Beach Fortress

Being rich certainly had its advantages. As soon as I realised what was going to happen, I made arrangements that would see me safe and secure. I spared no expense, using up almost all of my financial resources. After all, I wasn’t going to need money soon anyway.

The making of my new home raised many a question amongst the builders and technicians who worked on it, but again, money came to my rescue and bought their silence. I firmed their belief that I was just an eccentric, determined to spend some of my money.

Upon my homes completion, I organised for it to be shipped to its final destination. I went with it, took care of the final arrangements and then went home.

Then I waited for the changes to come upon me.

When I had lost 6 inches of my height, I withdrew from the world. I retreated into my penthouse apartment. I severed all ties with friends and family. It would not do for them to realise what was happening to me.

My food was delivered by the supermarket to the building foyer and was bought up to me by one of the bell-boys. They had a key to my apartment and were instructed to leave the goods just inside the door. I wanted no-one to see me and know what was happening to me. That would raise too many questions - ones I certainly did not want to deal with.

While I continued to shrink, losing a fraction of my height every day, but at an increasing rate, I continued to berate myself and fret that I had not taken enough precautions to ensure that this did not happen to anyone else.

That my predicament was self-inflicted was the crux of the matter. As the head of a prestigious medical research department with multiple grants from the government for various projects, I threw myself into my work. I worked long hours and made huge advancements. Many of which the public would never know about. These were secret projects that the government certainly did not want the populace to be aware of. They paid well for their secrecy. It helped their goals that I was young. One of the youngest ever graduates from Yale, I was, without being too modest - a genius.

How many 27 year olds had established a multi-million dollar research lab that was working for big enterprise and the government?

But even money can not salve the conscience forever. When I heard through unofficial channels that one of my projects had been used to kill a group of political radicals, I threatened to refuse to work on any more projects. The government agreed, as long as I produced one more item. At first I refused, but when suddenly all my other private contracts were cast in doubt, I realised that I was not in a position to refuse them this. If I did, my company would be destroyed. I owed too much to my employees to allow that to happen.

I must admit too, that my own desire to see something that I had created live on influenced my decision somewhat. I had poured my life into this company and I would hate to see it dismantled.

So I agreed to work on one more project. I took this one on personally, determined to reduce the exposure of my employees to the wiles of the government.

I worked on the project for 6 months with only minor success. At 3 am on October 5th, I found out what the government intended to do with my new project. An old friend in a very high place got a copy of a secret document to me. The document detailed plans to eliminate certain people in positions of power. The compound that I was working on was only half of the plan. Another research company was producing another compound. My compound would be introduced to the targets first. It was not a poison, and by itself was actually beneficial to the health of the recipient. However, when the second compound was introduced, the two would react within the persons body, producing a lethal toxin.

I projected the results and discovered that the toxin produced would result in an extremely long and painful death. The person would be basically destroyed from the inside. Cancer would be a picnic compared to this.

In a blind rage, I smashed my equipment, soaking myself in the half-finished solution. When I came to my senses, I realised that this was not enough. If I failed to produce the compound, they would simply get someone else to do it. They might even seize the notes I had made.

With a new purpose, I threw myself into my work, coming up with a compound which, to everyone except a few exceptional scientists, would appear to be what the government wanted. It would, however, not produce the lethal toxin when combined with the other agent. It would most likely make the recipient very sick - but it was not deadly.

I then carefully destroyed all my records.

It was about that time that I realised what was happening to me. When my clothes started to feel just a little too big, I thought it must simply have been weight loss through stress. But when I had lost 2 inches of height, I started to worry.

At home, I reproduced the formula that I had been working on and got it to the stage that I had stopped at. After a few experiments, I realised what I had created. A shrinking compound. More experiments revealed what my fate was going to be. I would continue to shrink until I was about 3 inches tall.

That was when I started taking extraordinary measures.

I had planned for this day for a long time and now it was upon me. Strangely, I felt no nervousness, just a sense of excitement. This was a whole new part of my life and I felt compelled to see it through.

I placed the tape recorder near the phone and rang the number for the valet. When the phone picked up, I played the message. After deleting the tape, I headed over to my transportation to my new life.

Climbing inside, I pulled the door shut and waited.

Fifteen minutes later, I heard the door to my apartment open. Flicking on a monitor, I saw one of the valets enter. A young guy, about twenty or so and quite good looking. He stood in the doorway for a moment before moving over towards the coffee table and my transportation.

