Chapter Two
By
Invisible Ink
As morning came Samantha and I got up and eagerly awaited the arrival of our daughter. However as the morning drew on we had the realization that it was Saturday. Katherine might not be up till noon; especially today, as Samantha and I have no way to wake her. It was a battle on the best of days to get her up and there was usually a lot of stomping and whining involved. Now, she would be left completely to her own devices to get up.
As the morning drew on and mid afternoon approached I helped Samantha to her feet as the more we thought about it, the better we thought it would be to be some place a bit more visible. As we made our firsts steps out from beneath the sofa and into the daylight we saw truly a whole new world. Our home had grown to immense proportions.
We hadn’t been walking for more than five minutes or so when I started to curse at the carpeting. The carpeting you see wasn’t my idea. I wanted this nice subtle tan carpeting. However, Samantha wanted and got this dingy white high shag carpeting. I guess the proper and trendy term is high pile carpet. The strands themselves are about two and a half inches high. I admit it does feel good when you walk across, but now it’s severely hindering our progress.
“I’m sorry Greg I didn’t account for freak phenomenon’s in which we get shrunk in our own home when decorating.” Samantha yelled back at me frustrated with the situation and upset about my complaining.
I tried to do the regal thing and take it in stride however, the next couple minutes degenerated into petty, bitter arguing. It probably would have lasted longer however we both paused as we heard the floorboards creek above us. We both shouted Katherine in unison. Samantha and I hugged each other knowing we would be saved soon. We gave each other a kiss as we hurried now with a newfound fervor to get to the walk way which leads to from the stairs to the kitchen.
As Katherine pounded down the stairs I couldn’t help but get a bit upset. We had told her time and time again to walk down the stairs not pound your feet down them so the entire house can hear you coming. However, do you think she listens? Of course not, as what do we know.
My arguments for Katherine quickly took a backseat as I truly saw my daughter for the first time. Samantha and I both looked at each other with a bit of trepidation. Here was our little girl however she looked to be a few hundred feet tall. I gulped as her eighty dollar Ugg sheepskin slippers which she begged for hit the floor. The footstep sent a wave of vibration which sent us tumbling to the floor.
“Just look at her Greg, she’s enormous. Do you really think she will see us?” Samantha said. I wanted to tell her hell if I know. However, I tried to stay optimistic for Samantha’s sake so I told her of course.
However, seeing Katherine like this even left a great deal of wonder in me. Everything about her looked just so enormous; from the plaid black and green pajama pants to the baggy t-shirt. However, what scared me the most was my daughters now oversized Kitten Jasper who she was stroking as she headed towards the kitchen. I tried to push my fear down as I resorted to screaming Katherine’s name while Samantha jumped up and down wildly.
Katherine kept on walking, each step she took she got closer and closer. The sheer size of our daughter now was fully coming into effect. As her foot landed mere inches from us causing both Samantha and I to scurry out of the way I couldn’t help but feel like rodents. Here was my little girl simply walking to the kitchen and she is completely oblivious to the existence of her mother and I. We are being forced to run from her footfalls like mice as we seek cover of some sorts.
“She’s not seeing us Greg. What are we going to do?” Samantha shouted at me. I looked behind myself while grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the end table beside the sofa. We were both breathing heavily as we watched Katherine disappear into the kitchen. Her voice was so loud that even in the kitchen we could still hear Katherine speak. The clanking of silverware and dishes were constant reminders of our new diminutive state in case we somehow forgot.
It wasn’t too long later that the kitchen door swung open and Katherine walked back into the living room with a gigantic bowl of cereal. Jasper, her cat was luckily nowhere to be seen. As don’t think the thought of my daughters once tiny kitten now eating us alive, or using us a chew toy hadn’t crossed our minds, because it had.
As Katherine sat down on sofa she unfortunately flipped on the television again. The sounds of mindless drabble fill the room as we approach her slipper clad foot. I was relieved that these slippers were of the slip on variety. As this meant the heel of her foot was left unprotected.
Samantha and I approached the heel of Katherine’s foot and I told her that I would circle around to the other side as that way no matter where she looked down she would see one of us. As soon as I was in position we both started relentlessly pounding against the heel of Katherine’s foot. At first she just slightly fidgeted with her foot. The slight movement on her part caused both of us to be sent falling backwards. We both had second thoughts at this point. If Katherine had moved her foot even an inch or two more in either direction we would have been paste.
However, we both knew that we couldn’t survive like this. We were hungry, tired, and cold. We didn’t want to live like animals living off the droppings left in Katherine’s wake. The sheer idea of living such a life as if we were nomads was frightening enough for us to continue on at that point. However, hindsight is twenty-twenty.
This time Katherine reached down with her hand to scratch her foot. As she did so her eyes landed squarely on Samantha. Samantha immediately begun to wave and shout as loud as she could in order to make sure Katherine could hear her. It was a time of happiness in which we both rejoiced. I felt a wave of relief as Katherine’s astonished face looked on at her diminutive mother.