In The Footsteps of Giants We Can Hear Echoes Read online

ground with a loud thud as the Jumper leapt away, unawares of its stowaways. Each of them rolled in a different direction and hid in the shrubbery around them until they were sure it was safe.

  “Jammer? Are you OK?”

  “I’m fine, are you hurt?”

  “No, I think I’m alright. Can you believe that? We rode on the back of a Jumper! We’ll be legends!”

  “I can’t believe you almost got us killed!”

  “Killed? I just got us the greatest adventure yet! That was fantastic!”

  “Adventure? You almost got us killed and now we are lost. How’s that for an adventure?”

  “Sounds like an adventure to me little brother.” She smiled at him now. “Come on, let’s see where we are.”

  Despite his anger, he knew she was right. This was certainly an adventure.

  Looking around, there were only trees and more trees. Taller than those near their home and directly above them was the grandest tree of them all. It stood as tall and even taller than the Great Wall. It was the Tree of the Gods and it bore fruit for the Gods to eat. It could be seen from all corners of the world and Jez had spent many an evening watching from the safety of his home, the wind blow through the enormous leaves. Sometimes the fruit would drop to the ground far below and it would thump loudly, loud enough that it could be heard from their village so far away. At night though, it was frightening, for it sounded like the footsteps of the Giants coming to crush their little village.

  Thump! Thump! Two fruits dropped nearby and the ground rumbled beneath them. It was the first time either had seen one of the fruits up close and they both approached it with reverence and caution. It lay some 30 feet from them and glistened in the sunlight. Its red and green skin was shiny and thick. The second fruit had fallen another 20 feet or so away and it had split open. They ran to it and looked at the gigantic seeds within. The seeds were larger than their own bodies. The moist soft flesh of the fruit had been opened up to them and tempted them with its promise of delicious flavours.

  “I’m hungry Jmamer. Do you fancy a bit of God Fruit?”

  He looked horrified at what she was suggesting and stepped away from it. “We can’t eat that Jez! The Gods would know and come after us.”

  “This one fell from the tree and broke open. They won’t find out we ate it. Come on, shall we dine on the food of the Gods? Shall we continue this adventure?”

  He was very hungry and his hunger surpassed even his fear of the Gods this time. Still, reluctantly, he approached the large bulbous fruit and smelled its sweet aroma and watched in awe as Jez walked right up to and took a bite without a second thought. She was fearless. Pure bliss glowed across her face as she chewed and he let go of his inhibitions and ran to the broken fruit and grabbed hold a large chunk and pulled. It came away easily and he took a bite, small at first but the fruit was delicious and juicy and he took bite after bite of it and let the sweetness course through him. He felt as if he too, was one of the Great Gods at that moment.

  They gorged themselves until they could hardly move and then they had just a little more.

  “Jammer, I can’t move.” Jez sighed contentedly and smiled at him. “That was the most delicious thing I have ever eaten.”

  Jammer gazed dreamily at her and nodded. And as one does after a large satisfying meal, they both fell asleep, drifting quietly on the sugary dreams until the sun had begun to set and the sky turned a beautiful pink and orange, tinged at the edges with the darkest violet. Hours passed and with half closed eyes, Jez awoke and looking around, she remembered they were in unfamiliar territory and jumped up, fearful for the first time since this journey had begun.

  “Jam! Wake up! We need to get back home. It’s getting dark.”

  Jammer opened his eyes, startled at the sudden fear in his sisters voice. It was dark and the forests all around were unknown. Both of them knew that many creatures came out to hunt at night and that they would make something a nice meal if they didn’t find their way home or at least some shelter for the night.

  As the darkness thickened, the eerie quiet of the night came with it and shortly after, the strange sounds of the night beasts. They stood next to one another, looking in every direction, hoping to find one landmark that could point them to their home, but with the dark now upon them, even the God Tree appeared misshapen. It seemed that it too leaned in a strange way and gave them no hope to know which way to go. Which side of the tree where they? They could not be sure. The trees around them grew so tall in fact that they could not even see the Great House of the Gods and even the Great Wall was obscured from view.

