Colossus
Dear Diary,
Colossus blinked today! Larry says I am crazy, because Colossus has been just sitting there since before we were born. But every day after school this week, I went to the clearing in the woods and sat next to Colossus. I was thinking about it, and I think Colossus must be sad because nobody visits it. If I was in the woods for years and years, and nobody visited me, I would stop moving too. So I visit it every day now, and I tell it stories. And today, it blinked! I was looking at its face when I was telling about a boy fighting angry eagles, and Colossus definitely blinked. (Definitely is my new word. Teacher says it means for sure.)
Dear Diary,
The Mayor came to our house today after supper. He told Da and Ma that Teacher heard me telling Sarah that I saw Colossus blink. He asked me if that was true, and how long I had been visiting it. He said that if Colossus blinks again, or does anything else, I have to tell an adult, right away! He was worried. Before he left, I heard him tell Da that if Colossus was waking up after all this time, probably the village was in some kind of danger. But he said I could keep visiting Colossus because it would not hurt me.
Dear Diary,
Today, Colossus spoke! I finished my story, and I was going to go home, and I heard Colossus say “Stay.” Its voice sounded so old and sad, so I stayed for another story. Colossus stared straight ahead, but I know it was listening. I stayed too late, and Larry had to fetch me for supper. After supper, Da went to tell the Mayor that I heard Colossus speak.
I thought about trying to clean all the moss off of Colossus, but I kind of like the way it looks. It would look kind of boring if there wasn’t any moss. Then it would look like the stone statue in the village square. That statue looks so clean and shiny and not real at all.
Dear Diary,
Colossus gave me flowers today. When I went to tell it stories, there was a new hill where I usually sit! It is a hill with lots of different flowers on it, and even a small tree. I saw a place where the hill used to be, now it is just a scooped-out place. Colossus must have gotten up and walked! Where the hill used to be is too far for him to reach from where he sits. I told him an extra long story today.
Dear Diary,
Today I asked Teacher why people are worried about Colossus. She said that Colossus protects the village from danger. She said that Colossus knows the future and wakes up whenever the village needed protecting. That’s what Larry said too, but I wanted to make sure he was not teasing me, like he has been lately. I guess the Mayor is worried that Colossus is waking up because the village is in danger. But I’m not worried. Colossus is so big, I bet he could protect us from anything!
Dear Diary,
Today was scary and wonderful! Colossus woke up! When I was at school, just after Spelling, the village bell started ringing, and it didn’t stop for a long time. We all hid under our desks. We heard the sound of many, many machines in the air, the flying machines from one of the cities. There were explosions because the flying machines were dropping explosions. Then there was the sound of something big walking, although we didn’t know what the sound was at first. It just felt like more explosions. I could see out a window from under my desk, and I saw Colossus walking! He was grabbing the flying machines from the air and crunching them up in his hands. He was so tall, and he looked so powerful. Even when the machines exploded, he wasn’t hurt. He was also yelling, and his voice sounded like thunder.
Dear Diary,
I am sad because Colossus went to sleep again. He has not done anything since the day he protected us from the flying machines. After the machines were all gone, he went back to the woods, and he doesn’t even blink now. Ma is going to show me how to plant some bulbs in the moss that grows all over him. She says next spring, the bulbs will be flowers. I think flowers are a good way to say thank you, because Colossus gave me a whole hill of flowers.
Teacher is letting me tell stories to the youngest children. Tomorrow I am going to tell them one about Colossus. It is not going to be about what really happened with the flying machines, but a new story. Then I’m going to tell it to him later. He will definitely like that.