An Interpreter's Travels

Straightening her back, Celia Clark knew that now was not the time to be frightened.  She had been prepared for this.  Interaction between the countries was normal and expected…and someone had to do it.  She had been trained for months and today was going to be her first actual run interacting.  But she was still terrified.  It was one thing to read the books, it was another to watch the videos.  It was quite another to board the boat and actually go to the country.  The land was like her own in every way, and the people living there were just like her…in hand, trunk, foot and with a little training…language.  The two countries needed to interact with each and their needed to be a few brave souls every year who would visit this country.
“Are you nervous?” one of the other interpreters asked Celia.  He was young, like her, probably not even twenty-years old.  His sandy blond hair blew in the sea air and he gave Celia a kind look.  “It’s always difficult your first time interacting with the people here.  It always puts things in perspective.”
“Isn’t this your first journey?” Celia asked with a worried expression.
The blond laughed.  “Yes, it’s my first.  But I’m going by what I’ve been told.  My older brother used to be an interpreter as well…before he was promoted.  He was happy to be chained to a desk after a few month long trips.  He says that being here will really put things in perspective.”  He shot a hand out towards Celia.  “Seamus,” he said in clear voice.  “Seamus McKinley.”
Celia took his hand and shook it slowly.  “A pleasure to meet you, Seamus McKinley.  My name’s Celia Clark.”
Seamus nodded and pulled his hand out from hers and turned his attention back to the waters.  It already felt different.  He couldn’t explain why but he knew what his brother had told him.  The air changes.  The sea seems deeper.  Nothing’s really that different but all of a sudden you will feel an overwhelming sense of feeling smaller.  Seamus felt that way already and the land wasn’t even in sight.
“So what made you choose interpretation?” he tried, keeping his attention at the water.
“Curiosity,” Celia answered back.  “You read the books about Lilliput and Brobdingnag and you blow them off as stories.  Just stories.  That’s all they were supposed to be.”  She shook her head.  “I’ve always been interested in tales of the little folk and the giants, but I never imagined that the human race would fit so conveniently in-between.”
“Aye,” Seamus said softly, nodding in agreement.  “I rather be a human than a Lilliputian.  Word has it that they cannot visit Brobdingnag without a human guard.  I couldn’t imagine…but that’s what it is.  You read too many books…and eventually you find yourself stuck in one.”
“To think that after all these years, Lemuel Gulliver’s stories turned out to be real.  A true documentation of visiting such worlds.  To travel to another dimension which has now secured itself in our own.”
“At least we don’t have to worry about flying islands or wild savages owned by horses,” Seamus said with a chuckle.
“Not yet,” Celia said softly.
“No,” Seamus said.  “Not yet.”
“What about you?”
“My brother told me that it’s an experience that I’d want to have,” Seamus said.  “It’s one thing to see a Lilliputian on TV but it’s quite another to have to sit in the center of their town and negotiate.  It’s even more of a shock to see a Brobdingnagan in our world on TV and then realize that they have their own world completely suited for them.”  He shuddered again openly.  “When I heard that were taking our first trip to practice interpreting with live subjects, I had hoped for the Lilliputians.”
“Really?” she asked, growing interested.
“Of course!” he blurted out with a red face.  “I wanted to see a race of people only the size of my hand.  Can you imagine that?  Can you imagine feeling like a giant?  That’s what I wanted to feel.  That’s why I signed up for this!  I was hoping to meet a pretty, blond, Lilliputian and take her back with me.”
“That would kidnapping,” Celia said.  “A violation of—”
“I know what the violates are,” Seamus said.  “I just wanted to hold one of them.  I’ve always been kind of a shorter guy so it would have been nice to feel big for a change.  And even if I couldn’t take one back…I would have been happy to be a sponsor for a visitor.  I would have liked to see one walking around on my countertop.  I’d want to watch them eat.”
“Her eat,” Celia corrected with a wink.  “It sounds like you want a little doll.”
“No,” Seamus said, expression darkening.  “I don’t want a doll.  I want a pretty, little Lilliputian because I like little things that are cute.  I would never see them as a doll.  And you better hope that some woman doesn’t come up to you on our way to the capitol and view you as a doll.  She could pluck you up, taking you away and—”
“We’ll have sponsors,” Celia said.  “No one’s going to simply pluck us up.”
“Those are the words as someone who hasn’t truly seen a Brobdingnagan in person.  You know how tall they are, don’t you?”
“Of course I do!  I’ve read the books!  Sixty feet on average.  Some are smaller but few reach sixty-five.”
“Reading the books is much different than the first time you see one.”
“And have you seen one?”
“I’ve seen the expression on my face when my brother talks about them.  I’ve seen the pictures of him interacting.  And I’ve been in the square when one is there waiting to talk to someone in our capitol.  Trust me, Celia.  You won’t know until you see one in the flesh.”
“Well, you barely have,” Celia shot back.  “So I don’t see how that makes you an expert.”
Seamus shrugged and leaned over the railing again.  “I suppose it doesn’t.  All I know, is that those first steps off our boat are doing to be the hardest.”
“W-Why?” Celia asked.  She couldn’t believe how much she was letting this guy in.  But she was curious.  How hard could it be?  Brobdingnagans were people.  Just like them.  They were just a little bigger.
“You’re no longer the master of your universe, Celia,” Seamus said.  “When the boat docks, you realize that when you step onto the land, you’re suddenly at everyone’s feet.  People don’t look you in the eye, they look over your head.  Your steps won’t make a sound but the ones above you, their steps will rumble and shake you to your core.  You’re not an equal.  You’re the little one now.”
“I’m sure they don’t see us as little ones—”
“They have to!  What else can we be?” Seamus blurted out.  “And it will only be worse when they try to be on your level.  They’ll kneel down, crouch down, but that will only remind you how small you are compared to them.  And due to the ‘ask before’ policy, they can’t just take you up.  They have to ask and you have to accept.  You have to be willing to admit that in their world, you can’t get by without them.”
“I plan to walk,” Celia said.  “They’re trained, just like us.  They know that we may not want to be in their hands.  They have traveling contraptions for us now.  We don’t have to sit in their damn hands.”
“But they’ll want us to.  They want a thrill just like anyone else.  I know how I’d feel about a Lilliputian.  How could they not feel the same about us?”  He shook his head.  “Being that small compared to another man.  I’m not sure how I’m going to handle it.  At least you’re a girl.  A girl is supposed to be tiny and cute.  How am I supposed to feel like a man when this man can knock me away with one finger?”
“He wouldn’t want to—”
“And that’s what makes it all the worse.  Of course he wouldn’t want to.  It wouldn’t be worth it.  We’re so small to them that it’s not worth it.”
“So tell me,” Celia tried again.  “Why did you sign up for this?  It sounds like you’re dreading it.”
“I told you,” he said with a smile.  “I wanted to meet a cute Lilliputian girl.”
Celia snorted and rolled her eyes, looking out to the sea ahead.  It was a pleasant day at least.  They could roam about on deck.  Some days would not be so pleasant.  As she was about to turn away, something caught her attention.
“Oh God,” she said in a hushed tone.  It was as though the sky had opened up.  She brought her hand to her mouth and cupped it gently, her eyes growing wide.  They were a strange set of eyes, one blue and one hazel but they both showed the same expression in that moment.  Fear.  Wonderment.  Awe.
“What?” Seamus asked, turning his attention to where Celia was looking.  “Oh God,” he breathed out in the same tone.  “There it is…”
“Brobdingnag,” Celia whispered.  “We’re almost there.”