Asuka's Note: Each part of this story is a stand alone story all within the same series.
My Cousins small new Life
by
Alyssa
1.
Its hard to believe that it all started more than 4 years ago. Sometimes it's
impossible to imagine at all! But then I look at little stevie staring up at me
from his cage and I smile to myself cause its really kinda fun having a little
man as a pet. I know that probally sounds mean but it isnt, well not really. I
mean my cousin is only about 2" high and he relies on me for everything! Besides
he kinda accepts his life for what it is now and I take real good care of him.
Its not that he wouldnt go back to the way things used to be if he had the
chance but since there is no chance of that, mikey should consider himself sorta
lucky to have me protecting him. Things could be much worse for the little fella.
He's got his pretty 16 year old cousin feeding, cleaning, protecting and loving
him! I know it has to be embarrassing for him living like this sometimes but he
realizes that at 2" tall, you dont call the shots and in fact its a pretty good
idea to make your owner, I mean protector of course, pleased with you. I am sure
he accepts his new life now and he appreciates me looking afte him. He'd better,
hehehe if he knows whats good for the teeny tiny man!!!!
Anyways let me tell you how it all began. This was back in 1997 and I, allysa
coughlin was still in junior high school. I was such a kid back then. I remember
how I really looked up to my big older cousin Steve. Well, we all did. I mean he
was a hunk! 18 and on his way to Northwestern, totally cool and totally muscular
at 6 feet tall, Steven had it all. Steve and his junior girlfriend amanda larson
were like the cutest couple in school. They made an adorable pair cause amanda
was so little- at under 5 feet tall, Michael towered over her. They seemed
really in love but I suppose looking back on it, amanda was more into cousin
steve cause he was popular since once he got little, she didnt really want to
stand by him. Well, over him,I guess is more like it, tee hee! Oh I am getting
ahead of myself again. (sometimes I do that, sorry)
So stevie had it all going for him, handsome, smart, intellegent, a pretty
girlfriend and popular. Oh was he popular! All the guys wanted to be just like
him and the girls they all wanted to date him,except those that had already had
that honor! Steven had had his share of girlfriends in high school and although
he had broken up with 5 or 6 girls, all his exes seemed to still like him lots.
(guess they all still had hopes of getting back together with him) Stevie was
popular with his siblings as well. His younger brother alex was a freshman at
the time and although he was just 5' 5" tall, he was a whole like steve. He
looked up to steven and steven was a really good big bro. His sisters liked him
too, as much as sisters can like their brother I guess. (Mine's a big jerk most
of the time) His sister jennifer was a junior and only 8 months younger than
steve. She looks nothing like her other siblings cause she was adopted by my
aunt and uncle when she was a baby. (jen's parents were friends of my aunt lisa
and uncle rob and as godparents to jennifer, they took her in when her parents
died in a terrible accident) Jennifer is blonde and 5'2" and is currently 21 and
a senior at columbia. She is awfully pretty. Id love to look like her when I am
grown up but she doesnt look anything like her adopted family. Rats! Jennifer is
so cool, I really look up to her like the older sister I wish I had. (oh yeah I
am rambling again, whoops!) Jennifer and Steven had grown up pretty close
despite not being blood related, they thought of each other as brother and
sister. Jen loved her brother but didnt always approve of the way he treated his
girlfriends. Two of his exes, stephanie and kaitlan had been close friends of
jennifer's before getting involved with steve. Secretely, jennifer thought that
her brother was too much of a player and she hoped that it would not get him in
trouble some day.
The baby of the family was shanna. At 7 years old, shanna got away with
everyhing cause she was so cute. She loved her big brother too and he doted on
her in a very kind way. They were destined to become close friends when they
were older.
Steven had the perfect life, so it seemed. All was going right for him but none
of this stuff would matter to him after the day his life changed in an instant.
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
Steve and my older brother dan were in the same chemistry class together and
they were working on a science project together in their basement. It had
something to do with molecular makeup of small objects. I have never been all
too good at science! Steve was real good with chemicals and had made some
formula to test compounds for some sort of neutrinic acid (or some such thing,
who knows!)
Our families were always real close so I went along with my brother dan to our
cousins house. We were all gonna have supper and then spend the night there. I
was still only 11 and curious about what the guys were up to so I hung around in
the basement with them probably getting in the way. (oh well, too bad!) Jennifer
and Alex werent there when it happened. They were hanging out with friends so it
was just steve, dan and me. Oh and little shanna was upstairs taking a nap so
she could stay up late to watch a movie with us! I remember it like it was
yesterday when dan went up to get us some snacks and steven continued to work on
his molecular project. Steve poured one tube into another and nothing happened.
Then he added a small tube of something (god knows what it was!) and then the
explosion! Instantly Steve disappeared before my eyes, or so I thought. I went
over to see what had happened and it didnt look too bad. There was no smoke, no
fire, no noise. Just a silent explosion!
Then I noticed on the basement floor a small creature, the size of a mouse, no
smaller than a mouse scampering around like it was terrified. I bent down on my
knees to get a closer look and I was stupefied at what I saw there. It was my
cousin steven shrunk to less than 2" tall, helpless and frightened. I didnt know
what to do! I mean I am only 11 years old at the time remember? I was so amazed
at what had happened to him and steve looked up at me like he was afraid I would
squash him like a bug! I rememeber thinking at the time how cool it was to see
someone so teeny tiny and even though I was concerned for my cousin's safety, I
so wanted to pick him up in my hand and play with the tiny fella. I decided to
try to talk to him but when I asked him if he was ok, he shook terrified at the
enormous sound of my giant voice to his tiny ears. When he told me to get help,
I could barely make out the eensy weensy squeaks coming from stevies mouth. I
decided it would not be a good idea to leave him like this on the floor, not
even for a second. (at his height, I thought an insect or a mouse might be a
real threat to the little guy) So I gently scooped up my little tiny cousin and
pocketed him into my blouse. Then I ran upstairs to tell my aunt and brother
what had happened to my cousin!!!
