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   "Think Jason think." He thought to himself.  First things first.  He had to get down from this table.  Maneuvering around the many items on the lab table, he made his way to the nearest edge and cautiously peered over.     His vision became blurry as he beheld the daunting 50 foot drop. 

  His only course of action was to find some way to climb down.  Immediately his idea was clear.  Extension cord.  Sprinting, he made his way across the table to wear his dad's microscope was bolted to the surface.     Walking around the back, he followed the light cord to where it went through a grommet and down below.  Jason gripped the grommet, and easily pulled it out, revealing the small opening below. 

    He threw the grommet aside and assessed the situation.  He knew that he could climb through the hole, and most likely make it to the floor of the cabinet, but the problem was that it WAS a cabinet.  Once he was inside, light would be limited.  On top of that, there was no guarantee he would be strong enough to push the cabinet door open.    

  On the other hand, if he pulled the cord out of the socket below, A: the cord might not be long enough to reach all the way to the floor.  And if that was the case, he knew already that although he was strong for his size, he wasn't strong enough to push the high power microscope any closer to the edge to gain length.     Jason pondered his predicament, and ultimately decided to pull the cord.  Gripping the thick black cord, he planted his feet around the hole and began to pull.  The cord began to come up, moving 6 inches or so before locking in place.  He gave it a few more tugs to no avail.

     "Ok Jason. . .you can do this. . .you just need to focus. "   he said, trying to pump himself up.  He took a deep breath, focusing on the task at hand.  Slowly he began to pull.  The tension built on the power cord.  He strained, utilizing all the muscles until finally. . .  .the cord popped free of the socket, the sudden release sending Jason sprawling across the table.    

 "Hell yes!" He screamed pumping his fist in the air.  He picked himself up and jogged back to the cord.  "Alright" he said, rubbing his hands together "now we're in business.  He picked it up, and slowly began hauling the length through the hole.  Unfortunately, when the plug finally appeared in the hole, Jason calculated that he only had enough to climb down 30 feet.  That left 20 feet left to fall. Not the end of the the world, but more than he would like.      

 Not seeing any other way, Jason grabbed the plug and began the trek to the edge of the table.  Not wasting any time, he cast the plug down towards the floor.  It arched before going right and swinging back against the cabinet faces with a light metallic  ring.  " no time like the present!" He said to himself. Wrapping his legs around the cord, he began the shimmy to the plug.      

After a minute and a half of careful descent, he reached the plug. Jason was in a state of focus, so he wasted no time with ceremony.  He climbed around the rubber lip of the plug, down to the prongs.  He carefully gripped the 2 flat prongs, letting his legs hang free.    

  Looking down and sizing up the fall, he took one more deep breath before letting go.  Jason fell for a moment, before hitting the ground hard and awkward.  Pain shot through his ankles as he crumpled to the floor.  "Fuck, fuck,  I'm a fucking idiot!" He chanted rolling on the floor holding his ankles.      

"Damn it, the plan is fucked! I'm stuck down here.  Nobody's going to fin-" he stopped short.  As he lay there, focusing on his ankles, the pain gradually began to subside.  The more he though about it, the faster the relief came.  

"What. The.  Fuck? !" He chuckled  in disbelief.  He rubbed his ankles gingerly.  The pain was gone.  "Duudee!" His excitement peaked.  "I don't know what you were working on dad, but you've really got something here!"  He thought while dusting himself off.   "Ok. . . Now the stairs."   After a few minutes of walking, Jason finally reached the bottom of the stairs.  He marveled for a moment.  He knew there was only 16 steps to the top, but from his 4 inch perspective, they seemed to climb on forever.  

   At the base, he examined the bottom step.  It stood twice his height, a feat that would have been all but impossible before his accident.  Now. . . . Now he welcomed the challenge, eager to see what he was capable up.  He took a few steps back, preparing to get a run at it.  Jason ran directly towards it, kicking off the face and jumping softly.  He easily caught the ledge and pulled himself up. 

     "One down" he said, jogging forward and repeating the process.   He had stopped to rest halfway up, but even so, he manage to climb the stairs in about 10 minutes.  Feeling accomplished, he sat on the edge of the top step and admired the view down below.   10 feet.  10 regular sized feet.  That's all that separated the floor of the lab and the landing of the main floor, but for Jason, the view was breath-taking.  Far below, the top of the lab table was obscured by the slope of the ceiling.  It seemed so distant now.  He took one last look before he turned around and carried on. 

    The next task he had to figure out was the door. It loomed in front of him, like the gateway to hell.  As he got closer, his suspicions were confirmed.  Emily had shut the door completely when she had went back upstairs.  There was no crack to slip through.  He would have to go under.  

   The barrier of the door, was lined with the hardwood floor of the kitchen. He walked along the base, searching for any imperfection he could utilize.  3/4s of the way across he found a slight bend in the barriers tin, where something heavy had been rested on it.  "Ha, probably just Emily's foot!" He laughed as he got down on his stomach.  The gap beneath the door was only about an inch.  It was snug, but he did manage to slip under.  

   The other side of the door was a sight to behold. Jason stood for a moment and just took it all in.  To his left, across the miles of hardwood floor, were the sliding glass doors.  Beyond them, the rest of the world. . . .the rest of the world.  That was a thought Jason didn't even want to think about at this size.   

 To the right of the doors, the island in the center of the kitchen stood like an impossibly tall plateau above the wood grain ground.  Beyond it, the cupboards, oven and sink.  Jason would have loved to explore it all, but there were more pressing matters at hand.      

 He needed to get to the upstairs staircase.  Moving dead ahead, he started the long walk down the hallway that connected the kitchen and sunroom, to the rest of the house.  In the distance, the front door centered the view.        He moved slow, the thicker carpet of the hallway slowing his pace. He stuck close to the wall in hopes of avoiding detection.  10 minutes later, he reached the first door on his left.  His mother's office.  He came to a stop and looked inside.      

  It was your standard home office.  He didn't linger there for long.  He continued down the hall.  Next he passed the main floors bathroom on the right side of the hallway.  

   He debated crossing the hall, just in case he needed a quick place to hide.  He couldn't hear Emily anywhere in the house.  He guessed she was in her bedroom on the second floor.  Jason decided it was best to play it safe and began to cross the space between the walls, heading to the bathroom door, which was cracked slightly.     

As if on cue, he heard the creak of the front door.  He paused, staring at the door.  Next came the sound someone fiddling with the dead bolt.  The smooth slide and clunk of the lock prompted him into action.     

 "Oh shit!" He said making a dash for the open door.  Jason hurdled through the ankle deep weave of the the carpet, almost tripping several times.  15 yards from the goal, the front door swung open. 

  Stumbling the last 5 yards, he crawled through the threshold, just as his bratty younger sister Kylie stepped into the house, her backpack in hand. 

Chapter End Notes:

Still just setting things up.  Drop a review.  I'm open to critism and suggestions. 

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