It was well into the evening before Natalie finally left work: almost half past seven. She texted Julia as she was walking out to her car to let her know she was finally headed home after her long, yet productive day at the lab. The analysis on the shrinking formula was finally complete, and the preliminary work on the test rabbits finished; now came the real question: could she synthesize an antidote? Furthermore, how long would it take?

     The final component was pretty complex, but now that she had it analyzed, Natalie was already working on a few ideas to go about breaking it down. Once that was done, assuming it was the key component, which Natalie was pretty sure of, the affected subject should return to normal size…at least, theoretically. There was honestly no guarantee that the even with the original formula neutralized, the subject would then grow back to its normal size, but it was the first logical step.

     The whole situation had been a nerve-racking ordeal, and Natalie was still pondering all the possible outcomes when she finally pulled into her driveway.

     As Natalie walked through the front door around 7:50 that evening, she found Julia lounging on the living room couch, her right leg draped over her left, apparently enjoying a good book while she awaited her sister’s return home.

     “Hey, sis,” Natalie called out as she closed the front door and stepped through the foyer.

     “Oh….hey, Nat,” Julie replied, slightly startled, casually uncrossing and re-crossing her legs the opposite direction, so that her right foot was now on the floor with her left leg draped over it. “Finally finished with work for the day, huh?”

     “Yeah,” Natalie replied with another heavy sigh as she kicked off her flats by the entryway. “It’s been a long day…

     “…but,” she added, perking up slightly as she stepped into the living room, “it was very productive. I finally figured out the structure on that last molecule. It’s pretty complex, but I’ve got it, and I’m already working on how to break it down and neutralize it.”

     “Wow, that’s GREAT news, sis!” Julia congratulated her, “So….does that mean you can make a cure for Tim?”

     “It’s a good possibility; I’m already synthesizing a few protein mixtures,” Natalie explained, setting her purse and paperwork down on the coffee table. “I’ll check and see how they’re coming in the morning; once they’re complete, I’ll start testing them on those rabbits I shrunk down today. With any luck, one of them’ll show promise.”

     “Awesome…well, come on in and sit down for a minute,” Julia offered, patting the couch cushion next to her. “Take a load off. You look exhausted!”

     “Thanks,” Natalie replied as she walked around the coffee table. “I’m pretty beat.

     “Boy!” Natalie proclaimed as she plopped her ass down on the couch, exhaling a huge sigh. “What an exhausting week!”

     “You can say that again!” Julia replied. “You’ve been working practically nonstop for five straight days now!”

     “Tell me about it!” Natalie lamented, leaning back and resting her head on the rear cushion, her hand over her eyes.

     “Everything go OK around here today?” Natalie asked, tilting her head towards her sister.

     “Well, actually…” Julia sighed, setting her phone down on the armrest of the couch, “…OK, let me start off by saying that everyone’s fine, but….I had to punish Tim today.”

     “What?!” Natalie exclaimed anxiously, sitting up. “Why?! What happened?! Is he OK?!”

     “Nat, calm down,“ Julie reassured her sister. “He’s fine! It’s just that…well, after you left this morning, I went into Tim’s room to wake him up; long story short, the little guy tried to run away from me and ended up on the floor. Now, at first, I was freaked out; I-I thought he might’ve been hurt, but when I went to pick him up off the floor, he immediately got up and ran under the bed, apparently trying to hide. So…I had to punish him.”

     “Wha—Well, WHY would Tim try to run away from you?!” Natalie asked heatedly. “Unless…Jules, did you do something to my son?!”

     “NO!” Julia exclaimed defensively, “I didn’t do anything, I SWEAR! Maybe….being small and cooped up in the house for the past few days has really gotten to him. I don’t know.”

     “Well, I’m sure this whole ordeal has been pretty hard for him,” Natalie concurred, “but that still doesn’t explain why he tried to run from you!”

     “Like I said, Nat: I don’t know,” Julia lied with a convincing shrug, “I tried to give him a chance to explain himself, but he just kept mouthing off to me, so…I took matters into my own hands. Look, I didn’t wanna have to punish him, but he left me no choice.”

     “And how exactly did you ‘punish him’, sis?!” Natalie asked irately, making air quotes.

