Shrunk In Translation, Part One
Copyright 2004 Littletoy
I dove from the small crack in the building and dashed to the curb. I scurried across the alley as fast as I could scamper, dodging the busses and cars as they raced crazily back and forth up, up and down the busy side street all day and night long. This was my entire world. My original goal of finding help at the US Embassy was long replaced by the daily hunger of survival. Every day at around 5 AM the back door of the tiny restaurant would open up and a stout fiftyish woman would empty the garbage into a large container outside the door. Some of the scraps of food would always fall on the ground next to container. I was on it like a fly on shit. There was competition. There were several neighborhood cats that I had successfully managed to avoid and what the cats didn’t get the rats and cockroaches would.
I was in luck today. I saw some scraps of lettuce and carrots and what looked like zucchini lying on the ground. I made a break for it as a bus roared over the top of me. I was so small I could just stand in the street and let cars roll overhead. Bicycles were harder to avoid since I had to move either left or right. The last few yards to the curb were relatively easy. There were only a few pedestrians out this early in the morning but it wasn’t them I was worried about. The Rats seemed to instinctively know when the trash was put out, and I always had to look out for them. Even worse, the cats new when the rats came around for the food so that some days when I didn’t get there fast enough I was confronted with a bloody mess of ran entrails and blood, being worked over by the cockroaches.
But today I was lucky. There was iceberg lettuce, some cold ramen noodles, udon and carrot. I grabbed my makeshift blade and quickly began cutting the food into small chunks which I then thrust into the large hand made pouch, like a newspaper boy would have, that I had made from some string and the fingertip of an old glove. It was slow going: the carrot was still crisp and thus difficult to saw through. I managed to square off the udon and lettuce and bundled them up, then put a foot long section of noodle on top of the veggies in the pouch. When I reached the safety of my hiding place in the walls of the printing shop across the alley I would cook it up into a meager but nourishing stew. I tried not to think about the fact that this had been on some stranger’s plate the night before. To myself, this was a veritable feast, and I was just happy to get my fill before the other neighborhood critters showed up. When I felt I had stuffed away enough for two or three days I then stuffed some more down the front of my shirt. I knew it was best to get while the getting’s good since I had to forage for everything now. Even as bad as things were, at least I war a free man. Though I was in a foreign land, unable to communicate and smaller than a Barbie doll at least I was free to go as I please, do as I wished and life off the lay of the land. How long had I been living here in the City? It had to be at least two months, ever since I had escaped from Tomiko.
--TWO MONTHS EARLIER--
I had come to Japan as a representative of a large U.S. defense contractor visiting one of our subsidiaries. My job was to inspect the remote facilities and to retrieve sensitive documents it was judged not safe to transmit via electronic communication or the internet. Once a year I was dispatched to the Far East to visit the branch offices. It was always the same; the remote employees, knowing I was from the home office took great pains to give me the cook’s tour of their facilities so that I may give a favorable visual report of their activities upon my return. I was on the final leg of a 2-month trip that took me to most of the largest Asian cities: Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei, Manila, Saigon, Seoul, and finally Tokyo before home to Dallas. It had been a grueling trip and I had been eager to get back home to my own house and bed. I wasted no time getting off the plane and immediately into a taxi right to the where the branch offices were located, in an industrial parkway on the outskirts of Tokyo
“Ah Mr. Thomas-san how good to see you again.”
“Greetings Dr. Suzuki, I am pleased to be back.”
“It is always good to see you again Mr. Thomas. I trust you will find this visit acceptable. Would you like to inspect the facilities right away?”
“Yes that would be fine. I’d like to look at the facilities and then we can spend tomorrow going over the budget numbers. The CEO is concerned about the sharp increase of operating costs of this facility this past year. I am sure you will be able to provide me with details Dr. Suzuki.”
“Yes of course, as you will see it is money well spent. Come with me Mr. Thomas.”
Dr Suzuki led me into the facility. He showed his ID pass to the security guard who waved us in.
