Unrequited Love by Asukafan2001
Life with the Chalmers Series: Story #1
Douglas Bryan was a middle aged man who had watched his better days pass him by. He spent most of the best years of his life striding towards the top of a marketing firm, only to find himself cut loose when the company decided to reorganize. He opted for the early retirement package which left him a lot of time and little to show for it. As he had no children, no wife, he had no one to share his newfound time with.
All of that changed when Amanda Chalmers moved into the condo next to his. She was ravishingly beautiful and a career woman at that. He was a bit her senior but still close enough in age so that he would be appealing to her. Douglas tried his best to woo her. He greeted her and her daughters when they moved in, sent over a house warming gift. He helped with a few repairs around the house, however no matter what he did he couldn’t find a way into her heart.
Never being one to give up, Douglas opted for a more extreme approach. He decided to stage an accident. A few years back a small company that has since gone under developed this shrinking serum. Douglas’s company tried to market it but the lack of a real purpose behind the drug, which left the company broke and soon went under. However, Douglas remembered he still had some of the product samples in his closet.
Douglas knew that all he had to do was take the serum and stage some kind of accident, where Amanda would come across him. He could play it up for a few weeks, how he didn’t know how this could possibly happen. Then ravish her with praise for her kindness and go on and on about how lucky he is to have someone so kind living near him. Once the romance starts to blossom just sneak away take the re-enlarging serum and bam, it’s a miracle.
The plan sounded logical in his head, which was grasping at straws to impress his neighbor. Douglas spent the next couple of days preparing everything. He paid up his bills, told friends and family members he was going on an African Safari to enjoy himself after years of work. Knowing how much of a workaholic he had been over the years no one questioned his want to enjoy himself a little.
So when the day came, he watched Amanda and her daughter clamber into their minivan and drive off. Knowing that Amanda would be at work and her daughter at school till about 4:30 Douglas took a nap and ate a big lunch before grabbing the shrinking serum from his closet. He then headed out the front door and carefully made his way around the fence which separated his property and hers. He knew that from experience, Amanda always watered her flower bed in front of the house when she came home. So lying underneath the tipped over watering can provided the perfect place as it was right along the walkway leading up the house. He could claim he shrunk, was trying to get over to her house for help when the watering can blew over onto him.
Douglas started up the driveway carefully looking about not wanting to draw the attention of anyone in the neighborhood. He opened the small bottle and downed the serum. As soon as he begun to shrink he realized one error. He was fully dressed, and about to shrink out of his clothes. Douglas quickly scanned the area, when he remembered the garbage can Amanda kept around the corner of the house; with no time to waste Douglas sprinted over to the garbage can. Where he then stripped down and buried his clothes deep within her garbage. The process was accelerating now as he found himself barely big enough to get the lid back onto the garbage can.
“I have to hurry now, I’m running out of time” Douglas said to himself as he ran back across the driveway towards the walkway. However as he passed by the garage door he tripped a skateboard belong to Ryan, Amanda’s youngest daughter. Douglas skidded along the ground a few feet as the skateboard tumbled through the air. Douglas groaned in pain briefly as he started to pick himself up. He had just gotten onto his hands and knees when the skateboard slammed against his chest squashing him into the ground
Douglas was at this point barely the size of a toddler. The blow had knocked the wind out of him while he struggled to regain his breath and get to his feet. The watering can was still a good distance from him; however he felt himself getting smaller and smaller. The weight of the skateboard was now immense as it weighed down his doll sized body trapping himself beneath it.
Douglas struggled for the better part of an hour but he found himself hopelessly stuck. However, he realized this could be an even better spot. As he’s right in the driveway, Amanda would have to pick up the skateboard on her way to the house. She would then see him and all would be well. This could work out even better Douglas thought as being trapped like this is much more logical he wouldn’t even have to lie anymore. He really was running towards her house, and he really did trip on her daughters skateboard.
The wait was unbearable as the skateboard pressed him against the pavement. However, after about three hours he saw Amanda’s minivan pull into the drive way. As the engine rumbled up the driveway, Douglas wished that he could cover his ears as the ground shook from the vans engine as it passed him. The booms of the car doors sounded causing Douglas’s heart to flutter as he saw the most beautiful woman in the world round the corner. Amanda had long dark brown hair that seemed to frame her face so perfectly. She still looked quite youthful for a woman of her age. It was hard to believe she had two teenage daughters and a career.
