A moment passed and she heard loud footsteps approaching the door. It opens inwards to reveal a rugged man roughly in his late 30's.

"You've been out all day. Why is that, my daughter?" The older giant asked sternly. The child wasn't sure how to go over everything that had happened.

"Well you see, I uh…" Inma stumbled her wording nothing was more apparent with her struggle than her crossing her leg over the other and was trembling. Her father placed his hands onto his chest and roared in laughter, yet she had no idea why.

"Come here and give your papa a hug, my Inma!" The bulky man wrapped his arms around his daughter. "You're so cute when you try to make small talk." He teased.

Inma pouted after hearing his remark. "You know how hard it is for me to talk in the first place. Please don't make fun of me about that, papa." She whined.

Her father then released his daughter from grip and looked at her with concern. "You know that I am only kidding. I didn't mean to upset you, sweetie." He placed his hand on her left shoulder. "Did something happen to you while you were out in town?" Inma's dad asked. She shook her head.

"No, nothing like that, papa." Inma said. "It's just I have something to show you. I found it on the way home. "

"Oh, and what could that be?" He was legitimately asking. He had told her multiple fairytales and legends whenever she had difficulty sleeping.

After Inma's father released her from his embrace, Inma had kept the basket close to her. The handle in particular, close to her coat.

Jack

"That's weird, the swaying stopped." The human thought as he looked up. He wished he hadn't for had his curiosity not been piqued. Without it, Jack would have never witnessed a second giant. This whole he spent with the girl, he never had a harder time catching a glimpse of his captor than he did with the man standing in front of them.

From his angle, the only thing he could see was the giant's beard. Although he couldn't hear the conversation clearly, it sounded like the two monsters were discussing something important, unaware of the eavesdropper hanging around. Just then, the basket shacked and was moving upwards. Jack had no idea how his fate will turn with two giants, but the farmer only had seconds to come up with something.

Jack turned his head and noticed the section of the handle he was holding onto to dear life was close to the gap between his captor's hand and her coat. He had a plan, but he had only one shot to pull it off. He slid down from the bottom of the handle and planted his feet slightly towards the edge. Once the basket levitated at just the right height, he made a leap of faith.

"To the belly of the beast!" The farmer screamed. "Metaphorically!"

Inma

The child lifted the basket just above her chest and pulled the blanket aside to give her father a full view on the inside. The response he gave was a far from what she expected.

"Um, Inma. I may not be the best at distinguishing fresh and spoiled fruits, but are fresh tomatoes supposed to look like this?" Inma's dad asked as he picked up the fruit and showed her the hole Jack imprinted. The young giantess felt her excitement ceased and replaced with despair.

"I don't understand. He was just here a minute ago" Inma said frantically as she pulled the basket towards her and searched every corner of her groceries. She was disheartened when her tiny human was nowhere to be found.

"Was there something you wanted to show me?" Her dad asked again but in a softer tone. "Sweetie?"

"It's nothing." Inma tried to put on a brave face, but couldn't hold it much longer after hearing her voice crack and before she knew it, tears started falling.

Her father had no idea what was wrong with his daughter, but it pained him to see her crying. Like any good parent, he put in effort to soothing his daughter. He kneeled to her level. "No need to cry, it's okay. You made an honest mistake." He smiled as he placed both his hands on Inma's shoulder's. She stopped crying and stared in disbelief.

"That's it. Now how about we go in and have ourselves some meat stew? Your favorite." He said as he smiled.

"No! I'm not hungry!" Inma yelled. The young giantess pushed herself away from her father and ran inside.

Inma's dad remained in his position. Completely shocked as to what had transpired. Left all alone to ponder what he did wrong. He picked himself up from the ground and made his way inside. The blonde grown up wiped his boots on the mat and thought of another woman he once held dearly. 'If only she were here. She'd know what to do.' He sighed and closed the door from behind.