The tour went pretty uneventfully for me as I recall, the facility was mostly dedicated to electroplating electronic components with various alloys which were used for stealth technology. It was classified technology that required special security clearance to work with. All the people working at this facility had it. I was pretty tired by the time Dr. Suzuki had wrapped up the inspection arranged for me. It was nightfall now, and I was anxious to get to his hotel room and bed. I was hungry and jet lag from the flight from Seoul had really gotten to me Dr. Suzuki noticed my fatigue as w walked from the plant floor to the front offices.
“Dr. Suzuki, could you please call a taxi for me? I am tired and would like to get dinner and rest.”
“Mr. Thomas would you honor me by being my guest and dining at my family’s house?”
Actually I just wanted to go to the hotel, but I knew from protocol it would be rude to refuse. So I resigned myself to a quiet evening of being entertained by Dr. Suzuki at his home. I figured it would be pretty boring.
Dr. Suzuki lived not in Tokyo but in a small house in an affluent suburb. In a nation where everybody is always packed together I was surprised there were still open spaces at all. His house was a one story traditional looking house but I noticed right away the stuff on top of the flat roof. It looked like scientific equipment. We parked the car and headed to the door. Dr Suzuki was immediately greeted by his wife, a small petite woman in her thirties, and a young female of teen age that must have been his daughter.
“Mr. Thomas I would like to meet my wife Midori, and my daughter Tomiko.” Both women looked at me and smiled as they bowed. I bowed back, and then followed them inside. It was obvious that neither of them spoke a word of English.
I was surprised that inside the house it was completely western in design and furniture. I had seen too many movies and expected rooms with paper screens and tatami mats but instead there were recliner chairs and couches and thick wall-to-wall carpeting. In the back of the house was a garden with a carp filled koi pond, a bridge across which led to a small island and teahouse. On the side of the house was an ugly corrugated steel stairway that led to the roof. On the roof was a shack that Dr. Suzuki motioned me toward. It seemed strangely out of place with its surroundings.
“Come here, I must show you, very important.”
Looking off the rooftop one could see antenna and rooftops of nearby residential and commercial buildings. I walked into the shack expecting to find a lawnmower or something, but instead were banks of computer and terminals packed into the confines of this tiny space. Dr. Suzuki stepped to the rear and pulled out what looked like a grenade launcher.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“For the past five years I have been working on a molecular compression device that will reduce objects to one tenth their original mass. I have perfected it to the point where I am confident that it can have viable implications in the military-industrial sector. Mr. Thomas I wonder if you would please step outside with me. “
I followed as he carried the grenade launcher out onto the roof. I followed him puzzled by what he was talking about. He directed me to watch the teahouse on the island in the middle of the koi pond. He raised the device onto his shoulder and switched it on. I loud whine pierced my brain as I yelled at Dr. Suzuki that it was totally unnecessary to blow up his teahouse. He laughed and pulled the trigger. In a split second the teahouse was gone. It was as if it vanished into thin air. I couldn’t believe it. Where was it? And then I saw it. It was right where it had always been, on the island. I couldn’t see it very clearly because it was now only a fraction of the size it had been. I looked back at Dr. Suzuki as he lowered the device.
I can’t believe it! Suzuki you’re a genius!” I hugged him. “We’ll make a fortune; the company will have its biggest profits ever! I’ll get the executive of the year! A huge bonus! My own secretary! How soon can you come to America to demonstrate to the corporation?”
“Actually Mr. Thomas this is not the corporations. You see I built this on my own time, here in my house and I funded this myself. If the company would wish to bid for the rights to my invention I would be honored to consider-“
“Wait a minute, you work for us. It’s a matter of company policy. Anything you invent we have the right of first refusal and there is no way the company is gonna refuse this. Sorry Doc, but if you had planned on getting rich you will just have to make do with your company salar-“
That was the last thing I ever said as a normal person. At first I didn’t really notice anything, except my vision seemed blurry. Things seemed far away and indistinct. It felt like I had been under a barbecue for two hours. My clothing was rumpled and tattered and in a second my shirt and pants were on the ground. I still had on my boxers thankfully but that was it. There was this weird electrical smell around me. I looked for Suzuki but instead only saw two pillars rising out of a of sea tarpaper. I looked up, up and saw, bending over me, the towering form of Dr Suzuki.
