I smell the warm pine. Hear the satisfying crackling. Feel the warmth. The chair I sat in was so familiar. It seems to curl around me in a cosy kind of way. I look outside. It's dark and misty. I can hear every bird. Every bug. Everything is so quiet. I look down, see the drink in hand. Everything was cosy and warm just the way I like it. I look out the window. It's so dark out, it looks almost ebony black. I can't see anything except the soft shadows of the trees. I smile and stand up out of the worn, cosy armchair that I love so very much. Strolling towards the open window, I begin to hear the birds calling. I can hear every bug with that window open. And even so, it's just so peaceful. I smile. Just the way I like it. I turn away from the window. SNAP! I frown. There was a loud snap outside in the forest. SNAP! SNAP! I put my hot chocolate down on the coffee table and head towards the door. SNAP! The heavy oak door creaked as I opened it, just like they do in horror movies. I could faintly see a shadow of something colossal. It had the shape of a human, but no. A human could never be that big. I daringly tried to get closer but I froze halfway down the garden path. The creature had turned and was looking straight at me. I couldn't breathe. We stood there. Just staring at each other. Finally, my brain kicked in, and I slowly back away, towards the house. I felt the solid wood behind me. I threw the door open and bolted inside. My hot chocolate was probably cold by now but I didn't stop to check. I headed straight towards the bedroom at the back of the cottage. I dived on the bed and covered myself with the cold bedsheets. I didn't even bother to put my pyjamas on. I just lay there in the dark and tried to figure out what on earth just happened.

I woke the next day, stretched and got up. There was a full-length mirror on the wall next to my bed. I stared at myself - Tall, strawberry blonde hair, slim body, freckles, green eyes - and tried to contemplate the events of the previous day. I still had my clothes on from the day before, so I didn't bother getting changed. A mug on the counter. Coffee in the mug. Kettle filled, kettle boiling. I sighed as I poured the water into my favourite rabbit mug. Hot steam rose from the rim and I wondered if it had all been a dream. Maybe there were no giants or monsters at all. I put my drink on the coffee table and collapsed in my armchair. As I sipped my coffee, a thought was born. It grew and grew until it was an idea. I stood up in shock. I'd never had an idea before. I hurried to the bedroom at the very back of the cottage and threw open the doors to my wardrobe. I rifled through all the coats and trousers that had fallen to the bottom until I found what I was looking for. I stood up. The tranquillizer gun I had in my hand had never been used. I'd got it when I first moved to the woods because there had been talk in the nearby village, talk of a beast that lived in deep in the woods. The gun was sleek and ebony black. It was also perfect for hunting a giant. I stalked out of the house with a confidence I didn't know I had in me. The wood didn't look so scary now it was daytime so I strolled straight into the maze of trees. I didn't know where the creature lived or even exactly where I last saw it. All I knew was that it was in the area when I saw it the previous night. I sighed "That's a comfort." I mumbled. I cautiously walked on.

After over an hour of walking, I finally found something. I stood, staring in awe at the colossal cave entrance in front of me. It was pitch black inside. I peered in. I couldn't even see the floor. I grabbed my torch out of my rucksack and strolled into the cave. It was dark, even with the torch beam. I trod carefully, being cautious so as not to trip on a rock or fall down a crevice. I looked back. I couldn't see the entrance anymore. I carried on walking until I came to a colossal cavern. It was made of some black stone, I didn't know what kind. It was cold down here but I was warm. Maybe that was because of the layers of clothes I had on or maybe it was because of the enormous blazing fire, sat in the middle of the cavern. I slowly shuffled past it, wondering how someone could start a fire that big. I carried on through the next tunnel for over half an hour before coming to another cavern, Even bigger than the last. But this one was different. This one changed everything. I had thought this monster was evil. Now I realised I had thought wrong. In the middle of the cavern sat the giant. It was 15 meters tall. Grey fur, black, beady eyes, long, spider-like limbs. It was the same giant that had terrified me the previous night. But I wasn't scared now. I wasn't trembling because sitting behind the giant was its baby. I gasped and bolted back out of the cave. She got back to the cottage and put the gun on the table. The giant wasn't a monster at all. It was just protecting its baby from what the giant saw as a monster. Maybe it was right. Maybe humans were monsters. They were cutting down forests and destroying the planet. And as soon as people started finding out about giants, they were going to start hunting them because that's what humans do - they destroy and kill. I leapt off the chair and picked up my camera. I was going to get the giants protected but if I was going to do that successfully then I was going to need a photo.