Our Own Brobdingnag by Balore
Summary:

One day, out of the blue, Andrew finds himself getting smaller. How will he and his roommates adapt to these sudden changes?


Categories: Adventure, Young Adult 20-29, Body Exploration, Entrapment, Feet, Footwear, Gentle, Growing/Shrinking Out of Clothes, Slow Size Change, Unaware Characters: None
Growth: None
Shrink: Doll (12 in. to 6 in.), Dwarf (3 ft. to 5 ft.), Lilliputian (6 in. to 3 in.), Micro (1 in. to 1/2 in.), Minikin (3 in. to 1 in.), Munchkin (2.9 ft. to 1 ft.), Nano (1/2 in. to 2.5 nanometers)
Size Roles: FF/m
Warnings: The Following story is appropriate for all audiences
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 11 Completed: Yes Word count: 19187 Read: 71028 Published: March 28 2020 Updated: April 23 2020

1. Prologue by Balore

2. Chapter 1 by Balore

3. Chapter 2 by Balore

4. Chapter 3 by Balore

5. Chapter 4 by Balore

6. Chapter 5 by Balore

7. Chapter 6 by Balore

8. Chapter 7 by Balore

9. Chapter 8 by Balore

10. Chapter 9 by Balore

11. Chapter 10 (END) by Balore

Prologue by Balore
Author's Notes:

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

 

I walked ahead, hugging the wall, a sheet of white stretching miles above and before me. That was the rule – if I were to traverse the apartment by myself, I had to do so as close to the wall as possible, for safety reasons. Said rule was given to me by my caretakers when I became small enough, too small to walk on my own without at least a degree of caution. In exchange, they promised to follow a rule of their own, namely that they would watch their step, although I couldn’t quite say they adhered to it all the time. Or at least Maddie did not; I could count on Justine, her kindness and gentle, watchful eye. And although I was now too small to see her face clearly from all the way down there, I could always tell she would notice me.

 

The road to the kitchen was long and not without peril, as I just mentioned. It wasn’t easy to trek through a hard, seemingly endless floor of the hall, always at risk of being passed by one of those thousand-mile-tall young women, the feet of whom would shake my entire being just by them taking a step near me. And if I weren’t clutching to the walls on my journeys, those encounters would’ve been even more perilous, if not outright deadly. In moments like these I couldn’t help but imagine what would be written on my tombstone. Andrew Newt, aged twenty-six, died from… Well, from what? How to put it without damaging whatever was left of my dignity at this sorry state? How about… Died from being in a wrong place at a wrong time. Perfect. And in a wrong size. Insensitive, but not entirely untrue.

 

I wished I could stop and get some rest. But aside from being hard, the floor was cold. Unbearably cold, despite it being mid-Spring. I suppose the temperature just gets lower when you’re so close to the ground. Or you can’t deal with it like you’d normally do when you’re this small. The point is, the floor was too cold to stay in one spot for too long and even though my legs began to hurt at that point, I pressed on. I only wished I had some footwear on me. Justine was kind enough to supply me with a sort of a tunic to wear, which she crafted from a piece of bright-purple cloth (so that I’m easily visible, she said), but my feet were now simply too small to make any shoes for me. Funnily enough, it didn’t bother me to walk around the place barefoot before, when I was still a bit bigger. Or maybe I just ignored my feet aching while I was too busy dealing with gradually dwindling away.

 

Speaking of shoes. As I reached the front door to our place, now being a foot (from a normal person’s perspective) or so from the entrance to the kitchen, my attention turned to two massive objects standing nearby. They were blue, each the size of a ship, with thick ropes as wide as tree-trunks hanging from their fronts. Justine’s shoes,  size 10 if I recalled correctly. Her being a tall girl, it was only natural her feet would be big too, even more so when you looked at them while being barely half an inch tall, just as I was then. Normally, I’d pay no attention to her footwear lying around, but now I was almost mesmerized. I was still in shock from seeing household objects magnified to impossible proportions like this, still getting used to how the world of the giants looked from my perspective. My imagination began to run wild once more, as I realized her single shoe would be as spacious to me as a mansion, if I decided to move in and live inside it. Although why would I do that in the first place eluded me for the moment. But then I imagined the inevitability of Justine putting her foot in one day and whatever wish I had to get into her shoes immediately vanished.

 

I decided to focus on the task at hand and the reason of my journey, namely getting to the kitchen and having something to eat. Which might not have been an ambitious assignment, if not for the circumstances. I knew I could expect a small platter with whatever the giantesses deemed suitable for me to eat today lying on the floor, so that I could reach its contents. But before I could enter the kitchen, there was yet another rule to follow. Stop. Look inside. Make sure its safe to enter, then (and only then) go in. I stopped by the entrance and leaned in, checking if either of the girls was present. Barely did I do so, a massive objects passed me by, a gust of air sweeping over me. I looked back and saw Maddie’s enormous form walking away, her giant, bare feet slamming the floor in a series of loud thuds. She walked at a normal pace, but to me she still seemed incredibly fast. She was now more akin to a mobile mountain or better yet, a mobile volcano, her short, red hair like a fire on its top. As she disappeared into her room and from my view, I realized I still could hardly believe this colossus used to be a normal, short girl less than a week ago. Before I began to shrink.

 

Let me tell you how it all started.

 

End Notes:

 

Hey guys, I'm back with another story in the making. As you can imagine, it'll be a gentle, slow size change one. As always, stay tuned.

Chapter 1 by Balore

 

On the Monday morning I was awoken by a ray of sunlight directly assaulting my eyelids, as if the star itself decided to kick the day off by annoying me. The alarm clock was showing 9 a.m., it was time to get out of bed whether I liked it or not. I always wake up groggy and the only cure for that state of being is coffee, so I slowly stood up and waddled towards the kitchen. There I spent a minute or two standing over the counter, still half-asleep, waiting for the kettle to boil. Once I had the cup in my hand I waddled back, changing direction when I noticed my roommates sitting on the couch in the living room. Well, technically it was Justine’s room but since it was the biggest piece of our apartment it served as our meeting grounds.

‘Morning, sunshines.’ I said, taking a seat on the armchair to the side of the couch and taking a sip.

‘Morning.’ they replied in unison, the eyes of each glued to their phones and for a moment neither of us said anything, them being busy with their devices and me with my coffee and still waking up. Until Maddie finally spoke. ‘You missed the breakfast, sleepyhead.’

‘Oh yeah? What exactly did I miss?’

‘I made toast. With cottage cheese and chives.’

‘Well then I guess I didn’t miss much.’ I said with the nastiest grin I could muster at that time of the day, receiving a sarcastic look from Maddie and a quiet giggle from Justine in exchange.

 

Now, a word about my roommates. It could be hard to find two people who were so different in looks and personality than these two. Maddie was a chubby five-foot-four girl with short red hair, blue eyes and a round, perpetually smiling face adorned with freckles here and there. She was cheerful and optimistic and at times impulsive. While Justine was tall (at exactly six feet in height she was three inches taller than me), slim, with a long face and high cheekbones, as well as long brown hair and equally brown eyes. She on the other hand was pensive, quiet, to the point of being considered shy by our acquaintances, but also polite and good natured. Even their clothing styles differed, with Maddie preferring bright, warm colours and Justine sticking to comfort and subdued tones. For instance, today the former was wearing a red t-shirt with jean shorts on her bare legs while the latter settled on long, black trousers and a thin, beige sweater. Despite their differences they’ve been getting along rather well. So well, in fact, that I could count on one hand the amount of times I’ve seen them argue and even then the fight (and the reason for it) would be forgotten the next day. As for me, I was neither as energetic as Maddie nor as tranquil as Justine, serving almost like a balance or a middle ground between the two ever since I moved in. With time, we learned to enjoy each other’s presence.     

 

‘But you should eat something.’ Justine said, putting her phone down. ‘You’ve lost weight. Your clothes even look, erm… saggy on you.’

‘I so have not.’ I said, looking over my sleeping attire, which consisted of a black, sleeveless top and grey sweatpants. To give her credit, they did look kind of saggy and I wondered whether that was always the case.

‘Hey, you’re right.’ Maddie chimed in. ‘He kinda looks smaller.’

‘Thinner.’ Justine corrected her.

‘No, look closer. He doesn’t seem as tall as he was yesterday.’

‘Maybe it’s because it’s still morning? I read that in the morning people appear shorter because their spines-‘

‘Alright, ladies.’ I said, putting the already empty cup on the coffee table between us. ‘If any of you has a measuring tape, we can settle this here and now.’

‘I have one.’ Justine said and left the room in a hurry. I shrugged and waited for her to return, all the while trying to ignore Maddie curiously looking at me. A moment later Justine returned with the tape and I stood by the wall as she measured me. ‘How tall did you say you were?’ she asked.

‘Five-foot-nine. What does it say?’

‘It says you’re two inches short of that.’

‘You’re getting old.’ Maddie grinned, watching us from the couch. ‘And smaller.’

‘Wouldn’t you like to see that, shrimp.’ I grinned back, then turned to Justine. ‘Can you check again?’ She did, twice, but each time the tape showed the same result. But it couldn’t be right, I knew I wasn’t five-foot-seven. I was starting to get a little bit worried, especially when I looked at Justine, my eyes suggesting she looked taller than usual. We agreed she would measure me again later during the day, suspecting the early hour and my spine playing tricks on us and left the matter behind, at least for now.

 

I spent the rest of the morning on the usual routine of brushing my teeth, eating breakfast, taking a shower, dressing up and cleaning my room, as that last one was long overdue. It was one in the afternoon before I finally had the time for myself and I decided to spend it on the bed, with a book in my hand. My bliss didn’t last long; I made barely five pages in before Maddie barged into my room. At least Justine had the decency to knock, I thought.

‘I need help.’ she said, standing over me. ‘With my laptop.’

‘Did you install some malware again?’

‘No. At least, I don’t think so. But there’s a lot of toolbars and stuff.’

‘You can uninstall these yourself. I showed you how the last time.’

‘Yeah, but you can do it better. And quicker.’

‘Fine.’ I groaned and closed the book. ‘Lead the way.’

Before I could even begin to work I had to clean up her desk a bit. Papers and cosmetics, electronic devices and plates with leftover food lied in my way, so some rearrangements were in order for my elbows to even fit in there. Once that was done, I could finally look into the issue. ‘I swear to god, woman.’ I said, glancing at the maelstrom within her browser ‘I have no idea how you manage to always run into such trouble.’

‘Guess it just runs into me.’ she said, grinning at me from over my shoulder.

It took a while to clean the mess up, removing one toolbar after another, but eventually the work was done. I double checked my results, gave Maddie a short lecture on how to avoid such situations (which, I’m sure, she did not take to heart) and stood up to return to my book. And then I noticed, much to the surprise of both of us, that she was looking down at me. I glanced at the floor, thinking she might be wearing or standing on something to make herself appear taller, but no – both of us were barefoot. My gaze went back to her face and a mix of surprise and amusement painted on it.

‘Justine!’ she cried out. ‘Come over here, quick! And bring the tape!’

