Erica's House by realRS
Summary:

When every member of her family is shrunk to doll size 16 year old Erica becomes head of the house. 

Will the Rockwell family adapt to the once shy Erica being in charge?  Will Erica let the power go to her head?  


Categories: Teenager (13-19), Young Adult 20-29, Mature (40-49), Body Exploration, Entrapment, Gentle, Humiliation, Instant Size Change, New World Order, Slave Characters: None
Growth: None
Shrink: Lilliputian (6 in. to 3 in.)
Size Roles: F/f, F/m, FF/f, FF/m, FM/f, FM/m, M/f, M/m
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 6 Completed: Yes Word count: 28671 Read: 96266 Published: January 16 2014 Updated: September 29 2016

1. Chapter 1: Morning Inspection by realRS

2. Chapter 2: The Shrink Effect by realRS

3. Chapter 3: Managing the Suck by realRS

4. Chapter 4: The Spaghetti War by realRS

5. Chapter 5: Small Comfort by realRS

6. Published by realRS

Chapter 1: Morning Inspection by realRS
Author's Notes:

My first story.  Leave a comment and make my day.  

Cover

 

 

 

 

Today:

 

"Derrick wake up, you're gonna make us late!"

            Derrick Rockwell reluctantly opened his eyes and accepted the start of a new day as his sister Brittany's voice trailed down the hallway.  Looking up the sky seemed to stretch for miles to the ceiling, way past the walls of his bedroom, which ended around 9 feet.  The sight would be inspiring if it didn't immediately remind him of why he'd rather stay asleep.

            He pushed his blanket off with a sigh, a giant pair of blue cotton panties that he was pretty sure used to belong to his sister Danielle, and got to his feet.  All around he could hear the sounds of his family hustling to get ready for morning inspection, a busy but happy noise that made him smile despite his mood.  The girls' shower was running, Brittany probably went right in after waking him, and he could hear someone on the running wheel.  He figured that was mom.  Erica would like that, she was always happy when their parents exercised.

            Although they technically had more space than they could ever use the Compound was always crowded.  That was nothing new for Derrick though after growing up in a family of 8. 

            'At least the Compound only has 7 of us' Derrick thought as he ventured into the hall, almost colliding with his little brother Sammy who was looking desperately for somewhere to hide a giant gummy bear from his birthday the night before.  'Stick Erica in here and we'd really have a crowd.'

            Venturing into the kitchen he found his dad and twin sister Danielle cleaning up the last of the birthday mess, cinching up trash bags filled with half eaten M&M's and peanut butter cups the size of their heads.  He knew everything needed to be spick and span before morning inspection and was grateful that they'd covered for his sleeping in.

            "About time Derrick, you look like crap" Danielle chided him with a smile. 

            "Yeah yeah, I know, I just woke up.  You heard how late she was up playing music last night, she's probably not even awake yet.  Besides shouldn't we get to take Saturdays off?"

            "Uh huh, why don't you bring that up with Erica, I'm sure she'll just love it.  Here, at least take these bags out you moocher, inspection's in like 5 minutes and you and I both know ERICA IS NEVER LATE". 

            Derrick took the bags with a "sure sis" and an exagerrated smile and marched them outside.  Well, outside his family's miniature compound which resided neatly in the corner of his old mostly empty bedroom.

            He dropped the bags off at the pickup point and looked back at the crude fortress that had been his family's home ever since they'd become victims of the Shrink Effect. 

            A mixture of pre-fabricated models, toy sets and raw construction, it had been his family's main project over the last several months.  Under the supervision of their father Harry, a contractor in his previous life, they'd been slowly modifying a set of "Human Dwelling #424" units from Small Comforts Supplies into a home with real character.  The 9" tall walls (plastic with cardboard siding & felt for insulation) contained maybe a dozen rooms with plans for more, two bathrooms with real plumbing connected to a couple 1 gallon water jugs that towered on one side, and even a Lincoln Log guard tower.  The last was little Sammy's idea, "to make sure nothing's sneaking up on us".  It was a lot of work but Derrick was proud of it.

             No roofs of course, that was one of Erica's rules.  "If I can't see you then how can I make sure you're ok?" she said in that reasonable way she had, as if they had a choice.  Still it beat the hell out of those clear cells they'd originally been provided with.

            In the distance he heard the familiar rhythmic thunder that meant he was out of time.  "Oh crap" he said and ran to his room and dressed in a flurry.  Running back outside he saw the rest of his family already neatly lined up and he took the spot at the end, shoulder to shoulder with Danielle. 

            "Cutting it a little close, huh?" she whispered as the thunder grew louder and closer.

            "I guess I got lost in thought, no harm done."

            "Yup, no harm done.  Of course you do realize that your shirt is inside out, right?"

            Before he could respond Derrick's attention was seized along with the rest of his tiny family as they all looked across the vast expanse of their bedroom to the door that towered hundreds of feet into the sky.  The thumping stopped as the giant door creaked open and their sister Erica entered, all 60 feet of cute 16 year old girl.  A yawn overtook her as she walked in and Derrick would have figured that she'd just woken up except for the coffee mug in her hand.  She was wearing her usual pink fluffy robe left open to reveal boxers and a white tank top, probably what she'd slept in.  Her long brown hair was a mess and she looked half asleep. 

            Derrick had trouble not focusing on Erica's two titanic bunny slippers as she walked toward them, they looked like a pair of huge fell beasts leaping toward them if you just ignored the tree size legs sprouting out of the tops.

            When Erica reached her family she kneeled down in front of them and mustered a big toothy grin, tired as she clearly was.  

            "Good morning cuties, everyone ready for inspection?" she said sleepily and placed her mug down with a loud CLUNK that they all felt, 'World's Greatest Dad' imprinted on the side in what looked like person sized type.  Erica leaned over to get a close look at her family and looking up at the giant smile of his big little sister Derrick had trouble not being a little charmed, she could just be so cute when she laid it on thick.  As always he pretended not to notice the valley of cleavage that peeked out south of that smile. 

            "Morning Erica" everybody shouted more or less in unison to the giant. 

            "Oooh no no no sweeties, Erica has a little headache this morning so I need you to keep it down, ok?" she said and stroked her hand through her messy hair.  "After we wrapped up Sammy's birthday last night and I put you guys to bed Lisa and Gina came over and we kept the party going, so…."

            'At least she won't be too observant ' Derrick thought and looked down the line at his family, each dressed in a mixture of bright doll's clothes, rough home made items and drab mass produced shrink-wear, and lined up shoulder to shoulder to greet their drowsy owner. 

            His Mom & Dad stood at the opposite end of the line, Harry and Marjorie.  Even now they still watched out for their kids and made sure to be the first ones Erica reviewed.

            Next to them was Sammy, 10 and with a big heartfelt smile for Erica.  Derrick wasn't sure if he chose that spot to be next to his parents or because he wanted to get more attention from his biggest sister.

            Cole & Brittany were the oldest of the kids, 22 & 21, and both looked glum but still stood at attention.  They'd all heard Erica and her friends last night and Derrick bet that his older siblings probably wished they could have joined the fun as something other than party favors. 

            It didn't help that Brittany was still getting used to not being the alpha girl, Derrick got the impression that being tall and pretty with a big chest had let her be queen bee at her sorority.  She'd certainly always been the most outgoing girl in the family but she could never seem to maintain eye contact when Erica beamed down on her. 

            At the end of the line stood Danielle and her twin brother Derrick, both 18.  Derrick admired how well Danielle was able to handle Erica, always saying the right thing without seeming fake.  Danielle was slender and energetic, her brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. 

            "Sure thing Sis" Danielle piped just loudly enough for Erica to hear, "Hope you feel better."

            "Aw thanks sweety" Erica said.  "Ok, everybody's looking great this morning, good job, I wish I looked as good as you guys this early.  Mom, you've gotten so fit lately, those hours in the gym have really paid off, dad's a lucky little guy.  Sammy you're cute as a button as always.  Brittany, I told you don't look at your feet and slouch, it makes you look like a slob.  Cole, Gina was asking about you last night, I think she's got a teeny crush on you, let me know when you want me to set up a date."

            Erica's eyes glossed over Danielle and settled on Derrick, leaving him breathless for a second.

            "Derrick, what the heck are you wearing?  And look at your hair, it's a mess.  I bet you woke up like 5 minutes ago, did you even take a shower?"

            Derrick bit back any comments about Erica's own outfit as Danielle stifled a giggle.  "Told ya" she whispered well below giantess hearing range. 

            "I…ah yeah, I'm sorry Erica, I overslept.  I took out the garbage though!"

            "Well I guess that's something" Erica said and absently lifted the trash bags with her thumb and forefinger and stuffed them into her robe's pocket. 

            "Seriously though, I expect you to be looking nice for me in the morning, it's totally disrespectful.  Tomorrow you're gonna be showered, dressed and looking spiffy, got it little dude?" she said and gave him a little poke in the stomach, knocking him back a few steps.  "Ok, everyone else looks great, except for Derrick no one gets a punishment point.  I'm gonna skip compound inspection this morning, way too tired." 

            Erica leaned back and rotated her legs a bit as she sat down on the floor, getting comfortable.  She pulled her notepad out of her pocked and flipped it open.  "Now what's on the schedule today?  Cole & Danielle's Littlest League softball game is at noon so I want everyone ready to go by 11:30, Brittany I'm giving you a haircut after, it's getting out of control.  Sammy, I told your friend Jenny's parents that she could bring over your birthday present at 3 so you be nice."

            "Jenny's not my friend, she's mean" Sammy piped, interrupting Erica in a way that no one else in the family could get away with.

            "Well mean old Jenny likes you buddy.  Trust me when you're older you'll be glad so I want to hear your biggest thank you and don't give her any trouble if she wants to play with you.  Dad I'm still working on getting you that putty and those twist ties you asked for, I think they'll come in the mail tomorrow.  I think that's it for today, am I missing anything?  In that case I'm gonna grab a shower, I feel like crap.  Right after the kiss train of course!"

            Erica laid down on her chest to reach eye level with everyone.  "And don't forget that I love you guys, you're the best little family in the world" she said and turned her cheek to them.   

            "We love you too sweety" her mom and dad said and kissed Erica's cheek together, then walked back to the compound holding hands.

            "I love you Erica!" Sammy yelled loudly enough to make Erica scrunch her face before kissing her and running off. 

            "Love you sis" Cole said and hugged Erica's jaw then turned back home.

            "I love you Erica" Brittany quietly said with a kiss.   "Love you too my little mouse," Erica replied as Brittany darted away.  

            "Love ya you big weirdo" Danielle said and licked Erica's cheek, causing a giggle.  Danielle jumped away and ran to the compound before Erica could retaliate. 

            "I lov….." Derrick started to say before Erica snatched him off the ground. 

            "You and me are going to have a talk little man" she said and stuffed him into her pocket.

            Derrick rocked around in the darkness for a little while, comfy in the cotton pocket but heart racing.  'What was she going to do?' he thought when the giant hand reached back in and pulled him out, plopping him onto cold porcelain.  He was sitting on the sink counter of their main bathroom…well Erica's bathroom now.  Erica was looking at herself in the mirror, examining her morning face. 

            "Erica, I'm sorry, I just overslept and didn't have time to…."

            "Oh I don't care about how you're dressed Derrick.  Well I don't super care, I meant it when I said you better get it together in the morning from now on.  Jeeze why didn't anyone tell me I looked so grimy?"           

            "I…"

            "I got an email this morning from your school, you're getting a D in pre-calc and spanish" Erica said and dropped her robe to the ground.

            Like the rest of the kids Erica had signed Derrick up with online classes.  He was genuinely disappointed; he thought he'd get at least a C in Spanish.

            "Oh…."

            "Yeah, oh.  Those classes aren't cheap Derrick, I'm not wasting my money if you're just gonna flunk out of high school anyways." Erica pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it to the ground.  It wasn't the first time Derrick had seen Erica naked but he had to fight to keep his mouth from hanging open regardless. 

            She examined herself in the mirror with a critical face scrunch and squeezed her breasts together, each hand just barely filled by perky, creamy flesh, a pair of bright pink nipples poking between her dainty fingers.  "Ya think it's too late for me to still hope I get boobs like Brittany?  I swear she must be adopted."

            Before Derrick could think of an answer she released the objects of his attention and knelt down to look him directly in the eye.   

            "Look, just because you shrunk doesn't mean it's ok to flunk out.  If you keep your grades up you can go to an online college and find something that you like, otherwise the only job you're gonna be fit for is my pet brother.  Is that what you want?"

