After the family picture, Susan went upstairs to get her phone and Maria ran ahead of them out the door. So with nothing else to do, he picked up the beach equipment and followed his daughter out the door. As soon as he stepped outside, he heard Maria before getting the chance to enjoy the summer air and warm sun. 

"Gregg!!" Maria shouted, running with her arms open.

He turned his head to see his supposed childhood best friend. They grew up together, sharing similar tastes, likes, and visions. However, it wasn't a friendship anymore to him. As they grew up, they also grew apart. While ?? chose academics to follow his love for the sea, Greg chose the military to pursue his passion for strength. He cut him off due to a hunch and significant flaws. One major flaw he had was his habitat for manipulating people. Even his best friend couldn't tell when he was genuine. That was the last straw after trying to trick him into almost giving his money away. They moved away. How was he here?

As he sees Greg pick up his daughter and swing her around with his gorilla-sized arms. It made him feel insecure looking at his skinny arms carrying the belongings. He would have gotten a Hercules body too if he had joined the military as well, but enough of these thoughts time to face the devil himself.

"Greg. so lovely to see you today!" ?? put down his belongings and approached him with a fake smile. He was fully expecting mind games and ready to face them.

Greg gently put his daughter down and patted her head. Maria's eyes were sparkling as if she had gone on the Ferris wheel. Then he put on a stern face and proceeded to stroll through the lawned mowed grass to hug ?? absolutely squishing his body. 

"Haha, how long has it been ?? I thought we would never meet again. It was surprising when you moved away without telling me but guess what, we can be neighbors again!!" Greg said with a happy grin.

When he said this ??  choked on whatever air he had left after his hug with the gorilla and then looked up to the sky, whispering to whoever would listen, "God, why... can't you bless me and make him disappear."

" What did you say ??" Greg said in a tone that said I heard that. Hopefully, he didn't.

"Oh, you didn't hear. I was thanking god how wonderful it is to have you back."

After letting him go from the hug and saying goodbyes, ?? went back to the front entrance to pick up their belongings and marched to the car.

"Looks like you need a little more muscle, huh," Greg said smugly.

 He ignored him and proceeded to pack the beach equipment in the trunk but noticed there wasn't enough room. So he had to make room shifting everything around. All the while, unaware of the conversation behind him. ?? made space in the car for everything,  then proceeded to organize it all. After having everything stored, he entered the driver's seat and waited for everyone to be in the car to start it. Past experiences made him learn this lesson, but he didn't expect the unexpected.

*3 minutes earlier*

"Run along now, Maria. You got a trip to go to," 

"But I wanted to spend more time with you," she answered with arms crossed.

"Maybe another time, Maria, but right now, your father probably needs help organizing everything inside." before Greg finished what he was saying, he was interrupted.

" Maria, can you take Sarah and buckle her to her baby booster, please! and don't forget your sunscreen and where is your father-"

They locked eyes for what felt like minutes, but it was enough for Maria to remove Sarah from her mother's hand and proceed to walk to the car to buckle her in. There she was, Susan.

"GREGG!!" Susan shouted 

Now, this is when the unexpected happened. The shout was so loud that even the neighbors heard it, including ??. It made him jump and hit his head on the roof of the car. Curious as to what would make his wife shout like that, he glanced out the windshield, only further proving his hunch. In front of him was Greg hugging Susan, but from what he saw, Greg's fingers were on the waistline border.

?? just stared at their hug, thinking, "Come on, come on, break up the hug." The hug never broke. It went on a little too long for friends, minutes of them just standing there. He was starting to feel jealous. As far as he knew, Susan was oblivious to his feeling. Instead of seeing Greg as a best friend. He knew from previous conversations that his wife confided in him and told him things like complaining about all that girl jazz.

As he saw them speaking, Greg must have cracked a joke because he saw Susan giggling all of a sudden. He started daydreaming in the hope of distracting his insecure thoughts, unaware of the passing time until his wife entered the car, waving and smiling.

"Bye, Greg. So nice to see you. Let's catch up later," she cheered.