 

I stood still as the now-worryingly-tall Justine measured me. ‘Five feet, no more no less.’ she said after a while, with concern in her voice. ‘So you did get smaller. But why? People don’t just… shrink. Did you eat something weird last night?’

‘Nothing weirder than what I usually eat.’ I replied, trying to lighten up the situation and failing. I was worried, and so was her.

‘Well, then maybe you’ve had contact with some chemicals? Or a virus? Have you been feeling sick lately?’

‘I don’t think so, no.’

‘That’s strange. And scary. Maddie, what do you think?’

‘Your guess is as good as mine,’ she said, now sitting at her desk. ‘Though I kinda like no longer being the shortest person in the house.’ she added with her standard grin.

‘Maddie.’

‘Sorry.’

‘Well, I think we can all agree that whatever’s happening is not normal. What’s the next step?’ I finally asked, looking up to meet Justine’s gaze and immediately feeling sorry for her. She looked way more worried about the situation than I was.

‘I… I don’t know. The hospital, maybe?’

‘I honestly doubt they could help him in there.’ Maddie said, now with a serious look on her face. ‘Knowing them, they’d sooner ship him to some lab on the other side of the country to experiment on him. Or keep him around as a freak for the interns to gawk at.’

‘How can you know that?’ Justine asked, perplexed. ‘They’re medical professionals, they would do no such thing.’

‘I’ve had my dealings with those people you call professionals. I wouldn’t trust them with a sprained ankle, let alone with… With whatever’s going on with Andrew.’

‘Alright, let’s wait,’ I said. ‘Wait and see what happens. Because other than being worried, I’m not feeling bad, at all. So if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be in my room’

‘What if it gets worse?’ Justine asked, the concern still not leaving her face.

To that, I had no answer. I left, hoping neither of them noticed how I was holding my pants up to prevent them from dropping to the floor. I closed the door to my room and sat on the bed. Now was the time to worry.

 

Chapter 2 by Balore

 

I tried going back to my book, if only to take my mind off what was happening, to no avail. I couldn’t focus and eventually tossed it aside, settling on lying on my bed and staring at the ceiling. I tried to ignore my now-loose clothes too, which I couldn’t manage to do either. All in all, I was worried. I started to think about my options. Maybe I should’ve gone to the hospital, or at least to see a doctor. Then again, could either help with what was happening to me? What exactly was it, anyway? If it was a virus (which I hoped it wasn’t), I could infect others and I did not wish to do that. Maybe it was a curse. But then, I didn’t know anyone at the time who could possibly wish such a thing on me, nor actually deal in curses. It wasn’t long before my head started to ache from overthinking. The only thing I could do (or should I say we could do) for the moment was to wait and thus I waited, but for what I did not know. For getting even smaller, I guess. I dreaded to even think how small that would be, or whether it would even stop. Shaking my head to chase the bad thoughts away, I tried to calm down. I sat down and rubbed my eyes, then looked over to the alarm clock showing 4 in the afternoon. As I glanced at the floor I noticed my pant legs covering my feet almost entirely. Soon my sweatpants would get too big for me to wear, I thought, as would all other clothes. As if gradually getting smaller than people around me wasn’t enough of a humiliation.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and the girls appeared in the entrance, their faces taking on a worried look as soon as they saw me. I quickly guessed they must have noticed I’ve gotten even smaller in the past three hours.

‘Hey,’ Justine said, smiling kindly at me. ‘How are you holding up?’

‘Could be better, I guess. Did you need something?’

They entered and sat on the bed, each to the side of me. Even sitting down they towered over me now. They weren’t just getting taller in my eyes, I realized, they were getting bigger.

‘We know you’re worried,’ Justine started, putting her hand on my arm. ‘But it will be alright. We’ll help you.’

‘I mean, I appreciate the concern but I doubt you could possibly help me with… that.’ I waved my hands over myself, as to emphasize my current predicament.

‘She means we’ll help you by taking care of you,’ Maddie said ‘However we can.’

‘Again, I appreciate it, but I can’t ask you to trouble yourselves with me.’

‘Oh, come on,’ Maddie jostled me lightly with her elbow ‘How much trouble could it be? I mean, it’s not like you’re dying or handicapped, there’s just less of you. No offense.’

‘Maddie.’ Justine gave her an annoyed look.

‘I said no offense!’

Could I really put my faith in them? It wasn’t as if I had much choice. But having lived with them for a while, I felt I could trust the girls with my well-being. ‘Alright, I guess I believe you. Okay, I do believe you.’ I corrected myself to reassure them. And also myself.

‘Think of it as an adventure,’ Maddie’s voice was back to a cheerful tone ‘Like in that movie from back then. You know, the kids? And they shrank? And there was this super tall grass?’

‘Those kids were microscopic!’ Justine exclaimed in a mild shock. ‘I don’t want Andrew to get THAT small!’

‘He could ride an ant, like a horse or something!’

‘He could get eaten by an ant!’

‘Well, how small do you want him to be?’

‘I don’t- I don’t want him to get small at all! Why are you being like this?’

‘Just trying to lighten up the mood,’ Maddie grinned and turned her attention back to me ‘In any case, you’ll be fine. Trust me on this.’

‘After that ant remark I’m starting to trust you even less.’

‘Jeez, what a bunch of killjoys the two of you are. Trust Justine, then.’

‘Fine, I trust you, both of you. We have to trust each other at a time like this.’

‘Exactly.’ Justine smiled at me with the most comforting, kind smile she was capable of.

‘Okay, enough talk,’ Maddie clapped her hands ‘This calls for a group hug.’

We embraced, still on the bed, the two girls momentarily pressing on me from both sides. I felt warmth and a slight discomfort at finding myself stuck between two people who were already becoming physically larger than me. For a moment, the sensation seemed rather pleasant. But there was still the nagging question of my shrinkage and how much of my previous height I have lost during this conversation. So when we were finally done hugging, I asked Justine to measure me again.

 

‘Four-foot-six,’ Justine said with a grimace. ‘This isn’t good. It’s almost as if it were accelerating.’

‘The smaller I am the faster I shrink?’

‘Possibly. I couldn’t tell for sure.’

‘Neither could I. One moment everything looks the same, then I blink and *poof*, the world gets bigger.’

My pants have dropped down the moment I stood up to be measured, but luckily my t-shirt reached to my thighs now. Not that it wasn’t much of a problem as my underwear seemed to still fit me, as if it was getting smaller along with me. Then again, I wasn’t keen on the idea of letting the girls see my undies. And as for girls, even Maddie was now a head taller than me. I could hardly believe how much bigger they’ve become from my perspective in such a short stretch of time.

‘Maybe it’s peaking up before it starts to slow down?’ Maddie asked.

Justine sighed. ‘I hope that’s the case. Otherwise we risk losing sight of him in the morning.’

‘I don’t suppose we have a magnifying glass lying around?’

‘Maddie.’

‘I’m asking just in case.’

I couldn’t really blame her. By the way things were going a magnifier could come in handy soon. I glanced at my big roomies, knowing they would only get even bigger in the following hours and days. But at the time I didn’t know nor expect just how much bigger that would be. I lowered my head and looked to the floor, noticing Justine’s feet were already almost twice as big as mine. Would they one day become bigger than my whole body? I shuddered at the thought.

 

The evening finally came and we had supper. When it came to food, we tossed that responsibility around ourselves like a ball. As in, our little custom was to have one person at a time prepare the dishes for all three of us to eat. This time I took it upon myself, while I was still big enough to do so, though the kitchen counter was already becoming a bit too tall for me. The girls offered their help but I shooed them away, insisting on doing the work myself and pretending not to hear Maddie’s hushed remark about my fragile male pride. Now, I was never that great of a cook, but even I could do something as simple as buttering some bread and serving it with slices of various cheese and occasional vegetables. Which, I realize now, is just a fancy way of saying I’ve made some sandwiches. But, since nobody complained (especially Maddie), I figured I did a well enough job. We ate in peace and in silence, for a change, the worries of the day having slightly exhausted us. After showering I asked Justine to measure me again. I was still wearing my t-shirt, which I figured I might sleep in anyway, and I stood still as she took my measurements. This time, to some relief of us both, it was four feet and four inches, just a two inches drop since the afternoon.

‘Maybe it is slowing down, like Maddie said.’ Justine remarked with a kind smile.

‘Or bidding its time to pounce on me.’ I wasn’t so enthusiastic. I had the whole night ahead of me and neither of us knew what would the result be in the morning.

‘Let’s try and be positive, shall we?’ Justine put her hand on my shoulder once more and I couldn’t help but notice just how big it seemed now, her naturally long fingers wrapping it almost entirely. ‘I promise we’ll get through this.’

‘I know, I believe you. Sorry for being so gloomy about it.’

‘You have all the right to be. Oh, but I don’t want to waste your time, you should rest,’ she turned to leave but looked at me one last time ‘Wake me up if you need anything, okay?’

‘Sure.’ I wasn’t going to do that. She needed her rest as well and I had no heart to deprive her of it. ‘Oh, and, thanks.’

We smiled at each other and she closed the door behind her. I stood still for a moment in the middle of my room, almost dreading going to bed. But eventually the fatigue got the better of me. I turned the light off and lied down. As was the case with everything else, the bed seemed surprisingly bigger than usual. But I didn’t have too much time to think about it, as I dozed off almost immediately after closing my eyes, still uncertain of what awaited me in the morning.

 

Chapter 3 by Balore

 

I didn’t want to wake up. Not in a not wanting to get out of bed kind of way. More like not having to open my eyes and seeing how much smaller I’ve gotten overnight. But in the end I awoke early on that Tuesday morning. I sat on the bed and looked around as my eyes adjusted to being conscious. Just as I expected, everything got bigger, but not to a large extent. I guess I was lucky that night and avoided a significant shrink spurt. It didn’t change the fact that I was, objectively speaking, small and the t-shirt I was still wearing, which hanged loose from my shoulders, only emphasized my new stature. I really needed to do something with that matter. But for the moment the only thing on my mind was getting my usual dose of caffeine. I got up and left the room, heading for the kitchen. The apartment was silent and at first I thought the girls were still asleep. But as I entered the kitchen I saw Justine standing by the counter, a cup of hot coffee in her hand. She was wearing a washed-out orange top and long white trousers flecked with black dots, her usual sleeping clothes.

‘Hey,’ she greeted me. ‘How did you sleep?’

‘Good, thanks. I thought you didn’t like coffee?’

‘I don’t. It’s for you.’ She handed me the cup.

‘Oh, you shouldn’t have,’ I said, taking a sip. ‘I mean, it’s not that I’m not grateful, but you didn’t have to get up so soon just to make me coffee.’

She smiled. ‘I know the counter is getting a bit too tall for you, so I thought I could help you out. Besides, I couldn’t sleep since six.’

‘Something on your mind?’

‘Oh… You know.’

I knew, of course. We sat down by the opposite ends of the kitchen table as I drank my cup and she looked on ahead, lost in her own thoughts.

‘I don’t want you to be worried for me,’ I said after a while. ‘It’s my problem, not yours.’

‘It’s… not just your problem, Andrew.’