     “Well, while I was taking care of the rest of my housework today—you know sweeping up the kitchen, getting the trash and recyclables out to the curb, and what not—I went down to the basement and found that little aquarium you guys have. You know, the one you all used when Tim had that hamster? Anyway, I brought it up and washed it out. I figured it was the only way to make sure Tim doesn’t try to run away again. You should see it, Nat: I fixed it up really nice for him, just like a little bedroom; I tried to make him as comfortable as I could. I put it in Tim’s room, on his dresser. I’ve pretty much had to keep him confined all day.”

     “Jules, you…you put my son in a CAGE?!” Natalie exclaimed hysterically.

     “Nat, what was I supposed to do?!” Julia exclaimed defensively, shrugging. “I mean, I couldn’t just let him run around the house unsupervised, could I?! I was just trying to keep him out of trouble!”

     “Well…yeah, but…I’m not sure if that was best option,” Natalie relented apprehensively as she peered down the hallway.

     “Well, it was the only thing I could think of at the time, sis,” Julia explained, “but don’t worry: at least now we know EXACTLY where Tim is and don’t have to worry about accidentally stepping on him or anything.”

     “Well, I’m still not exactly keen on the thought of you sticking him in a cage,” Natalie sighed sympathetically. “Poor, little guy. I’ll go in check on him in a little bit to make sure he’s doing OK. Maybe we all talk this out and find a better solution. Anyway, since Tim’s in his room at the moment, there’s something I need to ask you...”

     “Sure, sis. What’s up?”

     Natalie sighed and put her tongue in her cheek, hesitating slightly before biting her lower her lip and continuing:

     “…What’s your availability for this weekend…and into next week?”

     “Uh…” Julia paused, shrugging, “…I-I guess I’m pretty open. I mean, it is the summer after all. Not much going on except household stuff. Why?”

     “Well, as of right now, I’m formulating several potential antidotes for Tim, but…in all honesty, I really don’t know if any of them’ll actually work. Frankly, I’m amazed I’ve been able to get THIS far so fast, but I don’t know how much longer it’ll take to actually find a cure for him. I may need few more days to work on it, so I’ll need someone to watch Tim for me while I’m at the lab running tests.”

     “Well, sure, sis,” Julia agreed, shrugging. “I mean, it’s no problem, but…what about Tom? Won’t he be home on Saturday?”

     “Well, that’s the other thing,” Natalie explained, “Tom called me today. Turns out, his company needs him to fly to Indianapolis this weekend.”

     “Really?! What for?” Julia inquired.

     “Well, you know he’s been away on a job site all week optimizing and streamlining a lot of his client’s software systems. Well, he did such a good job that this client wants him to do the same with another one of their offices in Indianapolis, and they want him to fly out right away.”

     “I’m assuming that means he won’t be coming home at all this weekend,” Julia deduced.

     “Yeah,” Natalie nodded. “His company’s already made arrangements to fly him directly to Indianapolis on Saturday. It’ll be at least halfway into next week before he’s finished and headed home. Ordinarily, I’d be upset with the whole thing, but with everything that’s been going on around HERE, and all the added pressure I’ve been under, it honestly couldn’t have come at a better time. Now, I don’t have to feel so rushed to finish that antidote. I mean, obviously, I want to get Tim back to normal as soon as possible, but I also wanna make sure I get it right!”

     “Well…I guess, Nat,” Julia shrugged, scrunching and repositioning her foot as she adjusted her seat on the couch, “but….don’t you also need to get Tim back to normal before anyone figures out what’s happened to him?”

     “Of course,” Natalie agreed wholeheartedly, “but I’ve also gotta make sure that any antidote I make for Tim doesn’t have any nasty side effects. I mean, we wouldn’t want Tim suffering any more than he already has: what if I give him an antidote that grows him back too fast, or presumably gets him back to normal at first, but then wears off a few hours later and he shrinks again? And that’s assuming the best possible scenario. For all I know, one of these formulations could end up cementing him at his current size permanently, or shrink him even SMALLER. I just won’t know until I start testing. I can’t take any chances, Jules! I’ve gotta know for sure!”

     “Well, I understand that, Nat,” Julia replied with hesitation. “but even if you manage to cure Tim before your husband gets back home, don’t you think you should, at least, tell Tom what’s been happening? I mean, don’t you think he needs to know that his son is…you know, tiny?!”

