“Sammy, be careful!” Erica boomed. 

            Sammy’s attention snapped from his work to look up at Erica.  With both hands he set onto the ground the thick base of a long black pole, which stretched a bit above his head and ended in a matted brush glopped with green paint.  He looked up past the curved poster board of a toenail he had been messily painting, up a thin foot that cast him and his section of the coffee table into shadow, all the way along the smooth 60 foot ramp of a hairless leg that looked to Sammy like a Mario Kart track.  

            Sammy squinted and looked even farther all the way around the gargantuan hips that lay on the same old brown couch he’d known his whole 11 year life, and right up a mountainous pink tank top that gave way to a pretty face far in the sky that stared right back down at him with an expression that held a little annoyance drowned out by a lot of amusement.

            “Ooooh, sorry Erica.”  Looking back at his work Sammy saw that he’d again splotched her toe with the Sammy sized nail polish brush he carried.  He looked down the line at the two toes he’d already completed, bright neon green messes.  The nails were at least covered, but so were a significant portion of Erica’s toes as well as the coffee table under his feet and Sammy himself.

            “It’s ok Sammy, just try to get a little on the nails,” Erica giggled and returned her attention to her phone. 

            Aside from the tiny workers at Erica’s feet it was a pretty ordinary Saturday morning in the Rockwell living room.  Erica lounged on a sliver of the big brown couch reading an e-book on her phone, loudly chewing a piece of mint gum.  She had her feet propped up on the coffee table while Sammy & Danielle painted her toe nails green and was dressed for a lazy morning, flimsy high riding striped boxer shorts and a pink tank top that hung. 

            She paid little attention to Derrick who sat nearby playing a videogame, METAL GEAR something or other, either not noticing or not caring about the sounds of battle coming from the television.  Erica was instead absorbed by the book on her phone, titled Care and Control Of The Reduced by Dr. Terrence Smith.  She’d read it 3 times in the last week.

“The greatest danger to reduced persons is not threat of predators, not accidental injury or even abuse, it is depression.  In case after case reduced persons succumb to an overwhelming depression in even the most comfortable of environments. 

 This comes from a sense of purposelessness, the crushing realization that they and their actions do not matter.”

            Far beneath Erica notice Sammy looked over to the left foot, which now held four perfectly painted nails as Danielle began the 5th.  Danielle propped the brush firmly on her right shoulder with one hand like a bazooka and guided the shaft with the other, placing each stroke with an engineer’s precision. 

            Stroke, stroke, dip, stroke, stroke, dip, that was the key to perfectly painted nails.  It was true when Danielle was 65” tall and it was true now.  Erica’s feet were a larger canvas than Danielle was used to, but infinitely more delicate.  Danielle could sense the light, taut muscles of Erica’s foot stretched under yard after yard of smooth, rosy skin.  How could something that big seem dainty and playful?  The damn things didn’t even stink. 

            “I’ll clean up the monster’s work when I’m done Erica,” Danielle yelled when Sammy splotched another toe.

            “Thanks Danni, you’re the best,” Erica said absently, oblivious to the way she wiggled her toes slightly whenever she spoke, causing Danielle and Sammy to pull back their brushes.  She continued reading.

“The value of praise for a job well done cannot be overstated when directed toward a reduced person.  While even the most difficult chore for a reduced person can be completed by their caretaker with ease, earned praise is one of most powerful tools in staving off depression. 

Repeatedly I found that reduced persons who had daily tasks set for them lived happier lives with a far lower occurence of depression and other mental disorders. 

In this chapter we will discuss the value of chore management for your reduced persons.”

            An incoming text vibrated the phone in Erica’s hand.  “Ok Derrick,” she said without looking up, “Gina says she can come over with her mom’s van to help take a load to Good Will.  I want you and and Cole to finish sorting out the stuff you want to save or you think we can sell, and have all the junk to give away packed up by then.”

            “Ah, yeah, I think Cole started that already,” Derrick said, only pulling half of his attention away from the gamescreen.  “Hey, can I hit that later?  I really wanted to finish this game before…..ya know…”

            “Oh c’mon Derrick, I can’t even lift most of those boxes, I need you to help while you’re still stronger than me.  I promise, when you shrink I’ll finish playing and you can see the ending.”

            “That’s not exactly the same thing Erica.  And I’ve seen you play video games, you’re terrible, I’ll still be better off doing it myself.”

            “Oh be quiet, you can coach me.  You’ve got 30 minutes until my nails dry, then we’re on box duty, got it Derrick?”

            “Fine, I ‘got it’ Erica.”

            Erica continued reading and pretended not to notice Derrick’s attitude.  “Good.  Don’t worry, Cole will help.”