‘Look, if it’s about rent money, I have it. I even have some savings for-‘

‘It’s not about the money.’ Her face became stern, if only for a split second, before returning to her usual kind expression. ‘We’re worried about you. I’m worried about you.’

I sighed. I had no heart to shrug her help, nor did I honestly want to. ‘I appreciate it. But what else do you propose I do at the moment?’

‘Maybe you should think about seeing a doctor? I know someone who might help.’

‘No offense, but I kind of doubt it. The help part, I mean. Besides, I don’t feel like showing myself to other people right now.’

‘She’s also discreet, if that’s what you need.’

‘Like I said, seeing other people like this is the last thing I need.’

 She kept silent for a moment. ‘You’re getting smaller, Andrew. It’s not something you can sleep off.’

‘I know that.’

‘Do you know how small you will get?’

I gave her a surprised look. ‘No? How could I know that?’

‘I can’t force you to do anything, nor would I ever try. But if this goes on…’

‘If this goes on,’ I said, this time me being the one to comfort her, ‘And if I change my mind, you’ll be the first person I ask for help. Promise.’

It must’ve worked because she finally smiled. And got up. ‘Did you finish your coffee?’

‘Yes, why?’

‘C’mon, let’s get you measured.’

 

We went to her room, me lagging behind ever so slightly. This time my height settled on exactly four feet. Not terrific, not dreadful. But it still felt weird seeing Justine tower over me like that. I was used to looking up to her, but not so much.

‘I hope it stays that way,’ she said, rolling the tape back. ‘Or better yet, that you start growing back soon.’

‘I honestly hope so too.’

‘Would you like me to do something about your clothes? I could shorten them to fit you better.’

‘If it’s not a problem,’ I said and smiled at her with gratitude. Justine was the person we went to if we needed sewing assistance. I knew I could trust her with adjusting my clothes to my ever changing size.

Maddie entered the room and greeted us, yawning at the same time.

‘How short are you today?’ she asked me.

‘Four-foot-zero.’

‘Cool.’

‘It’s definitely not cool,’ Justine remarked.

‘Whatevs. Let’s go eat.’

How could we disobey such an order? We had breakfast and when we were done each of us went about their way. I took a long shower, not minding the thought of the hot water bill that would eventually come to haunt us.  When I returned to my room I found Justine sitting on my bed, her sewing kit to the side, tinkering with my sweatpants.

‘Try them on,’ she said, handing them to me along with the black sleeveless top. ‘It’s okay, I won’t peek,’ she added, covering her eyes with her hand. I did as instructed, being positively surprised the clothes now fit me.

‘Finally, some good news,’ I said, smiling at her. ‘Thanks.’

‘My pleasure. Come get me if you need any other clothes fixed.’ She grabbed her kit and left. I checked the bed to ensure she didn’t leave any loose needle on it, then moved on to my desk. Having nothing better to do at the moment, I decided to check the social media. I barely turned my laptop on when the door swung open. I didn’t have to guess who that was.

‘Maddison, I swear to god, if you installed some trash again you’re dealing with that yourself.’

‘Okay, first of all, don’t call me that. Second of all, that’s rude.’ She approached and suddenly I felt her hands on my arms. ‘And third of all – how are you feeling?’

‘What?’ I asked, surprised. ‘Oh, I’m okay, I guess. Despite the circumstances.’

‘Yeah, I know.’ She gave me an understanding look. ‘You’re not mad at me, are you?’

‘For what?’

‘For those things I said yesterday. You know, about you getting to the size of an ant and all that jazz. Didn’t want to spook you.’

‘I’m positively unspooked,’ I said, smiling at her. ‘You don’t have to censor yourself around me, if that’s what you mean.’

‘What I mean is I’m taking your condition seriously.’ She made a brief pause. ‘In my own way.’

‘No doubt about it, not from me.’

‘Alright, I’ll leave you to it,’ she took her hands off and turned back. ‘You know where to find me.’

As usual, she did not close the door behind her. But at this point I didn’t feel the need to remind her of it. I felt grateful towards the girls, and at the same time bad at having to rely on their help. I shook my head over my dilemma and turned my attention back to the screen.

 

Having grown bored with reading through messages and info feed, I spent the rest of the day doing some additional cleaning up and catching up on reading, all to take my mind off the problem at hand. The girls were busy with their own routines and every now and then I could hear them walk around behind my door. At one point Maddie decided to put some music on, to which Justine responded with vacuuming the hall. Not long afterwards I could hear a heated discussion happening on the other side. This seemed to me to be a bad sign at the time and I hoped the stress of my predicament wasn’t getting the better of them. Fortunately it was soon over and when I left the room once or twice later that day I did not notice any irritation in either of the two.

The book started to get better a few chapters in and I found myself invested in the story. So invested, in fact, that I didn’t realize the night came until Justine knocked on my door, asking if I wanted to be measured. By that point we were both used to the procedure and our roles in it. I stood still, she took measurements, it looked almost professional from our part. And we were both relieved to see my height was still stuck on four feet.

‘That’s good,’ Justine said, smiling at me. ‘Looks like you’ve finally stopped getting smaller.’

‘So it would seem.’ I smiled back. ‘Now all that remains is getting used to being a shrimp.’

‘Oh, don’t say that. You might as well grow back to your old height.’

‘I wish. My neck’s been hurting me from having to look up at both of you.’

‘You know, I can’t blame you for saying that.’ She smiled widely. But the smile didn’t rest on her face for long, being soon replaced by a concern. ‘Perhaps I spoke too fast. You’re getting smaller.’

‘No, we just measured-‘

‘I mean right now. You’re shrinking, Andrew.’

It was only then I noticed. She was getting distant, her face higher up as she grew taller and taller before my eyes. My clothes went loose once more. It was over in an instant and when it stopped the woman before me was twice as tall as I now was.

‘Hold still,’ she instructed me in a trembling voice. And so I did, watching the even more imposing Justine work by my side. Then, the judgment was passed: ‘Two feet, ten inches.’

My heart sank. For a moment, we were quiet, each of us uncertain of what to do next. Justine got to her knees, towering over me even in that position. ‘Are you okay?’ she asked, her voice still trembling.

‘No,’ I said, looking into her gentle, brown eyes. I was scared. I did not want to tell her that but I didn’t need to - she could tell the fear from my expression.

‘Come here.’ She spread her arms and hugged me, my whole body disappearing in her warm embrace.

 

Chapter 4 by Balore

 

By that point even something as simple as getting on the bed posed a difficulty. I had to pull myself up to mine, despite Justine’s insistence to help me. But I didn’t want help, I thought then, while I could still do it on my own. And so we sat on the bed, me, her and Maddie who came to check up on us. We were all still in a state of shock, the size difference between me and them as noticeable as never before, the shrink spurt I was expecting the night before having finally caught up with me. I couldn’t wrap my head around it and I doubt either could they. The rate at which I was getting smaller was erratic, to say the least. A foot there, a few inches through the night, then it stops and finally resumes with a whole foot in a matter of seconds. It made no sense, nothing about this situation did. I felt as if I was back to square one – small, panicking, sitting in one spot wearing oversized clothes. My legs hanged from the edge of the bed, not even touching the floor by then. It was almost funny to think that just a moment before we were certain all of this was over. Still, I needed some clarity of the mind and I needed to calm down if not for my sake then for theirs. If I start to panic, I thought, they start to panic and nothing good would come out of all of us losing our minds. We had to focus on here and now, as well as on the things that would change as my height did.

‘Okay, so,’ I started, dropping to the floor and taking a step ahead, so that I could look them in their faces. Or rather look up towards them. ‘I think it’s obvious we’ll have to make some adjustments to the place. As you can see, I’m getting too small to live here the way you do.’

‘Don’t tell me you want to move out,’ Justine said fearfully.

‘On the contrary, I don’t want to take even a step outside this apartment.’

‘Yeah, that would be a bad idea,’ Maddie chipped in. ‘A raccoon could get you.’

I gave her a weird look before continuing. ‘The point is, I’ll need something to make my life here easier. Something that will allow me to reach things, you know? Something like… boxes.’

‘Boxes?’ Maddie asked.

‘Boxes,’ I confirmed.

‘Boxes…’ Justine pondered. ‘Well, we have a few shoeboxes lying around, I think.’

‘I have two under my bed,’ Maddie said. ‘And there should be a few more hidden in my wardrobe. But don’t you think they would, I don’t know, collapse under you?’

‘I doubt it. Besides, I expect to eventually get, well. Lighter.’

‘We need to ask ourselves the obvious question,’ Justine interrupted us and we both looked at her serious face. ‘What happens when he gets really small?’

‘How small?’ Maddie asked.

‘I don’t know, a foot, less than that? Tiny, minuscule.’

‘Then we’ll think of something else, I guess,’ Maddie shrugged.

‘Don’t you think we should come up with something now? Before he’s still not too small to walk around the place?’ Her voice was quiet, but there was a hint of exasperation in it.

‘What’s your problem?’ Maddie asked, perplexed. ‘You want to keep him in a jar or something?’

‘I don’t want to step on him on my way to the bathroom!’

‘Nobody’s stepping on anyone. Unless on purpose.’ She winked at me and in response I showed her my tongue, like adults that we both were.

‘This is ridiculous. You’re ridiculous.’ She pointed at Maddie. ‘And neither of you seems to grasp the gravity of the situation.’ She then hid her face in her hands. We watched her for a moment, puzzled, as if we couldn’t recognize her. I did not recall the last time I’ve seen her this agitated and, no doubt, neither did Maddie. The stress of the situation was getting the better of her. Worse, she seemed to be stressed on behalf of us all.

‘Look, let’s just set settle down a bit,’ I started in a reconciliating tone. ‘When it comes to that, IF it comes to that, we’ll think of something. But for now it’s not so bad. I mean, it’s not so good either, but we can manage for now.’

‘There, see?’ Maddie rubbed Justine’s back with her hand. ‘If he says it’s not the end of the world then it’s not. We’ll get through this.’

It took a moment but eventually Justine uncovered her face. ‘Alright, we’ll see when we get there. But I still need you both to be careful, okay?’

‘We’ll be careful for each other,’ I assured her. ‘Right, Maddie?’

‘Right-o.’

 

The night set in for good and with it came the fatigue. We went to bed, too tired to continue our little debate. I lied in mine for at least an hour before I managed to fall sleep, turning from one side to the other, my mind preoccupied with what will happen tomorrow. My shrinking didn’t seem to stop, at least not for the moment, and I couldn’t help but wonder how small I’ll become by the next evening. But before that happens, there was, once again, still a day ahead of me in a whole new size. How would I manage, and could I?

I woke up in the middle of the night, feeling thirsty. Slowly and carefully getting out of bed, I headed to the kitchen. Even without the tape I knew I’ve gotten smaller, if only by a few inches. The apartment was dark and silent and the walk took me a while longer than usual, which was expected. As was the fact my walking around the place would soon be replaced by setting out for real expeditions. Join the not-so-incredible shrinking man as he tries to reach the bathroom! Will he survive the long trek across the floor? Will Maddie finally look under her feet? Such silly thoughts accompanied me on my way.