“What the fuck did you do to me? Change me back! Change me back right now! You are so fired do you hear me? When the home office hears about this they’ll fire you immediately.”
“I am very sorry Mr. Thomas. I cannot allow you to steal my device…all I have worked for these long years…my device…it is mine I am going to sell it and I cannot allow you to stop me. Forgive me; I must do what I must for my family…”
His voice trailed off as he lifted his foot over me. I screamed as I knew I was in the final seconds of my life. I a heartbeat the sole of his shoe would come down on top of me, spreading me into a paste of pulp and bones in the grass. This was to be my end, the punishment for my momentary greed. I screamed in terror as suddenly I felt a force press around my middle. The ground flew away from my feet and my legs dangled helplessly in mid air. I started kicking and screaming. I tried to move my arms but they were pinned helplessly at their sides. I howled in pain as I was trapped in a vice like grip from my shoulders to past my knees. My bones creaked from the pressure as I was hoisted up, up and into the dark eyes of Dr. Suzuki’s teenaged daughter Tomiko.
“Whoaaaaaaaaaaah!”
“アドレス] バーに入力したペー!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggghhhh! Put me down dammit what is going on here! Suzuki please tell her to put me down helllllllllp!”
“ページが見つかりません!”
“のページは”
“されたか”
“ドレスの綴りが正しいかどうかを確認してください”
I was hugged against this girl’s breast as the two giants started arguing back and forth. I couldn’t understand a thing they were saying, but it seemed that the girl was protesting her father’s treatment of me. I didn’t know what to say as I was completely shaken by my experience. In the space of five minutes I had been reduced to the size a small doll, almost stomped flat by a shoe, and now a seventeen-year-old Japanese schoolgirl was crushing me against her bosom. The argument got more and more heated, and the more heated it got the tighter she squeezed me into her. Finally she put me down on the rooftop. I could barely breathe as I tried to regain my wind. I looked back to see Dr. Suzuki throw his arms up in defeat and then say to me in English.
“Mr. Thomas-san you are lucky it seems my daughter has taken a liking to you so if you would do me the honor she has insisted you remain alive as a guest – for the time being. I suggest you do not give her any trouble, or I will finish what I had started earlier.” Then he turned to Tomiko.
“を開いてz89;必要な情報へのリンクを探してください”
“をクリックしてください”
Once again I heard the two giants overhead discussing my life like I wasn’t even here. I stared up at Suzuki’s daughter; she had on a white t-shirt and jeans and her long brown hair flowed in the wind that whipped over the rooftop. She looked down and smiled at me as she leaned back against the rooftop HVAC unit.
Then Dr. Suzuki stomped closer to me. In fear I jumped onto Tomiko’s shin, cowering in fear and hanging onto her jeans for dear life. I heard her giggle slightly then say something as she plucked me off her shin. Then my teenaged captor started moving. I thought I would be seasick as she rocked back and forth as I was carried down off the roof and into the house. The walls and rooms of the house flew by as she hurried through the house. She headed straight for her bedroom and as soon as she reached it she locked her door and walked over to the bed and set me down on it.
リンクを探してください
She spoke down to me, and then walked across the room to her desk. From the looks of things she was rummaging through her drawers for something. I watched her clench something in her fist and then get up and walk over to the bed. Her weight on the bed caused me to shift and almost fall over. I saw her hand come down and open up overhead. I saw what looked like a T-shirt. I saw her smile and I knew she wanted me to put it on. I was cold so I did put it on. It fit surprisingly well considering. My captor sat on the bed and studied me as I stood there at her side. She took her hand and pointed at herself.
“Tomiko.” I heard her announce. She pointed at me and said, “Thomas-san?”
