The Tiny Tenantsby giant 30Moving.... ugh, what a chore; but if you want to move where family and friends are, it's a must. I had been in the area a few days after moving from Nebraska to Wisconsin, and I was dog tired. But I knew I had to get things done, even if I felt like I didn't have a leg to stand on. My name is John Wilson, I moved back to Wisconsin because I just didn't like Nebraska; it wasn't doing anything for me. Anyway, I was in the house going through boxes, pulling things out and putting things in order. I had to try to get the house looking presentable, even if it was going to take forever. As I was doing this, I thought I heard a noise coming from behind one of the boxes I had already went through. At first I shrugged it off, thinking I was just hearing things, but as I continued my work, I heard it again. I got up to investigate what it was, hoping that no wild animal had gotten in the house; after all, I did live near a wooded area. When I approached the box, I couldn't believe what I saw, four tiny people trying to move the box. The sound I was hearing was their little feet kicking the box in frustration. From what I could see, their was a father, a mother, and two tiny children; the parents were about four inches high, and the children about three inches each. I tried moving in closer, but didn't get far, because they saw me and began running. I followed behind them slowly because I didn't want to step on any of them. As I followed, I noticed they were heading for a mouse hole. Before I could get to them, the father had ushered the mother and the children inside, and stood ready to defend his home from me. I kept my distance, but squatted down to make myself less imposing, but the fact that to normal folks, I'm 6'4" and about 280 pounds didn't help matter. Before I knew it, the tiny man himself disappeared into the mouse hole, his bravery giving out on him. I was about to turn to go back to my work, when I heard a tiny giggle, I turned around, and saw one of the tiny children, a little boy walking toward me. I knelt back down and waited for him to come close, which he didn't have any trouble doing, He came right up to my sandal covered foot and actually hugged my big toe. I looked toward the mouse hole and saw the tiny boy's parents watching in panic, although I had no intention of hurting their son, nor them for that matter. "Please don't hurt our son!," the tiny father yelled to me. I kept quiet, not wanting to startle their son with my voice. I just watched the tiny child as he held onto my toe for a few moments, but then ran back to his parents in the mouse hole, completely unharmed. I watched as the tiny boy looked back at me, to which I smiled at him, then the tiny boy and his tiny parents disappeared into their home inside the wall. I hoped I didn't get the tiny boy in trouble, though with what just happened, I didn't expect to see him for a while. I felt bad that I had possibly gotten this tiny child punished by his parents. But it would be to my surprise that I would get a visit from his father, and have a very interesting conversation with him, which would determine how things would go between myself and this tiny family. Later that night, I had just gotten in bed and began to read my book, when I heard a noise that sounded like tiny grunts. At first I thought I was hearing things, but then I heard the noise again. I looked around, and then eventually, at the foot of my bed, I saw the father from the tiny family walking toward me. I laid my book on my nightstand and watched as he approached, coming to a stop at my feet, which I had planted on the bed in front of me. "May I help you?" I whispered. I think I startled the poor little man, because even from my whisper, he huddled down into a tiny, quivering ball. I sat silently for a moment, then watched as the tiny man uncurled and stood back to his feet. He looked up at me, and I could tell the poor little guy was nervous. "Don't be afraid." I whispered, "I'm not going to hurt you, you can come closer if you like." I watched as the tiny man walked around my feet and up beside my hand. He stared at my hand, almost in awe, but I stayed perfectly still, I had no intention at all of harming or scaring him. After staring at my hand for a few moments, he finally got up the nerve to speak to me. "Thank you for not harming my son." he squeaked. "Why would I?" I asked softly. "We had bad experiences with the last giants who lived here. They called in a man who wore a strange mask, who used chemicals to try to kill us." he continued. "We were afraid you would take our son's life, and then make us your next targets." My heart absolutely broke for this poor tiny family. I had no idea that they had been treated so cruelly. I literally wanted to cry when I heard what the tiny man had told me. I decided I was going to change things for this tiny family, to which I started by introducing myself to the tiny man, I started by asking him his name. "What's your name little man?" I asked softly. "My name is Tegro; my son, the child you met yesterday is Niambi; I also have a wife Zanda, and a daughter Anuska." "I'm John." I said softly, extending a finger to Tegro. I watched as Tegro took my finger in his tiny hands cautiously, and shook my finger. He had a firm grip for someone his size, but I showed him just how gentle I was, by barely moving my finger in an up and down motion. After we exchanged greetings, I watched as Tegro looked around in all directions. "Is something wrong?" I asked gently. "I can't find a way down off your bed; there's nothing to climb down to the floor with." he replied. "How about if you let me help you?" I asked with a warm smile. "You would do that for me?" he asked. "Yes Tegro, I will; in fact, I'll even carry you home if you like. At your size it has to be an awfully long walk." I replied with a smile. I turned my hand palm up to Tegro, he looked at my offered hand nervously. After I gave him a reassuring nod, he hopped on my hand, then I slowly cupped it around him so he wouldn't fall, stood up from my bed and carried him home to his mouse hole, I had him home in no time. When we got there, I knelt down on the floor and slowly lowered my hand to the floor, then Tegro stepped off my hand, turned and looked up at me. "Thank you John." he said humbly, "You have no idea how much better I feel about you now. All we want is to be able to stay here and live our lives in peace with you." "You're quite welcome Tegro." I whispered, "If you and your family