            “What am I helping with?” Cole said strolling into the room and crashing onto the couch.  Sammy and Danielle waited patiently as Erica’s body rocked into the depression caused by his weight.  Sammy planted the heavy pole on the ground brush side up, barely noticing the drips of paint that spilled onto his head, and watchd as the giants tumbled in the distance.   It was weird when someone like Cole dwarfed Erica, in his head she was already the biggest and he’d almost forgotten that she’d been the second smallest member of the family just a few weeks ago.

            Erica dug herself out of the cushions and repositioned herself, careful to keep from messing her toe nails.  “I need you to finish sorting out the Good Will junk from the stuff you want to save or sell.”

            “Nothing to save Sis, it’s all junk.  The only good stuff was at college.  I boxed it all up this morning, I needed something to distract me from Mom and Dad.”

            “Eww, are they still being gross today?” 

            Sammy and Danielle looked at each other with scrunched faces, well aware of what Erica was talking about as they went back to work. 

            “Yeah, they sure are.  I brought them breakfast like you said and…I don’t even want to talk about it,  I don’t think they’ve stopped messing around since the day Mom shrank.”

            “That’s why I gave them their own shoebox in the closet,” Erica said looking up from her phone.  “I couldn’t sleep with them in the room.  Those little noises Mom makes, uck.  It’s nice that they’re adjusting, but…..well anyways, I’ll have Derrick check in on them later and see if they need some food or a bath or something.”

            This was enough to pull Derrick’s attention away from the television.  “Me, but I….” 

            The words died in Derrick’s mouth as Erica looked up and caught his eye.  She didn’t say a thing, just raised an eyebrow questioningly.  Derrick sighed and looked away.  “Fine, I’ll make sure they’re ok.  But they better be wearing clothes or I’m just going to toss a fruit roll-up at them and run.”

            Erica returned her attention to her phone.  “The trick is to stomp really loudly, then give them at least a minute.  Make sure they also get a bowl of warm water and some soap.  God, I hope you two turn out more like Sammy & Danielle, they’re so easy.”

            Cole looked down Erica’s legs to the coffee table where his littlest siblings worked.  They both looked up and gave him a wave across the vast gulf between the couch and coffee table. 

            Cole waved back and shook his head to himself. “I hope you don’t think I’m gonna be giving you this kind of treatment once I’m down there.  What’s next, are they scrubbing your sneakers?”

            “Oh please, they volunteered when I said my nails were all faded and chipped,” Erica said and shoved Cole’s meaty shoulder, failing to budge him an inch.  “It’s their chore for the day, they’re having fun, and I needed my nails painted, win win win.” 

            “It’s still weird.”

            “Well I used to paint your toes when we were little, it wasn’t weird then.”

            Cole rolled his eyes.  “Oh please, that was different, we were kids.”

            “Fine,” Erica said and sat up.  Without moving her feet she stretched her hand down the length of her legs and snatched the bottle and brush away from Danielle. 

            She turned to Cole with an excited face.  “Get those feet up here mister, you’re getting the prettiest toe nails in the house.  Sammy & Danni aren’t doing anything I wouldn’t do.”

            Cole scooted away from Erica.  “Ok Erica, you proved your point, quit it.”

            “Nooooo, I wanna do it.  C’mon Cole, it’ll be fun, you used to like it.”

            Sammy and Danielle sat down and watched the show while Cole squirmed at Erica’s prodding.  Derrick did his best to ignore them and concentrated on his game. 

            “Do it do it do it!  It might be our last chance, your nails are gonna be too small soon, pleeeeeeease.  Besides you have to, I’m the boss now, this is for your own safety,”  Erica said with a bright smile that acknowledged her own ridiculous reasoning.

            “Oh jesus, fine, just be quiet.” Cole let Erica drag one of his size 12 feet onto the couch.  Erica squeeled a bit as she untied his shoe. 

            “Do you remember when I painted each of your toes a different color and we said you had rainbow feet that could find treasure?”  She pulled a sock off and propped the foot onto her lap.  Toe to heel it was about the length of Erica’s thigh, although it was a lot smoother than she expected from a football player’s foot. 

            She gave the brush a quick dip into the bottle of nail polish, an action accomplished with a flick of her wrist as opposed to the full body balancing act performed by Sammy & Danielle.  Leaning down she gave his big toe a deft pass of the brush, leaving the large nail (and nothing else) with a thin lair of neon green coating. 

            Erica had expected Cole’s toenails to be thick and rough, but was surprised that they were actually neatly clipped and cleaned.  Nicer than her own actually, they almost looked manicured.  

            “Ok, is that enough?” Cole said trying to suppress a tickled smile after she painted a few more nails.

            “Not even close man, you’re getting the same treatment Danni & Sammy are giving me.  Hey, maybe when you’re tiny we can make a really little brush out of eye lashes or something and I can do this for everyone.”

            Cole leaned back and sighed, pretending to not enjoy himself.  He had to admit, she was doing good work. 

            “Hey,” she said and leaned in to examine a clear coating on his pinky nail.  “Is there already primer on there, I…Ugh, what’s that noise?”  Erica pulled back up and put her fingers to her temple. 

