The World of Myth Magazine

Giant country is such a strange place for a young person like me to be. It is so far from my home, but I know that my home is not safe, and I know that I am where I need to be. I have lived so much adventure already; I have run away from a demon, I have managed to think my way through a maze, I have successfully run away from a city full of ugly and hungry goblins. I wonder what will be next in store for me. I know that I am now about to enter into the land of giants. How do I know this? I have read the sign, the gigantic sign that I stand beside. I am right where the griffin has left me. I wave as I watch the magnificent creature fly away. Staring up at the sign I read each and every word.

*You are now leaving the place where you previously were.*

*We would now like to say to you whoever you are…*

*Welcome to Giant country.*

Population: 600 Giants

5/4/3 People

555 Meters above Sea Level.

It isn't such a great surprise then for me to discover destruction and bones all scattered through the country as far as I can see. Giant Country seems like a long stretching valley with huge cliffs running both to my left and my right. My nanny once read to me a story book about huge brutes that ate people and I recall that she called these monsters giants. I consider this and think that it is no wonder that the population of humans is only three. I wonder if this number includes me. As I step forward and begin walking along the valley I hear a creaking sound and I look up discovering that the 3 has been crossed through and updated to 4. It is only seconds later, and the number returns to 3 again. I must be wary; I must make sure that I have my wits about me. If I am to save my world I must get through Giant Country unharmed. I hike carefully through the destruction with eyes and ears peeled. I am searching for any sign of the big brutes.

After what seems like hours of slowly picking my way amongst the bones and debris I suddenly stop, frozen out in the open. I have heard a terrible rumble and as I look up I see the most humongous dog that I have ever seen running straight towards me. It is then that I discover that I have accidentally wandered underneath a white picket fence, and I am actually in some guy's front yard. I consider how much paint it would take to paint all the pickets, but I cannot think about that long. Looking around I realize that the huge cliff on my left is actually a two story building with a giant sized door with a keyhole large enough for me to fit through. I can also try to climb under the door, but my heart urges me to go up. Well in actual fact I have a horrible experience as my heart leaps forward for a moment and flies towards and then through the keyhole pulling me along with it. I do not have a choice.

I want to cry out, to yell. I am so scared and so confused and yet I have this feeling as if everything is happening just the way it is supposed to be. "Scat you little, um, well whatever you are you can just scat!" a slow, low voice booms at a six foot man who is sprinting towards me.

"Oh, now there are two of you are there?" the voice booms again. "Take that both of you!"

I duck for cover as the head of a gigantic broom comes hurtling towards me. The guy who was running straight at me knocks me to the floor as the broom head just whistles over both of our heads. I fly across the gleaming wooden floorboards of this giant's room, and I slide into the wall bruised and winded.

"Are you Ok kid?" the man asks me.

I just gasp in shock and surprise as the broom head comes sailing towards us again. The man glances over his shoulder and sees what I see.

"Time to go!" he announces, and he quickly picks me up into his arms like I weigh nothing at all.

We run towards a red buggy that is parked close by. I wonder how it could be that the giant has not seen this buggy or hit it with the broom. As I ponder these things the tall man throws me into the back of the buggy.

"Sorry kid," the man shouts. "We will be out of here in just a sec!"

The man ducks down at the front of the buggy and I can hear him beginning to crank start the machine. There is one false start and then another before the man finally gets the motor running, just in the nick of time. We speed off as the broom sweeps at us for the third time.

"G'day mate, are you Ok?" asks the man again and finally I get to have a good look at him.

He is indeed tall, but he sits in the driver's seat of the buggy all hunched up like he wants to be smaller. He has short, black hair and a clean shaven face. There is a shadow of a beard growing back making me wonder if he has not shaved for a few days.

"Yeah I'm Ok." I manage to gasp.

"That was a bit of a close one eh?" says the man. "My name is Charlie by the way."

"Close enough for me," I agree.

"Hey Charlie, do you have a destination in mind?" I then ask as we suddenly shoot through a giant cat flap.

I wait for a response, but the man doesn't answer me until we reach what I thought would have to be the other side of Giant country. It is a beautiful, lush rain forest.

