Story about fear: Today is the day the giant comes

Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a very bright and trustworthy young woman. Having learned all she could in her small village, she longed to explore the neighboring lands and discover new wisdom. With a heart full of curiosity, she set out on a long journey and soon arrived at a great city, its towering castle walls a testament to its age and grandeur. “Surely I can learn something new from the people here,” she thought, hopeful and eager. Yet when she entered the bustling city, she found that its people wore sorrowful expressions and moved about with heavy steps. Their eyes were downcast, and an air of fear and depression hung over them like a dark cloud. Concerned, the young woman inquired among the citizens about the source of their sadness. One trembling inhabitant, voice quavering as if burdened by a terrible secret, explained that on this very day, a giant was due to appear. He confided that the people lived in constant dread of the giant, describing him as a creature towering over 10 feet tall, a being so immense that he could scarcely be called a man. At first, the young woman scoffed at the idea, thinking it was impossible for such a creature to exist. But her skepticism soon gave way to genuine curiosity as she pressed the frightened citizen for more details. In a hushed, anxious tone, he revealed that every year, at the same time and on the same day, the giant would descend from the mountain where he dwelled. He would stand at the edge of a clearing and bellow in a voice that echoed like thunder: “Send out your bravest man for me to fight, or I will knock down these walls and kill everyone inside!” The citizen went on to describe how, each year, one valiant soul would emerge only to be paralyzed by the giant’s enormous presence. Before the warrior could even unsheathe his sword, the giant would strike him down, as if the man were merely a statue frozen in terror.

Deeply moved by the plight of the people and driven by her unyielding desire to learn, the young woman asked, in her own determined way, to witness this spectacle. The citizen explained that the only way to see the giant was to face him in battle. Though skeptical of her own ability to combat such a fearsome foe, the young woman declared, with quiet resolve, that she would take on the challenge. At the appointed hour, as the shadows grew long and the city held its breath, the distant but powerful voice of the giant boomed across the castle walls: “Send out your bravest man for me to fight, or I will knock down these walls and kill everyone inside!” Without hesitation, the young woman stepped through the castle gate and walked toward the open clearing, where at the edge of the forest and near the foothills of the mountain, a towering figure could be seen. From afar, she could only see him from the waist up, separated by a gentle rise in the ground, and in that moment, she felt both awe and terror. For a long pause, she stood frozen, caught between the urge to flee back behind the safety of the walls and the promise she had made to the people. Finally, mustering all her courage, she began to walk tentatively toward the giant. At first, the creature appeared immense perhaps as tall as the frightened citizen had claimed but as she drew closer along the gentle slope, the angle of her view changed. Slowly, she realized that the giant’s true stature was not as monstrous as first believed. With every step she took, the giant appeared to shrink in size.

Encouraged by this unexpected transformation, her pace quickened. In what seemed like a miraculous moment, the giant’s enormous form dwindled until it was scarcely more than 12 inches tall, a figure so small that, with one swift stride, it could easily be outpaced. With a burst of renewed hope and determination, the young woman stopped in the middle of the clearing and, bending down, picked up the tiny figure that once had represented all her dread. Before the giant could shrink further, almost disappearing like a grain of sand carried off by the wind, she earnestly inquired, “Who are you?” In a voice that grew fainter with each passing second, the tiny giant replied, “I am known by many names. To the Chinese, I am Kongju. To the Greeks, I am Phobos. But to your people, brave one, I am known simply as fear.” With these words, the young woman understood that the towering, terrifying giant was nothing more than a symbol, a personification of fear itself. This profound encounter taught her an invaluable lesson, one that she would carry with her for the rest of her days and share with others in her village and beyond. She learned that fear, like a giant, may appear overwhelming at first, but when we confront it with determination and confidence, it shrinks until it is nothing more than a small, manageable challenge. Her experience reminded everyone, young and old alike, that the true battle is not against a monstrous foe but against the invisible chains of fear that can hold us back from reaching our potential.