            Trying not to be overwhelmed by Erica's huge brown eyes Derrick said "No, I want to graduate, I do.  I'm just not good at that kind of stuff Erica."

            "Oh bull, you used to help me with my homework all the time, I wouldn't have passed half my classes without you and Danielle helping me out.  Look, I know you get depressed and it feels like this stuff doesn't matter, but it matters to me.  You're going to study with Danielle every night until you get your grades up, ok sweety?"

            "Ok Erica…thanks.  And I'm sorry, I'm going to try harder," Derrick said, touched by Erica's support.  Sometimes it wasn't so bad having a big little sister.

            "That's better," Erica said and gave him a big wet kiss.  She turned around and started the shower, giving Derrick an eyeful of her giant backside, smooth supple skin that poured down from her long neck over the mountainside of her back and down into the waistband of her boxers, all sillouhetted by a roaring waterfall.  It was so impressive that he didn't notice her grabbing something from the shower.

            "Don't worry about being sorry though, you're gonna make it up me."

            Turning back to Derrick she snatched him up and revealed a big green luffa sponge in her other hand. 

            "You earned two punishment points this morning, so today you're my little scrubber," Erica said before stuffing him into the luffa headfirst.  Facing the ground Eric's last sight as he struggled was of Erica stepping out of her boxers, then his world was filled with hot water, soap, and every crevice of Erica's smooth giantess body. 

 

End Notes:

That's it, hope you enjoyed meeting the Rockwells.

Chapter 2: The Shrink Effect by realRS
Author's Notes:

Thanks for the reviews on chapter 1, it really helped me get motivated for chapter 2.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

6 months earlier:

The house wasn't the largest home on the block nor was it particularly beautiful, but Harry Rockwell always felt pride whenever he pulled into the driveway. 

            It was a faded blue American Colonial in a quiet Maryland neighborhood, 2 stories and 3 bedrooms.  It had more space than he and Marjorie knew what to do with when they moved in, Marjorie 6 months pregnant with their first child Cole.  Now Harry's family of 8 filled every inch of the old building and although they'd talked about finding something larger he was always happy having his family so near. 

            "Dad, I wish you'd just tell me what's going on," Brittany said from the back seat, stuffed into the space that wasn't filled by her and Cole's luggage.  Harry looked in the mirror and took in his 2nd oldest child.  Just 20 years old but grown into a beautiful young woman, Harry smiled remembering the skinny teenager who couldn't wait to leave home.  "What's so important that Cole & I had to come home from college?  It's May, we have finals coming up." 

            "Yeah Dad," Cole said from the front seat.  21, tall, square jawed and handsome, Cole took after his father and looked every inch the college quarterback.  "If you or mom are sick just tell us, it'll be better to know."

            "I'm sorry kids," Harry said and parked the car.  "I promised your mother and this will be a lot easier if you just see for yourself.  Nobody's sick and everything's going to be ok, there are just some things that a family has to handle together.  Get your butts inside, everyone's dying to see you."

            Brittany and Cole lugged their bags up the driveway and through the doorway to the old house.  'Oh my god it looks smaller every time I come home'  Brittany thought as she stepped inside.  'I better not get stuck sleeping with Danielle & Erica again'.

            As soon as they were through the door Sammy jumped onto Cole.  "Cole Cole Cole!" Sammy yelled and wrestled Cole's arms.   

            "Hey Maniac!" Cole said and half placed half dropped his bags to the ground to keep from dropping Sammy.

            "That's right, just go ahead and wreck my house," Harry said as he and Brittany squeezed past. 

            "What are you doing here Sammy," Cole said.  "Dad told me he was gonna trade you for a weed whacker."

            "Did not!  Want me to help you take your bags up to our room?"

            "Thanks buddy.  Back to the boys bedroom with Sammy and Derrick, huh?  I think I might have to squeeze you into the closet or something this time, I need your bed to put my feet on."

            "Don't worry, we're gonna have plenty of space really soon!" Sammy said and ran upstairs with one of Cole's smaller bags. 

            Meeting Cole at the top of the stairs was Derrick, Cole's younger brother.  Derrick and his twin sister Danielle were both 16 and took a little more after their mother with softer, kinder features. 

            "What do you want ass-burglar?" Cole said and swung a bag at Derrick angrily.

            Derick grunted as he caught the bag in his chest and returned Cole's glare.  "Is that really the best throw you've got fuck-let?  And they actually let you play on the team with that weak ass arm?"

            Cole and Derrick maintained their angry standoff for nearly 4 seconds before Cole cracked and started laughing.  Cole used his free arm to pull a smirking Derrick into a hug.  "Wow, and I almost missed you for a millisecond.  Fuck-let, that's a new one, thanks.  Look, can you tell me what's going on?"

            Derrick led Cole into their bedroom and said "I…you'll find out in a minute, you wouldn't believe me if I told you.  Things have gotten weird around here man."

 

            Brittany dropped her bags onto her old bed with a sigh and took the room in. 

            Just like she'd left it, 3 beds for three girls.  After a claustrophobic Christmas 4 months earlier she had hoped to never sleep in this little room again.  Her father insisted she rush home though, and even at 20 she had trouble saying no to him when he used the Dad Voice.

            Brittany looked herself over in the mirror hanging next to her bed.  She was tall for the women in her family, 5'9 with a curvy body that stood out from her mom and sisters.  She tugged her sweater up a bit to cover everything but the creamy tops of the breasts she was so proud of, DD's that peeked out above a black and maroon terrapin, mascot to the University of Maryland where she and Cole attended. 

            She parted her long blonde curls (dyed religiously from its natural Rockwell brown) which framed a pretty face, smooth skin with high cheekbones and eyes that always spoke volumes about their owners' confidence. 

            Satisfied that she was looking her best after the car ride she looked around the room that she had shared with her sisters' for 16 years.  Danielle's area on the opposite side was like she remembered, all soccer gear and a big autographed Les Miserables poster.  Erica's bed in the middle was just as drab as always, messy and unmade with CDs scattered amidst a couple of stuffed animals.  Brittany picked one up to see what little sis was listening to and rolled her eyes at a picture of Katy Perry.  'Way to grow up Erica'.

            Underneath the CD was a pamphlet that stood out from all the teenage crap, A Nanotechnolical World and Its Byproducts.  Brittany picked it up and looked inside, it was all about Nano Day, when the US had officially approved the use of nanotechnology for the civilian population about 10 years previously.  It had seemed like a huge deal at first but the only difference for most people was that Americans didn't get sick much anymore.  All of the fun applications like physical enhancements or cybernetics were way out of the price range of the Rockwells. 

            Brittany was just reading the next page's title, The Shrink Effect and the American Family,  when a tiny voice behind her said "Uh, Brittany…".

            "Jesus!" Brittany yelled and spun around to see her little sister Erica looming in the doorway, half hidden behind the wall.  Brittany took in her little sister, looking every inch the shy mouse she remembered, barely making eye contact.  Erica was a skinny 5'2 and buried the few curves she had in her usual baggy grey sweatshirt.  She had a pretty face that was usually hidden behind her long brown hair.  "Erica, don't sneak up on people, god."

            "Sorry," Erica said and retreated a bit further behind the doorway.  "Mom…Mom said she wanted you to come downstairs."

            "Yeah, ok.  Hey, sorry, I didn't mean to yell," Brittany said and pulled Erica out from behind the doorway and into a hug.  "You just startle me when you creep around like that you little weirdo."

            Erica sunk into the hug, trying and failing to avoid being squished against Brittany's chest.

            "But Erica, c'mon, I've told you before," Brittany said and held Erica at arms length with a hand on each shoulder.  "Stand up straight, look people in the eye when you talk to them, you'd be so pretty if you didn't dress like an old man.  I guess you're not going to tell me what this is all about either?"

            Erica forced herself to look Brittany in the eyes and smiled with secret knowledge.  "You're gonna have to see this one to believe it, just come downstairs when you're done going through my stuff."

 

            Harry & Marjorie Rockwell looked at their family, 7 of their 8 children gathered at the dining room table.  The only one missing was their 18-year-old daughter Danielle, usually a bright presence in any room.  Sitting in front of Marjorie was a blue tissue box.  Along with his coffee mug Harry had a plain white disk about the size of 3 poker chips stacked on each other. 

            The kids all looked at their parents, both in their mid-forties.  Harry was a loving but tough man who tended towards the stern.  6' tall with a firm jaw and a deep gravelly voice, he was the authority in the household. 

            Marjorie balanced him out, a smaller woman at 5'4 who made sure her children always knew she was worrying over them.  She was relatively fit for a mother of 6, with neck length brown hair and a warm face.   

            Harry sipped green tea out of his black World's Greatest Dad mug, a birthday present from Cole & Brittany back when they were his only children, as he searched for a way to begin.

            "Ok, what's the big news?  You're killing us Dad," Cole said.  

            "It's your sister Danielle," Marjorie said.  "She's ok, she's not hurt or sick or anything, but 2 days ago she…well, we found her and…."

            "Just let her out Mom," Derrick interrupted kindly.

            Marjorie pushed the tissue box forward and pulled back the lid.  Cole and Brittany both leaned in from across the table as the box shook a bit, then out sprang Danielle, all 3" of her.  Danielle was dressed in a little velvet rag with arm & leg holes, far short of her usually bright and outgoing sense of fashion.  She was a vibrant and pretty girl, somewhere in the middle of her younger and older sisters. 

            Brittany and Cole stared silently, eyes wide and searching.  Looking around the room for confirmation they found their siblings uniformly unsurprised.  Cole looked to Derrick who just pursed his lips and nodded with an expression that said 'Yep, told you so'.

            "Ta-daa!" Danielle's tiny voice finally said with a wave of her arms to break the silence.  "I know, I changed my hair, don't you like it?" 

            "I don't understand," Brittany said and walked to Danielle, leaning over to get a better look.   "I don't understand, what's going on, why is no one freaking?  Is this a trick?!  It's not funny!"

            Brittany slapped her hand down on the table, scarily close to Danielle.  "Mom, what happened to Danielle!?  Somebody say something!"

            Erica put her hand lightly on Brittany's shoulder and pulled her back a bit, much to Danielle's relief.  "It happened 2 days ago Brittany.  We all felt the same way but it's real, no one's tricking you.  Just calm down a little, you're scaring her, ok?"

            Brittany snapped her attention back to Danielle who had partially retreated into her tissue box.  "I'm ok Brittany, I'm not hurt or dying, I'm just…wee.  You have to be careful, no big movements, it's like being in a room filled with Godzillas."

            Seeing Danielle's tininess compared to her own hand Brittany realized what she'd done and crouched down while pulling her arm away.  "I'm sorry Danni, this is just….what happened?"

            Danielle stood back up, happy to be talking to Brittany at eye level even if the eyes were massive.  It was better than trying to ignore a pair of gigantic breasts hovering above ready to crush her.  "It was 2 days ago.  I was reading and I got really hot, I thought I was burning up.  I passed out and when I woke up everything was gigantic, like one of those over sized fun house rooms times a 1000. I actually thought I was normal and everything had grown, like our house had expanded or something.  I was freaking out thinking we must have crushed our neighbors, but then…"

            "I found her!"  Sammy yelled proudly.  "I was looking for my shoes and when I looked under the couch she was right there looking out at me!  It was so cool!"

            "Giga-Sammy over there took me to Mom and I realized that I was the one that was different, not everything else.  Since then, you know, we've all been dealing with it.  We went to Doctor Samuels and he sent us to this other doctor and he told us that this was…"

            "It's the Shrink Effect!" Cole interrupted, breaking out of his stunned silence for the first time.  "Yeah, there was an article in Wired about it, it's been happening all over the country.  But it's only supposed to effect like .0001% of the population, how….?"

            "C'mon Cole, you know I'm 1 in a million!" Danielle shouted. 

            Cole laughed, "Oh my god, Danielle, I can barely hear you, it's like talking with Tinker Bell."

            "Hey, don't' make fun of her!" Brittany snapped.

            "It's ok Britany, it's ok," Danielle said.  "Just stay calm.  Remember:  Godzillas.  And I'd rather people joke than feel sorry for me, this isn't a pity party."

            "Ok Danni," Brittany said, "Sorry."

            "Brittany, sit back down, there's more to talk about" Harry said in the dad voice that allowed no argument. 

            Brittany returned to her seat next to Erica and said, "What was Cole talking about?"

            "It's called the Shrink Effect Brittany," Harry said.  "The doctors who reviewed Danielle explained it to us.  The government's kept it mostly quiet until a few months ago but It's been happening around the country for the last 3 years. 

