Eli couldn’t move a single muscle. Everything ached. His back, his biceps, his thighs, even his toes cringed at the thought of moving. Experimentally, he slid a leg off the side of his premie bed, then winced as his butt cheek cramped. How the hell did his butt get sore?

Too easy.

He could hear Carter’s voice in his mind. How was his friend doing? They hadn’t spoken in days, meeting only once since Eli’s awakening as a premie. It had been awkward to say the least, as if Carter had become a minor deity while Eli remained a lowly peon. Of course, Eli had been the one to shrink, but from the perspective of a premie, humans held all the power.

A door shut in the distance. Heavy footfalls vibrated his resting place.

“Told ya he’d still be asleep.” Winter’s clean, shampoo-scented face filled the right side of his view.

“I’m not asleep.” He turned onto his side, away from her. “Just resting.”

“Honey, Elona will be here soon.” Mom’s voice came from higher above. “Can’t you try to eat something?”

“Not hungry,” he said.

“Do you need to see a doctor?” Mom asked. “The hotel has a premie medical facility downstairs. It’s free for guests.”

“He doesn’t need a doctor.” Winter’s tone seethed with irritation. “He wouldn’t let me help at all yesterday, so we failed, and his tiny muscles are all used up.”

Eli turned over to face his accuser. Even though he’d been placed on top of the dresser, she still towered over him. “You ‘helped’ too much. That’s why we failed.”

“Liar!” Winter turned to her mom, draping the foot of his bed in ponytail hair. “He’s lying. I obeyed all the rules.”

“Quiet, both of you.” Mom said as she applied some eye makeup in the dresser mirror. “We don’t have the results back yet, so we don’t know for sure that you failed.”

“We definitely failed,” Eli and Winter said in unison. He tried not to smile at the jinx, but his sister’s smirk proved infectious.

“If you failed, you’ll simply try again.” Mom applied lipstick far above his head. “And next time, your sister will be able to join.”

“Ugh.” Winter rolled her eyes, likely because she wanted to get ahead of Ally in watcher rank. He knew the feeling, but unlike Winter, he’d given up trying to surpass Ally in anything remotely academic years ago.

Winter’s nose descended to his face, then inhaled, creating a mild vacuum which sucked at his hair. Her head retreated as fast as it had arrived.

“Peeeyew!” Her fingers wrapped around his body, bedsheets included, hoisting him into the air. “I’m not carrying you around all day like this.” She started walking. “It’s bath time.”

“Make it quick, sweetie,” Mom said. “We only have a few minutes.”

Winter’s grip relieved his pain somewhat, but it wasn’t enough. If she would just squeeze him a bit harder, hit that sweet spot which did funny things to his brain, then he’d be ok.

Instead, she deposited him on the upper surface of the sink while the basin filled with water. He managed to sit upright, stomach muscles protesting, while she applied fruity chapstick to her lips.

“Can you give me a binding?” he asked, physical pain overpowering his ego. “I’m really sore.”

Her eyes focused on him, then widened before narrowing. “Nuh uh. It’s a binding free zone, remember?”

“I know but...I won’t tell anyone.” He sounded pathetic, begging his little sister for the very thing he hated so much.

“Don’t worry.” She turned off the water and lifted him from the protective bedsheets. “You don’t have to move. I’ll do all the work.”

“Leave my boxers on,” he said as she stripped them off, ignoring him completely.

“Tell me where you're sore.” She lowered him into the warm water facing down, her soft yet strong thumbs massaging his back.

“Everywhere.” It wasn’t the first time he’d been bathed by a human since shrinking and it likely wouldn’t be the last. For some reason, he felt less embarrassed than usual at the hands of his sister.

He groaned involuntarily as her fingers compressed his chest and legs simultaneously, kneading in steady longitudinal strokes.

“I should become a premie massage therapist.” She flipped him onto his back, continuing to attack his aches with massive fingertips. “Whaddya think?”

