After eating breakfast (For the record mine consisted of exactly one Cheerio), we headed to the DSBS building as soon as we could. I was safely tucked inside my Mother’s ear so I couldn’t really tell you what it looked like sadly. Personally I like to imagine that it’s sort of like the DMV. It definitely had that same, soul-crushing atmosphere.

The first thing we had to do was fill out some paperwork. Well, Mom did anyway. I wasn’t even able to see it, though thanks to Mom mumbling all of it aloud I had a rough gist of it. They were pretty standard questions for a government office, IE: Name, birth date, ethnicity, size, et cetera. Incidentally this would also be the first time I heard my size classification. Depending on your size you were either classified as a Dwarf, Doll, Lilliputian, or Micro. Naturally I was a Micro.

Once we finished all that we had to wait until we were called in. Wish I could say me and Mom had some kind of interesting conversation during then. Maybe some kind of heartwarming pep talk or something, but nope. We waited in strict silence until I was called in.

We headed over to a door where this uh…very healthy-looking woman waited. I would describe her to you but…let’s just say I’m doing you a favor by not. We started heading towards her but before we could enter she stopped us. “Sorry Mam, no unshrunken people beyond this point.”

“Why?” Mom asked in an annoyed voice.

“Yeah, why?” I asked aloud to no one in particular.

I heard the woman shrug, “Sorry, that’s just the rules.”

Mom sighed, probably realizing that arguing would be pointless. Her finger gently poked into her ear and awaited me to hop on. Hesitantly, I jumped onto her fingernail where she then brought me to the awaiting palm of the woman.

For a moment I debated just staying defiantly on Mom’s finger and not going anywhere. With how small I was it wasn’t like they would be able to find me. That childish thought quickly left as I jumped down though. When they were both sure I was safely there, Mom backed away from the door with a soft wave. “It’ll be fine sweety. Don’t worry. I’ll be right here when you get out.”

Those kind words didn’t make me feel any better when the door shut.

The woman didn’t say anything at all when we were walking to her office. I looked around and noticed other offices with fellow shrinkees getting registered. The one that stood out to me was a woman who appeared to be three-feet tall crying. I remember jadedly mumbling how she had it easy. She could at least live a regular human life.

 It wasn’t until we were inside of the woman’s office that she lowered her hand onto her desk and said a word to me. “Off.”

I grimaced at her, commanding me like I was a dog. I did as she asked though. She quickly seated herself at the desk and laid down a phone nearby. I didn’t have to look to know it probably had the same app on it that my Mom used.

“Hello Mr. Lindley, my names is Jane Waller and I’m the worker assigned to your case.”

My case? It sounded like I committed a crime or something. Oh wait, she probably thought I did. “Hello Miss Waller. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m sure.” She flashed a professional smile. “Are you ready to start the interview portion of your application?”

“Go for it.”

“Okay.” She pulled a paper nearby and read aloud. “Question One: What sort of skills do you have that you think would be useful for employment?”

I could tell right away all the questions would be direct like this. “Well I’m a college student. I have a basic understanding of film and filming. I have a full grasp on all  grade-school level subjects and if need be I’ve even taken a few psychology courses so I know a bit about how to help people through their problems.”

Jane nodded, taking notes on everything I said. “Those are good skills to have as a tutor or even as a teacher. Next question: Have you ever had any employment experience?”

“For a few years I worked as a landscaper for my uncle. It taught me a lot of practical skills and rural stuff. Aside from that I spent a month at McDonalds and that…wasn’t pleasant I’ll admit but I did what I could. Once I hit college I decided school was more important.”

“Okay. Have you ever worked with someone shrunken?”

“At work? No. Sometimes I worked with some students a couple feet tall at school though.”

“Mmhmm…” I noticed she took a lot of notes at that. “I think that should about do it.”

“That’s it?” I blurted. “That was a really short interview.

“You answered well enough that I don’t need to resort to my other questions. I’ll give you the results after your physical.”

“Physical?”

Jane nodded, “Normally we’d have opened with that but the room was in use so I got the interview out of the way first. Don’t worry, it’s basically just a measuring and some questions about your family history.”

I breathed in relief. “Okay, that doesn’t sound too bad.”

“It isn’t.” Jane smiled, extending a finger. “Hop on.”

One small walk later I hopped off of Jane’s finger and found myself at another desk.

“When you’re ready could you please lay down next to this?” She placed a ruler next me.

“Sure.” I said before going to do as she asked. When I laid down near the bottom of the ruler I distinctly saw her mouth drop slightly. “Wow, you’re the smallest case I’ve ever seen. Two millimeters tall. You can get up now.”

Somehow having a number assigned to it made it feel smaller than it was. I’ve long since made my peace with it though. I returned to the nearby phone and awaited more questions.

“Do any illnesses run in your family?”

“None that I can think of. I had a grandfather who caught Alzheimer’s a few years ago but that’s about it.”

“So this would make you the first of your family to catch a disease like this?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Has anyone in your family been a convicted felon?”

“No.” I wondered why that was relevant.

“I see…I think that should about do it. The rest I can get from the papers you filled out earlier.”

“So…I’m done?” I asked.

Jane nodded, “You’re done.  I’ll turn in your application right away and you’ll be fully registered as a Micro Citizen. Do you have any questions?”

I only had one. “When do I find out about my job placement?”

She stiffened, I could see it clear as day. “Your application will be turned in then we will await for a suitable response from a local agency. If the local agency can’t find one then your file with be processed in our national database. If it’s local it should take roughly a week. If it goes beyond that I couldn’t give you a solid estimate.”

