CHAPTER 3 : Training with the Silent Giant

The morning mist clung to Crofton’s fields as Taren slipped out of town, sack slung over his shoulder. He glanced back once no one saw him leave. Good.

He followed the rutted road to where the yellow giant waited. Its silent frame loomed against the horizon, dew glistening on its steel. To anyone else, it was a mysterious hunk of metal. To Taren, it was a promise.

“Morning, GS516M,” he greeted, patting its massive tire. It didn’t respond, of course. It never did. But he swore its lights flickered faintly, like it understood.

Climbing into the cab, he settled into the seat. His hands rested on the wheel, the levers now familiar. “Alright… let’s try again.”

He pressed the pedal. The engine rumbled to life, deep and steady. The vibration through the seat sent a thrill down his spine.

Taren gripped the wheel tight. “Okay… steady now…”

He eased the GS516M forward. The blade lowered with a squeal of hydraulics, skimming the dirt road. At first, it wobbled wildly, leaving jagged scrapes and uneven cuts.

“No, no, too far!” he muttered, yanking the lever back. The blade jerked up, and the grader rolled forward uselessly.

He sighed. Again.

This time, he focused on slow speed, gentle hands, light on the controls. Bit by bit, the blade smoothed the road’s surface into something flat and even.

When he looked back, his heart soared. “Yes! That’s it!”

After a short rest (and a bite of bread), he studied the controls again. There were levers he hadn’t tried ones that tilted and shifted the blade at different angles.

“Alright… if this thing’s meant to fix roads, it’s got to do more than just flatten ‘them.”

He experimented. One lever angled the blade left, another to the right. With slow passes, he discovered how to push dirt off to the sides, clearing ditches for water drainage.

It was clumsy work. Once, he over-angled the blade and nearly tipped the grader into a shallow rut. His heart nearly stopped, but GS516M steadied itself.

“…Thanks,” he muttered, patting the dashboard.

As the sun climbed high, Taren wiped sweat from his brow. His back ached, but he kept going.

The more he practiced, the more he noticed something strange the grader seemed to respond to him faster.

At first, every lever pull felt heavy and sluggish. Now? Smooth, almost intuitive. It was as if GS516M was… teaching him. Matching his rhythm.

When he turned the wheel slightly left, it adjusted perfectly, almost anticipating him.

“…You’re not just a machine, are you?” he whispered.

The engine’s steady hum was his only reply, but he grinned anyway.

By sundown, he was exhausted. But the road…

It looked incredible. No puddles. No ruts. Smooth, even, ready for carts and travelers.

He jumped down from the cab, staring proudly at their work. “We did it, GS516M!”

The grader’s lights flickered faintly in the dimming light, almost like a nod.

Taren plopped down in the grass, breathing hard. “I don’t know where you came from… but I’m going to learn everything about you. Together, we’ll fix every road in Crofton!”

The silent giant loomed behind him, steady and unmoving. Yet somehow, Taren felt… understood.

That night, Crofton’s travelers would be shocked to find the road miraculously repaired. But for now, under the soft glow of dusk, it was just a boy and his grader, quietly reshaping the world one pass at a time.