Chapter 2

“Uhh…uhm…I…I s-said I was sorry on the phone, mom,” Jack mumbled, casting his eyes down at his mother’s impressive boots.

“Yes, well…” replied Sadie, staring down her nose at her shrunken son, “Apparently your sister had a little talk with you, huh? Told you she couldn’t cover for you anymore, hmmm?”

“S-something like that,” said Jack. He was finding it difficult to meet his mother’s eyes, so for the time being, he contented himself with staring down at her feet. Sadie turned a knowing glance over to Alice, who was standing nearby, and who had nothing more than an apologetic shrug in response to her mother’s look.

“So you’re not feeling sick or anything?” Sadie asked, turning back to Jack and peering down at him carefully. Jack found his line of sight suddenly interrupted by the cleavage of his mother’s large breasts, which were pressing tightly up against her black top. He tried to back away, but then remembered that he was up against the kitchen wall, with nowhere to go. Sadie had extended her big arm and was suddenly feeling his forehead with the back of her hand.

“No fever?” she continued. “No chills?”

“M-mom…stop,” Jack muttered, trying to squirm away from her hand. But her other hand came down and steadily but firmly held him in place.

“Quit trying to get away and let me just check you!” she exclaimed, still feeling his forehead.

“But mom I told you…I told you that I feel fine!” protested Jack, rolling his eyes and sighing. As he sighed, he felt the small frame of his body slowly sinking a little under the weight of his mother’s big hand. She had always seemed huge to him, but now…now it was a different story entirely.

“Well forgive me if I don’t take you or your sister’s word for things for a while,” replied Sadie snappily. She kept her hand on her son’s head for a few long moments as she stared straight at the wall, trying to decide whether he felt hot or not. Alice watched close, her lips pursed in slight amusement as she and her brother made eye contact. Their mother’s behavior had clearly been expected.

Eventually, Sadie removed her hand and stood back up to her full height, filling Jack’s vision once again with a direct, front-end view of her breasts. She clicked her tongue.

“Well, you don’t feel warm,” she began, “So, there’s that, I guess. No skin flushing…and you haven’t been having any stomach problems or headaches or anything like that?”

“No! Mom, I told you —” Jack started to answer.

“No diarrhea?” cut in Sadie.

“What?! Mom, no! God!” exclaimed Jack, feeling a little violated by the frank and blunt questions. “I told you that I’ve been totally fine…except for…for, you know…”

“The shrinking,” finished Alice, coming up beside her mother as she joined Sadie in staring down at Jack. He suddenly realized that he felt a bit claustrophobic, backed into a wall, with his mom and younger sister boxing him in like this. He had always been the runt of the family, but this was actually starting to seem a little ridiculous. It certainly didn’t help that he had to look up at his younger sister’s bare shoulders…or that he was noticing how carefully they were both staring down at him…almost like they were studying him or something, like he was some kind of a test subject.

“Geez Alice,” remarked Sadie after a short silence, her eyes still down on Jack, “I had been expecting him to be really small, but…” She shook her head. “Not this small.”

“It’s really something, isn’t it?” nodded Alice, speaking quietly. “I’m just glad I could help him out, you know…give him a place he could kinda lie low while we got all this sorted out.”

“Yeah, well…you two should have told me,” declared Sadie.

“I know, we should’ve,” agreed Alice. “We just…you know, didn’t wanna freak you out, is all.”

“Well that’s kind of a lame excuse,” huffed Sadie. “I was going to find out eventually, wasn’t I?”

“But, we didn’t…I m-mean…what we were trying to…uhm…” stammered Jack. He was getting frustrated with the fact that he couldn’t seem to speak correctly, which was only making it more difficult to gather his thoughts. The truth was, he still just wasn’t used to feeling this intimidated by his mom and sister, and it was making it hard for him to express himself.

“What my little brother is trying to say,” interrupted Alice with a gentle little smile, “Is that we really had no idea what was going on with him…still don’t, actually…and we thought that maybe it would, I don’t know, reverse itself.”

“Hah…“little brother,”” chuckled Sadie appreciatively, her big body jiggled in response. “More true than ever, huh? But seriously guys…I hope you’ve learned your lesson from this, ok? Keep me in the loop! Your poor, fragile little mother isn’t as delicate as you think she is.”

