Matt took a deep breath to calm his nerves as his mother’s car receded into the distance.  Alone on the curb, he slowly turned to face the college campus where he’d more or less be spending the next four years of his life.

It would be so much different than high school.  He’d been home schooled, by his mother, ever since he’d contracted the virus.  One out of 50 million people, the doctors had told him.  That’s how rare it is.  Rare – but highly publicized.  Such bizarre physical transformations are bound to get attention.

He’d contracted it almost two years ago, and his mother had understandably sheltered him as much as possible.  He’d almost forgotten what it was like to go to school with other people.  And so many people were here – the campus all around him was bustling with students and some remaining parents, all preparing for tomorrow, the first day of the semester.

A girl his age walked by.  He shuddered and lowered his gaze out of gut reflex.  Even though the doctors had cleared him to come here – he hadn’t had an episode in over four months, and they believed he’d learned to control his thoughts now – he still felt the danger was there.  I haven’t seen many girls in that time, he noted warily.  How do I know for sure what’ll happen?  What if a really pretty one looks at me, or smiles at me, or …

He shuddered.  The girl had long since passed by.  Tenuously, he made his way to his dorm building, content to seal himself inside his room until the final orientation at 7:00 that evening.

* * *

He saw the crowded room and wanted to turn back.  In fact, he might have, except that more students were piling in behind him.  Timidly, he shuffled off toward the back corner of the room, behind everyone else, hoping to just go unnoticed.

He milled about until an older student took the mic in the front of the room and spoke into it.  “How y’all doin’?” he said, in a laid-back voice.  He was met with silence.  “This is gonna be quick,” he assured them.  “I got a party to go to.”  A few in the crowd chuckled at this.  For the most part, the crowd remained silent and listened.

As Matt hid in the back, behind everyone else, a girl stepped up next to him.  With little space left in the room, she had to stand close – quite close.  Their shoulders were almost touching.  He first smelled her perfume; then his curiosity got the better of him, and he turned his head.

His mouth slowly dropped open.  Daaaaamn, he thought, his heart skipping a beat.  It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a girl this pretty.  Everything about her jumped out at him – her cherry-red hair, her stunning looks, her surprisingly provocative outfit and ample curves.  She seemed more fit for a gothic night club than a first-day orientation.  Maybe she’s heading to one after this, but … man, I sure don’t mind! 

The only thing that really distressed him was her height – and her heels.  He stood 5’11”, but with heels she had him beat by at least two inches.  And he’d always had such a thing for tall women.  He tried to look away, but he just couldn’t.  And then …

His mouth jerked closed.  His eyes widened.  It’s happening, he realized.  Oh god … not here …

The wall was right behind him, and a wall of people in front.  To his right, a bookshelf blocked his escape as well.  There’d be no way to flee the room except by pushing past her – and he was too timid to do that.  The shrinking always made him dizzy, and he could never think straight while it happened.

It had been months, but he remembered the feeling all too well.  You almost wouldn’t notice it at first: the slightest shifting of perspective, as if the girl beside him had stood up straighter, or as if he had slouched.  But soon it was obvious there was no illusion – his eyes fell below the height of her nose, then her lips, then her chin, all in the span of a few short seconds.  And there was no end in sight.

The beautiful girl shifted her weight slightly; he gasped, fearing she’d noticed him.  But she hadn’t; her eyes remained trained on the speaker in the front of the room.  No one else had noticed Matt, either.  He didn’t make a sound as he shrank slowly downward, his entire body becoming proportionally smaller.

He closed his eyes, trying to will it to stop.  But he knew nothing could stop it now.  You idiot!  Why’d you have to look at her!!?  He knew he’d return to normal eventually, but only several hours later.  Until then, he realize, my life will be a living hell.

As he shrunk below the girl’s shoulder, though, his attraction for her truly began to take hold.  She was even more beautiful from this angle, more regal, more … everything.  He was soon eye-level with her large, full breasts, and he let out a whimper of arousal.

Why do I have to enjoy this so much? he lamented.  Why can’t I just run now, before it’s too late?  Why did I let this happen again??

Everyone around him started to taken on surreal dimensions – but he fixated almost solely on her.  Now he looked up to see the underside of her breast, still close enough to touch.  If only …

Her elbow passed by his eyes; he was no taller than her midsection now.  She had seemed tall from the get-go, but now loomed taller than anyone who had ever lived, from his perspective.  No one could have looked this enormous to him under normal circumstances.  If she were to accidentally reach her arm out, she could easily knock him off his feet with the sheer size and strength of her arm compared to him.

Her weight shifted again; her hip almost bumped into him, almost on cue.  He gasped, but had little room to retreat.  She still hadn’t noticed him – probably for the best.  And he knew how small he would get, plus or minus a foot or so.  Maybe once he was small enough, he could slip past her unnoticed.  Maybe.

His clothes were incredibly baggy now; he’d had to hold his pants up with both hands at first, but now his shirt was long enough that it fit him like a gown, covering all the needed areas.  He let his pants drop, focusing instead on keeping his torso from poking through the widening neck of his shirt.  And meanwhile, the girl loomed even larger, larger …

He watched her now-enormous derriere slide above his eye level.  Now her breasts were well out of his reach; he could reach only her elbow now, no more.  She was fully twice his height, and he continued to shrink.

