Chapter Four: It’s a Mad, Mad, World

“One Travels more usefully when alone, because he reflects more”

                                                                                                     -Thomas Jefferson

                Darkness, in contrast with brightness, is a relative absence of visible light. It is the appearance of black in a color space. When light is not present, rod and cone cells within the eye are not stimulated. This lack of stimulation means photoreceptor cells are unable to distinguish color thus why darkness is associated with black. Even though Adam had that understanding, he still felt fear. His heart was racing, as his sweat dripped down his brow. The room felt hot, and there was no circulation of air. The air smelled of watermelon bubblegum and scented lotion. The smells not only hung in the air they seemed to bond naturally with it.

                The first few hours Adam would scream for help anytime a nurse or doctor came in. The shuffling of their feet was plain as day from where he was. Every time he screamed or cried for help his voice was swallowed by the room and left unheard.  All while the voice of the nurse or doctor would boom around Adam and fill the room like a rock concert as if taunt him. This made understanding what was being said a impossibility, because of the sheer volume. As to Adam, there conversations sounded more like excerpts from the teacher on Charlie Brown, then real conversations.

                Nonetheless Adam continued a useless plight hoping somehow, something would change. In his mind he would keep telling himself this time it would be different. This time they will hear me.  Slowly though, no matter how much Adam wanted to believe, his mind began to except that this wasn’t a viable solution. No matter how hard he tried he wasn’t going to get a different result doing the same thing over and over again. 

                Adam knew it was time to get out. The hospital would be the best place for him to get help. There had to be tests that could be run; he desperately wanted to contact his family. Let them know he was okay.  Getting free however, was going to be much harder than originally planned. The sheer size and scale of the purse alone was much more daunting than expected. Making matters worse, in the trip to the hospital he had tumbled to the very bottom of the purse.

                A wrapped white and green striped mint which looked quite old lay at his feet. A glass case rests on one side, with a wallet on the other. Just in front of him resting on its side was a phone. Adam couldn’t believe his eyes. The screen looked massive in size and scale now. The screen of the smart phone alone was now much larger in form then him.

                “Perfect” Adam thought to himself as he felt around the edges for some kind of on button. The lack of light and the dank atmosphere of the purse made finding its location quite difficult.  After some effort Adam found the button, and almost immediately his heart sank a little. It was a plastic slide button as opposed to a physical button.  Adam pressed his diminutive hands against the plastic button and with all his might he didn’t even manage to slide it a millimeter.  Sighing loudly he tried again this time putting all his weight into it.  The button budged the slightest bit, but nowhere near enough to turn on. 

                “It’s no use” Adam said after struggling with the on button for much of afternoon. He slunk back down to the floor of the purse resting his head against the screen of the phone breathing heavily. The idea of making it out of the purse seemed to be more and more of a fleeting thought then a tangible thing that could be achieved. Looking upwards was a frightening sight as what looked to hundreds of thousands of pounds of massively scaled everyday objects now balanced precariously above him. A single movement or adjustment of any of the objects could mean a quick instant death.

                The sun had begun to set, as the onset of the evening had surpassed the afternoon, unbeknownst to Adam; exhaustion had overtaken him as the strenuous activities that he had been forced to go through since undergoing this traumatic ordeal left his body pillaged of any energy.  As he slept away his mind replayed the events thus far and even in his dreams he was left wondering if the choices he made were correct.

                Riley had grown restless as the constant parade of doctors and nurses came in seemingly one after the other poking and prodding her. She had spent so much of her life always on the go; always being active. The fact that she had just lay there was a bit of a hardship. However, what bothered her most was the fact that Adam was nowhere to be found.

                The entire morning was a blur to Riley; she vaguely remembered getting out of bed and then all of the sudden she was in the hospital. She had spent much of the afternoon racking her brain with the details of what went on as it felt like there should be more. She even explained to her doctor that she felt she was missing gaps in her memory. However, he quickly explained this way as being “normal” and “common” with these types of head injuries.

                She wasn’t sure if those words were meant to be reassuring or helpful but they felt neither. Riley just wanted Adam to walk through the door. She was sure he must know by now, as even if he wasn’t at the hotel, surely the hotel staff would have informed him by now.

                “He must be getting dinner; maybe he is going to bring in something special. He probably feels awful about leaving considering what happened.” Riley said to herself as she laid back in the hospital bed.

                Heavy footsteps clapped against the floor in a hurried pace. Riley’s ears quickly perked up at the sound of this. She smiled knowing she was worried for nothing. Adam must have gotten back and rushed here right here right away, she thought about how she would make him sweat a little before forgiving him when the door busted open slamming against the wall as tall muscular brown haired man rushed into the room.

                “Adam” Riley started to say until she was that it was not her lover, but her father, who had rushed in like the white knight coming to her aid. He quickly pulled a chair up next to her setting her purse on the bed beside his daughter while he grasped her hand tightly and give her a kiss on the cheek.

                “Princess, are you okay? I came as soon as heard. I would have been here sooner but I had trouble getting a flight . Your mother is making arrangements for all us to fly home tomorrow morning so you will be back in your own bed with your regular doctor by tomorrow afternoon.” Her father hurriedly said with a look fear on his face as he stroked his daughter’s hand.

                “It was just a fall Daddy, its nothing to be worried about. I just have a little head injury. It’s really nothing to be so worried about at all. I’m fine, promise.” Riley exclaimed to her father who she could tell heard none of it.

                “Hogwash, we will see what Doctor Harrison says back home. I brought you your IPod from home to help pass the time. I know how you hate these sitcoms. Now just rest here while I track down the doctor and see how your mother is doing on arranging the private plane.” Riley’s father kissed his daughter in the center of the forehead before rushing out the door.

                Riley sighed as she reached for her IPod left by her father. She slid her finger through the list of artists aimlessly before resting on Selena Gomez and putting in her pink ears buds. She then, rested her head back. As much as she hated to admit it, she did feel a bit better with her father here.  

                Losing herself in the music for a bit caused her to forget her love struck heart, but soon enough her mind wandered back to Adam. Knowing that once her Dad comes back, and with her mom in town as well, she won’t be alone for a single moment. So Riley decided to just call Adam herself. She grasped her purse and reached into the large tote style bag. The black leather and the round metal studs felt cool as they rubbed against her.  Fumbling around for several moments Riley couldn’t find her phone. She opened the tote bag all the way peeked inside. She shoved her wallet to the side and finally spotted her phone. As she grasped the phone and pulled it from her purse her eyes caught a small doll.

                “Oh my god” Riley screamed mentally as her eyes bugged out barely able to focus on the diminutive doll man. The memories of the morning came flooding back to her as she remembered seeing Adam shrunken on the floor. She couldn’t believe that Adam had shrunk. How is that possible? Riley thought to herself as she watched him try to struggle free from the mesh like netting of her greyish colored sweater.

                A shocked expression sprawled across Riley’s face as she reached towards her sweater. She could see her hand visibly shaking as her hand neared the sweater. The music pounding against her ear drums did nothing to ease her mind as she grasped the sweater pulling it away from Adam’s miniature body. She watched him wiggle out from the sweater not realizing at first that she had helped free him. She could see the surprised look on his face as he gazed up at her. The surprise on his face comforted her a little, and eased her mind, with the knowledge that she wasn’t the only one who wasn’t comfortable with this situation.

                “Adam? Is that really you?” Riley whispered breathlessly