I held onto my seat as the youth picked up what, to him, appeared to be a package for delivery. I had already arranged with a courier company where to deliver the package to. My transportation rocked as the man picked it up. He turned it over in his hands a couple of times. I had had the foresight to include a gyroscopic chair, so that I stayed in the same position even though the walls around me turned.

I watched on monitors as the man left the apartment, carrying me in both hands in front of him. Downstairs to the lobby and I was placed on a shelf behind the valets desk, ready for the courier company to collect.

I was left sitting there for about ten minutes before anything happened. The valet that had collected me received a large parcel from another courier, placing it on the same shelf that I was on. He knocked my package, sending it, and me, crashing to the floor. He didn't seem to notice it.

I watched on a monitor as he took a step backwards, and despite knowing how sturdy my transport was, I screamed as his huge heel came down right over one of the cameras.

The package creaked but it held.

He noticed the package then and bent over to pick it up, turning it over to make sure he hadn't damaged it. Sighing in relief, he looked up as someone approached his counter. Without thinking, he placed my package on his chair while he attended to their needs.

When he was finished, he automatically went to sit down - forgetting that I was on his chair. Again I yelled as his butt descended rapidly towards me. His full weight came down on the top of the package, one of his buttocks covering the camera that I was watching him through.

He realised immediately what he had done and grabbed the package out from under him, again checking it for damage. At that moment, my courier arrived and I was handed over to him.

Already I was getting a more realistic idea of what my new life was going to be like. At least I could take some comfort in how well my transport package had been made.

I won’t bore you with the details of how I got to my final destination, just the arriving itself. My package was sitting on the front seat of a jeep that was careening through dunes at a wild pace. At the wheel was a courier driver listening to loud music.

The jeep slid to a halt in dry sand. Standing up in his seat, the driver looked about and compared his position to a map. Sighting the required landmarks, he grabbed my package and got out.

A short distance away from the jeep, near the ocean, the driver stopped. Comparing the landmarks to the map again, he shrugged his shoulder. Gave one final examination of the package and then unceremoniously dropped it into the sand. Dolt! I had given the company express instructions to treat the package with extreme care. I had paid a lot of money for their assurance.

I watched a monitor that showed this towering giant looming over my package. He had really nice legs I noticed. He was looking down at the package with a wistful look on his face. He looked about the desolate area. There was not another human habitation for over a hundred kilometres. Doubtless he was wondering for the thousandth time why he was delivering a package to such an area.

Eventually he shrugged and walked away. Sensors listened as he started up the jeep and drove away. I waited until I was sure he was gone before sighing in relief.

Unbuckling myself from the chair, I tapped at the keyboard, setting several things into motion.

Activating one final command, I grabbed my backpack and exited the package for the first time in a week.

Blinking in the sudden bright sunlight, I stumbled down the dune for a distance. Grabbing a remote control from my pack, I keyed a command.

From a short distance down the beach, a small flare shot up. Great, it wasn’t too far at all. Keying another command, I started walking towards where the flare had emerged. I didn't watch as the package started to smoke and then burst into flames. That part of my life was behind me now.

Reaching where the flare had emerged, I keyed another command onto the remote. Almost directly in front of me, in a rock face, a hidden door opened, just five inches tall, or about eight feet to me. With a sigh of profound relief, I walked up and into the corridor behind it. Once inside, I keyed a command on a panel. A slight hum as generators fired up and lights flickered on revealed a stainless steel corridor. Keying the door to close behind me, I headed inward. From the outside, you would never know the door had opened.

The corridor led a short distance before opening into my new home.

A multi-level building, designed by me, for me. The house was fully self sufficient with water purifying equipment and a greenhouse for food. There was a fully equipped gymnasium, kitchen, laboratory and even a heated pool.

This was the first time I had been able to explore my new home properly and I did so now. Before I had always seen it as a doll house.

Now I was the doll, living in it.

The first level was fairly utilitarian, basically a garage. A small dune buggy was garaged here for when I wanted to explore.

The next level up was the lab and gym. I keyed a pad on the wall of the gym and part of the wall disappeared into the floor. Looking out the window, I looked out over the dunes towards the ocean. A light breeze wafted in, bringing in the tang of the sea and washing away the musty smell of a space too long enclosed.