“Ok mom…we’re sorry,” said Alice quietly, her cheeks reddening slightly. Jack could see his sister blushing slightly, even if he had to crane his neck up to look. He felt a stab of something strange, like regret combined with tenderness, for her. She had really been sweet, trying to keep his condition a secret…and he knew how she didn’t like to lie, especially to their mother. She had always been a kind, gentle soul, which had worked as an odd contrast to how much bigger and taller she had always been. But now, it was strange to feel, even more, this striking contrast between the softness of Alice’s disposition, and the degree to which she totally dwarfed him.

Speaking of “delicate,”” Alice added, nudging her mom a little in the shoulder, “See why I’ve been encouraging him to just stay home with me, and…you know, not really go out too much? He’s not just getting shorter. I mean, look at his arms and legs — he’s kinda getting…smaller all over.”

“I can see that, yes,” nodded Sadie, her eyes going over Jack’s body.

“Guys, would you, just…like, quit staring at me like that?” Jack complained, crossing his arms in front of his chest, like he was shielding himself from something.

“Aw, come on…cutie,” Alice lightly teased, pouting at him. “It’s all for your own good, anyway.”

“Your sister’s right, you know,” cut in Sadie. “You’re lucky that you have responsible women in your life who are about you and want to make sure you’re ok.”

“I’m…responsible,” grumbled Jack, his eyes traveling back down moodily, away from his mother’s face. Seemingly of their own volition, his eyes stopped halfway down Sadie’s body, as he stared at the two or three-inch line of exposed skin in between her tight black top and her form-fitting jeans. Her belly button was showing, and it was just about even with Jack’s shoulders.

“Well when you quit your job, and move in with your sister, all because of a mysterious condition, all without telling me,” lectured Sadie, putting her hands on her hips, “I wonder how responsible you actually are…and by the way, that goes for you, young lady. I would’ve expected better from you, at least.”

“Look, I get the picture, mom, alright?” said Alice, in a rare moment of impatience.

“And you?” asked Sadie, looking down at Jack. “Are you gonna keep playing these games with me, or are you gonna start being open and honest from now on?”

“I told you, mom…” muttered Jack, still staring at her belly button, not quite believing how high it was compared to him, “I’m sorry, and I won’t lie to you anym—”

“Eh, hold on a sec,” interrupted Sadie, holding up a huge hand and pointing to her exposed midsection with a long, manicured finger. “That’s my belly button down there, Jack. My eyes are up here.”

Jack immediately acquiesced to her implied request, raising his eyes up past the bulges of his mother’s breasts and into her eyes.

“That’s better,” Sadie said, clicking her tongue. “Look up at me when I’m talking to you. I’m your mother.”

“I’ll…I’ll tell you the truth from now on, ok?” Jack repeated. He was self-conscious about how much he was having to crane his head back to look his mother in the face…and hadn’t Alice just called him her “little brother” just now!? Had he imagined that? He cast his eyes slightly to the side, at Alice, who actually didn’t look all that much shorter from Sadie, despite the fact that she was in her bare feet. Jack had to remind himself that Alice had essentially been 6 feet tall ever since she had been a teenager, so of course she would be looking extra tall now compared to him. But still, though…even though Sadie was a towering 6’6 in her heels, the top of Alice’s head still came up to her eye-level. She was still staring down at him, but she seemed to have lost the little spurt of humor that had been in her face moments before. She was back to that quiet, tender, worried look, and it did little to reassure him.

“Well alright then,” said Sadie, apparently satisfied that she had made her point. “Ok…so…we’re all on the same page.”

Alice and Jack nodded, and a slightly awkward silence permeated the air between all three of them. Sadie was standing there, still staring down at her son, creasing her brow as she turned her head slightly sideways. It was like she was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that her “short” son was now even shorter…and even skinnier…than he had been before. Jack still had nowhere to go, and could only glance awkwardly at Alice, silently pleading for her to do something to change the subject. Alice blinked down at him gently and let the silence extend out for a few long seconds before she turned to Sadie and smiled.

“Hey…nice kicks, mom,” she remarked, pointing down at Sadie’s black platform heels. “Did you get those last week? I don’t think I’ve seen them before.”

