Sarah

I kept on waking throughout the night, so finally I decided to get up before it was light. I showered and got dressed for the day, all the while thinking about the sorry and unfortunate turn my relationship with Evan had taken. I even began to doubt that I was still in love with him. Why should I sacrifice my time, my emotions and all that effort to keep him happy, if he was just going to be a jerk back to me? I thought about Emily and Alex. Their relationship seemed so perfect. She cared for him and kept him safe, and in return he practically worshipped her and did whatever she asked of him. I desperately wanted that kind of relationship with Evan.

When I went to pick up the bottle I’d left Evan in, I was shaking with anxiety. I stopped and took a moment to calm down and collect myself. If I got hysterical now, I’d probably just make things worse for both us. As if things could get any worse…what on Earth compelled me to imprison my boyfriend in a bottle like that? If I could go back in time and stop myself, I would, but it was too late now. The damage had been done and it was up to me to repair it. I got down on my hands and knees and fished around under the desk, finally grabbing on to the bottle. I took it carefully, trying not to shake it too much. Evan lay inside, apparently asleep. I gently tapped the side of the bottle, and to my great relief he stirred. He then sat upright and looked up at me, but didn’t say anything. I unscrewed the cap of the bottle and held my hand underneath the opening.

“You can come out, if you want,” I said. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to do something like this to you again. But we have to talk. Come on out, darling.”

He obeyed me and crawled out of the opening, and fell down into my palm. I immediately threw the bottle into the trash, then headed over to my bed. I lay down on top of the covers and rested my head on the pillow, and then put Evan down right in front of my face. This way he would be on the same level as me, not looking up at me from below in my hand. He lay down as well and stared at me in silence. I had no idea how to begin the conversation, but at last I decided to say something.

“How are you feeling today?” I asked. It wasn’t just small talk: I was actually concerned for him.

“Cold…really cold,” he said. “All night…I could barely sleep…”

“Oh, Evan! Why does it have to be like this? Why can’t we just be together, like before? Don’t you want us to be happy, just like we were, before all of this happened?”

He just kept on staring at me, as if he was afraid to reply.

“I don’t want you to be scared of me,” I continued. “I just want you to be…to be nice for a change. I’m doing everything I can to save this relationship, to look out for you and your wellbeing, and you just give me crap in return. Why? Do you even care how I feel? Do you really only care about yourself?”

“Do you still want me, even when I’m like this? Even after everything I said and did?”

His tone of voice was timid and submissive, completely different than yesterday, when he still yelled at me and tried to boss me around. He was scared of me now, now that he knew what I was capable of doing to him. In fact, I was a bit frightened of it myself. I promised myself that I would be more mindful of my new power over him from now on. I laid my hand on his shrunken body and covered him entirely.

“You know, now that I’ve thought about it, I don’t see why we can’t carry on having a relationship…a real relationship,” I said. “I must admit, even before you were shrunk, I started feeling like we weren’t making any progress. Sure, there was nothing wrong with where we were, it was all great – the time spent together, the dates, the sex, everything. But I was beginning to long for something new, and now…”

With one effortless motion I pushed him towards me and pressed him to my mouth. If he resisted, I certainly didn’t feel it. He was mine now, mine to do with as I pleased. If Emily could have a fulfilling relationship with a man one-fortieth her height, then I didn’t see why I couldn’t too. I knew was going to have so much fun with Evan, this new Evan, that I didn’t want to think about what had happened last night again. A new beginning lay ahead of us, and I was going to explore as many new possibilities as I could. I broke off my kiss and he lay silently beneath my face, covered in moisture and lip gloss.

“Did you like that?” I asked. He nodded and I continued.

“I guess it’s time for you to make your choice, honey. What’s it gonna be, hmm? Are you going to be my loving, adoring boyfriend, who’ll always listen to me and obey me, and who I’ll love in return…or are you gonna keep on being an ass to me and everyone else, in which case I’ll put you back in that bottle and only let you out when it’s time to eat?”

“I…I love you, Sarah,” he said, so softly that I could barely hear him. “I’m sorry about the way I talked to you and everything, I promise I’ll stop. Please forgive me, please!”