“Help, Help, Amanda!” Douglas shouted as he tried to get her attention, however at that moment Amanda had stopped and turned around so her back was now facing Douglas so she couldn’t hear his faint cries for help.
“Ryan Whitney Chalmers! What did I tell you about leaving that skateboard lying in the middle of the road? Someone is going to trip over it and hurt themselves.” Amanda bellowed.
“But I didn’t! I swear I had it up lying up against the side of the house.” The young woman said in defense of herself.
“Just pick it up and keep it in your room like I told you and then get washed up for dinner.” Amanda yelled as she stepped over the fallen skateboard. Douglas was beside himself as he was yelling for all he was worth but the booming voices of two women made his meager voice unheard. As Amanda stepped over him and the skateboard he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The rumbling of the sidewalk, the shaking of the ground, her legs seemed to continue up endlessly. Douglas couldn’t believe this. He was literally inches from the prize and the woman he was doing all this for is now oblivious to him.
Douglas knew it was over at that point. He was throwing in the towel. He sighed dejectedly as he turned his head back around. As he did so he realized the ground wasn’t shaking so much from Amanda’s footsteps into the house, but her daughter’s footsteps. He found himself staring directly into the largest pair of converse sneakers he had ever seen.
The young woman was dawned in slightly baggy dark grey cargo pants with a black hooded sweatshirt zipped three quarters revealing a portion of one of the mushrooms from Super Mario bros. The girl had natural dark brown hair like her mother only it was shoulder length with blonde highlights.
“Oh my god, what the hell?” Ryan said as Douglas struggled to look up at the young woman who was crouched down staring at the tiny man trapped beneath her skateboard.
“Just don’t stand there! Get this thing off of me!” Douglas shouted at young girl still upset about his plan not working and just wanting to get home and take a long hot shower.
“The girls won’t ever believe this.” The young woman exclaimed as she pulled her IPhone from her pocket. Douglas’s eyes bulged out as he looked into the massive iPhone that was much larger than his entire body now. A second later he heard the snap of the camera. The girl stifled a giggle as she turned the phone around so that Douglas could see how ridiculous he looked stuck underneath her skateboard.
“Did you just tweet that? Delete that! Delete it now! Do you hear me?” Douglas yelled not wanting anyone to see him like this. The last thing he wanted was this moment commemorated for all eternity online.
“Now, now little….oh look Bella responded. She’s asking if you’re really a little man or a doll.” Douglas couldn’t believe his eyes. This entire situation had gone from bad to worst. The idea of being found by Amanda’s daughter never entered into Douglas’s mind. It was never even in the realm of possibility that he would be shrunk and found by someone else other then he intended.
“It’s me! Mr. Bryan from next door! I…” Douglas managed to get out before being cut off by the young girl.
“How stupid do you think I am? Mr. Bryan went on vacation to Africa, not to mention the fact you’re like an inch or two tall. The real question is what am I going to do with you?” Ryan said glaring down at the miniature man.
“Wha, wha, what are you talking about? Do with me? J, J, Jus, just get this off m,m,m, meee” Douglas stuttered out nervously as he looked upwards at the titanic young woman.
I suppose I could keep you, the idea of having my own minikin is pretty epic.” Ryan said as she kneeled over Douglas and tussled his hair with him still trapped underneath her skateboard.
This is Ludacris was all that was running through Douglas’s head as the shadow of the young woman ominously hung over him as if it were a cloak; As he struggled under the unforgiving weight of the skateboard which bore down on his hapless body pinning him against the pavement the deep blue eyes of Ryan Chalmers focused on his every struggle. He could see the excitement hidden beneath the perplexing look spread across her face.
“Please, don’t do this. It’s me, Mr. Bryan, you’re neighbor. Take me to your mother or just take me home. I need help.” Pleaded Douglas now fully realizing the predicament he put himself in. However, the most important thing Douglas didn’t count on was that when he shrunk, so did everything else with him. Now you’re probably saying duh. Let me elaborate though.