            "They told us that it's the nanotech that we've been exposed to.  They were put in our food and water to fight illnesses, and that's mostly what they do, but sometimes something goes wrong with the way the bots communicate and they become obsessed with the idea that they have a project that's worth using up almost all of the body's mass.  They replicate out of control and once they've reached critical mass they burn up in a flash of heat and all that's left is what you see here.  Once the process begins it can take up to a year, but it's not stoppable."

            "There's like thousands of people around the country in the same situation," Derrick said.  "It's pretty scary, you feel normal until it just happens."

            Marjorie picked up the thread.  "Until recently all the victims have been taken away and sent to live in institutions, but thank god the doctors have made sure that it's not contagious.  It's a stupid machine glitch, not a virus.  So long as the victim has a family member that can be appointed their guardian then she can stay at home" she said and unconsciously cradled her arms protectively around Danielle's tissue box.

            "And I have plenty of those," Danielle said.  From her perspective in front of her mother her family was like a council of gods, but as much as they could be a pain she was happy to have them all with her.  The thought of spending the rest of her life in some tiny prison terrified her.

            "That's so….oh my god," Brittainy said.  "It's not enough that only rich people get the cool enhancements, but now we have to deal with shit like this?!"

            "Brave new world sis," Derrick said.  "Kind of a rough trade off for no more flu, although I bet cancer survivors would probably say different."

            "So you and Dad are her guardians now, like permanently?  Danni will stay living with you?" Brittany said ignoring Derrick.

            "Yup, I'm a homebody from now on," Danielle said.  "Aside from the obvious sucking it won't be SO bad, I'm never going to have go without mom's cooking and I'm so full of nanotech at this point that I could probably jump off this table and heal right back up.  I've been doing a lot of research and I can still go to college online and get some kind of work-from-home job.  Or maybe I'll just play videogames, I haven't figured it all out yet.

            "And I'm definitely the cutest kid in the family now, wayyyyyy cuter than Sammy." Danielle stuck her tongue out at her youngest brother who returned the gesture happily.

            "Actually that's not right," Harry said with a stony look on his face.  "Your mother and I can't be guardians."

            "What?" Danielle spun to her father.  "Dad, no, I won't be trouble, don't send me away!  Those institutions are supposed to be like prisons!  Daddy please!"

            "I would never do that Danielle, all I want in the world is to protect you," Harry said with a slight crack in his deep voice.  "But…I'm so sorry kids, I don't know how to say…."

            "We're all gonna get little too!" Sammy shouted with a grin. 

            "I heard mom and dad talking this morning," he continued sheepishly when he had everyone's attention.  "They said we're all gonna shrink too, we get to be like a tiny family together…no It's gonna be super cool, we can go on adventures and play with big people and ride birds and stuff!"

            "Sammy that's enough!" Harry shouted. 

            Sammy flinched in fright, their father was never cuddly but he was kind and not prone to anger. 

            "Sammy, it's not…this isn't funny" Harry said in a softer voice.  "Kids, nanotech is all about getting millions of little robots to communicate, they don't do anything on their own.  The shrink effect happens when one of them gets the wrong idea but they send that wrong idea to as many other bots as they can.  The effect can be localized as far as 90 feet once a trigger signal is sent."

            Marjorie started to cry quietly as she saw her children begin to understand, each face aghast as they looked back and forth from their father to Danielle.

            "No way," Cole said with a hint of panic in his voice.  "I've been at college most of the year, I wouldn't even have been around."

            "The doctors were able to extract a timestamp from Danielle, they know when the signal went out.  4 months and one week ago, almost exactly."

            The math was easy and it hit everyone but Sammy right away.  4 months and a week from May 3rd. 

            "Christmas," Erica said softly.  "It was Christmas break, we were all here, Brittany you and Cole were home and…."

            "Oh my god Danielle," Brittany said, "What did you do!?"

            "I didn't do anything!" Danielle yelled.  The giant faces around the table were suddenly staring at her, covered in mixtures of angry accusation and fear.  "Don't look at me like that, I didn't do this, it's not my fault!  Please, I'm sorry, I didn't…"

            "That's right," Harry said firmly.  "Danielle's the first victim, not the cause.  If anyone wants to blame her then you and I are going to have a very long talk about responsibility.  Everyone understand?"

            Everyone nodded and Danielle sank into her velvet dress in relief as the giant faces turned from anger to guilty apology. 

            Harry continued.  "So that's our problem.  If we all shrink then there's no guardian and we could wind up in some kind of institute, and I'm not having that.  So I'm sorry, but this next step is necessary".

            Harry pressed two fingers down onto the white disk in front of him, which yielded an audible click. 

            "What is that dad?" Erica said.

            "We don't know for sure that you were all affected.  Some of you kids could have been at a friend's house, out to a store, anything.  That's why the doctors gave me this."  Harry gestured to the disk.

            "It's a white noise generator, a powerful one.  It emits subsonic frequencies that can cause nausea, migraines, they can even make a person pass out if they're exposed for too long.  If the shrink effect has started then your body is saturated with enough nanotech that it will counteract this signal, you won't feel a thing.  Your mother and I already tested it and it's too late for us but if one of you missed the trigger signal then you're about to have a very bad time."

            Everyone sat silently, afraid of what the disk would make them feel but more afraid of feeling nothing.  For several minutes they all exchanged tense glances, trying to detect any kind of discomfort or pain in themselves and each other.  Danielle looked out at her family and started to pray, palms together in front of her mouth.  "Please please please Jesus, please someone be saved, please let us stay together."

            "I feel it!" Brittany said and stood up.  "Like a little tingle on your skull.  Does anyone else feel something?  I know I feel it, it's like a tightness and a hum and….I feel something, I'm not going to shrink oh thank…."

            That was when Erica lurched forward and vomited onto the table, a loud and messy torrent that went on and on. She fell to the ground as her mess spread across the table and everyone jumped to their feet and backed away.  Marjorie lifted Danielle and her box up just in time.

            "Oh baby," Marjorie said as Erica pulled herself into a ball and moaned on the ground.  "Harry turn it off!"

            "Not yet" Harry said and closed his hand around the disk.  "I'm sorry, we have to know."

            "Daddy it hurts" Erica screamed and knocked her chair over with her body. 

            Marjorie ripped the disk away from Harry with her free hand and clicked it.  Instantly Erica stopped shaking and lay curled up into herself. 

            "We know, Harry," Marjorie said angrily. 

            "I'm…I know I felt something" Brittany mumbled as her siblings gathered around Erica. 

            Cole helped her sit up as Derrick and Marjorie knelt down on either side.   

            "You ok sis?" Cole asked, kneeling in front of Erica with one hand on each of her shoulders.   "Look me in the eyes Erica."

            Erica looked up at her big brother, then to the table behind him.  "Ohhhhhhhhhh yuck" she said. "Did I barf on Danielle?"

 

            "That's good sweetheart, chew each bite 20 times then swallow,” Marjorie said as Erica ate a saltine.

            "Mom I'm seriously ok," Erica said.  "I just have a little headache."

            Erica sat on her parents' bed holding a glass of water.  Marjorie had removed Erica's mess covered sweatshirt, leaving the skinny girl in a faded blue tank top. 

            Next to her was a plate of saltines alongside Danielle in her tissue box.  Marjorie stood over Erica doting and Harry stood in front of the closed door 5 feet away, his thick arms folded.  Downstairs the rest of the kids were waiting for their parents and trying to not freak out. 

            "She's ok dear," Harry said in his steady voice.

            "Don't you even say anything," Marjorie snapped.  "Letting our baby suffer, you…"

            "Mom she's ok, Dad had to see if anyone else got sick," Danielle said, her neck strained almost straight up to look at her towering mother.

            "Danni shush, your father and I are talking," Marjorie said and danced her fingers above Danielle's head, who retreated into the tissues.  Erica pulled the box closer to her lap and whispered comfortingly to Danielle. 

            "The important thing is that Erica missed the trigger signal," Harry said.  "I hoped it would be more than than just one but this gives us a chance to stay together Marjie, we'll stay in this house and be a family."

            "I don't understand" Erica said nervously.  "They won't let me take care of everyone.  I'm only 16, how can I…."

            Marjorie sat on the bed next to Erica and put her arm around her shoulder, causing a sudden rolling earthquake for Danielle inside of her box.  "We talked it all over with a man from the government agency that's making the rules, Mr. Arnold.  He was a nice African American man and he had a kind face, and he said that they passed a law to help take care of people like us…"

            "Passed a law to prevent people like us from suing their asses," Harry interjected.

            Marjorie ignored Harry and continued in a louder voice.  "….they made a law and people who shrink can stay with their family so long as someone who's at least 16 is able to sign some paperwork and become their guardian."

            "But mom, it's just me.  I'm not like Danielle and Brittany, I don't know how…I can't handle…."

            "Erica, no one is going to make you do anything.  But if we don't find some solution they could take us away."

            "What about Aunt Jolene, couldn't she…."

            "Jolene said no" Marjorie stated flatly, remembering the conversation with her sister.  All concern and nice words, but when she asked for salvation Jolene's voice became cold and distant. 

            "It's not just paperwork or a title, we're all going to need help for the most basic things.  Help in being fed and someone to do the shopping and take care of the house and take us to doctors and keep anything bad from happening and…..and if you can't my babies will…."

            Marjorie voice choked up and she started crying.  Erica held her mother's hands but couldn't think of anything to comfort her.  "Mom, c'mon, please…"

            Harry approached and lifted Marjorie to her feet and held his wife in his arms.  "Marjorie you stop it, you're not being fair to Erica, she needs to make this decision with her brain, not her heart."

            He looked down to Erica who had moved her hands to the tissue box, Danielle poking out with tears of her own.  Letting go of Marjorie he knelt in front of his daughters.  "The government man, Arnold, he said that we'll each qualify for disability payments through his agency if we have a guardian.  It won't be much, around $7,000 each per year, but I can teach you how to use it smart.  This would be a full time commitment Erica, you couldn't go to school anymore or get a job when you're older, you'd be responsible for your whole family all day every day.  This would be your life from now on. 

            "I would never ask this of you if I had any other way my sweetheart, but I've gone over it again and again and I've got nothing."

            "How can I dad?  I'm not big and strong like you."  Erica looked down to Danielle, scared to make eye contact with her father.  "I couldn't even keep Mr. Beagle from running away.  Dad I'm scared."

            "Yeah, me too.  It's hard for me to look past the little girl I raised but you're almost a woman now, and I'm so proud of that woman.  You're stronger than you think you are Erica, I don't think there's a damn thing in this world that you couldn't handle.  And...I wasn't going to ever tell you this...Mr. Beagle didn't run away.  I ran him over in my car."

            Erica' snapped her head up to her father and her eyes went wide.  "You killed Mr. Beagle?!"  She frowned for several seconds.  "Oh thank god, I thought he ran away because I hated him.  He was the worst dog ever."

 

            Marjorie and Harry stood at the base of the staircase and looked at their living room filled with Cole, Brittany, Derrick & Sammy.  Erica crouched behind her father's broad back, 3 steps up the staircase with Danielle's tissue box cradled in her arms. 

            Cole and Derrick were arguing about something and Brittany was furiously typing into her phone but they all turned to attention when their father spoke.

            "Kids, we've had a big talk with Erica and we've made some decisions.  I know this is scary but we're going to stay together and take care of each other as a family, just like we always have.  Tomorrow Mr. Arnold is going to come here with paperwork for each one of us to sign, and Erica is going to be registered as our guardian.  When we all shrink Erica is going to step up and take care of us.  No one is going to go to any institution, we're going to stay in this house as a family."

            Harry stepped aside to reveal Erica, who stood a few feet up the staircase above the family.  She was frozen as everyone looked up to her, like they expected her to say something that would make sense of it all. 

            They all looked either scared (Cole), horrified (Brittany and Derrick), or excited (Sammy) as they were clearly imagining what it would be like to stand in front of her at just 3" tall.  For a scary moment Erica could see her entire family shrunk to Danielle's size looking up to her, helpless, needing her for everything, completely at her mercy.  She shivered.

            Erica pushed the thought away and forced on a plastic nervous smile underneath a pair of scared eyes. She raised her right hand and timidly waved. 

            "Hi guys," she said.  "Ahmmm…sorry I puked back there.  Nobody shrink until I clean up, ok?"

 

 

 

 

Chapter 3: Managing the Suck by realRS

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday sucked.

