by Bloodthirstybutcher » Sat Oct 28, 2023 4:44 pm
Halloween Candy
Part 3
"Claire! Earth to Claire!"
While the sound of Sonny's voice had failed to penetrate his pet's trance-like state, it was a different one that finally snapped her out of it. A jingling sound, one he knew she couldn't resist.
Claire blinked back to reality, momentarily lost in thought and past regrets. She peered upwards from her perch on the kitchen counter to that of a joyous sight. A ball, one that looked so tiny pinched between her master's fingertips, but easily the size of a beach ball from her perspective. Not just any ball though. When shook or rolled, this magnificent sphere would light up in a rainbow of color and sing the most wonderful song when the bells within would rattle. This was Claire's favorite toy.
"There she is," Sonny mused, "thought I'd lost ya there for a minute."
Claire redirected her gaze from the glowing orb to Sonny's concerned face. She puffed out her chest and shook her head, beaming that infectious smile of hers back at him. She lifted both of her arms to beckon for her beloved distraction.
"I was saying, since you obviously weren't listening," Sonny joked, "that the pizza will be here in about thirty minutes." Claire responded by licking her lips and rubbing her stomach with one hand, a gesture that always made her giggle just as much as it did Sonny.
"Alright, well why don't you chase your ball around for a bit while I get changed out of my work clothes? Then we can kick back and watch a movie, sound like a plan, Sam?"
Claire feigned offense, patting her chest to correct him, "n-nn-aauuht-uh S-sssam! Cuh-laire!"
"My mistake," he laughed. This was a pretty common inside joke between them. A runt capable of understanding humor? Will the wonders never cease?! "Does Claire approve then?"
The tiny girl nodded enthusiastically, still grinning from ear to ear. That would be quite enough of that nonsense though, as that beautiful, shimmering globe was still going unplayed with. Claire wiggled her fingers to emphasize just how much she wanted the thing. A child-like innocence that never failed to melt Sonny's heart.
He motioned to scoop her back up in his hand to set her down on the floor, but Claire's tiny legs were already in motion out of sheer impatience and excitement. A skilled climber by any measure, it didn't take long before she was dangling over the edge of the counter and dropping onto the seat of the stool. She then scurried over to the next precipice and slid down one of the chrome legs like an oversized fire-pole. She landed safely on the carpeted floor and prepared herself for the chase.
Her agility had once kept Sonny on edge, worried to death that she'd injure herself. As time passed, he came to realize just how strong and independent Claire actually was. She'd had to survive out there on her own in a world that that cared little for the troubles of miniature feral humans. While always glad to lend a hand when she'd let him, the stubborn little runt was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Sonny grew to love and respect this about her.
"You ready?" He asked, arching his arm back like he was ready to throw a strike.
Claire jumped up and down, clapping her hands like the wings of a hummingbird. You could say she was a little excited.
"Alright... gooooooo... get it!" The ball rolled out of Sonny's and and raced across the floor to the other side of the room, jingling and flashing all the way. Claire took off after it, giggling and tripping over herself in the process. You'd think it's been months since she'd seen her rollable toy, but this was a daily ritual. Something Sonny bought at a dollar store as an afterthought brought this lovable runt more joy than most of us will ever know. A harsh life will do that. One where the concept of fun was virtually nonexistent. Physically speaking, Claire was in her twenties, but meeting Sonny had gifted her something her childhood had denied her... simple contentment.
While Sonny peeled his sweaty, grease-stained work attire away from his pasty dad bod, Claire continued to knock her ball around the room, marveling at the visual and audible beauty of the strange talisman. That stupid debit card had nothing on this! The giants were certainly capable of horrendous acts of cruelty. She'd witnessed it first hand, but things like that silly little ball reminded her of why she was so drawn to them in the first place... that they were capable of great wonders as well.
As smart as Claire was for a runt, she was still a runt, inheriting the attention span of a five year old. As she gave chase once more, her mind had drifted far away from thoughts of that horrible day nearly a year ago. Sometimes... a little ADHD isn't a bad thing.
How else would she ever cope with what she had done. She couldn't have known what she'd be responsible for causing. Even if she did, most couldn't live with that kind of guilt. That day... when, unbeknownst to her, she set the wheels in motion that would lead to the destruction of her people...
The station's manager made good on his word and contacted an extermination service to inspect the building. Unfortunately, due to the remoteness of the truck stop's location, combined with the fact that they... and every other exterminator in the area were booked up, they weren't able to get out there until December!
This came as quite a shock to the dutiful manager, thinking he'd have the situation dealt with before the nasty Midwest cold hit. He made due until then, setting glue traps and poison pellets around the property... discreetly, of course. The last thing he needed to saddle the business with was a reputation for being a filthy runt hovel. As the weeks went by though, the number of tiny humans he'd ensnared or found bloated and dead after binging on D-Con had confirmed his fears. The Sinclair station had a full-blown infestation.
Christmas Eve. That's when pest control finally arrived to deal with the problem. It was common knowledge among the staff that the place was indeed infested by that time. They'd secreted away the remains of plenty of the human vermin over the two months leading up to the holiday. It only got worse once the temperature began to drop. Given the nature of the less than noble runt, even those living in the wild would gravitate towards the giants' structures seeking shelter and food when either became scarce. A huge risk, but when your choice is that or freezing to death, even the simplest of creatures choose the risk.
The extermination team opened up several holes in the walls to probe for signs of habitation. Using a powerful vacuum unit, designed specifically for this purpose, it was fed into the wall to snake out the many nests that had accumulated that fall. The contents of the collection bin would then be safely disposed of in an incinerator back at their home base. This was to prevent the spread of pathogens the runt population could be carrying, as was the procedure recommended by FEMA and animal control.
As the days grew shorter and the nights much colder, Claire had taken to huddling with her nest again since that day she had tried to pass as one of them. She continued to clothe herself in rags for warmth, but covering herself also helped keep the hornier members of the clan from giving into their basest impulses when they saw her. She didn't want to be there, but the mass of warm bodies was difficult to turn her nose at.
