It was successful. Brian, Gina, Kelly, and Anna managed to send off the email to Brian’s sister Beth with time to spare, and by the time the teary-eyed Julia had returned with me from the bathroom after the exchange of our love vows, having cleaned up the mess I made, class was canceled for the rest of the day and we were placed back in the dollhouse, where all of us were able to recuperate and congratulate one another on our teamwork.
This time, it had paid off. It had finally paid off.
Now, all we had to do was wait for Beth to get the hint. With the message we had planned, carefully demonstrating in as few words as possible that it was, indeed, Brian sending the message from Julia’s address, it seemed inevitable that Beth’s suspicions would be aroused, at the very least.
The next few days went by without incident. My next date with Julia was mildly different, though, I have to admit. If I thought Julia was perky and ready for action before, well… I hadn’t really seen anything yet. She seemed almost volatile, sitting in her chair and leaning forward, her hand quivering as if she couldn’t wait for the meal to end so she could snatch me up and suckle me against her lips for our mandatory make-out session. Or, at least whatever passed for making out given our unique circumstances. It would probably make more sense to compare us between a little kid and a brand new candy jawbreaker rather than a pair of lovers, but I of course had no intention of registering this complaint with my girlfriend, particularly when I was so close to such a dangerous orifice of hers.
By the third day after sending the email, we were all starting to get anxious, wondering if Beth had read it yet. As Brian had said, she worked as a personal trainer at a local fitness center and was constantly on the go, but we knew sooner or later she’d check her mail. As class ended for the day, though, and we were expecting to be taken back to the house before dinner and bath time, we were given a surprise of an entirely difference sort than we were expecting.
“Class… I’m very pleased to announce that we will have… a new STUDENT today!” announces Julia, standing up over the desk and leaving us speechless and frozen. Jesus Christ. What unlucky son of a bitch has had the misfortune to appeal to a teenage girl who happened to own a matter reduction device? Whoever it was, I knew we would have to act fast getting him or her to accept the nightmarish conditions of our life to avoid another “Jim” scenario. All of us knew it was our job to do this before Julia simply became sick of the newbie’s antics and swallowed them whole like a runt anchovy. “I’m happy to introduce to all of you to… Charlie.”
Reaching into her pocket, Julia’s fist lowers to the tabletop and opens up, allowing a man to roll out of her palm and land face-down. Curling her fingers back into a fist, Julia puts her hand back in her pocket and takes a seat, beaming at all of us. I raise an eyebrow, looking over the newcomer as he rises to his feet.
Charlie looks a little disheveled, with a short beard and mustache messily covering his chin, his eyes looking bloodshot and tired, although I could hardly blame him after he had just endured a ride in the giant pocket of a strange young girl who had, no doubt, used the device to reduce him to three inches without any kind of prefacing or explanation, picked him up in the terrifying confines of her warm fist, and pocketing him. Frankly, I wonder why he’s not screaming or pissing his pants in fear. Despite his unkempt look, Charlie looks to be in his early twenties.
“I’m sure all of you will make Charlie feel welcome here at school,” smiles Julia, picking up the school bus from the ground and setting it up on the desk. “Everyone climb aboard. You’ll have plenty of time to get acquainted in the house.”
“…the fuck?” hisses Charlie, looking around wildly. I run to him, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him toward the bus.
“Don’t say anything, just follow me if you want to stay in one piece,” I whisper urgently as all of us piled onto the bus. Charlie seems to sense the seriousness in my voice because he complies rather easily, not saying another word until all of us had taken the trip across Julia’s bedroom and have been deposited into the dollhouse. At long last, we’re given some privacy as we hear the towering closet door slammed shut outside, leaving us in the cheap light of the expensive dollhouse.
“What the FLYING FUCK is GOING ON HERE?” yelps Charlie, doubling over on quivering knees. As I had predicted, Charlie wasn’t quite sure what to do in this situation, and had simply been bottling up his shock until right now.
“It’s okay, it’s okay… just breathe. It’s going to be fine,” says Kelly reassuringly, stepping closer to him and extending a hand. “We’re friends. We’re not going to hurt you. Are you all right?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m… fine, I guess, but… Jesus H. Christ, am I tripping right now or something?” asks Charlie, his eyes bugging with horror.
“No. You’re… not imagining anything right now,” adds Anna somberly.