I nodded. Then she lay back down on the bed. I had to run away to avoid being crushed by her back. Her hand deftly came down to pluck me off the bed. I dangled upside down as she inspected me in front of her face. My arms waved wildly about as she giggled at my helplessness.
“になるかもa281;a281;”
“Put me down goddamit. I demand that you notify the US Embassy at once unless you want an international incident!”
“はよく読んでね?”
I screamed bloody murder as she swung me back and fourth by my ankles. She blew on me and her breath caused me to swing back as if I were holding onto a telephone pole in a hurricane. All I could do was plead with my life and beg to be let go but she only moved me over her stomach and dropped me. I landed with a splat on her soft stomach, her body warmth heating up the soft cloth of her shit. I tried to get up but her hand immediately came down to trap me. With her other hand I heard her pick up her cell phone and press the speed dial.
“まなちゃん」やりますz90;ルィーズちゃんは壮大でz89;今のあたしには難しいです・イヒヒヒヒz90;ゲームブックにする予定ですのでz89;アイディア募集a281;かやるんですか”
I shuddered as I realized that the conversation she was having was probably about me. I didn’t know what this gigantic Asian teen had in store for me but I really wanted to try and get back to normal. I don’t know if that was even possible but I knew that somehow I had to try. I didn’t want to stick around in case Suzuki decided to have a change of heart and deprive his daughter of her newest prize. Tomiko’s fingers curled around me as they lifted me off her warm stomach. My tiny legs kicked in the air as she rose up off the bed. We walked across the room toward her dresser. She raised me up to her lips and gave me a kiss before setting me back down.
“しつこいね!”
“Hey no wait!”
Tomiko smiled back at me before closing the door behind her. I heard the click of the lock and new there was no way I could get out without her help. I walked to the edge of her dresser and looked down. It was like being on the roof of an office building. I couldn’t believe how small I was. I was a prisoner. I was about to draw back from the edge when I noticed that the top drawer was open a crack. I peered over to get a closer look to see what was in but I lost my balance. I screamed as I tumbled down to certain death. Just as I passed the lip of the open drawer my hands latched onto the top of it. I slammed against the side as I clung for dear life to the drawer. I managed to pull myself up and over the lip of the drawer, and immediately tumbled down into darkness but I only fell a few feet before I landed on something soft. I looked down to see a swath of white cotton material. Looking around my surroundings I was in a field strewn with panties and sofa sized bra cups. In fascination I began exploring in earnest. I spent the next hour lying in Tomiko’s various undergarments, resting my head on her bra cup as if it were a pillow. Finally I gave into my soft surroundings and started getting sleepy. I lie down in one of Tomiko’s sport bras and pulled a pair of white panties over me like a blanket. I was exhausted from my physical ordeal and fell asleep immediately.
I awoke several hours later to the sound of the door slamming shut, then heavy footsteps on the floor and the voice of Tomiko and another female I did not recognize. I bolted out of the bra and threw the panties off me. I dashed to the front of the drawer but I was too short to see over the top, so I started jumping up and down and shouting as loud as I could, my head rising above the lip of the drawer just in time to see the back of Tomiko and another female. I thought she had seen me as her hand extended toward the drawer. I wanted out of here now. But my hopes were dashed as the hand pushed against the front of the drawer and slipped it back into the dresser, leaving me in darkness. I was humiliated that this girl had trapped me in her dresser without even knowing it.
I could hear Tomiko talking excitedly as she and her friend conversed. I cringed as I was able to pick out my name among the unintelligible Japanese words. I gathered she was only too eager to show me off to her friend. I know she expected to find me on the dresser top and had no idea where I was. I could hear her calling my name out as if I were a dog or cat she was calling in from the rain. I could hear her friend laughing at Tomiko as she searched the room for me. Running as fast as I could I threw myself up against the front of the drawer but all I did was succeed in bruising my shoulder as I bounced back against and fell down.
