Chapter 4

    "Pepsi?" Damien calls. He looks out from his front porch. No sign of her. He whistles and listens for a reply. Nothing. "Pepsi!"

    Then he hears a bark from the backyard. Pepsi doesn’t usually bark. He hurries around the side of his house and sees her wriggling through a gap in the fence where the chicken wire has come unattached.

    "Pepsi! No!" Damien yells, but it’s too late. Pepsi sprints from under the chicken wire out into the big yard beyond, and then it happens - she starts to shrink. She twists around in confusion and yelps as she dwindles away.

    Damien's running, shouting to her. He leaps onto his fence, one leg over and about to hop down, when he chokes in pain and shock, clutching at himself. He starts to shrink. Quickly he twists himself away and falls back into his own lawn. He groans and struggles to get up, but his shirt is too big and he can’t see his own hands past the sleeves for a terrifying second. He trips on his pants which fall down around his ankles. He’s lost almost two full feet of height. He steps out of the heap of clothing that is his pants and underwear, and clutches at his fence. He groans in panicked frustration, staring at the spot in the lawn where Pepsi shrinks out of view. He counts the fenceposts in his head, trying to memorize the spot where she is, and then he’s sprinting down the road to Jacqueline’s driveway in his bare feet and legs, his oversized shirt the only thing covering his genitals.

    At the large wrought iron gate, he hits the buzzer. And waits. Only then does he feel his heart pounding against his chest, realize he's holding his breath. He feels the sweat drip on his brow from the heat reflecting off the pavement. He waits.

    “Yes?” Marlee’s voice buzzes through the com. “Excuse me? I can't understand you,” the voice continues.

    Damien winces and stops babbling. He takes a deep breath and tries to keep his voice from trembling. "I’m saying, I need to get inside your gates, my dog got through the fence and now she's shrunk and I need to get her back right now!"

    “Oh. Hold on, Mister Reiner.”

    He holds on. He paces, tugging at his arm hair.

    “Damien, is that you?” Jacqueline's voice says from the com.

    "Yes!" Damien says, lunging at the com.

    “Hold on, I'll be right out. I was about to go for a run anyway.”

    Eventually, finally, he sees her. She walks casually down the driveway in grey athletic clothes, her hair done up in a short ponytail. "Hello Damien," she calls. She looks over the tops of her glasses. “You’re not wearing trousers. Also you look smaller.”

    The gates open, slowly. Damien takes an urgent step forward when Jacqueline holds up her hand.

    "Wait," she says.

    He freezes. Jacqueline holds up a small remote and presses a button. Damien glances around but nothing seems to change. Except the constant, crackling hum in the air stops. "All right," Jacqueline says with a smile and tilts her head. "The security system is off. You can come in now. Don’t worry, you won’t shrink."

    Damien hesitates for a second before taking one shuffling step into the driveway. Then another. Then he breaks into a run across the lawn towards the spot where Pepsi disappeared. When he gets near, he stops suddenly, eyes glued to the grass. Gingerly, he gets down on his hands and knees and starts crawling forward cautiously, scanning the area intently.

    "That's too bad about your pet," Jacqueline says as she strolls up behind him through the grass.

    Damien snaps his hands up, gesturing her to stop. "Be careful!" he says. "She should be around here somewhere." He doesn't take his eyes off the ground.

    Jacqueline stops, and looks at her shoes. As Damien continues to search, she shifts her weight around and holds her hands behind her back. She taps her foot idly and swings it through the grass. "Well," she says, "I'm sure you'll find it. I'm going for that run now, I’ll be back later. Good luck."

***

    It's over an hour when she returns, coming up behind him. Her breathing is deep and steady. Her skin glistens with thin perspiration. Marlee approaches from the house and hands her a fresh white towel. Jacqueline takes it and says to Damien, "Any luck?" as she dabs at her face.

    Damien holds up one finger for silence, cocking his head to the ground.

    Jacqueline raises an eyebrow and glances at Marlee, who only shrugs slightly.

    The man moves slowly across the lawn, his ear inches from the ground.

    Jacqueline tosses the towel back and puts her hands on her hips impatiently.

    Damien looks at the ground in front of him, and then tenderly cups his hands around a spot on the lawn. After a moment he stands, staring into his hands. Slowly he turns and walks up to Jacqueline. She leans forward. There's a tiny brown dog in his hands, barely a quarter of an inch tall.

    She stands straight again. "Congratulations."

    Eventually he looks up into Jacqueline's eyes. "You can help us?" he says.

    "Oh Damien," she says, smiling sadly and shaking her head. "I'm afraid that's all on your shoulders now. Your pet did trespass on my property, and I did warn you about the security when I had it installed. You’re going to have to figure that all out on your own. Go home and find some trousers.” Then she turns and walks off toward her house.

    Damien stares after her, gaping.