            “Seriously, what is that, it’s like someone’s drilling in my head, do you….”  She snapped her eyes open.

            “Oh that brat,” she said and shoved Cole’s foot off her lap as she leapt to her feet, banging the table hard enough to quake Sammy & Danielle off their feet.  Before they knew what was happening Erica was gone and making a beeline to the stair case. 

            “BRITTTANNNNNYYYYYYY!” Erica shouted and marched up the stairs.  Her migraine was building rapidly, what started as a strain in her forehead now felt like it was going to split her skull.  She cradled her head in both hands and kicked the door to the master bedroom, vacated since her mother’s shrink days earlier.  “TURN THAT THING OFF BRITTANY, RIGHT NOW!”

            And in a second the pain was gone, the deep drilling receded to a distant throb.  Erica’s shoulders collapsed as the tension receded from her body and she let out a deep sigh of relief.  The door to the master bedroom opened halfway to reveal a distressed Brittany, nearly 6 inches taller than Erica but looking more like a little girl caught with matches.

            “It’s off, stop screaming,” Brittany said with one hand firmly on the door.

            Erica tried to push the door open but Brittany held it with effort.  Erica gave up, well aware that she couldn’t overpower her oldest sister. 

            “Give me the disk,” Erica said coldly.

            “I turned it off, I’m sorry but I didn’t think you could hear it downstairs.”

            Erica squared her shoulders and craned her neck up slightly to look Brittany in the eyes, an oppositional stance that had become all too familiar between the sisters.

            “Give it to me,” Erica said and held her palm out. 

            She wanted the disk that their father had used to test them for the shrink effect.  It looked like a white poker chip, but emitted a sonic frequency that could cause crippling headaches to anyone whose body wasn’t saturated with enough nano-tech to both counter the frequency and indicate a coming shrink.  “I told you to stop testing yourself with it, I’m going to have a headache for the rest of the day now.  You’re positive for the shrink effect Brittany, you can try the sonic test every day and you’re still going to shrink, the only difference is my head is going to explode first you brat!”

            Brittany winced a little at the reference to her fate but didn’t break eye contact.  “I won’t do it again when you’re in the house, ok?  Besides it was on the lowest setting and it was on for like 10 minutes before you noticed, maybe you’re not as special as you think.”

            Cole and Derrick watched from the stairwell.  Sammy sat in Derrick’s palm while Danielle was tucked in Cole’s breast pocket.  All four siblings knew to stay out of it when Erica & Brittany fought.

            Brittany moved to close the door on Erica.

            “Fine, no clothes for a day,” Erica said through gritted teeth.  The door froze in Brittany’s hands, then opened wider as Erica took the opportunity to shove against it and gain a step into the bedroom. 

            “That’s right, when you shrink you’re going to spend your first day buck naked.  That’s done, it’s happening.  Do you want to push for more, or can I have the stupid disk?”

            “I…Erica, don’t be like that, I need it to…”

            “Ok, have it your way, you just lost bed privelages.  Did you ever wonder what it’s like in a gerbil cage?  Because you’re going to find out, 2 nights!  Can I have the disk yet or do you want to start discussing your meals?”

            Brittany tried to stand her ground, Erica weighed 30 pounds less than her and wet bed until she was 9 and spent her whole life trying to tag along with Brittany and her friends and…and…

            “OK!” Brittany shouted and stomped to the bed.  She reached under the mattress and grabbed something small, then came back and slammed it into Erica’s palm hard enough to sting.  Her eyes were dry but bright with anger.

            “Take it, take it and get out!”  Brittany grabbed Erica’s forearm hard enough to make her wince and dragged her little sister to the door.  Before Erica could resist she was shoved over the threshold.  She tumbled onto the carpeted ground just before the door slammed shut, the click of the lock sounding a moment later. 

            Erica looked up at the door, then down to her own two feet spread on the ground.  There was green polish all over her toes, her feet, even the carpet, Sammy & Danielle’s work was ruined.  All of the heat and steel that she’d gathered up to stare down Brittany crumbled and tears gathered in her eyes. 

            Derrick handed Sammy off to Cole and helped Erica to her feet.  He pulled her into a hug, letting his little sister collapse on his shoulder.  “She…she can’t keep doing this,” Erica said through tears.  “I don’t want to be mean, I don’t want everyone to hate me, she just doesn’t listen to anything else and…and…” 

            After a few seconds Erica gathered herself up.  She lightly pushed Derrick away and thanked him with a weak smile, and reached over to rub Danielle’s little body at Cole’s chest.

            She let out a loud sniffle and started laughing.  “Does anyone know how to get nail polish out of carpet?”

***

“Rosa?  Yeah, yeah it’s Brittany, it’s good to hear your voice too.”

            Brittany was collapsed on the bed, her head on the pillow and her phone in her hand.  Her eyes were red and her voice a little shaky, but she hadn’t let any of them see her break, not Erica on her power trip or the wimps that were cheering her on.

