Reus Village, Chapter 4 (Patreon)

Chapter 4“I…I mean – I’m not THAT small,” Lauren chuckled, gesturing her arms to her two gigantic roommates. But her gestures only served to prove the opposite of what she was trying to say, since she was wearing a t-shirt that was supposed to fit her tightly – Michelle’s white t-shirt was hugging her curves, and Jennifer’s red crop top was adhering to her torso like it was glued. But Lauren’s t-shirt was incredibly baggy, hanging so loose on her body that it looked utterly ridiculous – in the act of gesturing, she only highlighted how the “short sleeves” of the shirt went all the way up to the middle of her forearms.“Oh my god…but you are…you totally are!” laughed Michelle, her white-nailed hand still obscuring her pretty mouth from view. But, by the way she was gently shaking, with her face turning red, Lauren could tell that Michelle was getting a real kick out of this whole situation. And again, Lauren was surprised by another sudden hot wave of arousal that passed over her, almost giving her goosebumps. Just having these two huge young women (who were both very pretty…especially Michelle, Lauren thought) playfully teasing her for not fitting into the smallest clothes that Reus Village offered was…well, it was a little overwhelming for Lauren, in a titillating, exciting kind of way. But it also made her want to stand up for herself and keep pushing back. Her roommate’s apparent glee at her wardrobe issues was honestly a little annoying.“Look, it’s not my fault that Reus doesn’t have anything in my size!” Lauren protested, moving to back up. But, in the process, she had forgotten that her oversized panties had bunched up around her feet, and she tripped on them, stumbling backwards and nearly wiping out completely. In a flash, Jennifer swooped behind her and caught her fall, easily cradling Lauren’s 10’2 form by simply standing behind her; the 16’8 mini-giantess didn’t even have to use her hands – all she did was absorb Lauren’s backward momentum with her body. For a few seconds, Lauren just half-stood, half-leaned backward against Jennifer, panting. This was all so disorienting – just a day before, if she had taken a fall like that, her entire apartment would have been destroyed, but now, Jennifer had just stood there and absorbed everything, all seemingly without any effort whatsoever.“Whoopsie-daisy!” Jennifer laughed, bringing down her huge hands and wrapping them around Lauren’s shoulders, standing her straight up on her feet again before flipping her around. For a moment, Lauren could see nothing but the smooth, creamy flesh of Jennifer’s lower stomach, but then Jennifer took a couple steps back so that she and Lauren could actually look each other in the face.“Better watch your step there!” Jennifer continued, pointing down to the crumpled black panties on the floor. “Ugh, sorry, Lauren – I know you’re probably a little, uh…”deer in the headlights” right now, huh?”“I…yeah, a little,” Lauren managed to reply, blinking way up at Jennifer’s face. Behind her, Michelle had quietly snatched up the black panties, and was holding them out in front of her face, stretching them out over and over as she pondered them thoughtfully.“Damn…it’s been so long,” she murmured, “Since these size 12’s actually fit me…”“Wait, so you were…uh, I mean, of course you were smaller before,” Lauren cut in, straightening up off Jennifer and looking up at the 14’1 Michelle as she stumbled a little over her words. It was strange – Lauren certainly thought Jennifer was very pretty, and was of course in awe of her towering stature, but already, Lauren felt a kind of ease around her, a kind of safety. Michelle, on the other hand, made Lauren nervous. She had this jaunty, playful personality, and clearly liked making fun and needling people. But, even more than that, Lauren just felt intimidated around Michelle because she was so…hot. Everything she did seemed to have a kind of edge to it, even when it was just holding up a pair of panties to her face.“Yep!” giggled Michelle, holding the panties down to her hips and trying to stretch them to make them fit. But even stretching them as far as they could go, they still didn’t come close to spanning the width of her hips. “I came in right around 12 feet, actually.”“And she’s been the absolute Runt of Reus ever since!” laughed Jennifer, “Until now, that is.”“Hey, you and me both!” Michelle retorted, gesticulating with the panties. “Last time I checked, we BOTH live in the Lavender Compound, so that makes BOTH of us the Runts, okay?”“Michelle reeeeally, really wants to try and pretend like we’re basically the same height,” chuckled Jennifer to Lauren, going back around behind Michelle and putting her hands on her shoulders, leaning into her from behind as she rested the bottom of her chin on top of Michelle’s head. Michelle sighed and rolled her eyes, putting her hand on her hip as she copped a sassy pose.