G/t Trash Stash

Amy was largely unimpressed.

“They just look like black coffee beans to me.”

The owner sighed. “I thought so too, but the coloring is really unusual. Look at the red stripes on them. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Cream stared at the beans for a solid minute, and then, she got an idea.

“What if you try planting them? That way, you can see what kind of plant they’ll grow into!”

“I haven’t had the time to, I’m busy running the shop. It’s a lot of work taking care of a new plant. There’s so much trial and error, and you have to make sure you understand all of its needs.”

Initially, Cream was on board with starting off easy, but she couldn’t help but be intrigued by the mystery beans. Not only that, she enjoyed challenging herself and trying new things. And it would make her mother very happy to know that she’s putting in the work to learn to be responsible.

“What if I raised the plant for you?”

Amy frowned. “Are you sure, Cream?”

The rabbit nodded, determined as ever. “I’m sure, Ms. Amy! Someone needs to help those beans grow!”

Seeing as she couldn’t sell them, the shop owner was happy to pass off the beans. They weren’t doing much besides taking up space anyway.

“Best of luck to you! And please let me know how it goes! I’m really curious!”

After saying their goodbyes to the shopkeeper, Amy walked Cream home. The two parted ways after that, leaving the young rabbit alone in the garden with her container of mystery beans.

She knew the first step was simple: bury them in the soil. So, she grabbed a shovel and dug a small hole in the dirt. It was hard to gauge how deep to make it, so she tried to mimic the depth of the holes that she usually saw her mother dig. Once it looked about right, she tossed the beans inside and buried them.

The next step would be to water them. She placed the shovel down and went inside to refill the watering can. All the while, Vanilla was asleep.

Cream was saddened for a moment as she almost began to consider the possibility that she didn’t want to think about, but she brushed it aside. Everything would be alright. Her mother was just tired, and she would feel better soon.

After she finished refilling the watering can in the sink, she immediately dropped it and spilled all the water as the house suddenly began to shake. Something was outside. Something big.

She rushed to the window, and right outside in the garden was an impossibly massive plant. A black beanstalk with red vines and leaves coiled around it. How the beans grew so big and so fast was completely lost on her, but she knew she had to go outside and check on it.

When she returned to the garden, she saw that no matter how high she looked up, she couldn’t see the top of the stalk. It seemed to breach the clouds, far beyond the sky.

Cream could fly if she flapped her ears, but she’d never gone anywhere near that high up before.

Curiosity got the best of her, and she began to climb. Of course, she quickly realized just how long it would take to reach the top just by climbing. Taking notice of the large and surprisingly sturdy leaves, an idea formed.

She hopped onto a leaf, and after jumping for a bit, she was able to bounce up into the air. Alternating between flying with her ears and using the leaves to boost, she was able to ascend the beanstalk much faster.

When she finally reached the top, she found herself in a world where the ground was made entirely of clouds. She took a hesitant step off the leaf she was perched on, unsure if she would fall out of the sky. To her surprise, the tops of the clouds were solid, with a texture similar to snow but not as cold.

She began to walk across the clouds, taking in the sights. It really was beautiful up in the sky.

Then, something caught her eye. A house in the distance. Someone lived up here.

The rabbit ran towards it, and the closer she got, the bigger it appeared to get. It wasn’t until she reached the front door that she fully registered just how huge the house actually was. The front door on its own was wider than her house, and the doorknob was up so high that no one could reach it. Opening the door at all would be impossible.

She noticed a decently sized gap beneath the door that she could easily slide under, but it would be rude to enter someone else’s home without permission. Instead, she knocked on the door.

There was no response, so she decided to leave, assuming no one was home. But just as she was about to head back to the beanstalk, the cloudy ground thundered with the sound of heavy footsteps. Someone was coming from around the side of the house and headed for the front door, right where she was. And if she was correct in all of the observations she’d just made about the place, they had to be gigantic.

Unsure what else to do, she quickly ducked under the gap and slipped inside before the giant could see her. From there, she took shelter in a nearby cupboard that was left opened, hiding in the shadows just as the front door swung open.

She peeked out to see the giant as he walked past. He was a hedgehog with black and red fur, and aside from his size he didn’t look too different from her friend Sonic.

He stopped in his tracks, sniffing the air.

“Someone’s in the house.”

Cream gasped and hid herself further in the cupboard, ducking behind a large bag. Unfortunately for her, that was the first place the giant looked.

“You can’t cover your scent with coffee beans, you know.”

The rabbit backed up as the bag was pulled away from her, a few beans toppling out from the top of it. They were very much the same ones that she planted.

