Thanks to the winter break, I feel refreshed and ready to continue writing again. As always, check out the bottom of the page for more updates in general.

Chapter 6

Inma

"Next thing I know, I find myself stuck in the jar and then you released me." Jack then realized his voice had gotten weaker due to him talking excessively.

"Which leads us to now, right?" Inma blurted.

"Right." Jack nods his head

"Wow, you really had it rough, didn't you? Between climbing up that beanstalk and not being discovered by either me and my father." Inma smiled softly to the farmer.

"Mind if I ask you something, Miss Inma?" Jack looked at his captor with concern. Inma didn't know why he was acting formal all of a sudden, but wanted to hear him out.

"No need to add "Miss" to my name. Just call me Inma." The blonde giantess said in a stern yet teasing tone.

"My apologies." Jack said. "It's just I notice throughout our conversation, you seem to be offended whenever I talked about how I was away from you."

Inma nodded reluctantly in agreement as she did seem extra frightened of Jack's disappearance. She felt something tiny and cold on her index finger. Upon close observation, resulted with the young giantess blushing a light shade of red for the little farmer had his hands around her fingertip and looked up with sincere concern. She never felt this way before. It reminded her of the way younger siblings looked up to their older counterparts.

"Y-Your point?" Inma said.

"I don't want to sound rude but, we've only just met. Why are you so worried for me?" Jack's head tilted in confusion.

Inma wished he had not asked her this immediately. Now that he had, the giantess felt obliged to answer the young farmer. "Well…" Inma was having harder time to explain than she had thought. "The truth is, I've never been good at making friends." Inma ended her confession and hung her head down, bracing for Jacks reaction.

Jack

The young farmer had no clue what to say next, or if he should say anything. He didn't spend the day climbing a beanstalk to baby-sit some giant girl. He did so to see worlds no one back at home could have dreamed of setting foot on. He wanted to leave a mark in history as well as bring back goodies not just for himself, but to give back to his mom for all the years she put up with him while still loving her only child.

He held his breath to prevent a sigh from letting out. But her last remark about her lack of friends caught him off guard. It wasn't the statement itself for even he could pick up her lack of assertiveness, but her expression had him feel trapped not by force, but by reminiscence. Jack remembered a time in school where he too had a hard time making friends. He remembered fitting in was the hardest challenge for farmers like him were never taken seriously. He was picked on for his lack of proper clothing and classmates mocked him by talking to him slow and easy, as if he was unable to pick up big words. It took a long time for him to get out of the spotlight.

After a moment to himself, Jack looks up and responds. "I know what it's like to not have friends, Inma"

Is that true? Or you're just saying that to make me feel better." The blond looked at him with a concerned look

The black-hair teen looked up at the giantess and shook his head. "I'm serious. You thought I was popular where I'm from?

"I don't know. Maybe?" Inma said without looking up.

"You flatter me" Jack chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "But you're not totally off. I used to be scared of everyone around me. My classmates made fun of me for the way I was raised. You don't get much respect as a farmer." Jack said out loud while pondering to his own thoughts. "You have no idea how annoying it was when people made fun of me for the way I was raised. No matter how many baths I would take, everyone would just say I smelled like cow poop." Jack complained.

During Jack's monologue, the young farmer failed to notice his captor picking him up with her palm and brought him closer to her face. Jack was made aware when he noticed the room got dark all of sudden. He saw her face up close to him, but after their idle conversation, he didn't find her intimidating anymore. He may have let out a yell with her eyes beaming at him, it was only him being taken by surprise.

"You ought to be more careful. Not all of us are used to staring at people eye to eye." Jack said matter of fact.

In response, the young giantess simply laughed at his remark. "Sorry, little man. It's my first time taking care of someone the size of my pinky."

Jack didn't get what was funny at first, but he felt good making his captor smile.

"Fair point." The farmer said shaking his head while smiling.