“Maybe.” He kept his eyes closed, not wanting to spoil the experience by catching a glimpse of her. Best to trample his self consciousness as long as he could.

The kneading paused, then returned more slippery than before as the distinct smell of hotel soap hit his nose. She lathered his entire body, including his hair and face, forcing him to close his eyes even tighter.

They threatened to pop open, however, when she washed his pelvic region, blatantly ignoring his privacy as if he were a ken doll.

“Hey!” He regretted opening his mouth as suds invaded the orifice.

“Take a deep breath,” she said.

He inhaled through his nose, and she dunked him while proceeding to scrub him free of the soap. Thankfully, she didn’t keep him under for long, as her ministrations had increased his heart rate, depriving him of oxygen.

“All done.”

Cool air assaulted his skin for a few seconds before a terry cloth-like surface enclosed his body, drying him in an instant.

She giggled. “You can open your eyes now.”

He did, then stared at himself in the skyscraper of a mirror. Only his head and neck peeked out, the latter still donning the translucent necklace all premies wore — the one article of ‘clothing’ he didn’t (couldn’t) remove.

She smelled his head, her face filling the background in the mirror. “Much better.”

“Next time, you don’t have to wash everywhere.”

“Give me a break.” With her free hand, she reached into her pocket. “I bathed you a million times while you were shrinking. You just don’t remember.”

“Still, it’s embarrassing.”

“Why? Because you get an erection?”

“I don’t!”

She stripped him of the towel and set him before a neatly folded pile of brightly colored premie clothing. She averted her gaze, but he covered his private area nonetheless.

“Sometimes you do,” she said. “But like I’ve already explained, I’ve had sex ed and premie biology training. Besides you’re not a human anymore, so it doesn’t really matter.”

“Thanks a lot.” He jumped into his clothing before she could notice any more insignificant ‘attributes’ of his body.

“I didn’t mean it that way.” She faced him again. “I just meant you’re so small now...it’s different.”

“Not helping.”

“Ok, would it help if I let you see me naked?” she asked. “Then we’d be even.”

“Oh God no!” He cringed.

She drew back as if stung. “Good, because I wasn’t going to anyway.”

“Good!”

She scowled, crossing her arms. “Pervert!”

“Premie molester!”

“I —” She froze, pausing as her frown transformed into a grin.

“What’s so funny!” he said.

“You’re shirt’s inside out.”

“So.” He shrugged. “That’s how I wanna wear it.”

With deft fingers, she removed his shirt and inverted it before pulling it back over his head. Reluctantly, he stuck his aching arms through the holes, keenly aware (and secretly thankful) of how easily she’d changed the subject.

“Kids!” Mom said from outside the bathroom. “Time to go!”

Winter scooped him into a soap scented hand and headed out.

***

Winter followed behind her mother and Elona, walking along the path demarcated for human use, careful to keep her feet within its boundaries. Painted green ‘footprints’ adorned the path. It wasn’t particularly wide, little more than a third lane of the premie street, so she worried.

Luckily no cars zoomed past. In fact, she couldn’t see any cars at all, in spite of the otherwise normal appearance of the premie suburb. Plenty of stop signs, sidewalks, trees, and flowers, but no cars.

Ok, it wasn’t normal.

The ‘trees’ decorating the occasional front yard were tiny and twisted. She knew they had a name, but couldn’t remember (something starting with a B). The flowers looked like they’d been purchased from the garden department of Walmart. The ones growing in those square, plastic containers. They sprouted from the middle of a few yards, some growing taller than the houses adjacent to them.

Then there were the kids playing in the street ahead. They didn’t pause their game of dodgeball, or whatever it was, even when human shadows darkened their surroundings. They were younger than her, perhaps seven or eight, and though she couldn’t tell for sure, the girls seemed taller.

They also seemed to be winning, their entire team facing down the sole boy on the opposing team. Something about the situation didn’t strike her as particularly fair. The ball was too big, especially for the boys.

One of the boys on the sidelines waved to her. She waved back, a brief one-handed clap, and smiled. They were so cute!