            Technically it started off sucking at 8am when Erica's alarm rang, but really she'd been awake most of the night through.  She'd just lain on the bed staring, still with an aching head from the white noise experiment.  She stared at the ceiling, stared at the alarm clock, stared at her little big sister Danielle sleeping under a tissue on the bed to her left and stared at her big big sister Brittany who silently pretended to be asleep. 

            If you wanted to be completely accurate the sucking had begun the night before and just hadn't stopped.  After her failed attempt from the stairwell to set her siblings at ease Erica had squeezed past them to clean up her dining room mess.

            "Oh thanks guys," she said when she found it already cleaned up.  She turned around and there were Brittany, Cole and Derrick looming over her in a half circle.  "You didn't have to…I was totally going to clean it up…"

            "What exactly did Dad mean 'take care of us'?" Derrick said.

            "I'm not signing anything," Brittany said.  "Just because you puked doesn't make you special, I had a headache too, I'm not shrinking either."

            "What were you guys talking about upstairs?" Cole said.  "Because if you're making plans for us we have a right to know."

            Erica didn't know who to respond to.  "You guys, I'm not planning anything, c'mon.  I mean yeah I'm gonna take care of you when you're little and…"

            "I'm not shrinking!" Brittany interrupted.  

            "Oh great, that's awesome Brittany, I'm really really glad," Erica said, her voice rapidly getting higher and faster.  "But Mom & Dad just wanted to talk to make sure I was ok doing it…staying in the house and I guess making sure everyone has food and stuff and…"

            "So you're going to keep us locked in the house?" Derrick said.

            "But what exactly did Mom & Dad say, what paperwork are we signing, EXACTLY?" Cole continued.

            "When we're little can you give us airplane rides?" Sammy asked, joining the party.

            "I DON'T KNOW, STOP IT!" Erica screamed.  To her surprise they did stop, unsure of themselves.  And did they look a little frightened? 

            "Kids, back away from the sister," Harry's voice boomed. 

            'Oh thank god,' Erica thought.

            "This has been a big night and we're going to have an even bigger day tomorrow.  I want everyone in bed lights out in 10 minutes.  STARTING NOW."

            "Thanks dad, I was starting to freak out a little," Erica said as her siblings left. 

            Harry handed Erica the tissue box containing Danielle.  "If you're going to be responsible you'd better start practicing."

            Harry kissed Erica on the forehead, then kissed his index finger and rubbed it affectionately across Danielle's head before walking away.  Erica looked down at the package cradled against her chest and the two sisters shared a long moment while the status quo settled on them.  "So how do you sleep, like do you want me to get you a shoebox or..."

            "Shoebox?  I sleep in my bed!" 

            'A stinky shoebox, next she'll ask if I want my very own running wheel.'

 

 

All morning the suck kept right on going. 

            "Hey Brittany, do you know what time Dad said for us to be ready?  Brittany?" Erica said as she rolled out of bed.  "I know you're awake, you never sleep later than me.  Fine, be that way."

            As soon as she left the bedroom Sammy started following her down the hall.

            "Erica, when we're little are we gonna live in your room?"

            "Sammy I…"

            "Or…ooooh, can you set up my battleship and we'll live in there, and you can lift it up and fly us around!  Oooh, can we play action figures when we're little, like you'll hold one toy and move it around and Derrick and me can fight it?!"  

            "Sammy leave me alone, I need to use the bathroom," Erica said sharply and left him standing in the hall.

            "Huh.  How ARE we gonna use the bathroom?" 

            When Erica reached the bathroom she found it occupied and Cole waiting at the door.

            "Ah man Cole, can I get next?  I really gotta pee," Erica said, used to her big brother letting her slide. 

            "Hey don't tell me what to do," Cole said, looking down at Erica who came up below his shoulder.  "No line cuts, even for giants."

            "I wasn't telling you what to do, I was asking you big jerk!" Erica said and stormed off.  In case of emergencies there was always her parents' master bathroom. 

            Just before she knocked she overheard her mother's voice behind the half closed door.

            "Maybe we should just let Mr. Arnold take us to the institution Harry.  We can live together there and at least we'll know that we're safe."

            "I'm not having this conversation again Margie," Harry said.  "You and I read the same reports, those places are prisons.  I promised you that I was never going back to a place like that, and I'm damn sure not going to let my children grow up in cells."

            "You'd rather they just get lost somewhere or eaten by an animal?  I love Erica too but she's my little girl, how could we trust her when we're so small, she can't…"

            "She can and she will.  She has to."

            Erica's didn't want to hear anymore and turned away, her face hot and her eyes beginning to moisten.  She slammed into Derrick and tripped into his arms. 

            "Whoa whoa whoa," he said and set her upright.  "Easy.  Look, I know I was kind of a jerk last night...." 

            Erica was glad at least somebody wasn't being mean or weird.  "Yeah, a little bit."

            "It's just that…Hey, where's Danni, weren't you taking care of her now?"

            Erica's eyes went wide. 

            "Ohmygod-I-forgot-Danni!," she screamed and ran off. 

 

 

The rest of the day's suck arrived in full force in the form of Mr. Arnold.

            He was nice enough, a slim young man in a light grey suit with the kind face Marjorie had described, and he had shaken Erica's hand with a large smile when she was introduced as the appointed guardian.  Erica noticed that he didn't shake anybody else's hand, even her dad's.

            He introduced his assistant as Ms. Dane.  Ms. Dane stood several steps behind and the to the left of Mr. Arnold and was a mature Asian woman in her 40s.  She had a smooth complexion and fine features and held herself with a reserved intensity.  She stood taller than Mr. Arnold on 3" heels and wore a black pencil skirt and white blouse, and when she turned Erica saw that the tight pony tail at the back of her head stretched past the middle of her back.  From her tissue box held at Erica's waist Danielle noticed that Ms. Dane looked at her with a focus that made her feel a bit like a mouse suddenly spotted by a hawk. 

            Ms. Dane crashed a heavy filing box onto the living room table and passed out thick packets of paperwork, each several inches tall and held together with a large black binder clip.  Slid through each binder clip was a pen imprinted with the letters NTSA alongside a pair of happy stick figures, one large figure holding a small figure in its stick hand.

            "Ok, let's see what we've got here," Mr. Arnold said as he flipped through a packet.  "We've got registration papers with the NanoTechnologic Support Agency, powers of attorney, transfer of assets, registration for a full NTSA post-reduction medical review, suspensions of all licenses and previous registrations/affiliations, various waivers, application for disability payments, and a whole lot of gobbledy-gook that I could spend the rest of the day listing so let's not.  Hey, would anybody be able to offer me a glass of iced tea or some juice?"

            They spent the afternoon advancing through their packets mostly in silence, filling out an endless series of signatures as Ms. Dane danced among them with the sharp clack-clack of her black heels, pointing out missed boxes to check and firmly moving them along when they stalled.

            Every page offered a new glimpse of their future status and Erica felt like every time she looked around somebody was giving her a weird look, either resentful and angry or a little scared but usually just that weird stare which meant they were imagining her gigantic. 

            Erica helped Danielle with her packet, turning the pages that Danielle stood on and carrying the weight of the pen as Danielle dragged it along to sign.  All morning she'd been helping Danielle, asking her if she was comfortable, if she needed water or to go to the bathroom in the sink or a thousand other little tasks. 

            "I'll tell you if I need anything, can you just back off for 5 seconds!" Danielle eventually shouted when Erica had leaned over her and asked if she was warm enough.  For just a moment Erica's enormous face went tight and Danielle thought she was going to get it, but then it softened and she said "Ok Danni, I just want to make sure you're safe and ok, you just let me know."

            Sammy raced through his packet and signed everything in sight.  Cole and Derrick both gave up reading every line after an hour, Harry & Marjorie after two.  Brittany continued to insist that she didn't need to sign anything and gave Mr. Arnold her best 'I'm Pretty - Do What I Say' smile.  "I really don't need all this but it was so nice of you to help everyone else."

            Mr. Arnold returned her smile full force.  "Well how about you just fill these out just in case and I won't file them until you say so, ok?  I'd just hate for you to shrink down to an itty bitty thing and not be registered, all kinds of terribleness could happen to you then and I'd just worry so."  Ms. Dane put a hand around Brittany's shoulder and led her back to her paperwork.

            After Sammy finished his packet Erica excused herself to the kitchen and let him help Danielle.  She just needed to get away from those stares.  She was starting to feel like she couldn't breathe, like her family was closing in on her and cutting off all oxygen.

            "Pretty heavy, huh Erica," Mr. Arnold said giving her a start.  She hadn't even seen him enter the room.  "Look, I know what it's like, I've been through this with a lot of people.  And you know what I've learned?  Those people out there can resent you, they can treat you like you're the freak and gang up on you, but none of that even matters.  From now on the only thing that matters is Erica, you're the big man of this house and your first job is to never let them know they've got you on the ropes, not ever."

            He pulled a slim powder blue binder out from behind his back. 

            "This is for you.  It's a little more straight forward than the packets Ms. Dane made for those people out there.  This will register you as a guardian with the NTSA.  Puts your name on the lease for this house," he said and rapped his knuckles on the kitchen counter, "the car, any property or assets previously owned by any of your appointed reduced dependents.  We're going to set you up with a bank account where you can receive your monthly disability payments, I got you bumped up to $7,327 per reduced dependent and you are welcome. 

            "At the end of the binder you’re gonna see a list of classes you can take.  I can't tell you that you have to take them, but I'm telling you that you should.  You'll like em, we'll teach you how to pay the bills, make tiny meals, all that good stuff."

            Erica looked up at Mr. Arnold, trying not to let her voice choke as she processed what he'd said.  "And what happens if I don't sign any of it.  What happens if I just screw up?"

            Mr. Arnold's smile faded.  "Well then I come back, only instead of paperwork and a bunch of nice pens I bring cages and I take your family back with me to the Institute.  I don't want that so I think you should take a deep breath, sign every page in this lovely blue binder that I picked out for you myself, and meet me back in the living room with a big smile on your face."

 

 

After Mr. Arnold & Ms. Dane left the day passed slowly, allowing the suck to really stretch out for maximum effect.  

            Erica felt like she couldn't do anything right, either Brittany would ignore her or Cole would bark at her and twist whatever she said into something mean and Sammy wouldn't stop pelting her with shrink scenarios.  Danielle kept snapping at her when she just wanted to make sure she was ok, and everywhere she turned someone was giving her that look that meant they were imagining her towering into the sky. 

            After dinner Erica excused Danielle and herself and went to bed early. 

 

 

Danielle lay overtop her bed's covers underneath a pair of tissues that smelled faintly of aloe.  Her hands tightly gripped her crude velvet gown as she tried not to freak out.

            Today didn't go well, everyone avoided looking at her and when they did instead of calling her cute they just looked afraid.  Danielle didn't love how patronizing big people acted but being adorable was better than being a freak or some harbinger of doom.

            She rolled over and looked at Erica's lumbering shape, like some barely discernible behemoth looming far off in the darkness.  Between them stood a nightstand carrying the tissue box she had spent most of the day in next to a lamp.  She heard sobbing.

            "Erica!" she called out.  "Erica, pick me up, come over here."

            After a few seconds Danielle was scooped up in a warm hand several times bigger than her own body but still somehow delicate.  It was shaking and moist and smelled like salt water. 

            Erica carried Danielle to her own bed and laid against the wall, her belly low and her head and shoulders propped up by her pillow.  She turned the lamp on and held Danielle in her folded hands resting on her belly. 

            The small lamp cast a dim bubble of light around Erica which was swallowed up by the blackness.  Looking around Danielle felt like Erica was the only real thing, floating in the void. 

            "Hey sweetie, do you need anything?" Erica said and let out a loud sniffle.

            "Erica, hold me up to your face, ok, really close."

            When Erica lifted her Danielle reached back and slapped Erica's cheek with a scream.  Erica dropped Danielle onto her chest in shock and Danielle went tumbling down to rest on her soft belly.

            Erica held her hand to her cheek.  "Danielle what the hell?!"  

            Danielle stood awkwardly to her feet on the unstable ground and pointed a finger up at Erica.  "What the hell is you need to stop crying and acting like a little girl!  Now lift me back up!"

            Erica tentatively pinched Danielle's waist between her thumb and forefinger and held her several inches away from her face, well out of Danielle's pitiful reach. 

            "Now did that hurt?!" Danielle shouted.

            "Of course…a little bit…I mean, not really," Erica said, hand still on her cheek.  "But that's not the point, you can't just slap me you…."

