It was late before I made it to the very top. In fact it was so late that Al was about to go to sleep. As I made had made it to the top all the lights in the room were doused. I tried to survey the land but it was to dark. I sighed as I lay down on the soft floor of the mountaintop. My sister’s perfume, mixed with her scent permeated the ground along with the smell of dirty laundry.

            I pulled part of the sleeve of her sweatshirt over me, as I now knew there was nothing I could do until morning. As badly as I wanted to be found, poking around in the dark was not going to solve anything.

            I awoke to the most horrific noise I had ever heard. I covered my ears as I peeked out from underneath the sleeve I was using as a blanket. It was at that moment that I saw Alyson smash her hand down against the alarm. The noise sent a shudder down my spine. As long as I was like this, Alyson is definitely not the weakling I tease and berate.

            Sunlight was peeking in through the windows illuminating the room enough to see everything clearly. I sleepily stood up rubbing the sleep from eyes. I have to say that if you ever need a goodnights sleep, a pile of clothes sleeps like you wouldn’t believe. I cannot remember the last time I slept that well.

            My stomach growled as I scanned the floor, there were several major piles of clothes and scattered miscellaneous items sprinkled across the floor, however there is still a lot of carpet between everything. I made a mental note of a few key landmarks and was about to head back down to the floor when everything began to tremble. I froze at the sight of Alyson fully standing up. I had nowhere to go, or seek shelter. I watched her slide her feet into her khaki colored slippers and stomp forward. She still had on the same sweatpants that she had last night along with a gray shirt that had princess written across it in pink sparkly writing.

            “Alyson! Down here! Look down here” I shouted as she began walking. I could feel everything trembling in her wake. She yawned and stretched out her arms as she continued coming near me. I dove to the ground and braced myself as best I could as I looked up at my gigantic sister. Everything about her was magnified seemingly a hundred times, her messy hair draped over her shoulders, the sleepy look on her face. It all sent shivers down my spine.

            I was not prepared for what happened next though. It happened so fast I could not even register what was going on. In one motion, Alyson grabbed the bottom of her shirt and pulled it up and over her head. The sky filled with a blanket of white. I tried to stand up but my body would not respond. I could hear and feel the thump, thump; thump of Alysons every step reverberated across the floor and threw my body. My teeth chattered with her every motion. The shirt fell lower and lower but I was paralyzed in fear. I managed to let out a single scream before it blanketed me. The smell of my sister was everywhere now; I could feel her body heat still flowing through the shirt. As soon as I heard her door click shut, I knew it was time to get back to the floor. I slowly made my way out from underneath the heavy shirt and back down to the carpeting of her floor.

            As soon as my feet sunk into the carpeting of Al’s floor I felt overwhelming relief of joy swell inside of me. It was like being at sea for weeks and then finally getting your feet onto land. However, the downside to being back on floor was I once again had to face the true reality of my size. The mountainous pile of clothes I had just climbed once again dwarfed me; I just had to fight my way out from underneath one of my sister’s t-shirts. Gigantic everyday objects, Alyson’s bed, her dresser, her desk, shelves, surround me; everything looks hundreds of feet tall.

            The worst feeling of all though, was when I heard my mom walk down the stairs from bedroom crying. I never had heard my mother cry before, I wanted to just jump out into the hall and say here I am look at me, but unfortunately, I can’t.  I just had to get Al’s attention. I turned back towards her nightstand and looked up at it. I took a deep breath and started heading towards my sister’s vans. They were those low cut skater shoes. I had seen her wear them off and on but I never paid them much mind. I mean how often does anyone look at someone’s shoes, especially your siblings.

            Meanwhile, everyone was starting to worry about Jacen, some people more then others. He was never the type of person to just leave and not say anything. Then not return home at all. Mom and Dad were quite worried to say the least. I had not ever seen them as they were that morning. Mom was in a total daze. I could have asked her for a hundred bucks and she would have just written me a check. I thought they were just over reacting. My twin brother is a big a boy, I figured he could still take care of himself. I had no idea how wrong I was.

            As freaked out as my parents were that morning, my sister and I were the exact opposite. We were both acting as if nothing was wrong at all. Neither of us could really picture Jacen being in any real trouble. He has always been the level headed one, the responsible one. He never really took much for risks and he worked hard. All of that was about to change.