“I don’t have any money.” I told mum sheepishly  as Gabby went to get her jacket. Mum had her arms folded and was glancing at me with a classic worried expression as I sat cross legged on the bench in front of her. It was an expression that basically summed up her feelings on my expedition to the mall, which was of course, no.

She sighed. “Honey, I can give you some money. I’m just worried about your safety. What if you fall out of Gabby’s pocket?!” And so began her frantic pacing around the kitchen, ranting about the dangers of my future trip to teenage girl haven. I had to roll my eyes. 

“Come on, Mum!” I laughed lightly at her anxiety, trying to soften the mood. “It might be good for me to get out of the house!” 

Mum sighed, and locked her eyes with mine for a second. “I know you barely go anywhere, Ames. That’s why I thought of school.” She said, just as my cousin returned.

Gabby was now clad in a faded blue cardigan which bore a small chest pocket at the front (for my benefit of course). She smiled brightly as she approached us in the kitchen, and came to a stop just beside me. 

“Ready to go?” She asked, holding out her hand just in front of my sock covered feet. 

I returned her smile and nodded like the excited teenager I was embarking on their first trip to the mall. Without hesitation, I leapt into her waiting palm and allowed her to slide me into her front pocket, out of sight.

I could feel her soft heartbeat against the cardigan wool. Gabby looked down at me with a giant (even to my standards) smile and I gave her an awkward but excited thumbs up. My legs always feel like jelly when I’m in someone’s pocket, so I sat down and stared at the woven wool around me, which was loose enough to give me a pretty good view of the outside world. 

“Bye mum!” I called out as Gabby strode out into the open. Sunlight blinded my eyes, even with the shield of wool covering me. I squinted at my giantess of a mother and held out my hand in a wave. She returned it, and closed the front door behind her. 

I gulped.

Gabby moved quickly. Her feet pounded against the concrete path like drums. I threaded my fingers through my wool enclosure and stretched the weaving slightly to peek outside. Sunlight instantly blinded my eyes and I blinked to steady myself. Crap the world was big. Our house seemed enormous to me anyway given my stature as it was but as Gabby walked out into the neighbourhood I could safely say that it was tiny. Huge trees towered over even Gabby’s head and blotted out the sun in canopies. I craned my neck to stare at the green leaves, each bigger than me height wise. Cars zoomed past like jets. God- the whole world made me feel so, so incredibly small. I shrank back into the warmth of my pocket and curled up into a ball, trying to block out my unease. 
“You ok?” Gabby asked as she walked, obviously noticing me tense up.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and took a few shaky breaths. “Yeah. It’s just a bit full on!” I called up to her over the roar of cars passing. “I’m not really an outdoorsy person!” 

“Don’t worry.” Gabby laughed, smiling down at me. “Neither am I.”

I settled to look up at the sky from my pocket after that. I watched the white clouds float past like the cotton wool buds I use for pillows. Trees whistled in the light breeze. I opted to listen to Gabby’s slow breathing to try and ease my growing anxiety. And then, we were there.

The first thing I smelt was vanilla. Mixed with grease and McDonalds fries. 

“You can look, you know.” Gabby whispered to me. I slowly raised my head out of the pocket to get a glimpse of the mall I’d only been to once before. Shit. There were people everywhere. They bustled past Gabby, some with babies in prams, some with children by their side.  Some were clad in business suits and held briefcases at their wastes. Others, farmers probably, simply strode around smiling in overalls and straw hats. Being a country town, it was understandable. The smorgasbord of flashing signs and colours got my attention and I peered in wonder at the many lined stalls and shopping centres before me. Loud pop music pounded in my ears. I continued to peer in awe out of the pocket, until we reached the first store and I had to duck back down to avoid getting eyeballed. 

“It’s called Diva.” Gabby whispered as she moved to the corner of the store where there weren’t as many prying eyes. Hesitantly, I raised my head again to examine the store. “Sells jewellery and knick knack sort of things.” My cousin explained.

Girls crowded around the items on display and chatted to each other. Rows upon rows of shiny silver necklaces and bracelets were strung up in an orderly fashion, colour coded and everything. Gabby steered us to a stop in front of a rack of thin silver chains with different shaped pendants hanging from them. I watched Gabby’s hands sort through the necklaces from position at her chest. It really was surreal to be in such a clichéd teenage area, even at my scale. 

“They’re beautiful.” I breathed, as Gabby fingered through the necklaces.

“I know.” She agreed, modelling one against her neck in front of a mirror. 

“That would look so good on you.” I commented, glancing down at the charm it bore, which was shaped like a heart.

We continued on like this. Gabby would wander around in the stores and I would just look at whatever was in front of me. It was interesting, I have to admit. There were so many shops that caught my attention with their bright names. 

At the end of our little shopping spree, Gabby had bought a bag full of items. She told me she had a part time job at a nearby McDonalds when I’d asked how on earth she could afford it all. I could almost imagine her wearing the classic Maccas uniform and serving customers. It made me laugh. 
Gabby steered us to the back of the Mall eventually, and peered down at me. “There’s something I want to show you.” She said with a smile, and before I could ask what, we were inside the store. 
“Well shit!” I exclaimed in an instant, not even bothering to keep my head ducked out of sight as I took in the store. I mean- it was the same as any other store in this mall. There were rows upon rows of clothes laid out across a few tables, and a number of knick knacks I’d only seen in my dreams. It was ordinary- just like Diva had been. The only difference was… mind boggling. 
Everything was scaled perfectly to my size.

“It’s called Johnson and Son’s Dollhouse.” Gabby told me, before I could utter out something crazy. My eyes were wide as tiny person sized saucers as I took in the contents of the store. 