            “Look, Rosa…I’m in some trouble, I need your help.  Do you think you can borrow a car?”

***

“Well this is a piece of crap,” Erica said flatly. 

            Marjorie looked up at Erica, who sat with her butt and feet flat on the living room floor, knees bent upward.  Marjorie stood along with Sammy, Danny & Harry near one of Erica’s big bare feet, messy half painted toe nails and all.  Erica still wore her boxers, the flimsy cotton riding up on her pale thighs in this position. 

            Marjorie stood in a shadow cast by Erica’s palm, which held a large container high up in the sky.  She watched patiently as Erica critically examined the item.

            Scattered about were five cardboard boxes labeled SMALL COMFORTS, each about the size of a computer monitor but which formed a messy neighborhood of card board buildings to Marjorie.  They had arrived a little while after the noisiness with Brittany, all ordered by Marjorie before her reduction. 

            Derrick and Cole also sat nearby opening the boxes, making it feel like an earthquake was passing through the cardboard neighborhood.

            Marjorie tried to remind herself that these titans who shook buildings and stomped around in the clouds were her children, she was the one who had changed.  She’d been shrunken for 3 days now and her heart still beat faster whenever one of them was around, something as large as that shouldn’t be able to move so quickly.  She was just grateful that Harry was with her, he had a way of making things seem ok, if not normal.

            “Let me see that honey, bring it down here,” Harry said with his arms raised.

            Erica set the "Human Dwelling Unit #424" onto the wood floor.  Her tiny family briefly scampered back a bit, as if Erica would ever let anything drop onto them, then flocked toward it.

            It looked like a see through shipping container to Marjorie, the big kind that heavy cargo were loaded into.  It stood about twice Marjorie’s height, and on one of the longsides there was a door.  A crease encircled it lengthwise where a hinge was located, making it look like with some jimmying a giant could probably flip it right open like a toolbox. 

            On top where only Erica, Cole & Derrick could see there was a carrying handle.

            Harry opened the door and entered the box.  From the inside he surveyed a strange see through apartment. It contained two rooms, the one Harry was in had a  frame for a bed next to a nightstand and other household amenities, all of it transparent and smooth. 

            It was an eerie space.  The shapes were all familiar but the dimensions were off, like they were designed by someone who wouldn’t notice the difference of a few centimeters here and there.  While he would need to climb a bit to get onto the bed the tables and counters only reached his thigh.  The clear walls distorted the images of the outside, giving Harry a mild feeling of funhouse vertigo. 

            Erica’s face peered down from above, her cuteness stretched by the plastic across the entire roof. 

            Harry stood alone in the space.  He sensed the closeness of the walls, the stillness of the air, the unique sense of unease that belonged only to spaces like this that were built to seal its occupant off from the rest of the world.  He could only take 3 deep breaths before he charged out, his heart beating fast and his fists clenched.

            “You’re right sweety, this is a piece of crap,” Harry confirmed to his daughter.

            “Told ya so Daddy.”

            While Erica & Harry discussed the apartment Danielle examined the door and fingered an plastic latch the size of her torso, too rigid for her to even move.  “Hey, this thing locks from the outside!”

            “Oh so it’s a cage too,” Harry said.  “This is a cell Erica, I won’t have any member of my family sleeping in something like this.”

            Erica lifted the unit off of the ground with one delicate hand and played with the latch, casting the tinies back into shadow.  “Huh, look at that.  This is like something I’d put a mouse in, not you guys.  Ok Rockwells, what say we all, keep or crap?”

            “CRAP” rang the small voices from the ground. 

            “So it will be, one more for the Small Comforts complete bullshit pile.”

            With that she tumbled the plastic box away onto a nearby pile with other items that didn’t pass muster.  There were the packets of itchy grey scraps either too large or too small to comfortably wear, a bycicle whose frame had bent during shipping, cots that were less comfortable than the makeshift bedding the family already used and an assortment of other badly designed items.

            “I’ve seen it a thousand times in construction Erica,” Harry had said.  “No competition contracts to make products for a customer who has no options, it’s always shoddy junk like this.  We’re better off with our own solutions.” 

            On Erica’s other side were SMALL COMFORTS items that could come in handy.  Everyone liked the plates and utensils even if they were a little big, and the two outhouses with slidable disposal trays would be a blessing for those both big and small.  Sammy loved his harness vest that had a thick loop along the back for easy lifting, and everyone agreed that the little walkie talkie that transmitted to a full sized one for Erica might be a life saver. 

            There were other handy household items that would help the Rockwells start living more like people and less like mice, tiny tables and toiletries and things, but the crap pile loomed far higher than the useful items. 

            The crap pile shifted and collapsed a bit as Sammy tried again to climb up it, almost reaching the top before Erica snatched him off and held him aloft by his harness vest.  “I almost made it up that time,” he yelled in glee, exulting in soaring through the sky.