“All right…but you’re not completely off the hook yet! You still made my life miserable these last few days, and I expect you to make it up to me…somehow. In the meantime, I want you to apologize to Emily and Alex as well. If you’re lucky, they’ll forgive you just as easily as I did. Do you think you can do that?”

“Yes…yes, I’ll do it,” he said, nodding. “Please, Sarah, I’m really sorry! Please don’t put me back in that thing! I just want to be with you…”

“Okay, okay, you can stop grovelling now! I forgive you,” I said, laughing. “To think it took just one night of solitary confinement to straighten you out…I’m actually a little disappointed, Evan. I would’ve thought you’d be able to hold out a lot longer, but I guess not.”

He got to his feet, which wasn’t easy on the soft, undulating pillow surface. Feeling like teasing him a little more, I blew at him sharply. The breath of air knocked him backwards across the pillow and into my open hand. I waited for him to yell at me and tell me that I was being a bitch, but he stayed silent. I had actually managed to subdue him then, I thought. Or was he just pretending to be all meek and quiet, just to get on my good side again?

“It doesn’t matter,” I thought to myself. “As long as he’s with me, we’ll make this relationship work again. He’s probably terrified of me right now, and for good reason – but I’ve got to win his love back eventually. Maybe I’ll talk to Emily when we’re alone about what her sex life with Alex is like. If I can be intimate with Evan again, he’ll probably appreciate me a lot more. Who knows, maybe it’ll be enjoyable for me as well? Maybe I don’t want him to grow back to his normal size. He’s so much easier to control now, and I can take him anywhere I want, without anyone noticing him. I can do anything I want with him, and if he knows what’s good for him, he won’t try and argue back or anything like that. I’m the one who’s in charge now, and that’s the way it’s gonna be from now on.”

Alex

I spent most of the morning on the little dining table, reading the book Emily had leant me, while the girls were out. Evan was there with me too, but he barely spoke. Sarah must’ve really done something to make him behave like this – he had even looked me in the eyes and apologized for his dickish behaviour to me earlier. I wondered if she had hurt him somehow…no, she couldn’t have done that. Sarah wasn’t the type of girl who’d do something so spiteful. She was a lot like Emily, in fact – quick to forgive those who had wronged her. She had given Evan a goodbye kiss before she left and everything had seemed fine between the two of them then. I decided at last to go and talk to Evan, even though I still disliked him and didn’t really want to hang out with him.

He was sitting at the table’s edge, holding a miniscule piece of a jam sandwich that Sarah had given him for breakfast. It was much too big for him to eat it all, so he was apparently amusing himself by breaking off little crumbs of bread and throwing them down to the floor, over a hundred feet below. I sat down next to him, even though being this close to such a huge drop made me uncomfortable. It would be just like Evan to pretend to push me over the edge, just for a laugh.

“So, what’s up?” I said, even though he hadn’t looked at me or acknowledged me. “Are you bored or something?”

“What do you think?” he said moodily. “No, I’m having a great time, thanks. You can leave me alone now, okay?”

“Is everything still okay between you and Sarah?” I asked, ignoring him.

“Sure it is. Now get lost.”

“It doesn’t sound like everything’s fine, though. Do you want to talk about…”

“No, I don’t want to talk about it!” he shouted. “Now leave me the fuck alone!”

I was startled by his outburst, but I stayed where I was sitting. Evan didn’t scare me anymore. I could see that he was both very angry and distraught.

“Look, Evan, we’ve had our difference – we still do, actually – but you can’t go on feeling sorry for yourself and acting like a douche. This is your life now and you’re gonna need to get used to it.”

“Oh, great, just what I need – another moralizing speech. ‘Just accept your new situation!’ ‘Stop being so mean to everyone!’ On and on and on…”

“Maybe we’d all stop lecturing you if you actually started listening!”

He turned towards me in a confrontational manner, but I stayed calm.

“We’re gonna be living together and spending a lot of time together, whether we like it or not,” I continued. “So why don’t you make things easier for yourself and accept it, and then move on.”

