So we sat there drying our tears and trying to figure out someway to lighten the mood, even a little. Normally Melanie would have sprung for a hug but at my size there is no doubt in my mind that she would have killed me. She’s a very enthusiastic hugger. Suddenly Nicole perked up. “Would um . . . would you mind playing something for us? I like hearing you play.”

Laura chuckled a little. “I’d help make things less depressing.”

I raised an eyebrow as my lips quirked in a smile. “Play a song after a depressing and heartfelt moment? This isn’t the freaking Magic Kingdom in DisneyWorld. “

“Hey I love those kinds of movies.” Jess protested.

Emily looked at everyone and then shook her head as she gave me a look that said ‘can you believe them?’. But she smiled her usual smartass smile. “I’d actually really like that. Just pick something that isn’t too corny and you’ll be fine.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “I’ll try and pick something appropriate then.”

So Emily placed me on the roof of my Cave. Just as I stepped down I remembered Joseph and what he really was. I ran inside through the roof entrance as fast as I could.

“Joseph?” I called out. “Joseph!”

He didn’t come out. I went through the Cave as quickly as I could but he was no where to be found. I found myself smiling for no apparent reason. Or maybe I was smiling over the fact that my pet ant turned out to be a guardian angel or some being similar to that and has now disappeared. Story of my life, am I right?

Well if he wasn’t here anymore then I probably had no hope of finding him. So I just went back up to my room and carried my guitar out. Emily brought me back to the coffee while everyone else sat around me on the floor. As I took the guitar out and began tuning it I played with some song ideas. Layla? Nah, doesn’t fit the moment. Wonderwall? Nope, too generic. What It’s Like by Everlast? Close but a little too depressing.

Suddenly I had the perfect idea. If you’re a fan of Shinedown then you’ll know what I was going for. They recently covered a very famous song called Simple Man and, in my opinion, it sounded better when they did it. All they had was one acoustic guitar, played by Zack Myers, and the powerful vocals of Brent Smith. Not to mention the song itself, originally written by Lynyrd Skynyrd, is an extremely powerful and moving song. All in all it fit the mood just right.

So I began individually plucking the notes of each chord as I began to sing. Like I said, I don’t have a really special voice, but I’m not that bad.

“Well Mama told me, when I was young. Said sit beside me, my only son. And listen closely, to what I say. And if you do this it’ll help you some sunny day.”

I won’t rewrite every lyric for you. If you want to hear a quality version then look up Shinedown performing the song, I guarantee you’ll like it. The girls themselves sat around and quietly watched me, enjoying the music. The Martin guitar sounded beautiful as ever, each note rang loud and clean. When I had finished tears were still present, but everyone was smiling. They clapped for me and I took a mock of a bow. I love to play music for others but I hate showing off. The only thing I hate more is the fact that I love showing off.

“That was pretty good. But how about something a little more upbeat?” Ashley asked.

I grinned as I launched into the beginning of ‘Ain’t No Easy Way Out’ by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. It’s a great song but I don’t recommend watching the music video unless you’re all alone. Just take my word for it, you’ll see what I mean.

After I was done the girls thought it best to go back and finish up with their nails, many of them were only halfway done because of how quickly things happened. I of course insisted on finishing up with Emily’s nail. I have this little quirk where I become too stubborn to stop until I finish a job I started. If you’ve ever wrestled, or done any sport that requires as much dedication, then you know what I’m talking about. As I was just finishing up I heard Jess clear her throat.

“Peter?” she asked.

After one last stroke I put down my brush and raised my head in acknowledgement of her question.

“I’m . . . I’m sorry for what I said about you being our servant and everything. I shouldn’t have joked about that.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry too.” Ashley said. “I didn’t realize how mean it would have sounded to you.”

One by one the other girls voiced their apologies to me. Emily even apologised for the giant spider behind my back. When they had fallen quiet I took a deep breath and addressed them all.

“I can’t blame any of you for what’s happened to me. All I know is that I’m in the most serious situation I’ll probably ever be in. And if it wasn’t for you all helping me to get through it I honestly don’t know how long I would have lasted on my own.” I sighed. “What you said did hurt me, it hurt quite a bit. But I can’t blame you for not understanding what it’s like. Maybe . . . maybe one day I will look back and joke about all of this with you. But until then . . . I forgive you.”

I won’t bore you with detail as to what happened after that, you’ve all read enough emotion to last for a while. The jist of it was we laughed, we ate, we watched movies, and we went to bed. For the first time in a while I was all alone in the Bat Cave. I’ll be honest, I really did miss Joseph. Even if he wasn’t really an ant the little bastard and I had been through a lot. It was like I had just lost a close roommate. I found myself staring at my journal for a good while, contemplating what to say. Eventually I just said “Fuck it” and began writing. That night I went to bed with my journal in hand, and my friends all around me.

*****

You know what sucks in the morning? Sunlight.

I will never understand those morning people who find such joy in seeing the sunshine so early in the morning. To me, when it’s seven in the morning, the sun is just another obstacle preventing you from sleeping in. That and those goddamned birds. Chirping their heads off to the point where you just want to take a gun and fire a few rounds into the air, just to scare them off. What the hell do they have to say that is so important everyone else has to wake up and hear it? I was really not in the mood for any of this. My head was throbbing for some reason. Probably from this mattress. I don’t know where Emily found it but it was uncomfortable as hell! The thing was as hard as . . . . as . . . .