I knew that from outside, this room would be almost invisible. Rocks and grasses were cunningly placed around all windows and doors to hide them from prying eyes. Only the most thorough examination would reveal their hiding places. When the doors were sealed and the shutters were in place, even the most careful searcher would have to have the worlds best luck to locate the house.

Upstairs again to the living quarters. The kitchen was at the back with a large living and dining area at the front. Again, part of the wall rolled back to reveal ocean views.

Upstairs again to the bedroom and more ocean views. There were five exits from the beachhouse. The one I had entered through, the garage door next to that one, and then three emergency exits, one at the back of each floor. Each one led to a small, all-terrain vehicle, at the beginning of a long tunnel. Each of these tunnels exited from the beachhouse in a different location, well over a mile distant.

I doubted that there would ever be a need to use the exits, but at only 3 inches tall, you couldn’t be too careful.

The whole complex was air and waterproof and encased in high tensile steel. It would take a severe beating to make a dent in it.

I had been living in my beachhouse retreat for over 12 months when I realised it was my 30th birthday. To celebrate, I did what I did nearly every day. I grabbed my dune buggy and headed out onto the beach.

I had picked a truly beautiful spot. Long sandy beaches with the occasional rock shelf (my home was built into one of those). Pristine blue waters and a clement weather pattern. Storms were few and rarely fierce.

I headed towards my favourite spot. A rock ledge about a half hour drive away. The rock ledge formed hundreds of little rock pools which the sun warmed. I spent hours going from pool to pool. A small, shallow pool would be warm or hot and I would soak for a while in one, before heading over to a larger one which the sun had not warmed and dive into its’ icy depths.

I had to be careful of what was in them of course. Normally there were only tiny fish (they would be tiny to you, to me they appeared normal sized), but occasionally a larger fish or a crab would be in the pool. Those I had to avoid.

So it was I spent my 30th birthday relaxing in rock pools.

When I had dried off in the sun, I got back into the buggy and was about to head back home when I froze. Something was wrong. But what?

Then I heard it, drifting on the wind. The sound of an engine. And it wasn’t mine.

Grabbing a pair of binoculars, I started scouring the nearby dunes. Shortly I located it. Two 4-wheel drives, plowing over the dunes.

Throwing the glasses in the buggy, I jumped in and started it up. Speeding across the wet sand near the surf was dangerous - there was always the risk of a freak wave, but I was scared witless. I had to get home.

As it turns out, the risk of driving on the wet sand didn’t pay off anyway. As I approached my home, I saw the massive vehicles parked back in the dunes and a group of 6 enormous men trekking towards the surf.

I turned the buggy straight for the nearby dunes and raced up the beach, pulling up under the cover of some grasses.

With a groan, I recognised one of the men as they walked onto the beach. It was that damned courier that had delivered me here!

Their voices, loud as they were, drifted across the sands. "What’d I tell ya! This place is the best!" I didn’t hear the response, "Ah I delivered a package up here ‘bout a year ago. Just dumped it on the sand like I was told to and drove off. Probably drug money if you ask me."

The six men had stopped on the beach and were dumping their loads - tents, sleeping bags and a large cooler. I watched in stupefied horror as the men began setting up a camp - directly in front of my home!

One of the men pulled a six-pack of beer out of the cooler and they each grabbed one while they put up their tents.

Terrified, I fired up the buggy and headed into the dunes, towards the nearest emergency exit. Locating it took a while, but I hid the buggy as best I could and closed the door behind me. It was a long trek back to the home through the tunnel, the all-terrain vehicle being at the other end.

Once inside, I raced towards my bedroom and carefully pulled the window open. Sure enough, the giants campsite was directly in front of my home, some hundred yards closer to the ocean. Six massive tents, each at least 10 times bigger than my entire home, dotted the beach in a rough semi-circle facing the ocean.

Sand started pouring down over the window ledge. I recoiled as a massive shape dropped out of the sky. When I picked myself up off the floor, I looked out to see one of the men moving into the camp, carrying firewood. He must have walked right over the top of my home, jumping down from above.

I slammed the window shut and retreated to the bed, terrified of such immense creatures as these.

The beachhouse was soundproofed so the noise of the giants failed to penetrate into my retreat. But with the aid of video monitors and cameras, I watched and listened as they set up camp.

From the amount of gear they had unloaded, it seemed like I was going to be entertaining guests for at least a few days.