“It’s exactly what you think it is, pal,” says Brian, shrugging apologetically. “I’m sorry, I really am.”
“Fuck…” breathes Charlie, finally collapsing into a sitting position against the plastic wall of the dollhouse. “That was one of those matter reducto whatzits, wasn’t it?” he asks. Gina nods to him, biting her lip. His jaw hangs open. “But… I thought it was… illegal… fucking illegal… to use it on a person? Without permission? All that legislation stuff Congress was throwing a fit over for like two years?”
“Trust me,” begins Brian slowly. “Julia doesn’t give a damn about anything the government has to say about it.”
“Julia, huh?” drawls Charlie, rubbing his stubble thoughtfully.
“I take it you’d never met her, huh?” I ask somewhat sarcastically.
“Nope. Never seen her in my life until a couple hours ago, or… however the fuck long I was in her pocket, I don’t know,” he says, choking a little on his words upon saying the phrase “I was in her pocket.”
“Where did she get you? What was happening?” asks Anna worriedly. “Do people… know about where you were?”
Charlie shrugged. “Afraid not. Sorry, folks. I’m guessing that’s how she got all of you, though? Alibi, no witnesses, the whole shebang?” We look at each other knowingly, shaking our heads in the affirmative. “Nope, I was just hanging around by the grocery store, just…” he begins, swallowing hard and looking like he’s having trouble remembering it. “…just sort of hanging around, you know, and… well, it didn’t take much, but she comes around the corner and asks me to help her carry the grocery bags. Honestly, I thought it was a little weird that she wasn’t afraid of me or something… I know I look like hell… but whatever, I thought sure, why not, took the bag, and…”
“Shrunk,” says Kelly simply. He nods.
“Yeah, pretty much. Sort of a blur, but I bet you all know that. Anyway, I drop, and before I can figure out what the fuck is happening, I feel like there’s tentacles grabbing me, only…”
“Her fingers,” I add knowledgeably. He nods again, sniffling uncomfortably.
“You know the rest of the story now,” he finishes. We’re all quiet for a moment, then, sighing, we sit down and explain all of Julia’s rules to him.
I have to admit, having seen the introduction of all of these people to the dollhouse, I’ve never seen anyone handle it so calmly or coolly. He looks pretty dejected right now (and who wouldn’t?), but all things considered, Charlie seems to be taking things in stride. I’d bet he’s got a really developed sense of survival, in which case, he’s far better off than any of us. Retroactively, I sort of envy him.
Eventually, after about an hour of just laying down the basics, he naturally brings up the idea of possible escape, and we briefly share the harrowing escapade we’ve shared of sending out the email to Beth.
“God Almighty… wow…” he drawls, shaking his head in bewilderment. “That’s insane.”
“Yeah. We know,” answers Kelly wearily, clasping a hand to her forehead.
“No, but really… how the hell did that work? How did you get her to just… drop her defenses like that? From what you’ve said, she sounds like a tough nut to crack.”
“Well… we had a little help from our friendly neighborhood heartthrob here,” winks Brian, punching me good-naturedly in the arm.
“Ahhh… she’s got a… thing for you, or something?” asks Charlie.
“Um… yeah, I guess so, yeah,” I answer reluctantly. Charlie studies my expression for a moment before suddenly breaking into raucous laughter, clutching his stomach and doubling over.
“You okay?” smirks Anna, unsure of how to take this.
“I’m sorry, I just… I just…” cackles Charlie, getting in words between peals of chuckling. “It’s just… so… so… ridiculous… I mean, Jesus Christ, she’s fucking co-ed Goliath, and you’re… Tom Thumb, or something, I don’t know.”
“Yeah, I guess it is… sort of weird,” I answer uncomfortably.
“I’m just… I’m just trying to picture… how that even works,” he snickers. “Bet things get kinky when you’re in the sack, huh?”
“Where are you from, Charlie? Tell us about you,” cuts in Gina quickly, obviously not at all wanting to get into a discussion about the possibility of Julia and I defying the laws of physics and fucking each other at our current scales. The only possibility I can think of fills me with absolute dread, because it would obviously involve filling Julia herself with me.
“Right, right, sorry, I gotcha,” says Charlie, shooting me a blank glance. “So, you want my life’s story, or the long version?”