“Yeah, I mean, to YOU, Lauren, there’s a big difference,” Michelle began, “But, like…come on, let’s get real, Jen – do you really think that we look that different to Greg or Nancy…or especially Nicole or Kayley, for godsakes!? Psssh…to them, we’re essentially the same.”“Yeah, to THEM, maybe,” Jennifer replied, going around to the kitchen before opening the fridge. She suddenly yawned, feigning exhaustion. “Ooooooh goodness! I’m actually pretty tired all of a sudden…”“Don’t you do it!” Michelle snapped. “Don’t even think about it!”“Whaaaat?” asked Jennifer innocently. “I just…ugh, I’m really bushed and…I was just wondering, Michelle, if you could maybe…help me out with something?”“She does this to me all the time,” Michelle muttered down to Lauren, shaking her head. “So annoying.”“Does…what to you all the time?” asked Lauren, puzzled, wondering what the hell was going on.“Could you get me a yogurt cup from the top shelf?” Jennifer asked Michelle. “I’d normally do it, of course, but…it takes effort to reach all the way back there and –”“How about you get fucked?” Michelle huffed at her.“Ohhhhh…oh waiiiit,” Jennifer smiled, her sarcasm suddenly apparent, “You can’t help me get one…because you can’t reach the top shellllf!”Michelle strode over to the fridge, where Jennifer flinched and danced away, giggling, before Michelle could get there.“Okay, yes…see?” Michelle said, obviously annoyed as she stood in front of the fridge, facing Lauren. “She’s right – I can only reach the middle shelf.”For the first time, Lauren was actually realizing that the Lavender Compound wasn’t just too big for her. As crazy as it sounded, the fridge, the counters, the chairs and sofas…they were all too big for Michelle as well! Lauren hadn’t noticed this before, since her brain was still getting used to how gigantic everything was around her – and because Michelle was over 4 feet taller than her (with Lauren staring straight into the middle of her stomach), it hadn’t even occurred to Lauren that the whole compound itself was too big for this absolute giantess of a woman. And, looking even closer at Jennifer’s stature, Lauren couldn’t help but think that she was just barely big enough for everything.“So…wow…then this place, the, uh, the Lavender Compound…” Lauren began, “It really was made for people who are a lot bigger?”“Yeah, basically Jen’s size and up,” Michelle grumbled, standing on her tiptoes as she tried to reach the top shelf. At full stretch, she actually managed to graze the top shelf with her fingertips, which elicited an excited cry from her lips as she proceeded to hop around the kitchen, while Jennifer watched her, shaking her head at Lauren, as if to say, ‘You see what I gotta deal with every day?’“I did it! I finally touched it!” Michelle sang out, then pointing in an enthusiastic, ribbing way at Jennifer. “Ha! You thought you were just making a point, but actually all you did was show Lauren that I’m still a growing girl!”“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” sighed Jennifer, and Lauren, despite getting a kick out of Michelle’s bubbly reaction, actually found herself feeling a bit sorry for her 16’8 housemate. It was quite clear that Jennifer envied the fact that Michelle was still growing at a fairly rapid pace. But just as Lauren really started to pity Jennifer’s demeanor, Michelle seemed to notice that she had perhaps gone a bit too far and, without losing her buoyant energy, she bounded up to Jennifer and half-tackled her, engulfing her in a full-body hug. Jennifer stumbled back a single pace, easily arresting Michelle’s full-throttle momentum as she rolled her eyes and tried to keep herself from smiling. Lauren watched all of this with amazement. She still hadn’t gotten used to being this close to such gigantic people, and just being in the vicinity of their play-wrestling was borderline overwhelming; she could feel the tremors through the floor, and even through the air. It occurred to Lauren that if Michelle had tackled her with only a quarter of that energy, she’d be totally laid out, flat on her back, with more than a few broken bones. But all Jennfer had to do was plant her back heel on the floor.“I’m sorry, IIIIII’m sorry,” Michelle mumbled playfully into Jennifer’s tits, bracing all her weight against her much larger friend and continuing to “wrestle” with her. It wasn’t really “wrestling,” though, since Jennifer was barely budging as she stood in place, easily absorbing all of Michelle’s force. “You know how excited I get whenever I reach a new milestone…”“I know, Michelle,” nodded Jennifer, reaching down and tenderly petting her head. “You’re not trying to rub anything in, I know that. Besides, I was kinda asking for it anyway, wasn’t I? Teasing you like that.”