{"id":7137,"date":"2026-05-20T23:43:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T06:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/short-fic-in-the-land-of-giants\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T01:39:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T08:39:27","slug":"short-fic-in-the-land-of-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/short-fic-in-the-land-of-giants\/","title":{"rendered":"SHORT FIC: In the Land of Giants"},"content":{"rendered":"

IN THE LAND OF GIANTS<\/h1>\n

The language barrier was thick. He’d always thought that immersing in a language would cause some kind of miraculous learning switch to be activated, but that must have been something fed to him by cartoons because it had been nearly 6 months and he was still as useless as he’d always been.<\/p>\n

He’d learned the words for a few simple things–door, light, hello, goodbye, please–but he hadn’t learned nearly enough to hold a conversation. And reading the language? It was utterly hopeless.<\/p>\n

He knew that his captors had purposefully kept him isolated so he couldn’t seek out help. His native language wasn’t widely known so even if he had escaped no one would understand him.<\/p>\n

And now, with the microchip, he would be brought back. Because he wasn’t considered a person here. He was a pet, and a pet was property.<\/p>\n

The door slid open and his "owner" came in with what he’d learned to recognize as a smile. "BooBoo<\/em><\/strong>, Blah blah<\/em> so pretty<\/em><\/strong> blah blah<\/em>. Want a treat? Yeah<\/em><\/strong> blah blah<\/em>."<\/p>\n

As he’d been taught to do, he ran across the thickly carpeted floor to stop in front of his owner. He knelt down with his neck bent back to gaze up into that giant furry face. "Please?<\/em>" he said.<\/p>\n

His owner brought a small, hard "treat" to his mouth and he accepted it, nibbling it from that big, fur covered hand.<\/p>\n

The last time he had rejected too many treats and refused to eat the slop meant to be his food, he’d found himself in what could only be described as a vet’s office. His various orifices had been probed and nearly his entire body had been thoroughly handled. It wasn’t an experience he ever wanted repeated.<\/p>\n

Being the favored pet of an alien had never been anything he’d expected to happen to him, yet here he was.<\/p>\n

He didn’t struggle as he was picked up and cradled against a massive chest. Hot breath washed over him and he refrained from cringing away. Fingers dug into his belly and into his armpits and into the creases of his legs. His back was stroked and the nape of his neck was lightly scratched, or what the creature thought was light, but that was really a bit too rough for a species without fur.<\/p>\n

He let himself be carried to his owner’s bed where he was cuddled and teased by a dangly string toy. Let himself be fed and played with as a beloved pet.<\/p>\n

Then he settled down off to one side as his owner used an alien computer and finished whatever kind of work it did. The aliens seemed to have more color cones in their eyes as there wasn’t much he could see on the screen. Faint blurs and squiggles that lacked real detail.<\/p>\n

He curled up on the hard bed and wished he could go home. But even if he managed to get out, there was no way for him to get back to Earth.<\/p>\n

He had no money. He didn’t speak the language. He was recognized as a pet. And he didn’t even know where Earth was or how far away it was.<\/p>\n

At least if he kept his owner happy, he was fed and well taken care of. He wasn’t beaten and abused, not like some people had treated their dogs and cats back on Earth. He’d never been put in a blender or had his limbs broken, so that was something.<\/p>\n

He closed his eyes and forced himself to go to sleep. Hoping that he would have sweet dreams of home. That he would see the faces of his friends and family. That he would wake up and find out that the last year had been nothing but a dream and he could have his life again.<\/p>\n

=END=<\/p>\n

~Harper Kingsley<\/p>\n

https:\/\/paypal.me\/harperkingsley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/patreon.com\/harperkingsley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/harperwck<\/a>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/HarperKingsley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/amazon.com\/shop\/harperkingsley0<\/a>.
\nhttps:\/\/www.harperkingsley.net\/blog<\/a>.
\nhttps:\/\/kimichee.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/harperkingsley.bsky.social<\/a>.
\nhttps:\/\/www.smashwords.com\/profile\/view\/HarperKingsley<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IN THE LAND OF GIANTS The language barrier was thick. He’d always thought that immersing in a language would cause some kind of miraculous learning switch to be activated, but that must have been something fed to him by cartoons because it had been nearly 6 months and he was still as useless as he’d…<\/p>\n Read More<\/span> SHORT FIC: In the Land of Giants<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","Layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"SHORT FIC: In the Land of Giants","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[648,834,974],"class_list":["entry","author-harperkingsley0-0","post-7137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-uncategorized","tag-short-story","tag-unbirthday","tag-unbirthday-2026"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2pPoL-1R7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7127,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/short-fiction-a-once-spirited-teen\/","url_meta":{"origin":7137,"position":0},"title":"SHORT FICTION: A Once Spirited Teen","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"May 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A ONCE SPIRITED TEEN Ed loved her the first time he met her. An instinctive and overwhelming awareness that \"She is the one. I'm going to marry her.\" But they were young. He was shy. They went to separate colleges. And it was 16 years before they met again, both\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Fiction\"","block_context":{"text":"Fiction","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/tag\/fiction\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6738,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/happy-unbirthday\/","url_meta":{"origin":7137,"position":1},"title":"Happy unbirthday","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"May 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy Unbirthday! Happy unbirthday to me. Happy unbirthday to you. Happy unbirthday to us. And many more.","rel":"","context":"In "unbirthday"","block_context":{"text":"unbirthday","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/unbirthday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7125,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/happy-unbirthday-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":7137,"position":2},"title":"Happy Unbirthday","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"May 12, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is my unbirthday. Happy unbirthday to me. Happy unbirthday to you. Unless it's your birthday. Then happy birthday to you. I will be posting for my unbirthday for the next 12 days. Enjoy!","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6928,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/unbirthday-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":7137,"position":3},"title":"Unbirthday 2025","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"May 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy unbirthday to me, to you, to us, how do you do? Happy happy unbirthday to us!","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/img_2148-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/img_2148-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/img_2148-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/img_2148-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5498,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/more-prompts\/","url_meta":{"origin":7137,"position":4},"title":"More Prompts","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"April 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Prompt: Sometime after a traumatic attack, a convenience store clerk was bitten by a snake.(#prompt201) Prompt: During a public event, a left-handed turtle farmer cut down a tree.(#prompt202) Prompt: After eating $500 in pennies, a child-actor caught the flu.(#prompt203) Prompt: Before a dialysis session, a butler sat on the edge\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MorePrompts01.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MorePrompts01.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MorePrompts01.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MorePrompts01.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MorePrompts01.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MorePrompts01.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5525,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/today-is-my-unbirthday-happy-unbirthday-to-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":7137,"position":5},"title":"Today is my unbirthday (happy unbirthday to you)","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"May 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is my unbirthday, so I am going to unleash some gifts upon you. IN THE GARDEN by Harper Kingsley Flowers bloomed beneath the morning sun, dew kissed petals opening wide to embrace the light and warmth. 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