            "Of course it didn't hurt.  I just slapped you as hard as I could, my hand is burning and I hurt my shoulder and you barely felt it.  Do you know why Erica?  It's because I'm puny!  I'm 3" tall, I couldn't hurt you if my life depended on it but you could toss me across the room with one hand.  You have all the power!

            "In a little while that's gonna be the deal with everyone.  You could pin Cole & Dad to the ground with your finger, stick mom in a jar and stuff your bra with me & Brittany and there's nothing we could do about it. 

            That's what the whole world is like for me Erica, the whole fucking world is one big lesson in power for me now and it's terrifying.  If some perv wanted to feel me up there's nothing I could do to stop him, if a bird thinks I'm lunch then I'll get eaten, if Sammy decides I'm an action figure then guess what, I'm GI Jane and I better pretend I like it because I don't know what will happen if he gets mad!  And the only thing in the entire scary ass world that's stands between me and all of that is my baby sister Erica."

            The yelling looked strangely cute coming out of Danielle's pixyish face but it still made the panic in Erica's chest inflate until it filled her up.  One day and she'd already screwed it up and Mr. Arnold was going to come with his cages and his smile and… 

            "I know and I'll do it, I'll do whatever you guys need!"  Hot tears ran down Erica's cheek.  She let Danielle drop into her cupped hand and brought her closer. 

            Danielle slapped her again, this time with both hands.  It almost stung a little but Erica didn't drop her. 

            "NO!   You walking around with sad eyes begging to make me comfy just shows me how pathetic I am!  Your family doesn't need nice little Erica the mouse asking if we're ok, we need a damn lion making sure of it.  You're the mom & the dad now Erica, and that means that you have to be tough, it means that you have to decide what's best for us and stick to your guns even when we whine, and it means that when we look up at you we need to believe that you know what you're doing, EVEN IF YOU DON'T!"

            Erica didn't say anything, but Danielle noticed that the tears had stopped at least.  Erica placed Danielle onto her belly and pulled a big wad of tissues out of the box on the nightstand. 

            "Hey," Danielle yelled as Erica wiped her eyes, "That's my house you're soaking!"

            "Oh, Danni I'm sorry I just…"

            Erica paused. 

            "I mean…tough, I need them and I'll get you some more tissues in the morning." 

            After a few seconds she said smiled weakly.  "Was that better?" 

            "A little bit, very butch." Danielle said with a wink.  She sat down on Erica's belly and let her velvet gown swallow her up.   She let out a long sigh.

            "Erica, do you know what I felt when you threw up last night?  Ya know, aside from horror and disgust and the absolute knowledge that I was about to die in a flood of sister vomit?  I felt relieved, so relieved that it was you who was going to stay big and not Cole or Derrick or Sammy, or god help us Brittany.  I love them but when you're this size you just know who you're safe with and I don't feel safe with them.  You make me feel safe.

            "You can do this.  It's ok to be scared but you have to step up and find a way to make this work for you.  And c'mon, after 16 years of being the little sister you get to be a giant, have fun with it, be a little selfish.  You can do anything you want to me and I can't stop you.  Can you really tell me that you never wanted to have one of us under your thumb, even a little bit?"

            "Danielle no, I love you."

            "What about that time when you were 7 and Brittany beat you up for knocking her bike over?  Or when Derrick told you that ice cream truck drivers always stole one little girl every day?  You cried every time you heard one playing music all summer."

            Erica smiled weakly.  "Heh, yeah, I guess I could have a talk with him about that.  Maybe I could put him in a bowl of rocky road when I do."

            Danielle laughed.  "That's right!  Or what about when I told Dad about you and Lisa buying pot from that gross guy at the bus stop?"

            The soft ground underneath Danielle went hard as rock as Erica's abdomen tensed.  The last thing Danielle saw was Erica's giant eyes narrowing into slits before she was tossed into the air as Erica sprang forward onto her knees.  Danielle tumbled a few times across the soft blanket and when she got her bearings a giant finger pressed against her chest, pinning her roughly onto her back.

             She opened her eyes and her vision was filled by Erica's angry face hovering above her.

            "That was you?!" Erica said loudly, her hot breath making Danielle flinch.  "You little shit, I was grounded for a month, I had to go door to door and apologize to all our neighbors.  That was the only time dad ever spanked me!"

            Danielle's little heart pounded against Erica's finger through her velvet gown.   

'Oh shit, maybe I should have kept that one to myself' she thought

            "Ahm….yeah?  I'm sorry, I didn't want you getting hurt by that skeeze bag!"

            Erica stared down at Danielle for several seconds, letting the little girl squirm under her finger.  "Oh, you're sorry, that makes it all better.  Ok, fine, tell you what, tomorrow you're telling dad about when you made out with Bill Turdyck in mom & dad's bed or I'm gonna tan that little backside of yours redder than mine was.  Is that enough fun for you, shrimp?"

            "Ok Erica, yeah, I will definitely 100% do that," Danielle pleaded.  "In the meantime could you maybe let me go, I get it, you're tough and in charge!  Ah, PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE?"

            Erica smiled and lifted her finger.  "Hmmm, maybe you had a point with your 'have fun with it' doctrine."  She laid her hand flat against the bed palm up and gestured for Danielle to climb on. 

            Danielle tentatively got to her knees and crawled aboard.  

            Erica raised Danielle up and gave her a kiss with the puckered tip of her lips that still wetly enveloped Danielle's cheek.   "Was that more what you were talking about Danni?"

            "That was…yeah, that was something...Feel better?"

            "God, I actually do.  Just to not hold onto the stress so tightly for a second...Thanks Danni.  But do you really really think I can do this, keep you all safe?  I'm so scared that I'm going to ruin everything."

            "I really do," Danielle said and put a hand on her own tender chest.  "And I'm not just saying that because I'm kind of terrified of you right now."

            Danielle stood as tall as she could and wobbled a bit in Erica's palm as she gained her balance.  "Erica, if you promise to protect me, to make sure that I have food and I'm safe and maybe help me get some kind of life outside of this house then I promise to honor you as my guardian.  I promise to be a good little sister for you, to always do what you say even if I don't always agree and to do everything in my power to support and take care of you."

            "I….damnitt Danielle, you're gonna make me cry again!"

            "Hey, we went over this already, no crying.  Don't you make me slap a bitch!"

            Erica didn't cry, but instead turned the lamp off and cupped Danielle against her cheek.  Danielle hugged Erica's jaw with both arms for a long time until Erica laid herself down on the bed.  She placed Danielle onto her chest and Danielle nuzzled herself against Erica's breast, a warm giant hand blanketed overtop of her.   

            The two sisters, guardian and guarded, slept through the night grasping each other.  Erica didn't wake up once. 

 

 

The next morning Cole and Sammy lined up outside the bathroom door, waiting for their turn.  When Derrick stepped out Erica rushed up in her pajamas, her hand wrapped around Danielle's bottom half. 

            "Us first, I have to pee so bad and Danni needs to use the sink."

            "No way," Cole said and grasped the door knob as Derrick maneuvered around them.

            "Yes way," Erica said and blocked the doorway with her arm.  She craned her neck up as they stood almost body to body.  "My name's on the lease now Cole, this is my bathroom and I'll use it when I want.  So unless you want to start sleeping in my panty drawer in a few days then just back off, ok?"

            Cole stared down at her for several long seconds but Erica didn't back down.  Then he blinked.

            "Fine, jesus," he said and let go of the door knob, "you can use the damn bathroom". 

            "Thanks bro," Erica said and flashed him a big smile, then stepped inside and  closed the door behind her.  "Well that didn't suck," Cole & Sammy heard faintly.   

            The two brothers waited in silence.  After a minute Sammy poked Cole in the ribs.

            "That counted as your turn, I'm next."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

End Notes:

Leave a comment and make my day!

Chapter 4: The Spaghetti War by realRS
Author's Notes:

Erica's Back!

Editorial Note, I revised the family's size from 5" down to 3".  They were getting a little uppity.

 

 


Sammy cleared the fork with a running leap. 

            He stumbled the landing but bounced right back to his feet with barely a missed step.  He dashed through the orange tinted shadow of a glass of a soda, laughing like a maniac every step of the way across the crowded dinner table.

            "You can't catch me Nano Girl!" he yelled in glee.

            "I'm gonna get you Mr. Tiny!" Danielle responded breathlessly in pursuit, nearly knocking over Derrick’s soda as she charged around it.  She had finally found some doll clothes that sort of fit (rainbow leggings and a camo-shirt) and was delighted to be able to chase after Sammy without flashing her ass to all the giants at the dinner table.  Sammy wore a bright orange pants & vest getup that used to belong to his monkey swordsman figure.

            Far above Derrick watched them both skitter by and picked at his plate of spaghetti and meatballs.  He didn't like Sammy's chances, Danielle was gaining on him.  He shifted his attention back up to the higher plane where the his un-shrunk family members ate dinner.  “I’m just saying I shouldn't have to sell all my stuff yet.  What if I don't shrink for another 3 months, am I supposed to wear the same 2 outfits every day?"

            His mother Marjorie took a sip of her iced tea and tried to ignore the chase happening across her dinner table.  "You don't have to pack EVERYTHING up Derrick, but Erica's going to have enough to keep her busy.  Think of it like moving to a new house, you get ready a little at a time.”

            Sammy skidded to a halt at the edge of the table, Brittany's giant manicured hand to his left and her plate of spaghetti to his right.  Looking up he saw Brittany gazing down on him like he was a bug who had interrupted her meal. 

            "Mom, Sammy's messing with my food!"

           "Oh c'mon Brittany, let them play," Erica said from the opposite end of the table, next to Marjorie.  "It's his first full day shrunk, I want him to have fun.  And Derrick, do you really want me going through all your stuff after you get shrimpified?  Even that box in the back of your closet, the one labeled 'school stuff’?”

            Derrick was silent for several seconds as he narrowed his eyes at Erica.  "Fine I'll pack up," he said and filled his mouth with spaghetti. 

            Down below Danielle was catching up to Sammy.  Nowhere to run to, she had him cornered.

            "Stay still Brittany!" Sammy shouted and scrambled onto her hand, climbing over fingers bigger than his entire 2.5” body. 

            “Ew, get off me,” Brittany said, but she suppressed the urge to shake the pest away. 

            Sammy ran up her arm like a suspension bridge and planted himself onto her shoulder.  He crouched down and gripped the fabric of her blue sweater in one hand, a lock of her blonde hair in the other.  Sammy loved the way his nanotech-saturated body never got dizzy or lost balance, something about more adaptive inner ear fluid.

            Brittany roughly yanked her hand away before Danielle could follow.  From up atop their big sister Sammy stuck his tongue out and blew Danielle a raspberry.  "Can't get me, I'm on Planet Brit!!"

            Danielle backed up a few steps from the edge and looked up at Planet Brit, which from her perspective consisted mainly of two enormous blue sweater clad moons orbiting below the usual ticked off face. 

            "Don't you dare," Brittany said between gritted teeth when Danielle flexed her knees.  

            "Sorry sis, the villain leaves me no choice."  Danielle charged off the table with a leap and crashed into Brittany’s right boob.  The immense cushion absorbed Danielle’s impact without much trouble as she briefly sank face first into a wall of jiggly flesh and furry sweater.  Just before the massive breast repelled her tiny body Danielle managed to grab two handfuls of sweater and cling on.  "Nano Lady's coming for you!" she shouted and climbed north rapidly.          

            The loose fabric of Birttany's sweater made for easy handholds, and the soft breast and bra underneath gave a pliable surface to grip her feet against.  Thankfully Brittany was frozen in anger and disgust long enough for Danielle to reach the top. 

            Danielle closed in on Sammy atop the giantess' right shoulder.  They could hear Brittany’s teeth grinding like a muffled stone mill through the flawless cheek that loomed overhead.

            "Nowhere to run Mr Tiny, you're mine."  Just before Danielle reached her prey a giant hand wrapped her up and the whole world was reduced to the familiar sensations of darkness and warm skin, this time oregano scented for a change of pace.  'Well that took longer than I figured,'  she thought.

            When the world expanded again she and Sammy were plopped onto their butts alongside Erica’s dinner.  Danielle's left foot was soaked in a puddle of warm tomato sauce and her outfit was a stained mess. 

            "You two stay put," Erica said and stabbed her fork over their heads into her pasta, raining a little tomato mist onto them on the way back.  "You keep bugging Brittany and she's gonna have a fit, don't make me regret letting you eat at the big kids table," the last bit paired with a bratty smile.