Outside the drawer I could hear both girls talking and moving around the room as if they were looking for something. I sighed and slumped back down against the front of the drawer. It looked like I was going to be trapped here for a while. The girls were watching television and gossiping until I heard the friend ask Tomiko a question. Then I heard footsteps getting closer and closer to the dresser. Suddenly the drawer was pulled open and an arm shot in over my head and into the drawer. I watched it land in front of me and grab a bra and yank it out before I could even blink. I saw Tomiko’s arm and face draw away from the drawer as I yelled up in vain. She moved away from the dresser over to the bed where the girls were sitting watching TV. I could take it no longer. I threw myself over the top of the drawer like a marine going over the obstacles at Paris Island. Better to die a free man than live a slave. I watched the floor get closer and closer and as my life ticked away, the floor rushing up to splatter my flesh.
To my surprise I didn’t die at all. It turned out that my reduced mass enabled me to fall without harming me even though comparatively it should have been a fatal height. I landed on the floor undetected as they watched the television. I looked at the door, but it was shut. I was still trapped in this girl’s gigantic bedroom with no way out. I scurried under the dresser to think.
As I was thinking I was the girls shut off the TV and get off the bed. I watched as the door quickly opened and shut. I breathed a sigh of relief as I was alone for a while. I cautiously moved out from under the dresser and over to the wall, following the baseboard.
“a281;えっち”
I stared upward to see the towering figure of Tomiko; she was looking down at me with an angry expression. She bent over, far over, her fingers stretching out toward me as she chided me. I knew she was angry and that pleading my case would do me absolutely no good but I tried anyway.
“Tomiko please I wasn’t trying to get away I swear it! I fell in the drawer and couldn’t get out so I fell asleep and you came home with your friend and you closed the drawer and then opened it up and I fell out and you can’t understand a thing I’m saying can you?”
Her fingers curled around me and gripped me tight, squeezing my breath away as I was lifted higher and higher in the air. She held me in front of her face and shook her finger menacingly at me. I watched the floor get closer and closer as she sat down, her back against the wall. I was set down on her knee. She looked down at me with contempt as I raised my arms up and pleaded with her to let me go.
“Tomiko please I am not a toy I am an American citizen and you will take me to the embassy at once do you hear me I will not make this request again. I am not some damn doll for your amusement I don’t care what you say. I am a free citizen and you will treat me like-mmmmmmppppffffft!”
The next think I knew Tomiko snatched me up off her knee I rose up to her lips, which smacked the air in front of me several times before she thrust me against her. She then got up and carried me over to her bed. She began removing my shirt as I protested profusely.
“Hey lemme have that back! I can undress myself dammit!”
“あたしゃあz89;しがない!”
Tomiko then pulled the shirt off my back and let it fall to the bed. She got my shorts and underwear off next until I was naked. She giggled as she stared at me. I blushed at being stripped. She then tossed me onto the bed. I screamed as I slammed against a down pillow and came to a soft stop on the mattress. Tomiko giggled and then began removing her clothes. I gulped at this lovely young woman was soon completely nude in my presence.
She grabbed me and turned the lights off, threw back the covers and got into bed. I was settled in between her breasts as she pulled the covers up over me. It was hot and stuffy but she smelled nice and her skin was silky smooth. I cuddled against it for warmth. Tomiko noticed my squirming and giggled. I was pulled away and hoisted to her lips for a kiss. She kissed me then lowered me down over her breast. I felt her hand at my back as I was crushed into her breast, kneaded against her like a lump of play-doh.
My head smashed against her erect nipple as she crushed me against her. I could hear her purr with pleasure as she played with me. She let up the pressure and I slid down to her stomach. I rose up and down on her stomach as he giggled in the darkness. I then felt her clutch seize me around the middle and toss me straight up into the air. I flew end over end in the darkness and had I been able to see I would have passed out easily. I slammed against her stomach with a splat, and her stomach then rumbled up and down violently like an earthquake as she laughed at me. I was grabbed again and flipped up in the air again, this time backwards end over end. I ended up missing her stomach altogether and hitting the side of her breast and falling to the mattress. I got up and tried scurrying down the bed next to her legs but her thigh came down on me to trap me against the bed. Her fingers slipped under her thigh and I was carried up to her chest again. This time she crossed her arms over my body between her breasts as she hugged me like her favorite teddy bear and turned on her side. I was plastered unmovable against her chest as we fell asleep. I awoke the next morning among the folds of Tomiko’s bed sheets.
