" It is a great shield that I hold. " Said the giant with a heavy breath. Meant as a whisper and great as a groan.
" If it is a shield you carry, then where about would it be? " Asked the man.
" In a place you cannot fathom. Beyond any mountain you could climb. Deeper than any lake you could swim. Stiller than any forest you could travel. In my chest, guarding my heart. " The giant said with a heaving sigh.
" Why do you cry? " Asked the man.
" ..You things always find your destiny in other people's business...could grind you into this mountainside........I cry, for I am in pain. Troubled by naught. Slowly I wither from nothing. " The giant's hand scraped at the ground and dirt.
" If there is nothing, then why do you have a shield? " Asked the man.
"Because it is my last defense, little man...I know no other way...and hearts break behind the shield. Well protected, isolated, and alone. The price of being a giant. "
"What if your heart wanted to be free?" Asked the man.
