Chapter 3


I sat straight up, sweating. Pitch black surrounding me, yet a sensation of claustrophobia. What was going on?

It rushed back to me quickly. Going through the portal, the realization that I was so small as to be insignificant, climbing Sarah, the impossible mathematics, dinner... falling in love. I sighed and fell back onto my makeshift bed. A truly strange place. It was no wonder I couldn't rest.

Several minutes soon passed, yet I couldn't fall back to sleep. It obviously wasn't morning yet, and the end of the day had left me exhausted. So why couldn't I fall back into dreamland? Then I dimly remembered hearing a strange noise upon waking...

There it was, distant and yet uncomfortably close: a rattling, high pitched noise that sounded almost electronic. It was also unmistakably threatening. I froze, not knowing what to do. Something was outside the matchstick box. I pressed myself deep into the material, praying that whatever it was, it couldn't open the door Sarah had made for me. I didn't dare to look outside.

The strange rattle got closer and closer, and I became progressively more frightened. The adrenaline caused Sess to spread rapidly over my skin, giving me comfort knowing that if I was forced to, I could stand and fight.

The chirping noise was right on top of me. I heard a loud series of thuds as four legs slammed onto my roof. It was on the ceiling. I stood up, crouched and got into a fighting stance, looking towards the door. There was no way to wake Sarah without getting out of the box, and I wasn't quite desperate enough to do that.

Then, with a tremendous, fearsome tearing sound, I watched as part of my roof was ripped clean away. A gigantic green pincer descended from the ceiling, and began snapping about, followed by a huge head with segmented eyes, covered with stiff bristles. It rattled once more, a sound now so high pitched that it hurt my ears. The two pincers began moving towards me, snapping powerfully.

I was about to be killed by a praying mantis.

I backed up quickly as one of the pincers lunged towards me. With each snap, I took a step backwards. Suddenly, I couldn't go any further. My back was against the cardboard. I closed my eyes as the pincer lunged for me, knowing that this was the end.

But the end didn't come. The pincer closed two inches from my face, and couldn't move any farther. The mantis hadn't made himself a large enough hole. He was stuck. The mantis began to attempt to dislodge himself, and I quickly scuttled out of his range. With Sess's help, I could probably jump up out of the hole the mantis had made. The trick was when to do it.

The mantis had extricated himself, and was busy making another hole at the other end of the box. I took the opportunity to leap for the hole, barely making a hand hold. I clambered out into a strange world eerily lit by blue alarm clock light, and got a sense of vertigo at just how high I was. There were more important things at hand however, so I quickly got control of myself and turned to face the mantis, which was now halfway through its new hole. Taking advantage of this, I took a polycarbon-covered foot and jammed down on the insect's rear, driving it further into the hole. My foot practically bounced off the exoskeleton, and I was suddenly quite glad I had decided against directly fighting the beast.

My blows drove the mantis completely into the matchbox, and the four inch long insect didn't fit too well in the three inch box. It made noises that sounded quite like an insectile howl of rage, and nearly blew out my ear drums. Suddenly, I felt a trembling beneath my feet, and the roof began to move beneath me.

I leapt blindly into nothingness, and managed to see out of the corner of my eye the roof of my temporary home being shredded into pieces as the mantis tore through it. I had enough training to roll out of my jump even after I landed on my knees. I turned in time to see the gigantic hand coming down on the mantis, crushing it dead, the noises of crunching and cracking utterly nauseating.

Sarah looked pleased with herself, but her face immediately shifted into a look of worry. "Eric!" She whispered urgently. "Where are you? Are you okay?" She bent down until she was just a few of her inches away.

I jumped and raised my arms, yelling joyously to my savior. She saw me, and her frown vanished. "Thank goodness. I was worried I hurt you," she explained. Her face filled my vision. Her eyes were half closed from sleep, and her hair was tousled. She was still the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.

"You were amazing!" was my reply. I was completely astonished. Until now I couldn't see the raw power Sarah had in the most trivial of her movements. Her crushing of my deadly enemy brought it quickly into focus. "You saved my life." I finished more seriously.

All of a sudden I was yanked roughly off the ground and was sent whipping through the air. I got a dim sensation of gentle pressure on all sides. Sess activated, and my reaction time increased, allowing me to see where I was whisked off to.

My destination was a pair of huge pink lips. I collided, and they swelled outward as Sarah puckered. For a moment that lasted a pleasurable eternity, my world was full of soft and wet sensations, like nothing I had ever felt before. If a demonstration of Sarah's might was awesome, this was beyond belief. I simply threw my whole body into the kiss, and reveled in it. This was what I had been secretly longing for ever since I arrived.

