To say things were a little awkward around home was an understatement, mom first thought it was a joke. It took the combined efforts, of myself, Gwen, and the note the doctor had given me with a set of instructions on ways to possibly slow my condition. Much to my dismay the list was a damn exercise program, though Gwen seemed to be particularly thrilled a this prospect mostly I think of being able to put me to shame by out running me again.

    After the initial shock of things wore off on her, mom started to try and keep things relatively normal for me, but at the same time started pushing me to follow the doctor's advice to the letter. So that means that I'll have to start eating a little healthier, and try and get my lazy bum back into shape again. The doctor thinks that it would boost my immune system which could cause my body to kill the virus faster which would mean I might not lose as much of my height, if any more then what I had at all.

    Gwen seemed to have made it her life's mission to get me back into shape and healthy again. The first morning that I was to get up and start running with her, I had refused to get up, or at least that's what she said, the alarm went off twice according to her. The next thing I know I hear a loud FRRRRRRRPPPP! And then my nose gets assaulted with a sulfuric scent which caused me to get up and jump out of bed gagging and gasping. Needless to say she laughed her rancid ass off while I called her every name in the book.

    The first week was murder, I couldn't even make it half the distance that Gwen could. She would constantly taunt me, telling me that I was going to shrink to oblivion if I didn't get my ass into gear and catch her. This of course only spurred me to a second wind, but I knew my limits and wouldn't let her goad me too far beyond what I could handle. In a way she kind of reminded me of my old football and wrestling coaches.

    I breathed heavily sweat pouring from my body, I shivered as I leaned against a tree the cool breeze that had wafted through the air caused my skin to pimple up. My arms felt heavy, it took all the effort I had to lift the plastic water bottle I had brought with me to my lips. The cool liquid slowly slid from my mouth down to my throat, causing me to want more, but I knew I would need to pace the drinks, or I could make myself sick.

    “Not too bad for a limp noodle,” came Gwen's sweet voice.

    “Oh shut it, you knee high smurf” I shot back teasing her as I always had.

    “Keep that up bro and you'll be running with me in my shoe,” she said smirking back at me.

    “Then I guess I had better kick your big ass before I get too short to do it huh?” I say chuckling as I kick her in the back of her skin tight compression shorts.

    “You keep that up and I'll have you between my big ass cheeks!” she said as she hit me in the shoulder.

    This little bit of normalicy between the two of us was what I needed. I could feel myself becoming a little stronger. Don't ask me how, it was probably just all in my head and it probably wasn't really doing me any good. It made me feel good though so I guess that is what's important, after we had a few more rounds of hitting each other Gwen took off again leaving me to stand there to finish catching my breath before I turned around and went back home.

    I arrived home just in time to see mom heading off for her job, I gave her a kiss on the cheek and a hug as she got into her car and left.

    “Be good, and make sure you take your vitamins!” she shouted out her window as she left me in a cloud of dust.

    “I will!” I shout back as I head into the house.

    I walked into the house, sweat soaked through my muscle shirt, and coated my skin in a thin film. I desperately wanted, and needed to take a shower, but at the same time, my legs burned and felt heavy, while I had garnered more stamina since I had first started, my legs still burned from the fact that I was doing something that I hadn't done in a long time, and they burned with every step I took. Breathing heavily I make my way up the stairs, every step causes my legs to feel like they're on fire.

    I groan as I sat inside of the tub, now filled three quarters of the way up with warm water, the soreness in my legs starts to melt away like butter. As I sat there naked in the tub I started trying to imagine how life was going to be for me when I got shorter. I got up on my knees, the warm water making the pain less intense, and tried to image things from the perspective of about three, to four feet tall.

    “So, this is what Mom, and Gwen have to go through daily,” I thought to myself bitterly starting to feel a pang of regret for having teased them for so much.

