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Rodney Mcshaw never wore his second pair of eyes in the morning. Lili wasn’t sure why. And Rodney always did the same thing every morning. Every morning while the sky was still dim, and the grass still dewed. Lili would see him come out of his house just as the paperboy left his paper outside of it. Then Rodney would stand in his baggy grey jogger sweats, or his threadbare bathrobe and look up and down either side of the street before stopping to take his paper up, and going back inside his den (as Lili preferred to call it).

Anyway, after lunch in the afternoons, Rodney would again come back outside, but only after Lili saw something even stranger. This time a white square box like a dog head on wheels would drive up to the little box Rodney had staked outside his fence. The dog head thing would stop there for a minute. Lili watched as a skinny feeler antennae would reach out from an opening in the side, and go into Rodney’s stake box. Then it would go forward and repeat the action through the entirety of giant land, and Rodney would come out and open his stake box and take out rectangle pieces of various sizes and colors back into his den.

Rodney did that everyday before Lili’s tree budded its new spring green leaves. And after her tree’s vibrant buds stretched and grew out into healthy lush leaves, he still did the same thing. His food seemed to be some kind of square white giant leafbug perhaps. Lots of them. And the flat white web they were wrapped in didn’t seem sticky or dangerous at all. Sometimes he would tear the web in his yard and take out the white leaf bug and look at it for awhile. Clearly it was already dead. Lili didn’t know why he didn’t catch his own food, but he didn’t seem particularly affected by the custom at all, and he would always take his stinkbugs back to his den. These giants had their ways and Lili and her kind had theirs.

Sometimes when the sun was high in the sky Lili would skip her long naps. From the safety of the leaves, she would peer down and spy another giant beetle, different than Rodney’s beetle parked on the strip of rock in front of his house, and it was as blue as the sky. It would creep up outside Rodney’s fence and stop there in front of his den like the square dog head box. Then a sky blue wing would extend outward, but not to fly. Another giant man would crawl out of it. He went up to the front of Rodney’s den. At first, when Lili saw this, she was extremely perplexed. Some of her cousins maybe would make similar lairs in the ground to catch giant toads and the like, but this one always went in the trap den and came back out walking fine, without so much as a scratch or broken leg. She watched the non prey man go back into his beetle form and zip away down the ashen path below her. Rodney came back out the next dawn as usual. Like nothing ever happened.

So after some sunsets would go by, something even stranger happened. Rodney would come out of his den carrying, or sometimes even dragging a large white or black egg sac. He would take them to the front of his house. He always had two, and he always would bring them out around the time of day when the sun was setting. Most of the other giants in the area would do this too. They would put them in two rectangle boxes next to the ashen path. They would sit outside overnight in the boxes, then the next morning, when the sun was still barely rising, a huge giant creature with a big thorax would come down the ashen path, and with a long claw, it would sweep up each and every rectangle box left out and empty the egg sacs into its thorax. Lili was fascinated the first time she saw this. And also terrified.

The days passed by like this, and Lili observed them all in her cozy silken nest cocoon she made herself. And when the days started to pass by in long stretches of warm sun, the blue beetle would stop by more often. Sometimes another shorter rounder giant would be with him. It had longer fur that flowed behind it. A woman they’re called. They would both go in the den together, and both of them would return. Unharmed. Just like before.

Shortly after one such visit, a loud giant wingless dragonfly on multiple little wheels, arrived in front of the den next to Rodney’s. The dragonfly head was shiny and glittery red. Lili was afraid at first that it would continue down the ashen path and plow through the branches around her like it did to the others. But it seemed to quiet down and go to sleep. After that, two taller giants got out and entered the other den next to Rodney’s. Then they came back out and went into the dragonfly's head. An unusual wing lowered from the back of the box and stayed resting on the ashen path. The two giants then proceeded to go in and out of the dragonfly's back box carrying stuff out between them to the den and returning for more. They would step on the back wing extended to the ground to do this. After they were done, they got back into the dragonfly head. The ground wing retracted back in, and the creature roared to life. Then it drove away. Lili’s tree lost a few leaves, when it passed under. But she was ok. And her web house.