     “NO!” Natalie exclaimed, then lowering her voice, “Jules, we’ve already discussed this: this whole shrinking thing has to be kept top secret. Not even Tom can know. Besides, I really don’t want him to worry, and there’s nothing he could do anyway. Even if I tell him, it’ll only upset him and probably make him rush home, and then people will DEFINITELY know something’s up!”

     “Yeah, but couldn’t he just explain it away as family emergency?” Julia offered. “Surely, they’d make a concession for that.” 

     “There’ll still be too many questions,” Natalie replied anxiously, “and even if Tom DOESN’T come home, he’ll just spend the rest of his trip worrying nonstop. No, I wanna wait and see if I can get Tim back to normal before his father gets home.”

     “…And if you CAN’T?!”

     “…We’ll just cross that bridge if we come to it.” Natalie sighed. “In any case, I want to make sure any antidote I make that actually works is going to last, and check for any side effects before giving it to Tim.”

     “Well, I guess you two are stuck with me for a little while longer, ay?” Julia chortled, nudging her sister, a sly grin on her face.

     “Yeah, how will we manage?” Natalie chortled sarcastically.

     Julia nudged her sister again a bit harder.

     “Well, anyway, I better go look in on Tim and see how he’s doing,” Natalie sighed as she stood up from the couch. “He probably isn’t taking being cooped up very well.”

     “Oh, Nat, why don’t let him be for a little while, huh?” Julia spoke up, grabbing her sister’s arm. “Besides, you just got home, and you’ve had a long day. Why don’t you go into the kitchen and relax for a little bit? Maybe warm yourself up some dinner? I made tuna casserole. Just let Tim stew for a little while longer; he’s not going anywhere. Besides, he’s probably asleep at this point. No sense in getting him up before we have to.”

     “Well…alright,” Natalie relented with chagrin, looking over at the hallway with a sympathetic sigh. “I guess I am a little hungry, but as soon as I’m done, I want us all to sit down and talk about this whole cage thing, alright?”

     “Fine,” Julia acknowledged, “Food’s in the fridge. I’ll go and check up on Tim while you’re eating. If he’s awake and ready to behave, I’ll bring him in to you.”

     “Okay,” Natalie sighed, slightly irked as she pointed her finger at her sister, “but don’t be too hard on him, alright? Poor guy’s probably had a long day, and I’d appreciate it if you’d cut him a little slack.”

     “Don’t worry, sis,” Julia chortled. “I’ll be gentle,“I promise.”

     Natalie shook her head, and with another heavy sigh headed around the opposite end of the couch and into the kitchen.

     Julia leaned over and checked to make sure her sister was out of earshot; then, she grinned slyly and lifted her right foot into her lap, revealing her tiny nephew writhing in the middle of her sole beneath a fresh layer of tape.

     “Did you hear that, little guy?” Julia chortled gleefully, patting the side of her foot, “looks like you’re gonna be tiny for a little while longer, just like I warned you. Aw, but don’t worry. I promise I’ll take good care of you in the meantime.”

     Tim moaned weakly, barely able to move or breathe, his face buried deeply into his aunt’s foot flesh. He’d been shouting for his mother from the moment he heard her voice, but when Julia had quickly shifted her legs earlier, she placed her foot on the floor, effectively silencing his cries, or at least quieting them enough so that Natalie couldn’t hear.

     “Now, you just behave yourself when we go talk to your mom later, Tiny Tim, or you’re gonna get raped to my foot all day tomorrow, too.” she warned him, crooning as she gently stroked the side of her foot and ran her index finger over the mass of tape on her sole. “Just let ME do the talking; you just smile and nod, and don’t speak unless you’re spoken to, ‘cause if you step outta line or say anything to your mom about any of this….you’re gonna get stomped! Understand?”

     “Did you say something, Jules?” Natalie called from the kitchen, stepping into the living room doorway.

     “Uh…no, sis,” Julia called back, quickly lowering her foot back to the floor, crossing her left leg over her right, “I was just…talking to myself, that’s all. You know, thinking out loud.”

     “Oh…uh, OK,” Natalie shrugged, slightly perplexed as she stepped back into the kitchen, unable to hear the tiny, muffled screams for help emanating from beneath her sister’s bare foot.