Once there, I realized having a drink would not be so simple. There was a two litre bottle of water and a glass standing on the counter. The same counter that was taller than me by now. I sighed, knowing what I would have to do. I approached one of the chairs and started dragging it closer to the counter, surprised by how heavy it seemed. I supposed it was only natural for every day objects to be like this from now on. Bigger, heavier, non-suitable for my use. I tried being as quiet as possible, hoping the chair legs creaking against the floor would not wake the girls up. When I decided the chair was standing close enough, I climbed onto it and from there I pulled myself up on the counter. The view from the top was impressive, in a way. I couldn’t believe how much larger our cosy little kitchen had become. But that was no time to take the surroundings in. I was still thirsty, even more so after my trip, and so I approached the bottle. Unscrewing the cap wasn’t too much of a hassle; that came with actually trying to pour the water into the glass. The bottle was almost full and thus it was heavy, requiring a few attempts from my part to lift it the right way. And even then I messed it up, as the bottle slipped out of my hands and slid across the counter, splashing water everywhere and making the glass fall and break against the floor. This was enough to wake the place up, as before long I heard footsteps coming in my direction. And then the light flashed and I saw Justine standing in the entrance, her face still sleepy.

‘Ugh,’ she groaned and opened her eyes wider when she finally noticed me. ‘Huh? Andrew, what are you doing?’

‘I was trying to get a drink,’ I sheepishly said. ‘Watch your step, there’s, uh. Glass. And water. Everywhere.’

‘You should’ve woken me up.’ She took a step in and looked at the mess I made. Even standing on the counter I still had to lift my head to look her in the eyes. ‘I’ll clean this up. But first, let’s get you down.’

‘Oh, I can get down on my… own.’ I watched her approach me, her towering frame getting closer and I stood still as her huge hands grabbed me by my sides and effortlessly picked me up and set me against the floor.

‘I’ll take it from here. Go to sleep.’

‘If you want I could help-‘

‘Andrew, please. Go to sleep.’ There was once more a note of irritation in her voice and I did not want to annoy her. I nodded and marched back to my room, feeling ashamed the whole way, as if I was a scolded child. My cheeks were still burning from shame as I clambered on the bed and lied down. I almost completely forgot about my thirst.

 

End Notes:

 

Today's chapter is a bit shorter, but worry not, there's more to come.

 

Chapter 5 by Balore

 

‘Two-foot-three,’ Maddie said, taking the task of measuring me upon herself this morning. She had to sit on the floor to see the number better. ‘I gotta say, you’re getting positively tiny.’

‘Thanks. I wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for you.’ I crossed my arms and looked up to meet her face. I was wearing a scrap of one of my old shirts, which Justine was kind enough to fashion into a tight tunic. Or at least something resembling one and, most importantly, covering most of my body, from the neck to the knees.

‘Aw, I didn’t say that’s a bad thing.’

‘I wish I could say the same.’

‘Cheer up, will you?’ She reached out and patted me on the back, thankfully doing so gently. ‘We talked about it, remember? You’re not dying. You’re just getting more compact.’

‘Excuse me?’ I asked, surprised and amused. ‘How do you mean, compact?’

‘Well, right now I could smuggle you into Mexico in a backpack, for example.’

‘Why the hell would you do that?’

‘The weather, the beaches, the drinks. You’d love it.’

‘If you ever let me out of that backpack.’

‘Exactly. If.’ She grinned. She always enjoyed messing with me.

I shook my head. ‘By the way things are going, soon you’ll be able to do smuggle me anywhere inside your pocket.’

‘I know. Isn’t that exciting? I actually have a shirt with a breast pocket. You’ll fit in there when you’re about,’ She put her hand in front of my face to demonstrate, with her thumb and index finger, roughly two inches of length. ‘This small.’

‘Well, I’m glad at least one of us is having fun with my predicament.’

‘Must you be so sarcastic? Think of the fun we could have.’

‘You mean, you could have. At my expense.’

‘Wow, aren’t you a grouch. You could really use some entertainment. Not for the grouchy part, I’m afraid that can’t be cured. But at least to take your mind off things. Help you relax, you know?’

‘Well, I still got some chapters to go.’ I pointed to the book lying on the bed with my thumb. ‘I want to finish it while I’m still big enough to turn the pages.’

‘Boring. But if that’s what you want.’ She stood up, rising over me. ‘Swing by my room when you’re done with your book. We could watch some series or listen to music. Or even just talk. What do you say?’

‘Sure.’

I watched her leave, the tape in hand. I was surprised at myself of how quickly I was adapting to the notion of seeing these two tower over me. As well as the inevitability of me getting even smaller, thus seeing them being even more imposing. I couldn’t shake the picture of myself tucked inside Maddie’s breast pocket, knowing it was probably only a matter of time before I really get that small.  I sighed and turned towards my bed. I stepped on the shoebox Maddie gave me earlier, then climbed onto the sheets. Finally, I grabbed the book, determined to finish the story and spent the next hour or so reading. Eventually I was done with that and I realized, to my annoyance, that I had nothing better to do, other than lying on my back and staring at the ceiling. This got boring sooner than later, so I once again left the comfort of my now spacious bed and crawled down to the floor. I went to the toilet, climbing a few boxes stacked in the form of stairs to reach the seat, another courtesy of my roommates to make my life a bit easier, then headed to the kitchen to grab a quick snack. It took a considerable effort from my part to even open the fridge, let alone browse through its contents while being exposed to the freezing air. Lucky for me another courtesy, another box, was lying nearby but even then it didn’t help me much. Sadly, the idea I had the previous night was short-lived. I was still getting smaller, making using boxes as height support unnecessary.

Going back from the kitchen I glanced inside Justine’s room and noticed her on the couch, her sewing kit by her side, as well as a small pile of clothes – my clothes, to be exact.

‘At least you don’t seem to be bored,’ I said, coming closer and smiling at her. ‘What are you making?’

‘Stuff that you will wear,’ she replied, exchanging the smile. ‘I took the liberty of using your old shirts as raw materials. I hope you don’t mind.’

‘Not at all.’ I glanced over her work, seeing a few tunics like the one I was wearing right then, some smaller than the others. ‘I see you took my further shrinking into account.’

‘Yes, at this point I had to.’ She momentarily stopped working and looked at me. ‘Are you scared?’

‘No,’ I lied.

‘Then I guess you’re braver than me. I would be.’ She resumed her activity, her eyes fixed on the needle.

‘I hope I didn’t give you too much trouble last night,’ I said. ‘I didn’t have time to properly apologize.’

‘No need,’ she smiled at me once again. ‘Those things happen. But since we’re at apologizing, I wanted to say sorry for my earlier outburst. I just…’ Her eyes wandered to the side and they had a sad look about them. ‘I just got overwhelmed. And I panicked. I’ll try to keep a tighter grip on my emotions.’

‘Don’t worry, I understand. Oh and,’ I pointed to the clothes that were finished ‘Thanks for doing that, I really appreciate it.’

She sighed. ‘My pleasure. Though to be honest, I wish I wouldn’t have to do this. As in, I wish this didn’t happen to you. But we can’t turn back time now so if I can help you out somehow, I will.’

‘Thanks. I won’t keep you, then. I still need to pay Maddie a call.’ I turned my back and left the room. The girl had a good heart. I wondered when, and if, I could repay her kindness as I strolled through the apartment to my next stop.

 

I found Maddie sitting on the floor with her back to the wall and her laptop in her lap. She was wearing jean shorts and a white tank top. She didn’t seem to notice me at first and looked surprised when I entered and said hello.

‘Wrong time?’ I asked, approaching her. The carpet in her room felt good against my bare feet, much better than the hardwood floor in the hall.

‘No, not at all. I was wondering when you’re gonna show up.’ She curiously glanced me over. ‘Hold on, I think you’ve gotten smaller,’ she noted, taking the measuring tape out of her pocket and checking me up. ‘I was right, you’re two feet tall now. Three inches less than in the morning.’

‘I kind of suspected I might’ve shrunk during the day,’ I said, shrugging.

‘You seem to be taking the news rather well lately.’

‘Yeah, I guess I’m through with panicking. How did the rest of the phases of grief go?’

‘Oh, don’t you start. You better come here.’ She put the laptop on the floor and patted her thigh.

 I looked at her, baffled. ‘Uh. I mean, I can sit on the floor just fine.’

‘Sure, but this,’ she smiled and pointed at her lap ‘Is way softer.’

So I did sit in her lap and crossed my legs, while she, in turn, wrapped her arms around me. I was now face to face with her chest. She was much better endowed in that area than Justine and seeing it from this close and at this height only magnified the experience. In a matter of seconds I began to feel the warmth emanating from her body. While I felt good, at ease, I also couldn’t help but feel awkward at the same time. And judging by Maddie’s smile she knew about it and enjoyed seeing me like this.

‘You’re like a teddy bear now,’ she giggled.

‘I am?’

‘Well. Not really. Teddy bears are usually soft and cute, and you’re not.’

‘Okay, that definitely did not hurt my self es-‘

‘You’re kinda bony’ she continued. ‘You should eat more. We’ll need to come up with a diet for you.’

‘You just implied I’m too thin.’

‘A diet to round you up, dummy.’

More like fatten me up, I thought, and then throw me into the pot. But I didn’t want to enter a debate regarding my weight with a woman so much bigger than me. ‘Alright, now that I’m here, what did you have in mind?’

‘There’s this new show I wanted you to see.’ She clicked the touchpad and brought a video up. ‘You feel like watching an episode or two?

‘Sure, why not,’ I said and turned towards the screen.

The show in question was a generic sitcom, no different from the ones that were popular at the time, with the similar (if not outright the same) type of characters and gags. Apparently, it was funny, if Maddie’s giggling every few minutes could be believed. As for me, my immersion was restricted to an occasional chuckle. Maybe the humour did not speak to me. Maybe being surrounded by her warmth distracted me. It made me sleepy, that one was certain. After a while it became hard to stop my eyes from closing and my head from leaning back. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep. I must’ve had quite the nap, as by the time I woke up it was already getting dark and the room was silent, the laptop being turned off.

‘Sorry I didn’t wake you,’ Maddie’s voice reached my ears ‘But you looked so adorable sleeping there.’

And then I realized that the soft surface my head was resting on was her chest and I jumped up, turning instantly awake. ‘Jesus! I’m sorry, I didn’t realize-‘

‘Oh, it’s fine,’ she said, giggling at the same time. ‘I don’t mind.’

‘Right. Thanks. I mean, sorry.’ I looked up towards her amused face. ‘Can you let me go?’

She said nothing, but moved her arms away, releasing me from her embrace. I awkwardly stepped onto the floor and walked out of the room, hearing her muffled giggle behind me. Once I was out of her sight, I ran into my room through the slightly ajar door, feeling ashamed again. All I wanted was to hide, which at my current state seemed rather easy to do. Speaking of which, the moment I entered the room I realized I must’ve gotten even smaller during the time I was with Maddie. Judging by the proportions of the furniture and other objects around, I was already past the two feet mark. A foot and seven, maybe eight inches was my quick estimate. I was quickly approaching the height where just leaving the room would be a risk. I sighed, not willing to deal with such thoughts at the moment. All I wanted was to lie down and rest. Reaching the top of the bed took me longer than I’d like to admit. This time I could not just pull myself up, I had to grab onto the sheets and climb up this way. I knew it would only get worse from here as I walked through the vast surface of my bed towards the pillow, which was in itself almost as long as I was. As I positioned myself on it, I decided to ignore the anxiety of how small I was getting and the troublesome question of how would I even get out of bed in the morning, at least for the moment.