When the massive drill broke through the wall that day, it marked the end of the nest altogether. First, a grinding noise reverberated through the dark passage before the bit broke through, shining light into into the nest. After that, pure, all-out chaos erupted within the wall. Claire's compatriots screamed when they had never used their vocal chords before, cowering before the spinning phallic implement. Only after the bit had retracted again did the real horror began.
To Claire's uneducated mind, a snake had found its way into their den. She'd only encountered one of the limbless reptiles once, but at the tragic cost of a brother's life when he was swallowed alive by one in the fields behind the station. In reality, the serpent invading their home that Christmas Eve was the business end of the industrial grade vacuum. People she'd known for her entire life were suddenly pulled into the air by the hurricane force suction and vanished into the gaping mouth of the plastic proboscis. Little did she know they'd meet their end in a far grislier fashion later on.
The diminutive blonde managed to escape, really the only one with the mental capability to do so. The hole leading to the outside of the building had given Claire an out when so many others were left to accept their fate. With those men clearing out the walls with their insatiable mechanical snakes in such an efficient manner, her only option was to take her chances outside the walls of the building. With only a thin scrap of fabric to cover her nakedness and nothing to protect her hands and feet, she braved a path through the snow.
It was cold. Unbearably so. Cold like Claire has never experienced before. Where green filed and stood in the summertime, now were only mountains of snow drift. The last remaining runt would find no sanctuary there. She instead to follow the footprint of the building around towards the front, being drawn by the light of the pump area. Claire knew little of life outside the walls, but light was good... light meant warmth. She came to a large, round cave or sorts, the open mouth of a plastic cup that rolled slightly in the wind. With her toes growing numb and pink from the ice beneath her feet, it was there that she would take shelter. It wasn't ideal, but it shielded her from the biting wind. The sun began to fall, and so too did temperature. Fast.
The cold was oppressive. Numbing. Relentless. The wind howled around her with incredible force, rocking the cup like a ship trapped in a squall. She cried for those whom she'd lost... who'd been eaten! The tears froze to her cheeks faster than they could fall. Her lips dried even as they turned blue. And yet the air grew colder... and colder... and colder still. Claire was going to die.
But...
A single chance presented itself.
A lone giant. Standing idly outside the store, close enough to touch. Bearded and heavy set, a monster by any measure to her tiny eyes.
He could stomp the life right out of her, kick her meager shelter into the night sky like it was nothing. On the verge of freezing, a quick death was more appealing than the slow end she was going to meet otherwise. Claire gathered what little strength she had left and called out, using the words she knew the best....
Please.
Help.
Thank you.
This time... her efforts were rewarded.
Sonny kicked back in his recliner and lifted the remote to turn the television on. Claire would join him, but only after wearing herself out in pursuit of her toy. She laid on her stomach, kicking her legs up in the air behind her, right in her favorite spot... atop Sonny's considerable tummy. It was always soft and warm there... and often resulted in loving pets from enormous, but gentle fingers. How she wished Sonny didn't have to disappear during the day so they could be together like this all of the time.
The unlikely pair binged a few YouTube videos Sonny had been meaning to catch up on while they waited for the pizza to arrive. When it did, Sonny hoovered down about half of the pie himself. Not to be outdone, Claire somehow fit an entire pepperoni inside her very tiny stomach. She'd managed to cover herself in greasy cheese and sauce, so Sonny cleaned his little friend up with a damp cloth before finally starting the movie. The single, childless man found her messy eating thoroughly entertaining and always enjoyed spoiling her with attention.
Settling back into their cozy positions, Sonny scrolled through the various streaming services looking for a good horror movie to watch for the occasion. "How about a classic," he suggested, "Halloween!"
"Hhhaaaalllooowwweeeenn!" Claire parroted.
Sonny chuckled, "that's right! Good job!" He then rewarded her with a few pets on the top of her head. It was such a magical, wonderful sensation, one that made her tingle all over and melt into the folds of his t-shirt. She rested her chin on her arms and let the blissful feeling of Sonny's touch envelop her senses. She could fall asleep with ease... and often did.
Of all the customs that remained mysterious to the happy little pet, television and movies weren't all that difficult a concept for Claire to understand. After all, she too had spent entire days sitting in her hiding spot behind the phone card display back at the gas station, doing what was basically the same thing. Watching these lumbering giants go about their daily business like a backwards ant farm. The fact that they too found enjoyment in watching each other as well was what surprised her!
Sonny loved movies. He delved into all sorts of genres, but mostly gravitated towards action and horror. Action was fine... exciting even, but horror was not to Claire's tastes. Too many real life horrors had found her during her short life, so finding entertainment in terror didn't make a lick of sense to her. Sonny explained to her several times that none of it was real. "People like telling stories," he'd say, "especially when they aren't true." She didn't quite understand what he meant by that.
The usual anxiety she got from watching these sorts of films started to spin around in the back of her mind, despite the reassuring touch from such careful and loving fingers. The Shape, Michael Meyers, was especially chilling to her. He never spoke, he had no emotion... just a stalking force of nature. A killing machine. How Sonny could sit there so casually and calmly and watch what that monster was doing astounded the now trembling girl.
She wondered if he subjected himself to these horrors to test himself. A means of facing his fears until they no longer held any power over him. As often as he indulged in the subject matter, she figured her master had to be considered especially brave among the other giants. They probably looked up to him, counted on his strength in the face of whatever real life horrors out there that she didn't even know about. As the killer in the bleached-out William Shatner mask ran his knife through another unsuspecting victim, Claire ducked behind a fold in sonny's shirt like a child hiding under the blankets from the unseen nightmares lurking in the closet. No, she thought to herself, watch it. Be brave like Sonny.
From outside the apartment, the sound of children's laughter drew Claire's attention away from the violence on screen. From the apartment's second story perch, she could see lines of young ones marching down the sidewalks, each dressed in strange attire and carrying orange pails or empty pillow cases. Looking back to the screen, amazingly there were children in the movie doing the same! What exactly was this strange ritual?
Claire tugged at Sonny's shirt in an attempt to gain his attention. It usually took a few tries as her motions could often be imperceptible to a being so large. "Oh," he exclaimed once he finally noticed, "do you need something to drink, Claire?"
The curious runt shook her head. She pointed at the children on the screen, then out the window. "Wwwww-yyyyy?"