Sarah drew me away from her lips, and immediately began to blush. "I'm so sorry," she said, her tone ashamed. "I kinda got... out of control." She closed her lips tightly.

I stared up at her from the palm of her hand, speechless. How could I explain how I felt? I drew a complete blank, still in shock from the incredible series of events that had just rapidly occurred before me. Considering that it was also two in the morning, I'm glad I didn't attempt a coherent sentence. Emotions were welling up in me, my stomach was doing flip-flops and my head felt like it was filled with helium.

Sarah finished the conversation for me. "We should probably try and get some rest," she said hesitantly. "We'll need our sleep for tomorrow." She began to get back into bed.

"Wait!" I yelled out, surprising even myself. The sad fact is, I was scared stiff of getting back in the now ruined matchbox. I had just gotten more than enough evidence of the dangers of sleeping inside of it. "I... I can't sleep in there."

She nodded sympathetically. "I understand completely. I wouldn't feel too secure in there either." She sighed. "Problem is, I don't know where else you can sleep."

I looked around. She had a point. There wasn't anywhere truly safe for me in the entire house. I shook a little, faced once more with the shocking danger and loneliness that filled this world. "You're right," I said lamely. "I don't know what to do."

Sarah looked around her. "You know... if it would help... you could sleep in the bed."

My eyes lit up. But I was wary, as well. "What if you rolled over?" I asked.

She bit her lip. "It's the biggest danger. But not even bugs are dumb enough to land near a sleeping person. So at least you'll be safe from other kinds of harm."

I weighed the choices. Sleep in the matchbox, sleep in Sarah's bed. Each one seemed to be equally deadly. However, Sarah's soft, warm bed was a sharp contrast to the cold, rough matchbox. And if I had the choice of being eaten by an insect or crushed by my heart's desire, it would be no choice at all. "I'd rather sleep next to you," I called up.

She smiled slightly, but her eyes gave her happiness away. She carefully cupped her hands about me, plunging me into darkness. I peered through the cracks in her enormous fingers, and saw indistinct movement below. The sensation of a tremendous drop. Then, slowly, the hands opened, and I was on soft, squishy ground. Fabric beneath my feet. Sarah's pillow. Walking across it was a strange sensation, not unlike walking in sand, but much more treacherous. I waded my way over to a spot well outside the indent her head had made. Sarah sat in front of me, a panorama of gorgeousness from behind. Slowly, she began to lower her head down onto the pillow, with utmost care and caution. It was like watching a skyscraper going horizontal, or an immense spacecraft being lowered into position.

Her head hit the pillow as softly as she could make it, resulting in only a minor earthquake as opposed to a life-threatening one. She was so close, I could see every minute muscle at work in her face as she once again said "Good night."

I couldn't fall asleep after the physical and emotional roller coaster I had just been on. So I sat awake and stared as Sarah's chest rose and fell with each enormous breath. I loved her, there was no doubt about it. But did she truly love me? It was a kiss, but it was situated in a moment where anything could happen, where strange, unpredictable and unwanted reactions could occur. She didn't necessarily share my feelings.

How could she? How could she fall in love with a man she barely knew who was practically invisible to her? A man who was fragile, constantly needing assistance and rescuing. I was the total opposite of the perfect boyfriend.

But then again, how could I fall in love with a woman I barely knew who was hundreds of times my size? There was certainly the tiniest of chances... Suddenly, it didn't matter whether she loved me or not. All that mattered was that I loved her.

I carefully crossed the short distance to her cheek. And just as she had given me a goodnight kiss, I did the same, pressing my entire face into the smooth wall of flesh before me. I felt movement and stepped back, not wanting to wake her. She let out a soft moan. Had she felt my small show of affection? I sat back down, bemused.

In short order, I lay down once more, and let exhaustion take me. To my knowledge, Sarah remained perfectly still the whole night through.


When she woke up, however, was a different story. The alarm clock blared, sounding strange, elongated and very, very loud. Then suddenly, the ground beneath me began to slant downwards. I found myself attempting to walk when I was clearly supposed to be falling. What was happening?

Sarah was rolling over. Her arm was outstretched, reaching for the alarm clock, and as she rolled, semi-conscious, to turn it off, she shifted her weight and made a huge depression in the pillow. This caused me to begin to roll. And I was rolling straight towards her chest.

I fell into warm, soft darkness, a hint of light allowing me to see giant walls of flesh on all sides. Beneath me, from what my bare feet could tell, was some kind of fabric pulled taut. The fact hit me like a brick. I didn't even need to turn around and prove it, but I decided to anyway.