She stopped abruptly, nearly bumping into her mom.

“And this is the typical hybrid living facility.” Elona gestured with an outstretched arm. “A watcher family inhabits the house while the back yard serves as a microenvironment. The Reid family is kind enough to grant visitation access to their premies for guests like yourselves. As you can see, the premies here are quite accustomed to our periodic visits.”

The red ball missed its target and rolled down the street, straight for Winter’s foot. She knelt and caught it between her fingers. The children looked at her expectantly.

“Sweetie — ” Mom started.

“It’s ok.” Elona said. “You can walk on the street too, just be careful and generally try to keep to the path.”

Since the kids weren’t coming to her, she walked around her Mom and into the street proper, toward them. She dropped to her knees and held the ball out to the nearest boy, a chestnut haired little guy who looked as if he’d just finished rolling in a pile of leaves. She suppressed an urge to pry a tiny twig from the unkempt mop on his head.

“Thanks, lady.” He took the ball from her fingers. Definitely too big for him. “My name’s Johnny.”

“Hi. I’m Winter.”

A freckled girl with glasses ran up. “I’m Aubrey and this is my brother.” She pointed to Winter’s right arm. “Who’s he?”

Winter had almost forgotten about Eli, his carrier still hanging from her shoulder. She lowered it to the street and opened the glass panel.

“This is my brother, Eli.” She tapped on the top of the container. “You can come out now.”

He hadn’t moved all day, complaining of his aching muscles. It was about time he walked around. They’d made this trip to Premoria for him after all.

***

Eli took a painful step into the street, wincing at both the sunlight and the ache in his legs. In spite of his desire to see Premoria, he could’ve easily stayed inside his carrier the entire time, catching glimpses of the area through the glass wall. He simply didn’t feel like moving.

“Hi.” He leaned against the outer wall of his carrier, unsure of what to say or do.

Why did he have to come out to meet a bunch of kids? At least the boys looked like kids. The girls, on the other hand, were freakishly big. They were shorter than himself, with the proportions of children, but were significantly bigger than the boys. Just like Haley.

“I’m Aubrey.” A freckled girl with braided hair marched up to him. “Are you gonna come live with us?”

“No,” Winter said. “He’s just visiting.”

“Lots of times visitors come to live here,” Aubrey said, focusing on Eli. “But we don’t have a lot of tall boys like you. Most are short like my little brother.”

“I’m older than you!” The miniature version of pig pen (the kid desperately needed a shower) climbed on top of Winter’s shoe and stuck his tongue out. “And taller too!”

“Are not!” Aubrey placed a hand on her hip and mimicked his ridiculous face.

“He’s still growing.” Eli wasn’t sure why he felt the need to defend the kid.

“See!” Pig pen said.

“But I’m growing too, right Mister?” Aubrey stood on her tip toes, hand on top of her head.

“Sure,” Eli said.

Pig pen hopped down from the shoe and came up beside his sister. Poor kid had a lot of growing to do if he expected to catch up to her. Aubrey picked up the red ball and held it to Eli. “Wanna play with us?”

“No thanks.” Eli headed toward the sidewalk, willing his legs to cooperate while hopefully showing no signs of weakness. He stepped onto the grass, then paused. It didn’t collapse under his weight as grass should, but bent instead, similar to plastic or silk. It couldn’t be real grass (much to short for that), but it had certainly looked real from a distance.

“Are you sure?” Aubrey asked. “It’s really fun.”

“Except the girls always win.” Pig pen tried to pry the ball from his sister’s hands but she lifted it out of his reach.

He turned to see the kids gathering around him, expectant looks on their rosy faces. But something wasn’t right, and it wasn’t just the freaky Children of the Corn vibe he was getting. Or maybe it was.

“Where’s all the adults?” he asked. Shouldn’t someone be watching these kids?

“Oh, it’s been a few days since we’ve given a tour.” Elona tapped a fingernail on a nearby roof. “Come on out folks.” Her voice rang out across the area. “You have a visitor.”