She had almost forgotten about the dragonfly until a couple of sunrises after that, a pair of two more beetles pulled up to the den next to Rodney’s. A family of four grown giants got out. Two women and two men. They looked odd and out of place. They lingered aimlessly around the front yard, looking at the tree, the barren flower bed, and the stones. Then they all went inside the den and didn’t come back out again. The wind picked up and spun the rusted rooster weather vane on top of their roof. When the night time rolled around and Lili had a few fireflies, the girl giant came outside, sat down on the porch step, and started puffing clouds into the night sky. A small tiny orange dot would flare into the night near her face every so often, like a signal to Lili. Then eventually the girl went back inside after the orange dot faded out.

The next morning , a little after Rodney’s paper routine, the short stocky man who moved into the den next to him went and said hello. And much to Lili’s surprise, she saw Rodney change into his green hornet form and go away for awhile. He rarely did that often. But when he did, he always brought back different things with him from his hunt. He came back this time with a small egg sac that he carried into his den. Later, after the sun went down Lili saw Rodney bring something over to the den next to him. It was a small flat box with a little film window on top. Inside you could see a round flower type thing with dried leaves or clay criss crossed on top of red sludgy thick slime. Blood? Lili wasn’t sure, but clearly it was important and special, because she never saw Rodney leave his den, and never, ever to visit the other giants around him.

The new short stocky giant man seemed thrilled and excited by this offering, and the two of them stood outside with each other for a little bit to talk. Then Lili watched as the short stocky giant man moved back to the porch and opened his door, stepping to the side a little, but Rodney lifted his hand and went back to his own den. He didn’t go inside.

A shocking change happened the next morning. After Rodney’s daily paper routine, he went around to the side of his house (the one barely in Lili’s sight) and started plowing the ground. When the soil was nice and loose, and much darker than the rest of the soil around it, he went back to the front of his house and seemed to wait for a bit before going back inside his house. Lili wasn’t sure what he was doing now. The rest of his surrounding property was still unkept and overgrown, which Lili was extremely grateful for. Since she would be moving soon. Some place better.

Even more fascinations seemed to occur with these new giants. This time Lili discovered something called “my bike.” When Lili first saw the contraption, it reminded her of one of her favorite snacks. Ants! It had two antennae at the front which a giant could turn in either direction, and then two large window circles that connected to the ground and made the whole thing move. In this case, the girl who puffed clouds, had now started a habit everyday of walking beside the creature from the area behind her house to the front, then she would climb on and connect to it. Just like the beetles, the ant was really fast. She would disappear from sight in a matter of minutes. And Rodney would too. That was the stranger thing. Lili never knew where he went. He would leave in his green hornet form like he used to, and he would return eventually, but never at the same time as The Ant Giant Girl.

When The Ant Giant Girl returned, it was usually just to throw the little sac that she carried on her back onto the front porch steps of her den. It would land with a soft thud, then she would connect back to her ant exoskeleton and disappear once more. Lili found that really interesting. She munched happily on a locust leg she'd earned.

It seemed like only the short stocky man and The Ant Giant Girl ever left their den. The two other giants, Lili couldn’t remember much about them. Though sometimes if she were lucky, she’d see the other giant man come out with a large egg sac too. He was tall, but not inclined to say hello or greet Rodney whenever they saw each other. Lili was pretty sure Rodney wouldn’t say hello anyway.

The days were getting chillier, and every time the wind blew, leaves would flutter down to the ground below. Even though the branches still held her silky cocoon, it seemed to Lili that she was losing her home slowly bit by bit. It was all below her now. She almost got eaten by a particular pesky robin twice already. It was time to find somewhere else to settle.

Lili thought about going over to the new giants who lived next to Rodney, but thought better of it. She had actually set her sights on a blackberry bush that was beside the entryway to Rodney’s house. There were no birds there and hopefully no rats either. It took half the day, but she crossed the area in time and started making herself cozy and at home. Lili could still see everything, but maybe not as well as before, from when she had her tall tree vantage point. The leaves on the bush provided adequate protection though, and shelter. She could even see Rodney coming and going even closer now. She could also see the front yard. What she couldn’t see now though, were the neighbors, or the sides of the house, but that was okay. She was mostly interested in Rodney.