When will it end??  He knew about where it would, but it always varied somewhat.  Sometimes, it would have stopped by now.  But not this time.  He was soon no taller than the middle of her thigh, and yet he kept shrinking.  She was an absolute giantess now, but still she loomed larger and larger.

He watched her five fingertips slide up to his eye level, then above it.  Her hand was huge relative to his; she could cup his whole head in her palm, and then some.  And still he shrank, until even her fingertips were well out of his reach.  The world continued to expand around him, more and more …

Finally – finally – the shrinking grinded to a halt.  When it was over, the girl looked more like a tall building to him than an actual person.  He could barely see her face anymore, concealed alternately by her chest or shoulders, depending on her stance.  Lowering his gaze, he was looking at the middle of her shin.  Her SHIN!!  I’ve never shrunk this much!!

Why haven’t scientists found a cure yet? he lamented.  Heck, they don’t even know why or how it happens, other than it has to do with me getting aroused.  It's so humiliating!!

He told himself he had to get out of there – but just then, the girl shifted her footing, perhaps subconsciously shifting toward what seemed like empty space beside her.  But it wasn’t really empty; there was tiny Matt standing beside her, and poor Matt now took a hard blow from her leg, knocking him clean off his feet.

“Huh?” he heard the now-towering girl say, in a booming voice befitting her size.  The girl’s torso rotated toward him, her eyes drifted down … and when she saw the sight below, her hand darted to her mouth, covering a surprised gasp.

He craned his neck up at her, and couldn’t help but shudder under her alarmed gaze.  There was just nowhere for him to run or hide.  He stared up at her, slack-jawed and embarrassed.

He expected a scream, or at least a yelp of surprise.  Such occurrences were extremely rare, after all.  But her next reaction was the last one he’d expected: instead of recoiling away from him, she bent at the knees and leaned down to get a closer view.  And then she smiled.

“My, oh my …” she whispered sultrily.  He was the only one who heard her, above the sound elsewhere in the room.  In fact, no one else had turned around to notice him – they were all oblivious so far.  It was only him … and her.

And the girl’s smile was widening by the second.  He saw an idea flash across her mind – then she was dropping to one knee and held out the large zippable canvas tote bag she and everyone else had been given for orientation.  It was full of pamphlets and printouts and packets of information, but she quickly and quietly emptied these contents onto the floor.  Before he even knew what was happening, she opened the bag in front of him … and then a huge hand engulfed his torso.

With blinding speed, his body was whisked into the air.  When the gut-wrenching movement stopped, he was lying face-up with a wall of canvas stretching up on all sides of him.  The bag was large enough that he could lie flat in it.  He would have tried to stand up, but the bag was moving around too much and there was nothing to hold on to.  Just as his mind was accepting where he was, a loud ‘ZIPPPPP!!’ sound belted out from up above him, accompanied by instant darkness.  He almost couldn’t believe it: she’d zipped him into her bag!  Who would do something like this!?!?

His new home lifted up and then began lurching and swinging about, falling into a repeated pattern as the faint click-clack of her heels were heard beneath him.  “Excuse me,” her voice said, then a door creaked open, and quickly the sounds of the crowded room faded to nothing – only the click-clack remained.

The noise stopped suddenly.  Then, from pitch blackness, there was light, accompanied by the sound of the zipper being pulled half-open so that he could see the face of this beautiful-woman-turned-captor smiling down at him.

He made a frightened sound.  “Shhh …” she said, with suspicious gentleness.  “We don’t want anyone to see you, now, do we?” she whispered.  He looked past her and saw they were in some side corridor of the building, away from all foot traffic.

 He showed very visible signs of distress – which only made her smile widen.  “Don’t be afraid, little fella!” she cooed, in a way that made his spine tingle.  “You’re safe from everyone else.”

But not safe from her …

He began to panic, pawing at the sides of the bag.  But the bag was tall, and there was nothing to grab onto.

Her voice hardened only slightly.  “Hey – be good, little one,” she instructed, “and stay quiet until we get to my dorm room.  That’s an order.  We don’t want anyone spoiling our fun.”

Our fun??  He wondered if there’d be any fun in it for him at all – or will she just enjoying tormenting me …

“Wh-What do you w-want from me???” he stammered, in a shockingly high-pitched voice.

She practically squealed in delight.  “Such a cute little voice!  Like a little mouse!  Oh, we’re gonna have SO much fun!!”

He opened his mouth again.

“Shhhh, little one!” she preempted sharply.  As cheerful as her smile was, he sensed danger behind them.  He was afraid to disobey her further.

She grabbed the zipper again, above his head.  “Remember – not a sound!” she instructed sharply, then zipped it closed.

Once again in darkness, as the rhythmic jostling of her steps resumed, he tried to count how many times he’d had a fantasy like this.  Well, not really like this, he realized.  In my dreams, the girl is always nice and sweet to me.  This girl is beautiful, yes … but I’ve never been so afraid!!

Maybe it’ll all work out, he hoped.  Maybe I have nothing to be afraid of.  He shuddered, clenching his knees to his chest.  Either way, this will be a night I’ll never forget.

(What a cliffhanger!)