             Danielle and Sammy shared a conspirators' grin and both said "Ok Erica", then teamed up on breaking off mouthfuls from a piece of warm garlic bread.  As she ate Danielle looked around at the now familiar vista of the Rockwell family dinner.  Meals at this size were messy work, but at least the view was impressive.

            Sammy had shrunk down the night before.  Contrary to the shock and fear that Danielle had felt her first night he just wanted to have adventures, and Danielle found his attitude seriously infectious.  After days of boredom and worry she was happy to have some same sized company, and had to admit that having fun beat the hell out of moping around.  Even if everyone was treating her like she was Sammy’s age.

            As they had done all week the giants were talking over the logistics of their coming shrink.  Marjorie did most of the talking and seemed intent on planning every aspect of their coming life, Harry only weighing in to placate conflicts and offer advice on things like housing and money, his areas of expertise in the family.  Brittany still acted like none of this affected her, and Derrick and Cole alternated between being helpful and whining. 

            No one asked Danielle's opinion of course.  She had gotten used to being a witness to the family meetings rather than a participant, even her twin Derrick had taken to talking about her in the third person when she was right there at her usual spot in front of Erica.  She’d probably do the same, but Danielle wondered if they were going to regret so quickly ignoring her when they were the same size.   

            Danielle thought Erica was doing a good job trying to look comfortable with her growing voice of authority in the family, but was glad that only she and Sammy could detect the sweaty palms and trembling muscles that came with every confrontation.  Erica the mouse still lurked beneath the surface, and Danielle knew that sometimes it was all her big little sister could do to not run away and hide. 

            "Derrick does have a point," Marjorie said once her shrunken children were safely squared away.  "We don't know how long this is going to take and we can't just live in empty rooms waiting for…you know…"

            "I can handle packing stuff up after," Erica said.  "Gina & Lisa said they'd help out once Summer break starts, and it's not like we won't have tons of space."

            "Erica I told you I'm not comfortable with your friends coming over."

            "Mom, they've always hung out here, are we gonna make this house a monastery, no more visitors ever?  Besides they've been babysitting since we were 11, they know how to be responsible."  

            "Whoa whoa, babysitting?  You're not leaving us with them are you?" Cole said.  He had a momentary vision of being looked down upon by a group of skyscraper-sized girls, girls that he and Derrick had been teasing since before they wore training bras.  He took an audible gulp and looked over to see the same expression on Derrick’s face. 

            "Well I'll need help sometimes.  I can't watch you guys all day every day, and those in home care services Mr. Arnold recommended are way too expensive.  I can barely afford the mortgage on this place, I need to save money somehow."

            "Why are we even staying here," Derrick said.  "We won't need the space, shouldn't we move to an apartment or at least a smaller house?"

            Harry answered.  "We're underwater on this house as it is Derrick.  After the housing crash I'm not even sure I could sell it for what's owed." 

            "And I don't want to live in an apartment, I'd always be freaked out thinking about strangers on the other side of the wall," Erica said.  "Dad and I figured it out, this is our home, I'll just need some help."

            Marjorie looked tense.  "Erica, I said I don't want…"

            "Mom, can we talk about this later?  I don't want to argue again," Erica said.    "What about that Small Comforts company, can we go through the catalogue tonight and put in an order?  Danni & Sammy need real beds and I want to see how much we can afford."

            Marjorie briefly broke eye contact.  “Don't worry about that, I put the order in this morning."

            "What….," Erica clanged her fork onto the plate, splashing Sammy and Danielle with sauce.  "Mom, you said we'd go through it together!  Oh my god, how much did you spend?"

            "I said don't worry about that Erica.  It's your father's and my money and I've been shopping for this family for a long time."

            Down on the smaller scale Sammy looked over to Danielle as they wiped themselves cleanish.  "I thought it was all Erica's money now, Mr. Arnold said so."

            "Yeah, but don't tell Mom that.  Pipe down, I think we're about to see a Godzilla fight."

            Up above Marjorie crossers her arms.  "It's all things we talked about, the beds and all of those kitchen & bathroom accessories we'll need, clothes for everyone and…"

            "Mom, I said we could wait until everyone shrinks to order clothes!  They're crazy expensive and we don't know everyone's measurements, and besides Gina & Lisa are gathering up a ton of doll clothes for us…."

            "I told you I don't want your friends getting involved," Marjorie said in a voice that was very carefully not yelling.

            "Mom!  This isn't your decision, ok, once you're a shrimp I'm going to do this how I think is best!  God, I wish you would just shrink already!” 

            No one said a word for a long ten seconds.  Marjorie’s face looked like it had been slapped, while Harry’s just carried quiet disapproval, the kids a mixture of surprise and anger.  Erica looked like she couldn't decide whether to apologize or double down.

            “Mom, I…I didn’t mean…”.  Erica grasped Sammy & Daniel together into one sweaty handhold, then stood and ran from the dinner table. 

 

-----------------

 

            “Well at least you didn’t cry in front of everyone,” Danielle said.  Erica sat cross-legged and barefoot on the carpet in the girls’ room.  Danielle was perched on her bare right knee.  She’d changed out of her stained outfit and now wore a peach dress from an old Thumbelina figure, but still smelled like sauce.  Sammy played on the ground, chasing an earbud that Erica absentmindedly dangled in front of him. 

            “Yeah.” Erica sniffled and wiped her wet eye with her free hand.  “I made it all the way to my room before I started crying, huge progress.” 

            “It’s ok Erica!” Sammy shouted before diving for the white earbud.  Erica flicked it out of his reach at the last second, leaving him to eat carpet.  Sammy shook his head and looked up at his sisters.  “I don’t care if you cry.  It’s really cool looking, like big water balloons without the balloon part.  Everything you do looks really cool.”

            “Thanks little guy,” Erica said and dangled the earbud back overhead.  He leapt right up to grab on but Erica raised it just out of reach.  “I just…how do I do this Danielle?  Mom acts like I can’t be trusted to do anything right and it’s driving me crazy, and everyone else but Dad just whines al the time.  I know it’s for the best if I stand up to them but….I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.  But then mom just starts going off and everyone looks at me like I’m supposed to do something and it’s like they’re watching to see if I mess up and I can’t breathe and….and…”

            “Hey, hey, I know,” Danielle said.  She rubbed her hands against Erica’s knee in a calming motion.  “Look, it doesn’t matter.  I promise you, once Mom is looking at you from this perspective the idea of bossing you around is going to feel ridiculous.  You just need to keep calm, ok?  Erica, ok?”

            “Yeah, ok.  Calm isn’t really my strong suit.”

            “You’ll get there.”  While Erica settled herself down and played ‘chase the earbud’ with Sammy, Danielle looked over at the giant foot that peeked out from beneath Erica’s crossed legs.  It was long, probably 3 or 4 times the length of Danielle’s entire body, but it wasn’t crinkly or smelly like most feet.  It looked so delicate for something so large, like a piece of art, but at the same time it seemed strong, mighty even.

            “Ya know, you’ve got really pretty feet Erica,” Danielle said.

            “Oh….um, thanks?”

            “If you ever wanted me too I could rub them for you, I bet I’d do a super job at this size.  I could get all up into the little spots.”

            Had Danielle looked up she would have seen Erica’s cheeks turn a faint red.  “I don’t…I mean I guess…I…”

            “Or I could - OH!”  Danielle was interrupted when a knock at the door gave Erica a start, the quick shake knocking Danielle off of her perch.  She tumbled gently down Erica’s jean shorts and landed on her crossed leg, her face smothered in the flesh of Danielle’s thigh.  Even in the chaos of her crash a part of Danielle’s brain still took the time to be amazed by how Erica’s skin could be so perfectly smooth even blown up 20 times.  ‘Brittany got the boobs and Erica got skin like a model, wonder what I got except for small?’

            “Hi sweeties,” Danielle heard Marjorie say.  “Am I interrupting?”

            Danielle pushed herself up with both hands and briefly saw her mother peeking her head into the room before a giant hand shoved her back into the dark. 

            “No!  Yeah yeah, we weren’t doing anything,” Erica said a little too quickly.  She barely noticed Danielle struggling out of sight underneath her palm.

            Marjorie stepped in and gently shut the door.  She noticed the tiny form of her youngest child Sammy trying to wrestle a cord out of one Erica’s hands.  She had tried to accept it but the sight of her son reduced to something so insignificant bothered her to see.

            “Hi Mom!” Sammy said, pausing his tug of war to look up to his mountainous mother.  He could just barely make out the features of her face, but her dress was pretty. 

            “I thought we needed to talk,” Marjorie said to Erica.  “I…well, I’m not proud of how that went downstairs.”

            Erica closed her fist around Danielle and snatched Sammy up with her free hand.  She sat up onto the foot of her bed and gently spilled them both onto the far end of the mattress behind her, completely unaware of the sour face Danielle gave her.  

            Erica was silent for a few moments, and then took a big breath.  “Yeah, me neither.  I’m sorry Mom, that was really shitty of me to say.  I don’t want you to shrink, not ever, I just…this is really hard mom.”

            Marjorie sat down next to Erica.  Although neither full-grown woman noticed it, Marjorie’s weight caused a quake in the mattress which knocked Danielle & Sammy off of their feet just as they had stood up.  The tiny siblings looked at the enormous backsides of their caretakers that seemed several hundred feet away and sat down in resignation, completely ignored and unable to do anything about it. 

            This was the part Danielle hated about being small.  Waiting around for giants, nothing to do but listen to a conversation that she wasn’t a part of.  The voices were too far away for her or Sammy to clearly make out, but much more telling was their view of the speakers’ towering backs.  The body language of giants was always spoken at maximum volume.

           Erica wore a skimpy aqua blue tank top, her brown hair spilling loosely across her pale, skinny shoulders.  Marjorie was in a light brown housedress, her broader shoulders and taller back raised higher than the petite Erica. 

            At first they were a pair of flat blue & brown cliffs, standing straight up and screaming tension.  Later both sets of shoulders gradually slumped down apologetically like a slow motion mudslide.  After what seemed like hours but was probably closer to ten minutes the two women became a pair of collapsing buildings as they leaned into each other, signaling peace and surrender. 

            Danielle took a long jog across the mattress and around Erica, back into audible hearing range at her side, careful to avoid tumbling into the valley created by her butt.  Erica was speaking.

            “You’ll still be my mom, I’m going to need tons of help and advice on everything.  It’s not like I’m going to be a tyrant, we’re in this together.  Just right now I need your support Mom.”    

            “I’m going to try Erica,” Marjorie said.  “It’s hard to let go, I wasn’t ready for all this.  It’s just so scary.”           

            “Yeah, for me too.”

            “Well I’ll see you downstairs when you’re ready.”  Marjorie got up and left the room without so much as a glance for Danielle or Sammy.

            Erica took a big breath in and out.  She looked down to find Danielle and Sammy at her side, looking up at her with a pair of sour faces.

            “Oh, what is it?”  Erica slid off the bed and turned around, dropping to her knees facing the bed.  She leaned down and rested her chin on the mattress about a foot away from her siblings.  “Oh c’mon, don’t look at me like that, I didn’t mean anything.  Sometimes I need privacy and it’s not like I can ask you to leave the room.”

            “Yeah, like a lot of the time,” Danielle said and crossed her arms.  Sammy did the same.

            Erica opened her eyes as wide as they went.  Danielle could swear there was a visible twinkle in them.  “Pleeeeeeeeease don’t be mad at me.  If you’re not mad at me I have a special surprise…..”

            Danielle knew she was in trouble when Sammy leapt up and down, all annoyance at being ignored forgotten.  It was just so damn hard to not be swayed by the emotions of a billboard-sized face, especially when it was broadcasting deadly levels of cuteness. 

            “Ooooh, oooh, what is it?” Sammy said.  “Is it a little motorcycle?”

            “Well…if you two promise to not be me mad.  Mom and I were talking about how we’re all going nuts cooped up in this house, so we’re going to go grocery shopping!  And I know two little dudes who are going to get their first trip into the great big world.”

            Erica’s smiled broadly as Danielle’s breath caught, whether in fear or excitement she didn’t know.

 

-----------------

 

            Danielle was jostled to her knees by the downward g-forces as Erica stood out of the car. 

            Although she was used to the feeling and was unhurt, she made sure to bury her head deep into the cottony breast pocket that she resided in for a few seconds longer until the car door slammed shut.  Danielle tried to intellectualize that she wasn't in any danger, but when that towering metal wall went flying by it was difficult to not get scared.  ‘Erica's got me, I'm safe, Erica's got me, I’m safe’ she thought as the harsh boom came.