I looked around but I was alone. I walked over to the edge of the bed and looked down. It was far too down to get off myself. I sighed as I would have to wait for Tomiko to come back. I suppose she wasn’t being cruel to me but I resented being treated like a toy. I was picked up and carried with almost no thought or consideration. The only saving grace was that she was pretty hot.
Even though it had only been a day since I had shrunk it felt more like a year. I had felt and seen so many sights in the space of less than 24 hours. I was determined to regain my size or die trying. I didn’t care if Dr. Suzuki caught me trying to break into his equipment, what did I have to live for anyway? I was nothing but a mere toy to his daughter. No telling what she would do to me after last night.
And then I feared all the people, now giants, she might expose me to. I figured Dr. Suzuki had forbade her to show me to anyone buy already someone had been over to see me and it was only dumb luck that I avoided their scrutiny.
Spotting my discarded clothes I slipped my boxer shorts on so that I wasn’t completely naked. I didn’t feel like putting on the shirt or my shorts yet. The door opened up and Tomiko walked in, carrying a small bowl of steaming hot water. I watched her walk over to the bed and sit down next to it and set the bowl on the floor near the bed.
She scooped me up and sat down on the floor, her back against the corner. I protested again but she suddenly flipped me upside down. I watched the bowl get closer and closer, and then the water was all around me as she dunked me in, not even bothering to remove my boxer shorts. I was squirted with some scented 
material and her hands began rubbing liquid soap all over me. I slipped back and forth against her palms as she lathered me up, then dunked me in the water, rinsing off the soap. I coughed and gagged as my head was held under water, then I was lifted up again upside down, the water dripping down by body over my face and hair. All of a sudden Tomiko let go of me. I shouted in fear as I fell into the bowl, spilling water everywhere.
“りるときは!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Splash. I looked up at Tomiko who smiled devilishly and plucked me out of the water again. This time she flipped me up by one ankle as I did a triple gainer on the way down. I did a tremendous belly flop into the bowl and was almost knocked unconscious. I feared I would drown but I was finally scooped out of the water by Tomiko and set on a towel she had in front of her. She set me down in the center and I watched as the corners lifted up to enclose me in terrycloth. I was rubbed gently, soaking up the water from my skin. She applied soft pressure for a few seconds and then lifted me to her lips and started blowing on me to finish drying me off. Her hot minty breath swirled around me as she blew me dry. When she finished she started petting me cuddling me against her shirt. Her long hair tangled with my limbs as she hugged me to her bosom. I felt us rise up as she stood and began walking toward the door. She grabbed her backpack and dropped me inside. I yelled up at her because I still had on only my boxers and they were damp but she only smiled as she zipped me in.
I was in a small compartment with mesh netting that allowed me to look out and also breathe fresh air. I had no idea where she was taking me. I heard her talking on her cell phone to someone and once again I cringed as my name was mentioned. We left the house and walked down to the corner of the street. Tomiko boarded a bus at the corner and stood with other morning commuters on the packed bus. After ten minutes the bus let out and we were in a huge busy train station. I cowered in fear as thousands and thousands of giants were milling about. Since I was in her backpack which was slung over her shoulder I could only look out and see where we had been, not where we were going. I realized with horror that she was headed into the Tokyo subway system, one of the most crowded in the world. I would be crushed in the packed subway car. I again panicked as she walked closer and closer to the train platform, but then turned and I saw the subway platform move away.
We passed under a doorway and were soon in a bright white tiled space, it was a public restroom. She entered one of the stalls and went to the bathroom while I remained in the backpack, hanging on the coat hook on the back of the stall door. I could hear everything as well as other women in the other stalls. I then heard the toilet flush and the backpack was lifted again. To my surprise my pocked was unzipped and I was taken out. Tomiko held me securely in her fist as she said something to me. She smiled at me and began lowering me not into the backpack but to her jacked front pocket I took it to mean she didn’t want me in the backpack when she took the subway she wanted me somewhere safe.
