My alarm went off, god I fucking hate that thing, it has the usual unpleasant blaring noise that tears you from your dreams. I hit snooze and attempt to snuggle back in beneath the covers to catch a few more minutes of blissful sleep. In what felt like seconds later, it wakes me again. I groan. I sit up, rub my eyes, stretch, and do a few pushups, the morning routine I guess. I feel a little rusty at it though, this was the first time in months that I’ve had to get up so early.

I sit against my bed and stare across my bland white room, a gift from The Ashen; their studies on us humans helped them to perfect it for me. It’s an almost exact replica of the one I had before (though they couldn’t remake my posters). It’s probably around one tenth of the size of its original, and it sits on the shelf in that previous room, (though as a bonus, they made me a private bathroom).

Walking to my bathroom, I ran some hot water in the shower and waited for the room to fog up. As I wait I begin to brush my teeth, but it’s hard. My hands are shaking nervously, and I can feel my stomach beginning to knot.

Its fine, I tell myself, you’re nervous, it’s understandable, but you don’t have to worry, they all know what happened, it won’t be a surprise.

I wipe a layer of steam from the tint mirror in front of me and look at my reflection with uncertainty; my pep talk hadn’t helped much.

Today would be the first day in over a month that I’d be seeing anyone other than my mother, my aunt, or some complete strangers from who knows what branch of the government.

I step into the shower and lean against the cold white wall, letting the warm water pour over me. I feel my muscles begin to relax, they tensed up a lot more often now, something to do with the change.

“It’ll be nice to see the group again though” I told myself aloud.

“Yeah, Nick, Daisy, Katrina, Josh, Mary, Ana, Seth, they’ll all be happy to see me, everyone in all my classes will!”

Yeah, I’m sure the fact that your two inches tall won’t mean anything.

I leaned over and wretched into my shower drain. I guess I was still a bit nervous, despite what I told myself.

I steadied myself on my miniature sink, staring into the mirror once again.

Squinting, I tried to bring on what I like to call, “Conduit vision” (creative right?).

My skin faded away to reveal my bones, and veins. I could see my brain transmitting impulses to all the nerves throughout my body, telling me to blink, to breathe, my heart was beating at a rapid pace today.

I smiled. At least shrinking came with some perks, aside from my ocular abilities, I could run farther, jump higher, and carry more than before, and once I returned to my normal size, They would have an even greater affect, I couldn’t wait. The only side effect besides the shrinking that I couldn’t stand was the eyes.

My eyes stuck out more than ever, being the brightest possible yellow they could, and a little bit slitted as well, like a cats. They made me look scary; I still didn’t recognize myself sometimes.

I sighed heavily and toweled off, now wasn’t the time to be taking a break.

Throwing on a long sleeved shirt and a pair of torn jeans, I grabbed my backpack and long board and left my room, smiling as the door automatically opened a nice touch.

I inhaled the open air of my barren room, all the posters, my furniture, we sold it all to pay rent; I didn’t need any of it anymore anyways.

One thing I did get to keep was my hot wheels ramp; it now led from my dresser to the floor below, which my mother did not approve of as a mode of transportation.

I threw down my board and hoped on, diving down the ramp at top speed and flying across my wooden floor.

I ducked beneath my gigantic door and soared out into our hallway, turning left towards the kitchen. I turned my attention from my destination to my backpack, searching it just long enough to not see my titanic aunt standing in the kitchen directly in front of me.

I crashed into her bare foot and face planted between her big and second toe.

“Oh!” I heard her gasp suddenly; looking down to find her tiny nephew sprawled across her right foot.

I turned from her bright red toe polish to face upwards, staring past her massive bare thighs, which were barely covered by the boxers she wore, past her blue tank top to her face high above, which wore a look of surprise.

She smiled and bent forward, her massive hand blocking out all light as her fingers pinched the back of my shirt, lifting me up past her bare thighs and her massive breasts to her face.

I hated the way she picked me up, I felt as if I’d fall any second.

“Good morning!” she said cheerily, her morning breath washing over me in a hot moist wave.

I coughed and held back the urge to vomit (my stomach was still a bit weak after all), and grumbled a reply.

I hated being this close to her face. In her early forties, my aunt was clearly not the woman she was in high school. Her features had aged and wrinkled, she became lumpy and soft, her backside now weighed more than the rest of her combined, her once perky double D breasts now sagged, and sun burn marks could be seen on her bare chest. She did her best to stay “hip”, her hair was dyed a dark red, she always had on eyeliner, but her efforts were mostly in vain.

“Somebody’s grumpy” she said, making a pouty face and using that baby voice I heard so often.

My aunt seemed to think that now that I was two inches tall, I had reverted back to being a helpless child, which, despite my best efforts, I cannot seem to convince her otherwise.

“Good morning” I said, in the cheeriest voice I could manage at 7:20 am.

“That’s better” she replied, “You want me to get your board for you sweetie?”

My board had managed to wedge itself beneath my Aunt’s foot when I crashed.

“No” I told her, knowing full well she wouldn’t let me get it myself, “I’ve got it”.

“Nonsense” she said, bending over once again to retrieve my board from beneath her foot, “This is what your aunty Beth is for dear”.

I mumbled a thank you as she set me on the countertop and handed it to me.

“Are you all set for school hun?” She asked.

“I think so” I told her, “I shouldn’t need anything else”.

Just as I finished my mom entered the room, in the process of attaching a second earring.

My mom was a woman in her early thirties, and was unlike my aunt in every way.

She had long jet black hair and bright green eyes that sparkled brilliantly. She had retained most of her figure from her more youthful days so that she looked good enough to model for a swimsuit magazine. And unlike my aunt, she wore very little make up, and still managed to look like a woman in her mid twenties. Today’s outfit was a black skirt that came to her knees, and a white dress shirt beneath a black jacket.

“Ready to go?” she asked me as she finished attaching her second earring.

“All set” I told her.

“You two have a fun day” my aunt told us as she grabbed a cup of coffee and headed for the couch.

Now for my favorite part of the day, though I would never tell anyone.

My mother lowered her soft hands to the kitchen counter before me. I stepped on and her fingers curled around me protectively, creating a warm cave. I love this feeling.

I guess it’s just the feeling of safety she brings, but my mother is the only person I truly trust to protect me.

She carried me out of our apartment and down to the parking garage.

She climbed into our Dodge caliber and set me in the cup holder.

The ride to school was quiet.

“Are you sure you’re okay to do this?” She asked me, like I knew she would.

“Yeah mom, I’m fine” I told her, “trust me”.

Our car slowed to a stop in front of the school’s entrance.

“Okay” she said softly, “Have a nice day sweetie”.

“I will mom, love you” I said waving; she opened the passenger door for me and set me on the sidewalk.

I waved to her as she left and then turned to face the building.

“Okay” I told myself, “Here goes nothing”.