“Hey,” chuckled Michelle, pushing herself off Jennifer as she grinned up at her friend, “Your words, not mine! Anyway, I can’t wait to tell Nancy tomorrow that I can finally reach the top shelf of the freaking fridge…heh, I know Nicole and Kayley will just make fun of me, but I don’t care, y’know? They’re so huge that anyone shorter than 30 feet looks like a damn midget. Although I…what?”Michelle had stopped talking when she noticed that Jennifer was silently gesturing over to Lauren with her head. Turning around, she saw that Lauren was standing there, still looking a bit overwhelmed, with her oversized t-shirt draped unceremoniously around her body and, most conspicuously, with her black panties still crumpled up in a heap at her feet.“Lauren, sweetie,” Jennifer smiled kindly, “You’ll have to excuse us – we’re just so used to bickering and bantering that we’re doing a terrible job of welcoming you! Look at you, poor thing, standing there with your panties around your ankles.”“N-No…no you’re not,” Lauren replied, stepping out of the oversized underwear and blushing, “You guys are great! It’s just…sorry, I kinda got a little dazed there for a second.”“Mhm, it happens to all of us,” Jennifer nodded knowingly. “It really does take a while to get used to how giant everything and everyone looks…and even once you get used to it, you still have moments of just, like…when everything just seems so surreal.”“And if you think it’s surreal now,” laughed Michelle, “Just wait until dinner tomorrow. Just wait until you see Greg and Nancy…and Nicole and Kayley!”“Whoooo boy,” whistled Jennifer, “Yeah, it’s gonna blow your mind, Lauren…but anyway, look, obviously those panties aren’t going to work. Let’s see if we can find you something that’ll work better…maybe the washcloths are small enough to wrap around you, or something…”“Or,” Michelle piped up, striding up to Lauren and placing her hand down right on top of her head, “We could do the opposite.”“The opposite?” Jennifer asked, putting her hands on her hips. “What are you talking about?”“So how about, instead of wrapping our new housemate in washcloths,” Michelle proposed, blatantly palming Lauren’s head before playfully releasing her, “We just make her feel more comfortable by stripping? So we’re all naked?”“Michelle…” sighed Jennifer, “That’s not even a serious…idea…”But her words had trailed off, because Michelle had apparently been quite serious. In the blink of an eye, she had stripped off her shorts and her panties, so that she was standing there, completely naked, from the waist down.“See?” laughed Michelle, pointing at Lauren’s blushing expression, “She’s already starting to feel more comfortable! Right, Lauren?”“I…y-yeah, I guess,” Lauren chuckled, trying to downplay the arousal that had fired up within her. Michelle really was quite the character, even if she could be a bit over-the-top sometimes…and again, Lauren could feel herself attracted to this “sparkplug” of a 14-footer.“Now I just need to put on one of your t-shirts, Jen,” Michelle declared, “And then Lauren and I will look like twins!”“No way are you wearing another one of my t-shirts,” Jennifer retorted. “Last time you did you ate that giant tub of strawberries and I was scrubbing out the stains weeks later.”“Awww come onnnn!” Michelle whined, spreading her hands out innocently, “That was, like…one time. And besides, remember how Jillian was saying how I was going through an extra-big growth spurt at the time, and that I wasn’t thinking straight because I was so hungry all the time?”“Oh my god,” Jennifer laughed, shaking her head, “That’s not what she said! She said that an acute growth spurt was an opportunity for self-care!”“And explain to me how exactly eating a tub of strawberries isn’t self-care?” Michelle shot back, striding up to Jennifer and putting her hands on her hips. Lauren had to smile a little at Michelle’s spunk – even standing up to her full height like she was doing now, her eyes didn’t even reach Jennifer’s shoulders.Jennifer put her own hands on her hips, which made her look even bigger, in an implicit challenge to Michelle, as if to say, ‘Oh, you think you’re big!?’ She looked over Michelle’s head, smiling at Lauren.“Jillian’s one of the nurses here,” she explained, her smile widening as she quickly extended out her arm, pressing her hand into Michelle’s forehead. It seemed like Michelle was attempting to “chest-bumping” her, but it wasn’t working. It looked like Jennifer was keeping a younger sister at bay.“Oh, the…nurses?” Lauren asked, intrigued, even as she tried to keep from cracking up, watching the humorous tussle happening in front of her.“Mhm, yep,” Jennifer nodded casually, having no apparent issue with Michelle’s feisty attempts to get at her. “Each Compound gets its own nurse…or, well, nurse team in some cases. Jillian’s the nurse for the Lavender Compound.”“I’m gonna get you,” Michelle hissed determinedly through gritted teeth, grappling with Jennifer’s solid arm. “One of these days…eventually…I’m gonna be bigger than you!”