“I see…So a week until I find out if I’m not an assistant huh?”

Jane nodded before a weary sigh escaped her lips, “I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you.”

I felt like I knew what she was about to say but I asked anyway. “Why?”

Her expression made it pretty clear to me she didn’t mean to say that comment out loud. I got the feeling if she could she’d have taken it back. But she couldn’t. Instead she was now forced to answer me directly.

At first she coughed to clear her throat, “You have a good application, you really do. If I had to be perfectly blunt you’re a prime example of a possible tutor. However…Your size will be an issue. If I can speak directly, mentally, you’re all we could ever hope for. But physically you’re not.”

I hung on every word she said, dread slowly filling me. “So what you’re saying is I’m too small?”

She nodded. “Most tutors get assigned to younger students but the smaller they get the more of a chance an…accident could occur, especially with child students. So we try to avoid hiring tutors and placing them in that situation.”

By this point I stopped breathing. “So I’m stuck as an assistant?”

Jane shook her head, “It’s too hard to say. Practically speaking you’re not…well-suited for the job at your size. There aren’t many jobs you could do as well as larger shrunken citizens. Because of this not a lot of people are willing to hire Micro-sized workers.”

“Then what? I won’t even get hired as an assistant?”

“I’m sure you’ll find a job eventually. It will simply take a while, and odds are that you’ll have to travel far away. But in the meantime you’ll be permitted to stay with your family on a temporary basis until you’re ready to be hired.”

This was a lot to take in at once. I sat there, unable to respond for a few moments as I processed what I’d just been told.  Long story short, I wasn’t going anywhere for a while. But when I would go, odds are it’d be far away. More than likely as a servant to some stranger. I could understand the logic behind it, but all the same I grew incredibly frustrated by the results of my interview. I looked up at Jane, hoping to see at least a consoling face. Sad to say, I didn’t get it. If anything her expression was completely neutral. I was just another case to her. A unique one sure, but nothing she needed to get worked up about. If anything she probably wanted to hurry this along so that she could get the next person.

Ultimately I just sighed. All the frustration in the world didn’t mean a damn thing right now. I could stare at Jane expectantly all day and get nothing. She was perfectly polite throughout all of this, but I garnered no sympathy from someone. In her eyes I did this to myself. So I just sighed, “Are we done?”

“Yes, let me turn in the paperwork and I’ll have you your new ID and you can be on your way.”

Maybe twenty minutes later (Actually longer than the interview) all the papers were filed and Jane returned to the room with my new ID, a single small card just on the tip of her nail. I think she commented on how hard it was not to lose it but by this point I was honestly clocked out. After bringing me back outside I was traded back to Mom where she placed me back in her ear and left. She might have said something now that I think about it. But again, I was not paying attention.

Not all was bad though. When we got home, I was in for a nice surprise. First thing we were got back in Mom placed me on our living room table and eagerly began fishing through her purse.

“While you were getting registered I realized you’d really need this so I went out and got it.” From her bag she pulled out something about five times my size.“Ta da!” She happily placed it on the table.

I stared at it blankly for a moment. What I was staring at was a fairly small item sealed inside plastic, that much was certain. It took a sec before I realized what it was. “You got me a phone?!”

There wasn’t a phone placed to conveniently enhance my voice but I saw Mom smiling down at me anyway. Quickly, she picked it back up and tore the case open with ease. “Try it out.” She urged after gently emptying it in front of me.

My phone had been dead since yesterday so something like this was fantastic. Gleefully I picked it up. It was certainly a phone, though the size didn’t match up completely. In my hands it was more like a tablet than an actual phone. But who cares? I had a working phone now!

“According to the clerk it’s very durable and powered by light so you shouldn’t need a charger. I even had them put in all your friend’s numbers so you can keep in touch!”

I didn’t know what to say. Sincerely. I just looked between the phone and my mother with the most gratitude I could ever remember showing her. My first text I ever made with that phone was a very simple message: “Thank you.”

Mom’s phone vibrated with my message. After checking it she smiled at me, “You’re welcome. Now, after all that I bet you’re tired. Do you think you’ll be okay for a while so I can run and pick up some stuff for you?”

“Sure.” I texted.

“Okay, you be a good boy while I’m gone.” She hurried back out. At the time I thought nothing of it but thinking back…she probably didn’t want to be in the house with me. Not after the Maria incident. So she probably came up with a reason to leave me so I’d be safest. Or maybe I’m thinking about it too much. Who knows?

The first thing I started doing after that was texting my friends. By this point word had probably spread about me so they all probably knew by now. If not it didn’t matter. I still wanted to talk with people; something to finally liven up my shitty day.

Most of it was totally irrelevant texts. Kristen asked me how I was doing. Jaz demanded I explain everything. John tried to talk like nothing had happened. Eric made a few jokes and I could list a bunch of other people who aren’t important. Nah, the only important messages I got were when Kari finally replied.

“Kristen told me everything. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m still a little worried but after talking with everyone I’m starting to bounce back a little.”

“That’s good, shame we can’t go out tonight though. After all this I bet you need it.”

That text reminded. Earlier, before all this, I’d actually planned to go to a movie with Kari that day. In all the chaos of the last couple days I’d totally forgotten. Course, at my size I wasn’t going anywhere.

“You can still come by if you want... ;D”

That wasn’t going to stop me though. I really wanted to see Kari. It took a little bit of convincing, but once I got Mom’s permission she ultimately agreed to come on by.

Small or not, that night I had a date.