need anything at all, please don't be afraid to ask me, OK?" "We will." he replied, "We will be sure to let you know if we need you." Tegro and I said our goodnights to each other, then he went inside the mouse hole, and I back to my bedroom. By now it was late, and I had to get some sleep, as I would be getting company in the morning. As I lay in bed however, ideas and thoughts began to run through my head on how I could make life better for my tiny friends. That mouse hole just had to be awful. Then it hit me, an idea that I knew would change their lives, it would be something that would change their lives certainly for the better. I would be sure to ask my friend Brad, who was coming over in the morning to help me with this idea, and yes, I would even be sure that my tiny friends got to meet him, because I know Brad, I know that he would never hurt another living thing, and I know once they met him, they would have another giant like me they could also trust and call a friend. this part added 7/17/06: When morning finally did arrive, I awoke to find that I had overslept again. I only had about twenty-five minutes before Brad was to show up, and if I knew Brad like I knew I did, he wouldn't be late. I began rushing everywhere, trying to get a bite to eat, get dressed, as well as do a couple other things before he got here. But suddenly, there was a knock at the door; I went to the window and looked outside. I saw the black Camaro that Brad drove; he had shown up fifteen minutes early! I opened the door, and there he stood. Brad was a little bigger than me in height, about 6'6" or so, and from the looks of things, he looked like he had put on some weight. I invited him in and took his coat while he looked around. "Nice place you got here John." he said "Thanks." I replied, "Sorry it's still such a mess, I haven't had a lot of time to do much with it." "Don't worry about it man, it doesn't look that bad." said Brad with a chuckle. I was a little worried about telling Brad about Tegro and his family, and I was even more concerned on the reaction he would get when my tiny friends saw Brad. I looked over at Brad a bit nervously, knowing it was time to see what he would say when I told him about my tiny friends. "Brad, I have something I want you to see." I said nervously "What is it?" Brad asked. "Come with me and I'll show you," I replied. I led Brad to the room the mouse hole was in and pointed it out to him; he looked down at it and shrugged his shoulders. "It's a mouse hole." he said, "What's so big about a mouse hole?" "It's not the mouse hole itself." I replied, "It's what's inside I want to show you." Brad chuckled, "It's not like I haven't seen a mouse before." "There's no mice inside it." I told him, "There's tiny people living in there." Brad looked at me like I was losing it, "John, have you been washing the fruit before you eat it?" he asked. I bent down to the mouse hole and instructed Brad to do the same, then knocked gently on the wall just over the hole. A few seconds later, Tegro, his wife, and both of his children all peeked out from inside the hole. At first, Tegro and his family saw only myself, to which they came out of their mouse hole, but once they saw Brad, they backed away slowly to the frame of the hole. "Don't be afraid." I whispered, "Brad is a friend, he won't hurt you." I glanced over at Brad, just like I had hoped he would. He didn't make any move toward them, he just looked down at Tegro and his family with a gentle smile. Tegro, his wife, and daughter were very unsure of Brad; however, Tegro's son once again showed an amazing amount of bravery, walking toward Brad. Even I got nervous at this point, because with Tegro's son Niambi moving toward Brad, I wasn't sure what Brad would do. Thankfully, to my relief, I watched as Brad lowered a finger to the tiny boy, letting him hug the digit for a few moments. I looked at Brad, who had the warmest smile on his face as he looked down upon the tiny child, I knew then that Tegro and his family would indeed be safe with Brad. "Thank you for not hurting them." I told Brad. "Why would I John? You know I don't hurt living things." he replied. "Well, I wasn't sure how you'd react to them." I told him. Brad smiled at me, "John, if they're your friends, then they're mine too." he answered. By now, Niambi had let go of Brad's finger and rejoined his family, but Tegro and the others had also moved toward Brad. I was very pleased to see that they had overcome their nervousness so quickly. "Thank you for being so kind to us Brad." squeaked Tegro. "No problem." Brad whispered with a smile, "Any friends of John are friends of mine." I looked over to John, "I need your help with something; follow me." With that, John and I stood up, said our goodbyes to Tegro and his family, then returned to the kitchen where I knew Tegro and the others wouldn't hear us. I went to my bedroom quickly and returned with a floor plan I had drawn up the night before, then I unrolled it and showed it to Brad. "I need your help with a project." I told Brad, "I want to build this." "A house?" Brad questioned. "Yeah." I replied, "That mouse hole Tegro and his family live in is damp and cold. I want to build them a house that has all the modern conveniences that all houses have." "Where are we gonna build it?" Brad asked. "I was thinking of moving them to the living room." I replied. "Where everyone can see them?" Brad asked. "Why not?" I replied questioningly. "Aren't you afraid that others won't be as nice with them as I was?" Brad asked. "If anyone tries to hurt Tegro and his family, then that person will be asked to leave, it's that simple." I replied. "You're the boss." Brad said, "Let's get to work." Brad and I set to work immediately on the house. It took us about four hours to build it, which is a bit long for building such a small house, but we had to make special modifications to it so we could connect cords to run electricity to it, we even added special vents, which would filter in heat and air conditioning from my house to theirs. I wanted to make sure it was absolutely perfect. As far as their food and water went, Tegro and his family wouldn't have to worry, because I was going to supply them with that on a daily basis. Brad and I checked the house to make sure everything was secure, and made sure all the electric was running, but by the time we got done, it was getting late, so Brad had to leave; that is, until he discovered his car wouldn't start, so Brad ended up staying the night.
