“Ok.. ye.. yes sir. Sorry sir.”

Michael hung up. His hands were trembling. He was in tears. He hurriedly reached for a pen and paper and wrote a letter, trembling, sobbing. On a hurry, Mike packed his clothes and some stuff on a trekking bag. He left the letter on the counter and ran away. It was raining heavily.

Mike didn’t return for a long time. 10 years he was away. He had gone from a teenager to an adult. It was never his choice to stay away without contacting his loved ones. His hurried letter 10 years ago wasn’t very informative of his goals either. Now, after so many years, he knocked the door.

He used to live with his sister and her daughter. His sister, Sally was a beautiful 6 ft tall woman. She, being elder to Michael had always looked after him. She had lost her husband the same way she lost her brother. He simply left, and never contacted back. This had destroyed her faith on men. When Mike left, his niece Jane was a cute 8yr old. Her need of a father was satisfied by Mike, before he left.

Mike arrived to his previous home. He was smiling with a huge flower bouquet on his hand and huge suitcase on the floor. He ringed the doorbell. The door opened. It was a tall girl asking who he was. It took more than it should have to realize that it was her niece. He was speechless and overwhelmed to see how his niece had become from that small cute child to a gorgeous girl taller than him. Just as he was about to speak, his sister came to the door.

“Mi… Mike?” she said, instantly recognizing him.

Jane looked to his mother and whispered something, Sally nodded.

All of them were speechless. Sally was the first to break the silence, offering Mike to come in.

Mike pulled his suitcase in and closed the door behind him. He looked ahead and instantly his face was met with a tight slap. Mike held his face in pain.

Tears fell from Sally’s eyes. “Where the fuck were you? Why are you back?” Sally shouted.

Jane went to her room, almost crying.

“I am sorry sister. I had to go.” Mike said.

“Yeah but couldn’t you at least write a mail or something? You were dead for us.”

“I am sorry. I am ready to do whatever that is required to make it up to you and Jane.”

Sally couldn’t get angry with Mike for a long time. Although she’d not completely forgiven him, she was not too angry either. She silently stood up and made way for her bedroom, leaving Mike all by himself.

Mike’s room was intact. He put his suitcase there on the floor and thought for a while.

Jane was angry too. The person who she’d always looked up to vanishes and appears after a decade. It was definitely not easy for her to take. Back when Mike left, she was about 8 years old. Her 19 old year uncle Mike was closest to her, or so she felt. She decided to go talk to Mike about what happened and why he didn’t call.

Jane entered Mike’s room.

“Don’t you ever do this to us again.” She shouted.

“I won’t Jane. And I am sorry for what you had to go through. But I had no choice.”

“Where were you?”

“I don’t quite know. But it was far away.”

It was not the answer Jane had hoped but at least they got talking.

“You’ve grown quite a lot Jane. Back when you..”

“Don’t bring up the past.” Jane interrupted him.

They took some time to catch up. Well, it was mostly Jane telling her past 10 years to him. He didn’t talk that much about his.

After 8 PM, Dinner was served. Jane and Sally seemed to have forgiven Mike. They finally got talking a a family reunited. Everyone was happy to see each other. They talked through midnight.

Few weeks passed this way. They’d talk a little about their past and what they were together. Mike would bring a gift, big or small everyday to her niece and sister. They took many photos together, they went to travel.

One day, Mike had gone out to meet his friends from around the city. His friends had lavishly treated him at the most expensive place in town.

Meanwhile, Sally was at work and Jane was alone in the house. Having known very little about her uncle despite him staying over a month, she decided it was a good idea to check him suitcase. Maybe there was some business card or something like that. She looked thoroughly and saw some nude magazines and a mysterious box. She reached out and her hand held a small gun. It was a bit too colorful to be intimidating though!

She thought maybe he was a cop. Or a crook? The gun brought many questions in her mind. She pointed towards a flower pot and without thinking twice, pulled the trigger. It didn’t shoot a bullet. Rather, it created a small zap sound that created a dust cloud to form around the flowerpot. To her greatest surprise, the flower pot seemed smaller. It was still decreasing in size until it was distinctly smaller than before.

It was like magic. She kept the gun for herself and took the flower pot, which fit on her palm to her room to further look into it. She put her uncle’s suitcase back where and how it was.

The presence of the mysterious shrink gun and of course the mysterious box made Jane think that they still don’t know Mike very well. Mike seemed as mysterious as the items he possessed. Jane pointed and shot a wall lizard. Out of the dust cloud that followed, came a lizard much much smaller than the one which was shot. This meant the shrink gun could be used on living things as well.

Further few weeks passed. Mike hadn’t yet noticed one of his items was gone.

 One night, Jane was still chatting with her friends online when she heard the door. She hurriedly looked towards Mike’s room. The door was open and Mike wasn’t in. She descended the stairs to see a letter lying on the floor.

“NOT AGAIN” Jane thought.

She hurried back to her room and began to think what could be done. Then she remembered the gun. On her mind, it was the only way to prevent him from going away. She took the gun, ran to the balcony and saw Mike still waiting for someone.

Aim… finger on the trigger.. pull the trigger… ZAP

It was a direct hit. Jane hurried to the road and saw Mike lying on the floor. For her, he seemed like the cutest thing ever at only 4 inches tall. She gently put him on her pocket, lifted the huge and heavy suitcase and put it back to Mike’s room. She put the letter Mike had written few minutes ago back where it was to make it look legit.