I waited until the second night of the giants camping expedition before venturing outside again. Turning off all the lights, I opened the garage door and snuck outside. The remote control safely inside a pocket, I keyed the door closed and crept forward, keeping low behind the small sand dunes.

Once again, the giant men were sitting around a campfire, drinking beer and telling stories.

Staying to the shadows cast by the massive tents, I made my way closer till I was behind one of them.

This close, the giants were even more terrifying. Their voices boomed out from above in loud and raucous bursts. I crept closer.

(What is it about the human psyche that makes us do things we know are bad for us?)

I used the natural contours of the sand to hide my approach. One of the giants was sitting on a log directly in front of me, laughing along with the others. I crept up until I was against the log, my eyes never leaving him, ready to bolt away at his slightest turn towards me.

They were telling jokes amongst themselves and were totally ignorant of everything outside their circle of light and laughter. I crept towards the end of the log and peered towards the bright fire.

Another giant sat in the sat nearby, wearing only shorts and t-shirt. I admired the way the firelight washed over his toned body, playing across the muscles. There was a can of beer imbedded in the sand next to him that was more than twice as tall as me. I watched as log-like fingers wrapped around it and lifted it towards his mouth. He stopped laughing long enough to take a monstrous swallow then plunged it back into the sand again.

I had seen enough. These monsters were far too big. I had made the right decision in coming here, away from the rest of the world. I retreated back into my refuge and turned off the monitors.

*****

Curiosity is an awful thing. In makes us do the stupidest things. My resolve to remain well away from the giants lasted for all of about 12 hours. Then I couldn’t help myself, I had to get back out there and see them again. I suppose some of it came from a simple desire to want some sort of human contact, but for whatever the reasons, I was prepared to put my life at risk once again.

I was hiding in the long grass near their camp as the sun came up. They lay inside their tents for about another hour before any of them stirred.

One of the behemoths emerged from his tent, blinking in the bright light and stood up to his full impressive height. Wearing only a pair of briefs, I watched as he stretched and yawned. My jaw dropped at the sight of him.

Every muscle on his body was in sharp relief in the early morning light. Short blonde hair on the top of his head, nicely tanned stretched over a long, lithe body with just the right amount of muscle in just the right places.

He scratched his balls as he looked about the camp then strode out towards the sand dunes. My eyes never left him as he walked a short distance into the dunes and then pulled his prick free. Sun glinted through the yellow stream of piss, turning it into an arc of liquid gold. Then he was shaking himself and tucking it back into his underwear before returning to camp.

He busied himself stirring up the fire and getting breakfast. Over the next half hour, the rest of the camp stirred themselves.

In various states of undress, the other 5 men repeated the process of scratching themselves before making a short trip into the dunes to relieve the pressure on their bladders.

After eating breakfast, the 6 men made a brief trip down to the ocean for a quick, refreshing swim before coming back to camp.

I watched all of this from my vantage point in the grass. I hadn't moved a muscle - I couldn't. These huge men had me totally entranced. I couldn't take my eyes off them. I was fascinated by their size.

Despite knowing that it was me who had changed size, I couldn't help but feel that they were the ones who had grown to such huge proportions. I couldn't even begin to imagine how strong they were.

I could easily imagining one of these huge creatures tackling a skyscraper with ease.

I watched them as they pounded back up the beach from their swim, water still cascading off them. The sun reflected off their wet skin, accentuating their curves and bulges.

Four of the giants were wearing speedo's while the other two were wearing board shorts. All of them had magnificent physiques.

They stood in the middle of the camp, towelling off. One of them flicked another with a towel and within seconds the group had degenerated into a pile of writhing flesh as they wrestled with each other - taunting and rough housing.

After a few minutes there were only two of them still at it - the original two protagonists. For a while neither one could get an advantage over the other. I realised that at some time in their lives they must have been wrestlers - they were too good at it to be otherwise.

Finally one of them managed to pin the other, holding his face down in the sand until he gave in. With a whoop of triumph, the winner jumped to his feet. He placed one foot on the back of his victims neck, holding him there for a moment before helping him up.

I watched them as they got dressed and sat down for a snack.

They talked amongst themselves but I wasn't listening to what they were saying, I was concentrating on what I was seeing instead.

After about 15 minutes, they all stood up. A couple of them grabbed some water bottles before the 6 of them set off down the beach, talking and laughing.