When Douglas shrank, it’s obvious that his arms, legs, and head were all going to going to get smaller. What he didn’t think about was that his mass was getting reduced, his bones were getting smaller, and most importantly his vocal chords were shortening. It would be like taking a guitar string and cutting it in half but keeping the same tension. The pitch would be twice as high. Well Douglas’s vocal chords are now more than half their size which makes his voice dramatically higher pitched then before.
So while Douglas said “Please, don’t do this, it’s me, Mr. Bryan, you’re neighbor. Take me to your mother or just take me home. I need the help.” Ryan heard “Please, do this. Take me home. Help.” As the high pitched voice he now possesses is much harder for human ears to hear completely.
“You poor thing, you sound so pathetic. Of course I will take you home. I already tweeted it, so it’s official anyway.” Ryan said as she lifted the skateboard off Douglas. The moment the skateboard was off his body he scurried to his feet and took off running.
The pavement felt cold against his bare skin as his feet slapped against the pavement. A shiver worked its way down his spine as he ran as fast as he could. Douglas’s fastest run amounted to an ant trying to outpace a person. As Ryan looked down at the tiny being she watched him feverishly try to escape, but after several moments he wasn’t even an arm’s length away.
A wall of flesh careened into the earth in front of Douglas who never had a chance to do anything but tumble into the fleshy wall. The force of hitting her fingers halted any progress Douglas had made. He barely got more than a foot before the Ryan’s fingers curled around his body. He looked down at his chest seeing her blue painted nails against his nude body.
“No, no, this can’t be happening. This is not how it’s supposed to be happening.” Douglas thought as he found himself being pulled back towards Ryan followed by a sharp ascent. Moments later he found himself dangling in front of the young girls face as a grin the size of Montana spread across her continent sized face.
“Just be still okay?” Ryan said as she smiled at the miniature man before dropping him into the pants pocket of her cargo pants.
Douglas tumbled end over end until he landed onto a half-eaten stick of starbursts and some chap stick at the bottom the pocket. He rolled over onto his back as the now gigantic Ryan stared down at him.
The walls of the pocket extended upwards for what looked to be stories upon stories high. It was hard to imagine that this was merely a pocket until he looked beyond the rim of the pocket and saw what almost felt like the face of god staring down at him.
“Listen, please, this is all a mistake!” Douglas cried out but he was now much too far away to be heard properly by Ryan who just interpreted his voice as squeaks as she released the flap of the pocket. The light quickly faded as the flap of the pocket crashed against the girls pant leg sealing Douglas in darkness.
“No, no, no, NOOOOO” Cried Douglas as he kicked and punched against the denim walls which gave not even slightest bit under his strength. It wasn’t even a moment later when everything lurched forward. He tumbled into the opposite wall of the pocket as the chap stick slammed against his back knocking the air out of him. There wasn’t even time for Douglas to recover before he was flung in the opposite direction. The motion was near continuous as Ryan walked into her home without consideration for her tiny passenger.
“What were you doing out there Honey? Dinner’s almost ready!” Douglas heard Amanda say. Douglas screamed and pounded against the pocket hoping that she would hear him or notice the movement in the pocket. However, his voice was much too meek to be heard by Amanda and for all his pounding and kicking against the denim wall not even the slightest bit of movement was visible on the on the outside.
Sensing this wasn’t getting him anywhere. Even in the darkness Douglas could sense how narrow the pocket was. While it was relatively large it was still rather confining which gave him an idea. He pressed his right leg against the side of her leg and his left against the pant wall and started to shimmy up the side of the pocket. Knowing that Ryan wouldn’t be stationary for long and Amanda was his best hope for getting out of this. Douglas made his way up the pocket inch by painful inch, however his progress was much too slow and his attempt ended up being in vein.
“Sorry, Bella called and I just lost track of time. I’ll run up stairs and wash up.” Ryan said as she tucked her skateboard under her arm before dashing up the stairs towards her bedroom.
