Brave New World

Nick awoke, feeling groggy and out of sorts. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious, but there was still a fair measure of natural light coming in thro8ugh the windows and illuminating the room. Groaning he rolled over and sat up, startled to find himself completely naked. Knuckling his bleary eyes, he blinked a couple of times as his vision came into to focus. It was definitely his room, but his perspective was all wrong. Everything was ginormous.

He was in what appeared to be a sea of his own clothes, the bed to his left rising up like a five story apartment building draped in a giant comforter. Similarly, across the football field distance between him and the humongous structure of his chair, he could see Tom’s clothing draped over it.

Suddenly he laughed and shook his head. His first inclination was simple denial. This could not be. Nope. Had to be some hallucination or trick of perception, except, he felt completely lucid. Examining his arms, he looked for traces of discolored veins. They were normal, he felt normal, but he was incredibly small, no more than three inches in height.

Rising to his feet, it was an odd sensation being in the cavernous room, reminiscent of the time when he was a kid and he had seen the Vikings play in the Metrodome, except this space wasn’t some mega sports venue, it was his room.

Running a hand over his head, he frowned, definitely unsettled by what he was seeing. He certainly didn’t understand how such a thing could have happened. It defied logical or rational explanation. His mind drifted back to Tom. Judging by the empty clothing, he presumed Tom had suffered a similar condition. Looking in the direction of the chair, he spotted a tiny figure on the seat, naked like himself. It was Tom, his movements appeared animated, frantic. Clambering over his now empty clothes, Nick jogged toward the chair.

“Hey!” he called out loudly trying to get the other boy’s attention. “Tom! Down here!”

Tom’s face appeared over the edge of the chair, “Oh my god!” he exclaimed, looking down at Nick, his eyes huge and round and visible even across the distance separating them.

Hands on hips, “You okay?” Nick asked.

“Okay? Dude, I am so freaking out right now!” he blurted. “What the hell happened?”

Nick shrugged and spread his hands apart, “Your guess is as good as mine,” he said.

“Oh man, this is so not cool,” he replied, shaking his head.

“You need to come down from there,” Nick said, motioning with his arm.

“How? How am I supposed to get down there?” Tom asked.

Nick frowned. How indeed? “Elevator?”

“Haha, not funny,” Tom replied.

“Crawl down the outside seam of your pant leg,” Nick suggested, pointing.

Not a fan of heights, Tom shook his head emphatically, “Um, no. It is way too high. I will be killed if I slip and fall,” he stated.

“That’s easy, don’t fall,” Nick offered.

“Easy for you to say,” tom countered, though not in bad physical shape, he certainly was nowhere near as athletic as Nick.

“Go down the inside of your pant leg, like an escape tube they use in tall office buildings,” Nick proposed.

Turning to look over his shoulder, Tom nodded, “Maybe.”

“Go on try,” Nick urged.

Tom did try, climbing into his jeans and wriggling down through the fabric of the leg. Squirming out of the opening in the cuff of the leg, he shook his head.

“I thought for sure you were going to fall,” Nick said jokingly, grinning.

Shaking his head, “This is absolutely terrible,” Tom said, tone forlorn.

“You need to chill for a second,” Nick stated, putting a hand on Tom’s shoulder.

“Look at us,” prompted Tom, voice stilled high pitched and filled with panic, “we’re so tiny,” he lamented. “What are we going to do?”

“For all we know, this is only a temporary thing and could wear off at any time. We’ll do what we need to do to try and figure a way out of this until then, but pissing and moaning isn’t going to help us at all,” counseled Nick, trying to calm Tom’s rising tide of anxiety. “And being balls naked with another dude you just met isn’t awkward at all,” Nick added, trying to inject some levity into the situation to put his friend a little more at ease.

Tom glanced down and he grinned, “Yeah definitely not awkward,” he agreed. Pointing a finger at the scars on Nick’s side. “What’s the deal with those?” he asked.

Nick turned away, “Nothing,” he replied gruffly.

“It’s okay, I won’t judge,” Tom assured, inviting Nick to talk about it.

“Just stupid kid stuff, you know, trying to figure difficult shit out,” Nick replied, a little embarrassed.

Tom nodded, “I get it,” he commiserated. “On the plus side, you didn’t stand up in front of the whole school and profess your love for the hottest girl on earth,” he added.

Nick turned, “What?”

Tom tapped a finger on his chest, “That was me. The girl was Asha,” he said, a touch of color staining his cheek. “She didn’t quite feel the same way,” he said, frowning.

“You told Asha you loved her?” Nick asked.

“Broadcast my undying devotion in front of the whole school. You asked me yesterday what the deal was between us, well, that was it. At least you can hide your scars, mine are etched into the very fabric of my self-esteem,” he said, pointing at Nick’s side.

Nick grinned, “You’re right, I think I’d rather have the physical scars,” he said.

Tom grinned back, “See, context can change perspective.”

Nick nodded, “You’re right, now just a curiosity, this kind of weird stuff happen often out here? You know, earthquakes, mud slides, wild fires, shrinking?” he asked. “Just a ‘Cali’ thing?”

Tom pursed his lips, a pensive look on his face as he appeared to given the statement some thought, “I am pretty sure this is a new one to me too,” he replied.

Nick shook his head. “I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore Toto,” he said.