I waited until they were out of sight before I ventured into their camp. I was amazed at how big everything was. A discarded towel was a veritable mountain of fabric whilst the tents were as large as the skyscraper that I used to own and work in.

I walked over to the nearest tent. It had been zipped up but there was a gap between where the zips met in the middle that I was able to easily crawl through.

Inside it was a mess of clothes. It looked like the occupant had just upended his backpack and spread everything around. In awe, I walked over to a sneaker that was lying on its side nearby. It was bigger than my Rolls Royce had been. It was ratty and well worn and as I approached it I nearly gagged on the smell.

There was no way I was going any closer to that thing - not if I didn't want to lose my breakfast.

Looking around, I finally found what I had been looking for. A discarded pair of underwear lay on the ground. I walked over to it and climbed up into the folds of fabric.

It smelled strongly of that indefinable manly scent. I realised with awe that I was standing in the pouch where this giants massive cock and balls were normally snugly held. It was huge. The space was bigger than a king sized bed and still concave slightly to the bulge that it normally held.

There were one or two wire-like pubic hairs caught in it and I was amazed at how big, thick and incredibly strong they were.

I spent the next half hour exploring the contents of the tent before I started to realise what danger I was in. There was no telling how far away the 6 men had gone or how long it would be until they came back.

I had just crawled through the gap in the tent when I heard voices on the wind. I looked down the beach in the direction in which they had gone and realised that they were dangerously close.

I started sprinting towards the grass on the edge of the camp. They were still a little way away and I thought I should be able to make it.

I heard voices raised in anger and I looked over my shoulder to see five of them moving towards the camp. They looked seriously pissed off. I couldn't see the sixth one.

Still sprinting across the soft sand, I realised I wouldn't make the cover of the grass before they entered the camp. The only shelter available to me was beneath one of the logs that they used as seats. There was a small tunnel beneath the nearest one to me and in desperation I dived into it just the five men walked into the camp.

From my hiding spot, I watched as they moved about. They were visibly upset by something and seemed to be trying to avoid each other.

I had to stop myself from screaming in terror as one of them walked directly towards the log I was hidden under. His eyes were downcast and for a moment I thought that he had seen me.

Apparently he hadn't. He almost threw himself down on the log. For a moment I thought I was dead. His sudden weight on the log caused it to shift alarmingly, sending an avalanche of sand into the small tunnel I was hiding in. I was buried up to my hips and it took me a while to pull myself free.

When I did I realised that the 'cave in' had blocked the other way out - the way that I had been hoping to use. The only way out now was towards the camp.

I realised I would have to wait until dark, perhaps longer if the fire was too bright.

Trying to make myself comfortable, I looked out into the camp. On either side of the tunnel two massive, bare feet were half buried in the sand. I realised that the giant was sitting right over my prison.

In the camp itself, I could only see two others and they both looked angry and afraid. I wondered what had happened, my curiosity piqued.

None of them said a word for at least an hour. Someone said they were hungry and was going to make some lunch. Someone else, unseen, made a smart-arsed comment about eating at 'a time like this'.

It made no sense. What the hell had happened while they were at the other end of the beach?

There was virtually no talk for more than 3 hours. The giant sitting over me had wandered away ages ago but there was always someone so I couldn't try and make bolt for it.

After a while they started to talk again. Just a little bit here and there. Sometime in the mid-afternoon, one of the giants made an ultimatum - "I'm going to get the police."

My ears pricked up instantly. This was something serious.

Almost at once everyone started talking. I listened for about half an hour and finally worked out what had happened. The sixth member of their party was dead. Apparently they had been mucking around down on some cliffs when the playing got more than a little competitive.

At some stage one of the giants, Steve, had become aggressive and crash tackled one of the others, Brett. They were standing near the edge of the cliff and during the ensuing struggle, Brett had been thrown over the cliff.

From what I could work out, the other four were undecided as to whether it was deliberate or not. Apparently there had been bad blood between the two for some time. From what I could gather - really bad blood.

It took an hour for the four to convince Jeff not to go and get the police immediately. They convinced him to wait until the morning. He wasn't happy about it, but he agreed to wait. He strolled off by himself, still visible to the camp but far enough away that he was by himself.

Steve was talking quietly but furiously with the other three. He kept it up for an hour before they reluctantly agreed to his plan.

I was worried.

When Jeff finally returned to the camp the others greeted him with concerned expressions and words. I knew it was all an act, but there was nothing that I could do. I had to mind my own business and look out for myself.