Douglas, fell what felt like several feet to him back to the bottom of the pocket landing on the starbursts before sliding down to the floor of the pocket. As Ryan bounded up the stairs he found himself being bounced around the pocket as if he were a popcorn kernel. He grasped onto either side of her pocket for support as he tried to keep himself from being knocked senseless too much. The stairs were a hundred times worse for Douglas. He was thankful that Ryan’s room was just off to the left of the staircase and couldn’t help but praise the lord when he heard her door shut tightly. A moment the sound of the skateboard being dropped in the middle of the floor followed and then the squeak of bedsprings compressing as Ryan sat down on her bed.
Almost immediately the pocket flap was lifted up and all Douglas could see was the hand of Amanda’s daughter reaching towards him. He pressed his back against the stitching of the pocket in hopes of somehow avoiding her but it was fruitless as her fingers dug into a pocket sliding beneath him. The powerful fingers of the girl, which were now beneath Douglas and begun to rise up from below as fingernails larger than his chest rested on his body.
“This has been a mistake! Please!!”A horrified Douglas yelled as he was lifted from the pocket with utter ease and set down on the girl’s massive lap. Knowing he had nowhere to go Douglas could do nothing but kick himself for being so stupid. He was helpless before this girl and the antidote might as well be a million miles away.
“I have to go down stairs for dinner. I will try to bring you something back up, but where can I put you? I don’t own a cage…I wonder if Bella has one? She used to have guinea pig, oh I know!” Douglas watched the young girls eyes fall onto her wastepaper basket. She reached inside grabbing the discarded Pringles can from the basket.
“Please, Ryan! Listen!” was all Douglas managed to get out before he found himself sliding down the greasy slick wall of the Pringles can, finally coming to rest at the very bottom. Unfortunately for Douglas, Ryan had set the can on her bed. So his attempt to push against the wall to roll the can over the side of the bed was met in vein by the folds in the bedspread which prevented any kind of movement.
Douglas slouched down in the can unable to believe his master plan had been derailed by a skateboard and teenager of all things. The strong smell of barbecue radiated from the walls and floor of the can. Even now the walls and floor have a residue that clings to his nude body. As he stares upward at what might as well have been a hundred stories up making escape seem fruitless. Light beamed in through plastic cover, but the cap is a whitish clear plastic which prevents any real visibility.
The passage of time was near nonexistent as there was no way to mark it. Minutes, hours, seconds all felt the same. As he they painstakingly ticked by reminding him of the fact that he sits trapped in an empty Pringles waiting for Ryan to return. The mistakes which were made became apparent quickly haunted him while all the ways out seemed to lead through a central point, he needed convince Ryan to get him back to his house.
The bedroom door swung open and closed shut just as quickly as it was opened. Douglas began to wonder just how long he had been trapped when the can started moving again. It shook back and forth several times knocking Douglas into both walls before the can began to tilt. Douglas’s hands slid against the slick walls.
“No Ryan!” Douglas managed to get out before he found himself sliding towards the mouth of the can with no way to slow his descent. As he reached the lip of the can he struggled in vein to grasp at the slightly jagged rim.
“Hey watch it!” Douglas shouted as he rolled around in the warm palm of her hand. The giant eyes were all he could see as they followed his every move.
A grin spread across Ryan’s face as she tilted her hand and Douglas tumbled onto the black and blue colored comforter of the girl’s bed. She looked down confidently at the tiny man as her mind raced over the endless possibilities. She had desperately wanted a pet a guinea pig, a hamster something small she could parlay into getting a dog. Now her golden ticket fell right into her lap.
“You still haven’t thanked me for taking you in. I’m taking a big risk here. I’m the one who will get in trouble, who will get grounded. You should be thanking your lucky stars I’m going out on a limb for you like this.” Gloats Ryan as inches her foot towards the tiny man; measuring the sizeable difference between her foot and this miniature man.
“Grateful? Is that what you’re calling this?” Douglas shouted; his squeaky voice causing Ryan to laugh as leaned her head forward, the grin on her face grew by the minute.
Ryan moved to lie across her bed on her stomach as her eyes maintained their lock on Douglas. The shift in position caused Douglas to bounce about the bed, as Ryan settled back down only the slight tremor from when her feet would pound against the bed before she would lift her feet back up into the air only to repeat the process. The sheer size and length of her was starting to form in Douglas’s mind. The bed itself was seemed to stretch for miles in every direction and the young woman who slept upon might as well have been three quarters of a mile tall or so it seemed.
