I woke up with a jolt, as if I’d just woken up from a nightmare. My sudden awakening caused all memory of my dream from the night before to fall right out my brain, but I was sure it wasn’t anything horrifying. Nevertheless my heart was pounding and after touching my forehead, I found it was coated with sweat. I rose up into a sitting position before promptly regretting it - I let out a grunt of pain as my whole body tensed, my muscles feeling like they were curling up into tight balls. I hauled my legs out from the duvet and planted my feet on the ground - these cramps were a bitch, but the best way to get rid of cramps was to start moving. I rose to my feet and the duvet fell away, and I remembered that I was still wearing that pink bikini Lucy had gotten me the other day.

The other day, huh? I sighed and shook my head as I hobbled toward the bathroom. I’d rather not have to think about everything that happened for now. Stepping into the bathroom, the cold tiled floor helped alleviate the pain around my feet for just a moment as I turned the cold water tap, letting fresh water run into the bowl. Flicking my hair out of the way, I bent down and splashed my aching face with water, looking in the mirror while I gave my face a quick wash. However, as I watched myself wipe the water from my eyes and cheeks, I saw something in the mirror. Yes, it was my reflection– but there was something different. I stared and, well, I’m not sure how to explain it, all I can do is say that I saw a… a spark in my eyes that had never been there before.

And then my alarm began blaring– 7am. I nearly jumped out of my skin and my muscles groaned. ‘Come on, I couldn’t be getting old already!’ I thought at the time. I picked my toothbrush out and started scrubbing, absent-mindedly watching myself as I did, trying to figure out what exactly I was seeing that I hadn’t seen before. My toothbrush felt like it was getting harder to hold, I noticed, but I paid little heed to it. My eyes wandered and my body followed - I only really took notice of something being up when I turned to leave the room, only for my hair to brush up against the doorframe. I paused, and looked up, seeing the frame mere centimetres away from my face. My eyes grew wide and my body spun round again, practically leaping back over to the mirror to see if my suspicions were correct. My hands slammed against the sink and it trembled, creaking in an attempt to hold me up as I leant in, my breath condensing against the smudged glass. I watched closely for a moment and then my eyes grew wide in shock.

Holy shit, I was growing! I could see my line of sight steadily rising higher and higher the longer I looked into the mirror - it was slow, but… I had to step back to take in exactly what I was witnessing. The aching of my muscles had all but vanished from my muscles by now, leaving in its place a pleasant sensation - almost as if my whole body was being massaged all at once. It reminded me of being pampered last night, but somehow better. Maybe it was the growing part. In my shock I couldn’t help but let out a shrill giggle and I turned round to step out into a more spacious room - my head promptly smacked against the door frame and I pulled away with a grunt of pain. Looking up at it, I had to blink to make sure I was seeing straight - there were cracks snaking along the wood now with thin clouds of sawdust spilling from them. Not taking my eyes off of the sight, I slowly ducked under this time. I was still taking in what was happening to me; should I be excited? I mean, I had no idea what was happening to me. I felt like the sensible thing to do would be to go get help, right? My face scrunched up a little - I didn’t really want to push down my excitement, but nevertheless I steadied myself and began the search for my clothes. The ones I had on yesterday were scattered about the floor but, picking them up, it was rather evident that they wouldn’t be fitting me anymore. I snorted at that - it was a good job I was wearing something, at least. Even if it was just a bikini.

Some muffled shouting from the hall pulled my attention away from my clothes, and I pretty much knew the culprit of the ruckus without a second thought. Knowing what she’d be shouting about, too, I just rose to the peak of my new height and waited, a cocky hand on my hip.

“... I swear, I’ll have her pay for the damages PLUS! I’m sick of her and her type always coming here and fucking everything up!” My landlady, Ms. Mills burst through my front door as loud as ever: “If she’s in here– MISS–!” The middle-aged woman suddenly stopped in her tracks as she got her first good luck at me. I grinned - getting that old crone to halt and zip it like that was quite the challenge… for anyone but me, at least. Ms. Mills sputtered, trying to get her voice going again as she stared at me in shock - at this point my head was inching toward the ceiling and the expression on her face… ohoho, I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. Sure, I’d see many more like it as the day went on, but she was the first. That makes it special.

“Wh-what on Earth–” Ms. Mills began, but then the soft sound of my head hitting the ceiling caused her to lose her voice again as she stared at me, her mouth agape as I felt I was reaching around the 8ft mark. I grinned and bent forward, just a little: “I’m sorry, did you want me for something, ma’am? Or are you just excited to see me back?”

Dumbfounded, Ms. Mills struggled to find her words again, giving enough time for someone else to enter the room: “Um, is everything okay in here…?”

My eyes flicked from the old woman to the newcomer - I quickly recognised him as Simon, a young man who lived directly opposite me. He looked well dressed, considering how early it was, with an ironed shirt and even a tie. My head tilted to the side a little: “Hey, Simon! Don’t worry, we were both just leaving.”