As she finished waving bye to Greg, she turned and looked at ?? 

"What?."

"Nothing at all, Susan, just preoccupied with my thoughts..." It's not like he could openly say he thinks she might cheat. She would laugh it off and say how absurd he is even to believe she would do it.

Sensing her husband's doubt, she proceeded to lean her head on his shoulder "do you remember the day we first met?"

"Yeah, we met in a class." ?? said confidently 

She giggles at his answer, " not just any class dumb dumb. It was math class."

"Oh, oh, I know this one Mom. You talked to him because he looked like a nerd that could help you!" Maria said 

"Yeah, we met in ma- wait, what you thought I was a nerd?" 

Susan started laughing in the car. "Haha, hold up, let me catch my breath." ?? watch her trying to come back from her laughing fit.

"You know why I was laughing?"

Yeah, because I was a los-" he was interrupted when her wife's index finger pressed into his lips.

"No, never say that. I was happy because of how wrong I was. You weren't brilliant in math and sucked at it together. One good thing did come out of it. I discovered an amazing young man that could handle my darkest parts and loved me anyway that knows all my flaws and loves me not despite them but because of them. Someone who could hold my hand in the darkest times. remembered what we promised each other when we got married thick and through we shall never leave each other"

"Did you get that from your favorite novel?" asked ??.

"No, no, of course, I didn't." She answered with a wink and tongue sticking out.

"Ahh, I love this woman." he thought internally. They were about to kiss when.

"EWWW!!!! MOM, I didn't know you could be such a simp and-." Maria couldn't finish her phrase because of her mother's overlapping it.

"Be careful what you say, sweetie, or your head might be doing a full circle!" She said with the sweetest voice.

"yeees... Momma." Oh, she said, momma, now you know she is scared. He chuckled at their background conversation as he was starting the car.

Ohh, I almost forgot to check today's date, he thought as he pulled out his phone and read it out loud. 

"August 30th,2022, remember this date!! it shall be the happiest memories we will ever make!!."

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

On August 30th,2023, the world was in a time of fewer conflicts, less oppression, and more equal opportunities. We celebrated and cheered for our future, but we forgot one fundamental thing. Where light shines the most promising, it always casts an even bigger shadow. What would be the cost of this light?.

 On this day, the shadow came, taking the form of COVID. When COVID was dying down, it took the next step of evolution, a route that would be scientifically impossible. The pathogen got deadlier than any recorded virus, how you may ask?. It got a unique trait that will shrink you if you're infected. It ranged from losing a few inches to standing an abysmal few inches.

Viruses usually kill you, but this one kept you alive. Some idiots thought this was a blessing, no fatalities or living out their dreams, but no, it was a curse. We constantly fought viruses that killed people, but never have we prepared for one that destroys our society, making people different from each other. It's the 1700s all over again.

When the news came out that one percent of the population still had COVID(78 million) would likely shrink. It threw the world into chaos. Nations reacted fast and closed their borders until their researchers learned that 80 percent of individuals were immune to its shrinking effect. Still, we needed a cure, not an 80% chance not to diminish. Hope was vanishing fast until we looked to the stars. 

Humankind always looked to the stars to the heavens for answers. Sometimes we didn't like what we found, and while the galaxy revealed few answers, we were sure that the answer to kill this virus was out there, not on earth. There's always been one truly unifying force, one call that would always unite us. The emergence of a common enemy and this enemy was invisible. While the world was in a panic, the unification of humanity brought hope. 

"This Act shall protect people all over the world from… this-this diminishing virus. Our top scientists are looking for treatment outside of earth." The government announced. Most people adapted well to this change in the world two months ago. But the shrunken weren't fortunate enough to agree. 

Yes, peace came for the "normal-sized." It wasn't meant for the like of us "infected." all those noble ideals and vows, lies to make themselves appear passionate. When the time came to enforce, protect and care about those "ideas," they suddenly vanished. As time passed, they stopped caring less and less toward the now labeled "Tinies." Actions were never taken to support the shrunken, forgotten, and lost.