Sonny looked out the window to see the spooky parade for himself, "oh! They're just out trick-or-treating. Nothing you need to worry about."
"Wwwwww-yyyyeeee?" She repeated.
Seeing as this was going to require a bit more of an explanation, Sonny picked up the remote and paused the film. "Trick-or-treating is... how do I explain this... so basically, every Halloween-"
"Hhhhaaaaaalllloooo-weeeen!" Claire exclaimed, cutting him off.
"Yep!" Sonny replied, "you got it! Every Halloween, which comes once a year, children dress up in silly costumes and walk from house to house where people give them free candy."
"Wwwwww-yyyyyyy?" She asked again.
Sonny chuckled, shaking the tiny girl perched on his gut of her stance a little in the process, "you know... I'm not really sure myself! Hahaha! I've never really thought about it! It's just something people have been doing for a long time. I did it when I was little too."
Claire was taken aback by this shocking revelation. She pointed back at him and asked, "y-y-yyy-ou.... sssss-mmmmm-aaaaul? Lllll-iiii-kuh Cuh-lllaire?!" She patted her chest to emphasize the point she was struggling to make.
"Hahaha!" Sonny laughed again. "No no, I wasn't ever quite as small as you, cute stuff. But I wasn't always as tall as I am now. I'm sure there was a time when you were younger that you were smaller than the other runts."
It took a moment for Claire to process what he was getting at, then when it finally dawned on her, her skin flushed to pink with embarrassment for the misunderstanding. She looked mortified, even angry with herself. The little fish out of water could be very hard on herself when it came to these kinds of mistakes. She wanted to be like the giants so badly that it made her chest hurt sometimes. Sonny had seen how upset with herself she could get, so he knew what it too, to calm her back down. That's when he had an idea...
"Hey... would you like to go trick-or-treating?"
Claire's gaze hasn't left the face of her gigantic friend, even through her budding panic attack. It was clear that tears had begun to well in her eyes, but they suddenly grew large and hopeful. In fact, her entire demeanor had shifted, that attention span of hers showing its limitations once again. She nodded apprehensively, not knowing exactly what Sonny's suggestion would entail.
The excitement on Sonny's face helped to relieve Claire of any lingering feelings of self loathing. He wrapped his fingers around his delicate little pet and rocked himself out of his chair. Setting her down on the counter, the normally stoic tow truck driver scratched his chin in thought as he looked back down at her with a wide grin. "Hhmmmmmm... now what can we do for a costume?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Sonny caught a still image on the tv screen. There was Michael Meyers, trapped in electronic limbo until the play button could free him up to continue on his butchering quest. In this particular scene, he's draped in a bed sheet, staring at a very topless and very horny P.J. Soles waiting in bed for her very dead boyfriend to return.
"Ah-ha!" Sonny exclaimed.
He looked excited and energized in a way Claire had rarely seen. He disappeared into the restroom for a quick moment before returning with a single square of toilet tissue. After forming the soft, quilted pulp around his thumb so he could slip it over her head, Sonny then poked a pair of holes in the paper so she could see out of it. A couple more holes, larger this time, in the sides would allow her arms to slip through.
"Alright Claire, lift your arms up for me, will ya?" He stated more than asked. Claire was only happy to comply. Oddly enough, Sonny had become quite skilled when it came to making pretty things for his pet to wear. Making what wear essentially doll clothes in his spare time was certainly something he hoped his coworkers never found out about... he'd never live it down. By this point in their nearly year long relationship Sonny knew Claire's dimensions like the back of his hand. He pulled the D.I.Y. costume down over her head and took a step back to critique his work. "I'll be damned! Ain't you just the cutest little ghost this side of The Haunted Mansion!"
After a quick dash back into the restroom to retrieve a small mirror, Sonny made sure she got to see just how adorable she looked. "Whatdya think, spooky girl?"
Through her tiny peepholes, the perplexed runt stared back at herself with great amusement. She had no idea what she was wearing, or what exactly a ghost was, but found it all hilarious just the same. She giggled and twirled in the T.P. costume several times before Sonny finally interrupted her.
"So, obviously I can't take you around the neighborhood...," he explained, "but we can make due in here." The giant rummaged around for a few seconds in one of the kitchen drawers. When he closed it, he was obviously palming something to obscure it from Claire's view. "Ok, so... I'm gonna go in the bedroom and close the door. When you're ready, just come knock on it and I'll give you a treat... it's that simple! Just be sure to knock hard, ok?" He continued, "your little fists might be kinda hard for me to hear. Oh, and take this with you." Sonny handed her a plastic sandwich bag, much too large for their purposes, but it'd have to do.
Claire jumped in place, clapping her hands together with her usual delightful enthusiasm. She waited until the door was closed, as Sonny instructed, then made her way down from the countertop in the same manner as she had earlier that night. Her paper costume actually made it easier to slide down the tree trunk-sized leg of the stool with so little friction holding her back... something she made a mental note of for the future. Once her bare feet felt the tickling sensation of the carpet fibers, Claire charged ahead on a dead run towards the bedroom. The sandwich bag flew open as she ran, creating drag like a parachute slowing down a drag car.
The door loomed like the entrance to some ancient temple before her. It was strange to see closed. Sonny gave her free run of the place when he was gone, so he normally left all the doors open, save for the main entrance and the balcony. Lifting her hands to the huge wooden gate, the tiny blonde pounded both fists as hard as she could against the surface in a rhythmic pattern. She wasn't sure it would be enough for Sonny to hear, but when the massive knob high above her head began to turn and the latch clicked with release, she got her answer.
Sonny was careful to open the door slowly as he couldn't see where Claire was standing from his side. Sure enough, the fun-sized specter was waiting with her comically oversized sandwich bag opened and ready. She looked so goddamned precious that the big lug could feel himself getting a little choked up. Beat the feelings back down, Sonny.
"Hhhh-aaaaalll-ooo-wuh-eeeeen!" The shrunken spook exclaimed from the tops of her lungs, lifting the bag even higher.