 

Chapter 6 by Balore

 

Justine’s face was the first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes the following morning. It loomed over me, big as a billboard, as its owner knelt by my bed. ‘Are you awake?’ she asked and for a moment I was startled by how loud her voice seemed to sound.

‘I am now,’ I replied and sat on the pillow, rubbing my eyes. ‘What time is it?’ I glanced in the alarm clock’s direction and noticed it was almost noon. Quite a nap I had there.

‘I thought I’d check up on you. How are you feeling?’

‘Good, I guess.’ I looked around. I wasn’t surprised in the slightest that the world changed its dimensions while I slept. ‘I must be a foot tall now.’

‘More or less,’ Justine said with a hint of sadness in her voice. ‘Oh, I almost forgot. I brought you this.’ She presented me with another tunic, one more adjusted to my size.

‘Right. Thanks.’ I put it on. It was a bit tight, but I knew it wouldn’t be the case for long. ‘Well, no point in lying in bed all day. I’m hungry.’

‘Maybe you should stay here and rest,’ Justine proposed. ‘If you need anything I can get it for you.’

‘That’s okay, I could use a walk anyway.’ I stood up and approached the edge of my bed, trying to climb down.

‘You want me to help?’ she asked, already reaching out towards me.

‘No, no. I’ll manage.’ Getting to the floor took me a moment. At one point I slipped on the sheets I was climbing down and almost fell. But soon I was down there. As I passed Justine’s giant, kneeling frame and approached the door, I turned to face her again. ‘I’ll be careful, promise.’ She nodded and smiled at me, though I could still see some concern behind that smile. I stepped outside and headed towards the kitchen.

It was only when I made a few steps in that direction did I realize how much hassle it will be to get anything to eat, much less to prepare a meal. I suppose it was all just an excuse to get out of the room. That, or me still thinking I can live like I used to. I was no longer sure whether I was that quick at adapting to the changes. The floor felt cold against my bare feet, the path was longer than I could imagine and I got tired in the middle of it.  As I stopped to catch my breath, I noticed Maddie leaving the kitchen. Worse yet, she noticed me as well.

‘Oh. My god,’ she exclaimed as she got closer, her giant bare feet threatening to run into me. She stopped when she was close enough, crouching over me. ‘Look how small you are!’

I raised my head to look her in the face. She was all I could see at the moment, as if I needed further proof of how utterly tiny I now was. ‘Thanks, I guess?’

‘Aw, cute. Where are you going, anyway?’

‘To the kitchen. Why?’

‘Want me to carry you there?’

‘Uh, no?’

‘I’ll carry you there anyway.’

‘No, don’t-‘

She reached out and grabbed me with one hand, as she stood up and turned towards the kitchen. I wiggled in irritation, much to her amusement, but before I knew it she placed me on the table. Apparently the girls had toast for today’s breakfast too, as there was some of it left on a platter nearby. She broke a piece and handed it to me as she took a seat and watched me eat, a grin never leaving her face.

‘Having fun?’ I asked in between bites.

‘I am.’ Her grin grew larger. ‘It’s kinda funny seeing you like this.’

‘I’ll take your word for it.’

‘Don’t be so gloomy first thing in the morning. It’s not like I did you any harm.’

‘Except snatching me up a few minutes ago.’

‘Oh, don’t get worked up over such things,’ she pouted. ‘In fact, you should be getting used to it. I mean, seeing how small you are you can’t expect me or Justine to ask for your consent every time we need to pick you up. Or want to.’

As much as I hated to admit it, she had a point there. Besides, it wasn’t like I could stop them from trying.

‘We had a talk while you napped,’ she continued, ‘About what we should allow you to do or not. And you’ll be pleased to know I convinced her to let you roam the place freely, as long as you watch where you’re going. I mean, that’s what you’d want anyway, right?’

I nodded. Even if I had to walk miles every day, it still seemed a better idea than being carried around from place to place by these giant women. At least, I’d feel less awkward about it.

‘But. There’s three conditions. First, you stay close to the wall. Second, you always check before you enter a room, any room. We can’t risk stepping on you, can we? And third, the most important – you respect our privacy. Got it?’

Again, I nodded. I was almost sure these were Justine’s contribution to the idea. Then again, they seemed reasonable as rules go.

‘Great. Oh, and you don’t have to worry about eating or hygiene either. We’ll be leaving food and water for you on a platter on the kitchen floor. And a bowl of hot water and a napkin in the bathroom, since you’re too small to shower now. See? I’m on your side after all.’ She looked proud of herself.

‘I’m almost impressed. What about a place to sleep, did you think of that too?’

‘Oh. That. I don’t suppose you could use a shoebox?’

‘Maddison.’

‘Jeez, fine. I’ll string some matches together and make a ladder to your bed. How’s that?’

‘Splendid. Now, can you get me down so that I can have that bath?’

‘Well, the water in the one I drew this morning got cold, so I had to pour it out. Give me a minute, I’ll prepare a new one.’ She stood up and grabbed a bowl from the sink, turning the kettle on at the same time. When it boiled, she poured the hot water in, adding some detergent to the mix. She then took hold of me once more and carried the bowl and me to the bathroom. Her hand was getting sweaty, I didn’t know whether from the hurry or whether it was natural for her. What I did know was that I was looking forward to washing it off.

Fortunately, she left me alone soon after setting me on the bathroom floor, respecting my privacy for a change. I undressed and carefully stepped into the bowl. It took a moment to get used to the scalding hot water, but before long I could unwind and enjoy the sensation. I washed my skin thoroughly and got out of the bowl when the water started to get cold, wiping myself with the napkin Maddie left with the rest of the set and putting my clothes on. Maybe being small wasn’t so bad after all, I thought. If anything, we could save up money on water.

 

As I left the bathroom, I wondered what to do next. As Maddie said, I could go anywhere, but for what reason? The range of things I could do now was rather limited, after all. In the end, I decided to check up on Justine. I recalled her mood from before and I figured she could use some company. After all she did for me it seemed only natural to return the favour, in whatever way I could. And so I marched towards her room, making sure I stayed as close to the wall as I could. There was no telling if, or when, either of my giant roommates could emerge from their dens and start walking in my direction. Once there, I peaked in and saw Justine, as usual, on the couch, busy with painting her toenails. I could smell the nail polish all the way from the entrance and I wondered whether my sense of smell wasn’t becoming keener due to my shrinking.

‘Hey,’ I said, as I approached her. I seemed to have startled her. ‘Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean to.’

‘It’s fine, I just didn’t hear you come in. What’s up?’

You, I wanted to say, but I thought better of it. ‘Not much. I just had a relaxing bath and now I’m looking for something to do.’

‘Ah, one of our yesterday’s ideas,’ Justine smiled. ‘I kind of envy you. The last time I had a bath was when I still lived with my parents. The shower just doesn’t cut it.’

‘It sure doesn’t.’ I glanced at her feet, the strong smell of the polish still hanging in the air. They were noticeably bigger than Maddie’s. Only the nails on the left foot were painted, I must’ve surprised her in the middle of work. ‘Black? I didn’t know it’s your colour. Come to think of it, I didn’t know you use nail polish at all.’

‘Oh, it was on sale. Besides, I wanted to try something new. Do you like it?’

‘Well, I’m no expert. But it suits you.’ I smiled at her and she smiled back. Good, I was glad I could improve her mood. ‘Want some help with the other foot?’

‘Are you that bored?’ she asked, visibly amused. ‘Alright, just try not to spill it on the floor.’ She put the bottle closer and handed me the brush. It wasn’t too heavy, but I still had to hold it in both hands to properly grasp it. And so I spent the next few minutes dipping the oversized brush in the black, oily liquid and carefully applying it on Justine toenails, as she watched me from above with a curious smile, her face resting on her first. The hardest part of the task was definitely enduring the choking smell of the nail polish. Despite this, it was a rather enjoyable experience, if not a bit surreal. I never painted anyone’s nails before, especially not a girl so many times much larger than me. I felt as if I was painting a piece of some giant statue, not putting a layer of varnish to the living tissue of a person.

When I was done with her smallest toe I put the brush back into the bottle. Not even a moment later I heard footsteps coming in our direction. I turned my head and saw Maddie enter the room. ‘What are you kids up to?’ she asked.

‘Andrew just painted my nails. Look how well he did!’ Justine replied with a certain glee, showing off my work.

‘Would you look at that, we’ve got ourselves a little pedicurist,’ Maddie teased, looking at me. ‘Maybe you’ll do mine next?’

‘Maybe some other time,’ I said. I wanted to follow it up with a teasing comment of my own, but I found myself coughing.

‘Oh dear,’ I heard Justine say, ‘I should’ve expected that. Here.’ She reached down and picked me, placing me on her lap. She then patted me several times on the back with her index finger, as I kept coughing. ‘Better?’ she asked when I finally stopped.

‘Better,’ I confirmed, wiping tears from my eyes, so strong was my cough. ‘Thanks.’

She gave me a comforting smile and brought her finger close again, ruffling my hair. It was a pleasant sensation and I closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling of her soft fingertip rubbing the skin on my head.

‘I don’t wanna spoil the moment,’ Maddie said, spoiling the moment, ‘But we need to think of what’s for dinner. Any ideas?’

‘Not from me, sorry,’ Justine said.

‘Since when do you ask US for ideas?’ I chipped in.  

‘Look, literally the only thing we have in the fridge is a chicken breast and a bag of frozen peas. So either you tell me what you want, and I go shopping, or we order pizza-‘

‘Pizza’ we said in unison.

‘I’ll go get the phone,’ Maddie groaned and left the room.

 

Chapter 7 by Balore

 

We’ve waited about two hours for the pizza to get here. By the time it finally arrived we were getting impatient and, most of all, hungry. The girls placed the box on the coffee table by the couch, and me as well. Cheese, ham, tomatoes, nothing fancy but more than enough for everyone to have their fill. The crust was thick, so thick that Justine had to tear a piece out for me to eat. Even such a small chunk was enough to satisfy my hunger. So I sat on the table, having my meal, as the girls talked about their stuff from the couch, in between chewing on their slices. Maddie apparently couldn’t help herself from putting her legs on the table, so I also had to try and ignore her huge feet looming nearby. When I was done eating I let the girls know I would like to lie down a bit and asked Justine to lower me to the floor. I waddled back to my room, slowly, my stomach feeling like it was about to burst. Food seemed like yet another thing we could all save up some money on, seeing how such a small amount of crust was enough to fill me. When I finally made it to my room, my initial thought was to sprawl on the bed and wait until I have digested the meal. But the bed was too high and I felt too heavy to attempt the climb, so instead I took a seat under one of its legs. I put one hand on my stomach and looked around. The room, aside from being spacious and almost unrecognizable from this perspective, was also in a desperate need of vacuuming. Or at least the underside of the bed was, as I could notice thick tangles of dust gathering beneath it the further ahead I looked. I shrugged, knowing full well I couldn’t do anything about it and that I’d have to ask one of the girls for help anyway. Preferably when I’m not in the room.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps. Not the quick, energetic type with which Maddie walked, these were slow and careful. Sure enough I soon witnessed Justine’s giant silhouette appear in the door, with a glass in her hand. It took her a second or two of glancing around before she noticed me down there.