“Mmmm keep dreaming, hun,” Jennifer chuckled, though Lauren did detect a bit of uncertainty behind Jennifer’s expression. After all, Michelle was still growing quickly, and she wasn’t.“Aaaanyway,” huffed Michelle, finally giving up and turning back to Lauren, “We’ve only got one nurse between the two of us…well, I guess the three of us now. But the Jade Compound’s got a couple at least, right?”“Yeah,” nodded Jennifer, “And then I think the Scarlets have four…and the Burgundys have four too.”“Oh right…” Lauren replied, “Gail had mentioned those other houses…”“Well they are legit compounds, actually,” laughed Michelle, gesturing around, “Unlike our tiny, meek little, ahem…compound…which is actually just a single cabin, as you can see.”“Yeah, a cabin that’s still way too big for you,” ribbed Jennifer, causing Michelle to stick out her tongue at her. “But yeah, Michelle’s right – the Jade Compound is only a few cabins, but the Scarlet and Burgundy Compounds…oh my gosh…yeah, they’re basically villages unto themselves.”“And we’re not allowed to go there,” Michelle sighed wistfully, going over to the window and staring out of it, presumably down the hill towards where the other compounds were. “I mean, like, we can visit the Jade Compound with special permission, but Scarlet and Burgundy are strictly off-limits.”“Why?” asked Lauren, intrigued.“Safety,” shrugged Jennifer, “Simple as that. When you’ve got 25-foot-plus walking around, bad things can happen to us tinies, without anyone meaning for them to. I mean, I’m sure you were already starting to understand that before Gail came and got you, right?”“Uh…yeah…” Lauren replied, nodding slowly. It already seemed ages ago that she had been cooped up in that awful, cramped apartment, breaking things without intending to…it had been a nightmare. She could only imagine what it was like with 25-foot giants walking around…or 30-foot…or even taller!“It’s a lot to absorb, we know,” Jennifer said kindly, going over and putting her arm around Lauren, hugging her head straight into her hip. “But you’ll get used to it in time…before you know it, really. Dinner tomorrow will help.”“So…wait, we can all eat together, then?” Lauren asked, confused.“Yeah, we can do a lot of things together!” Michelle said, coming back from the window. “There’s this big greenspace next to Greg and Nancy’s that everyone likes to chill on…it’s so pretty…nice trees…and there’s even a lake, too!”“But there are strict rules,” continued Jennifer, “Like no running, for one…”“No shouting,” nodded Michelle, “Since once you get over 20 feet your raised voice can literally rupture eardrums.”“No throwing things,” added Jennifer, “They made that rule years ago, after Nicole and Greg were playing catch with that boulder and she threw it too far.”“Yeah, splashed into the lake, thank god,” Michelle said, “But it was just feet away from smushing a group of Lavender peeps.”“Y-You guys!?” Lauren asked.“This was before both of us got here,” Jennifer replied, “They’re in the Jade Compound now, since they all grew out of this place.”She suddenly looked straight at Michelle, blinking.“I’m so glad you’re here,” Jennifer said flatly, then turned to Lauren. “So glad you’re BOTH here…it was really lonely in here for a few months, before Michelle showed up.”Lauren mentally noted that all those other people had outgrown the compound, but that Jennifer hadn’t, and likely wasn’t going to. She thought that Michelle might start teasing Jennifer about this, but instead, Michelle just struck a double-gun pose with her hands, pointing at Jennifer.“Right back at you, girlie,” she grinned. “I know I drive you crazy, but deep down you love me!”“I do!” laughed Jennifer. “I really do…anyway, Lauren, yes, under strict rules, we can all congregate on the Green, or in the village, or at Greg and Nancy’s…but the Compounds are basically like our houses, right? That’s where we all have the facilities that match our sizes…or, at least come as close as possible. So Reus is a “segregated community” in one way, but in another way, we all get to see a lot of each other.”“It’s a nice balance,” Michelle agreed.“Mhm, and you’ll see the whole full-fledged community tomorrow,” smiled Jennifer, “At your welcome dinner!”“Uh…yeah, about that,” Lauren began sheepishly.