“Wh… what…?” Simon’s eyes were wide as he looked up at me, towering over the both of them even as I bent down. I raised a brow, amused by his reaction, and slowly stepped toward him. The old floorboards creaked beneath my feet and I pushed Ms. Mills aside like a child, her side thumping against the wall. My smirk grew wider when she didn’t speak up about the roughness. I loomed over Simon, having to keep my head and shoulders low to avoid scraping the ceiling. The little man stumbled backward toward the door, but didn’t leave– his need to be polite stopped him from just turning his back on me. Cute. I reached down, my hand larger than his face now, and gave his hair a playful ruffle: “Whatcha worrying for, Simon? We’re cool, aren’t we?”
“I, um… well, I’d certainly like to think so…!” Simon returned; he managed a small smile for just a moment but it disappeared as he pulled back in surprise when I, without warning, knelt down in front of him - even on my knees, I was damn near matching his height already.
“Well, there you go,” I giggled: “Can you do me a favour and take Ms. Mills back to her room? I think she’s a little stunned,” I gave him a wink, and my calm demeanour seemed to calm Simon down some. He managed a soft smile and gave me a nod: “Uh, sure! Of course…”

Ms. Mills was still staring at me with wide eyes as Simon managed to drag her out the room, the both of them keeping their distance as best they could as they squeezed around me and hurried down the hall. I rose up from my knees again, looking above me - it seemed I might need to get out soon, too.

Poking my head round the door frame, my smile only got wider as I got a good look at what was awaiting me - the commotion had woken up a lot of people and they’d all come to their front doors to see what was going on. Some were making their way down the landing while others stuck to their own doors, but all of them stopped and stared as my head came into view. Knowing I’d get more of a reaction if I entertained their curiosity, I fell onto all fours and crawled out of my old apartment, my hips bumping against the wooden door frame as I did. The dumbfounded faces of the onlookers only got more exaggerated as they would stumble backwards once I began crawling toward them. Approaching open apartments would result in the owners quickly retreating back inside and slamming their doors shut, peeking through the mail slot, through a window or just barely keeping the door open to watch me where they thought they were more safe. A small part of my brain urged me to just barge through the doors and shatter those thoughts, but I held back - that’d be fun, but it’d attract the wrong sort of attention.

My attention was pulled away from those peering eyes as I heard a commotion echoing up the stairwell, over on the opposite side of the long hallway. My head tilted slightly, curious, and I was surprised to see one of my neighbours - I recognised them but it’s not like we ever talked, shouting and ranting and practically dragging a rather confused looking policeman up the steps with them. My neighbour pointed to me.
“There she is!” They exclaimed: “Get them outta here before they bring the whole place down!”

“Um…” The policeman looked me up and down, a rather stupid look on his face. I smirked, realising he wasn’t gonna do anything to me, and rose onto my knees. My head brushed against the ceiling again: “Can I help you, officer?”
“Well, ah…” The somewhat overweight man glanced at the feisty smaller person behind him before looking back toward me: “Ma’am, are… are you alright?”
“Oh, I feel great!” I exclaimed. I blushed a little as those closest to me covered their ears: “Never better, in fact. You couldn’t believe it.”

“Yeah… yeah, I bet…” The officer’s eyes looked over at the scared and astonished individuals in the hall, “Well… could you come with me, ma’am? It seems you're blocking the hallway for the others here.”

“Oh, sure!” I nodded before falling back to all fours with a soft thump on the carpet, before I began crawling again, using my hips to slam some doors in the faces of some peering eyes. The policeman eyed me wearily, but as I approached he began to make his way down the stairs with the person that had been accompanying her shuffling into the corner to avoid me. I gave them a wink and a sly grin before looking down the staircase. After thinking it through for a moment, my brow furrowed.
“Ah… hold on,” I smirked softly, watching the policeman below me as he turned back round to face me: “Sir, it doesn’t seem like I’d fit!”
He quickly noticed what I was referring to - my shoulders were already wider than the staircase, I wouldn’t be able to crawl down so simply.
“Uh… can you not squeeze?” He asked.
“Squeeze? What if I fall and hurt myself?” I asked, my head tilting slightly.
“You won’t, I’m sure! C’mon, we just have to get you out of here!”
“Hmph!” I shook my head: “I’m not going to hurt myself for… well, you haven’t given me a reason to go outside!”
“Well… you’re big! You could hurt someone!” He replied: “Are you going to get bigger…?”
“I think I am right now,” I admitted: “But I can’t grow much bigger. Look at me! There’s no way,” I exclaimed with a soft giggle as I stretched my arms out either side of me.
“Well… we can’t know for certain, right?” The officer asked: “Please, let’s just be safe! Okay?”
I lowered back down and peered down the stairs to get a better look at the policeman. In the dim light I could see his nervous fidgeting and the slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. Aw, poor guy… must be a freaky situation for him.

Wait, for him? This was a freaky situation for me! I smiled and giggled, running my fingers through my long blonde hair: “Ah, alright… alright, fine! I’m coming, little guy, don’t worry.”
I saw him let out a sigh of relief before he stepped down to the landing below, motioning for me to follow. Glancing one more time at the onlookers staring at me and giving them all a wink, I turned onto my side and began sliding my body down the staircase.