I was actually glad that Brad would be staying, because the events that were about to occur would prove that Brad would come in very handy indeed.
added 7/18/06: I snuck back to get Brad, I woke him up and told him what was going on. As we came out to sneak up on the intruder, we heard stomping noises coming from the room the mouse hole was in. Brad and I rushed in and found the burglar going after Tegro and his family, who had also heard the burglar break in. Brad saw this and ran in after the burglar; he spun the guy around and grabbed him, then looked down to Tegro and his family, telling them to go back inside. In all the excitement, all of them went inside the mouse hole..... that is except Niambi, Tegro's son, he mistakenly went in the wrong direction, but neither Brad, myself, or the rest of Tegro's family knew it. Meanwhile, Brad fought with the burglar. To me, it looked like the burglar was fighting a losing battle. Brad easily powered the burglar down, punching him repeatedly in the face until he was knocked silly. He kept the burglar held down until the police arrived to pick him up; thankfully, nothing I owned had a chance to be stolen. After the police left, Tegro and his family came out, looking very worried. Brad and I asked what was wrong, and that's when we found out Niambi was missing. Before going into each room, we turned on the light before going in, because Brad and I didn't want to step on the little guy. About ten minutes later, Brad came back holding something to his chest, he came up to me, revealing that he had found Niambi, whose little eyes were red from crying, the poor little guy was scared to death over the burglar's frightening visit. Brad and I returned Niambi to Tegro safe and sound. "Thank you for finding Niambi Brad." Tegro squeaked. "You're welcome Tegro." Brad whispered. Before Brad could get up to leave, Niambi ran up to Brad's foot and hugged his toe tightly, Brad smiled and softly rubbed Niambi's back with a finger. Brad suddenly noticed that Niambi didn't want to leave him, though Tegro insisted that Niambi go back inside the mouse hole to go to sleep, a tearful Niambi nodded and sadly went inside.
"I think the little guy likes me." Brad chuckled. conclusion added 7/21/06:
Tegro emerged from the mouse hole and looked up to Brad and I, "May I help you?" he asked politely.
"Could you gather your family and come with us?" I asked.
Tegro nodded, going inside the mouse hole to gather his wife and kids. As they emerged, Brad took Tegro's children, while I carried Tegro and his wife. We took them to the living room where the house was, but told them all to close their eyes.
After carefully placing them on the ground, Brad and I told them to open their eyes. No sooner did Tegro and his family catch a glimpse of their new home, there were hugs going all over the place, first Tegro and his family hugged each other, then Brad and myself received hugs from the grateful family.
Tegro and his family went inside to look at their new home, investigating every room inside that Brad and I handcrafted to great detail. Once they came back out, Tegro and his family approached us.
"You did not have to do this." Tegro said.
"We wanted to." I whispered, "You deserve it, especially after the ordeals you've been through, I wanted you to have the best."
Brad asked Tegro, "Why would you think you don't deserve the house?"
Tegro replied, "We are so much smaller than you, surely not worthy of such a reward."
I looked at Tegro with a smile, "You're no different than myself or Brad, we did this because you're our friends, we wanted to help you by giving you better living conditions."
Tegro smiled up to Brad and I, "Then it is I who will help you in return; take me to your car, Brad." Tegro instructed.
Brad offered Tegro a hand, to which Tegro climbed inside of. Tegro's wife took the kids inside their new house while I followed Brad and Tegro outside. We went over to the car, but I had no idea that Tegro would do what he was about to do.
Once outside, Brad held Tegro in his hand before the car, I watched as Tegro closed his eyes and began to concentrate. All at once, Brad's car began to glow a gentle golden color, Brad and I watched in shock as the car glowed for a few moments, then the glow faded.
"Now try to bring the car to life." Tegro said.
Brad got out his car keys, got in and turned the key, the car started right up! Tegro had fixed the car without even touching it! Brad went in and got his things, loading him into his car.
"John, I hate to rush off on ya man, but I should've been home two days ago." Brad said.
"Don't worry about it Brad." I answered, "I understand man, have a safe trip, but call me when you get home."
"I will." Brad replied, then Brad looked to Tegro, "You take care of yourself and your family little guy, it was nice meeting you."
Tegro smiled, "It was an honor meeting you as well Brad, I wish you a safe journey."
Brad shook hands with Tegro using a finger, then got in his car and drove away. I took Tegro back inside to rejoin his family, it would mark the first day of many many years, where Tegro, his family and I would live together in peace and harmony, my little friends and I were in a sense, one big happy family.
THE END
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