In the new location, Lili was able to see the same thing Rodney did. One evening she saw Ant Giant Girl leave on one of her adventures. But this time she saw that Rodney lifted his arm a little in a wave. Yes, he waved. With one hand. The Ant Giant Girl waved back. If uncertainly. Rodney was sure acting very strange lately Lili thought to herself. But much to Lili’s surprising relief, the sky blue beetle pulled up in front of the house, and the giant (who Lili was further shocked to see looked just like Rodney with less lines and facial hair) climbed out. He was alone this time. He put his upper leg arms around him and held him, and then they both went inside his den. Lili heard him say “dad”.

Then, one cold chilly morning before the sun rose, and before the paper boy had come, Lili was in her blackberry bush, when she spotted Ant Giant Girl walking along the fence to Rodney’s house. She didn’t have her exoskeleton with her, or anything else but a small sac on her back. Lili couldn’t always see the moon now from the ground, but it must have been round and full, because Rodney’s overgrown yard was illuminated and as clear as day. Lili watched Ant Giant Girl pick her way around the statues and other miscellaneous junk in his yard. She looked around curiously at everything there as she continued to the door despite tripping on a stone bench overgrown with brambles and milkweeds.

Lili saw that Ant Giant Girl had her jeans on when she reached the door. In other words, she wore the clothes she always wore on the days she threw her backpack on the porch at her den. Lili watched curiously as the girl just stood there seemingly frozen in time. She waited in fearful hesitation before she lifted a sweatered arm and lightly knocked on Rodney’s trap door. When Rodney didn't open the door, she turned to leave, but then just as quickly she spun around and touched the glowing dot next to the trap door. Rodney opened the door a little bit later, and he seemed just as surprised as Lili was to see the Ant Giant Girl standing there.

“Hi.” Ant Giant Girl said, to which Rodney echoed cautiously,

“Hi.” And then he invited her inside the glowing den. She stepped inside.

Ant Giant Girl was in there for awhile Lili didn't know how long. Maybe longer than the blue beetle man . When the sky seemed like it was beginning to brighten with dawn, Ant Giant Girl came out. But Lili was confused when she saw her turn around and go back inside. She must have forgotten something, but it seemed like she was carrying her sac she had brought with her. Lili wasn’t sure what happened after that. All she knew was when the sun had risen, and the paper boy stopped by on his usual rounds, Rodney was there. He was there to get his food also when it came. Nothing out of the ordinary happened.

That night, big giant plumes of white smoke lifted into the night sky. Crickets were chirping somewhere temptingly around Lili and she was feeling very sleepy. Rodney was working in his garden earlier, because he came around the house with his shovel and gardening gloves. He came back to the house when it started to rain though. He was talking to someone also.

A couple of sunrises later, two giant men appeared from a flashing beetle and knocked on Rodney’s door. It was late in the afternoon. Lili hadn’t seen Ant Giant Girl lately anymore, but usually she came home in the afternoons when everything was golden. The giant men knocked again and when Rodney didn’t open the door, they went back to their flashing beetle form outside Rodney’s fence, and it drove away down the ashen path. Rodney opened the door and stepped outside to hang a Christmas wreath on his door. Lili noticed the flashing beetle had letters on the side and back that looked like "POLICE".

Soon flower buds started pushing out of the soil around Lili’s bush. Tulips. Rodney didn’t plant them, but his yard had so many wild growths and surprises around it, somebody must have a long time ago. There were lots of empty soda cans piled up around the side of the house that Lili never noticed before. Tall and short ones of different sizes. A lot crushed and some uncrushed. There were also dirty weathered plastic bins that looked like they contained more cans inside them.

Lili crawled to her favorite leaf to bask in the sun awhile. She wondered if any other spiders had moved into the bins with the cans. After all, she discovered she wasn't the only spider in the bush that winter. And, Lili thought, the other spider sure was tasty.