“So that’s it, huh?” he said. “Are we supposed to be best buds all of a sudden?”

“No…but we can stop being assholes to each other and have a decent conversation every once in a while!”

“Okay, fine! Let’s have a…’decent conversation’. What do you want to talk about, huh?”

“What does it feel like, having a giantess girlfriend?” I asked out of the blue, not knowing what else to say. Still, it was a relevant question. I loved having a girlfriend who stood hundreds of feet tall compared to me, but I figured that most normal guys wouldn’t. He looked at me in surprise before answering.

“Well, you know exactly what it feels like, don’t you? What a retarded question…”

“I was asking you, Evan! Do you still find Sarah attractive when she’s so much bigger than us? Or…I don’t know…does she scare you or…or disgust you, or anything like that? You can be honest, okay? I’m not gonna tell anyone, not even Emily – I promise.”

He was silent for a moment. When he spoke to me again, he sounded serious.

“Listen, man, I…I want to ask you something…well, it’s actually more of a confession, I guess. You see, yesterday…”

“Yeah? What happened yesterday?”

“I…God, this is gonna sound so fucking stupid…”

“Maybe, but I promised I won’t tell anyone, so just tell me, okay? If it’s something embarrassing, well, I’ve got a…a shitload of embarrassing stories myself.”

He laughed, probably because he wasn’t used to hearing me use dirty words. (Not that I have anything against swearing, it just wasn’t the way I talked generally). Still, I was glad I could lighten the mood a little bit.

“Yesterday,” he went on, “while Sarah and I were arguing…you probably know what happened by now, but anyway…when she was holding me with her fingers, and then putting me in a bottle…it…it kinda turned me on! You know what I mean? I mean, I was scared and angry, and I really just wanted to slap her…but at the same time, I was, I don’t know, liking it, I guess.”

“Don’t worry, I know what you mean. You were completely defenceless against her. Nothing wrong with that, considering the circumstances.”

“Yeah…but this didn’t feel right. I’ve never been into any of that domination stuff…getting tied up, stuff like that. But, when she put the bottle down on the floor and put her foot on top of it…dude, she looked so powerful and sexy, like a…like a…”

“Like a goddess,” I said. “That’s the way I feel about Emily too. Except, I’ve had those kinds of fantasies before I was shrunk, before I’d ever been with a girl, in fact. Maybe you’ve wanted something like this too, only you just didn’t know it. Or maybe, because it’s a completely new, completely different kind of experience, it feels exciting.”

At that moment the apartment’s front door opened, and in came Emily and Sarah. Both girls apparently had some time off until later this afternoon and had decided to go shopping together. Emily, however, had insisted that they come and collect us guys first, since she figured we must both be bored out of our minds right now. She still thought, quite understandably, that Evan and I weren’t on speaking terms.

“Of course I’ll come along,” I said, sitting in Emily’s hand. “Even though you know that there still won’t be anything for me to do.”

She smiled down at me apologetically.

“No, I suppose not…but you get to spend some time with me, instead of with your fellow Lilliputian over here. I suppose he’s been giving you crap all morning as usual, hmm?”

“Actually, no…he hasn’t. In fact, we were having a perfectly nice conversation before you girls showed up.”

“Really? I find that hard to believe…” She looked over at Sarah, who was cradling tiny Evan in her hands. “What was it about, this conversation?”

“Nothing important…just about how it feels being this small, how to deal with a supersized girlfriend, how to keep her happy so she doesn’t squish you beneath her big toe…the usual stuff guys talk about, you know?”

Emily giggled and I could see how relieved she was. She probably still won’t forgive Evan, but if he really was serious about turning over a new leaf, perhaps she’ll be able to do so someday. Sarah suddenly walked up to us and, without warning, dropped Evan into Emily’s palm, right next to me.

“Hey, what’s this?” Emily asked, as I helped Evan to his feet.

