"Ackon River," I whispered to myself. Just a few more days until we made that place our new home. Unfortunately, the Upperlanders seemed to be going there, too. The whole reason my tribe had planned such a large move was to get away from the giants. It was like we were doomed to be bothered by them forever.
Stirring from below caught my ear. I gasped.
"Lucifer," I stuttered in fear. I glanced over beside me only to find that he'd already fled from the giant. So much for loyalty. I slipped down onto my belly as slowly as possible. If the Upperlander saw me, I was guaranteed death. I peeked over the edge of the branch, then quickly pulled back. There was no way I could get down from such a height without a lizard or a bird.
"Why won't you ever listen to me, Father?" The Upperlander mumbled and kicked at a stone. Who was he talking to? And what about? I looked back over the edge. He was alone. That meant he was talking to himself. Like I did, far too often. I stifled a small laugh.
I held my breath, trying to be as quiet as possible, then remembered that Upperlanders couldn’t hear our small voices and movements. I let the breath out in a sigh.
"Lucifer!" I called again, but to no avail. I couldn't blame the creature. If I were put in a situation this dangerous, I would leave my owner alone, too. The Upperlander sighed and hung his head. Curiosity overtook me. This giant was obviously upset. How could any being that killed plants and animals for no reason possibly have feelings? I had to find out.
I leaned a little more over the edge in an attempt to get a better view. At that same moment, he looked in my direction.
"EarthWorms!" I muttered. "Lucifer!" I screamed and stood. I backed up step by step, the Upperlander staring through me all the while. My left foot backed onto nothingness and I fell. My hair swirled around my face, blocking most of my vision as I frantically tried to get in a better position. My thoughts flew by as if everything else was in slow motion.
Chapter 2
An Upperlander Shrinks?
GREAT, NOW I WAS GOING to die from falling. I guessed it was better than death by an Upperlander. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the impact of Earth and death.
Thump. Warmth embraced me. My eyes flickered open. He'd caught me. I closed my eyes again and covered my head. Death by Upperlander it was. I felt him move his hand down to the ground. A minute passed, then two. I opened my eyes. He sat on his knees with me in his palm. I mentally noted that I was only the size of his thumb as I stumbled off of his hand and onto the ground, then looked back up at him and tilted my head. Why hadn't he killed me yet?
We stood there, staring at each other until I decided that someone had to do something. Anything. The awkwardness was so thick in the air that I made a move so thoughtless it could’ve gotten me killed. I stepped toward his hand and touched it.
A bright flash of white light similar to the one from that morning blinded me for a second.
A groan. I shook my head and let my eyes adjust. Hadn't enough weird things happened to me today? I glanced in the direction of the groan, and my lungs filled with air as I gasped. I started to run, but a hand caught my wrist. I turned around, only to be greeted by comforting green eyes. Comforting green eyes belonging to an Upperlander . . . who had just shrunk.
"What happened?" His lips formed the two words slowly and clearly. My mouth opened as if ready to speak, but no words came out. I shook my head again. He released my wrist and sighed.
"How are you not more freaked out than that?" The words came without my permission.
"You don't want to know how freaked out I am." He pursed his lips. An Upperlander shouted a few meters away and my instincts kicked into gear. I finally realized I was way too close to the Upperlander camp. A little late for that, though.
"We've gotta get out of here," I muttered and gestured to him to follow me back to my tribe. We hiked until we got to the edge of camp. "I’ll be right back. Do not, under any circumstance, move," I told him, and jogged over to our tent.
"That was a rather long walk. How do you feel, Lin?" Mom was still reading her book in the living room.
"Fine." I tried my best to sound cheery as I ran past her to my bedroom. Throwing myself on the makeshift bed, I sucked in all the air I could and let all of it out as a scream in my pillow. What on earth had just happened? I rolled over on my back and faced the top of the tent. And how? My entire body was numb and trembling.
The rest of what took place there on my bed has since slipped my memory, if I ever knew in the first place. I do know that I must've laid there for at least another half hour before the sweet aroma of my mom's fly egg soup filled my lungs and I decided to get up. I strolled into the tent we used as a kitchen and, sure enough, Mom was stirring a pot over the fire.
"Hey, darling. Lunch is almost ready. Could you pass me a couple of bowls?" Her eyes never left the pot. I always found it freaky how Mom could just know I was there without looking. Or hearing. Or anything. Super freaky. I shuddered and handed her two bowls from the dish bag. Because of the big move, we had to keep the dishes and such in bags. It was easier than packing and unpacking over and over again.
She poured the steaming soup into the bowls and handed one to me. I took it and sat down on the floor of the dining room. We ate in silence for a while . . . until something hit me then and there.
"EarthWorms . . ." I muttered, then shot to my feet.
"What's wrong, Lin?" Mom asked as she set her bowl down in a spot across from mine.
"Nothing. Don't worry about me. Enjoy your soup," I called as I ran out of the tent. It wasn't like I'd forgotten about the Upperlander—it was more like, in that second, I had to face my problems. I don't even know how to explain it.
I rushed back over to where I'd left him and glanced around. He was sitting with his back against the tree, hugging his knees.
"What're you doing?" I trotted over to him. He didn't look at me. He just stared at a blade of grass a few inches in front of him.
"You left me alone for an hour. I'm two inches tall in a world I thought I knew without a way of returning," he muttered and kept staring at the grass.
"Not an hour. More like 45 minutes. And besides, you still know the world. It never changed. You're just seeing it from a different angle now. Literally." I sat down next to him. The grass he was staring at started to shrivel and turn brown.
He shook his head, unconvinced. I supposed that if I changed to a totally different size, I'd feel the same way.
More of the grass began to shrivel around us, and a shiver snaked down my spine. "I told Mom I wasn't sick anymore, so I'm gonna have more lessons in a few hours,” I blurted, knowing he wouldn’t understand any of it. I stood and helped him up. The truth was more that I couldn't stand watching blades of grass slowly die. It was far too creepy.
"My name's Lindsay, by the way." I smiled as we hiked through camp.
"Nathen," he said as he ran a hand over a flower's stem. An idea occurred to me, and I nearly jumped out of my dress with excitement.
Chapter 3
Meeting Martha
"I KNOW WHO MIGHT KNOW about this!" I grabbed Nathen’s arm and pulled him after me. We passed a few tents until we arrived at old Martha Chambers's tent.