Random Book of Random!

Short Story - Sort Of In a Pickle

Starry! Stars. Star. SSTTTAAARRRRRR.

Here's a short story I made.

"Gordon was a good man," Patricia stated to the policeman, seeing as she was the closest to him when he disappeared. Looking closely, tears could be seen growing. As for Rachel, instead of moping over Gordon's disappearance, she had been playing detective to solve the mystery for herself.

"Hello you two!" she cooed, almost running over two young twins. "What're you doing out here?"

"We're heading over to Liza's house to play!" Baxter, the younger (by like one minute!) twin, cheered.

"What are you doing?" Margaret, the older twin, inquired, giving her a suspicious look.

"Determining what happened to Gordon," Rachel made a noise between laughter and sighing. "I guess that childish feeling of 'playing detective' just never leaves you!"

"Can we join you?" Baxter blubbered excitedly, bouncing around.

"Afraid not, Bax," Rachel said. "Liza's waiting for you, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is." Margaret started pulling Baxter across the street, until he slipped and fell. He got back up and totally forgot about the detective work. Rachel continued up the street, soon reaching old man Lloyd's house. Not many people talked with Lloyd, mainly because he had a very sour attitude, but also because he had rambled on and on about seeing giants who ate his friends.

Rachel knocked on the door three times, a hard hollow knock. "Hello! Hello?" She tried looking through the eye hole. "Anyone home?" She started playing with the rotting wood while she waited.

"What do you want?" Lloyd yelled, opening the door with a slam. He was an older gentleman, most likely in his 60's, with blonde withering hair.

"Well, sir, I wanted to know if you knew anything about why Gordon disappeared." Lloyd scoffed and gave her a scowl.

"He was obviously taken by the giants!"

"Yes sir, but is there any other information I should know about that could prove your theory?"

"N-no," Lloyd stuttered. He started thinking heavily. "That Gordon. Always walking everywhere, a plump little boy. At one point he went through a stage and dyed his hair purple without telling his parents!"

"Okay, and anything that might help?" Lloyd stomped his foot really loudly.

"I'm done answering these questions! I'm going back to sleep!" He slammed the door back shut. Stomping echoed from inside. He was also known for being slightly bipolar.

"If you ask me, he was just being an old fart!" A tiny voice yelled angrily. Rachel turned around only to see Baxter standing there and Margaret trying to keep his mouth shut with her hand. "Hi Raffchel!" Baxter called, though muffled by Margaret's hand. She hurriedly took it off, smiling awkwardly.

"What are you guys doing here?" Rachel asked, walking up to them.

"Baxter wanted to play with you instead," Margaret sighed. "Liza wasn't home anyways, so we didn't have anything to do."

"Alright, but only if you'll behave alright?" Rachel gave the two a sort of glare, making sure they knew.

"Got it!" Baxter cheered, hugging Margaret. The three then took off, walking to different houses and asking about Gordon. Some just burst out crying, so they had to leave before anything got any more awkward. Finally, they arrived back to Rachel's small apartment.

"We didn't get anywhere!" Baxter whined, stomping his little foot and almost slipping.

"We can't win everything," Margaret explained to Baxter, holding him up. "But on a good note, we got some good exercise!"

"See, that's the right way to think of it!" Rachel walked over to the wall and leaned on it only to figure out it was uncomfortable to her, so she stood back up. She looked back on to the twins only to see them extremely pale. "Hey, are you guys okay?"

"Uhh, I feel dizzy," Baxter murmured before collapsing on the ground, as well as Margaret.

"Oh my gosh, what happened?!" Rachel fell to the floor, checking that they were still breathing. She looked back up to notice the others falling as well, some fainting while still up. "What's happening?" A bright light erupted from above her, and she stilled at the sight before her.

A giant stood in front, grabbing for... something. It was enormous, and it's skin was adorned with multiple different colors except for its face. As Rachel looked closer, the giant wasn't actually grabbing for anything, but setting something down. It was a plump young girl, who by now looked sickly green. Rachel, gasped lightly, almost giving her away. Once the girl had been set down, the giant disappeared, leaving her in a darkness she had never really seen before. Her eyes finally adjusted to see the others awakening again, as if nothing was wrong.

"Hey Margaret, there's Liza!" Baxter yelled excitedly, pointing over to the girl who was just set down. She wasn't a sick green anymore, but looked fine.

"Hey... why don't you guys go play with Liza now that you've found her?" Rachel whispered, barely pushing them over to her direction.

"Are you okay Rachel?" Margaret questioned, but when she didn't answer brought Baxter over to Liza. Rachel started running after they left, reappearing at Lloyd's house. She had to speak with him, especially after finding out that the giants he rambled on about were real.

"Lloyd! Sir, please answer! It's urgent!" Rachel was about to knock once more before the door was peeped open.

"Oh, it's just you!" he sighed before taking in who it was. "Wait, why are you back? I thought I told you I was done with questions!" He started to close the door once more.

"Sir, please listen to me!" Rachel pleaded. "The giants... the girl..."

"So you saw too," Lloyd stated calmly. He opened the door wider, allowing Rachel in. "Please, come in and have a seat. We can talk about this over tea, just calm down." Rachel nodded silently on the verge of tears, walking into the older looking home and taking a seat on the rickety couch.

"How long have you known?" Rachel asked, taking the hot cup she was being handed into her hands. Lloyd sat down in the giant chair next to the couch and took a deep breath of air.

"I don't really remember. A year? Two? I've lived in so much fear I've forgotten." He sat his cup onto a cup holder in front of him. "Now that someone else has seen, I can tell you my thoughts and what has been going on!" His face lit up like a young child who had seen an ice cream store.

"What'd you see sir?" Rachel looked into his eyes for the information they both sought out for.

"Well, you remember that girl April who disappeared a few years ago?" Lloyd asked. When she nodded he continued. "I witnessed her being taken by the giants. The minute the light came on she was red all over, and slightly more maroon dots spotted her. To top it off, her hair was green!"

"That's just like Liza!" Rachel exclaimed, waving her hands in the air. "She was a pale green, and she didn't look good..."

"Maybe they can contaminate us with that light?" Lloyd suggested, touching his chin with a curious look. He almost looked like he wanted to puke.

"Or maybe..." Rachel looked at him with an extremely scared look. "The light shows our true forms."

In a land not so far away, a family of supposedly giants sat eating their food at a dinner table. "Mom, can I grab the grapes for dinner?" the young giant asked it's superior before getting a nod of consent. As he opened the refrigerator, he took in the great sights of the lemon in the corner, and his memories of almost grabbing the margarine instead of butter. He smirked and looked into a nonexistent camera. "I wonder what food would do if they could live?"