What started as a spit take erupted into full belly laughter. "Well... it ain't trick-or-treat, but it's close enough!" The object hidden in Sonny's hand finally appeared. He rolled the mysterious round item between his fingertips a few times to tease his eager pet before leaning down. "Alright, you puny poltergeist... here's your treat! He bent down and dropped a single foil-wrapped piece of candy into her bag. That may not sound like much, but that little piece of chocolate was the size of a wedding cake to the teensy runt.
Claire took a seat Indian style on the floor and removed the confection from her ziplock carrier. She ran her hands over the aluminum foil wrapping, gaping at the shiny covering. Sonny had seen that look in Claire's eyes before. Like the first time she ever saw her light up ball. She was going to be occupied for a spell. Deciding to leave her to it, Sonny stepped over her and headed back into the living room to finish his movie.
"I hope you enjoy it," he said as he walked away, "they've always been my favorite. Just don't eat too much if it at once or you'll give yourself a tummy ache, ok." Claire didn't respond, still entranced by the object sitting in her lap. Sonny dropped back into his easy chair and resumed with his film, knowing Claire would come join him again when she was ready.
It couldn't be...
Claire had frozen in place. Her illiteracy prevented her from reading the print on the wrapper, but she definitely recognized the shape of that logo. She tugged at the bottom of her costume and let it slide off her head and onto the floor.
It couldn't be...
With trembling hands she carefully pulled the thin metal flaps away from the top of the chocolate. A lump formed in her throat and Claire felt the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. The conical shaped treat was soon revealed, dark and smooth in texture. The zig-zagged edges, the black paper mold. It looked just like the picture she saw back inside the truck stop.
Claire pulled away a portion of paper to expose the side of the milk chocolate cup. With minimal effort she was able to break away the outer casing and reveal the crumbly peanut butter within. It looked so delicious. It looked so... forbidden.
The nervous runt brought a generous piece to her lips, making sure to bite into an area where she could taste both the chocolate and the peanut butter all at once. Her hesitation was understandable... she'd nearly died trying to obtain one of these things after all. Claire closed her eyes and let the crumb of Reese's cup slide into her mouth.
It was wonderful.
The milk chocolate instantly melted on her tongue, allowing it to mix with the peanut butter even more. It was everything she'd imagined it would be! Maybe even more. Like these two flavors were destined to be together, each feeling less-than without the other. Claire stuffed the remainder of the sugary chunk into her face and broke off another before chewing what she had. It too was gobbled down greedily. She licked the chocolate that had melted to her fingertips, even relishing that.
A familiar roar echoed down the hallway from where Sonny was seated. His jaw was hanging slack and his eyes were closed. Another long day on the road had apparently caught up with him. The guy'd started sawing logs almost as quickly as his ass filled the seat. This was not uncommon.
Looking back at her generous keeper, Claire couldn't help but break into tears. Not a drop or two, but one of those cries that feels like you were choking on it before letting it go.
There was no way Sonny could have known about that day back at the truck stop, nor could he know how much this meant to her. Claire's heart felt like it could burst with the love she felt for this man. A confusing feeling, for sure. The other runts didn't have the mental, or the emotional capacity for such feelings. This burning inside that filled her with elation and hurt all at the same time. Claire loved Sonny with all her heart and soul, but at the same time didn't fully understand this feeling.
None of this was brought on by a little bit of chocolate. Tossing that peanut butter cup into the well only served to make it overflow. There were so many things at made her ache for him. The way he cared for her... the ways he made her feel like she mattered. That she'd finally found the place she actually... the place she always... belonged.
The big goofball snoring away in front of the tv may not have come across as the kind-hearted, gentle soul her really was. No one knows why he felt he needed to hide that side of himself from others, but Claire got to see it. He constantly told her how special she was, believing in what she was capable of when even she wasn't sure she did. This quiet, lonely, unassuming man had taken her in and saved her life when anyone else might have killed her... or just turned their nose up in petty disgust.
No.
In Claire's eyes, she wasn't anything special. Just an insignificant creature in a world filled with giants. It was Sonny who was the special one.
In that moment, this sobbing girl was more determined than ever to break down the barriers between her inner thoughts and real, effective speech. She wanted to tell Sonny how much he meant to her, and to be able to do so without strain or stutter. Claire didn't know if a giant like him was capable of feeling the same way about a lowly runt like her, or even if the giants were capable of feeling this feeling burning her up from the inside out. She knew Sonny did care for her... but was it only the affection a pet owner feels for their cat? Was she a person to him?
Claire was sure not to consume too much more of the Reese's cup, just as Sonny had warned her not to. She wrapped it back up as neatly as it came and placed it back inside the sandwich bag. The tears she'd been crying were wiped away, the sobs choked back and controlled. Her tiny legs carried her back to her owner where she climbed her way back up the corner of lounger.
Like a cat waking its owner at 3AM by sinking its paws into their gut, Claire woke the slumbering giant. She didn't mean to, but it happened from time to time. Sonny snorted back into consciousness, feeling his tiny pet walking across him, even at her almost nonexistent weight. He'd grown so accustomed to the way it felt that he could almost sense her presence without Claire really needing to move at all.
"Hey there, little one," he said mid stretch, "guess I must have dosed off. You didn't scarf all of that chocolate down, did you?"
Claire shook her head and held up the bag to show the evidence.
"Good girl," Sonny replied through a deep yawn. "Those things are so good, but if you eat too much sweet stuff you can make yourself pretty sick. Just take it easy on that, ok?"
Claire nodded in response. She set the bag down on Sonny stomach and proceeded to walk further up his chest. It didn't take long before she'd reached his huge, bearded face. Pushing a bit of his fur aside, she planted a tiny, appreciative peck on the tip of his chin.
"Awwww... what was that for?" He asked.
"Th-th-th-an-kuh.... y-yooou... Ssss-oooonnn-eeeeey."
The giant wrapped his fingers around his little runt and held her lightly against his chest. Claire snuggled deep down inside the warmth and safety of calloused his fist. The repetitive theme of John Carpenter's score still reverberated throughout the room from the still playing movie, but Claire had the powerful rhythm of Sonny's heartbeat to focus on now. Before she too drifted off to sleep, she snuck one last tiny piece of peanut butter cup into her mouth and chewed it with closed eyes and a contented grin. A single thought crossed from her waking mind into her dreams...
Sonny...