‘I was thinking you’d like some water,’ she said and entered the room, immediately kneeling near where I was sitting. So big, so statuesque. She brought the other hand closer, revealing a bottlecap she was holding. ‘I also thought it would be easier for you this way,’ she added, pouring the water in and handing it to me. I took the cap from her and bowed my head in gratitude, to which she smiled. I suppose I was thirsty at the time, as I drank it whole in one attempt.

‘Thanks,’ I said, putting the cap aside. My stomach felt even heavier now and I hoped this wasn’t a bad idea. ‘Well, I won’t be hungry till the next morning, I guess.’

‘We left two slices for breakfast,’ Justine informed me. ‘It was too much for us. By the way, why are you sitting on the floor?’

‘I’m in no shape to climb all the way up.’

‘Oh? Oh, of course. I should’ve guessed.’ She seemed almost embarrassed. ‘Maybe I could lift you up there?’

‘Yes, please.’

Her thin, long fingers wrapped themselves around me and raised me from the ground. The way she handled me seemed more pleasant than that of Maddie. For one, her grip was less tight, more delicate; surely due to her being conscious of how fragile I was now. What’s more, her hands didn’t sweat. So the ride up there was enjoyable, albeit briefly, and before long I stood on the bed, looking all the way up to her monumental face. I knew the only reason she was kneeling was to not intimidate me with her height, but I still felt quite startled by her being this much bigger than me.

‘You know,’ she started, tilting her head to one side, then the other. ‘You don’t seem any smaller than before. Maybe it’s slowing down. Or stopping.’

‘Last time we thought that way I dropped a whole foot under your eyes. We better let sleeping dogs lie.’

‘Right. Sorry about that,’ she said, awkwardly. ‘But in any case, it’s a good sign, no?’

‘I don’t know, maybe. Maybe I don’t want to think about it now,’ I said, sitting down and crossing my legs. ‘No offense. I appreciate your concern, as always, but right now I just feel like relaxing a bit.’

‘It’s fine,’ she said with an understanding smile. We were silent for a moment, looking at each other. I could see a lot of sympathy in her distant, brown eyes. Eventually, she spoke. ‘Do you mind if I touch you?’

‘No,’ I said and soon I watched her huge hand move towards me, her finger once again ruffling my hair ever so gently and I closed my eyes as she caressed me. She let out a quiet giggle.

‘You know, back when I lived with my parents, we had a kitten. Whenever I scratched him behind his ears he would make the same face as the one you are making now.’

Was I? It didn’t matter at the point, only the sensation did. ‘What happened to him?’

‘He grew up and ran away from us.’

‘Well, I’m not running away anytime soon. Not that I’d want to.’

She giggled again, softly, and her finger moved from the top of my head to my cheek, and from there to my chest. I raised my hand and stroked it, enjoying the smoothness of the skin on her digit. She smiled and her finger began to move once more, slowly sliding from my chest onto my legs and from there on the bed. I couldn’t tell whether she satiated her curiosity with touching so little of me or whether she was too embarrassed to pursue it. Or too thoughtful of me to go on. After all, she was a restrained kind of girl. For a moment I thought to press her on a bit, ask how did it feel, but I thought better of it.

‘Will you be okay staying here for the night?’ she suddenly asked, referring to my bed. It was a good point, the bed having been definitely too big for me now.

‘I’ll manage,’ I said, shrugging. ‘Maddie promised to make a ladder for me out of matches or something. But I guess she’s too busy for the moment.’

‘Busy with what?’

‘Suffering from overeating,’ I said and smiled as Justine laughed at my remark.

‘Oh, you. I’ll press her on about it in the morning, or make you one myself. But still, what if you have to get up in the middle of the night?’

‘Eh, like I said, it’ll be okay. Besides, what choice do I have?’

‘Well, you could sleep with me,’ she said and met my curious gaze. ‘I-I mean, in my room. On the coffee table. On a pillow. A-and you could wake me up if you needed something.’

I couldn’t help but smile. ‘I really don’t have the heart to take advantage of you like that. No, I’ll be fine right here, I promise. And if I really need something from you, I’ll just take a walk to your room and let you know, okay?’

‘O… kay.’ And for a moment, with her big, brown eyes and her innocent face, she looked like some kind of a giant, gentle doe. ‘Alright then, I’ll leave you to it. You want some more water before I go?’

‘Sure.’

She filled the cup again and I had a few more sips. We told each other goodnight and I watched her giant form rise above me and the pillars of her legs carrying her out of my room, her footsteps echoing in the distance. When I could no longer hear them, I lied down and closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to come.

 

I woke up in the middle of the night to the noise of someone shuffling through the floor. I sat up and almost jumped when I noticed Maddie’s face looming above me, mere inches (for her) from where I was. ‘Jesus, you scared me,’ I said, now completely awake after being startled like that. ‘What do you want?’

‘I can’t sleep,’ she complained. True enough, I could notice she seemed tired, even in the darkness of the room. ‘Can I lie down next to you?’

‘What’s wrong with your bed?’

‘I just told you, I can’t sleep in it.’

I couldn’t wrap my head around such logic. ‘Be me guest,’ I said, already annoyed. I lied down myself, trying to ignore her massive body pass over me and my surroundings shake as she was trying to make herself comfortable. ‘So, do you sneak into Justine’s bed like that too?’ I asked when she was done moving, having settled on lying with her back turned on me.

‘No, that would be awkward.’

‘It’s not awkward with me?’

‘Shut up, I’m trying to sleep.’

I sighed and did not pursue the subject, instead trying to fall asleep myself. I couldn’t. There were too many factors preventing me from getting my rest, such as her surprisingly loud breathing or the heat radiating from her body. Or the fact that I had to share my bed with this irritating colossus and be powerless about it. I decided to switch the position and lied on my back, thinking it would help. True enough, it seemed to work for a moment. But before I could dose off my surroundings began shaking again as Maddie turned in her sleep. Out of a sudden her arm fell on me, like a downed sequoia. I didn’t even have time to escape as it collapsed, trapping me beneath it, making it hard for me to breathe. I couldn’t even call out to her or wake her up because of it, so I settled on trying to wriggle out of there. Her arm kept me tight in my place, but eventually I started making some progress. And then it moved, her hand grabbing the hold of me, my situation instantly becoming even worse. I tried wiggling out from between her fingers as well, but her grip only tightened on me. Worst of all, she wasn’t actively toying with me, I could see her eyes being closed. She was doing all this to me unconsciously.

Her hand moved again, and I with it. She brought me closer to her face. Her mouth was open and with every breath of hers I was assaulted by a gust of hot air and a smell of toothpaste and saliva. As if things weren’t bad already, I noticed a drop of the latter forming in the corner of her mouth and starting to flow down her cheek. Slowly, like a stream, directly where my face now was. I decided I will not sit there idly and drown in her spit, so I doubled my efforts of freeing myself from her grasp. Lucky for me, I made it before the first drop fell on me. The moment I was free I ran through the sheets, as far as I could from her hand. It was clear to me I couldn’t stay in the bed while she was there too. I approached the edge and began to wonder how to get down to the floor. Lost in thought, I was hardly paying any attention to Maddie shifting in her sleep some more. Which was unfortunate, because as soon as I turned to check on her, I saw her foot coming into a collision course with me, her heel ramming into me and throwing me off the bed and onto the floor.

It hurt. Not in a ‘oh god I’ll never walk again’ way. More in a ‘oh god now I have to lie here until the feeling returns to my limbs’ way. If the bed was taller, it might’ve hurt more. Same thing if I were smaller. In any case, I spent a few minutes plastered on the floor before I could move. My body still ached when I stood up. Looking towards the bed, I noticed a fragment of Maddie’s foot hanging from its edge, almost like a car hanging from a cliff in an action movie. I shook my head at the ridiculousness of the situation and slowly wobbled towards the other end of the room, where my desk was. I sat beneath it with my back to the bottom drawer and I closed my eyes, the sleep finally catching up to me.

 

 

 

Chapter 8 by Balore

 

The room was empty when I woke up. The first thing I noticed was how much of a mess my bed was, Maddie clearly not having the courtesy to make it after the night. Then I realized it was more distant than before and a quick glance around my surroundings revealed I shrank even more through the night. Much more, in fact – I was roughly half my previous size. Not even a foot tall now. I was calm about it, as my shrink spurts no longer impressed me. Besides, I knew it would come to this eventually.

I turned my head towards the door as I heard it open and watched Justine enter the room. She was utterly gigantic now, so much so that I had to lift my head up high just to see her face. Today she was wearing dark blue leggings and a baggy white tee. ‘Hey,’ she quietly said, noticing me. ‘Just checking up on you. You slept in today.’

‘Did I?’ I asked when she was close, kneeling right in front of me to hear me better. For my part, I stood up and looked her in the face. ‘What time is it?’

‘Two in the afternoon,’ she said and then smiled. ‘I heard you had a rough night.’

‘You could say that.’ I rubbed my eyes and stretched, my body still cranky after sleeping in a sitting position. ‘I guess the shrinking is tiring me out.’

‘Speaking of.’ She revealed the measuring tape and I stood up straight, as was the routine. ‘Six inches,’ Justine sighed. ‘I’m sorry. I was really hoping it would stop by now. If you get any smaller I’ll have a hard time keeping track of you.’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ I said, trying to reassure her. I couldn’t quite tell whether I succeeded. Looking up, I could see she was concerned, but not as much as usual. Maybe she too was getting used to it. ‘I’ll manage. We’ll manage.’

She smiled slightly at me. ‘I guess you’ll want to start your day off. What’s first, the breakfast or the bath?’

‘I don’t… Wait, why are you asking?’

 ‘To know where to carry you.’

I rolled my eyes on her. ‘Justine, whichever I pick, I can walk there on my own.’

‘No offense, but I think you’re getting a bit… too small for that.’

‘What are you worried about? That you might step on me?’

‘That too. And that it’s so far away for you now. It’d be easier if you let me take you there.’

‘My legs are fine,’ I said a bit more sternly, still looking in her distant, giant eyes. ‘Besides, we agreed I can still walk around the place if we all watch our step.’

‘We did,’ she nodded, resigned. ‘Although now I’m not so sure whether it was a good idea.’

Suddenly, an idea popped into my mind. ‘Well, how about you walk me there?’ I asked and followed, seeing a look of surprise on her face, ‘I feel like having something to eat. We could take a walk to the kitchen.’

‘Andrew, my single step would be like… ten of yours.’

‘We could still make it work. If you’re not in a hurry.’