“Puh. Puh-lease, maybe we got off on the wrong foot” Stammered Douglas as Ryan moved her index finger towards him. He tried to move out of the way, but he had no way to stop her. As her index plowed into his back he stumbled forward falling face first into plaid comforter; seconds later the same index finger stroked his nude body, tussling his hair at first and then sliding down his back.
Tears begun to form in the corners of Douglas’s eyes as he struggled in vein to move out from under her weight but a single digit of her finger had him pinned. He was at the mercy at what amounted to a child in comparison to him a middle aged man. As she continued to pet him the humiliation only grew.
Several minutes had passed before the near constant petting had stopped. Douglas was too afraid to move for several seconds before he looked behind himself seeing Ryan staring into her massive iPhone. The sound of Justin Bieber cut through the room. The music was booming and forced to Douglas to cover his ears which seemed to barely make a difference.
“No I wasn’t doing anything at all Bella.” Douglas watched Ryan say as her finger lowered back towards him. She pushed him over onto his back and begun stroking him like a cat. As her index finger lowered towards him Douglas put his own arms outward pushing against her finger, however it was as if he wasn’t even there. Her finger pushed his arms back and slid down his body.
The late afternoon early evening had pushed into night, Ryan’s laughter boomed like bombs exploding in the sky as her voice roared about the room filling every crevice. As the clock shifted closer nine a heavy thud sounded followed by a tremor rippling across the bed like a wave across the ocean. He looked over seeing the phone lying on the bed.
“Are you hungry boy? Huh? Are you?” Ryan said in a infantile voice. He watched her reach behind her and pulled out a piece of chicken from her pocket. A few pieces of pocket lint clung to the chicken strip which was clearly homemade.
Douglas was appalled at first but his stomach rumbled reminding him of just how long ago lunch really was. He looked up hungrily at the chicken dangling between her fingers. Douglas could feel his mouth begin to water as he rose up to his feet. His mind slipped into a primal place as his stomach tightened and his mouth salivated. In a matter of moments he was jumping up trying to reach the chicken.
“Tut, tut, is someone going to be a good boy if he gets this?” Ryan said as Douglas felt his manhood drain out him. He nodded hungrily as the piece of chicken strip dropped onto the bed. As soon as the morsel was on the bed Douglas launched himself towards chicken. As he bit into it the homemade breading and spices exploded across his taste buds. He unconsciously blocked Ryan from the chicken strip as he ripped piece after piece off as if he were a mother protecting her young.
It wasn’t long after Douglas was finished with the chicken that he felt her hand push down against him as her fingers curled back around his body while Ryan kicked her feet up in the air as she lay across her bed inspecting her tiny pet.
Douglas was tipped upside down in her vice like grip, and then turned back over as she inspected every inch of his body. After Ryan finished her inspection she grasped at his legs and begun to move them from side to side before twisting his arms to and fro before finally dumping Douglas directly in front of her as she smiled down at the miniature man.
Fearfully Douglas attempted to crawl away from the young girl but the look of glee in her eyes told a different story. The realization that he was this girl’s prize possession begun to sink in; as she only saw him for what he was now and not what he used to be.
A heavy thud pounded against the door followed by a powerful voice yelling lights out in fifteen minutes. Douglas felt a sense of vindication enrapture him as he saw his tormentor forced to obey someone’s whims. Knowing that if he could just somehow get to Amanda this could still be over.
Douglas watched as the giant stood up from the bed. It was a bit frightening as she stood up dwarfing him in every way causing him to inch away before her hand blanketed him once again encasing his nude body in a sweaty, oily tomb. The world passed by in a blur of colors and shapes for several long moments before they walked into the largest bathroom Douglas had ever seen.
Ryan reached into the shower turning on the hot water as she set Douglas down on the toilet seat before she got into the shower. As soon as the shower curtain closed Douglas ran towards the end of toilet. As he looked downward he could see the pile of clothing Ryan left on the floor, and in the far off distance was the tightly bathroom shut door.