“Oh…oh! You like them?” Sadie asked, snapping out of staring at Jack and grinning as she lifted one foot up, slapping the hard, heavy heel into her hand so that Alice could get a closer look. “Yeah, I got these from Saks Fifth last weekend. I know I haven’t needed any new heels for years, but I was just browsing around for Elaine’s...uh, your grandmother’s…birthday, and I saw these and I was like, ‘Oh…gotta have em’.’”

“It’s her birthday soon?” asked Alice, stepping back away from Jack in an effort to give him some room. He immediately moved away from the wall, marching over to the fridge to get himself some water, despite not really being thirsty. He just wanted to walk around a little, to assert to his mother that, in fact, he was still an adult man who could take care of himself. He had to tug on the fridge a little harder than he expected to, though, and turning around, he saw that both Alice and Sadie were still looking at him.

“Yep…in three days, actually,” Sadie said, turning to look at Alice. “You weren’t going to forget your grandmother’s birthday, now, were you?”

“I…I mean…” chuckled Alice, smiling in response to her mother’s wry grin. “It may have slipped my mind a little, to be honest.”

“Mmhmm,” replied Sadie with thinly-veiled sarcasm. “And what about you, Jack?”

Before he could answer, though, Alice spoke for him:

“Oh come on mom…I think Jack’s been a little preoccupied recently, don’t you think?”

“Hmm, suppose that’s fair,” figured Sadie. “But now that I’ve conveniently reminded you both, I’m actually wondering….hrmmmmm…”

“Uh-oh, what’s mom cooking up?” chuckled Alice to Jack, going around and settling into one of the tall chairs at the kitchen bar. Jack had been heading for the same chairs, but Alice’s stride was nearly twice as long as his own, and she got there first, sinking into the chair. It was her way of relaxing the whole situation down, since, after all, it was her house that they were in. Sadie had a way of ratcheting up the energy wherever she was, and Alice was conscious of making it a point to tone everything down a bit. Jack joined her a moment later, but he actually had to do a little hop to get himself up into the chair, which Alice noticed with a furtive little smile. And once he was in the chair, he noticed that his legs dangled in the air. Looking over at his younger sister, her feet were easily perched on the bottom rungs of the chair, far out of his reach — her legs were slightly bent at the knee as well, indicating that she had plenty of excess leg length to spare. And not only that, but Jack couldn’t help but notice how much more Alice filled the seat than he did. The chairs were identical; he wasn’t even really able to see the light wood of her seat, but looking down at his own, the wood extended out amply on all sides of him. He swallowed nervously, feeling even smaller than he had been before. He just couldn’t catch a break, could he? All he had wanted to do was sit down.

“I’m just thinking,” Sadie mused out loud, “About whether…hmmm…”

“How long is she gonna do this to us?” Alice joked to Jack, putting her arm on the counter next to his.

“Well you know how, umm…uhhh…how mom likes to think out loud,” said Jack. He was trying his best to sound casual, but he was too busy staring down at Alice’s big arm next to his on the counter. It was clear that she had not intended on emphasizing their size difference like this, but Jack noticed it all the same, somehow with more poignancy because she had not meant it. The way her forearm just…rose up next to his…it was incredible. Jack wondered whether her wrist alone was as thick as the thickest part of his forearm. No…it couldn’t be…his arm wasn’t that small. Not yet, at least…

“I had been planning for us all to go out and eat somewhere,” Sadie was saying, ignoring their little remarks about her. “But considering Jack’s condition…”

“Oh…I’m fine, mom…really,” Jack spoke up, holding up his hand. “It’s not like I have…like, the plague or something.”

“But what if you’re not “fine” in a few days, hmm?” countered Sadie, walking slowly towards him. “What if you’re too tired or worn-out, or…I don’t know…you’ve shrunk down to four feet tall, or whatever…”

“Mom!” cried Jack indignantly, getting a little red in the face at the thought, “Th-that’s…that’s not gonna happen!”

“Oh?” challenged Sadie. “So you know what’s wrong with you, then? You know what’s causing the shrinking? You’re fully aware of your prognosis?”

“I…w-well…no, of course not,” muttered Jack, retreating a little, “But —”

“But nothing, Jack,” declared Sadie, shaking her head down at him. “The truth is you have no idea what’s wrong with you, no idea how you’ll be feeling, and NO IDEA how small you’ll be in three days! Come on, you can’t get around it.”