In front, of me, reaching out for what seemed like miles, were two huge, round breasts. I had just fallen into the hollow between them. I was standing on Sarah's bra.

This situation was embarrassing and inconvenient, but didn't seem life-threatening. Then the world tilted again, and I was struggling to maintain a grip on the satin strip beneath me. The light above me was gone. All I could see was darkness, all I could was hear the tremendous beating of Sarah's heart, all I could feel was intense warmth around me. In a bid for more sleep, Sarah had rolled over. I pounded as hard as I could against the walls around me, but it was no use. I was trapped.

I began to hyperventilate. If you haven't noticed yet, I'm quite claustrophobic, and Sarah's boobs were pressed in fairly tightly due to the weight of her body on top of them. I took some deep breaths, tried to calm down. It could have been worse. If she had been flat-chested, I might have been crushed. Besides, she'd have to wake up eventually.

I had a more pressing issue, namely oxygen. It was running out fast in this small space. I'd need to get out soon. But how? There was no way out, and no hope. The best I could do was wait.

After an eternity, the world was in motion again, and I could see once more. Sarah got out of bed, then leaned over to straighten the sheets. This was my chance for escape. I shut my eyes tight and released my grip, plummeting down to the mattress below. I was free. Now all I had to do was get Sarah's attention.

Luckily, Sarah chose this moment to remember that I had been in her bed that night. She gasped, a look of despair upon her face, then began looking frantically about the bed. A few minutes later she calmed down, and began looking carefully. I ran towards her, shouting and waving my arms. She finally caught sight of me, and lifted me up to her level with a sigh of relief.

"There has to be an easier way..." I panted.

She giggled, then repressed it, knowing that her laughter was fairly loud. I, for my part, had gotten somewhat used to hearing deafening noises. "I'll work on it," she said with a wink. She then instructed me to go under the covers while she dressed. Not wanting to look like a perv, I complied. Dressed once more in office attire and a lab coat, she took me down to the laboratory.

Halfway through the day I could work on the mathematics no longer. I didn't have the slightest clue or trail as to where the problem was. Sarah was hard at work. At least she seemed to be making some progress.

I walked over to her, and she somehow noticed that I was there. She looked over at me and smiled. "Good timing. I was just about to go get you. I think I just solved one of our problems." She reached over to the other side of the desk, then placed something into her ear. Then she dropped a small bundle of cords and wires next to me. "Those will transmit radio signals that I'll be hearing through the earpiece I just put on. That way I'll always be able to hear you!"

We tested it a few times, and it seemed to work perfectly. Furthermore, Sarah had a small mic of her own wired up, and after a little work we came to realize that the best way she could transmit to me was to talk so softly that she would be inaudible by anyone else. Luckily, the mic automatically cut out whenever the volume was too loud.

I was delighted, but I soon realized something more troubling. "Sarah, have you been working on this all morning?" I queried.

She looked puzzled. "Well, yes. It took a little work to get it right."

I became angry. "What about the machine! It's more important that I get back home than make life my here easier." She looked hurt, and I immediately became apologetic. "Listen, I'm sorry. But I really need to get back to my home world. It's where I belong."

I could see enormous drops of water welling in her eyes. "I know that if you leave, you'll never come back. That's why I've been trying to stall."

"Sarah, I've really... enjoyed my time here." As I said it, I suddenly knew it to be true. "I swear that when I get back home I'll come back and visit periodically. But to get back home, I need the machine to work."

She nodded, wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get all emotional. I'm just a little out of sorts right now."

"Don't worry about it. You've been really calm for most of this, I'm surprised you didn't freak out right from the start. I know I would have."

The phone at the other end of the room rang, breaking into the conversation. "Hold on," said Sarah. "I'll get it."

She picked up the phone, and since I didn't want to overhear anything that wasn't my business, I turned away and zoned out. Soon Sarah came back over to the desk. "My friend just invited me out to lunch."

"Ummm... I guess that's okay. I can manage here."

"Don't be silly," Sarah scoffed. "You couldn't make it on your own here. It'd be far too dangerous. You'll have to come with me." With that, she took her purse, picked me up, and dropped me ever-so-delicately into it. She zipped up everything but a small hole to let in some air and light. "Be careful in there," she said, before swinging the purse over her shoulder and beginning to walk.

The motion was sickening, somewhat like being on a ship in the middle of a tossing storm. I struggled to keep my footing. I also had to avoid the contents of the purse as they were shuffled around. I almost was caught under a forty-foot tall tube of lipstick, but dodged just in time.

Meanwhile, every part of me was tense, nervous and excited. For the first time I would be leaving the house. I'd soon be seeing the outside of this strange, enormous world.