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Roland looked around in confusion. What on Earth was going on? One moment, he was walking through the front door of his house, and the next, he was standing on a fast wooden surface, surrounded by strangely large objects. Astonished, Roland stared up at the nearest: a salt shaker seven feet tall at least. The next moment, however, the salt shaker was picked up by an equally huge hand. Roland stumbled back in shock, staring in horror at the giant only fifty feet away, who thankfully was concentrating on salting something on a dish in front of him, and didn’t seem to have noticed Roland yet.

Now Roland realized that he must be standing on a giant table, though he was no closer to knowing why he was there, or how he had arrived. And the giant was eating lunch. Roland watched him with a horrified fascination, unable to tear his eyes away. With a nervous gulp, he realized that the giant was taking bites bigger than his own torso.

And then the giant looked up and saw him. Roland wanted to flee, but he was frozen in utter terror. Even when the giant started to reach for him, Roland still couldn’t move. He couldn’t even scream. The giant’s hand wrapped firmly around him, and his feet left the table. He was lifted to in front of the giant’s face, and as the giant opened his cavernous mouth, Roland found his voice again.

“Please, no!” he yelled in absolute terror. “Don’t eat me! I’m sure I’ll taste terrible!”

The giant just stared at him for a moment, mouth hanging open. Then he tipped back his head… and laughed, long and loud. Roland cringed. Not only was he surely about to die, but the giant was making fun of him! He didn’t bother to make another plea, knowing it would fall on deaf ears, and just slumped dejectedly in the giant’s grasp, waiting for the end to come. Suddenly, the giant stopped laughing abruptly. “Wait… you were serious?”

“O-of course I was serious!” Roland cried, looking up at him with wide eyes. “I don’t want to be eaten! Please!”

The giant shook his head. “That wasn’t what I meant…” he said slowly. “You… you really thought I was going to eat you?” Stunned, Roland could only nod wordlessly. “Why?”

“W-why?” Roland repeated. The giant nodded confirmation. “B-because that’s what giants d-do! A-and you g-grabbed me, and you w-were l-lifting me t-towards y-your face d-during a m-meal, s-so…” He couldn’t go any further, and he burst into terrified tears, burying his head in his hands, sure he would die at any moment.

“I… didn’t realize that you’d see it that way,” the giant said at last, sounding regretful. “I’m sorry. And… I’m sorry I laughed… I thought you were making a joke.”

“A joke?” Roland repeated, glaring up at his captor with red rimmed eyes, brushing away his tears. “How could you think I was joking?”

“Well, the very idea was preposterous,” said the giant in a tone that showed well that he was quite surprised Roland didn’t agree with him. “I’d never eat another sentient being if I could help it, even one as tiny as you.” Roland felt a little bit reassured by those words, but there was no denying that the was still very frightened and could only stare up at his captor in fear. “Where are you from, anyway?” the giant asked, lifting him higher and looking him over curiously from head to toe.

“I… I…” Roland stammered, unsure how to answer and also feeling very nervous under the giant’s close inspection. But he didn't dare not answer. "I d-don't know. O-one minute I was at home, and the next, I was here!"

The giant seemed unbelieving, but he slowly lowered Roland towards the table again, setting him next to a glass cylinder at least twelve feet high that was partly filled with a clear liquid. With a gulp, Roland realized that this was the giant’s cup. “Well, I must admit that I never expected to find a tiny man standing on my table,” the giant said with a booming chuckle. “And if you’re telling the truth, then you can’t have been expecting this either…” Mutely, Roland shook his head. The giant absently continued his meal, eyes fixed unwaveringly on Roland. “What’s your name?” the giant asked at last. “You do have one, right?” he added when Roland didn’t immediately answer.

Shakily, Roland nodded. “M-my name’s Roland…” he said, daring to add, “What’s yours?”

“Erik,” the giant replied simply. “So, Roland… Neither of us knows how you got here… I’m guessing you don’t know how to get back to wherever you came from, either?”

Roland shook his head, looking down. “No.”

“Well then, I guess you’re staying with me.”

Roland’s head jerked up again, and he stared at the giant with wide eyes. “What?”