“Ok then! Fine, mom!” exclaimed Jack, flailing his hands helplessly. “What was your huge idea, then?”

“I was just thinking,” replied Sadie curtly, turning to Alice, “That maybe it would make more sense for us to have a little gathering over here for grandma’s birthday. Would that be something you’d be ok with, Alice?”

“Of course,” she answered, gesturing around the kitchen. “I’ve been baking a lot anyway…I could bake her a nice cake, cook something tasty for dinner…she likes red wine, right?”

“Expensive red wine,” chuckled Sadie, her eyebrows going up.

“Yes, well…you can bring some of that,” laughed Alice, “And…me and my little kitchen helper here can cook up something nice to eat.”

“Psssh, “kitchen helper,”” exhaled Jack, trying to smile to cover up the self-consciousness exposed by his sister’s gentle tease.

“Well, I mean…even right now you can’t reach too much,” laughed Alice. “I keep all my spices and baking supplies kinda high up, and I really can’t be having you moving a step stool all over the kitchen while I’m trying to bake and cook stuff. Soooo…heheh, yeah, I’ll just call you my “little kitchen helper” and give you things to do that are…well, appropriate for your size.”

“There, perfect!” trilled Sadie happily, clapping her hands, before Jack could offer a retort to his sister’s provocation. “It’s settled then!” She was glancing around Alice’s kitchen, now that the room itself was a point of discussion.

“Wow, Alice,” Sadie suddenly added, “You really have been baking a ton…breads, cakes, pies…mmmmm, all this looks really good! What’s it all for? Just trying your hand? Good for you!”

“Uh, actually,” said Alice, glancing over at her brother, “I’ve been making all of this for Jack.”

“For Jack?” asked Sadie, who had already gone over and helped herself to a slice of banana bread. “Mmmmm! Alice! This is delicious! But…mmmm…but, so…uhm…is the idea to, like…uhm…”

“To fatten him up!” giggled Alice, blushing slightly as her big breasts shook in her tight white top. Jack blinked and looked down at her, at the line of soft, ample, feminine flesh in between her tight jeans and her tight top. Why was he getting so fixated on his mom and sister’s stomachs, anyway!? He knew it had something to do with his shrinking, and with the easy, casual way their bare flesh emphasized their size, but he didn’t really want to think too much past that. He just wished that he could chase these weird and unwelcome thoughts out of his head for good.

“To…like, somehow counteract what’s happening to him?” asked Sadie, with her mouth full. She had already eaten one whole slice, and had reached for another.

“Exactly,” nodded Alice, her smile falling a little as she looked down on her brother. “But his appetite…it hasn’t been the best, really. And even though he’s trying — I know you are, Jack — he can’t really seem to eat too much before his little tummy gets full.”

“Hmmm well…mmmmm, god this is good…uhhh, well, it was worth a shot,” Sadie said, chewing.

“Can’t hurt, right?” Alice said, smiling down at Jack. He could detect, though, that there was something wistful in her smile, something almost sad…like she knew that he was in the early stages of enduring a hard and unavoidable fate. He desperately hoped that something could be done to stave it off, but if he was being honest with himself, he felt in his bones that the look in his sister’s eyes told the whole story. He was shrinking…and getting even smaller…and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

The next few days, her instincts were proven correct. Despite trying to eat more, to exercise more, to take vitamins, and the like, Jack’s body continued on its progressively downward spiral, and by the time their grandmother’s arrived, three days later, he had shrunk all the way down to an astonishing 4’9. The top of his head didn’t even come close to Alice’s shoulders now, and whenever he stood in front of her, he was desperate to realize that he was looking slightly up at her nipples, which were always a little more conspicuous than he was comfortable with — Alice (in her mother’s style) always wore tight tops that emphasized the impinged of her large nipples. Even more distressing to Jack was Alice’s quiet adoption of heels, which she had started wearing around the house…a pair of 2-inch pumps that made her almost 6’2. He had never really noticed her wearing them before, and they only served to underline the already-huge size difference between them. Alice hadn’t said anything about it; she had just started wearing them.

Sadie had been staying over at Alice’s a lot more, ostensibly to “help around the house,” but Jack knew that she had just wanted to keep a hawk-eye on him. It certainly didn't help that she had been strutting around in her new heels, with her low-cut tops, flashing her exposed stomach at him; her belly button was now the same height as his neck.