One of the other giants, Pete, pulled out a stash of weed and suggested that it might help them all to relax a little. I noticed that during the following two hours, Jeff smoked much more than the others. They were being very careful to make it look like they were keeping pace with him but with my insider knowledge, I knew that they were only taking occasional drags to keep their heads relatively clear.

After a while they pulled out the alcohol again. Once again Jeff seemed to be consuming much more than the others although the probably wouldn't have realised it. The four others seemed to be watching him a lot closer now, almost as if waiting for something to happen.

After about a solid hour of drinking and smoking Jeff finally collapsed, unconscious. It seemed that this had been what they were waiting for. The beer was put away and so was the weed. Two of the giants grabbed shovels and started digging a pit behind one of the tents. It took them only about ten minutes to get the hole deep enough for what they wanted.

The two other giants picked Jeff up and put him in the hole. They held him upright, facing in towards the camp while the other two started shovelling sand back into the hole.

Within minutes their objective was complete. Jeff, still out cold, was buried in the sand up to his neck. I watched as one of them stamped the sand down around his face before putting more sand in to fill it up again.

When they were satisfied that Jeff was secure three of the giants returned to the camp, subdued. Steve stayed there with Jeff looking at him. He sneered at his 'friend' and pushed his face back by putting his foot on his forehead and shoving roughly. Seeing Jeff was still out, he walked back into the camp.

I didn't like the look on his face.

Jeff came to about two hours later. At first he couldn't seem to work out why he couldn't move. I guess he was still under the effects of the weed and booze. Then he started yelling, demanding that the others let him free.

They let him yell for about five minutes before Steve finally walked over and stuffed a rolled up sock in his mouth to gag him.

They left him there for a while. By now it was starting to get dark. One of the giants had started up the fire again and was starting to prepare some dinner. It still wasn't safe enough for me to try and make a dash for my home so I stayed put instead. I was ravenous. I hadn't eaten since breakfast and that had only been a quick snack. The smell of the sausages and steaks that they were cooking was driving me nuts.

Beyond the camp, only barely visible in the gloom was Jeff. Occasionally there was a muffled cry from him but everyone seemed to be ignoring him. It seemed that they didn’t know what to do with him.

When it finally got dark enough for me to try and get out of their camp without them seeing me, I carefully scrambled out form under the log.

Jeff was still buried in the sand on the other side of the camp and the other four giants were either in their tents or engrossed in doing something else.

Slowly, so as not to attract attention, I crawled along the long until I reached the end of it then scuttled round behind it. Once out of the camp I sprinted across the soft sand back towards my house. I pressed the button on the remote control and the door opened. Once inside I headed straight to the kitchen for a drink and some food.

While I ate and drank I turned on the monitors and the speakers and trained them on the camp. I decided that until they left, I would stay inside. With the death of their fifth member and what they were doing with Jeff, I didn't want to take the risk.

I sat up and listened to the conversations of the four men for most of the night. For most of the time they were unsure of what to do but at some stage of the conversation Steve proposed a course of action that sent shivers down my spine.

Steve suggested that they kill Jeff.

My mind boggled. Weren't these guys supposed to be friends? How had it come to this, from an accident atop a cliff face?

The other three were at first angry that he suggested it but he worked on them during the night. He played upon their fears that Jeff would go to the police and they would all be arrested for Brett's death. After a couple of hours he had convinced them that they would spend the rest of their lives in jail. I was horrified. Steve was an extremely persuasive person.

Listening to his arguments and the way he presented them to the other three, I felt sorry for them. Obviously Steve was incredibly intelligent and he was using all his skills to work on his friends. The more I listened, the more convinced I was that Brett's death was not an accident.

The only reason that Steve would be working this hard to convince the others that they would go to jail was if Steve really had meant for Brett to fall down that cliff to his death.

By morning, my resolve not to step outside until they were gone had disappeared. There were a couple of reasons for it.

First and foremost is that I couldn't stand by and watch them kill the innocent Jeff. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if there was anything that I could do and didn't.

The second thought that had occurred to me in the wee small hours of the morning was what would happen if Jeff was killed. If the other four men returned home without Brett and Jeff there would surely be a police investigation. I couldn't risk having dozens of giants stumbling about the dunes in search of evidence. There was too great a risk that they might stumble on my home - especially with it being so close to the camp site.