            Danielle stood back up and gripped both hands onto the lip of Erica's breast pocket, attached to Danielle’s favorite blouse.  Well, Erica’s blouse now, the only part that Danielle could make use of were the pockets.  Now that they were fully standing she enjoyed the gentle jostling that came with each of Erica's steps.  Her back would bump backward against Erica's soft chest with each footstep, occasionally letting herself fall to her knees on bigger movements. 

            'No cushion in the world like boobs,' she thought, and briefly wondered what a ride in Brittany's shirt might be like.  'Probably like a bouncy castle.  Shame they're gonna shrink down with the rest of her.'

            Looking to her right she gave Sammy a big wave over the chasm of Erica's chest.  He stood in the opposite breast pocket, close enough at hand for Erica to easily see and grab but snug enough to not be in her way.

            The shopping trip had been mildly terrifying but once she felt safe Danielle had loved it.  Traveling around the super market in Erica's pocket felt a bit like sitting in an airplane and looking out the window at the infinite vista.  Erica wore her hoodie overtop, zipped up just high enough so that Danielle and Sammy weren't obvious, and if anyone gave them a curious glance they would duck down into their respective pocket.  Erica would occasionally look down and give her little siblings a smile or whisper something to make them laugh, and they could always get her attention by giving a harmless slap to her chest.

            Everything in the world looked amazing, although Danielle had to take an occasional pocket break to keep from being overwhelmed.  She tried to imagine taking this trip without Erica and felt cold.  It would probably take her 3 months to walk to the store & back.

            Sammy seemed to have a great time, he had a big smile permanently stuck on his face and kept asking Erica to walk closer to things he wanted a better look at.  He even made a friend. 

            After spotting Sammy a little girl of 5 or 6 anxiously tugged on her mom’s dress, telling her to look at the mouse boy, but when the mother ignored her Sammy just gave the girl a big wave and made her smile.  Danielle was a little amazed at how calm Sammy seemed around giants, it was like he wasn’t even bothered that some little girl could probably make him into her dolly if she wanted.

            It was actually the first time out of the house in a few days for Marjorie, Cole & Harry as well.  Since the meeting with Mr. Arnold their driver's licenses had been revoked and the only member of the house with a working credit card was Erica.  They’d all barely left home since Cole & Brittany had returned, afraid to shrink outside the safe confines of family. 

            The Rockwells kept busy during this time.  They all did a lot of packing, dividing their possessions into things that they wanted to keep and things that could be sold.  Lots of family meetings to talk over the logistics of meals, laundry, security and other details that would be important in their new lives, during which Erica tried her best to make everyone feel like their opinions mattered. 

            Every night she and confided their fears to each other, two whisperers in the dark to keep from waking Brittany.  It took Danielle hours to calm Erica down enough to get her to sleep, and she knew that there were nights when her sister barely got any at all. 

            As they walked back to the house Danielle observed that everyone was in a better mood, much closer to the family she loved.  Even Erica’s was relaxed, Danielle could feel the tension leave Erica’s chest as she got to just be her mom and dad’s shy daughter again for a little while.  Harry and Cole were starting to think up some construction projects they could get to at 3”, they were coming up with some great ideas. 

            "We're home," Marjorie shouted to the empty seeming house.  She carried grocery bags to the kitchen and placed them onto the counter, followed by Cole, Harry & an empty handed Erica.  “Brittany, I got you those workout powders you wanted,” she shouted, and then busied herself putting groceries away.

            Brittany stomped down the stairs in a rush and started rooting through the bags.  “Oh thank god,” she said and retrieved a plastic jar that read ‘Zinc-Oxide Supplement’. 

            “Where’s Derrick at?” Erica said.  “He said he’d help me study some of the books Mr. Arnold sent over.”

            Brittany poured a clump of grey powder into a glass, followed by milk and water, forming a thick brownish drink.  “I haven’t seen him, I think he’s upstairs.” 

            “Oh.  Here, I found this gross little monster, hang onto him for me.”   Erica plucked Sammy out of her pocket and placed him onto the kitchen table amidst a forest of groceries and towering brown bags, then left in search of Derrick.

            “Ew, what is that?” Cole asked Brittany and cleared some safe table space for Sammy, who climbed up onto a box of green tea.  “It stinks from here.”

            “Zinc oxide, scourge of nanos.”  Brittany took a big gulp and made a face like a dying yak.   “That’s right you bastards, eat that.  Oh god, it tastes like robot poop.”

            “Why are you drinking it then?  Are you gonna throw up?  You look like you’re gonna throw up.”

            Sammy looked up at Brittany’s queasy face.  “If you throw up do it in the sink, you’re not allowed to do it near me!”

            Brittany ignored them and added more milk to her concoction.  “Zinc is the hardest element for nanobots to process.  Well, hardest one that isn’t toxic.  I’ve been reading a blog by a guy who was diagnosed with the Shrink Effect a year ago.  He drinks 3 of these a day and he hasn’t lost an inch.”

           Cole put his elbow onto the table alongside Sammy’s tea box and rested his head on his fist.  “Oh yeah?  I thought you were immune to shrinking, isn’t that what you said?  You’re going to be a giant just like Erica?”

            “Well just in case, I’m covering my ass.  At least I’m not giving up and joining the flea circus like you two.  God, it’s like you guys are almost excited to be Erica’s pet brothers, it’s pathetic.”  Brittany grimaced and forced herself to take another sip.

            “Oh right, the Effect has been hitting people for years, the government is spending billions to research it, but all we need is supplements from GNC.  Face it Brittany, you’re getting little just like the rest of us, so quit acting like you’re special.”

            “Yeah,” Sammy piped up.  “Erica’s the special one!”

            “Hey, get this straight both of you:  I’m not shrinking,” Brittany said after a hard swallow.  “I was out with friends half of Christmas break, the odds of me being home when the trigger signal hit are super low, and besides Dad’s test machine gave me a headache too.  But tell you what, you’re happy being Erica’s foot warmer the rest of your life that’s fine, just don’t expect any help from me with bathroom time.”

            Marjorie turned from loading a cabinet.  “Oh just be quiet you two.  Cole, stop rushing your sister, she’s working at her own pace.  Brittany, if you can’t drink your shake without fighting we won’t buy more, it’s not cheap and I had to spend 10 minutes convincing Erica to get it for you.”

            “WHERE IS HE?!”

            Everyone in the kitchen turned to Erica, who stood holding a pair of crumpled pants.  She was breathing in short, fast breaths.  Danielle stood in her right breast pocket, looking equally distraught.   

            “I can’t find him!” Erica said.  “Where’s Derrick!?”

            “Ok, it’s ok,” Marjorie said and put her hands on Erica’s shoulders.  “What is it, what’s wrong with Derrick?”

            Erica took a breath and focused.  “We found his clothes on the floor, this is what he was wearing when we left!  And I don’t see Derrick anywhere, he’s not home.  He shrunk!  He shrunk when we weren’t here and now he’s gone!”

            “Oh shit,” Brittany whispered. 

            “He’s gotta be here,” Cole said.  “He’s here, we just have to find him.”

            “I know, ok,” Erica said, still upset but recovering.  “Everyone take a room and look.  Just look all over the floor, under couches, in closets, everywhere.  And watch where you’re stepping!”


-----------------

 

            “Oh God,” Derrick said.  He was in a dark, hot place and it felt like his body was going to explode.  He was trapped, he couldn’t move and his breath caught in harsh gasps as the pressure just kept building until it felt like it was going to choke his whole body. 

            “Oh god, please…Oh baby.”

            Derrick arched his back and ground his butt hard into the passenger seat of Judy’s car.  His mind went blank for a precious moment and then the pressure in his groin gave with sudden, sublime release.  Beneath the tangle of red hair in his lap he felt Judy’s warm mouth wrap tighter and tighter until she finally released his spent member back into the cold open air. 

            Judy nuzzled her cheek against Derrick’s chest and swallowed gently.  They sat in her old Chevy parked in her family’s garage, the dark lit only by a little streetlight beaming through a high window.  Derrick couldn’t have said how long they sat there; he just knew that none of his problems could reach him in that small, perfect space.

            “So do you think that’s the last blowjob you’re ever gonna get?”

            Derrick jostled her off of his chest.  “Christ, Judy.”

            “Well, first and last really.”  Judy wiped her mouth with the sleeve of his t-shirt.     “Or will there be little shrunk girls that you can hook up with?  Other than your sisters, ‘course.”

            Derrick stuffed his penis back into his jeans and looked out the passenger window away from Judy.  “I don’t want to talk about this stuff.”

            Even without looking he knew the expression she had on her face.  The little exasperated smile she wore when she thought he was being dumb, those pretty blue eyes that looked amused and impatient all at once.  Judy’s face was pixyish, freckled and slight and always tinged with a little mischief, framed by a short bloom of curly red hair that stopped well above her shoulders.

            “Oh c’mon baby, don’t be like that.  You can’t drop a bomb like this on me and then say you don’t want to talk about it.”  Judy slid her hand underneath Derrick’s shirt and dragged her fingernails across his ribs, right in the spot she knew he liked.  “And you could at least say ‘thank you’ after I made sure you don’t die a total virgin.’

            Derrick whipped back to face her.  “Hey, I’m not a virgin!”

            “Uh huh, sure you’re not big man.  So jeeze, this really is insane.  I’ve heard about the Shrink Effect but it still seems like complete sci-fi.  Just how small are you guys going to get?”

            “Danielle is about 3” tall.”

            “3”!  Oh my god Derrick, your cock is bigger than that!  That’s just so disappointing.”  She let out a sigh.  “So, do you think Erica will let me see you after you shrink?”

            “I don’t need Erica to let me do anything.  God, she’s going to take care of us, she doesn’t get to say who I hang out with.”

            “You sure about that?  What if she said ‘No, Judy’s a skank, she can’t come over.’  Think you could do anything about it?  Maybe you and Cole could team up and unlock a window to sneak me in?”

            “I…she wouldn’t even do that, she likes you and…wait, does that mean that you want to see me again?  Tonight kind of felt like a goodbye”

             Judy looked shyly down before returning eye contact with Derrick.  “I don’t know, I mean yeah, that’s why I wanted to see you tonight.  But, ya know, the idea of having you all cute and cuddly in the palm of my hand, I can’t say there’s not some appeal.” 

            She nudged him in the side gently.  “Don’t get your hopes up Mr., I’m not your girlfriend anymore, but if you still wanted to hang out sometime and see what happens…yeah, that could be fun.  But watch out, giant Judy might want to revisit that time I caught you and Amy going at it.”

            Derrick laughed to himself a little.  Judy never pulled punches, that was part of why he liked her.  He held no hope that suddenly fitting into her purse was going to help him get the upper hand in their dynamic, but part of him kind of liked the idea.

            “Oh please, I told you 30 times that wasn’t what it looked like, we…”  Derrick’s voice caught as Judy turned her iPhone on and he saw the time readout.  “Oh shit, it’s 8:20 already?  Erica’ll be back from shopping by now!  Quick, you have to drive me home!”

            “Oh yeah,” Judy said as she fired up the Chevy.  “I can totally see how independent you’re going to be.”

 

-----------------

 

           Derrick slowly opened the sliding glass door in the back of the house, quiet as a mouse.  The coast was clear, the house was quiet.  ‘Oh thank god’  he thought and snuck to the stairwell.

            “WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU!?” Erica screamed as soon as he rounded the corner.  She was storming down the stairs and he couldn’t tell if she looked angry or relieved.

            “I was…”

            “You weren’t supposed to go out without telling anyone!”  She poked him in the chest hard enough to hurt.  Marjorie and Brittany both appeared behind her. 

            “We thought you shrank!” Another poke.  “We thought a rat ate you or you just disappeared to nothing or…or….”

            “Hey, no, ow!”  Derrick stumbled back.  Erica only came up to his chest and was 2/3 his weight but right now he was losing ground with every step she took.  “I just went out to see Judy, it’s not a big deal.”

            “Oh Derrick,” Marjorie said, “I told you I don’t like that girl.”

            “That’s not the point Mom,” Erica said.  “What if the Shrink Effect happened when he was out with Judy, would she have given him back to us?  Would she have even told us?  Or what if it happened when he was in the yard?  He could have been lost out there all alone!”

            “But it didn’t happen Erica, Derrick’s ok.”

            “Yeah,” Derrick said.  He gave Erica a big smile and waved his hands across his body as if to demonstrate the lack of shrinking.  “I’m fine, no damage done, chill out.”