    Laying back into the warm waters my body just soaks in the heat of the tub, small wisps of steam curl and twist through the air. My body started to feel comfy, heavy, my eyes started to droop, but before I nodded off I heard the door downstairs slam shut, informing me that Gwen had arrived home and that my time soaking in the tub was over, since she would need to shower before going to class.

    Groaning I get out of the tub, dry myself off, and wrapping a towel around my waist I head to my room. I walk over to my dresser, and start digging through the clothes I wanted to wear for the day. Eventually I pulled out some underwear and a pair of shorts, since I wasn't going out today there wasn't any need for a shirt, I then slip the t-shirt over my head as I hear Gwen thunder up the stairs. I can't help, but chuckle to myself as she must've realized she's about to be late for school, as her footsteps sounded like she was running all over the place trying to get ready for the day ahead of her.

    After I finished getting dressed I headed downstairs to make some breakfast, for both myself, and Gwen. I placed a pan on the stove top, put a small amount of vegetable oil in it, and fired it up, while the pan warmed up I started to gather the eggs, and the bacon. Soon as the pan was hot enough I placed the bacon in first, and within seconds you could hear that delicious sizzle, and the intoxicating smell began to waft through the air

    Gwen came downstairs some time later she was now wearing a modest t-shirt, and a pair of skin tight “ripped” jeans. I say “ripped” because they weren't actually ripped they were manufactured to look ripped, but from the small amount of skin that was showing it looked like she might've just shaved her legs too. She grinned at me her full lips showing off her nearly perfectly white teeth, while they were a little crooked like Mom's it was never anything that anyone felt needed dental attention. She sat down in one of the chairs as I started filling two plates with the bacon and eggs.

    “You know, this isn't on the Doctor's meal plan” she said nearly snickering.

    “And you know that there is about as much chance of me giving up bacon and eggs for breakfast, as there is of a unicorn running through our yard,” I retort.

    “David that's not funny you need to start taking care of yourself, do you really think this is a joke? You saw it yourself, you've shrunk down two inches!” said Gwen.

    “Yes, I am aware of that Gwendolyn, but the doctor even said it might not do anything, but it could help me in the long run, meaning that I'd be stronger because I would be used to a heavier weight,” I snapped as I then handed her the plate of bacon and eggs I made for her as I sat down to eat my own.

    “Whatever, I hope you shrink down to nothing, that way we don't have to worry about you anymore!” she shouted back as she just got up and left the house to school.

    After she slammed the kitchen door behind her, I sudden felt a little bad, I knew that she meant well, but damn it, it was my body, my life, I thought to myself as I ate my eggs, plus hers. I then groaned as I got up and washed both sets of dishes, plus the pan that I had fried everything in. After everything was washed and put away.

    I walked stiff legged back into the living room, I sat down on the couch and propped my legs up on the soft cushions. My thighs were thumping, my calves were burning, I wanted so badly to just go back upstairs and strip down and soak in the tub again, but that would mean needing to use them again. So instead I resigned myself to sitting there flipping through different movies, and t.v. shows trying to find something to watch.

    After a hour of watching the same movies, I had watched time, and time again, God I was bored. I wanted to get out, to go do something, hell to even go to work, but because of the lawsuit, and the renewed driving restriction placed upon me by the doctor until the virus either ran its course, or the found a cure.

    “Ugh!” I groan as I stare at the ceiling, I stared until my eyelids started to droop, stared until the darkness began to shift into dreams.

    The room was quite, the ground was colored tan, the walls were black, I looked around trying to figure out what had happened, or where I was. I could hear thunder, but I couldn't make out where it was coming from. The only light was coming from a gigantic circle that was far out of my reach, another thunderous boom, and then the ground beneath me quaked as the light above began to darken, then what I saw next actually caused me to scream out, it was a foot the size of an entire city block! I breathed heavily as I looked around the living room, and breathed in slowly and deeply, it was all just a dream.

    I sat upright, turned myself so that I was sitting with my feet to the floor. I put my hand to my face and breathed in slowly, and out just as slowly. I could feel my heart beating hard in my chest as I tried to shake off the nightmare. What the hell was that? I thought to myself, then as I calmed down I started to laugh a little as I realized what had happened, Gwen planted it in my head before she left when she told me she wanted me to shrink away to nothing.

