I was woken from my light sleep by the sound of raised voices. They were coming from outside the front door. It was completely dark inside the room, so I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear the voices perfectly. One of them definitely belonged to the girl. She was clearly upset and shouted a lot. The other voice sounded like it came from a young man. He was shouting back at her. I couldn’t tell for sure, but it sounded like he was her boyfriend, and that he’d done something that angered her.

“So that’s it?” he yelled. “You don’t want to see me again, is that it? What the hell’s your problem, Emily? It was just a little fun, you know?”

“I don’t care!” she screamed back, sending chills running through me. She was beyond angry, and I definitely didn’t want to meet her right now. But at least I knew her name: Emily.

“You’re the one with the problem, Mark!” she kept on screaming. “You don’t care about anyone but yourself! Have you ever thought about how I’d feel? Has it ever occurred to you that I’m a person too, with feelings of my own?”

“You know what?” Mark replied. “You’re absolutely right. Why should I care about an oversensitive, whining bitch like you? You’re going to die alone, Emily, and you know it!”

“Go away!” she shouted, and opened the door. She came inside, slammed the door shut and turned on the lights. From where I stood I could see her leaning against the door, her face buried in her hands, crying. She was wearing a beautiful green dress and her hair was tied with blue ribbons. She must have been looking forward to her date with Mark, but somehow it had gone horribly wrong. I felt sorry for her deep down in my heart, but there was nothing I could do for her. I didn’t want to approach her in her current emotional state, but also didn’t want to spend another night alone. As I was struggling with myself about what to do Emily made the choice for me. She went to her bedroom and shut the door, leaving me once again trapped.

“I really hope she feels better in the morning,” I spoke to myself. “If she only knew how much I loved her, how much I care for her. I know I can make her happy, if she just got to know me.”

With so many thoughts of Emily swirling through my head I couldn’t sleep. Besides, if I fell asleep she might find me tomorrow morning before I awoke, and I didn’t want to think about how she would react. Seeing me will be a massive shock for her, and I could only hope and pray that it would turn out okay for both of us.

Dawn came at last, and with each passing second my nervousness increased. More and more I wanted to back out. I was tired, hungry, thirsty, covered in cobwebs, dust and other filth and barely able to stand. I hadn’t had a meal in three days.

“I’ve got to do this,” I thought, getting myself motivated. “Everything will be fine. Emily will understand, she’ll do the right thing – helping me.”

I began walking towards the bedroom door. I wanted her to see me clearly, so I stood about seven feet from the door. Then I waited for her to come out.

When she did I was almost too shocked to react. She looked terrible, as if she hadn’t slept all night. Her eyes were downcast and she seemed to be in some kind of daze. After coming back to my senses I began to jump up and down, waving my arms and calling to her.

“Emily! Emily, down here! Help me!”

From the look on her face I could tell that she’d heard me clearly. When she looked straight at me I stopped jumping and called again, a bit louder this time.

“Emily! Can you hear me? I need your help!”

She bent down to get a better view, then, suddenly and without warning, she picked me up. She held me between her finger and her thumb, not gently, but with enough force to make me cry out in pain.

“What the hell?” she said, obviously speaking to herself. “What is this? Is this real?”

“Yes, I’m real!” I shouted while struggling in vain to break free from her grip. Her fingers were crushing my chest, and I was terribly scared that she might break my ribs. But she just looked at me as if she didn’t believe what she was seeing.

“No way!” she said. “This can’t be real. I must be dreaming or something. Christ, I shouldn’t have gone out last night!”

“No!” I screamed in desperation. “No…please…I’m not a dream…please…you’re hurting…me!”

I began pounding her thumb with my fists, but it was no use. There was no way I could have even a slight effect on her enormous grip. She just closed her eyes and shook her head, as if I was only a bad dream she could get rid of. Then she went over to the kitchen section and lowered her hand. When I saw where I was I began screaming in panic. She was holding me directly over an open dustbin. This can’t be happening! She can’t just throw me away like a piece of garbage! If I didn’t convince her that I was a real person in need of real help then I might very well die. But when I finally managed to think of something to shout it was already too late.

I was falling through the air, watching her hand recede into the distance. When I landed the impact knocked all the breath out of me and hurt like hell. My body was still in pain from her holding me, and the pieces of paper I’d landed on only made it worse. I rolled off the paper, cutting myself all over, and fell into a pile of leftover food, mostly vegetables. By now I was silently cursing myself for making such a poor decision. In my heart I already knew I wasn’t going to live any longer. Then, just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, it did. A large object, probably a plastic jar or something, landed on top of me. It hit me full-on, and I remembered no more.

Slowly, excruciatingly, I opened my eyes. My head was throbbing and my entire body ached. I was lying on some sort of flat surface, coarse, yet also strangely soft. As my eyes adjusted to the light I could see what was around me, but it took me a while to figure out where I was. The surface I was lying on was light green in colour, and I soon realized that it was the cloth on the dining table.

“What happened?” I thought in bewilderment. “How did I get here? Did someone save me? Or am I really dead?”

