Arthur headed down the hallway and immediately heard footsteps from behind. It was Shawna. Her high heels could be heard a block away, Arthur thought.

“Going back to your room?” she asked.

Arthur nodded.

“I’d like to call my wife”

“I don’t think that’s possible, Mr. Spence”

Arthur stopped and turned to face her, his heart skipping a beat upon noticing that they were now close to the same height. As usual, Shawna noted this and seemed to resist a smile in his direction.

“What’s to stop me from pushing you to the ground, running past you and getting at one of those phone booths over there” he said.

“I wouldn’t advise trying,” she said.

Arthur turned away from her and started walking to his temporary ‘cell’.

There may well come a time when he did attempt to break out, but it wasn’t today.

* * *

As soon as Arthur entered the abandoned, unused office, the door was closed behind him and locked by Shawna. Arthur was beginning to feel more and more like a prisoner. He looked around and found a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt waiting for him. Since his own clothes were getting a bit baggy, he gladly changed into them. Having clothes that fit was important for his state of mind, even if it was a bit of an illusion. He was still shrinking, but having clothes that fit made him feel a bit better.

There was nothing to do in the room, no television to watch, so Arthur began rummaging around in the old filing cabinets that had been left behind. It wasn’t too long before he found a stack of National Geographics. None of them were new of course, but he began to flip through them anyway, given that he had nothing else to do.

Fairly soon he came across an issue from 2013, which featured, on its cover, an image that the world was all too familiar with. Tim Goldman was the first man to ever be shrunk as a result of the Lotto and it was his picture that graced the cover. The words on the front page seemed to jump out at Arthur as he stared at it. “THE VIEW FROM DOWN THERE” was the headline and beneath was Tim Goldman’s photo that featured him smiling and seeming happy. It wasn’t that strange of a photo, unless you accounted for the fact that he was sitting on the edge of a female foot. The photo had spread the world overnight. Arthur remembered flipping through the channels on his television, only to find this particular story everywhere he looked.

Arthur wiped the dust from the cover, staring closely at Tim Goldman’s face. Whatever happened to him, Arthur wondered. Quickly he opened the magazine and scanned the article, which featured several more photographs of Tim Goldman at various sizes. In one photo Tim was hugging the leg of his female companion, his hands wrapped tightly around her upper thigh, making him about two and a half feet tall. But in another photo, Tim, now far smaller, struggled to lift an empty tea cup over his head. A pair of giant female hands was seen folded behind him, the fingernails painted with bright red nail polish.

Arthur scanned to the end of the article, but there was no indication of Tim’s ultimate fate.

So he scanned through the remaining issues of the magazine, frantic to find a follow up on the world’s first shrunken man. There it was. It wasn’t a front page photo this time, but merely a small headline near the bottom of the page.

It read, THE FATE OF TIM GOLDMAN: A BACKYARD JUNGLE.

Arthur flipped through the issue, quickly finding the article in question.

There weren’t any photos this time, just a passing mention at the bottom of the page. “Though the appearance of shrunken men has become slightly more common place than two years ago, many in the scientific world took note this week, as the first in a long line of men who had been resized by Lotto winners, was accidentally stepped on and killed in his owner’s backyard…” Arthur went on to finish the brief article, noting that his owner had let him outside for some fresh air, then had promptly forgotten about him, stepping on him barefoot as she ran inside to get the phone.

Arthur closed the magazine. He was more scared than ever.

* * *

The next morning Arthur awoke with a jolt. Someone was knocking on the door. He squinted towards the doorway and saw someone’s shadow trying to peer inside. It was Beth from the looks of it.

“Mr Spence. You awake?”

Arthur wondered if he ignored Beth, whether she’d go away. He doubted it.

“Mr Spence!”

Arthur pushed the blankets off of himself and swung his legs off the bed.

“I’m coming! Hold on!”

Arthur saw that once again, a new shirt and pants hung nearby for him to wear. No doubt they had been tailored to fit his shrinking size like before. He pushed himself off the bed and landed on the floor. When his feet landed, his arms immediately tried to level his balance in order to prevent falling. 

This time Arthur noticed it. He didn’t have to measure himself or stand alongside someone for comparison. There was no longer any doubt about it…he was getting smaller.

Arthur leaned forward to grip the side of the bed, as if his legs were about to give out. But they weren’t. The dizziness, the lightheadedness, all of it…it wasn’t because anything was wrong with him, it was that he was becoming smaller.

“Mr. Spence?” Beth called again from behind the door.

Arthur released his grip from the bed and slowly moved towards the door.

He looked around himself, trying to guess how much he’d shrunk.

“Just a second!” he yelled at the door.

Arthur grabbed the shirt and fit it over his head. He stuck his legs, one by one, into the pants and looked himself in the mirror. He could see the fear in his eyes. Anyone could.

Beth started knocking again.

”I’ve got coffee, Mr. Spence”

What would it take to make her be quiet? Arthur thought, reaching for the door. He turned the handle and swung it open.

