You open your eyes.  Groggily, you blink a few times as the world comes back into focus again.  Above your head is a tree towering over you like a maple skyscraper, the jungle of leaves at the top looking like a storm cloud of wind-rustled emerald smoke.  You sit up on the dish towel resting on the soft blades of grass, and look around.  Your backyard stretches before you like an unexplored wilderness, and some primal desire in you wants to leap forward and search every nook and cranny of every blade of grass.

                Something inside of you has changed in the months since your five year captivity in Carly’s hands ended.  With the knowledge that you are, at long last, free to pursue your own aims and intentions rather than simply surviving a vicious onslaught at the behest of a cruel goddess, a new, more adventurous side of you has awakened.  You yearn to seek out the wonderful things you’ve been missing in your life and somehow fill that poisonously hollow, five-year-long space that was occupied by so much darkness and fear.  You know that those years will always remain as a scar in your mind, but for the first time in as long as you can remember, the idea of a brighter horizon for your existence gives you the courage to stand up, take a deep breath, and smile at the world.  That big, big world that just happens to be a bit bigger to you than it was a matter of years ago.

                Part of you doubts things will ever return fully to normal as you continue to remain at just under three inches in height, even while medical experts your parents have found scramble to find a cure for your alien ailment.  In fact, when you are honest with yourself, you believe you will spend the remainder of your days no larger than a child’s action figure.

                Somehow, though, in this moment, as you recline comfortably on the dish towel and stare up into the sky as warm waves of orange and fuchsia wash over it, sending the floating clouds drifting again on the loping plain of open air, you don’t care about this fact.  For the moment, you can simply be.

                “Finally awake, sleepyhead?” coos a voice jokingly to your right.  You grin, looking up at Sophie as she leans comfortably against the tree watching over you while you nap, her legs outstretched and crossed, a paperback book in her hands.

                “I guess so… I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to last, though.  Pretty tired,” you admit, standing up.

                Sophie frowns, concerned.  “Are you sure it’s not too chilly out here for you?  I don’t even know how you were able to fall asleep with this breeze blowing through.”

                “Believe me, when you’re tired enough, you find a way,” you chuckle.

                “Do you want to go inside now?”

                “No, no, no.  I… like it out here.  It’s peaceful,” you state, nodding and glancing up at the sky of the setting sun again.

                “I know what you mean,” agrees your cousin sweetly, brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes and staring upward as well at the sky.  “It’s like looking at the ocean, somehow.”

                “I could stay out here all night,” you smile.

                “Are you kidding?  You’d freeze out here.”

                “Okay.  What would you suggest, then?”

                Sophie turns her head back down to you, then sets her book down at her side, and lays her hand flat on the grass next to your dish towel, palm up.  “Can I give you a lift?”

                “Sure,” you answer trustingly, stepping forward without reservation into your cousin’s warm hand, careful not to trip as you cross over her fingers.  Slowly, you take a seat in the center of her creased palm, ruffling the cotton doll clothes that adorn your body for warmth (the closest thing you’ve had to legitimate clothes in years, and it feels fantastic finally having some privacy again).  Gently, Sophie raises you up higher toward her face.  You yawn loudly, covering your mouth.  “Excuse me…” you say sheepishly.

                “No need to be excused.  You’re tired, aren’t you?”

                “Yeah.”

                “Well, do you think it would be more comfortable to sleep here?”

                You look down at the soft, fleshy ground of Sophie’s hand, confused for a moment, then look back up at her face, your eyebrows raised.  “You mean… in your hand?”

                She shrugs.  “Sure, why not?  Not like I have somewhere else to be right now.  I want to finish this book, anyway.”

                You smile.  “Yeah.  Yeah, I’d like that.”

                She nods, grinning cutely.  “Good.  Want some extra help keeping warm?”

                Again, you look up at her confusedly, but rather than answer, Sophie simply wraps her fingers tenderly around your body, clasping you just firmly enough to keep you in place without restraining you too tightly.  Instantly, the warmth of your cousin’s skin curled around your entire body fights back the chill of the air, and already you feel like you could fall asleep.

                “Cozy?” whispers Sophie, gently rocking her hand as if it were a crib for you.

                “Very,” you answer.  “Thank you.”

                “Of course.  Anytime,” she responds simply, continuing the gentle rocking motion as your eyelids begin to get droopy.

                “No, really.  I mean… thank you,” you repeat.

                “For what?”

                “For… everything.  For saving me.  For… for being my… friend,” you finish sincerely.

                Sophie smiles warmly.  “I’m glad you’re my friend too, Jack.  Now, don’t worry about a thing.  Just rest your eyes.  I’ll take care of you.  I’ll never let anything happen to you again.”

                “Promise?” you ask softly, yawning again.

                “Promise.  Cross my heart and hope to die.  Sweet dreams, little guy,” your beautiful cousin croons, almost as a lullaby.

                You finally close your eyes, a smile on your face, not a care or a worry in your heart, as you snuggle warmly into the soothing, cushiony pad of Sophie’s palm, her firm fingers gently caressing you as you drift off into a peaceful sleep.