She gave me an amused smile. ‘Okay, let’s have a walk.’ She slowly stood up, rising above me like she did the day before, her impressively long body stretching far, far above me. She turned and took her first step and I followed, dashing ahead to keep up with her. We strolled towards the kitchen, her taking slow, careful steps and me jogging to match the pace of her enormous, bare feet. As we walked, she let me know in the passing she prepared a breakfast for me, a few bits of toast and cheese waiting for me on a plate near the kitchen’s entrance. I thanked her for doing so and then I thanked her again, louder. Already my voice had trouble travelling from the floor to the giantesses’ ears.

 

We parted our ways near the kitchen. I watched her disappear into her room, her massive legs carrying her away, then I entered. I located the food and ate my fill sitting on the edge of the plate. The porcelain was cold and so were the tiles under my feet when I finally stood up. The closer I was to the ground the colder the apartment felt to me. I thought of asking Justine to make some warmer clothes for me. Then I went into the bathroom and washed myself in the lukewarm water resting in the bowl. Having completed my morning routine I headed to Justine’s room. This time I found her sitting on the floor, her back to the couch, her legs straight. She nodded to me and I approached her, taking a seat on the floor by her right thigh.

‘Where’s Maddie, by the way?’ I asked, having realized I haven’t seen her today.

‘Shopping. She said we needed some food to fill the fridge with.’

‘How nice of her.’

She gave me an amused look. ‘What really happened last night, if you don’t mind me asking?’

‘She invited herself into my bed, then kicked me out of it. Not on purpose, she was shifting in her sleep.’

‘Oh my. That explains why I found you on the floor. You must be sore after something like this.’

‘A bit. Why?’

‘Well, I could… I could rub your back. I-it could help.’

I smiled as I watched her try and fail to hide the blushing. ‘Sure, why not?’

‘I, um, I need to bring you closer,’ she said and reached out for me, grabbing me in her giant, smooth hand. She picked me up and put me on her thigh, laying me on my stomach. ‘I… also need to do this,’ she added and I felt her pinch the edges of my tunic and slide it down, enough to reveal my naked back. Even if I wanted to protest, how could I have stopped her? Soon enough I felt two big lumps of flesh, her thumbs, pressing against me as she massaged my back. I felt the aching dissipate as she worked, resting my chin against her thigh as I enjoyed the sensation. ‘How am I doing?’ her voice reached me from afar a moment later.

‘Great,’ I murmured. ‘I didn’t know you were a masseuse as well.’

‘I know a thing or two.’ There was a hint of pride in her voice. ‘Are your legs sore too?’

And again I thought ‘why not?’ and said yes. Truth is, they were not, but I was curious as to what she could do. I felt her pinch each of my legs between her soft fingertips, pressing them ever so gently as she continued further down, eventually reaching my feet. Never have I ever gotten a foot massage, especially not from such a giantess, and I realized I’ve been missing out. Whatever tension or aching there was in my limbs, it steadily vanished under Justine’s touch. I couldn’t help but wonder whether she was enjoying this as much as I did.

‘Done,’ she said a few moments later, and I slid the tunic back on my arms. ‘Feeling better now?’

‘Much better, thanks,’ I said and sat down, looking up to her face. ‘If I knew you’re so talented I’d have asked you for a back rub ages ago.’

She smiled and her hand reached me once more, her long finger ruffling my hair. ‘My pleasure to help out a little guy such as you.’ She then took on an embarrassed look. ‘Sorry. I shouldn’t have called you that.’

‘You said nothing wrong, I am little,’ I said and sighed. ‘Smaller every day.’

‘You still seem to be taking it well. I actually admire how calm you are, given the situation.’

I shrugged. ‘Getting used to it. I probably said it before.’

‘Every day there’s less of you and every day it surprises me to see it. And worries me. Are you sure you didn’t eat anything weird? Anything that could cause… this?’

‘Cross my heart, I did not. Or at least I can’t remember anything like that.’

‘Maybe it’s the coffee?’ she asked, smiling playfully.

I laughed at the suggestion. ‘Don’t be silly.’

And then we heard the key turning in the front door.

 

We still sat in the same spot by the time Maddie was done stuffing the fridge with produce. She entered the room, carrying a plastic box in her hand and smiled as she spotted me on Justine’s thigh.

‘Ah, there you are. Look what I’ve got for you!’ She crouched and brought the box closer, a ken doll visible through the transparent layer. It was twice as tall as I was.

‘And just what am I supposed to do with this?’ I asked, dumbfounded.

‘Wear it,’ she said and took the doll out of the box. It was wearing a red suit with a dark green shirt to boot. ‘Now, the suit might be a tad too big for you,’ she remarked, looking me up and down, ‘But you could do something with the shirt.’

‘I don’t like it.’ I crossed my arms and pouted to mess with her.

‘Well, the colour suits you. Perfect for an ungrateful little toad like you.’

‘I could make the pants smaller,’ Justine chimed in. ‘For as long as it takes.’

‘Here.’ Maddie undressed the doll and set it aside, handing me the shirt. ‘Try it on.’

‘I am not doing that while you’re looking, Maddison.’

‘It’s okay, we won’t peek,’ Justine said, as she closed her eyes and put a hand over Maddie’s eyes, much to the latter’s chagrin.

I took the shirt and quickly put it on, laying my former clothing on Justine’s thigh. As I thought, the shirt was way too big and long for me. And it felt itchy, the material obviously never intended for a human being to wear. ‘Done,’ I grumbled.

There was a moment of silence before the girls spoke. First went Justine. ‘You look… good?’

‘I look ridiculous.’

‘Ridiculously good!’ Maddie exclaimed, happy with herself. ‘It looks like a bathrobe on you, except with more style.’

‘Whatever,’ I said and sat down, crossing my legs. ‘That still doesn’t make us even for last night.’

‘What do you mean, last night?’ Maddie asked, taking a seat herself, on the floor.

I told her what happened. As I expected, she felt no guilt about her actions. ‘Well, you should’ve woken me up! I’d bring you back to bed.’

‘And kick me out of it again?’

‘Maybe.’ Her grin flashed above me.

‘Speaking of, how are you going to sleep today?’ Justine asked, looking down at me. ‘We could lift you up to your bed, but will you be able to get down in the morning?’

‘That’s another thing I thought of,’ Maddie interjected with a smile. ‘I bought some matches, really big ones. Stormproof, the box says. So thick that Andrew could use them as a ladder. In fact, I’ll go make one for him, before I forget.’ She stood up and left the room and us, surprised.

‘Sometimes,’ Justine said after a moment, ‘I don’t get her.’

I could do nothing but nod in agreement.

 

‘Well? How do you like it?’

Mandy’s voice reached me as I was overlooking her creation. It was evening already and we were all getting ready to go to sleep. I stood on the floor, between the girls’ feet, judging the stability of the rope ladder Maddie made out of matches and string. It went all the way from the floor to the bed, secured at the top by a book keeping it from sliding down.

‘Why don’t you try it?’ Justine spoke in an encouraging tone. And so I approached the ladder and carefully grabbed one of its rungs. It felt stable enough. I began to climb up and before I knew it I was standing on my bed and catching my breath. I’ve never been a good climber. I turned to see the girls kneeling, looking at me with an amused smile each. ‘See? You made it’ Justine said and I could tell she was somewhat proud of me.

‘That was a great idea, even for me,’ Maddie added.

‘Way to ruin the mood.’

‘You’re welcome.’

‘Let’s call it a night. Andrew needs his rest,’ Justine said and patted Maddie on the arm. We told each other goodnight and the girls left, turning the light off but leaving the door ajar. Good thinking on their part; after all, I could no longer unlock it if I had to. I sat down and looked over my ridiculously large shirt as my eyes adapted to the darkness. As I was about to lie down I noticed something worrisome. The shirt seemed to get even larger, longer, even sliding off me. I sighed heavily, knowing the sensation all too well. When it stopped, I tried to estimate my current size. The difference was evident and even though it was hard to say for sure in the dark, I knew I lost at least one third of my previous height, leaving me mere four inches tall. I lied down on my back, wondering whether the girls could still find me in the morning.

 

Chapter 9 by Balore

 

The following morning was full of unexpected events, one surprise after another. As I woke up in the morning, I clumsily made my way out of bed, almost falling off the string ladder. I was still four inches tall when my feet touched the floor, but not for long. I saw the world around me swirling, changing proportions, the humongous furniture of my room growing taller and larger around me, albeit slowly, gradually. I knew I was getting even smaller and my initial thought was to wait until it was over. But then I realized I had no idea just how small I will end up. And that it would’ve been a better idea if there was someone to watch me dwindle, to find me, should I get… too small. Getting out of the room was risky at that state, but still, I did not want to be alone, not at a time like this. And so I made my way towards the door, losing fractions of my current height with every step. Before I even reached the threshold I cast the shirt aside, as the bulk of this overgrown cloth was only slowing me down. Dignity is overrated anyway, I thought as I stepped into the hallway. There I was presented with a choice of who should I reach out to. It would take me just a few steps to reach Maddie’s door, her room being almost across from mine. Or I could take the long road towards Justine’s.  In the end, I chose the former. I knew Maddie would have a blast seeing me like this but the desperation took the better of me. I made my way towards her room, looking both ways as if I were crossing the street and checking the entrance before going in. The first thing that grabbed my attention while inside was, of course, Maddie sprawled on her bed. I realized even her way of sleeping was wild and chaotic, with each limb spread in different direction, as if she collapsed onto the bed rather than lied down. Her right leg wasn’t even ON the bed, instead hanging from it, the toes touching the floor. At first, I tried calling out to her. Then I tried doing so louder. And louder. Either she was a heavy sleeper or my voice had become too quiet for these giantesses. Or both. It seemed as if there was no other way than to get higher and to do that I had to climb. The easiest and, as I quickly gathered, the only way to get up there was to climb Maddie. As I got closer to the bed I realized I had to hurry; already I was becoming as small as her big toe. I tried kicking said digit to see whether that would wake her up, to no effect. Climb it is then, I thought, and I carefully crawled onto her giant foot, making my way up by clinging onto her white pyjama and steadily climbing further, all the while on all fours. Eventually I made it to her thigh and from there I walked onto her stomach. I looked around the landscape of the sleeping young woman as I rose with every breath of hers. She was everywhere I looked and the only sound I heard at the moment was her quiet snoring. I could hardly see her face beyond the two hills on the horizon. To say it was surreal would be an understatement, I felt as if I were transported on a movie set. A very bizarre movie, to say the least.