"Here we are, home sweet home," Charlie says with a flourish as he brings the buggy to a screeching stop. Two figures wave as we hop out the buggy. They both jump down from the nearby treetops. One is an exact replica of the man I am with, the one I know as Charlie. The other figure I recognize straight away. I am shocked to discover that it is the demon from my neighbor's yard.

"Good work, Charlie," the demon says with a snarl. "Grab and tie up the kid, make the knots super tight."

The man I am with grins at me then, just, like the demon. I take a few steps away and watch Charlie with wary eyes. Slowly he lumbers towards me, at every step he turns more and more into a demon.

"All is not what it seems little Jess." he says over and over again.

All I can think of is to run away as fast as my young legs can take me. I turn and go without another thought. As I sprint away through the forest it suddenly becomes alight. The rain forest is on fire. At the front of the flames, I can see the faces of the now three demons.

"Grab my hand, Jess, hurry," a crackly old voice suddenly cries from right above me. Without thinking I reach up instructively and scream as a huge scaly claw grabs my small hands.

All around me things vanish. I am no longer in a forest; instead, I am floating on a tiny raft in the middle of a wide river. I share this raft with a scaly beast that has large claws and a small woman in a red dress with yellow and black spots all over it.

"Hello Jess," says the small woman. "Please call me Auntie Sue."

We float along with the river's current for a few hours. It takes us through some caves that the beast lights up with dragon flames. We then float by a place of ruins which Auntie Sue points out.

At one stage while being shown a particular castle ruin, Auntie Sue tells me to hop up on Fred. It is the first time that I discover Fred is the name of the scaly beast. With his huge wings Fred flies me up. When I turn to wave to Auntie Sue all I see is a puff of smoke. I wonder if Aunty Sue was truly real. I know that Fred is real though. He looks and feels very real as we fly through the sky. Fred flies on past rough waters that the raft we were on wouldn't have pulled us through. Fred lands outside of a cave with a skull shaped mouth. In a deep flame like voice Fred speaks to me.

"This is the secret, underground entrance to the castle home of Prince Wiener," Fred tells me. "Prince Wiener is the name of the demon that holds our land and your land in captivity."

I nod to show that I understand but in reality this all seems so very strange.

"Jess, you must enter the castle and discover the key," Fred tells me. "With that key you must open the final room and then for the sake of all worlds you must destroy the demon's powers."

Again, I nod but my mind is racing with thoughts of what is to come. This seems impossible, especially for somebody as young and as small as me.

"We are all counting on you, Jess," says Fred, his dragon eyes reflecting worry. "You don't have much time; you need to do this quickly and we all wish you the best of luck."

All through this I stand with my mouth wide open, gapping. Fred vanishes in a puff of smoke, just like Aunty Sue and the raft and suddenly I come to my senses. I am alone again; I am extremely lost, and it seems that I am the only hope.

Then just as suddenly I am no longer alone. A blind man walks out of the cave.

"I am to be your guide, kind child," the blind man says, his face covered, his voice is muffled as he speaks through his old rags. Then he removes his cloak to reveal a snake tongue that flicks from a snake's head and wraps around my arm. With a huge yank (it hurt him more than me) he pulls me along through the entrance of the cave. I am dazzled by a golden glow.

"This is an image of the key you must find," the snake's voice says in my mind with a hiss.

With everything that is going on I try to focus upon the image of the key, but it is difficult. Before I can get a good look the image is gone, and the cave is dark.

The snake man continues to pull me along, deeper into the cave. We enter a dark wet passage, a passage that smells really, really bad.

"This unfortunately is the castle's sewerage run off," the snake hisses in my mind.

It seems this strange creature can communicate with me while his tongue is wrapped around me.

We quickly march through the curtain of a green waterfall. Beyond this I discover transparent tubes that hang from the cave's roof. This section of the passage we walk along is given a mysterious green glow.

"Those tubes are for wizard waste," the snake man explains.

It seemed I am getting a half an hour tour of the castle waste disposal system. Suddenly the system stops, and we come across a silver ladder.

"This is where I leave you, good luck Jess," the hissing and tongue lashing figure says and then, as the tongue unravels from around my arm he too vanishes in a puff of smoke.

"My name is not Jess," I say meekly. "It's Sam."

I get the feeling that my words are wasted as there is nobody here. Shrugging my shoulders, I begin to climb the ladder and wonder just what further adventures await me in the castle above.

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