2.
Well I was thinking that you probably wonder how I wound up with steven as my
responsibility. So today I want to tell you how I got the job and maybe a little
bit about what I plan to do with my new pet in the year and a half that he's
mine!
--------------------------------
Steven has been living mostly with his kid brother alex over the last few years.
Alex graduated from high school back in may and he wanted to go away for the
summer before starting at dartmouth late in august. I mean stevie was under
alex's care but all of the family did our part. Steven is a big job so there
have been many times that alex had other things going on in his life and stevie
sorta got passed along to one of the rest of his relatives. (must be so weird
for him to have been the tallest and strongest, and now to be handed back and
forth to us kids who used to be small to him. guess he's sorta used to it by
now!) I loved getting to take care of mikey (btw, thats the nickname that his
baby sister gave him after he shrunk, mini mikey, and its sorta stuck cause its
so cute for the little guy, HE HATES IT THOUGH hehehe) but never seemed to get
much of a chance. (I suppose kid cousin allysa is low on the totem pole when
looking for sitters.)
So when alex went away, my aunt and uncle had to come up with a new plan. They
had first thought that shanna would get the job when alex went off to school but
shes still such a little girl at 11. Shanna was none to happy about not getting
her chance to look after her doll sized big brother but her mom assured her when
she was in high school, steven would be all hers! that made her smile. (Even
though steven loved his baby sister, it made him cringe to think of being in her
care. He'd gone through a very difficult year and a half when his stepsister
Jennifer kept him in her dollhouse. He didnt look forward to being kept by a
sister again!)
So with Jennifer and Alex both away at college, I tried to get them to make me
the person that would be ultimately in charge of mikey's life. This wasnt going
to be easy cause I am not sure they totally trusted me. I have a little
reputation you see. (not undeserved) Besides, since the first time I held the
small man in my hand, years ago, I sorta have been a little overly exuberant
about playing with him! I am sure they had their doubts that I would be the best
one to look after their teeny son. So they considered hiring a professional
babysitter (but that would be very expensive) and they also though about sending
him to live with jennifer or alex at school. That idea seemed good for awhile
but I convinced them that it would be awfully dangerous for steven on a college
campus plus the demands on jen and alex would be too high.
Finally, i convinced them that I would be the right girl for the job! Yippy!!! I
was thrilled. A man of my own to do with whatever I wanted to for my whole
junior and senior year of high school. What fun! When mikey found out he tried
to argue but he knew that it was a lost cause. His mom and dad hadnt listened to
him when he objected to his previous "protectors." (guess its hard to be all
that convincing when you are the size of a doll!) His arguments where not even
considered. They decided that cousin allysa would get the job and I was
thrilled! When I went to get steven, (he was going to be moving to my bedroom
and at first my old dollhouse) he tried to make me understand that he was still
my older cousin and that I of course would listen to whatever he asked of me and
act accordingly. Hahaha. Yeah right!
He was scared. terrified is more like it. He knew how much I enjoyed having him
at my mercy and he feared that I would make him do things that he didnt like.
(boy is he right!) Nevertheless, I tried to reassure him while his folks were
around. "its ok steven. We are gonna have a blast together and I am sure you are
going to love your new life with me. I promise we are going to whats best for
everyone." I suppose that reassured him a little bit but when I picked him up to
take him with me, I could still feel him shaking. (it felt kinda neat, knowing
he was so scared of little me!)
It was also worked out that shanna would come over at least twice a week to take
care of him. RATS. I didnt want her anywhere near my little man but she is his
sister and I suppose I understand that they want her to get used to looking
after him cause someday it will be her job. I decided that when she came over I
would try to set the groundrules so that shanna would know I owned her brother
and she was simply a visiting babysitter.
So we got home, I carried mikey all the way in my blouse. (boy does that feel
cool!) When I let him out in my bedroom, he instructed me never to carry him
like that again because it was uncomfortable and embarrassing. Pulease! He tried
making demands on me? what was he thinking? I was annoyed but tried to hide it.
I told him that I like carrying him that way and hed have to get used to it. He
was steamed. I told him that we were going to have to work together cause he
needed me pretty badly in his predicament. I didnt want to scare him too much
right off the bat so I told him not to worry so much, I was just a 15 year old
girl. (at the time) I giggled to show him how immature I could still be! (hahaha
whatever) He seemed to calm down a little when i told him that we would have a
great time together and that we would become best of friends. I added one thing,
"mikey, honey, just as long as you realize that allysa is in charge, things will
be fine. I do expect obedience from my little cousin or there will be
punishments. Am I clear?"
I placed him on my skirt so that he could see just how enormous I was compared
to him. He would be a foolish man to disagree with such a giant teenager who
controlled his very existence! He gulped. the sight must have been overwhelming
for the dollie man! He nodded agreement which made me grin from ear to ear.
Oh my god was this going to be fun I thought as I placed my cousin back into his
dollhouse!