The Sleeping Giant

That day I climbed to the apex of the speed boat,

Maneuvering around in my bulky, neon life jacket.

I screeched at the spray that stung my face as

The lake opened before me.

Suspended in air, I stood with my feet placed on slippery

Candy Cane striped benches.

“Cat, be careful up there!” My grandfather called.

He had one hand steering the speeding boat,

And his other placed on his hip as he monitored

The changing waves, so I wouldn’t go flying off the boat.

I smiled at him as we sped towards the sandy

Cove that we often ate peanut butter sandwiches on

And watch Apollo drag the sun higher and higher.

But then, he did something new.

The sound of the engine died, and the boat leveled itself

Into the dark emerald waters, too deep to walk through.

I panicked thinking we had run out of gas.

But my Poppop walked towards me,

And he sat down on one of the benches.

I crawled into his lap and made myself comfortable.

“You see the train tracks that run over the waterfall?”

I nodded against his chest as I looked at the

Table-topped waterfall that raged beside the cove.

“Right above it, see those ridges?”

My eyes followed his instructions

And moved just beyond the diving cliffs where I had

Seen many jump from hundreds of feet.

“Those are the feet, stomach, and head of a giant.”

And there, the giant appeared.

Sleeping soundly on his back, he didn’t stir to breathe.

Head cocked I asked, “Why’s he sleeping there?”

“Because he laid down one day, and Mother Nature

Turned him into a mountain range.”

Tears washed the spray from my face

It seemed like a mean trick for Mother Nature to pull.

“No, no. Listen.” He wiped the tears away with rough docking fingers.

“His hair changed into ridges, and his fingers brush the lake.

He likes it when people climb the trails on his stomach!

You see the train tracks? He loves trains! He listens to them

And grants the passengers safe passage, and a pretty view!”

“Oh, he likes it!” I beamed jumping from his lap.

“See the waterfall is for you to run beneath.”

“But he can’t see anything!”

“You’re right. But he doesn’t mind that he can’t,

because he can hear people's cries of joy!

He’s very content to sleep there undisturbed.

He makes sure it’s peaceful here.”

“Do you think he’ll ever wake up?” I asked in worry.

Gray-speckled brown hair shook like the pebbled beach

When turned over by the morning waves.

“Maybe one day he’ll rise, but for now we should leave him to sleep.”

He started the engine again and our ride home begun,

My eyes still stung for the sleeping giant

Because he couldn’t see the sun high in the sky.

But my Poppop said he could wake up one day, So, it was okay.