            From her place at Erica’s chest Danielle could feel the giantess tense up, her body practically screamed ‘Mistake.’  There was heat pouring off of Erica while her soft flesh turned hard and muscly.  Danielle’s pocket carrier tightened as Erica inhaled deeply, a rush of air that sounded like some great beast getting ready to roar.

            “That’s it,” Erica said in a soft, measured voice.  “That’s it, we need to have rules about this, Derrick could have died.  No one is allowed to leave without me from now on.”

            “What?  No way,” Brittany said.  “I’m not staying in here all day.”

            Erica turned on Brittany and pointed a finger at her.  “Yes you are too!  If you shrink when you’re out of this house we’d probably never see you again.  You’d die or get lost or snatched up by some pervert and it’ll be my fault!”

            Danielle tried to get Erica’s attention with slaps but was completely unnoticed.  If she could just calm her down…   

            “Everybody’s ok Erica, none of those things are going to happen.”  Marjorie put her hand on Erica’s shoulder but Erica snapped it off.  She took a step back and faced Derrick, Brittany & Marjorie.

            “It could though!  I’m serious, this is the rule now.  If you guys want to go somewhere I’ll go with you and I’ll drive.  I’m in charge Mom, you and Dad said so and so did Mr. Arnold and Danielle and the books and…and it’s my job to keep everyone safe and I can’t do that if nobody listens to me.  This is my house now and I make the rules.” 

            Derrick & Marjorie were stunned into silence but Brittany still had something to say.  “This is bullshit.  You’re not the boss of me Erica and you can’t make me do anything”         

            Erica closed the gap between her and Brittany and looked up to her taller sister, mere inches away.  Danielle flinched as her pocket carriage hurtled toward the bottoms of Brittany’s hot air balloon sized bust, leaving her vision almost totally filled by the two curvy behemoths that tented out against the blue sweater.  ‘Death by bouncy castle’ she thought.  

            “Oh yeah Brittany?  You’re right, I can’t make you do anything but pretty soon I’m going to be able to make you all do whatever I want, and if you don’t get with the program now I’ll make you wish you did.  So if you don’t want to sleep in my shoe or…or get spanked then you’re going to do what I say.”

            Brittany held Erica’s stare for what seemed like minutes, her jaw working like she had more to say than one mouth could handle.  Danielle could almost see the waves of force coming off of the faces above her.  Only she noticed that Erica wasn’t breathing. 

            Finally Brittany broke eye contact and looked away then stormed up the stairs.  Danielle could feel the tension release from Erica’s chest, like a storm had broken.  From her vantage point Erica looked exhausted.

            Erica turned back to Derrick and Marjorie, who looked at her like she was some strange, fearsome creature that had appeared in their home. 

            “Mom, I…”

            “I found him!” Cole yelled as he opened the garage door.  He held both hands cupped in front of him, which carried a folded over grey buttoned shirt.

            “We already found your bother,” Marjorie said, looking away from Erica with relief.  “He just snuck out to see his girlfriend.”

            “No, not him,” Cole said.  He unfolded the shirt, and underneath sat Harry Rockwell, father of 6, 47 years old, 3” tall.  He was nude but for the crumpled shirt that buried his lower body.             

            Erica stepped forward and looked at Cole’s handful.  Harry’s neck tilted almost straight up as he was cast into shadow by his youngest daughter, his vision filled to the limit by her long thin torso, her cascading brown hair that tumbled down toward him, and the angelic face that he loved so much.

            “Oh daddy.”

 

-----------------

 

            Harry dug through the heap of clothes, tossing aside all manner of brightly colored doll outfits.  Actually that wasn’t quite true, most dolls were too large for his new body, so much of the clothing that had been gathered were from figures like Rainbow bright & GI Joe, and most of those were still baggy.  Thank goodness for elastic bands.    

            He finally found some pants and a sweater, more of a felt bag with holes for the arms and head but it fit and didn’t have a unicorn printed on so it was better than most of the options.

            “Ok, I’m dressed.”

            Erica opened her eyes and admired her father’s outfit, bright blue bottoms that hung well past his feet and a yellow fuzzy top.  “Oooh, I like it Dad.”

            Erica was on Danielle’s bed with Harry, lying across the side propped up on an elbow.  The bed held a pile of tiny clothes that had been gathered over the past few days, with lots of donations from the childhood toys of the family and Erica’s friends.  The pile leaned heavily toward bright girly colors, but it looked like her dad had at least found a few items without any frills or lace.  Oh well, maybe another time.

            Harry stood at the base of the pile and faced his daughter.  If he didn’t look at her the bed looked almost like a strangely colored football field, but it was hard to maintain that illusion when his daughter’s body formed a 30 foot tall wall that stretched from one end to the other.  Especially when most of that wall was built from was made from the naked flesh left uncovered by Erica’s shorts and tank top, a lot more bare skin than Harry had noticed when she was smaller than him.  Those legs alone.  He briefly wondered if this was a good time to tell her to put on something more concealing, then his mind drifted to what Marjorie’s body would look like at this scale.

            Cole had found Harry in the garage just minutes after he’d reduced, still crawling out of his own clothes.  Erica had taken him up to her room to get dressed and to ‘have a little talk.’

            “You look good Dad, very sharp,” Erica said. 

            “Thanks sweety.  My god, I knew this was going to happen but it’s so much to take in.  Don’t take this the wrong way sweety but you don’t look quite like my little girl anymore.”

            “I know Dad.  That’s why I wanted us to have a little time to talk alone.  I’ve had kind of a big day and I’ve made some decisions, but I need your help.”

            Harry knew what it meant when his daughter bit her lip and looked down and to the side like that.  It was the same expression she had when she had confessed to a speeding ticket 5 weeks earlier.  Even at 60 feet tall this was his little girl.

            “I’m screwing up Dad, I’ve been trying to make everyone feel like they’re still in control of their lives, but they keep making the wrong decisions and someone’s going to get hurt.  And it’s going to be my fault.”

            Harry walked to Erica’s hand.  It was laid flat on the bed but the knuckles rose to his knee.  He put one of his hands overtop of a small portion of her blue pinky nail.  “Just tell me what I can do sweetheart.  We’re family, we can do this together.”

            Erica smiled.  Her Dad was on her side.  “We can.  It’s not too late, I can still do this.  And I’m really glad that you’re the one who shrank today…no no no, I don’t mean it like that.  What I mean is, everyone is going look to you for how to behave, you’re Dad.  I need you to set a good example.  I need you to back me up and show me respect, to do what I say without arguing.”

            “I think I understand Erica, but you’re still my daughter and…”

            “I’m not just your daughter anymore, I’m your guardian and that means that I’m in charge, 100%."  Erica lowered her head to Harry's level.  "Do you understand me little man?”

            Harry lifted his hand off of Erica’s pinky nail.  Suddenly he wasn’t quite as confident that it was his little girl in front of him.  He felt a chill as her eyes narrowed in front of him.

            “Dad:  Do. You. Understand?”  Erica leaned forward, looming over her miniscule father until he fell backwards onto the clothing pile.

            “I… do Erica, you’re in charge, I promise I’ll do what you say.  Just…remember we’re your family, we love you.”

   Erica watched him for a long few seconds.  She took in the just miniscule body of her father lying on a pile of doll's clothes, looking up at her with just the right amount of fear and, she hoped, respect.  He looked like a toy, her toy.

            “I know, and I love you too so so much.  I’m going to make sure that you’re always safe.  You don’t have to worry about anything now Daddy, I’ve got this.  Now hop onto my hand and let’s go say hi to everyone.”

            Erica laid her palm out flat.  Harry wondered what would happen if he didn’t climb aboard.

 

-----------------

 

            “So I want everyone to give Erica the respect and gratitude that she deserves.  She needs our help and our support, she’s giving up her whole life to take care of us and I expect you all to recognize that.”

            Harry stood on Erica’s outstretched palm in the dining room.  It was wobbly but he found that he had no trouble balancing on the smooth surface that smelled like skin lotion.  Gathered around them were his children, Danielle and Sammy sitting on the dinner table’s edge, and his wife Marjorie.  She looked weirdly beautiful at her towering size, like everything he loved about her multiplied.  Right now her face was all concern, but Harry knew this was for the best.

            “But Dad….” Brittany whined.

            “But nothing Brittany.  Erica’s in charge of this family from now on, and I expect you to do what your sister says.  You’re an adult now Brittany, your safety is more important than some left over sibling rivalry.  Any other objections?”

            Cole & Derrick looked like they had plenty, but none were spoken.

            “Great,” Erica said.  She leaned down and gave her father a big wet kiss that covered his torso.  “That’s a good Daddy.”

            She closed her fist around Harry and handed him to Marjorie, who received him in a pair of anxiously cupped palms.

            “Mom, Dad’s going to sleep with you until you’re both shrunk down.  Make sure he has some tissues to sleep under and plenty of water. Brittany, give Sammy & Danni a bath, they stink like spaghetti.  Take care of them and give them anything they need then get them into bed.” 

            Erica walked through the group and towards the living room.  “I need to relax ALONE for a little while, I’m going to watch TV.  Nobody bother me unless there’s an emergency or somebody shrinks, or else.  I love you all.”

            She didn’t look back before leaving the room, leaving no opportunity for questions or objections.  Marjorie and Harry were staring at each other, neither quite processing the sudden transformation in the face that they knew best in the world.  Cole and Derrick didn’t know what to do and just stood awkwardly, unsure whether to fight or surrender. In the background the mindless chattering of the TV came to life.  

            Brittany looked down to Danielle and Sammy and huffed.  “So what, do I need to scrub you guys or can I just fill the sink?  I am NOT not helping you with the toilet.”

 

End Notes:

Hope you enjoyed, things are cranking up.  

Leave a comment and you'll make my day.  They are major motivators in getting another chapter out.

 The main plot is pretty mapped out but I'm very open to requests on scenarios, or if there's a dynamic that you'd like to see explored in better detail.

Chapter 5: Small Comfort by realRS
Author's Notes:

The Rockwells are baaaaaack!

“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.”

 

End Notes:

Leave a comment and you'll straight up make my day.

This was a tough chapter, and was originally supposed to go on quite a bit longer.  We have probably 3 chapters remaining since Cole's first day is now being split into two parts.

Published by realRS

Erica's House is complete and available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LWPPXXK.

This includes chapters 6-8 and an epilogue, as well as a full revision of the main story.  Over 50,000 new words.

 

Erica's House is the first work of any real length that I've written, and it's reception here at Giantess World has been so important to me these last three years.  Thank you so much to everyone who's taken the time to leave a comment, and thank you so much to the Giantess World community of authors for publishing amazing and inspiring work.

Erica's House began as a very different story called Family Matters, chronicling a household made up of two adult sisters and their children in a shrink virus world.  Out of the 8 characters, 4 of them shrink down and 4 remain giant sized, creating a ton of fun dynamics.  There's the 8 year old girl who turns her mother into her favorite obedient dolly, the 18 year old boy who finds himself looking up to his own little brother, the shy teenage girl who comes out of her shell and revels in her new power.  I might still write it one day.

 Eventually I found that my favorite part of the story was the tense dynamic that existed when characters knew that a shrink was imminenet but had not yet reduced in size.  There's just something about that a huge power dynamic shift is just around the corner that I find super fascinating, as you can see in the other stories that I've published here.  In my conception the potential shrinkers had to get used to their place in life while still the same size as their future masters, creating an embarrassing dynamic that fueled thousands of words of outlines.

And thus was born Erica.  In her original conception she was a cocky brat who strutted around the house, flexing her new power over her still full sized family as she reminded them that if they wanted her to treat them well after they shrunk, then they better do what she says starting now.  In my notes the story is much kinkier and Erica is a far crueler giantess, doling out foot rub duty and stuffing her brothers in her bra at a moment's notice.  You can see remnants of this character in chapter 1, when Erica uses Derrick as a luffa, which now feels a bit out of place with the rest of the story.

But as I wrote I quickly came to feel sympathy with the characters, especially with Erica and the weight of responsibility on her young shoulders.  What was supposed to be a kinky romp became a more grounded story about a teenager terrified of screwing up her new job, and of a shrunken family struggling for dignity in a terrifying new world.  Somewhere early on Danielle started pulling Erica's strings (much to my surprise) and Sammy decided that it was all a fun adventure.  Throw in a cyborg and the mysterious Ms. Dane and you've got quite a bit more than I ever expected.

I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out.  

 

 

[img]http://i.imgur.com/0cvB01v.png[/img]

 

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