The ratatoskr and the colossus

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by Sapphirewing

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In a silent forest where the sun shines high and the waters of a great river were so clear you could see the bottom, there was a village of ratatoskr. In that village lived a very young, very naïve, very friendly and very curious young ratatoskr named Frey. Frey asked questions about everything to everyone in the village. She could spend a whole day asking questions and never be satisfied until she got exactly what she was looking for and by the time she was done, she’d have forgotten the reason she was asking the questions. She would ask her older siblings about the clouds then ask her father about trees and end the day ask her mother about the animals. Fortunately for her, everyone was very patient with her and would answer her questions as best they could even though they didn’t always know the answer. Well, this was true for most of the adults. The only people who truly annoyed by the constant questions were her older siblings and her friends. They got so sick of hearing her ask questions that they said, “Will you shut up already?” This only caused her to ask why she should shut up and for how long. “Must you ask about everything? You are ridiculous.” they shouted. Frey certainly was confused to say the least. One day, a loud thump could be heard just outside the village, followed by another and another, it sounded like footsteps. Everyone but Frey ran inside their homes and they didn’t come out. Frey was curious about this, she went to her family’s home and said, “Why is everyone hiding?” Her father said, “For crying out loud Frey, now is not the time for questions. There is a colossus and we must hide. Don’t be ridiculous.” What was a colossus, she thought. She went around asking every single home but everyone said to hide. This didn’t stop Frey. She thought if she went to the sounds of the foot steps then she would learn what a colossus was. So she climbed up to the canopy and saw an enormous creature off in the distance. “That is a colossus? It doesn’t look so dangerous,” she said to herself. So she jumped from tree to tree, trying to get closer but she didn’t seem to get closer no matter how fast she jumped. Soon, she got very tired. Then something landed next to her, a large gullwin. “Hello there, Mr. Gullwin. Could you kindly fly me closer to that colossus?” she asked. “Why, oh why would you want to get closer? That is a colossus. They aren’t exactly friendly, ridiculous girl,” the gullwin replied. “I must know what it truly is. My village won’t tell me, they are too scared. I want to understand why it’s here, what it is and how come everyone is so scared of it?” she replied. The gullwin sighed, “Well if you insist, I shall fly you to the colossus if you so desire.” So the great bird carried her on his back all the way to a ridge, where the colossus could see her. “Be careful young ratatoskr,” the bird said as he flew off. The colossus got close to the ridge and looked down at this tiny little creature. She couldn’t believe how big the creature was, it’s eye was almost as big as her. “Hello there, colossus. My village seems very scared of you and I don’t know why. In fact, they didn’t even tell me what you are or why you were here. So if you don’t mind asking, what are you, why are you here and how come everyone seems so scared of you?” Frey asked. The colossus stared at her for the longest time, dumbfounded and puzzled by the lack of fear. “I am a colossus, a large being of living stone and dirt. I am here because I feel like it; I’m so big that no one can tell me what to do but me. They fear me because they wish not to be stepped upon, as I do. Now I ask you, why are you not running away you silly girl? Do you not fear me or are you to stupid to feel fear?” the colossus replied. “I don’t think you are very scary. You are big, I’ll say that but just because you are big doesn’t make me fear you. I’ve climbed trees as tall as you, I’ve seen mountains taller than you and I don’t fear them. I don’t think I’m stupid to be honest,” Frey replied. The colossus blinked, “Mountains and trees are not mobile, I am. I can crush you without a thought. Does that not scare you, ridiculous girl?” There was that word again, ridiculous. Then Frey spoke, “I don’t see how trying to understand something is ridiculous. I understand that trees, mountains and some things don’t move while others do, so I don’t fear them. If I understand them then I don’t fear them. I understand you now, so I have no reason to fear you. You call me ridiculous because you don’t understand me.” The colossus was stunned; he wasn’t sure what to say. “Well, maybe you aren’t that ridiculous,” the colossus replied. The colossus walked away, leaving the forest forever. Frey was satisfied for the first time in her life and had no more questions to ask so she didn’t try to go after the creature. The villagers came out of hiding by the time she returned. She told them all what she learned, for the first time in her life she was the one explaining. All of her friends and her siblings finally understood why she was asking questions all the time, so they never called her ridiculous again.

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