            “Yeah, and if you fall you’re going to almost give me a heart attack,” Erica said and set him down next to Marjorie.  Marjorie gasped as the god like hand snatched her up in Sammy’s place, a warm thumb and finger gently pinched around her hips. 

            Marjorie was grateful when Erica dropped her into a cupped palm, until she looked up to find herself almost level with the narrowed brown eyes of her youngest daughter, big as a pair of judgmental store windows. 

            At this range she couldn’t look at Erica’s entire face, she had to choose individual features one at a time.  One nose with flared nostrils, two pursed lips, each eye narrowed with stern examination, they all added up to Erica looking down at her like something she found underneath her shoe. 

            “And you,” Erica said with a puff of hot minty breath.  “Just look at all this useless stuff you bought.”

            Marjorie crawled to the edge of Erica’s palm and looked down at the pile of rejected items 30 proportional feet below her.

            “This is why I told you to wait to make the order Mom.  How much were these useless blankets, like $45 each and they itch like wool?  I’m sure we can find something cheaper and better, and now I can’t afford to buy what we really need until the payments start coming in.”

            Marjorie knew she wasn’t being threatened, but whenever Erica put her in her place like this it was like trying to argue with the moon.  She couldn’t tell if Erica was intimidating her on purpose, but how do you stand up to someone from atop their palm? 

            Marjorie took a deep breath to calm herself and turned from the cliff back to Erica’s amazing brown eyes.  This was her daughter, Marjorie could talk to her daughter like a rational parent.   “I just wanted us to get started Erica, it’s not very fun living in a shoe box and—”

            Marjorie was cut off when Erica’s palms dropped her to mouth level.  Her upper body was enveloped by two big puckered lips and a gallon of minty spit as Erica silenced her mother with a kiss, much like Marjorie did when Erica was little. 

            “Yeah I know Mom, but I told you not to.  Don’t worry, I’m not mad, but from now on maybe listen to me, ok?  I know you’re used to taking care of thing, but you have to get with it and understand that I have a perspective you don’t.  I promise, I can make sure everything’s allright if you just do what I say.” 

            “Ahm…Erica,” a shy voice interrupted from behind.  Relieved to have a break from her daughter’s scolding Marjorie attempted to dry herself against Erica’s finger, then looked several hundred feet past Erica’s head and saw Gina Martinez enter the room.  Gina was Erica’s best friend since grade school, a girl Marjorie had watched grow from a little girl into a young woman. 

            Except this wasn’t Gina, Gina was the kind of nice girl who could be in a room for 20 minutes before you noticed her, she was short and quiet and sweet.  She wasn’t supposed to look ready to terrorize the countryside. 

            “Gina!” Erica excitedly yelled.  Marjorie held tightly onto the loose skin of Erica’s palm as Erica stood to her feet and bounded to Gina in a few pounding steps, slowly and carefully from Erica’s perspective but more like a jet from Marjorie’s.  Marjorie waited in Erica’s palm held at her waist as the two giantess’ hugged, giving her time to look up at the familiar and totally transformed young woman.

            Gina wasn’t the stick thin type like Erica.  If you were being extremely uncharitable you might call her chubby.  Her long wavy black hair hung down overhead of Marjorie and cascading across her generous waist, but Marjorie could just make out a kind and familiar face far above. 

            The face came better into view as the titans separated and Erica lifted her palm to head level, presenting the tiny Marjorie to Gina. 

            Gina looked down at Marjorie with wide & nervous eyes.  The whole ride over she’d tried to come up with something to say, she’d never seen a shrunken person before and was worried that she’d scare them or fall on them or just say something stupid but now here was Mrs. Rockwell, small as life and sitting in Erica’s palm like a little mouse and she was looked like the mom in “The Borrowers” and she was waving at Gina now and how long had Erica been holding her there and……

            “ohmygod you’re so cute!  I mean…I mean hi Mrs. Rockwell, you look really nice today, I’m sorry for…I’m just sorry!” Gina blurted out before covering her mouth with both hands.

            Marjorie’s heart swelled a bit.  This was definitely Gina.  “It’s ok dear, you look nice too.  I love your hair like that.”

            Erica waved Gina into the room and Gina’s heart sped even faster.  There was Cole, big wonderful Cole, and Derrick was there too but mostly just Cole.  She made to step toward him when Erica planted her hand firmly on Gina’s chest.  Erica motioned a finger toward the ground, and Gina’s startled expression turned to horror when she looked down.  By her feet was a tiny little thing, she couldn’t even make out its features but it was scurrying slowly away.  She’d almost stepped on someone!

            Danielle knew it was stupid to approach the giant girls, she just hated being left behind sometimes.  Sure Cole & Derrick were there but they didn’t count, they were just clocking time until they were down at Danielle’s level.  She wanted Erica.