So, a couple of hours before dawn, I once again crept out the front door of the house. There was a very good chance that I would be discovered and my heart was beating so loud I was sure that they would hear it.

I wasn't sure what exactly I thought I could do but I had to try something.

My first plan was to warn Jeff.

I had debated this with myself for over an hour. I absolutely did not want to reveal myself to him. I had gone to pain staking lengths to make sure that no-one knew what had happened to me and there was considerable risk involved in talking to Jeff.

In the end I realised that I had to do it. Jeff had to be warned. There was nothing he could do while he was buried but if they ever dug him out at least he would be prepared for what they might do and could take a chance to escape if it made itself available.

I took the long way round to Jeff. I skirted the camp, not cutting right through the middle. One of the giants was dozing in front of the smouldering fire but the others had all gone to bed some time ago.

Reaching the other side of the camp, I came up behind Jeff's bed. I hoped that I would be able to tell him what was happening without revealing myself to him. There was little hope of it but I had to at least try and protect myself.

Jeff was asleep, his head lolling to one side. I walked up beside it, amazed at how big it was. It was at least three times taller than my own three inches. His ear was half my size. I walked up to it and whispered his name.

There was no response.

I repeated my call a little louder.

Still nothing.

I grabbed a fist full of hair behind his ear and yanked as hard as I could.

He awoke with a start. I still hand hold of his hair and when he jerked himself upright, I went with it.

I let go with a startled cry and dropped into the sand next to his neck.

Dusting myself off, I got to my feet, shaking my head at my audacity.

Standing back away from his head and behind it, I told him not to say anything.

He tried to turn around and see who it was that was talking to him but he couldn't turn far enough. He did whisper quietly though, "Come closer, I can barely hear you."

Damn, he thought that I was too far away from him. I took a step closer and raised my voice a fraction, terrified that someone in the camp would hear me and come to investigate.

I told him that I was a hermit that lived nearby and had heard what had happened on the cliff face. That much at least was true. I was a hermit and he would never believe just how close by I lived.

I told him about what I had heard during the day and the night and what their plans were for him.

He asked me how I could possibly have heard it all and I told him that I had ways of making sure I wasn't seen.

He started to struggle to free himself again and when he realised it was fruitless he begged me to help him. When I told him that I couldn't risk it - couldn't risk coming any closer to the camp to help him he became angry. He wouldn't believe me that there was no way I could help him to get free.

There was the sound of a tent zipper opening. Jeff hissed at me to hide as we watched Steve come out of his tent with a torch.

I looked about wildly, there was no where that I could run to in time to take cover. In desperation as Steve started to swing to torch in Jeff's direction, I dove into the shadow behind Jeff's head.

The torch light wavered as Steve approached. Jeff was pretending he was still asleep, his head slumped forward.

I cursed him silently. With his head that far forward, there was less cover for me. If only he had turned his head to the side. I tried to throw some sand over my body in the hope that a casual glance would miss me.

Despite the danger, I couldn't help but watch as Steve approached. He stopped just in front of Jeff and then reached down with one hand, grabbing a fistful of Jeff's hair and jerking his head upright.

Jeff stared up at him defiantly as Steve let go.

For a moment I thought that Steve was going to kick Jeff in the head but just as I thought he was going to do it he stopped. A twisted smile on his face he placed the torch on the sand next to him.

He was wearing nothing but a pair of silk boxers and as Jeff and watched on, he pulled them down at the front, reached in, grabbed his cock and pointed it at Jeff.

I buried my face in the sand not a second to soon. Steve pissed in Jeff's face, the hot, stinky stuff splattering around him and running off his head. Within seconds I was covered in it as well.

I wasn't sure when the stream stopped but I clearly heard Steve say "Sweet dreams" before he walked away.

As soon as I thought it would be safe, I scurried away, rolling in the sand trying to get the horrid stuff off me.

I didn’t want to get as close to Jeff as I had previously - the sand was wet for several feet all around his head. Getting as close to him as I was prepared to, I let him know I was back. He seemed bewildered that Steve hadn't seen me and that I was able to return so soon.

I reminded him that I had ways of making sure I wasn't seen. He didn't seem happy with the answer but he didn't pursue it. Instead he renewed his pleas for me to help him escape. When I insisted that there was nothing that I could do other than to warn him of what his 'friends' had planned for him he started to get angry. He threatened to call out to the others and tell them that I was there but I could tell from the tone of his voice that he wouldn't.