Jack

Once again, the human found himself in a pickle. Between defending his life against the giants and finding himself clinging onto something, Jack wasn't so sure if he would last any longer. Yet, he found this scenario an exception. "This, material was way lighter than I expected."

He still couldn't believe he actually pulled off his plan with near perfection. The only flaw he faced was when he grabbed onto the giantess's sleeve instead of the coat. Because the fabric was incredibly thin, the boy's grip was becoming weaker each passing second. He barely had the energy to stay awake for his adrenaline had been depleted. In fact, going through it again, Jack would have as a matter of fact, fallen had a gust of wind not blew in his direction.

The farmer wasn't sure if this was an act of a god or just out of sheer luck, but he was grateful the wind blew with enough force to fling him inside his captor's sleeve. The temptation to sleep was calling to Jack, but he brushed it off. He had to stay up and ensure he was safe for more than five minutes. That and he was interested to what the giants were discussing. Unfortunately, he was unable to pick up anything.

Just when he found himself catching his breath, Jack felt himself being pulled back by the force of gravity and fell into the abyss between the bottom of the giantess's sweater and her elbow. Based on the motions of his new prison, he assumed she was running.

The farmer heard a loud slam behind him, then the silence. It wasn't much, but the daylight was enough to display a small wooden table and the all too familiar basket placed down. Unable to make accelerate his speed, Jack sluggishly walked from the elbow to the giantess's wrist.

"Can't hold out… much longer. Must… not… sleep." Nothing Jack said could persuade his body from staying awake; every part of his body was worn out completely.

Before he knew it, he collapsed face flat on the "floor". The human brought forth his right arm and pointed at the basket. Unable to fight off the demands of a weary body, he dropped his arm and felt himself falling once again. But this time, no one was there to notice.

Jack looked at the light, then passed out.

Inma

The blonde giantess stormed upstairs to her room and slammed the door as hard as she could. She stood still for a second and went straight to her bed. The young girl brought a pillow to her face and she started bawling.

"It's not fair!" Inma said out loud. "I wanted to show papa a human from his stories, and all he can think about is food!" She lowered the pillow and let go of it after seeing how wet she made it. Inma cupped her hands and remembered the black-haired human she encountered earlier. How he slept ever so peacefully on her palms. She wanted to learn more about him.

"Why did you leave me, little man?" The girl said as her snot was messing with the way she was talking. "I just wanted a friend."

Inma eyes were red from all the tears she let out. As tough as it was to accept, she knew she could never find him again, dead or alive for her little man was too tiny to be rediscovered.

The blonde giantess sniffled, then went for her basket to place it somewhere else. When she looked down, she saw a familiar sight she thought was lost forever. The tiny human was laying in the middle of the blanket. She covered her mouth and nearly let out a scream but stop herself. "But, how?"

She bent down to get a better look and saw he was even more worn than before. Inma didn't quite understand how it was possible, but she didn't want to lose him again. The young girl stood up and picked a jar off her drawer. Pulled the cork out and bent down again.

The giantess held the bottle with her left hand and scooped the unconscious human with her right and shook the latter gently. Thanks to Jack's slim physique, he was able to slide in without any struggle.

Inma finished off by sealing the jar with the cork. Placing it down on her table, the girl felt safe he was protected this time around. Because her little man was resting, she decided to take this time to clean up her room and wait.

Not gonna lie, I felt weird spending three days straight writing this up. A lot has happened during my time in summer school and I have some announcements to make.

1) I believe this just before finals took place, but I hopped online to check on my stories here. I saw more people being drawn to this story than my other story, Ludere Park. Of course this is no reason to take down a story, but the pivotal point for me was, I had no idea how to get from point A to point B. As much as it pained me to do so, I have decided to delete my original story. I haven't abandoned it but it will be put on hold.

2) I will be taking a small break. I love writing, but I need some time to relax and cool my head. Fear not, now that I am on summer break, I have time to post more chapters.

That's it for my announcements. Thank for reading this and please leave feedback or fave!