    “Well that was embarrassing,” I say to myself as I slowly get to my feet and head up to my room to play my game.

    I don't know how long I had been playing the game, but before I knew it the sound of the door opening caught my ears. Knowing it was Gwen I got up and walked, albeit slowly, down the stairs, and there she was looking a lot happier than when she left. However as soon as she saw me her face soured a little.

    “What do you want?” She asked me, but I just walk up to her and hugged her tightly.

    “I'm sorry, Gwen I know that you're just worried about me, and much like myself don't want me to shrink down anymore then what I have. Believe me Gwen I wish I could either stop it, or keep myself from shrinking down further, but for now. I'll do the exercises, but I'm not going to eat the crap that they're recommending I eat, I will eat whatever I want to,” I said to her as she stared at me with her tear filled brown eyes.

    “This is so stupid!” She finally said crying into my chest. “Why does this kind of thing always happen to our family?!” She wailed. “First dad, and now you!” she said her voice muffled in my chest.

    “Hey, hey, hey, I'm not going anywhere, you heard the doctor I'll get a little shorter, and even if I do, we could always play dolls again,” I say jokingly.

    “Yeah, I'll dress you up in one of my princess Barbie's clothes I'm thinking something pink, maybe with a dab of lipstick,” she said giggling as she hugged him tightly.

    “Now no more worrying about me alright? Or at the very least not trying to get me to stop eating bacon and eggs,” I said choosing to ignore her comment about dressing me up like a princess.

    “Okay, but please promise me you'll at least make an effort to take steps to reduce the shrinking,” she asked.

    “I will sis, I promise, I actually had an idea that I'll run by the doctor,”

    “And what would that be?” she asked curiously.

    “Human growth hormone,” I responded.

    “What's that?” she asked.

    “As the name suggest it's a hormone that causes the human body to grow, not taller, but it can cause you to bulk up, which is why you often hear of bodybuilders using it,” I responded to her with a grin.

    As promised I did indeed continue my training regiment with Gwen, albeit with better results now that my legs had finished healing. I had even started to out run her, much to her annoyance, mom had seemed to have an internal struggle with herself every time she saw me. As if she wanted to mother me, but at the same time she didn't want to dote on me either so it kind of turned into her mostly avoiding me, or at the very least trying to not talk about my condition.

    However it came to her taking me to the doctor's today, and this time I had the same conversation with her that I had, had with Gwen. Mom had to pull the car over to have a good cry much the same as Gwen, but after the air was cleared things seemed easier between us and we were laughing and joking again, as we had before I had received the virus.

    I sat inside of the doctor's office actually excited for a change, though it still took them forever, it seemed like it was even longer than normal. When the doctor finally came it, he seemed to be in good spirits as well. I sat there waiting for him to tell me how things were progressing.

    “Well Mr. Smith, it appears that you haven't lost any height, but that's not saying that the virus has subsided we still need to keep an eye on that, as it could flare up again, just keep on that regiment that I sent home with you and it'll at least help keep from feeling too much discomfort from the reductions, mostly joint, and bone pain,” said the doctor.

    “He doc, what about human growth hormone?” I ask curiously.

    “We have been testing that, but we're unsure if it would actually do you any good, but at the same time it wouldn't really hurt you either. However we still don't know with a hundred percent certainty what it would do to the virus, for all we know it could make it kick into overdrive and make you shrink even more rapidly than before. I can't in good conscience allow you to go through with that treatment,” he said.

    “Okay doc, at least it was something,” I say smiling.

    “Just keep up the exercise and it'll help bolster your immune system if nothing else to slow its progress,” replied the doctor.

    The ride home was fairly uneventful, but at least I knew that, at least for now, the exercise was yielding more than just muscular results. It seemed like I would have to tell Gwen that she was right for once....nah!