The End.
Sonny and Claire will return...
Halloween Candy
Part 3
"Claire! Earth to Claire!"
While the sound of Sonny's voice had failed to penetrate his pet's trance-like state, it was a different one that finally snapped her out of it. A jingling sound, one he knew she couldn't resist.
Claire blinked back to reality, momentarily lost in thought and past regrets. She peered upwards from her perch on the kitchen counter to that of a joyous sight. A ball, one that looked so tiny pinched between her master's fingertips, but easily the size of a beach ball from her perspective. Not just any ball though. When shook or rolled, this magnificent sphere would light up in a rainbow of color and sing the most wonderful song when the bells within would rattle. This was Claire's favorite toy.
"There she is," Sonny mused, "thought I'd lost ya there for a minute."
Claire redirected her gaze from the glowing orb to Sonny's concerned face. She puffed out her chest and shook her head, beaming that infectious smile of hers back at him. She lifted both of her arms to beckon for her beloved distraction.
"I was saying, since you obviously weren't listening," Sonny joked, "that the pizza will be here in about thirty minutes." Claire responded by licking her lips and rubbing her stomach with one hand, a gesture that always made her giggle just as much as it did Sonny.
"Alright, well why don't you chase your ball around for a bit while I get changed out of my work clothes? Then we can kick back and watch a movie, sound like a plan, Sam?"
Claire feigned offense, patting her chest to correct him, "n-nn-aauuht-uh S-sssam! Cuh-laire!"
"My mistake," he laughed. This was a pretty common inside joke between them. A runt capable of understanding humor? Will the wonders never cease?! "Does Claire approve then?"
The tiny girl nodded enthusiastically, still grinning from ear to ear. That would be quite enough of that nonsense though, as that beautiful, shimmering globe was still going unplayed with. Claire wiggled her fingers to emphasize just how much she wanted the thing. A child-like innocence that never failed to melt Sonny's heart.
He motioned to scoop her back up in his hand to set her down on the floor, but Claire's tiny legs were already in motion out of sheer impatience and excitement. A skilled climber by any measure, it didn't take long before she was dangling over the edge of the counter and dropping onto the seat of the stool. She then scurried over to the next precipice and slid down one of the chrome legs like an oversized fire-pole. She landed safely on the carpeted floor and prepared herself for the chase.
Her agility had once kept Sonny on edge, worried to death that she'd injure herself. As time passed, he came to realize just how strong and independent Claire actually was. She'd had to survive out there on her own in a world that that cared little for the troubles of miniature feral humans. While always glad to lend a hand when she'd let him, the stubborn little runt was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Sonny grew to love and respect this about her.
"You ready?" He asked, arching his arm back like he was ready to throw a strike.
Claire jumped up and down, clapping her hands like the wings of a hummingbird. You could say she was a little excited.
"Alright... gooooooo... get it!" The ball rolled out of Sonny's and and raced across the floor to the other side of the room, jingling and flashing all the way. Claire took off after it, giggling and tripping over herself in the process. You'd think it's been months since she'd seen her rollable toy, but this was a daily ritual. Something Sonny bought at a dollar store as an afterthought brought this lovable runt more joy than most of us will ever know. A harsh life will do that. One where the concept of fun was virtually nonexistent. Physically speaking, Claire was in her twenties, but meeting Sonny had gifted her something her childhood had denied her... simple contentment.
While Sonny peeled his sweaty, grease-stained work attire away from his pasty dad bod, Claire continued to knock her ball around the room, marveling at the visual and audible beauty of the strange talisman. That stupid debit card had nothing on this! The giants were certainly capable of horrendous acts of cruelty. She'd witnessed it first hand, but things like that silly little ball reminded her of why she was so drawn to them in the first place... that they were capable of great wonders as well.
As smart as Claire was for a runt, she was still a runt, inheriting the attention span of a five year old. As she gave chase once more, her mind had drifted far away from thoughts of that horrible day nearly a year ago. Sometimes... a little ADHD isn't a bad thing.
How else would she ever cope with what she had done. She couldn't have known what she'd be responsible for causing. Even if she did, most couldn't live with that kind of guilt. That day... when, unbeknownst to her, she set the wheels in motion that would lead to the destruction of her people...
The station's manager made good on his word and contacted an extermination service to inspect the building. Unfortunately, due to the remoteness of the truck stop's location, combined with the fact that they... and every other exterminator in the area were booked up, they weren't able to get out there until December!
This came as quite a shock to the dutiful manager, thinking he'd have the situation dealt with before the nasty Midwest cold hit. He made due until then, setting glue traps and poison pellets around the property... discreetly, of course. The last thing he needed to saddle the business with was a reputation for being a filthy runt hovel. As the weeks went by though, the number of tiny humans he'd ensnared or found bloated and dead after binging on D-Con had confirmed his fears. The Sinclair station had a full-blown infestation.
Christmas Eve. That's when pest control finally arrived to deal with the problem. It was common knowledge among the staff that the place was indeed infested by that time. They'd secreted away the remains of plenty of the human vermin over the two months leading up to the holiday. It only got worse once the temperature began to drop. Given the nature of the less than noble runt, even those living in the wild would gravitate towards the giants' structures seeking shelter and food when either became scarce. A huge risk, but when your choice is that or freezing to death, even the simplest of creatures choose the risk.
The extermination team opened up several holes in the walls to probe for signs of habitation. Using a powerful vacuum unit, designed specifically for this purpose, it was fed into the wall to snake out the many nests that had accumulated that fall. The contents of the collection bin would then be safely disposed of in an incinerator back at their home base. This was to prevent the spread of pathogens the runt population could be carrying, as was the procedure recommended by FEMA and animal control.
As the days grew shorter and the nights much colder, Claire had taken to huddling with her nest again since that day she had tried to pass as one of them. She continued to clothe herself in rags for warmth, but covering herself also helped keep the hornier members of the clan from giving into their basest impulses when they saw her. She didn't want to be there, but the mass of warm bodies was difficult to turn her nose at.
When the massive drill broke through the wall that day, it marked the end of the nest altogether. First, a grinding noise reverberated through the dark passage before the bit broke through, shining light into into the nest. After that, pure, all-out chaos erupted within the wall. Claire's compatriots screamed when they had never used their vocal chords before, cowering before the spinning phallic implement. Only after the bit had retracted again did the real horror began.
