“So what should we do first?” The chipmunk asked his friend gleefully. His tail wouldn’t stop wagging.

            “How about hide and seek?” Ralph replied, looking equally enthusiastic.

            “Yeah!” Tommy shouted. “Okay tiny,” He said to Ryan. “We are going to count to twenty, then we’ll look for you.”

            “Sounds good,” Ryan said back nervily. The two boys turned away then, and buried their heads in their paws. A second later Ryan could hear them counting.

            The wolf quickly ran away from them, trying to put as much distance between them as possible, but his tiny legs couldn’t get him anywhere quickly. It was about this time that he noticed his clothes had shrunk with him. At least he had that going for him.

            The kids reached eighteen by the time he even reached the other side of the room. He looked around, but the only place he could find was a balled up shirt. It was his only option.

            He quickly crawled underneath it, barely escaping from sight in time.

            “Twenty!” The two kids said in unison as they turned around, eyeing the far side of the room. They quickly ran over to it and started searching for there new friend.

            They didn’t have much luck at first. Tommy was looking on a bookshelf of his, and Ralph was looking on top of his desk, shifting through papers that were pilled around it. Ryan would have been worried if he knew the kid was only standing a step or two away from his hiding position.

            “He’s not here,” Tommy said with a huff as he went over to his bed.

            “I don’t think he’s here either,” Ralph said as he tossed a bunch of papers back onto the desk. Then he took a step to his left.

            Ryan was hit with an unearthly impact as the giant placed his paw onto him. The boy shifted his weight, pressing even more into his babysitter. Ryan would have screamed had he not just gotten the air squished out of him. He struggled to move under the squirrel's massive weight, but found that it was far too much for him. He was pinned.

            Ralph stopped his search for a second. He had stepped on something hard, but he didn’t take much notice. Not until it started squirming at least. Now it had his full attention. He rolled his foot over the hard spot a couple of times, trying to determine what the thing was, and eventually decided to just pick up the shirt and look.

            Light pored over Ryan as the shirt was lifted away, leaving his tiny body on the ground below, resting at the feet of the giant.

            “Oh!” Ralph said in surprise. “Found you.”

            “You found him?” Tommy said as he walked over.

            “Yeah, I accidently stepped on him.” Tommy couldn’t suppress a laugh.

            “Good thing he didn’t squish,” The chipmunk said. Ryan looked up at the giants standing high above him. It really was an amazing sight, but he was too horrified to appreciate it. What had started out as a small voice in the back of his head telling him that this was a bad idea had grown into a constant shout, similar in nature to that of a man using a megaphone when he is only a few feet away.

            “Hey guys,” He said up to them. “Can you change me back now?”

            “What? Why?” Tommy asked.

            “Yeah, we’re having fun.”

            “But…” Ryan was cut off before he could say anything.

            “How about we play tag?” Tommy asked his friend, ignoring the shrunken boy’s cry for help.

            “Yeah!” Ralph quickly replied.

            That voice inside Ryan’s head somehow managed to scream louder, as if the metaphorical megaphone was now pressed up against his ear, and the man shouting in it had been replaced by a professional opera singer. Visions started popping into his head. Some of the boys running around trying to tag each other, and accidently stepping on him. Others consisted more of being tagged himself. He made up his mind then and there. He had to escape. 

            “You be it first,” Ralph said to Tommy.

            “Okay, you both better start running!” Ralph turned on his heal and bolted across the room, closely followed by his chipmunk friend. Ryan looked at the door, but found to his horror that it had been shut tight. No way he could slip under it.

            His thoughts were cut short as the two boys ran past him, their feet slamming into the ground, each step feeling like a small earthquake to the miniature wolf. He quickly looked around and saw only one safe haven, the bed. He ran for it.

            Tommy reached out and just barely managed to slap his friend on the shoulder. He turned around quickly, running away as if his life depended on it.

            Ryan was almost under the bed when he heard the two kids running towards him. He looked over his shoulder as he ran, just catching a glimpse of the two playmates.

            A shadow fell over the wolf for a second as the chipmunk ran past him, jumping onto the bed to avoid his friend. Only a few more steps and Ryan would be safe.

            Ralph just managed to grab his friend’s toe. Again he turned and ran. Tommy jumped of the bed, the thud rocking Ryan more than any of their steps had done. The chipmunk took a step, but then realized that there was another target to tag. He scanned the ground for any sight of the wolf, and saw him right as he disappeared under the bed.

            Tommy got onto his hands and knees and quickly crawled to the edge of the bed. He reached his hand under it, blindly trying to find the shrunken boy. Ryan was just out of reach.

            Eventually the chipmunk gave up, realizing that his captive had gone to far in.

            “Hey,” He said. It was clear from his tone that he was irritated. “Come out, that’s not fare.” Ryan didn’t reply. He could barely catch his breath after his sprint. Besides, there was no way he was coming out now.

            “What happened?” Ralph said as he kneeled next to his friend.

            “He’s under the bed, and I can’t reach him.”

            “That’s cheating! Maybe I can reach him.” He to tried to grab the wolf, but had no luck. “You have to come out,” he finally said.

            Again Ryan didn’t reply.
            “Fine,” Tommy said in a huff. “If he wants to hide then let him hide. We’ll just play by ourselves.”

            “Yeah.” Ralph said as the two got up and crawled onto the bed.

            Ryan was left alone then. He was not in any danger at the moment, but he still needed a way out. If he could just get out the door he could escape, but how?

            “Hey,” Ralph whispered to his friend.

            “Yeah?”

            “He has to come out sometime. When he does, we pounce on him!”

            Tommy nodded his approval.