Beth stood there, smiling at him and holding two giant cups of coffee. Her surprised expression upon seeing him was all Arthur needed to realize what had happened. He was no longer taller than Beth was.

All his life Arthur had gotten used to being taller than others. He wasn’t hugely tall, but five ten and a half was taller than most. What had happened in the last few days had changed what he’d been used to for more than twenty years since he’d stopped growing.

Beth’s facial expression turned into a big smile of innocent delight.

“Wow, look at you”, she said, entering the room, you’re smaller than yesterday, aren’t you?”

Beth started to walk towards him. Her eyes were wide open, signifying her surprise at how much his size had been reduced. Arthur backed away a few steps, not wanting her any closer than she was. Seeing her like this was too much for him to absorb. Beth had always been shorter than him. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

“Why are you backing away?” she asked, holding out a cup of coffee towards him. “Here, this is for you. Two sugars, right?”

Arthur continued to back away from Beth until he backed up against the wall. Finally she stopped her approach, but couldn’t suppress a laugh.

“You’re five four” she said. Arthur became red in the face.

“How do you know that exactly?” he spat.

“Turn around” she said, continuing to laugh.

Arthur turned around to find himself facing a measurement scale that had been painted onto the wall. He was standing directly in front of it. When did they find the time to do that? he wondered.

To make matters worse, Arthur noticed Shawna standing in the doorway, observing the situation from a distance.

“How’s everything Ms. Kenny?” she asked Beth.

“Everything’s fine”, Beth answered and handed Shawna both cups of coffee, but I want to see who’s taller”

Beth started towards Arthur, who hadn’t moved from his position against the wall. Beth moved alongside Arthur, nudging her hip up against his, so that they stood side by side while Shawna looked on. Arthur tried to move away, but everytime he did, Beth pressed the side of her hip up against his.

“Am I taller than Mr. Spence?”

“You’re not going to like this, Mr. Spence” Shawna said.

“I am, aren’t I?” Beth shouted.

“You certainly are”, said Shawna, “At least, I’d say, by an inch and a half”

Shawna approached the two of them and Arthur’s heart began to sink. Shawna had been slightly taller than Beth to begin with, so of course, she now seemed even bigger than Beth did.

“Here’s your cup of coffee, Ms. Kenny” she said to Beth.

“And here’s yours, Mr. Spence” With that, she handed Arthur the coffee. Arthur took it, not knowing what else to do. The last thing he needed at this moment was caffeine, given how fast his heart was pumping.

Arthur looked at the two girls who were staring at him. Both of them had big smiles on their faces.

“This is just wonderful” said Beth. “You’re absolutely adorable, Mr. Spence”

“I’m glad you think so, Beth, but I’m not an object of amusement, I’m a college professor and right now I have to get to class”

It was a stupid thing to say, but given what had happened, it was all he could think of.

With that, Beth reached towards him, extending her fingers around his neck and attempted to pull him towards her. Arthur fought to leverage himself, to resist, but found himself moving towards her.

“I’m so happy” she said, pulling him closer.

Arthur began to resist even more, but he was already caught in an embrace with Beth. Arthur had to really exert a lot of force to resist the power in Beth’s arms, but he managed to do it anyway. She is definitely stronger than yesterday he thought to himself. Or I’m weaker.

Beth looked a bit disappointed that she couldn’t hug Arthur.

“You’re right, Mr. Spence. You’re still my professor and I’ll try not to treat you any differently than before. In class at least”

“What’s that supposed to mean” said Arthur.

Beth, who normally took a step backwards whenever she was cornered, this time, stood her ground.

“Well, I mean in class you’ll still be my professor, no matter what happens…but when you start living at my house, it might be different”

Arthur wanted to know what she meant, but didn’t ask.

Shawna stepped towards him now. She was a good three inches taller than Arthur was and she knew it.

“Just so you know, Mr. Spence, Ms. Kenny will be taking you home with her starting tonight, isn’t that right?”

”That’s right, she replied, and you can call me Beth”

“Okay Beth” Shawna smiled.

Arthur was getting hot under the collar. Neither of these women was taking seriously the pain he was suffering.

Arthur pushed past them and left the room.

Arthur walked quickly through the halls, staring at the floor. He was afraid that if he looked up, that he’d see the array of faces staring at him. That would be too much right now, he thought, so he continued looking downward, seeing peoples legs and feet as they walked beside him or passed in the opposite direction. He could hear various college students talking under their breath and whispering.

Arthur entered his classroom and finally found the nerve to raise his head to look at the students. Something was wrong. There were only two males left. All the rest were females.

“Where did all the male students go?” he asked.

No one answered at first. Arthur thought he heard a female laugh, but couldn’t locate the source. Then another young woman voiced her opinion.

She was smiling at him.

“A lot of them transferred to a different class, Mr. Spence”

Arthur was about to ask why, but he already knew the reason. They were uncomfortable looking at him. None of them could bear to watch what was happening to him, afraid that it could happen to them too.