“I don’t know how you got here, but you are NOT welcome in my home. I suggest you leave before I’m forced to dispose of you myself.”

By that point, Cream couldn’t stop shaking. She’d never be able to get away in time. In that moment she regretted climbing the beanstalk by herself, and deciding to plant the beans in the first place.

The bag was fully pulled away, and all she could see was the hedgehog towering over her, a pair of glowing red eyes staring her down. Time seemed to stop as they both froze, neither of them saying a word. Then finally, the giant spoke up.

“You’re just a little girl…”

It didn’t matter that his words weren’t inherently threatening, being acknowledged by him at all was enough to send Cream into a panic. She made a run for it, causing the giant to gasp.

“Wait, stop!”

He reached for her, missing her as she slipped out of his reach the first few times until he finally got her. He closed his hand around her as gently as possible and lifted her up to eye level. This, of course, did nothing to ease her fears.

The little rabbit sobbed, not looking up at the hedgehog.

“Please don’t eat me, Mr. Giant!”

The hedgehog huffed in offense. This certainly wasn’t the first time he’d heard this plea, but that didn’t make it any less insulting. Though, in this case he couldn’t entirely blame her for being afraid. She was a child.

“I don’t do that, you know.”

Cream opened her eyes, reluctantly looking at him. He still didn’t look particularly friendly, but he wasn’t acting hostile in any way. At most, he just seemed annoyed and inconvenienced.

“You don’t?”

The giant shook his head.

“No. Never.”

Cream sighed with relief, still deeply intimidated but at least confident she wasn’t going to die.

“Could you please let me go, then?”

The hedgehog nodded. “I will. But first, I’d like to know why you’re here and how you got here.”

The rabbit took a minute to finish calming down and gather her thoughts. Then, she briefly explained the events of the day that led her to this point. All the while, the giant listened intently, taking everything in.

“I see… Strange, I thought those beans were gone a long time ago. But you shouldn’t have come up here alone. You could have gotten seriously hurt on the climb up, and you had no idea who was living up here and whether they were dangerous or not. Did you at least tell your parents where you went?”

Cream guiltily avoided his gaze. Normally the first thing she would’ve done before running off was ask for her mother’s permission, but Vanilla just seemed so tired and out of sorts that she didn’t want to disturb her.

The giant sighed. “I’ll take you back to the beanstalk and make sure you get home safely, but I don’t want to see you up here again. Is that clear?”

The rabbit nodded. “Of course, Mr. Giant. I’m really sorry for bothering you.”

His expression softened at her apology as he realized he may have been a bit too harsh with her.

“You’re not bothering me, little one. I just don’t want you getting hurt.”

He brought Cream back outside and walked her over to where the tip of the beanstalk poked through the clouds. He set her down beside it, but just as she was about to climb onto it, she caught sight of the drop below. It was easier to ignore how high up she was on the way up, but going down required her to see it.

“Mr. Giant? I don’t think I can climb back down…”

He shut his eyes, taking a deep breath. He was afraid she would say that. Not because he had any issue climbing down with her, but because that meant he would be back on the ground below. He hadn’t set foot there in the past 50 years and he didn’t plan on ever going back. Not when the people down there thought he was a monster.

But he was not a monster, and he would not make her climb down by herself.

He knelt down, offering his hand to her. The rabbit climbed on and sat herself down in the center of his palm. Once she was seated, he slowly lifted her up and secured her against his chest, still taking care to be as gentle as possible.

To his surprise, he heard a little giggle from under his hand.

“You’re so fluffy!”

The hedgehog smiled. She had the sweetest little laugh. It almost reminded him of…

Not now. He had to focus on getting her home.

“I’m going to start climbing down now. Just stay put. I’ve got you.”

The giant wrapped his limbs around the beanstalk, his right hand still cradling Cream to his chest. Once he was sure he was stable enough, he began his descent.

Along the way, he was surprised to hear the rabbit address him.

“Do you have a name, Mr. Giant?”

“Hm? Yes, I do. My name is Shadow.”

“That’s a nice name. My name is Cream!”

After a while, they finally reached the bottom. Shadow set her down in the garden and immediately prepared himself to climb back up. But before he could, Cream called out to him.

“Wait! Mr. Shadow… Thank you for bringing me home.”

He gave her a quick nod, then started to climb back up.

She was sad to see him go, but she really needed to go inside and let her mother know she was okay.

Cream went into the house and went straight to Vanilla’s room. However, when she got there, she saw that her mother was still in bed, looking very pale and breathing heavily.