“He says he wants to go with you,” Sarah said, sounding cross. “Says he and Alex were busy talking and that we interrupted them.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” I said loudly, so that Sarah could hear me clearly from her great height. “He’s not angry with you, Sarah. We were just talking about what it’s like being in a relationship like this, that’s all. In fact, Evan had just told me how attractive you are when you’re this big…when he’s this small, I mean! Obviously you’re not big, you’re…you’re normal…”

“Hey, I can talk for myself, okay?” Evan cried out. But then he added: “Uh, yeah, that’s right…what he said. Looking up from down here…shit, I don’t know how else to say it, but you are so fucking hot as a giant…giantess, I mean.”

Emily and I both laughed at the way he said that, but Sarah just looked mildly stunned.

“You’re joking, right?” she said. “After what I did to you last night – you really, really still think I’m pretty?”

“Oh God!” Emily said, still laughing. “You guys and your issues! Seriously, it’s like watching a soap opera or something. Sarah honey, I seriously doubt there’s any guy on the planet who doesn’t think you’re hot. Don’t be so insecure – just enjoy the fact that you now have an itty-bitty toy of a boyfriend, and all the endless possibilities that gives you. Who cares if he thinks you’re ‘hot’? Just forget about everything that’s happened and move the hell on already! Come on, let’s go to the mall, before any more drama happens. I’ll put the guys inside my purse, where they can carry on talking in private. You and Evan can sort out your issues later.”

She placed her handbag on the table and opened one of the compartments. She took out the small items inside – nothing important – and then slid Evan and me into the now-empty purse compartment. From down here she looked even more like a goddess than usual, since her face covered the entire visible outside world.

“You guys will behave yourselves in there, right?” she said. “I don’t want to see you punching one another or anything like that, okay?”

“I won’t, I promise,” I called out. “What about you, Evan?”

“Sure, sure,” he said. “Wouldn’t be much of a fight anyway. You need to go to the gym more often, dude. If you return to normal-size and I stay like this, I’d probably still be able to beat the shit out of you.”

Even though he was actually mocking me, I suppose I had to laugh. If this was his way of saying sorry, of moving forward, then I suppose I’d best get used to it. Emily blew me a kiss, then closed the compartment’s zip about halfway. We were safely protected from the outside world, but we could still see some of what was happening out there, and we didn’t have to sit in complete darkness. Evan and I lay down underneath the open bit and watched as Emily slung her handbag over her shoulder. Only her vast arm and torso were visible now. We could still hear her and Sarah talking high above, their voices loud but distant. Evan was quiet for a long time, but eventually he spoke.

“I could get used to this,” he said, though he sounded doubtful. “There’s just one thing that bothers me.”

“What’s that?” I asked, as Emily climbed into her car. She put the purse down in front of her seat, which meant that all we saw now were her colossal legs arching over us.

“I don’t want to live like…like a hermit, I guess,” he said. “I’ve got friends, and family members – not a lot, but I’ve got people in my life besides Sarah, and I don’t want them to think I’m dead…or missing, or anything like that. I want them to know the truth.”

“Are you serious? You’re gonna tell people about what happened to you? Expose yourself to the world?”

“What? No! Fuck the world! Just the people I care about, that’s all. Sarah can take me to see them, one by one, and if they treat me like a freak…too bad.”

“But what about me? Are you gonna tell them all about me as well? ‘Cause I’m perfectly happy being missing and presumed dead, thanks! Not that I had that many people in my life in the first place…”

“Yeah, no surprises there!” Evan said, laughing. “Seriously, though, if you want to stay your girlfriend’s secret boy-toy, then I won’t tell anyone about you. I’ll say it was some random freak accident that shrunk me, they’ll believe me.”

“Thanks,” I said. Then, after another uncomfortable silence, I continued.

“Listen, Evan, I…I really want to put the past behind us. I’m terribly sorry about what happened, you know that, and if I could turn back time I would…but I don’t want us to be dicks to each other anymore. We don’t have to be friends – I don’t even know if I want to be friends with you – but we’re gonna be spending a lot of time together, so…”

“Yeah, I get it,” he said. “Don’t worry, man – what happened, happened, and that’s that. And hey, look at us now…more helpless than newborn babies, we are. We look out for each other, okay? What if something happens to Sarah, or to Emily, what then?”