“I know!” I called up to her, swallowing the excited lump in my throat. Quite frankly, at this point I couldn’t care less whether people saw me. I just wanted to look at everything! It got me thinking, actually- was this the kind of mental drug that enters through a teenager’s body when they enter their favourite store? I’d always known this was my favourite store, anyways. I remembered coming here once when I was ten and I’d fallen in love with every single thing. Mind you, I hadn’t actually left my mother’s pocket that time. Now, after learning about Marcus, I just don’t care.

“Um, Gabby?” I called up to her, watching in satisfaction as her giant head turned down towards me.

“Yeah?” 

I blushed. “Stand still, will you? I’m coming out.” 

Gabby raised an eyebrow, but complied, coming to a halt halfway through the doorway of the store. In an instant, I’d scrambled up to her shoulder using the thick wool of her cardigan as handholds. I plonked myself down a few centimetres away from her mane of short blonde hair and sat up straighter to take in the store better. I felt Gabby’s eyes shift to mine.

“Marcus used to do that.” She mumbled, looking away again.

I shot her a confused glance. “What? Mountain climb up your cardigan?”

Gabby laughed a little “No, sit on people’s shoulders.” She said wistfully. “He used tell us it felt like he was normal sized up there, cause he was level with everyone.” 

I patted her shoulder gently. “I can see the appeal.” I said, deciding on a quick change of topic. “Wanna look around?” I suggested, gesturing to the store. 

“Okay.” Gabby agreed, smiling sadly. I decided to refrain from discussing this Marcus guy in front of her. While I didn’t know him myself before his apparent death, it sure hit Gabby like a ton of bricks at the mention of his name. I wondered what his personality was like to make him sound so… cool? Yeah- I’ll stick with that description.

“Hi, welcome to Johnson and Son’s Dollhouse.” A cheery voice brought me back into the real world and I jolted unintentionally on Gabby’s shoulder at the sight of the young man in front of us. 
“Are you looking for something in particular, ladies?” He asked, and I had to frown. Why isn’t he fazed by… me? The guy stood a few metres in front of us, wearing a button up white shirt and sunglasses. His dark black hair fell over his covered eyes. 

Gabby was the first to recover. “No, thanks. We’re just looking around.” 

The man smiled faintly and nodded, moving to turn away, but I gritted my teeth and stopped him in his tracks. 

“Wait!” 

“Hmmm?” He asked pleasantly at my comment, his head turning a fraction to meet my eyes. 
I swallowed back my nerves and sighed. I had to know. I really did. “Aren’t you… shocked? To see me, I mean?” 

“No…?” He said, cocking an eyebrow. After a pause though, he merely let out a sigh and pointed to his tinted glasses. “Can’t actually see you, anyway, I’m afraid. I’m blind.” 

The news was alarming, and kind of sad, but it explained everything. With a jolt I realised that with this guy, I could have been any other normal sized teenage girl entering his shop and looking around. To this guy, I was probably just a voice, perhaps softer than everyone else’s but still just a voice. 

Unfortunately, though, his next comment changed all that.

“I know you’re a Shrignakemic patient, by the way.” The man said quietly, taking a step towards us. “You’re… um… on your friend’s shoulder?” 

I flinched at his sudden closeness and Gabby edged backwards slightly, looking just as shocked as I do. “How do you…” I warbled, my palms beginning to sweat as I gripped the living daylights out of Gabby’s cardigan. 

“Were you a friend of Marcus’s?” He interrupted, taking us both by surprise. 

“What’s it to you?” Gabby snapped. 

The man stiffened at her harshness, and his shoulders drooped. A greyness seemed to surround him like a cloak at her question. “He used to work with me, here.” He said finally. “We were friends.” 
“Marcus worked here?” Gabby asked in shock.

“Y-Yeah. He was a really great guy. Always so…” 

“Positive.” She whispered, her giant eyes brimming with tears. She sniffled and wiped them with the back of her hand. Yet again, the mention of the strange boy, Marcus, left my stomach twisted into knots of sickness. I tried not to let the hollowness get to my head.

“Yeah.” The man sighed, looking down at his black leather shoes. “Never let anything get in his way.” 

Gabby smiled sadly, biting back a sob. “Everyone looked up to him in school, you know. And he’d always point to himself…” She laughed at the memory, although her face gave away her true emotions. “And he’d say: ‘How do you even do that? You’d have to be pretty damn small to look up to me.’”
“Heh.” The man grunted, smiling himself. “He’d say the same thing to me.” 

The two stood awkwardly in silence for a minute, their eyes drawn to the beige tiled ground. I pictured Marcus in my head once again, just as Gabby had described him. I wish I'd had the guts to tackle high school at such a young age. 

Then again, I wish I'd done a lot of things to make my life worth something. It's sad, to sit back and realise that I haven't actually left my own home in over three months, when others like me deal with their problems every single day. People assume that I'd be the most adapted to my size, being born like this. In reality, though, I'm just a regular girl trapped in a body too small for the world around her. I spend my days wishing I could just get a taste of being normal. I spend my days with my head in the clouds, watching years pass by before my eyes. I watch people grow up and go to uni, knowing that there's a high chance I'll never get to experience any of that. It made me feel dead inside.

Finally, the man offered his hand to Gabby. “I’m Kyle.” 

“Gabby.” She returned the smile, and before I knew what was going on, she'd shaken hands and he was now facing me, a warm smile on his face. He brought his free hand towards me and my mouth fell open, thinking he was about to trap me within those huge fingers. But the hand came to a stop just in front of my face, index finger raised. I sighed quietly in relief, before straightening up and grasping his offered finger in my whole hand. 

"I'm Amy." I said.