He was nearly desperate and I could certainly understand why. I wracked my brain trying to come up with a way to help him escape but it was no good. There was no way I could ever hope to dig him out and even my buggy wouldn't be able to drag him out.

The only way he was getting out of the hole in the sand was if one of the other giants helped. Or if I was able to get help from elsewhere.

I considered that thought for a moment. The chances were slim, I had deliberately chosen this location because it was so far from anywhere. The nearest town was over 100 kilometres away, a very long trip at my size, even with the buggies. And what could I do even if I did go to the town? I still wasn't prepared to reveal myself to someone and that would be the only way I could get anyone to come out here and help.

Of course there was also the time it would take to get all the way there and back. By that time it would be more than likely that Jeff would be dead by then.

No, the more I thought about it, the more I realised that the only help for Jeff lay in his own camp. But there was no way that I could approach any of them. It would have to be up to Jeff to convince one or more of the others to help him.

All that thought had taken bare moments and I quickly outlined the options to Jeff. I mentioned it would take me a long time to go and get help, letting him think that I meant on foot, and that it would be far too late to help him. He didn't really understand why I wasn't prepared to reveal myself and plead on his behalf.

I told him that I was in no shape to help him, that if the others wanted to, they could capture me with ease and then we would both be in trouble. He argued with me about it and in the end I lied to him.

"OK, look, I'll head out now, try and get to the town and let the police know what is going on, but I really think it will be too late. You have to try and work on them to let you go. That's your best bet. It'll be at least 2 or 3 days before I can get to town on foot."

He seemed relieved that I would be going for help, but at the same time he was scared that he was going to be left alone. Despite my refusal to intervene directly, the fact that another person would be nearby was reassuring. I guess he thought that when push came to shove, I would have to get involved.

I said goodbye to him and backed away before starting a long trip around the camp and back towards my house. This time I was determined to stay inside until after they were gone, regardless of what happened.

*****

My worst fears had come true. My cowardice had cost Jeff his life and now it looked like I would be exposed anyway.

It felt like only yesterday that Steve had buried Jeff alive, pushing the sand up around his head, suffocating him. Instead, it had been two painful weeks of reliving that moment. I was tormented by my role in his death.

Late yesterday afternoon the police had turned up. I saw them arrive about a mile or so down the beach. Four jeeps had spilled sixteen police onto the sand as they started working their way up towards my section of beach.

I had been spending a great deal of time outside of the home, a couple of hundred meters further down the beach. It was hard to stay so close to the scene of the crime. The four men had removed the body and apparently thrown it out so sea from the cliffs, but I couldn’t forget what had happened.

As soon as the jeeps turned up. I was sprinting across the soft sand towards home. I watched them approach via my monitors.

They were still about three hundred meters away when they sent up camp for the night. They retreated into the dunes and setup tents. I couldn’t see their site but I kept a camera trained in that direction anyway.

When dawn broke, the men were up and searching again. My heart sank as I watched them. They were making a thorough search of the sand and the closest dunes. They each had long, narrow poles that they pressed into the sand, testing to feel if there was anything under it. A couple of others had metal detectors.

There was no-way they were going to miss my house.

I identified the one who would find me when he was still a hundred and fifty meters away. He was at exactly the right height on the beach. In fact, if he didn’t discover the house first, he would step directly on it. I wasn’t worried about him stepping on it, it could survive worse than that.

I trained a camera on him as he approached. The camera had to angle further and further up to keep him in site. He stopped just as he reached the camera, standing straight and wiping sweat from his brow.

I knew it was unlikely he could see the camera, it was hidden in a tuft of grass, the camera mounted on a pole that stuck only an inch above the sand.

I was glued to the monitor as he stood towering over the camera. Then the disk of the metal detector blocked my view of him. I could hear it beeping madly through the speaker and I knew the end was near.

The disk swung out of shot to reveal the giant cop as he crouched down over the tuft of grass between his feet. I watched the massive hand extend down and brush the grass away.

There was a puzzled expression on his face even as he reached down and grasped the camera between thumb and forefinger and pulled.

The cables that ran from the camera back to the beach house led them straight to me. They were obviously confused, thinking that someone had set up tiny spy cameras.

The house shook as the giants brushed sand away from it, uncovering it. They obviously couldn’t tell what it was but they couldn’t lift it.

To Be Continued...