“M-Mother?!”

Vanilla turned her head to look at her daughter, her heavy eyelids barely opening. She forced a weak smile.

“Cream… there you are. Where did you go, sweetie?”

“Mother, you look sick! Wait right there, I’ll get help!”

The young rabbit ran back outside as fast as she could, hoping that Shadow hadn’t gotten too far. By the time she made it back to the base of the beanstalk, he was already too high up to hear her when she called out to him. But she could still catch up. He wouldn’t like it, but she had no choice.

Just as she did before, she jumped up on the leaves and boosted herself up the beanstalk until she caught up to him, landing on his shoulder. He noticed her small presence right away and gasped.

“How did you get up here so fast?! I told you not to climb this thing again!”

Cream sniffled, beginning to cry.

“I-I’m sorry, Mr. Shadow, but my Mother needs help! She looks really sick and I don’t know what to do!”

Shadow looked at her, a sinking feeling in his heart. He could help, but he really didn’t want to scare the girl’s mother. He had no idea how she would respond to seeing him.

But when he saw just how afraid Cream was for her mother’s health, he knew he had to help her. Even if it meant potentially being labeled a monster once again.

He held a finger up to her face, gently wiping her tears away and then softly stroking the top of her head.

“I can heal her. Just hold on tight while I climb down, Cream.”

Once he was back on the ground again, he lowered Cream back in front of her house and instructed her to bring Vanilla outside. After a minute, the mother and daughter returned, Vanilla looking absolutely exhausted and leaning on Cream for support.

The older rabbit looked up at Shadow, caught off guard by the sight of him. The giant knelt down, trying to make himself look like less of a threat.

“There’s no need to be afraid, ma’am. I’m here to help you.”

He laid his hand flat on the ground, extending a finger towards Vanilla.

“Just hold my hand and I’ll take care of it.”

She turned to Cream, who gave her an encouraging nod. Even if she was greatly intimidated by the giant creature, she trusted her daughter’s judgement. With that, she took his hand.

Shadow sent out waves of energy to her that slowly restored her strength. After just a few minutes, she felt like her old self again. She looked up at the giant with a soft smile.

“Thank you. I feel much better now. I’m not sure what came over me. I’ve been so exhausted lately and haven’t had the energy to do much of anything. And Cream… I’m sorry I haven’t been myself lately. I didn’t mean to worry you. But you know better than to run off on your own without telling me. I hope you thanked this gentleman for being so kind to you.”

Cream smiled and nodded. “I did, Mother! He brought me all the way down the beanstalk to make sure I got home safely!”

Vanilla smiled back and hugged her. She was forever grateful to have such a sweet and caring daughter.

She turned her attention back to Shadow, who simply remained kneeling beside them.

“I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for us today. But I can at least offer you some cookies if you’d like. They might be a bit small for you, but I don’t mind giving you more. I have plenty in the house.”

“That won’t be neces-”

Shadow was cut off by the comically loud sound of his own stomach rumbling. Vanilla chuckled.

“I’ll go get the cookies.”

After she went inside, Cream looked up at Shadow like she had something on her mind. Then, she spoke up.

“Mr. Shadow? Will you come and visit us again?”

He looked up at the sky. It really was lonely up there by himself, but it was safer for both him and the rest of the world that he stayed in the clouds away from everyone else.

At the same time, it was a refreshing change of pace to meet people who saw him not as a monster, but as a healer and protector. It had been so long since he’d been seen in that light.

“Perhaps I will. Or… you and your mother could visit my home sometimes as well. Of course, I’ll need to set up precautions to make my house safer for you to navigate first, but I think you will like it there.”

Cream’s face lit up at the idea. The thought of getting to explore a giant house was so exciting to her.

“We could play hide and seek! Think of all the places I could hide!”

Shadow chuckled. She really was like her in a lot of ways.

“Alright. Just promise me you’ll be careful.”

To his surprise, Cream ran right up to his knee and hugged it.

“I will, Mr. Shadow!”

He smiled, patting her head. Vanilla returned with a plate of cookies at that point, cooing at the adorable sight.

From that day forward, Shadow became a good friend to the rabbit family, no longer stuck in a world of isolation and sorrow. After everything he’d been through, it was nice to know that he could still make a positive difference in the lives of others, even if it was as simple as just being a system of love and support.

Though, it would take time before he was ready to meet the rest of Cream’s friends, no matter how much she insisted they would love him just as much as she and her mother did. Still, he was grateful every day to have them in his life, and devoted every moment he spent with them to ensuring they remained happy and safe.