 

Once more, I tried calling out to her and it did not work this time either. Still she was asleep and still she was growing larger in my eyes, if ever so subtly. I knew my voice would only get quieter from this point on and that I had to reach a spot she would hear me at – her ear. I started to walk across the soft plain of her belly, feeling the heat of her body beneath my bare feet, as I headed towards the obvious obstacle in my way. The longer I walked the more it felt as if I’d never reach the horizon, the distance getting larger with each second. The smaller I was the faster I seemed to shrink and by the time I did reach her breasts I couldn’t have been bigger than an inch. If they weren’t like hills before, they definitely seemed this way now. I grabbed onto the cloth covering her left breast as I slowly made my climb up, now (for a change) hoping she would not wake up. This would’ve been hard to explain but fortunately for me, she remained asleep throughout my hike. When I made it to the top I took a moment to look around. The world ceased to shift around me, meaning my shrinking stopped, leaving me at a measly half an inch in height. Maddie wasn’t just a giantess now, she was a true landscape. The air was full of her scent and the buzz of her breath, her face filled my entire field of vision. I could hardly believe I used to consider this sleeping leviathan as smaller than me at a point. But, there was no time for sightseeing or recollection. I still had to make my way downhill and reach her ear. Lucky for me, the road down was much easier than it was up, even with my landscape rising every few seconds. I walked across her neck and then across her cheek, the few and far between freckles scattered on it as big as my feet, and crawled into her ear. There, I sat down to catch my breath. After all, I would need it to call out to her some more and I dared not think just how minuscule, how barely audible it would be at this sorry state. But before I could do so I felt my surroundings shake, and it took all my efforts to actually stay within her ear as it happened. Looking out confirmed what I feared the most at that moment – she was getting up. This was only the beginning of my troubles; as she stood up to her full height she tilted her head to the side, throwing me out. I’d have plummeted all the way to the floor had I not grabbed onto her antihelix at the very last moment. I desperately held onto it, too scared to even scream, as the redheaded colossus carried me away with her. I cursed her fast walking once more as I held on, each step threatening to toss me off. Finally, the movement stopped. Up until this point I kept my eyes clenched and it was only then that I gathered the courage to open them and I wish I hadn’t; we were now in the bathroom and Maddie, now naked (when did she have time to undress?), was entering the shower cabin. It was a long way down. If I fell, I’d surely crash against the shower floor and then be washed away down the drain. I used whatever strength I had left in my muscles to pull myself up and crawl inside her ear before the water hit her body.

 

So there I was, stuck in a cave under a waterfall, waging my options. Even if I had the strength to scream, my voice wouldn’t get through the rumble of the shower. But then, when this was over, and I decided to call out to Maddie, how would I explain the situation? No matter how persuasive I would be, I’d still end up as a pervert who crept on her while she was showering. She’d never let me live it down, I was sure of that. All in all, there seemed to be no way for me to be noticed while maintaining my dignity. Then again – what dignity had I left at that point? I decided to lie low and think of something later on. Eventually the shower stopped and I could see (and feel) her stepping out of the cabin. My surroundings shook as she wiped herself with a towel and put her clothes now, the quaking calming down when the giantess decided to brush her teeth. I waited patiently for her to finish but then I had another stroke of bad luck. As she lowered her head to spit the toothpaste into the sink I fell out of her ear once more. My reflexes didn’t fail me that time either and I latched onto her antihelix again and I found myself holding onto it once more. This time however for much shorter than before, as the moment Maddie stepped out of the bathroom she bumped into Justine. As the giantesses collided, the momentum threw me off the edge of Maddie’s ear and sent me flying down, onto Justine’s grey sweatpants. This time, I screamed. I hit her right leg and tried holding on, to no avail, as I tumbled down and down until I hit a hard surface. At first, I whimpered from the pain. Then I realized, much to my relief, I was not only alive but without broken limbs. The relief did not last long though, as the moment I got up and took a glance at my surroundings I realized just where I was – on the floor, in front of Justine’s right foot. My heart sank from knowing how dangerous a spot that was, as well as from the view before me. As if she didn’t have big feet before, I thought as I watched the ship-sized mass of flesh before me. Each of her toes was larger than me. If I looked closer, I could’ve sworn I could see my terrified reflection in the black polish. It would have taken but a step for her to snuff the life out of me. Just one step and I’d be gone.

‘Have you seen Andrew?’ Justine’s voice suddenly boomed above me, a distant thunder in the sky, thousands of miles from me. Even despite how loud it was, I could sense panic in it.

‘No,’ Maddie’s voice followed, equally deafening. ‘Why?’

‘This is all I found of him. Lying on the floor.’ Another thunder, more desperate than before. ‘He’s gone.’ A hint of tears on the wind.

‘Oh great. Drama.’ Sarcastic thunder. ‘Have you tried looking for him?’

‘No.’

‘Maybe he’s around. Maybe he took it off ‘cause it was too big for him. Maybe… we should look for him before saying he’s gone?’

‘Look for him. Right. Where?’

‘Anywhere! He could be right here! Hell, he could be that tiny thing by your foot.’

I shivered at that remark and looked up. The colossi were leaning slightly enough for me to distinguish their faces. Distant, blurry, yet there they were and they were looking at me. I began to do anything I could to get noticed. Jumping, waving my arms, doing both at the same time.

‘Oh. My God,’ Maddie’s surprised voice rumbled. ‘That IS him.’

‘Andrew, don’t move. I’ll pick you up,’ Justine added and I watched as her gigantic frame lowered itself, then her hand reaching down towards me. I stood still as two enormous fingertips closed in on me, trapping me whole between them, lifting me up to the sky before depositing me in the vast, warm plain of Justine’s hand. ‘I’ve got you,’ she whispered, looking down at me. There was still a lot of anxiety on that giant face of hers, in those brown, pond-sized eyes fixed on me.

‘Oh wow, he really is tiny now, isn’t he?’ I heard Maddie’s amused voice from behind me. ‘What was he even doing so close to your feet?’

No reply from either her nor me. For a moment we all stayed silent, each of us grasping the situation in their own way. Finally, Maddie spoke up:

‘Sooo… About that magnifying glass…’

‘Kitchen, second cabinet from the fridge,’ Justine said without skipping a beat, not taking the sight off me for even a second.

‘I’ll go get it,’ Maddie said and left us alone.

 

Chapter 10 (END) by Balore

 

Shortly after being rescued I was carried to the living room where I had to endure another ordeal related to my current size. I stood in the middle of Justine’s vast palm as the magnifying glass loomed above me. She was adamant in looking me over for any injuries I may have suffered through the morning.  There were none, fortunately, except for the humiliation of being examined under the glass like an insect, all the while being naked. At least Maddie seemed to enjoy the moment, even more so when, after the examination was over, Justine let her hold me for a bit. It was hard to even stand on her sweaty, trembling hand, all while seeing her grin over me. She even tried to touch me with her other hand’s fingertip and laughed as I ran around her palm to avoid it. At that point Justine decided Maddie had her fun and plucked me from her hand using her fingertips. Back in the bigger, more stable hand I had to stand and listen to the girls commenting on my condition and wondering how it will change our routine. They asked me questions which I could not answer, as my voice had now become inaudible to these giant beings. Even when Justine brought me close to her ear she couldn’t catch anything other than single words. It seemed our communications would prove impossible from that point on, or at least much harder. On the bright side it spared me from having to explain myself about this morning’s ordeal.

 

I was surprised how quickly the girls got over my recent shrinkage. Having seen me dwindle the whole week, I supposed it longer phased them. It was then settled that life would continue as usual, with me having the liberty to go as I like around the place and them watching their step. With that settled, Justine placed me on the coffee table and stood up to get her sewing kit. I watched as she moved around the room, amazed by how gracefully can something, or should I say someone, this big do so. Even from the table I could hear the thudding sounds her feet made with each step. It didn’t take her long to craft clothes for me from a piece of purple fabric and she was content to see I liked them. She placed her open hand on the table and waited for me to climb onto it, then took me to the kitchen where we had dinner. I sat on the edge of her plate, nibbling on a single grain of rice and when we were done she offered me some tea by dipping her fingertip in it and letting me scoop some from it, in my cupped hands. At least the food would last me forever. We returned to the living room as Maddie proposed to kill the time by playing monopoly, which we haven’t done in ages. She dusted off the old edition of the game we had and set the board on the coffee table. Since I was too small to roll the dice or handle the money, Justine offered to do that for me. I could count on her to do it right. And since I was too small to move (or even push) my token I had to act as one, moving around the football field sized board as much as the dice had me to. We played well into the late evening hours and in the end Justine won the game. She then carried me to my room, even though I could’ve walked the distance on my own, but at this size she would not hear my protests anyway. I fell asleep on a piece of a tissue, which she put on the floor by my bed, so that I don’t have to climb all the way down from the bed in the morning, or wait for someone to pick me up. Which I was grateful to her for, as the top of my bed seemed hundred feet high now.

 

And so we had to get used to the state of things. I, in particular, had to get used to long voyages from one room to the next, to the ground shaking beneath me every time one of the giantesses passed by, to the constant feeling of being on the edge as they did, as just one wrong step from their part would mean the end of me. In other words, I had to learn how to live beneath them, unheard and unnoticed until one of them remembered about me and looked all the way to the floor to notice a speck of purple cloth scuttering about. They also had to learn how to live with me, to leave food for me, check up on me, make sure I’m nowhere near where they step and talk to me, knowing full well they would not receive any answer. What they learned rather quickly was just how fragile I now was, and how to apply just enough pressure to pick me up without doing me harm. Soon I’ve grown accustomed to being lifted a thousand feet in the air without a warning and placed in the floating island of one of their hands, as their enormous eyes examined me with curiosity or glee. Sometimes I couldn’t help but wonder whether they still considered me their roommate or whether they switched to seeing me as their pet. But I couldn’t really complain. I was safe and well-fed by two women who, despite their differing attitudes about me, still cared for my wellbeing. The only thing I could truly complain about, other than being so minuscule, was the boredom. I had nothing to do other than roaming the apartment, being too small for any kind of entertainment other than the one the girls would provide me with. Every now and then Maddie would make me watch the series with her or let me walk around her body, finding a certain form of amusement from seeing me scale her legs or trying to stay standing on her belly. Justine picked that habit as well, though in a much more restricted form, But,  abandoned it altogether after I got lost within her long hair, having to spend a long time just to find and untangle me.

 

Our idyll, if one could call it that, didn’t last long. A month or so later I woke up to an unearthly sight of stars twinkling in the night sky. But as I came to my senses and looked around, noticing I was naked, I realized what it meant. I was now within the layers of my clothes, the stars being none other than holes in the fabric through which shone the morning light. I shrank again and I was now trapped inside my own tunic. It took me a long while to crawl out to the surface and when I finally did I was greeted by a world unlike anything I could imagine. A world of pale, rugged plains of wooden floor tiles stretching to the horizon and beyond, of thick, long ropes that once were strands of my hair, scattered around, of dark fog in the distance of all the dust that gathered under my bed. But the most terrifying sight of it all was that of a mountain range in the corner of the room, of flesh-coloured hills and cliffs rising hundreds of feet into the air which soon turned out to be nothing other than Justine’s bare foot. How small I was, I couldn’t tell for sure, but just from that one glance I knew I had become microscopic and that I would never be found. Which turned out to be true; despite their best efforts in scanning every corner, every spot of the apartment, the girls could not see me anywhere as I was now too small to ever be seen. Eventually they gave up on their search and I had to once again adapt to the life among giants, surviving on monstrously big crumbs that would fall from their table and lake-sized drops of liquids that formed on the floor, my expeditions through the apartment lasting days, even weeks. Surviving was the only thing on my mind, to survive until I come up with an idea of what to do next, or at least to pass the time until the next shrink spurt pushes me into the sub-atomic level of existence.

 

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