I Was Only Joshing Around

With his back against the drawer, the suddenly movement jerked Josh toward the front of the dresser, offsetting his balance and causing him to fall into the gap next to the metal insert connected to the bracket. Flailing, he tried to grab onto the insert but topple out onto the carpet under the dresser near the left foreleg.

“There!” exclaimed Cadence, excitedly pointing to the spot where Josh had fallen. Immediately, Faith stopped pulling on the drawer and dropped down onto her knees.

Although the wind had been knocked out him from his fall, he tried to roll back under the dresser.

Quick as a cobra, Faith snaked her hand out and covered the tiny man with her hand, pinning him to the ground. “Got you!” she said jubilantly, carefully sliding her hand and her prize back out from under the partially opened drawer.

Josh grit his teeth, the pressure being applied to him made it nearly impossible for him to catch a breath and the way she was dragging him out was like being pulled over pavement, the friction igniting the skin along the entire length of the back of his body.

“I’m pretty sure we just caught Josh,” Faith said gleefully, easing her hand onto the side, still using the heel to keep her captured fugitive from fleeing.

Giant hand crushing down on his thighs, Josh pushed feebly at it as he sucked wind. Although warm and soft, it yielded only slightly.

Peeking over Faith’s shoulder, “Oh my gosh, he is quite a little hottie,” Cadence said, grinning down upon him.

“Right?” Faith said, brows raising.

Twisting from side to side, Josh continued struggling futilely under the weight of her hand.

Curling her fingers around his lower body, Faith lifted Josh off the ground. Her grip was fierce, squeezing his legs tightly together as she shuffled away from the dresser on her knees and then looked to the dark haired girl, “My guess is Julian is in there too,” she added, now far enough away from the drawer to allow for it to be pulled out completely.

Positioning herself in front of the dresser, Cadence removed the drawer, twisting her body and setting it to the side and peering into the vacant space in the cabinet. Leaning forward, she glanced down and inside the framework.

Leaning back, she frowned and looked at Faith, “He’s not in there,” she said.

“Are you sure?”

“I can pretty much see into the corners, he’s not there,” Cadence replied.

Faith brought Josh up close enough to her face he could feel the warmth of her breath as she spoke, “Where’s Julian?” she asked, grinning, tongue playing at the corner of her mouth.

Wincing at the pressure restraining his lower body, Josh shook his head, “I don’t know,” he replied through clenched teeth.

Cadence hopped up to her feet, crossing the room quickly to grab her phone. Hustling back over, she turned on the flashlight and shone it into the vacant drawer slot.

 The proximity to Faith filled Josh with dread. Although he had been inside Orla, this was different, up close and personal. Even as she smiled, full lips parting, her teeth appeared larger than his whole head. Ham had been larger than him and he slid right down her throat without a problem.

“Josh,” Faith enjoined, “where’s Julian?”

Cadence leaned down to the floor, shining the light under the piece of furniture with one hand, while curling her other hand around the back of the dresser’s left foreleg. Finding nothing, she checked the other front leg.

“I honestly have no idea,” he said, trying his best to control his upper body from shaking, not sure if it was due to the intense pressure around his legs or the fear racing through his little frame.

Faith tilted her head slightly to the side, lower lip drawn back into her mouth as she held him in her gaze.

 Getting flat down on her stomach, Cadence checked around the rear legs of the dresser before rolling to her side, “Nope, there’s nothing there,” she said.

“Check inside the drawer,” Faith encouraged, huge luminous eyes still locked on Josh looking for any evidence of a response.

Turning to the extract drawer, it contained several pairs of neatly folded blue jeans.

“Please, my legs,” Josh said.

Opening her hand slowly, she moved him into her open palm, his pallid legs blanched white by the pressure of her hold.

“Thank you,” he said, grateful for respite from the crushing force.

She nodded slight before turning her gaze to Cadence. “Anything?”

Sifting through the denim material carefully, Cadence shook her head, “Not yet.”

“Why? Why are you doing this?” Josh asked, massaging his legs and trying to coax back into them.

Turning her attention back to the little man in the center of her open hand, she shook her head. “It’s always why are you doing this? Why me?” she replied.

“I don’t understand why you would use your abilities to shrink people down and then consume them, I just can’t rationalize why,” he stated.

Letting out a sigh, she shook her head gently, “You’re seeing the situation all in the wrong light Josh. Think about this as an amazing opportunity for you to step out of the mundane humdrum and boring existence of your normal life,” she said.

“You ate Ham. How is that an amazing opportunity for him?” he asked.

“In his case it’s true I guess, we never really got a chance to play,” she conceded.

“Play? What’s left of him is probably still somewhere in your digestive system,” he asserted, slightly emboldened by her willingness to engage him in conversation.

“He’s not in the drawer,” declared Cadence,

Turning in Faith’s hand, Josh looked at Cadence, “Why do you do it?”

She chuckled, “I don’t really think you would like the answer,” she replied.

“You know you’re both sociopaths. Killing innocent people for your own sick amusement,” he stated.

The two girls exchanged looks before breaking out into a fits of giggles.

“Whatever,” Cadence said.