To Claire's uneducated mind, a snake had found its way into their den. She'd only encountered one of the limbless reptiles once, but at the tragic cost of a brother's life when he was swallowed alive by one in the fields behind the station. In reality, the serpent invading their home that Christmas Eve was the business end of the industrial grade vacuum. People she'd known for her entire life were suddenly pulled into the air by the hurricane force suction and vanished into the gaping mouth of the plastic proboscis. Little did she know they'd meet their end in a far grislier fashion later on.
The diminutive blonde managed to escape, really the only one with the mental capability to do so. The hole leading to the outside of the building had given Claire an out when so many others were left to accept their fate. With those men clearing out the walls with their insatiable mechanical snakes in such an efficient manner, her only option was to take her chances outside the walls of the building. With only a thin scrap of fabric to cover her nakedness and nothing to protect her hands and feet, she braved a path through the snow.
It was cold. Unbearably so. Cold like Claire has never experienced before. Where green filed and stood in the summertime, now were only mountains of snow drift. The last remaining runt would find no sanctuary there. She instead to follow the footprint of the building around towards the front, being drawn by the light of the pump area. Claire knew little of life outside the walls, but light was good... light meant warmth. She came to a large, round cave or sorts, the open mouth of a plastic cup that rolled slightly in the wind. With her toes growing numb and pink from the ice beneath her feet, it was there that she would take shelter. It wasn't ideal, but it shielded her from the biting wind. The sun began to fall, and so too did temperature. Fast.
The cold was oppressive. Numbing. Relentless. The wind howled around her with incredible force, rocking the cup like a ship trapped in a squall. She cried for those whom she'd lost... who'd been eaten! The tears froze to her cheeks faster than they could fall. Her lips dried even as they turned blue. And yet the air grew colder... and colder... and colder still. Claire was going to die.
But...
A single chance presented itself.
A lone giant. Standing idly outside the store, close enough to touch. Bearded and heavy set, a monster by any measure to her tiny eyes.
He could stomp the life right out of her, kick her meager shelter into the night sky like it was nothing. On the verge of freezing, a quick death was more appealing than the slow end she was going to meet otherwise. Claire gathered what little strength she had left and called out, using the words she knew the best....
Please.
Help.
Thank you.
This time... her efforts were rewarded.
Sonny kicked back in his recliner and lifted the remote to turn the television on. Claire would join him, but only after wearing herself out in pursuit of her toy. She laid on her stomach, kicking her legs up in the air behind her, right in her favorite spot... atop Sonny's considerable tummy. It was always soft and warm there... and often resulted in loving pets from enormous, but gentle fingers. How she wished Sonny didn't have to disappear during the day so they could be together like this all of the time.
The unlikely pair binged a few YouTube videos Sonny had been meaning to catch up on while they waited for the pizza to arrive. When it did, Sonny hoovered down about half of the pie himself. Not to be outdone, Claire somehow fit an entire pepperoni inside her very tiny stomach. She'd managed to cover herself in greasy cheese and sauce, so Sonny cleaned his little friend up with a damp cloth before finally starting the movie. The single, childless man found her messy eating thoroughly entertaining and always enjoyed spoiling her with attention.
Settling back into their cozy positions, Sonny scrolled through the various streaming services looking for a good horror movie to watch for the occasion. "How about a classic," he suggested, "Halloween!"
"Hhhaaaalllooowwweeeenn!" Claire parroted.
Sonny chuckled, "that's right! Good job!" He then rewarded her with a few pets on the top of her head. It was such a magical, wonderful sensation, one that made her tingle all over and melt into the folds of his t-shirt. She rested her chin on her arms and let the blissful feeling of Sonny's touch envelop her senses. She could fall asleep with ease... and often did.
Of all the customs that remained mysterious to the happy little pet, television and movies weren't all that difficult a concept for Claire to understand. After all, she too had spent entire days sitting in her hiding spot behind the phone card display back at the gas station, doing what was basically the same thing. Watching these lumbering giants go about their daily business like a backwards ant farm. The fact that they too found enjoyment in watching each other as well was what surprised her!
Sonny loved movies. He delved into all sorts of genres, but mostly gravitated towards action and horror. Action was fine... exciting even, but horror was not to Claire's tastes. Too many real life horrors had found her during her short life, so finding entertainment in terror didn't make a lick of sense to her. Sonny explained to her several times that none of it was real. "People like telling stories," he'd say, "especially when they aren't true." She didn't quite understand what he meant by that.
The usual anxiety she got from watching these sorts of films started to spin around in the back of her mind, despite the reassuring touch from such careful and loving fingers. The Shape, Michael Meyers, was especially chilling to her. He never spoke, he had no emotion... just a stalking force of nature. A killing machine. How Sonny could sit there so casually and calmly and watch what that monster was doing astounded the now trembling girl.
She wondered if he subjected himself to these horrors to test himself. A means of facing his fears until they no longer held any power over him. As often as he indulged in the subject matter, she figured her master had to be considered especially brave among the other giants. They probably looked up to him, counted on his strength in the face of whatever real life horrors out there that she didn't even know about. As the killer in the bleached-out William Shatner mask ran his knife through another unsuspecting victim, Claire ducked behind a fold in sonny's shirt like a child hiding under the blankets from the unseen nightmares lurking in the closet. No, she thought to herself, watch it. Be brave like Sonny.
From outside the apartment, the sound of children's laughter drew Claire's attention away from the violence on screen. From the apartment's second story perch, she could see lines of young ones marching down the sidewalks, each dressed in strange attire and carrying orange pails or empty pillow cases. Looking back to the screen, amazingly there were children in the movie doing the same! What exactly was this strange ritual?
Claire tugged at Sonny's shirt in an attempt to gain his attention. It usually took a few tries as her motions could often be imperceptible to a being so large. "Oh," he exclaimed once he finally noticed, "do you need something to drink, Claire?"
The curious runt shook her head. She pointed at the children on the screen, then out the window. "Wwwww-yyyyy?"
