Chapter 4: New Beginning

Chapter 4.

After Michael came back to his senses, the vast desolate wasteland that surrounded him stole his attention away.

'Did I do this?'

The young giant thought to himself. He didn't believe he could cause so much destruction, but that's the only thing that made much sense at the moment.

After all, he's the only thing that burst into a blistering sack of death that killed and absorbed everything in sight in a few moments before losing consciousness.

The only thing left was the ground he was standing on.

'Where do I go now?'

I debated inside of my mind, but I just came to the same conclusion over and over, 'I can't ever live amongst anyone ever again!'

'...There's nowhere for me to go...'

I thought calmly,

'...I'm too different...'

"... too big..."

I said in a deep, baritone voice that surprised me. My voice belonging to a teenager moments ago, but now it was several octaves lower in just a few minutes.

Getting over my body's new change, I wondered.

"Where do I go?"

I questioned, liking the sound of my new voice.

Having asked, my breath wasted in the wind, I walked to what I thought

was north.

I found that I could tell which direction to go intuitively.

My thunderous footsteps echoed in my new strong ears; in just a few minutes of walking, I found a beach, its water so clean it was suspicious.

I lived in Puerto Rico most of my life and knew what most beaches would typically look like.

There would usually be washed-up algae. Maybe some sea glass, hell, even some seaweeds would suffice.

But the beach was absolute, no trash, no plants, no sealife...nothing.

"Did I...?"

"No, it can't be...right?"

I questioned the wind and sea, but it remained calm and desolate. Only the sound of the rolling waves greeted me, water against water, its crystalline dance coming and going as if taunting me.

"Fuck!"

I bellowed in frustration. Reverberations in my voice create ripples in the already choppy waters.

With some effort, I stomped my foot into the ground. The sand beneath goes in all directions underneath my foot. The pesky bastards, the cause of many rashes, beneath my soles turned into crystalline glass granules glistening beneath my giant frame.

Bringing my hands up, I caressed the soft hair growing on top of my head, sensing an incoming headache coming my way. Considering there was literal steam coming out of my nose as I breathed heavily under the midday sun.

I decided to just sit down and think; maybe the calm ocean breeze would inspire my brain into a moment of genius to solve all my problems.

I knew I was naive and foolish, but what else am I gonna do?

This island didn't have food or a place to sleep, not that I could sleep under anything now that I was as tall as I was.

Could anything even nourish me anymore?

Something as huge as me would surely require vast amounts of calories to continue living normally.

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And there I sat, questions, doubts, fears, all coming and going in my own little world.

All these problems and more floated into my head as time passed steadily.

Soon night came...

My eyes wandered upwards, catching the stars in the sky.

Billions of brilliant hues of silver greeted my eyes, the Milky Way galaxy in full view.

My eyes wandered even more, and there I found it sitting there.

Up in the sky,

the moon...

It has been ages since I've seen it.

It's shining brightly tonight.

Many say she's the opposite of the sun.

She is but a mirror of the greatness we see every day, a shadow even.

The sun...

But... somehow, that doesn't make her any less beautiful.

The moon...

Whose light was showering silvery light onto the opaque, eerie ocean below, promising as many marvels as there are horrors beneath the surface of that silvery tint of the unknown.

The picture froze me in place, awe and the beauty of the scenery in front of me grounding me. A weight pressed against my mind; it wasn't uncomfortable; it was like a warm blanket covering me. Warmth radiated around me until it permeated me, slithering into me, energy entering me without resistance.

Soaking it up like a sponge until it stopped, and I was the one radiating the warmth around me.

Opening my eyes...

My eyes reflected the hues of silver, purple, pink, red, and orange as they took in the beauty of the image of distant stars and galaxies.

The sight brought peace and clarity into my mind once again.

Closing my eyes, I breathed in and out, the cool ocean breeze caressing my face and body. The salty but pleasant odor tickled my nose, the draft entered my ears, and the cool air brought tiny specks of water running down my face.

I found it hard to stay awake, my whole body getting heavier. I simply decide to surrender to my need to sleep.

And from consciousness to rest, I went.

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And when I woke up, everything was different once again.

I could see better, hear better, heck, I could even feel better. But the most pronounced thing of all those improvements was that I felt calm.

I raised myself off the ground again and found the floor even further below me than it was yesterday.

This time not feeling any vertigo, I wiped my hands around my body to get the sand off my body. My eyes drifted, finding that my surroundings had changed.

No longer was I on the beach; I was in a vast and seemingly never-ending forest expanse.

The air is exceptionally fresh, the temperature typical but humid, I thought as water condensed on my hard shell-like skin.

Deciding to not stay idle, I began walking deeper into the forest.

Picking the direction where I heard what I assume is running water, I walked faster toward it.

20 minutes into my adventure in the forest, the trees were smaller than me, I had noticed.

Strong winds assaulted my face and ears. Who knows what kind of dangers I could encounter at any moment, so I decided to stay focused.

After 5 more minutes, I found a small river (by my standards) that I, for a moment, decided to follow. Until I stopped myself, "Right... I can't be near any type of civilization."

By instinct, I decided to follow the river because that's where people built places to live. But now, where do I go?

What's my purpose?

What's my destination?

Depressive thoughts assaulted me, but I decided that for now, I didn't need a purpose; I just needed to survive.