“Oh it’s nothing to get nervous about,” Michelle said quickly, smacking her thighs for fun, delighting in how she was making them jiggle. “It’s always a blast whenever we get someone new, so everyone will be super-happy to meet you.”Lauren was content to take Michelle’s word for it, even though she definitely still felt quite nervous about her welcome dinner. She was used to being the center of attention, since, after all, for the past few months she hadn’t been able to walk down the street without people gawking at her. But this was different…totally different. Now she wasn’t going to be the center of attention because she was huge – it was the complete opposite. Everyone was going to be staring at her because she was so much shorter and smaller in comparison. It was already discombobulating enough to be around Michelle and Jennifer; Lauren knew that she couldn’t even imagine what it would be like around everyone else. Her mind shot back to the two giantesses she had seen walking down the sidewalk as Marjorie drove her to the Welcome Center – the 18-foot brunette and the 23-foot blonde – it had almost seemed like the two women were computer-generated or something. It was just such a mind-fuck for Lauren to watch them move around freely, with their gigantic, casual gestures. Tomorrow she was going to be surrounded by people that big…and a lot bigger! And even though Lauren was intrigued and excited by the prospect, she was also quite nervous and anxious about the whole event.But for now, she couldn’t dwell too much on that. Jennifer and Michelle seemed to understand exactly what was going on in her mind, and so, to help keep her thoughts off the welcome dinner, they busied themselves giving Lauren a tour of the rest of their cabin. There were five separate bedroom suites, two of which were still vacant.“Yeah, they actually all used to be filled,” remarked Jennifer, a bit wistfully, “But eventually everyone grew out of them and moved to Jade…”“And Ruby even shot up so fast that she’s in Scarlet right now,” Michelle chuckled, shaking her head. “That blonde bimbo…heh, I love her…but damn, I think she’s growing too fast for her own good.”“Are you hearing this?” Jennifer joked, smiling at Lauren as she gestured to Michelle, “Growing too fast for her own good? Gee, I wonder who else that could apply to?”Michelle responded by punching Jennifer in the shoulder, and all three of them laughed. But Lauren couldn’t help but wonder…the Jade Compound…that housed everyone between 18 and 22 feet, and the Scarlet Compound was for those between 22 and 28 feet. She was thinking about that 23-foot voluptuous blonde she had seen, and wondered if maybe that had been Ruby, and that, at one point, she had actually lived here.‘All of them have lived here,’ Lauren thought to herself, looking around as Michelle and Jennifer showed her around her much-too-large bathroom. ‘Basically everyone I’m gonna see tomorrow…and they kept growing. Am I gonna keep growing!? Or will I be like Jennifer and…and slow down before I get above 18 feet?’She had no idea how she felt about any of this. On one hand, the thought of being perpetually dwarfed by the rest of the Reus community didn’t seem very pleasant…but, on the other hand, Lauren couldn’t ignore the very strange, unexpected, and thrilling sensation that she had been experiencing around Jennifer…and especially Michelle: an unquestionably submissive feeling, a bizarre, erotic helplessness, a desire to be teased, dwarfed, and dominated by someone much bigger. She didn’t really know where this feeling came from, and she wasn’t at all comfortable with it yet. But she had noticed it, and mentally filed it away for another day.A bit later, the three housemates enjoyed a fun, entertaining dinner, during which Lauren watched, incredulous, as Michelle put away 8,000 calories of spaghetti and meatballs. Even though she was the largest of the three by far, Jennifer only ate about half as much as Michelle, since her growth had slowed considerably. Lauren managed to eat “only” 3,000 calories or so (12 times the size of a serving for a normal adult), and, by the time her head hit the pillow a few hours later, she was utterly exhausted, both mentally and physically. Being around Michelle and Jennifer sure was enjoyable, but the sheer, mind-boggling extent of her experiences that day had worn Lauren out completely. 24 hours before, she had just broken up with her boyfriend, and lived in the broken, ramshackle, chaotic squalor of her tiny apartment. And now…her life had completely changed. She could only imagine how much more it was about to change the following day.Sighing, she stretched herself out on her new mattress, which was huge, expansive on all sides, and wonderfully soft. She had completely forgotten what it was like to actually have room; just like everything else, her situation had been completely flipped on its head. Now she had too much room. For weeks, she had been sleeping on the hardwood floor of her old apartment, after accidentally splintering her bed. Now, she could spread-eagle on her gigantic mattress, and her hands and feet weren’t even close to touching the edges. Staring up at the 35-foot ceiling, she thought about everything that had happened that day – Gail making her offer, driving her through Reus, seeing those two giantesses, all the questions and paperwork, Marjorie’s pleasant demeanor, and, of course, her two new roommates. Lauren liked them both very much, and already got quite a kick out of seeing the two of them go at it.She was still feeling some anxiety, though, about where exactly she would fit into their dynamic. More than anything else, she didn’t