But they weren’t saying much today — instead, they were all just going about their business, preparing the house for Elena’s arrival. Sadie was giving the house a little spruce-up, while Alice and Jack cooked and baked in the kitchen. Alice had spent all morning giving her “little kitchen helper” a number of tasks to accomplish, many of which Jack was finding hard to do. The knives, the mixing bowls, the spatulas…they all seemed a little too big, and he often found himself exhausted after cutting up carrots or stirring cake batter.

“All good there, little guy?” Alice asked with that soft, gentle grin of hers, winking at him as she chopped up an entire carrot easily in a matter of seconds. Jack had just taken about a minute to do the same thing, and his hand was tired.

“Yeah, just…uh…whew…! Haha, need a little break for a second,” he chuckled, realizing how ridiculous he sounded.

“Aw,” whispered Alice, as she effortlessly chopped two more carrots, the knife blurring from her speed, “That’s kind of precious, you know.”

“Wh-what is?” Jack asked, blushing, already knowing the answer. For some strange reason, he wanted to hear Alice say it out loud. But just then, the doorbell rang.

“Oh damn! Of course she’s early!” called Sadie from the living room. “Alice! Why don’t you let her in! I’m a little tied up at the moment.”

“Sure mom!” called Alice, who then turned down to Jack. He was standing on a 5-inch step stool at the counter, and even still, she was an entire head taller than him.

“It’s all you, little guy,” she whispered down at him, smiling.

“M-me!?” he stuttered, feeling suddenly intimidated.

“Well yeah!” Alice chuckled. “You said your little hand needed a break, right? Go let grandma in!”

Jack slinked off the step stool and made his way toward the front door. He knew that his grandma had been told about his condition, about everything, really. But he was not looking forward to her initial reaction — ever since he had been a teenager, his smaller size had been the source of mirth for her. She had never seemed to tire of pointing out how cute he was, and how funny it was that his younger sister was bigger and taller than him.

He had reached the solid oak front door. Taking a deep breath, he reached out, undid the lock, and, with difficulty, opened the door. An enormous woman met his eyes. At 6’2, Elena had always seemed like a giant to him, but nothing like this. He had been trying to prepare himself for how huge she would look, but he knew now that there had been no way he could have braced himself for this comparison. As usual, Elena was wearing a pair of stylish, open-toed high heels, which made her a staggering 6’6. She had on a tight blue top, which, like Sadie’s and Alice’s tops, ended a couple inches above her belly button. Jack’s eyes flitted down over her long, form-fitting white pants. She had apparently been sunning herself recently, because her skin was tan — she was a bit softer than her daughter due to her age, but the sheer presence of her big body was enough to take Jack’s breath away.

“Jack!?” she breathed, her eyes going wide as she immediately bent down low towards him, her mouth opened wide. “No…no, it…it can’t be!”

Jack felt himself freeze in place as a pair of huge, strong hands gently descended on his shoulders. Elena was peering down at him, looking straight in the face, with her nose only inches away from his.

“It IS you!” she whispered, blinking and exhaling a laughing smile. She stood back up to her full height, giving Jack a full view of the top part of her stomach. “It IS you! Hahahaha! Oh my GOODNESS…Sadie wasn’t lying, was she!? Oh my GOD…Jack! Jack I just…I just can’t…I can’t help myself. Come here, you adorable little man.”

She swiftly bent down, whisked Jack clean off his feet, and raised him up to her face, planting a series of affectionate kisses on his cheek.

“H-hi grandma!” Jack laughed, feeling utterly helpless in her strong grip.

“Awwww! Even your VOICE is a little higher than it was!” giggled Elena, holding him at arm’s length from her, with his legs dangling high off the ground. “You were always such an ADORABLE, PRECIOUS little thing…but NOW…hahaha, good grief!! I don’t need any more birthday presents — I’ve got all I need RIGHT HERE!”

She kissed him a few more times on the cheek before transferring him to her right arm, cradling his entire body in the crook of her arm, as she crossed through the threshold of the house, closing the door behind her.

“Helloooooo!” she called out into the house joyously, bouncing Jack in her arm, which held him effortlessly. “Alice! I didn’t realize you had hired your brother as your own personal little butler!”