  “Jez, what do we do? Which way?”

  “I don’t know. I think home might be this way.” She said and pointed.

  “Why? What if you are wrong?”

  “Then I’m wrong. But it’s better tan sitting here waiting for another Jumper to come along and eat us. You saw how he caught that Buzzer. Whack! Slapped him with his long tongue and took him into his mouth before that Buzzer even knew what hit him. Come on, let’s get moving.”

  He could not argue it and so followed after. The ground was different here than back at their village. The grass was softer and thicker. The blades were nearly as tall as them and wild. It seemed to thicken as they went and everything around them was enshrouded in shadow. There were noises echoing through the night air and each time they heard the chittering of an animal in the brush they turned hoping it would not be their doom rushing forward to meet them. They could also hear the occasional squeaks of the large flying beasts as they cut through the air.

  Suddenly, the trees opened and revealed to the the flatlands of the Wastes. They had broken free of the forest only to find themselves upon the hard rough grounds of the God Path. So called, for this was where the Gods tread on their way from their giant palace across the lands. Often the Giant Gods were not even aware of the creatures living below such as Jammer and his sister.

  Jez claimed to have seen one once. She had been sunning herself and heard a strange noise. When she opened her eyes she looked into the eyes of one of the Gods staring back at her. What was it like to look into the eyes of a God? he had asked her. She only shivered and covered her eyes with her hands and said she couldn’t talk about it as the God was too horrible to look at for long. It had been talking but she could not understand the words and Jez watched in horror as the giant pulled trees from the ground with ease. It was then she ran in fear that the god would pluck her from this world too. She had heard tales that the Gods sometime flung the forest creatures over the Great Wall, in fact one of her fathers friends had claimed to have spoken to one of the old shelled crawlers about this. It had told him that one of the Gods had taken his mate and lobbed her far into the air and he watched as she rose higher and higher until finally the world called her back. He had never seen her again as she went over the Wall and disappeared to him forever.

  So Jez had run and run until she reached the opening to their home and she hid in the darkest corner and waited to see if the Gods would choose today to destroy her. It was there that Jammer had found her hours later. She never told their parents what she had seen and only shared it with him. None of the others knew.

  Now, she looked in awe at the great palace looming over them. They had come out near the House of the Gods. Light shown from the openings and spotlighted them putting them in full view to any animals on the hunt. This was a thought far from their minds, however, for they were completely taken aback at the sheer magnitude and size of this Palace of the Gods. It was enormous and towered over them and had even been built much taller than the Great Wall. Light blazed forth from its every opening and for just a second they thought they saw one of the Giants looking out at them but then it disappeared.

  “Come on Jammer,” she whispered. “We’ve got to get closer, we’ve got to see more.”

  “Are you crazy!” he managed to spit out.

 
“Jammer come on. You can’t seriously think we would come this close to the God Palace and turn away. Where is your sense of adventure? Your natural curiosity? Don’t you want to touch the very wall where the Gods themselves live?”

  “No I don’t!” he lied. Secretly, it was all he could do to hold himself back. He wanted to run to the wall and place his hands upon them and feel the fantastic magic coming forth. But that part of him that was ever cautious held a firm grip on his mind and told him to turn the other direction and try to find his home. He knew which direction it would be now. They lived so far from the Palace of the Gods it could only be seen if you were to look through the trees and even then it was like looking at a mountain in the distance. Awesome, but far away and best kept that way in his opinion.

  “Oh come on now little brother. I know you better than that. Fine! You can stay here or go home,” she pointed back toward the direction of their village as she spoke. “I’m going to the walls of this citadel and I will touch them and feel their magic and become powerful and wise.” And with that, she turned and started walking towards the palace.

  He looked at her, turned and looked longingly towards their home, then turned and ran to catch up to her. She was his big sister after all and he did not want to lose her like he had lost his