            It wasn’t a view Danielle often got, down on the ground.   Almost always Erica placed her on a table or a bed or just held her in her warm hands. 

            But down here on the ground it was different.  Sure she had the freedom to go where she wanted, but she never felt more insignificant.  She’d bet that Erica wouldn't be able to hear her even if she screamed from this distance.  Her little sister was a skyscraper, Danielle could barely make out facial features past a blurry chin, and she bet that from Erica’s view she looked more like a bug than a person.

            Then Erica knelt down to let their mom free and it was over, Danielle had her sister's attention again and just like that she felt like a person.  As Erica's attention focused on her it was like she mattered again, she felt safe and valued and.... and real.  She wondered, did Erica know how valuable her attention was? 

            “Whoa, careful Danni, you have to be careful around Gina.  She’s not used to watching her feet like I am.” 

            Gina crouched down knelt next to Erica and leaned over to get a good look at the little girl, causing Danielle to gape a bit.  Danielle liked Gina, Gina was her kid sister’s shy friend, she was…well at the moment she was kind of a goddess. 

            She thought Erica looked huge, but the curvier Gina was another kind of creature altogether.  Every inch of her looked like a warm inviting place that Danielle could just tuck herself into, she looked beautiful and sweet and somehow vulnerable and powerful at once. 

            It didn’t help that the collar of Gina’s pink top hung open, a blouse that was modest when she stood but showed off a deep brown valley when leaning over.  Gina was no Brittany, but it was quite a view.

            Harry & Sammy gathered next to Danielle and shared in quietly marveling at the girl who marveled right back at them.  This was the first time they’d been seen by a non-family member.  It made Harry nervous but Erica was right, she’d need help.  He’d just have to adapt to this strange life ruled by teenage girls.  At least she hadn’t worn a skirt.

            “Hi,” Gina said and waved a person-sized finger at Erica’s little family.  “You all look…I’m so sorry I didn’t watch my feet, I…Erica they’re so cute I can’t stand it!  Look at your little dad and his little pants!  Oh, I’m sorry Mr. Rockwell, I don’t mean…oh god I did it again.”

            Erica laughed and reached down, scooping everyone up with both hands.  “It’s ok Gina, take deep breaths,” she said smiling at her nervous friend.  “And don’t worry too much about the misstep, I wouldn’t have let you in if there was any real danger.  The nanos make these little runts tough, I stepped on Sammy the other day and after a minute he was just fine.”

            Erica set everyone down on a foldout card table that was serving as the tinies homebase, its vinyl surface scattered with tissue boxes, soda caps with food and water and other shrunken life amenities.  It even had a collection of cardboard that Danielle & Harry had been turning into a shelter.   

            Erica crouched down and gave them all her toothiest smile.  “Shrimps, you guys take 20, the big kids have to work.  I want you to be right here when I get back.”

            Turning to the rest of the room Erica handed out orders.  Cole & Gina would bring in the last of the Small Comforts boxes while Derrick started lugging the Good Will items downstairs.  Erica would supervise. 

            As Derrick & Erica went upstairs Gina trotted down the hall at double speed to catch up with Cole.  She hadn’t seen him all school year but he was as big and handsome as she remembered.  It felt like her whole life she’d been coming over to Erica’s house and looking up at him, he was just…he had this way about him that made Gina feel happy, he was big and confident and he had those arms and that chin and…he was Cole, one of a kind.

            She smiled up to him.  “Hey Cole, hi.  It’s nice to see you, you look really…I’m sorry about…never mind, sorry…” 

            Cole smirked as Gina studied her feet.  It didn’t matter how life changed, Gina was still Gina.  “Yeah, it pretty much sucks, but thanks anyways.  Hey, there’s not many boxes left, I can grab em.  How about you pull your van up, ok?”

            “Ok!” Gina yelled too loudly and practically leapt away to carry out his plan. 

            Back at the card table Danielle was bored.  This was the part of being small that ticked her off the most (well, aside from the part about having her entire life ruined.)  It was just sitting around on her ass waiting for giants. 

            Sure, she could go off exploring, the house was practically a Land of the Lost promising adventure.  Except that that adventures mostly involved either walking for miles across empty floors or navigating through dark and frankly terrifying nooks and crannies.  And either way, they usually ended with a scolding from a pissed off and scared Erica.  She didn’t have to worry much about bugs and vermin at least, a terrifying incident with a rat days earlier proved a factoid from one of Erica’s books about her nano-saturated body being too metallic to be recognized as food, but even with her healing factor being alone was dangerous and scary as hell.

            And so she waited with her mom, dad & Sammy.  Usually they’d chat, but Danielle hated to admit that even she wasn’t all that interested in anything tiny people had to say.  Giants were just so much more fascinating, everything they did or said felt important, powerful, exciting.  Women especially, Cole & Derrick weren’t much more than Big Cole & Big Derrick, but Danielle had nearly swallowed her own tongue when Gina leaned over.  Who’d have thought, gawky little Gina Martinez, Lord of the Cleavage?