I could peek my head out of her front pocked as she went to exit the bathroom. As luck would have it, at that exact moment a woman came in through the door at the same time, slamming into Tomiko who fell to the floor. I rolled out of her pocket all the way down to her leg. I crawled over to her ankle on all fours as she sat up and looked at me. I knew she was about to grab me before I was spotted so I had to act fast.
I leapt off her leg onto the white tile floor. She began crawling across the bathroom floor as I began dodging the legs of the other women in the bathroom. I heard loud shrieking and feet stomping down all around me as they thought I was a mouse. I zig zaged through the maze of legs towards the door, which was closing slowly. Behind me Tomiko was crawling after me, gaining ground rapidly. I reached the door just as Tomiko’s hands were about to close in on me. Then the door swung back inward as a woman entered the bathroom, stepping over me but slamming Tomiko in the head with the door. She fell backwards in a heap as I raced out the door.
I started to do a little happy dance as I darted along the wall praying I wouldn’t be spotted. I knew it was impossible to get out of here during rush hour as the area was literally packed wall to wall with commuters. I could see the conductors pushing the people into the cars so that the doors would close. It was insane. I was on a subway in New York at rush hour but it was nothing like this. I had to get out of here before things got even worse.
I noticed a heating vent that had the grill knocked partly out. I crawled inside to hide from the mass of humanity. I shuddered at the thought of how insignificant I was now, a bug among big people. Then I realized how stupid I had been to try and leave Tomiko, I needed to be near Dr. Suzuki’s house to have any hope of restoring my size. I was screwed. I crawled along the heating duct far into the bowels of the subway station and sat down to think. The only possibility was to somehow try and make my way to the authorities and help they would be some help to me. But then I remembered I spoke no Japanese so I decided to find the American embassy. Surely they would help me and get this whole thing sorted out. I crawled around in the ducts for hours, looking for a way out. Finally in the distance I saw a light. I was in luck, the vent led to the street, and there was enough space in the grill for me to slip through. I waited until nightfall, and then headed out into the giant metropolis, scared and alone.
--ONE MONTH LATER--
A high-pitched squeal behind me made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I turned around to face the beady eyes, twitching whiskers and long teeth of a black rat the size of a sheep. He was after my food, my treasure, my precious survival. I screamed and dug into my side belt for the broken off safety pin. I jabbed it in the rat’s direction. It squeaked and moved in towards me, determined to have fresh meat for his breakfast. I backed up against the garbage can as he moved closer, then he got down on his rear and hissed menacingly. I screamed like a baby as the rat lunged for me, meeting the tip of my safety pin with the end of his nose. The rat gave a high-pitched shriek, and then abruptly turned and dash off. It hadn’t gotten more than a few feet when the cat that had been waiting for me all along suddenly pounced out of the shadows. I seized the hapless rodent in its jaws and dashed away, the rat squealing in fear and terror.
I decided not to wait for the rat’s buddies to show up. I high tailed it out of there as fast as I could. I dashed across the alley and was headed straight for the small hole in the building that was my main entranceway when the back door to the printer shop opened up and Miss Watanabe came out. The young daughter of the older gentlemen who owned the shop was heading across the alley right for me. All these times I had eluded her, I was caught for sure. I decided to accept my fate and simply surrender in hopes she would not hurt me. Surely she had seen me in the alley by now. I looked up at her, the knee length white stockings and shiny black shoes clomping closer and closer to me, her long pale legs disappearing into the white skirt and blue blazer she wore for school. Even at my size I marveled at her slender waist and perky breasts which pushed out from her school uniform. I waved my tiny arms upward to get her attention as she towered impossibly over me. She wasn’t stopping; the heel of her shoe came down, its shadow falling over me as it descended rapidly. This was to be the ignominious end of my long strange odyssey in Japan…
End of Part One