want to become the little runt who was always complaining about being called “short.” Lauren already knew that she didn’t particularly enjoy Michelle’s ribbing, since she wanted to be taken seriously. But the more she thought about it, the more she wondered if she actually enjoyed that kind of attention from Michelle. Jennifer was so pretty and nice, almost a kind of “ fun older sister” figure, but Michelle…Lauren didn’t quite know what to make of her feelings for the smaller of her two roommates. Of course, she liked Michelle a lot, and enjoyed her sprightly, spirited personality, but she could also get annoyed with Michelle’s antics, like how she had purposefully left Lauren’s towel on the top rack, so that Lauren had to call for help to retrieve it while she was completely naked after her shower. Michelle, obviously, had been the one to saunter in, making a show of reaching up and swiping the towel as she grinned down at Lauren.‘She knew what she was doing,’ Lauren thought to herself, staring up at the ceiling in her bed, ‘She knew exactly what she was doing…and she obviously enjoyed it. Ugh, so annoying…but still…’Lauren could feel the conflict playing out in her head. Yes, Michelle could be annoying on purpose, but…she was just so…what was the word…?‘Hot,’ thought Lauren, for the second time that day. ‘She’s so…freaking…hot…and she knows it too. Heh, maybe I should just kinda chill, though. Just pump the brakes on all the horny thoughts for a bit? I’m going through a huge life shift, so it’d probably be a good idea not to do anything too…drastic…at least until I get my bearings here. And at least until I’m a little bigger, maybe.’Michelle’s gorgeous, teasing face seemed to wink down at her from the ceiling, and Lauren chuckled to herself, readjusting herself on her massive bed. It was a little difficult moving around in her oversized pajamas, but already, Lauren had started getting used to having sleeves hanging over her hands. In a weird way, it was exciting to her…something about how her clothes called attention to how small she was in comparison to everyone else. What was that feeling, exactly? That strange, erotic fascination with being smaller that she had had from a young age? Was it just a kind of fetish, like she had decided a while back? Or was it something else?‘Well, either way,’ she thought, gathering up two 6-foot pillows under her head as she turned onto her side, toward the window, ‘The feeling isn’t gonna go away here, probably…actually it’ll probably just get more intense…huh, I wonder if anyone else here feels the same way? Maybe Michelle actually has the same fetish…but, like, the opposite? Like she enjoys the thought of being huge, being bigger? That would mean we’d be a perfect match, right?’Lauren caught her mind spiraling back into Michelle and she smiled to herself, shaking her head at her horny thoughts. She closed her eyes, determined to quiet her mind and get some sleep before her big day. But then, a few minutes later, right as she was drifting towards unconsciousness, something jolted her fully awake: a strange kind of deep, booming, distant sound. Lauren sat up in bed and scooted towards the window, lifting one of the blinds and peering out of the compound down towards the hill. As Jennifer and Michelle had told her, up the hill to the left were the Jade and Scarlet Compounds, but down the hill was the Burgundy Compound, which housed everyone at Reus who was 28 feet and up. And The Burgundy Compound was next to Greg and Nancy’s mansion, in the center of Reus, which housed both of them and their two daughters, Nicole and Kayley, who were…how tall again!? 38 and 33 feet!?Through the nighttime darkness, Lauren could see that the invisible valley down the hill, where the path led, was illuminated by a host of warm, golden lights, much like the way city lights completely brighten the night sky.‘The valley of giants,’ Lauren thought to herself.And then, suddenly, it happened again…the deep, booming noise, almost startling Lauren in her bed. But this time, she felt like she understood the noise a little better – there was something familiar about it, a recognizable rhythm, that made her do a double take.‘Wait…is that…is that what I think it is?’ she thought, hardly believing it. But then, the noise boomed out again, and this time there was no question what it was.‘It’s…laughter,’ Lauren realized, simultaneously fascinated and a bit afraid. ‘It’s the giants down there…laughing!’She sat there on her bed by the window for minutes on end, mesmerized. The booms of laughter would occasionally come and go…nothing too disruptive…more like distant thunder than anything else. Apparently they were having some kind of fun down at the Burgundy Compound, or maybe it was at Greg and Nancy’s? Lauren wasn’t sure. All she knew, as she finally settled back down in bed with her huge pillows, was that tomorrow was going to be one hell of a new experience.