Inma let out a yawn all of sudden and Jack, with nowhere to hide, felt the full experience. He stumbled backwards by the wind, which subsided quickly as it came.

"I'm sorry" The blonde child said in a meek tone.

"It's okay. I'm still in one piece." Jack reassured her.

"You're a funny guy, Jack. Thank you" Inma smiled.

"For what?" Jack looked puzzled

"For cheering me up even when though you didn't need to" Inma said.

"The pleasure is all mine" Jack declared, taking a bow to the gigantic maiden

Inma

"Hey Jack, would you mind if I put you on top of my drawer? I need to change into my pajamas." Inma asked. She saw the tiny farmer nod in response.

"Oh of course." Jack replied as he walked towards the middle of her palm and sat still. He turned his sight towards Inma who was not looking at him directly for once. He took advantage of this and savor a moment of silence. Jack had a feeling that moments like these would vanish into thin air.

The blond giantess reached out her hand to form a bridge for her captive. The rhythmic movement Jack was getting accustomed to, ceased. Inma tilted her hand down and nudged him to get off. The giantess opened her drawer and pulled out her pajamas. She was on the verge of pulling off her top when she remembered a boy was nearby.

"Do you mind turning around?" Inma asked and due to their size difference, she would have to trust his word and did as he was told.

She pulled herself out of her jacket and hanged it up nicely so it can be worn another day. Her sweater and pants came off next and Inma swapped them with white matching pajamas. Afterwards, the blonde child went to the table to pick up the jar on the table. The table was placed in the middle of the room and as a small area in of itself, she had no problem navigating. She looked down to take a look at Jack and was grateful he had in fact turned around. The last thing she wanted was for her newfound friend to be a peeping Tom.

Inma scooped her hand in front of the boy and pulled back. She checked to see if she had caused any damaged towards him and when she couldn't see any, she dropped Jack back into the jar and went straight to her bed.

Jack

"Should I take a peek or no?" Jack wondered. He was conflicted with such a life decision. He argued on one hand, he should be respectful and give her some privacy. Yet, He noted that his captor wasn't some burly, stinky, hairy giant or an old hag, his captor was pretty cute. Instead, the universe answered for him with a shadow looming over him, which just so happened to scoop the farmer in the air and placed back in a familiar space.

Maybe a little too familiar, the jar made the farmer feel insignificant, which was a feeling he felt uncomfortable with and was eager to be free from it. Thankfully, the jar stopped moving and Jack found himself rolling back for his "prison" had been placed sideways. He crawled out and looked around.

Judging from Inma's posture, he assumed she was just about ready to fall asleep. He couldn't blame her since they both have had a long day. Too tired to move another inch, Jack decided to climb into the bottle once more and call it night. A feminine voice emerged.

"By the way Jack, how old are you?" Inma asked.

"I'm 16. Why do you ask?" The young farmer said.

"That's good." She yawned in the middle of her sentence. "I thought you were a grown-up."

"Do I sound that old?" Jack replied, intrigued by her opinion. The candle next to him was starting to flicker because of the wind, but he managed to see his captor's head nod slightly.

"Yeah" she said in drowsy tone. "Good night, my little man"

The charcoal-haired teen also said good night, even if Inma was unlikely to have heard it. There was a lot on the boy's head to evaluate but figured it can be done tomorrow. After a long day of surviving every turn from left to right, he was in need of a good night sleep.

Last quarter was the worst. My homework piled up to the point I couldn't update and keep up at the same time. Since I passed my classes, I suppose it was worth it in the long run. Though with that said, this chapter was about halfway finished before I placed this story on pause around October I believe. From there, it had just been me revising and rewriting lines, and even whole sections. But it's okay, this is the reality of writing. It's about rewriting over and over until the results come as good as it can be.

I wanted to ask: What do you all think of this version of Inma? The few info about her was she was supposed to be feisty, argumentative, and smug.

Leave a review and/or fave. Have a nice day!