There was a loud thud, then a frozen silence. Mrs. Kim had fainted.

  "Oh my God, Oh my God," Annie repeated quietly. Liz put her hand on Annie's shoulder, trying to shake the stunned girl back to her senses.

  "Quick, bring her into her room!"

  The girls each threw one of Mrs. Kim's arms over their shoulders, lifted the poor woman off the ground, and began trying to move her. They struggled. I started calling out to Annie. She either heard me, or it dawned on her to have me help them. She looked back at me and I grew to normal height.

  I rushed to the girls' aid, and together we laid Mrs. Kim on her bed. Liz was by her mother's side, worriedly clutching her hand. Annie and I stood by the foot of the bed, tense. We looked at each other, struck dumb by the gravity of the situation.

  Suddenly, the woman began to stir. When she came to, and caught sight of me, her eyes widened, and she pulled her daughter in protectively. She stammered for a while, distraught, before she could speak.

  "Who are you?"
  "My name is Will..." I began.
  She raised a trembling finger to point at me.
  "You- you were... !"

  My heart and mind raced as I tried to imagine what this poor woman was going through. She was in a state of shock and terror, and she was looking to me for answers. I knew I had to explain what had happened and bring her peace of mind. Somehow. With a calm, steady voice, I began to speak.

  "I know you must be very confused, Mrs. Kim. But don't be afraid. I will try to explain."

  Mrs. Kim loosened her grip on her daughter who was sitting next to her. She looked alert, still visibly shaken but eager to learn just who I was, and how, mere minutes ago, I could have been six inches tall on her daughter's bedroom floor. I cleared my throat.

  "My name is Will, and I'm staying with Annie at home while her father is away. You see, Annie is a special girl. She... has the power to shrink things. Including... people."

  Mrs. Kim's bewildered gaze was now directed at Annie, who had gone flush with embarrassment.

  "It's true. We don't really know why she has this power. But you need not worry. Annie would never use her power to harm anyone. Right, Annie? Maybe... we could do a little demonstration. Annie?"

  Annie hesitated, looking nervously from me to Mrs. Kim and back.

  "It's okay," I told her.

  I started to shrink, and Mrs. Kim shrieked. Annie collected me from the bedroom floor. As she lifted me up past the top of the bed, I could see the soles of Mrs. Kim's bamboo sandals, and her face far in the distance. Annie made her way over to Mrs. Kim and held me out for her to see. She held her fingers over her open mouth. Although the color was returning to her face, the look of incredulity remained. Slowly, Annie brought me closer to her.

  "See? He's all right. He's just... smaller. Do you want to hold him?"
  "It's okay, mom."

    Mrs. Kim closed her mouth, and cautiously extended her open palms. Annie let me drop into the fleshy bed. When I felt my hands and knees make contact with the skin, Mrs. Kim exhaled suddenly. If she hadn't believed her eyes, her sense of touch was now sending the same message: the little man was indeed real. I sat in the nest of her curled hands, trapped in a bubble of warm air.

  The meek Korean woman's face loomed over me, the most gigantic I had ever seen. For a moment I felt pinned and naked as the dark eyes inspected me. The dry lips that hung over me seemed frightening. Then, reminding myself she was no threat, her features appeared to me fair and benign, if incredibly large.

  "I can't believe this..." she whispered. As I sat there, my gaze transfixed with hers, I felt we were locked together in that moment, in a state of veneration, both of us seeing something very few human beings had ever seen before. Annie really is a special girl, I thought. Suddenly, Mrs. Kim looked up at Annie. She seemed to be recovering from the shock.

  "How is this possible?"

  Annie began to explain her powers, at least as far as she understood them. Mrs. Kim looked at me occasionally, and back at Annie or Liz, to ask them a question, each time blanketing me with a burst of humid air from her cavernous lungs. The carbon dioxide was beginning to make me feel sleepy. It was late, and I was in a warm, safe place. I wanted to to lay down right there in her palm and go to sleep, but I fought the urge, as it seemed some kind of intrusion.

  As the conversation died down, the room was once again overtaken by silence.

  "I still don't understand," Mrs. Kim started, "but I trust you... here..."

  She gave me to Annie. It felt good to be in Annie's hands again, a place I had come to associate with safety and comfort. Annie, still tense, curled her fingers around me for a moment, unconsciously seeking her own comfort. I smiled at her and she smiled back, before placing me on the bed. After I had grown, I continued to talk with Mrs. Kim. She introduced herself as Mindy. She mentioned that her husband was away on a business trip and that she was glad he wasn't here while "all this" had happened. She told the girls they should go to bed, then offered to make me tea. As I followed Mindy down to her kitchen, I noted that, even at regular size, she was a tall woman, having several inches on me.

  She invited me to sit at the table. She turned away from me, and walked to the counter where she began to prepare the tea. As I looked at her, my eyes fell upon her bamboo-clad feet. Suddenly I remembered the previous sleepover with the girls, when I had snuck down to the kitchen, and stood in that same spot, inches from those sandals. I suddenly felt guilty staring at her legs, and I looked away. When the tea was ready, she joined me at the table. She set a small, round teacup before me and filled it with hot tea.

  "I love tea, it helps calm me down." She smiled.

  We talked for about an hour. I told her about the changes that had been ocurring in my life (omitting certain details, of course). I said that I had recently quit my job and was getting a divorce. I mentioned that meeting Annie had played a big part in those decisions. She asked me about Annie for a bit. Then she began to tell me of her life, getting married in South Korea in her twenties, and coming to America to start a new life. Mindy was a very gentle, amiable person. The tea and conversation seemed indeed to have a calming effect on both of us, helping us recover after the surprising turn of events that day. She finally said that she was pleased to have met me, and offered me a bed in the guest room. As I laid on the soft mattress, I looked up at the dark ceiling. In my mind, I could still see Mindy's face looking down on me. I breathed a sigh of relief, and drifted off to sleep.