The floor.

My eyes snapped open and, sure enough, I was sleeping on the floor. The floor of Emily’s basement. The carpet was matted which didn’t make sleeping on it any easier, no wonder my head hurt. My eyes were still clearing up but I could make out the ceiling stretch up into sky above me. I closed my eyes to rub them clear as I sighed. Who the hell thought it was funny to take me out of my bed and just put me anywhere on the floor? I thought we were all done with jokes and pranks. Who had the nerve?

I kept grumbling to myself as I hauled myself to my feet. It wasn’t easy. I stumbled a little and had to grab part of the couch for balance.

My eyes could not have opened faster at that moment.

A few seconds after grabbing the couch I felt the curve of, what should have been, one of the wooden feet. This piece of the couch was curved, but definitely not wooden. It was leather. I had grabbed the arm of the couch.

With my vision cleared I looked around frantically. The couches, the girls, the tables, the shelves, and my Cave. Finally I took a good look at myself.

I was back to my normal height.

I can’t really describe how I felt at that point, so many emotions flew through me straight to my very core. The first and foremost was happiness over returning to my normal size. Next came regret over having to sacrifice my giantess fantasy come true. And finally came confusion as to how this all happened. Then suddenly a memory flashed through my head.

“Your wish at that time was that you wanted your girl friends to know what kind of person you really are. You were tired of having to keep this secret all to yourself for so many years, never once telling anyone. You wanted to be able to confide within someone close to you without them seeing you as a freak. So the coin shrank you and sent you to Emily’s house where you could live out your ultimate fantasy. Telling your close friends your secret without them believing you’re a freak.”

“So . . . will I ever grow back to normal?”

“That depends.”

“Depends on what?”

“You’ve kept one secret from them, from everyone. I think at this point they deserve to know.”

“I . . . I guess they do.”

That conversation with Joseph, he said I had to tell them. Telling them undid the wish? The wish. What was my wish again? Joseph said my wish was that I didn’t have to keep secrets from my friends anymore. So he said the coin made it so that I could live out my ultimate fantasy. . . . . . And now they know. They know about my history of depression, they know about my attempts at suicide, and Emily and Tara even know about the fetishes I’ve been afraid of my entire life. And they don’t care about any of it.

Despite knowing all of that stuff about me my friends stand by me without seeing me as a freak.

My ultimate fantasy.

I don’t know when I began weeping but the tears came all the same. It felt good, cleansing almost. I stopped as soon as I heard someone stir. Emily blinked the sand out of her eyes as she sat up on the couch. She didn’t notice me right away as she look at everyone else who was still sleeping. When she finally did see me her mouth fell open as her eyes bulged. Not a peep escaped her lips, safe for a gasp. Very slowly she sat up and walked to within five feet of me. Once she got that close she ran straight at me and I caught her in a hug. We just stood there embracing each other in silence.

“Thank you,” I whispered to her. “For everything you’ve done for me. Thank you.”

“It was nothing,” she whispered back. Then she pulled away a bit so she could look at me. “How?”

I smiled as I shook my head. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

Emily grinned. “Try me.”

I wanted to tell her. Tell her my pet ant/guardian angel brought me back to normal after I completed a task set forth by a magical piece of pocket change. I was so tempted.

All the same I hesitated. “Alright then,” Emily said. Then she stepped back and turned towards everyone who was still asleep. “Hey girls! Wake up! Pete’s back!”

Very slowly each one of them stirred as they woke up and looked around. Like me they had to blink away the film left on your eyes after you sleep for a while. Once they did each one of those eyes popped right out of their heads.

Melanie was the first one to fully comprehend what was happening. “Peter!” she screamed as she ran right for me. Like I said before, Melanie’s an enthusiastic hugger. But she was still only five feet tall so I was able to catch her just as she leapt up to hug me without staggering. She wrapped her arms and legs around me as soon as I caught her. Before I could even say anything everyone else soon took their turn at tackling me until I finally keeled over under their combined weight.

After two weeks of non stopped fear and uncertainty I finally felt safe.

I felt happy.

By God these girls were heavy.

*****

There’s not much to say at this point.

The rest of the day was spent explaining to everyone the story behind my coin. I left out a few minor details, such as the fact that it was my wish that shrunk me down in the first place. What’s the harm in letting them think the coin did it all itself. I definitely told them about Joseph, that was fun trying to explain. When I went back to the Bat Cave I saw that everything had disappeared. My clothes, the journal, the guitar, everything. Since I had no other clothes Emily had to drive me home that day in my pajamas. Thankfully she had the spare key to my house with her. My parents came home at the end of the month thinking I had been home the entire time. After that things soon went back to normal. Not completely normal of course. I still had nightmares as strange dreams about my experiences for a long time afterwards. But the girls told me that any time I needed someone to talk to about that I had only just reach out.

About a month later I was making the bed in my room. As I pulled the sheets off something caught my eye. A leather bound book.

I opened it up and flipped through the pages, sure enough it was my journal. Everything I had ever written was still inside just as I had left it. Moving the sheets aside I sat down on my bed and began reading from page one.