“Then…no I don’t want to think about that. Nothing’s gonna happen to Emily, I know it. Let’s talk about something else. But thanks anyway.”

Evan’s shrinking had had one positive effect, I thought to myself. He was slowly turning into a decent person. Whether his new status had made him more humble and considerate, or whether he was just pretending to be nice so that Sarah wouldn’t punish him again, I didn’t care. As long as he stayed like this, the future didn’t look too bad.

“I wasn’t kidding about going to the gym, though,” he said, sitting up. “You do need to work out some more. I mean, I know Emily loves you and everything, but if you got some muscles on you, who knows? She may love you even harder…if you know what I’m saying!”

I went and sat next to him.

“So what do you want me to do?” I asked.

“Look, just because a guy is small enough to fit in a matchbox, doesn’t mean he can’t be a hunk. If I’m gonna make Sarah happy, I need to be in shape, so I was thinking…I was thinking about making some gym equipment. You know, out of everyday things. I know it sounds dumb, but…well, fuck it! I had a daily routine and I plan on keeping it!”

“Oh, okay. It doesn’t sound dumb at all, actually. I mean, I only do some jogging every now and then, but not since it became really cold these past few weeks. Are you suggesting we work out together, something like that?”

“Yeah, why not? Me and my friends did it all the time. I mean, I’m not some fitness fanatic, but you know…girls like a man who takes care of himself.”

“Okay…okay, yeah. Yeah, that actually sounds like a good idea. Thanks, Evan.”

“No problem…Alex. So, when do we…oh, I guess we’re here.”

The car had come to a stop. We’d arrived at the mall and Emily picked up her purse and put it in her lap. She opened our compartment fully and peered in.

“Are you two still okay in there?” she asked. “You both look adorable, by the way. So tiny and cute…”

“Yeah, we’re fine, thanks,” I said, before she got too condescending. “You can just leave us in here for now, Em. You and Sarah go ahead and enjoy your shopping spree.”

“Did you hear that, Sarah?” Emily said, chuckling. “‘Shopping spree’ – as if that was something you and I could afford!”

“How’s Evan doing?” I heard Sarah ask. “Is he still mad at me?”

Emily looked down at us again and saw Evan shaking his head. Then she turned back to Sarah.

“Nah, he seems to be okay. You want me to give you back to your lady love, little Evan?”

“I…I’m fine, thanks,” he said, taken aback. He obviously wasn’t used to being treated like this by a giantess yet. “You can give me back to Sarah once we’re back home.”

“Okay, suit yourself. Now be good, you two!”

She half-closed the compartment again and tucked her purse under her arm. We were trapped in our own little world again – two miniaturized men in the handbag of a young woman. No-one outside would ever guess we were here.

“This is pretty cool, right?” I asked Evan, who appeared to still be taking everything in. “You can mock me if you want to, but I love this feeling of being Emily’s little secret. It makes me feel more…unique…than I’ve ever felt before.”

“It’s also pretty emasculating,” he said. “We’re nothing but little dolls to them now – I mean, we can’t even escape from a girl’s purse, for fuck’s sake!”

“You said you liked being this tiny though, didn’t you? You said it turned you on, remember?”

“Yeah, so? I can’t help it, okay? It’s just…it’s the way I feel, and I can’t change that.”

“I know…but my point is, what if Sarah also finds it a turn-on, having a doll-sized boyfriend? Maybe she likes being in control for a change, who knows?”

“Huh, yeah, I bet she loves it! But how can I make her happy – really happy – when I’m like this?”

I remembered when I first told Emily that I loved her, how she had confessed her love for me as well. I often wondered if she had just felt sorry for me when she did so, because of my pitiable condition. Maybe – but that wasn’t important by now. Her love for me had grown into something genuine and true. If a complete loser like me could make a girl like her happy, then I’ve no doubt that Evan could find a way to please Sarah as well. Besides, she appeared to already be in love with him – he must’ve rally been something when they were together before the incident – so I just told him to stop worrying. Life was about more than sexual relationships, after all.