Chapter 8 - New Clothes 5’3”

I woke up from my nap after some time.  I looked up at the clock and saw that it was about 1:00 PM.

I still felt pretty bad, however my stomach wasn’t cramping as it was that morning.  I laid back down on the bed to think to myself as I came to my senses.

“I hope this new nausea side effect is just a short term deal,” I thought, “that would make this already bad situation much worse for me.  I can’t be running to the bathroom every 15 minutes as I get shorter.”

After I had laid down for a few minutes, I felt I needed to do something to keep myself occupied.  I got out of bed, grabbing a blanket and my cell phone and walked out to my living room.  It felt as if the clothes I was wearing had gotten more baggy.

“Dammit, I must’ve shrunk some more while I was napping,” I angrily thought to myself.

I put the blanket on the couch and switched out my phone for the tv remote on the small table at the end of the couch.  I turned on the tv and started watching some daytime talk shows, all of the shows that aired in the mid-afternoon were terrible anyway.  I was watching an episode of the Steve Harvey Show when I heard my phone vibrate.  Picking up the phone I checked what I had received.

It was a text from Angela:

Hey Steve, I am sorry but I don’t think I will be able to make it Kohls after work today to get you new clothes.  You said you had some friends that could help you out, maybe try one of them.

I responded:

That’s okay Angela.  I am just glad you offered to help in the first place.  I will text my friend Helen to see if she can help.

“Great,” I thought, “now there is a possibility that Rebecca will see me like this.”

I decided to take the risk.  I really needed clothes that would fit me.

I texted Helen:

Hey Helen, it is Steve, I was wondering if you could possibly bring me over some new clothes today.  I have gotten even shorter and none of my clothes fit.  Last I checked, this morning, I was 5’4”, but I think I may be a little shorter.

I waited a few minutes before Helen responded to my text.  She confirmed that she could pick me up some clothes and she would bring them over with Daphne later in the afternoon.

It was 3:30 when I heard a knock at the door.  Flicking off the tv, I threw the blanket off to the side and walked across the room to answer the door.  I made sure to stand where I’d be hard to see from the hallway when I opened the door, as I didn’t want any more of my neighbors to know.

The two girls entered without saying anything.  Helen held two bags full of clothes, while Daphne had a small pair of shoes in her hand.  I closed the door.

“Wow you really did get smaller,” exclaimed Helen.  I was glad she had waited for me to close the door.

“Nice to see you to,” I responded sarcastically.

“He is so cute now,” cooed Daphne as she wrapped me in another hug.

Miraculously Daphne was not wearing heels today making her only 3” taller than me.  Daphne’s embrace was very strong.  I felt protected in her arms.

“Is there anywhere in particular that you want this stuff,” asked Helen, gesturing with the bags for emphasis.

“Just put them in my bedroom,” I said, “really girls, this means a lot.  I really appreciate the fact that you are willing to help!”

“It’s no problem cutie,” Daphne responded as she released me from her arms.  “Big Daphne is always willing to help.

When she said that I felt uneasy.  She was calling herself big now that I was shorter than her.  I would soon have to get used to relying on “big” people.

The girls took the clothes back to the bedroom.  After placing them on the bed, they returned to the living room.

“We can’t stay for long Steve,” Helen said, “we are meeting Matt at the house and we are going to hang out.  Before we go do you need us for anything else?”

I thought on that question for a while, then I remembered the box of cornflakes on the counter.

“Yes actually,” I began, “I got out a box of cornflakes this morning for breakfast, but I had trouble reaching the cabinet to put it back.  I was going to ask for a step ladder, I guess I forgot.  Anyway, before you head out could you put that away for me,” I requested.

“Sure can,” said Helen.

I watched as Helen made her way around the counter into the kitchen.  I was left standing alone next to Daphne.  I felt uneasy again, I couldn’t figure out why this time.  Daphne and I watched on as Helen put away the cornflakes, a task that used to be easy for me.

The girls said their goodbyes and left after I couldn’t find anything else to help with.  I decided to go check out my new clothes.  I walked into my bedroom and sat on the bed.

I began digging through the bags.  The first thing I pulled up was a plain red t-shirt, looking at the label all I could focus on was the big ‘S’ on the tag.  It all set in at that moment, a size small, I had been able to comfortably wear a large before.

I looked at the other shirts, mostly size small, or even worse, extra small.  “At least they took further shrinking into consideration,” I thought.

I tried on a pair of gray jeans they had picked out.  They felt snug, but they were far better than the flood pants I had put on this morning.

After going through the clothes I decided to try on the shoes, a standard pair of grey and white Converse.  First I looked at the label, ‘size 5’, I used to wear a size 10.  The shoes were slightly snug as well, but not terrible.

“I’m really glad they thought about my dress style,” I happily thought to myself.

I put on a black pair of Washington Redskins sweatpants and a gray t-shirt and laid around for the rest of the day.

Around dinner-time my stomach had begun to settle down, so I made myself an omelet.  I took my first bite and swallowed another dose of HydroDyoxiBenzine with a swig of tap water.  I was regretting my decision to continue with the drug text, but I needed the money.