The concerned forest animals gathered; sheltering beneath an old Maple tree, discussing what could be causing the bad weather. Bobby rabbit; the forest's own security officer, was chosen to search for the cause with Francis, the head stag.

Bobby was not at all pleased to have been chosen for the task. He had a wife and twelve children at home and he didn‘t want to leave them behind. However, so many animals were relying on him to help them, so he had no choice but to go along with it.

            Setting off on their adventure, Bobby sat high on Francis’ back to save his little legs from aching. After an hour of riding north on his companion’s back, Bobby glanced skyward as the tree tops thinned.

            “Look there, Francis!” he exclaimed. “Can you see that?” Above them, floating in mid-air was a castle.

            “I see it Mr Bobbins. Dear me. Who do you suppose lives up there?”

            “I have no idea, but that is where our rain is coming from. You can see the water trickling from under the front door.” Bobby Bobbins was right. A steady stream of water ran from beneath the door, flowed down the small pathway, then, to drip over the edge as rain.

            “We need to go up there and find out where all that water is coming from and put a stop to it before it ruins anything else,” said Bobby, puffing out his small furry chest as he asked Francis to search for a way to reach the castle gates.

Circling the glen, Francis noticed a fallen tree that leaned onto the island from the ground. It would be a difficult climb, but nonetheless, a climb they needed to make.

            Careful not to slip off the mossy wood, they eventually reached the castle entrance. Francis fearlessly banged his antlers against two very large doors. Bang! Thump! Thud! No one answered his knocks. Francis tried again, a little harder this time, Bang! Thump! Thump! But again, his knocks remained unheard.

            The two friends decided it was best to try and open the doors themselves. Eeeeeeccccccchhhhhhhh! The heavy doors screeched, as together they pushed them ajar. Creeping through the small gap they had created, they saw that they were in what Bobby said was, “The biggest room in the world.” He felt himself shrink as he glanced around at the huge furniture. Tables, chairs and pictures, all ten times bigger than normal, stood menacingly over them both and puddles as big as ponds ran into each other then trickled out of the doorway.

            “This must be the home of a giant!” whispered Francis, looking at the massive furniture as he shook from fear.

            “Maybe we should turn back,” Bobby considered. A giant was not someone he wanted to intrude on; they were known for being unreasonable and angry people, preferring their own company.

            “Arrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!” The castle and everything in it shook as a loud noise boomed from another room. “Oohhhhh!” it continued.

            “It sounds like he’s hurt,” said Bobby, his fear turning to concern.

            “Well I’m not going in there!” Francis cried, trotting back outside. “I’ll wait for you out here.”

            Hopping across the stone floor, Bobby pushed through the next door leading to the kitchen. His little heart leapt into his furry chest, as before him, sat the biggest man he had ever seen. He was sitting at the kitchen table.

            “A-hmm!” coughed Bobby politely, trying to get the giant's attention, but, his tiny voice couldn’t be heard above the wailing. He tried again a little louder. “A-hmm!”

            Giants were supposed to be fearsome, eating anything and everything including small animals like Bobby Bobbins. No-one wanted to be, or get, close to such a creature. The little rabbit was unsure of how the giant would react to him, but something needed to be done about all the rain that kept falling. 'The chair is too high for me to jump on,' he thought, 'but I if I can hop onto the top of the giant's boot, I could then jump onto the chair.'

            This is exactly what he did, and then from the chair, he hopped onto the giant's lap, then with one final leap, onto the table. The giant was too busy crying and wailing to notice a little rabbit creep round to his face.

            With a gulp and a deep breath Bobby shouted above the noise. “Erm, excuse me sir, are you alright?” The giant squinted at Bobby in disbelief as a big ball of water fell from his eyes, narrowly missing Bobby.

            “I have all this lovely food but I cannot eat any of it because I have a terrible toothache. No-one will help me because they are afraid I will eat them,” he sobbed loudly. Bobby felt very sorry for the giant; he knew how painful and upsetting toothache could be, as he had experienced it for himself.

            “I know someone who can help you, but, you must promise to be kind and gentle,” said Bobby.

            “That would be wonderful. Oohhhhhh, it hurts so much. If you can help me, I promise to be kind and gentle, always.”

            “First,” Bobby reasoned with the man, “you need to stop crying because you are flooding our forest.”

            “I’ll try,” he whimpered, sniffing loudly.

            The giant, whose name was Terrance, carried Bobby and Francis back to the forest with the greatest of care. Following Bobby rabbit’s directions, they soon ended up at the Stream-Acres wood where they lived. Everyone who saw them coming ran and hid; they were afraid that the giant had come to eat them all. Bobby pointed to a hollowed-out tree trunk where Primrose the skunk resided. Primrose was known to the forest animals because of her ability to help and heal them.

            “Just wait here and I will talk to her. Remember, be nice,” ordered the rabbit. Jumping out of Terrance's arms he disappeared into the fallen trunk. Minutes later, Primrose and Bobby walked out to the clearing carrying a selection of foliage.

            “Primrose said she will help you,” said Bobby. Without warning the black and white fur ball that was Primrose, climbed on top of the giant's left shoulder.

            “Open wide please, and, whatever you do, don’t close it until I tell you to,” Primrose warned sternly, not in the slighted worried about what the giant may do to her.

            Doing as he was told, Terrance opened his mouth wide while Primrose went about pulling and prodding his teeth. After checking them, she climbed right into his mouth, sat on his tongue and began rubbing and packing his gums with wild flowers and herbs.

            “Ok. That should do it. Leave those flowers and herbs there until morning,” she told him, kindly. “When you wake the pain should be gone.”

            “Fank ewe!” Terrance mumbled; his mouth too full to speak properly.

            “You're welcome. Come back and see me in the morning,” said Primrose as the big man strode away, leaving them all behind to enjoy the sunshine now that his crying had stopped.

            The next morning everything was back to how it was supposed to be. Tanya, the owl, was teaching her last class before going to bed while Juniper, the squirrel, busied herself cooking breakfast for all the forest folk. Before she had time to plate up the mix of nuts and tree fruits, the ground began to shake and tremble. This time the rumbling did not startle the creatures.

            Rounding the treetops, Terrance carefully pushed away branches as he strode over bushes and flowers, being careful not to trample on them. Reaching the clearing where Primrose’s house was, he used his little finger to gently tap at her door.

            “Good morning Terrance. How is your tooth today?” asked the kindly skunk as she opened her door.

            “Fantastic thanks to you and your friends. My toothache has completely gone,” he beamed. “As a big thank you I would like to invite you and your friends to share Sunday dinner with me this week, and every week from now on…If you would like to of course.”

            “That would be lovely,” said Primrose. “We would love to come. We’ll bring a little bit of something with us too, maybe a chestnut flan or something just as tasty.”

            From that day on, Bobby Bobbins, his family, Francis the Stag, Primrose the skunk, Tanya the owl, Juniper the squirrel and everyone else, joined Terrance in his castle every week for Sunday dinner. Terrance even made animal sized furniture for everyone so that they could sit and eat comfortably. It didn’t take long for word to spread throughout the kingdom about Terrance the friendly giant living in the floating castle. The king even made him a special member of his kingdom. Everyone soon learned that Terrance wasn’t to be feared and they continued to live happily ever after, in perfect harmony.

The end.

Claire Atherton©2009