            Looking over at the rest of her family they seemed just as bored as she was.  At least her parents had romance, even disgusting old person romance.  All Danielle had was Sammy.

            Sammy was pretty good at turning most environments into a playground and Danielle often joined him, the kid’s energy was infectious, but even he couldn’t make fun out of their vinyl homebase.  And so they waited.

            Finally something shuffled into the far off doorway, a giant brown cube floating in the air.  It made Danielle think of a Home Depot version of the Borg Cube, journeying through infinite space.  Now she could make out legs from underneath, a pair of hands on the side, it was Cole or Derrick holding a box, no definitely Cole, Derrick wasn’t wearing jeans today.  In seconds the box was almost to their table and Danielle and her family admired the powerful sight, it was just impossible not to stare at the show giants put on.  Domestic Godzillas gracefully bobbing along like it was no big deal to carry buildings. 

            Or sometimes not so gracefully.  As the brown cube reached the table it tipped toward Danielle in a terrifying rush.  It blotted out the sky and fell straight toward her, it was going to— CRACK!

            The box slammed against the table’s edge and hovered over Danielle at a 45-degree angle.  For a moment it just hung there filling her vision, then slid away until it disappeared over the cliff past her feet. 

            Sammy ran past Danielle and crouched over the edge to watch the box crash far below.  Harry and Marjorie helped their stunned daughter to her feet.  Marjorie hugged her tight while Harry looked her over and, satisfied that she definitely wasn’t crushed, gave her a firm nod.  Intellectually they knew she’d heal from most anything, but that information never quite seemed to make situations like this any less scary.

            “Cole, can you help me with….Cole?” Gina asked from the doorway.  On the other side of the room she saw something was happening, Erica’s little family were on the table jumping up and down waving at her, and on the ground one of those brown boxes was busted open next to a bundle of clothes, some pants and a shirt and…Oh no!

            Gina raced to the scene, shaking the table with her pounding steps.  From Danielle’s point of view she hurtled toward them and then disappeared as she crouched to the ground with amazing speed.  Danielle heard worried noises from Gina for a little while, then the giantess slowly stood back into view holding a bundle of clothing wrapped around a squirming naked Cole.   

            Gina’s face was equally terrified and embarrassed as Cole settled down, facing her from a sitting position and seemingly trying to back as far from her as possible from within her own hands.  He looked scared, an expression Gina had never thought of seeing on him. 

            Gina was paralyzed with indecision and searched the little faces in front of her for an answer.  She was relieved when Danielle raised her hands up for attention and spoke first. 

            “Gina, GO GET ERICA!”

***

            Concealed by a bit of cloth torn from his t-shirt, Cole dug through the pile of shrink sized clothing on Erica’s bed.  Behind him Erica watched what had become a faily ritual in the Rockwell house. 

            “Girl stuff,” Cole said and threw a pink dress over his shoulder toward Erica.  Well, a couple of inches toward her.  “Girl stuff, girl stuff, girl stuff!  Aren’t there any pants left?”

            “Yeah, most of this stuff comes from dolls so there aren’t a ton of boys clothes,” Danielle said from atop Erica’s shoulder.  

            “Here, lemme see.”  Erica reached over his head and grabbed a big handful of clothes.  Cole stumbled into the pile as he practically leapt away from her hand, and Erica smirked at her big brother hiding from her in a sea of frills and ribbons.  “Oh chill out little guy, I’m not going to hurt you.” 

            While Erica sorted through her handful Danielle watched Cole uneasily return to his feet.  He turned away from his sisters and determinedly returned to plowing through dresses like he expected to find an answer to his problems in there.  Sammy, their parents, Danielle herself, they had all spent their first hours shrunk gaping up at Erica and any other available giant but not Cole.  He was doing his best not to even look at Erica. 

            In football Cole had always been taught that when the fear starts to rise up the best solution was to concentrate on your next breath.  He didn’t need to take this advice often, but he took it now.

            He’d known this was coming, he’d thought that he was ready for it.  Those family members who had already shrunk seemed to be doing ok, some of them were even having fun. 

            But he wasn’t ready for the total vulnerability that he was feeling.  He was used to being the strong one in most rooms, but a few minutes earlier little Gina Martinez had held him in one hand.  She could have crushed him, dropped him, taken him home, whatever she wanted. 

            Now Erica was smirking down at him like this was funny, and he couldn’t think of a single thing to do about it.  Well, aside from finding a pair of pants.

            He let himself focus on the pile of clothing that piled far above his head. 

            The variety of clothes stunned him a little.  Everything was a different bright color, skirts and dresses and pink leggings and glittery tank tops.  Plenty of colorful shirts but not a single damn pair of pants

            Most of the materials were either rough or plasticy, not something a full sized hand might detect but fake seeming to him. 