I turned my head in the other direction and got a big surprise. Emily was sitting at the table, her head resting on her arms. I couldn’t see her face, but from the soft sniffing noises it was obvious that she’d been crying. Everything became clear now. She’d realized that I wasn’t just a part of her imagination, and had tried to save me. But I didn’t wake up, and she thought I was dead. Now she would probably blame herself for killing me. She looked like a sensitive girl, and I didn’t know if she could ever get over such a horrible thought.

I wasn’t sure what to do next, so I sat down and waited for her to look at me. Eventually she lifted her head slightly, but when she saw me she gasped and sat up straight.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “Oh my God, y-you’re not dead! You…I mean…are…are you okay?”

I nodded, speechless. Even though her eyes were red from all the tears she remained the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. I merely stared at her in wonder, while trying to hide the fact that I was naked by curling up my legs against my chest.

“I’m so, so sorry!” she said, sounding distraught. “Please, I didn’t mean to hurt you or anything! I just thought you were…oh God, I’m really sorry!”

She began crying again, and my feelings for her grew stronger.

“Please don’t cry,” I said. “I’m fine, really. I shouldn’t have surprised you like that. I should have known better. It’s okay, Emily; I forgive you.”

She calmed down a little and leaned in closer to me. I felt somewhat uncomfortable being watched so closely by her gigantic face. I couldn’t look her in the eyes and instead gazed at the tablecloth beneath me.

“Who are you?” she asked while studying me intensely. “If you’re a real person, how did you get so small? How did you get here, and how do you know my name?”

So I told her my whole story, starting from the day I came here. I told her how I had no idea what had happened to me, and how I basically spent all my time trying to survive. I left out the part about how I’d fallen in love with her, however, not wanting to upset her further if I could help it.

“You mean, you’ve been staying here all this time, and I didn’t know it?” she asked disbelievingly. “That’s just awful! Why didn’t you come to me sooner?”

“Because…well…because I was scared of you.” I was blushing strongly now, feeling incredibly vulnerable so close to her. I wished I had some form of clothing to cover myself with, anything that would make me feel less awkward.

“Well, I guess you were right,” she said. “How could I ever do such horrible things to you? You must hate me right now, don’t you?”

“No!” I hastily exclaimed. “No, I don’t. Most people would have reacted the same way you did. I don’t blame you at all. But it would be really great if you could help me a little, you know? It might make you feel better, too,” I added, trying to cheer her up.

“Well, I haven’t eaten in a long time, so could I please have some food and water?”

My first real meal in over a week consisted of bread, cheese, apple and cold ham. Emily brought me a saucer with a little portion of each on it. I climbed onto the saucer and began eating as much as I could. It tasted much better than any meal I’d ever had, even the dry bread. I dug my hands into the cheese and devoured as much as I could; ditto with the apple and ham. But it was far too much for me too finish, so I told Emily that I was full and asked for some water.

“That’s it?” she asked in incredulity. “It looks as if you haven’t even touched it.”

“I know,” I replied. “I guess I don’t need a lot of food, you know, since I’m so…”

“Tiny.” She said the word I was too embarrassed to say. I hated being so weak and helpless, but there was nothing I could do about it. She’d given me a piece of tissue paper to use as a loincloth, so at least I was spared the indignity of having to remain naked in front of her. When she saw how unhappy I looked she gave me a concerned look.

“Hey,” she said softly, running her fingertip down my exposed back. “It’s going to be all right, Alex. Tomorrow morning I’m going to find someone who can help you, okay? We’ll get you back to your normal size again, I promise you.”

I nodded and wondered if it would be as easy as that. She gave me some water, which I drank from a teaspoon she held in front of me. It tasted wonderful, much better than the dirty water I’ve been drinking for the last week. Once again I was reminded just how pitifully small I was when I saw that the teaspoon was still mostly full after I’d finished drinking.

“Thank you,” I said when I was finished. “I can’t tell you just how great that felt! You really saved my life!”

“Oh, it was nothing!” Emily said, smiling sweetly at me. “As long as you’re happy…I still can’t believe you ate a dead bug like that! That must have been disgusting!”

Her smile became a grimace. She was slowly but surely becoming comfortable talking to me, while I remained very shy of her. But I guess it’s easier to talk to someone who poses absolutely no threat to you.

“So, is there anything else you need?” she asked. “I’m pretty tired, you see, so I think I’ll be going to bed soon. Oh, and don’t worry, I’ll find somewhere for you to sleep as well.”

“Thanks, Emily,” I said. “Uh, there is one more thing, you know, if it’s not too much trouble…”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“Well, I’ve kind of been living in the dirt for some time, so if I could, uh, take a bath, well, I’d really appreciate it if I could!”

“Uh, okay,” she said hesitantly. “It’s just…well, you’re a bit too small to use a normal bathtub, you know?”

“There’s a basin in the bathroom, isn’t there? Like, for washing hands and stuff. I can’t really remember, but I think there is some kind of washing basin there.”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, that’s right! Gosh, I am so stupid! You’re right, that’ll be perfect for you! I’ll take you there.”

She reached out to grab me with her hand, and before I could help it I ducked instinctively. Memories of being crushed by her powerful fingers came back to me. But Emily saw my distress and stopped herself just in time.

“I’m really sorry about that,” she said. “You know I don’t want to hurt you, Alex. I’ve just never had to pick up a tiny man before, you know? But it’s okay, you can climb into my hand, and I’ll carry you carefully, alright?”