Sonny looked out the window to see the spooky parade for himself, "oh! They're just out trick-or-treating. Nothing you need to worry about."
"Wwwwww-yyyyeeee?" She repeated.
Seeing as this was going to require a bit more of an explanation, Sonny picked up the remote and paused the film. "Trick-or-treating is... how do I explain this... so basically, every Halloween-"
"Hhhhaaaaaalllloooo-weeeen!" Claire exclaimed, cutting him off.
"Yep!" Sonny replied, "you got it! Every Halloween, which comes once a year, children dress up in silly costumes and walk from house to house where people give them free candy."
"Wwwwww-yyyyyyy?" She asked again.
Sonny chuckled, shaking the tiny girl perched on his gut of her stance a little in the process, "you know... I'm not really sure myself! Hahaha! I've never really thought about it! It's just something people have been doing for a long time. I did it when I was little too."
Claire was taken aback by this shocking revelation. She pointed back at him and asked, "y-y-yyy-ou.... sssss-mmmmm-aaaaul? Lllll-iiii-kuh Cuh-lllaire?!" She patted her chest to emphasize the point she was struggling to make.
"Hahaha!" Sonny laughed again. "No no, I wasn't ever quite as small as you, cute stuff. But I wasn't always as tall as I am now. I'm sure there was a time when you were younger that you were smaller than the other runts."
It took a moment for Claire to process what he was getting at, then when it finally dawned on her, her skin flushed to pink with embarrassment for the misunderstanding. She looked mortified, even angry with herself. The little fish out of water could be very hard on herself when it came to these kinds of mistakes. She wanted to be like the giants so badly that it made her chest hurt sometimes. Sonny had seen how upset with herself she could get, so he knew what it too, to calm her back down. That's when he had an idea...
"Hey... would you like to go trick-or-treating?"
Claire's gaze hasn't left the face of her gigantic friend, even through her budding panic attack. It was clear that tears had begun to well in her eyes, but they suddenly grew large and hopeful. In fact, her entire demeanor had shifted, that attention span of hers showing its limitations once again. She nodded apprehensively, not knowing exactly what Sonny's suggestion would entail.
The excitement on Sonny's face helped to relieve Claire of any lingering feelings of self loathing. He wrapped his fingers around his delicate little pet and rocked himself out of his chair. Setting her down on the counter, the normally stoic tow truck driver scratched his chin in thought as he looked back down at her with a wide grin. "Hhmmmmmm... now what can we do for a costume?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Sonny caught a still image on the tv screen. There was Michael Meyers, trapped in electronic limbo until the play button could free him up to continue on his butchering quest. In this particular scene, he's draped in a bed sheet, staring at a very topless and very horny P.J. Soles waiting in bed for her very dead boyfriend to return.
"Ah-ha!" Sonny exclaimed.
He looked excited and energized in a way Claire had rarely seen. He disappeared into the restroom for a quick moment before returning with a single square of toilet tissue. After forming the soft, quilted pulp around his thumb so he could slip it over her head, Sonny then poked a pair of holes in the paper so she could see out of it. A couple more holes, larger this time, in the sides would allow her arms to slip through.
"Alright Claire, lift your arms up for me, will ya?" He stated more than asked. Claire was only happy to comply. Oddly enough, Sonny had become quite skilled when it came to making pretty things for his pet to wear. Making what wear essentially doll clothes in his spare time was certainly something he hoped his coworkers never found out about... he'd never live it down. By this point in their nearly year long relationship Sonny knew Claire's dimensions like the back of his hand. He pulled the D.I.Y. costume down over her head and took a step back to critique his work. "I'll be damned! Ain't you just the cutest little ghost this side of The Haunted Mansion!"
After a quick dash back into the restroom to retrieve a small mirror, Sonny made sure she got to see just how adorable she looked. "Whatdya think, spooky girl?"
Through her tiny peepholes, the perplexed runt stared back at herself with great amusement. She had no idea what she was wearing, or what exactly a ghost was, but found it all hilarious just the same. She giggled and twirled in the T.P. costume several times before Sonny finally interrupted her.
"So, obviously I can't take you around the neighborhood...," he explained, "but we can make due in here." The giant rummaged around for a few seconds in one of the kitchen drawers. When he closed it, he was obviously palming something to obscure it from Claire's view. "Ok, so... I'm gonna go in the bedroom and close the door. When you're ready, just come knock on it and I'll give you a treat... it's that simple! Just be sure to knock hard, ok?" He continued, "your little fists might be kinda hard for me to hear. Oh, and take this with you." Sonny handed her a plastic sandwich bag, much too large for their purposes, but it'd have to do.
Claire jumped in place, clapping her hands together with her usual delightful enthusiasm. She waited until the door was closed, as Sonny instructed, then made her way down from the countertop in the same manner as she had earlier that night. Her paper costume actually made it easier to slide down the tree trunk-sized leg of the stool with so little friction holding her back... something she made a mental note of for the future. Once her bare feet felt the tickling sensation of the carpet fibers, Claire charged ahead on a dead run towards the bedroom. The sandwich bag flew open as she ran, creating drag like a parachute slowing down a drag car.
The door loomed like the entrance to some ancient temple before her. It was strange to see closed. Sonny gave her free run of the place when he was gone, so he normally left all the doors open, save for the main entrance and the balcony. Lifting her hands to the huge wooden gate, the tiny blonde pounded both fists as hard as she could against the surface in a rhythmic pattern. She wasn't sure it would be enough for Sonny to hear, but when the massive knob high above her head began to turn and the latch clicked with release, she got her answer.
Sonny was careful to open the door slowly as he couldn't see where Claire was standing from his side. Sure enough, the fun-sized specter was waiting with her comically oversized sandwich bag opened and ready. She looked so goddamned precious that the big lug could feel himself getting a little choked up. Beat the feelings back down, Sonny.
"Hhhh-aaaaalll-ooo-wuh-eeeeen!" The shrunken spook exclaimed from the tops of her lungs, lifting the bag even higher.
