Hannah was walking towards her apartment as fast as she could, while trying not to jostle the little girl in her cupped palms too much. It was pretty hard, considering the fact her hands were shaking from nervousness.
It was hard to believe that she was holding her best friend in her hands. Then again, she was still a little tipsy, so she might as well be imagining this whole situation. If she had just left this creature on the bus, nothing would have probably happened to Emily, and Hannah would find out in the morning that she brought home a mouse, or a piece of paper, or whatever it was on the bus' floor the previous night.
On the other hand, there was still a very slim possibility that this was indeed her best friend, in desperate need of help. And Hannah could not take the chance.
After about 10 minutes of walking she finally reached the building she lived in. It was pretty old and the apartments were quite small, but Hannah could afford to live there without roommates. It was the same flat Emily stayed at for two years when her home situation became unbearable. After she got her own job Hannah told her she still had the option to stay, but the younger girl said that she didn’t want to take up space. After she moved out they still visited each other often, though.
The woman entered her apartment building and went up the stairs. It was 2 in the morning on a Friday, so there weren’t many people in sight. Hannah still tried to cover the girl in her hands to avoid any unwanted attention. The last thing she wanted right now was putting the girl through anymore stress caused by curious strangers.
When she got to her door she carefully set the girl in one of her hands, which she then cupped and rested against her abdomen, as to ensure Emily wouldn’t fall out. She took her keys out of her pocket and fumbled with them for a moment before choosing the right one. Finally the lock clicked and the door could be opened.
Hannah was glancing over into her hand to ensure Emily was still there the entire way to her apartment. Now that she was in an environment without other people, where she could easily maneuver even with her eyes closed, her full attention was focused on the shrunken girl. Hannah was holding her in both hands again as soon as she locked the door behind her. She then entered her bedroom.
Hannah wasn’t sure what to do next. Emily was still alive; she could feel her taking deep breaths, but she was unconscious. And two inches tall. Hannah looked around for a safe place to put her best friend. Eventually she decided on her desk, which wasn’t too far from her bed. Hannah was very tired, and since Emily hadn’t come to after being shaken so much on the way here, she decided that they’d talk in the morning. She couldn’t think clearly right now, anyway.
Hannah cringed. She didn’t want to be putting this off like that. But she was afraid that if she’d just stay up, waiting for Emily to wake up, she’d just fall asleep herself. And even if she wouldn’t, she’d be too exhausted to help at all. So she reluctantly approached her desk.
She hesitated. Emily could fall off the desk, and the cool, hard wood probably wouldn’t be comfortable. For a brief moment she considered taking her best friend in into her own bed for the night, but quickly shook that thought away. Emily could get crushed, or fall, or even suffocate in the sheets. The bed was out of the question.
But still, just leaving her on the desk wouldn’t be the best, either. It could be improved, though. Hannah once again shifted her body so that her best friend would be safe in one of her hands, and reached into her drawer. After a moment of shuffling she pulled out a white sweater. -This should keep you warm… And it’s soft, too- she whispered, but Emily couldn’t hear her. She was still unconscious.
That solved one problem, but Hannah still wasn’t satisfied. Emily could still fall off and get hurt, and she couldn’t let that fly. The woman looked around her bedroom. She was scanning the shelves, looking for anything that would help. After a brief moment her gaze fell upon a shoebox which was laying under her bed. Hannah put the sweater on her desk and, still cradling Emily close and making sure she won’t drop her, slowly bent down and reached for her object of interest.
The shoebox contained a pair of sneakers that the girl had bought a while ago, but did not realise that they were a size too big. She was planning to return them, hence why they were still in the box. Right now she needed it for a different purpose, though. Hannah took the lid off and pulled the shoes out of the box, which she then picked up. Carefully, she got up and put the container on her desk. Then she reached for her sweater, planning to fold it up and place in the box, but quickly realised that the task would be difficult with only one hand. She slowly looked down at Emily, curled down in her hand. She frowned, not wanting to risk putting her down on the hard surface on her desk, afraid that she’d hurt her in the process. But she’d have to do it eventually. So, very slowly, Hannah brought her hand down towards her desk. When it touched the wooden surface, the woman bit her lip. She didn’t really know how to go about this. For a moment she considered just tilting her palm and letting the shrunken form of her friend fall onto the desk, but quickly rejected that idea. Instead, she brought her other hand towards Emily. Trying to be as gentle as she could, Hannah lightly pushed her best friend onto her four fingers using her thumb, creating a claw-like grip on the shrunken girl, who she then deposited onto the desk, far from the edge.
After making sure Emily was alright, Hannah picked up her sweater, folding it up in such a way that it would fit into the shoebox, leaving one sleeve sticking out. She then put the piece of clothing into said box. Then she picked up her best friend in a similar way as before, this time having her free hand outstretched right under her fingers, to make sure that if, god forbid, she’d drop Emily, the shrunken girl wouldn’t fall.
After carefully putting her best friend in the shoebox, Hannah covered the shrunken girl with the sleeve she previously left out. She then made sure once more that her friend would be okay, and went to change into her pyjamas, which consisted of a loose shirt with some band’s logo on it and a pair of old shorts. Hannah headed to bed, although it would be hard for her to fall asleep tonight.