One by one, front doors opened and people crowded into the street. They didn’t get too close, but stood watching from distance, as if Eli had some kind of disease.

Without warning, Elona reached out and lifted a woman wearing an apron, squeezed her and set her closer to Eli. “They’re just a bit on edge today.” Using both hands, she bound them in rapid succession, with all the nonchalance of someone milking a cow. Eli didn’t know whether to be amazed or horrified. Part of him wanted a binding too (apparently they’d exited the binding free zone), but another part couldn’t believe how she so casually invaded their...privacy.

Elona paused after binding a heavyset man. She lifted the front of his stained t-shirt. “This is Mr. Hooper. See that scar on his belly? He was shot in the Gulf War. Bullet went clean through missing his spine by centimeters.”

“Ain’t the only bullet hole I got in this body.” Mr. Hooper said, after alighting upon the grass near Eli. “Show ya more if ya wanna see.”

“I’m good,” Eli said.

“And this is Ashley Meekins.” Elona bound a pretty brunette who appeared close to Eli’s age. “She performed on America’s Got Talent before shrinking. She sings, like you.”

Elona set the girl right beside Eli.  Ashley wasn’t quite as tall as Haley, but she was still taller than Eli.

“Why don’t you sing something for us, Ashley?” Elona asked.

The girl’s face went red, her head bowed. “I couldn’t…”

“Oh, c’mon.” Elona said. “I’m sure Eli would love to hear your voice.”

“It’s ok. Really.” Eli could sense the girls discomfort like an emotional space heater.

Elona snatched Ashley into the air again and gripped her tightly. “Sing your America’s Got Talent piece. I’m sure he’ll like it.”

After returning to the ground this time, Ashley didn’t hesitate. Instead, she launched into Hello by Adele, showing none of her former timidity. Eli didn’t much care for Adele, but he found himself captivated by this girl’s voice. Pitch, tone, everything resonated with deep emotion, as if she were laying bare her innermost feelings.

When she finished, she immediately reddened, bowing her head to the claps and cheers of the growing audience. Elona hadn’t slowed her conveyer belt of binding and was finishing up with the last few remaining unbound premies.

“That was incredible,” Eli said.

Her head tilted in his direction. “It’s not as good as your song on YouTube.”

“You’ve seen that?” How many views was his video up to by now?

“I’ve watched it a few dozen times, at least,” she said, her blush growing.

“My brother’s an awesome singer,” Winter said, reaching for Eli.

“No!” He held up his hands, waving her away.

“Why?” Winter asked. “You were begging for it earlier.”

“I changed my mind.” In truth, he didn’t want to sing in front of these strangers, and after a binding (especially one from Winter — hers seemed more powerful lately) he likely would.

“Ashley, why don’t you show Eli around?” Elona said. “He wants to see where he might be living in the future.”

“Ok.” Ashley reached for his hand and he gave it to her without thinking, then followed her to the nearest house.

Behind him the crowd mingled with each other and the humans, a completely one eighty from their prior standoffish behavior. His Mom set about trying to identify the various tree-flowers and Winter engaged in a conversation with one of the girls about gymnastics.

Ashley opened the door to a house. “This is Mrs. Henry’s place.”

“Wait. You don’t live here?” he asked.

“No, my house is further down the block. Mrs. Henry has a studio that she lets me use. She also has a hot tub.”

“There aren’t any locks on the door,” Eli said.

Ashley giggled, a cute laugh reminding him a bit of his sister but with less mischevious intent. “I forgot you’ve only been a premie for a few weeks. None of our dwellings have locks. We don’t need them.”

They arrived at the sound booth. It was at least four times the size of Eli’s closet, relatively speaking, and it had all of the latest equipment. Acoustic foam, filter, and a vocal mic with a condenser.

“What about crime?” he asked. “Surely people break the law.”

“Let’s not talk about that.” Ashley pulled him away from the studio and into the living room. “I want to show you the hot tub.”