What started as a spit take erupted into full belly laughter. "Well... it ain't trick-or-treat, but it's close enough!" The object hidden in Sonny's hand finally appeared. He rolled the mysterious round item between his fingertips a few times to tease his eager pet before leaning down. "Alright, you puny poltergeist... here's your treat! He bent down and dropped a single foil-wrapped piece of candy into her bag. That may not sound like much, but that little piece of chocolate was the size of a wedding cake to the teensy runt.
Claire took a seat Indian style on the floor and removed the confection from her ziplock carrier. She ran her hands over the aluminum foil wrapping, gaping at the shiny covering. Sonny had seen that look in Claire's eyes before. Like the first time she ever saw her light up ball. She was going to be occupied for a spell. Deciding to leave her to it, Sonny stepped over her and headed back into the living room to finish his movie.
"I hope you enjoy it," he said as he walked away, "they've always been my favorite. Just don't eat too much if it at once or you'll give yourself a tummy ache, ok." Claire didn't respond, still entranced by the object sitting in her lap. Sonny dropped back into his easy chair and resumed with his film, knowing Claire would come join him again when she was ready.
It couldn't be...
Claire had frozen in place. Her illiteracy prevented her from reading the print on the wrapper, but she definitely recognized the shape of that logo. She tugged at the bottom of her costume and let it slide off her head and onto the floor.
It couldn't be...
With trembling hands she carefully pulled the thin metal flaps away from the top of the chocolate. A lump formed in her throat and Claire felt the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. The conical shaped treat was soon revealed, dark and smooth in texture. The zig-zagged edges, the black paper mold. It looked just like the picture she saw back inside the truck stop.
Claire pulled away a portion of paper to expose the side of the milk chocolate cup. With minimal effort she was able to break away the outer casing and reveal the crumbly peanut butter within. It looked so delicious. It looked so... forbidden.
The nervous runt brought a generous piece to her lips, making sure to bite into an area where she could taste both the chocolate and the peanut butter all at once. Her hesitation was understandable... she'd nearly died trying to obtain one of these things after all. Claire closed her eyes and let the crumb of Reese's cup slide into her mouth.
It was wonderful.
The milk chocolate instantly melted on her tongue, allowing it to mix with the peanut butter even more. It was everything she'd imagined it would be! Maybe even more. Like these two flavors were destined to be together, each feeling less-than without the other. Claire stuffed the remainder of the sugary chunk into her face and broke off another before chewing what she had. It too was gobbled down greedily. She licked the chocolate that had melted to her fingertips, even relishing that.
A familiar roar echoed down the hallway from where Sonny was seated. His jaw was hanging slack and his eyes were closed. Another long day on the road had apparently caught up with him. The guy'd started sawing logs almost as quickly as his ass filled the seat. This was not uncommon.
Looking back at her generous keeper, Claire couldn't help but break into tears. Not a drop or two, but one of those cries that feels like you were choking on it before letting it go.
There was no way Sonny could have known about that day back at the truck stop, nor could he know how much this meant to her. Claire's heart felt like it could burst with the love she felt for this man. A confusing feeling, for sure. The other runts didn't have the mental, or the emotional capacity for such feelings. This burning inside that filled her with elation and hurt all at the same time. Claire loved Sonny with all her heart and soul, but at the same time didn't fully understand this feeling.
None of this was brought on by a little bit of chocolate. Tossing that peanut butter cup into the well only served to make it overflow. There were so many things at made her ache for him. The way he cared for her... the ways he made her feel like she mattered. That she'd finally found the place she actually... the place she always... belonged.
The big goofball snoring away in front of the tv may not have come across as the kind-hearted, gentle soul her really was. No one knows why he felt he needed to hide that side of himself from others, but Claire got to see it. He constantly told her how special she was, believing in what she was capable of when even she wasn't sure she did. This quiet, lonely, unassuming man had taken her in and saved her life when anyone else might have killed her... or just turned their nose up in petty disgust.
No.
In Claire's eyes, she wasn't anything special. Just an insignificant creature in a world filled with giants. It was Sonny who was the special one.
In that moment, this sobbing girl was more determined than ever to break down the barriers between her inner thoughts and real, effective speech. She wanted to tell Sonny how much he meant to her, and to be able to do so without strain or stutter. Claire didn't know if a giant like him was capable of feeling the same way about a lowly runt like her, or even if the giants were capable of feeling this feeling burning her up from the inside out. She knew Sonny did care for her... but was it only the affection a pet owner feels for their cat? Was she a person to him?
Claire was sure not to consume too much more of the Reese's cup, just as Sonny had warned her not to. She wrapped it back up as neatly as it came and placed it back inside the sandwich bag. The tears she'd been crying were wiped away, the sobs choked back and controlled. Her tiny legs carried her back to her owner where she climbed her way back up the corner of lounger.
Like a cat waking its owner at 3AM by sinking its paws into their gut, Claire woke the slumbering giant. She didn't mean to, but it happened from time to time. Sonny snorted back into consciousness, feeling his tiny pet walking across him, even at her almost nonexistent weight. He'd grown so accustomed to the way it felt that he could almost sense her presence without Claire really needing to move at all.
"Hey there, little one," he said mid stretch, "guess I must have dosed off. You didn't scarf all of that chocolate down, did you?"
Claire shook her head and held up the bag to show the evidence.
"Good girl," Sonny replied through a deep yawn. "Those things are so good, but if you eat too much sweet stuff you can make yourself pretty sick. Just take it easy on that, ok?"
Claire nodded in response. She set the bag down on Sonny stomach and proceeded to walk further up his chest. It didn't take long before she'd reached his huge, bearded face. Pushing a bit of his fur aside, she planted a tiny, appreciative peck on the tip of his chin.
"Awwww... what was that for?" He asked.
"Th-th-th-an-kuh.... y-yooou... Ssss-oooonnn-eeeeey."
The giant wrapped his fingers around his little runt and held her lightly against his chest. Claire snuggled deep down inside the warmth and safety of calloused his fist. The repetitive theme of John Carpenter's score still reverberated throughout the room from the still playing movie, but Claire had the powerful rhythm of Sonny's heartbeat to focus on now. Before she too drifted off to sleep, she snuck one last tiny piece of peanut butter cup into her mouth and chewed it with closed eyes and a contented grin. A single thought crossed from her waking mind into her dreams...
Sonny...
The End.
Sonny and Claire will return...