literature

Kiriban: Thumbling-Tom Thumb

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The booming sounds of the kicks against the wall and of the curses of the two men finally started to die away and I took a deep sigh as I heard the heavy footfalls starting to leave.
Being hidden in a mouse-hole for a whole night was not something I was looking forward to... rats can be quite vicious at my size...
What? You say you don't understand how can I fit in a mouse-hole or being threatened by a rat? Then you obviously never heard of me, Tom Thumb, the quickest, smartest, most handsome, and all around greatest man you'll ever find under six inch of height... but I'm not here to brag or anything...
Where was I? Oh, right, the mouse-hole...
How did I get there? You sure are making a lot of question while someone is trying to tell a story, you know?
Anyway, it was all a part of a plan. A great plan, naturally, since I came up with it... You see, these two quite simple-minded and rude men saw me while I was with my father, who - before you even ask - doesn't share my peculiar size, and decided that I'd make a fortune for them if they used me as a circus freak. While I certainly do not lack an artistic streak of my own, the offer was, as you might imagine, quite unappetizing... but the money they offered my father in exchange for me was a lot more interesting.
Being a good man, my dad refused to sell me off like that, but it was just in that moment that the idea came to my mind. I could be sold off and then return by my own means... okay, it isn't the most law-abiding idea I ever had, but also buying people isn't exactly what you call legit, right?
Anyway, getting the two simpletons to let me go was an easy task... and with my fleet footwork and natural grace getting to hide was way too easy. No matter how much the two men shouted or got mad, I was safe behind this wall and they did give up after a while and I decided that I was safe when I heard the rumbling of their car speeding away.
So the first part of my plan was successfully completed... and left me out in the middle of nowhere, an unknown spot in the most backwater parts of the damn countryside, not knowing where I was or how to get back.
I'll admit it... as far as my plans went, this wasn't one of the best thought-out ones...

It was getting dark out there and the critters of the night started to awake... or, you can also say, things were starting to look bleak.
But I remained strong and kept on walking by the roadside heading in the opposite direction from the one that the two men took...
Yeah, it took me hours only to reach the next house, so? It's not as if I had any other way to try and make my way back...
But as I continued to move in the dark I heard some colossal steps around me. The tremors certainly belonged to two men... at first I dreaded that they were the two idiots that I tricked earlier, but then they spoke between themselves and I could say for certain that neither the voices nor the accents matched.
But despite not being the same rascals from before... let's say that their moral fiber was of no greater quality, yes?
They were talking about robbing that great house we all were close to, stripping it of all the valuables to then run away before dawn.
Now, in normal conditions I wouldn't have thought twice about telling them that their plan was stupid. The house was full of people, and even if most of them were asleep at the moment they were surely going to be heard. But in this case... I might have needed a hand out.
And so, while I did indeed talk to them, I offered my little but invaluable help to them.
The two at first were spooked, they thought that a ghost without body was talking to them from it's grave, but then understood that I was down there and found my offer interesting...
So I sneaked into the house by slowly sliding under the door and then took a good look around the whole house, taking advantage of the silent stillness of the night.
After a quick scouting, I decided that it was a lot better to try and deal with the inhabitants of the house instead of basing my survival and safety on my verbal deal with two robbers.
I hid myself by a little table beside the door and beckoned the robbers to come closer only to then start to shout and alarm the whole population of that big house.
By the quake of immense steps that went around in the next few minutes, I knew that the robbers were found out, or if not they ran so far away now that they wouldn't return for a long while.
But in the ruckus that my yelling caused, I decided it was unwise to try and speak to these persons right that evening... I might be mistook for a thief, or even just a bug, and that surely wouldn't do.
I waited for the noises and voices to die down, the lights to be snuffed out, before trying to search for a good spot to sleep after such an eventful day.

Only the next morning I understood why deciding to sneak in a large handbag filled with comfy, soft, and clearly old newspaper sheets seemed like a bad idea...
Before I could wake up, and charm the inhabitants of that house with my winning personality, I found myself thrown away with the rest of the thrash.
Quite impolite, if I can say so. Not to mention smelly. But I do not blame those guys, even if they did literally throw out the one who saved them from robbery, they truly couldn't know that I was hiding in that bag...
Anyway, there I was in a heap of garbage, speeding away on a truck along with its most fragrant cargo.
This situation did have a bright side... and no, it wasn't that now being all sweaty was the least of my problems, thank you. But that I was moving towards home a lot quicker than what I could have done on my oh so short legs.
Probably a lot slower than what I could achieve by getting to talk to the family in that country house, but at least it was a small step forward...
But I knew that the dump was not exactly close to home, so I got ready to jump off when the time was right. I got myself a small plastic bag that was still more or less whole and readied myself to use it as a parachute to jump off from that smelly transport that I found myself.
As soon as I saw a sign that pointed towards home I knew that it was the right moment. The truck kept on going straight while I jumped away from it with my plastic safety device... it wasn't the smoothest fly ever, but I got to the ground still in one single piece and not looking like a red stain on the asphalt.
But from there... it was still a hike miles long. And if you tall ones need hours to walk miles... well think about it from my perspective, okay?
I did walk for the whole day and by night I reached the gas station, which always seemed so close to home when I was with my father for some reason, but now seemed to be so impossibly far...
I decided to remain there for the night.
The station itself was closed down, but maybe someone would stop by and I could manage to catch a ride home or something like that...
I seriously started to despair at some point. I knew that my poor aching legs wouldn't bring me all the way home and no-one passed by on the deserted road... maybe it was because there was a nice weather and everyone left the city? It was supposed to be a busy part of town, not seeing a single car passing by or stop to fill in was really spooky.
Hours I stood there, lost between sleep and vigilance, hoping to hear an engine sound, but in vain.
Only when dawn was near I heard the thunderous rumbling of a bike coming closer and closer... and stopping at the station.
My spirits rose as the sun above, to then wane back when I saw the rider in the night.
A scary-looking man who rode on a bike black as night, tall and imposing, well that's not much coming from me but you get the idea, with a grim expression on his face. He wore a dark leather bomber with the image of a wolf on his broad back, and given the heat of those days that truly seemed a bit off.
But knowing that it could have been my last chance to get back home before I succumbed to starvation, I decided to be brave and face that looming colossus.
Getting close to him I couldn't even reach up to the ankles of his immense boots, but my voice managed to reach his ears just fine.
I remained utterly stupefied by his lack of surprise at seeing me, but all in all it was better that way, it just meant that I didn't have to prove that I was a person and not some strange talking bug.
And well, one thing led to the other and I finally managed to catch my lift home, from someone that I'd never thought would be willing to help me out.
And I can assure you one thing... you haven't lived until you got a pocket ride on a Harley, trust me.
After that... well, all according to plan. I went back to my family, my mother offered breakfast to the most helpful biker and all returned to normal.
And even if I could try that stunt again, I seriously think that I'll avoid selling myself off again. Too much of a hassle, and no insurance will cover for me...
So I really will try to behave from now on...
Unless... Maybe I asked for the biker's cell number, who knows?
Well, here is what :iconbethelina: asked me for the kiriban.
A rendition of Thumbling (the Brother Grimms one), maybe in a more modern setting and removing the animal-vore that was in the original one.
And so you have it.
Since it is the first time I try a real first person narration, it's probably a bit off but... who cares, right?
© 2011 - 2024 Osric90
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Starstoryteller's avatar
Now that is clever!