Jiro swallowed and took a step back. He had swung the branch with all his might, but it had done nothing to the giantess except leave a small red mark.

The giantess sucked in a lungful of air and blew it out of her pouty cheeks. The force sent Jiro tumbling backward into the mud and weeds.

“You hurt me,” she repeated. “Hurt not good!”

“Let go of her,” said Jiro, climbing back to his feet. “You’re hurting her too!”

The giantess looked down at Aya in her fist. She frowned. “She human. Human bad. I hurt bad human. I steal bad human.”

“She’s not bad,” said Jiro, taking a step forward. I need to buy time. Keep her talking and free Aya somehow. “Aya is a good person. That’s her name. Aya.”

The giantess frowned. “My name Umiko. She bad. You bad. You come here and hurt me.”

“No, no. We’re just here for our boat. We’re not here to hurt you … Now just put your hand down and let her go. We’ll be on our way.”

“You LIE!”

The giantess let out a sudden roar and lifted one bare foot into the air. For a split second, Jiro saw a giant naked sole suspended above him. It was easily larger than the full length of his body. Then he dived to the side, flip-flops slipping on the wet mud. He landed on his side and rolled, just barely out of the way of the descending foot. The impact shook the earth, sending a shower of mud and wet grass onto Jiro’s face. He scrambled to his feet, not bothering to wipe it off.

The giantess’s face was red. Her brow was knit in anger. “You lie. All human lie. Human kill my husband. Now I hurt you …”

This time the giantess did not stomp but kick. She brought her leg back and swung her toes at Jiro with a forward sweep. He dropped again to the mud, barely evading the giant foot from below. But Umiko had swung too hard. Her own momentum tipped her backward. She fell crashing down onto the mud and banged her head against the trunk of a tree.

Now was his chance! While the giantess was still dazed, Jiro ran forward. If he could only pry Aya from her grip … But it was too late. The giantess sat up and retightened her grip on Aya. With her other hand, she swatted at Jiro.

Jiro tried to evade but the giant’s palm clipped him in the shoulder, sending him sprawling onto the mud. He lay there panting. There was a dull pain in his shoulder. It didn’t feel broken, but it was sprained at least.

“See?” said the giantess. “You lie. You trick. You steal.”

“You stole her first!”

“No! Humans bad!”

Jiro struggled to sit up. Both of them were sitting in the mud now: one giant woman and one small man. The giantess was powerful, but she did not seem very intelligent. If force would not work, then he would just have to talk his way out of this.

“Okay, maybe a human killed your husband. Maybe humans can be bad,” said Jiro. “But I am not human.”

Umiko narrowed her eyes. “You look human.”

“So do you. You look like a big human.”

Umiko's eyes shifted back and forth in her sockets. It seemed she was struggling with this logic.

“Look,” said Jiro, before the giantess could catch up, “Humans hurt me too. But not all humans are bad. Only some.” He pointed at Aya. “And that girl is not bad.”

Some of the tension went out of Umiko’s face. Her grip on Aya loosened slightly. Aya let out a moan but did not wake.

“Who hurt you?” said the giantess.

Keep her talking. Just keep talking until you figure a way out. “Uh …” said Jiro. “Many people hurt me.

Umiko frowned and leaned forward. “Who?”

“Uh … a girl.”

“What girl? What her name?” He could feel her breath on her face. Each breath was like a gust of hot tropical wind. Just keep talking. Don’t stop.

“Misha … Her name was Misha …”

“Misha … Misha …” said Umiko, trying out the sounds. “She die?”

“What?” Jiro felt a sudden pain in his stomach.

“Misha die?”

How did she guess that? “Y-yes …” he said quietly. “She die …”

“She was good human?”

“She was … I don’t know,” said Jiro.

The giantess blinked and looked at him expectantly. The grip on Aya had loosened further. The talking was working.

“She had … good parts and bad parts. She could be kind, accepting of weakness. But she could also say things that hurt, more than any kind of fist or sword.”

Umiko crossed her legs, clearly interested now. “Why Misha die? Bad human hurt her? Bad human kill her?”

Jiro felt another pang in his stomach. “Yea … bad human hurt her. The bad human and Misha were friends. Lovers, even. They agreed they would be together forever. But one day Misha said something to the bad human. She said, ‘We cannot be together anymore. I’m sorry.’ And then she disappeared.”

“So Misha hurt human first.”

Jiro nodded. “But the human had a condition. An allergy. That made it difficult to be with Misha. When Misha left him, the human man was hurt. Very hurt. He was heartbroken. The only way the he could survive was to harden his heart. Make it so hard that nothing bad could go inside.”

There was a long silence. Finally, Umiko said, “Good human become bad human.”

“Yea … I suppose you could say that …” said Jiro softly. Despite Umiko’s limited vocabulary, she was surprisingly perceptive. His whole body felt weak, as if he had expended all his life force to lift a giant stone.

“Then what happen?”

“The bad human made his heart like stone. A long time passed. Then one day the woman returned. She said, ‘Please forgive me. I was wrong. Can we start over again?’ But the bad human did not trust her. He had already closed his heart. So, he ignored her messages … Ignored and ignored until, one day, the messages stopped. It was only later that he learned the reason.”

“The woman die.”

Jiro nodded wearily. It was the first time he had spoken to anyone about this.

Umiko stared at Jiro. The anger on her face had disappeared, replaced with an expression of consideration and kindness. Gently, she opened her palm and lay Aya on the soft grass. Then she reached forward with one large finger and touched Jiro’s cheek. When she pulled away, the tip of her finger glistened with a drop of liquid.

“You … cry.”

It was only then that Jiro realized he was crying. He hadn’t cried when it happened. When the news of Misha’s death came. But somehow here, in this darkening forest, he had managed to summon tears. This realization released a knot inside of him: a knot Jiro had not known existed. He let out a muffled sob. Hot tears began to stream down his face. All the sorrow and tears, locked up for many years, were finally coming out.

Something glistened in Umiko’s eyes. She looked at Jiro. “Bad human … is you?”

He nodded, not bothering to wipe the tears now, sucking in air with great grasps.

The giantess watched Jiro for a moment longer. Then, her face scrunched up and a giant tear emerged from her eye. It was the size of a basketball. The tear slid down her chin and fell to the earth, making a giant splash. “You poor man,” said Umiko. “You poor, poor man.” Tears streaming down her face, Umiko leaned forward … and lifted Jiro into the air.