            There was one dress though, a dark red gown that looked like his size, which almost seemed real.  It was silky, not polyester, and the red seemed tasteful as opposed to the bright neon that surrounded it.  It stood out from the pile, something authentic surrounded by imitations.

            “Nope, nope, nope,” Erica said and tossed a wad of girly outfits back onto the pile, raining them over the red dress and Cole as well.  “Guess we are running low after Dad and Sammy, you want to try some of those Small Comfort outfits downstairs?  Maybe they’re not as itchy as they seemed.”

            Cole crawled out from under Erica’s castoffs and kept looking, studiously turning his back to the giantess.  “Ya know, the least you could do is make sure there are some pants for a guy if you’re supposed to be taking care of us, just saying.”

            Erica pursed her lips in an expression that probably would have worsened Cole’s sense of safety had he been looking. 

            “Fine, you want pants, here you go.”  Erica gently but quickly plucked Danielle from atop her shoulder and flipped her upside down to yank the baggy camouflage pants off of her.  Just as quickly she yanked a yellow skirt from the pile and slipped it over Danielle’s naked butt, then dropped the pants in front of Cole.

            “You see,” Erica said to Cole, turning him around with the flick of one finger to make him look up at her.  “That’s how it works, you tell me what you need and I make it happen.  But next time maybe try saying please, ok?”

            Erica leaned down and did her best to look Cole straight on.  She held one hand out palm up.  “Now put those pants on and hop on, god knows how Gina is doing down there.”

***

            “You see, nice and easy,” Erica said while Gina looked on with rapt attention. 

            Sitting on Erica’s palm was her mother Marjorie, who tried her best to act normal while her daughter raised her up and down, up and down.  “The trick to lifting her up is to keep your palm level and try not to shake it too much, at her size even little tremors feel like an earthquake.”

            “But…isn’t it dangerous, what if she falls?  Wouldn’t it be safer to grip her, or…or just not pick her up at all?”

            “Oh don’t worry so much,” Erica said and tumbled Marjorie into Gina’s trembling hands.  “If you want to babysit you’ll have to pick them up eventually, you’ll die of old age waiting for them to walk around.  They’re cute but sooooo slow. Now, I like to think of it like I’m a building and my hand is the elevator.  Not too fast or I’ll scare the passenger, but not so slow as to bore them…”

            While Marjorie patiently listened to the conversation above her head, Danielle guided Cole past the seated giantess’ toward the piles of Small Comforts products that sat 3 full grown feet past them, next to Erica’s mis-painted toes on her outstretch legs.  Danielle took the time to run an admiring hand along one of Erica’s smooth muscled thighs, right where the cotton boxers ended and Erica’s skin began, while Cole studiously ignored the sight.

            “Well bro,” Danielle said, not sure how to break the ice with the sulking Cole, “Welcome to the bottom.  The location sucks but the view is nice.” 

            Cole didn’t respond. 

            “Oh don’t be a little bitch,” Danielle chided with a pixie’s mischievous smile.  “Look, I get it, I’ve been down here for a month and I know everything you’re feeling.  And I’m even shorter than you, you’re at least two centimeters taller, practically a giant.”

            Danielle sighed when she failed to get a laugh.  “If it were up to me I’d let you just slink off for a few days but Erica said that it’s my job to get you up to speed.  So meet me halfway and I’ll show you how to make this game work, ok?”

            Before he could respond Cole was knocked to the ground as something crashed down from above.  Cole had been tackled plenty in his life and this felt like that for a moment, then the familiar muscle hurt just faded away as the nanos did their job and fixed the damage. 

            He pushed the debris off of himself, a miniature cot that he remembered hearing Sammy describe as “even worse than sleeping on a book”, and saw his dad looking down from atop Crap Pile. 

            “Sorry about that chief, you ok down there?” 

            Cole stood to his feet.  “Yeah, I’m all right Dad.  What are you doing, thought you all decided to toss that stuff?”

            “Most of it, yeah.  But I have some ideas, maybe if these companies won’t build us a decent home we can do it ourselves.  I’m sorting for scrap before Erica tosses the rest out.  You guys want to help?”

            “Later dad,” Danielle said.   “Right now I’m showing Cole around.”

            “Oh right, ‘The Rules’,” Harry laughed.  “Have fun, don’t scare him too much on his first day sweetheart.” 

            Cole caught up as Danielle continued her walk, leaving Crap Pile and Erica’s feet behind, toward where he didn’t know.  “Ok, what are you two talking about?  Did Erica write up a bunch of rules so she can prove how in charge she is?  Who writes rules for their own family, does everything have to be about proving that she’s in charge?”

            “Actually I wrote them,” Danielle said.  “Erica thinks I’m just showing you where to use the bathroom and stuff.  But trust me Cole, a happy Erica makes for a happy life, and if you follow my rules everyone stays happy. 

            So stow the whining and listen up, I’m going to teach you how to survive at 3 inches.”