The door swung open – banging against the wall – and in flew a swearing Marissa. Her knees clattered painfully as she screeched over the floor, rolling on her butt.
The angry glare of her mother looked down upon her. "You stay RIGHT here in your bedroom, young lady! And you better pray I will find your father. ALIVE. Because, if I don't, I will ground you until the time beyond unending time!"
"That doesn't even make sense!" Marissa shouted while rubbing her knees.
SLAM! Went the door.
CLICK-CLACK, locked.
Marissa stood up and cussed a few words while kicking against a stuffed bear lying on the floor. Sauntering over to her bed, she plunged down. Marissa peered through the window in deep thought, sitting with her arms behind her back as support.
When do I get to be in charge for a change? She thought with a deep sigh.
Her whole life, people have been doing nothing less than to boss her around all day. Telling her what she should do and what she shouldn't. Shouting her about, yelling, denigrating her, or taking away her freedom in some way. Marissa was sick of it. She so wished that she could turn the tables in her favor someday – even if only for a short while. A smile crept upon Marissa's youthful face when she saw images in her head of her ordering her mother and brother around in doing all kinds of household chores while she herself was sitting all comfy in some lazy chair. Marissa cocked her head when her eyes noticed some faint blipping red light coming from a slit between the wall and her drawer. She stood up and walked over to it. Crouching down, Marissa's hand reached out and took hold of some heavy object wrapped in a few pieces of blotting paper – rustling within her fingers. She carefully tore it away and was greeted by the sight of a highly sophisticated-looking gun with an odd-looking design. There was a note attached to it. Marissa recognized her father's handwriting.
Dear beloved Marissa Lammers, my daughter,
I'm afraid I have some grave news for you. We will never be able to play ball together in the courtyard again, nor will I ever be able to drop you off at school in the morning or give you a goodbye hug. But please, do not allow these words to sadden you. I will never leave you. In fact, I will stay closer to you now than ever before.
Now listen, before you read any further, walk over to your desk. On top of it, you will see a red velvet blanket draped on top of a circular object. Remove it.
Marissa peeked over her shoulder and saw indeed a crimson-colored blanket cloaking some object on her desk. The blanket was pontifical present in her room, so Marissa was quite surprised that she had not noticed the thing herself. She walked over to her desk and removed it. It did not surprise her that another tiny city greeted her – neatly placed in a similar-looking circular-shaped terrarium. However, this city was considerably larger than the one she'd seen in her father's laboratory – more developed and packed and containing amply of high rises in its center.
Marissa's eyes found her father's note again.
Surprise darling! I can see you! In the top drawer, you will find a magnifying glass. Take it and look closely. At the left side (your left) of the big green central park – that is roughly the size of two stamps from your perspective – you will see a black, pointy tower. Focus your attention on its roof. You will see someone standing there.
Curious, Marissa took hold of the magnifying glass and followed her Dad's instructions. And there she saw it, an infinitesimal figure standing on the roof, waving up at her frantically.
"Dad!" Marissa blurted out. She quickly placed her hand against her lips when she saw her Dad covering his ears.
"Sorry," she said with an almost whispery voice. "Oh my God, Dad. You are so incredibly tiny."
She grabbed her father's notes again.
You've always been my princes, Marissa. My Queen even. I know your struggles to cope with authority. As your father, I've seen it up close. Most people would label your behavior as unruly. I myself would rather describe it as character. You know what you want in life and aren't afraid of showing it. You want to spread your wings. I want to give you that opportunity to spread your wings. To be in charge of others for a change. Queen-maker is it called, the gun you've found near your drawer and is looking like some highly confidential object coming straight from area 51. It is my latest invention. It is capable of reducing matter to any size you want. Want to shrink down your luggage before traveling? You got it! Or you rather dwindle that whining neighboring cat of yours to nothingness? Done! And as you can see, it can even shrink down an entire city full of millions of people. That was a mistake, by the way, I merely wanted to shrink down the city's police headquarters, but don't you tell anyone.
Anyway, it's yours, Marissa! Use it wisely. You can find the instructions in your top drawer. The Queen-maker has a three-factor authentication system responding only to your fingerprint, voice, and facial features.
And do not worry about mom. I've left her a note telling her that I'm on a business trip for an indefinite period. Lucky me!
Well, have fun with it, Marissa! Oh, and last but not least, the effects of the Queen-maker are irreversible.
While still processing her father's instructions, Marissa looked down upon the microscopic city sprawled on her desk. Her father was down there living his life till the end of his days as a speck being. She was glad with his present, but it made her also kind of sad that she would never be able to see him as his former self.
Turning around, Marissa walked over to her drawer to pick up the Queenmaker that she'd left lying on the floor. The moment her hand took hold of its grip, a laser-like stripe beamed out of the gun – scanning her face.
"Is it really you?"
Marissa frowned and chuckled while shaking her head when a feminine robot voice spoke from the gun.
"Is it really you?" the robot voice repeated.
"Yes… yes, it's really me." Marissa said.
"Good day Marissa Lammers," the robot voice said. And the Queen-maker lit up, charging, as if it was waking up.
"Awesome, Dad!" Marissa beamed with a flare of keenness in her eyes. She wanted to try it out. After reading the instructions – that was luckily short and simple – Marissa adjusted the settings and aimed at a chair. She gave the trigger a squeeze. A high, pitching squeaking sound followed and subsequently, a radiant violet and blue beam – thin as a clothesline – left the barrel's end, giving the chair the full brunt.
Marissa's eyes drooled at the sight of her chair as it was surrounded by a radiant aura and dwindling down in size at a rapid pace. She bent over and picked up the chair. Marissa sniggered like a 1st grader receiving his first pocket money as she looked at the chair standing on the palm of her hand. The thing was so tiny that it could easily function as a seat for a cockroach now.
"Even more awesome, Dad!" she grinned.
The things she could do with this gun…
She felt giddy with excitement. The possibilities would be endless. From now on, people will start listening to HER instead of the other way around. No more, 'Yes, Sir.' Or 'Excuse me, Miss.'. No! Only HER needs are going to matter now!
She wanted to try something else. Looking around, Marissa's lips curled into a sardonic grin as she laid eyes on their neighbor's car parked on the driveway – a big, black Chevrolet old-timer pickup. That guy had always been a douchebag, so Marissa did not mind experimenting on the dude's car. She adjusted the Queen-maker, opened her window, and shot the Chevrolet. Marissa chuckled with delight when she saw the whole car dwindling down drastically. She laughed even louder when two miniature figures – roughly a few inches tall – stepped out of the vehicle and looked around in consternation.
"Oh my God!" Marissa sniggered with her hand against her mouth. "They were still inside!"
She quickly slammed her window closed.
BANG BANG BANG!
Someone knocked on her door, and not quite softly.
"Oh, Marissaaaa," her brother sang in glee. "Guess what? Mom is gone and she gave me the key to your bedroom."
CLICK-CLACK. He unlocked the door.
"Time for a little payback, don't you think?" he said.
Marissa smiled while watching the doorknob turn around. Her brother couldn't find a better timing. She parked her butt on the desk – right next to the shrunken city where her father resided – crossed her legs and aimed her sights at the door.
"You may enter, brother." She said in an inviting manner. The door opened.