“That’s a long ways down” Douglas said with a gulp as hot steamy air filled the bathroom. Knowing that staying would mean a lifetime of what he just experienced he decided to take a few steps back and took the leap of faith. The air raced around him as he sped towards the floor, and an instant later he crashed into the pile created by Ryan’s hoodie and t-shirt. The clothing softened the blow but as he stood up and walked he still had a noticeable limp.
“shit” Douglas cursed as he limped his way towards the door. It took the better part of fifteen minutes before he reached the door. He looked back at the shower briefly before dropping to his knees and discovering a horrifying fact. The gap underneath the door wasn’t big enough for him. As he turned around, Douglas saw the hot water dripping off Ryan’s body onto the floor as the baby blue towel wrapped around her. Anger exuded from the pores of her body as her wet foot slapped down on the tile floor beside him. Water dripped off her foot into tiny lakes around Douglas. As he looked upward at the perturbed teen who was glaring down at him with the look.
“I can explain” Douglas tried blabber out but his voice was squeaky and Ryan was upset.
“Save your squeaking for someone who cares. I’m sure there is a perfectly good lie to explain this, right?” Ryan said grasping the tiny man in one hand before turning around on her heel and grasping the floss from the bathroom counter top in the other.
Ryan wrapped the floss around his nude body before reaching up to the shower bar that held up the curtain. She tied and knotted the floss around the string from the soapy wet loofa before grasping her dirty clothes. Douglas tried to apologize, but the only response he got was in the form of the bathroom lights being turned off and the door being shut behind the giant teen as Douglas held onto the tiny white rope for dear life as his body slammed against the soapy red loofa.
The night was long and when the sounds of morning came Douglas could hardly wait for Ryan to get him down but morning stretched into afternoon before Ryan walked into the bathroom wearing some sweats and an American eagle t-shirt.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Ryan said with a smile as she watched the miniature man struggle to maintain his hold on the loofa and floss.
“You win, you win, please get me down.” Douglas shouted as loud and clearly as he could.
“So what do you think of the name Pipsqueak” Ryan said as she stared up at the diminutive man completely ignoring his plight.
“I have a name, its Douglas Bryan. If you think you’re going to be calling me pipsqueak you have another thing coming. Not only is that not my name, its demeaning, childish, and insulting. “Douglas ranted up to the girl shaking his fist at her for but a moment before grasping the loofa again.
“Your voice is so squeaky; it sounds cute when you get all riled up. I could call you Ounce, or I know Kisses. What do you think of that?”
“Kisses? You want to call me kisses? Are you mad?”
“Well I’m not calling my pet Douglas Bryan and you said you didn’t like pipsqueak….I guess I will just have to leave you there while you think on it.” Ryan said with a smirk spread across her face.
“Well it’s starting to grow on me now that I see where you’re coming from.” Douglas conceded choosing to take the lesser of the two evils.
“Good pipsqueak it is, I like an obedient pet. Now we just need to sell this to mom. So just let me do the talking.” Douglas never had a chance to respond as the girls hand swept around him as he was carried down the stairs and towards a room that was converted into an office. Small models and blueprints from Amanda’s architecture job were scattered about the office. A grin crossed Douglas’s face as he knew this was his big chance.
“Hey mom! I was wondering, do you know how we you said I could get a gerbil then if I took really good care of it we could look into me getting a dog.”
“Yeah, I remember us talking about THINKING about something like that.” Amanda said not looking up from work.
“Well I found this tiny ma-animal who I named Pipsqueak underneath my skateboard, so it wasn’t really my fault it was in the way yesterday, but it worked out well that it was as now I was thinking I could just keep pipsqueak here and then once I prove I won’t kill him, we can get me my dog Chaz.”
“Amanda! It’s me Douglas, listen wait…did you say if you don’t kill me?” Douglas shouted as he flailed in the girls grip beating against her hand. Ryan finally looked over at the small house her mother had designed last year. She lifted the roof off the house and dropped Douglas inside the bedroom before dropping the roof back onto the house.
“What do you think you’re doing! Let me out of this house. I’m a grown man you can’t do this.” Douglas screamed and shouted as he ran over towards the window. He desperately tried to open the window but there weren’t any latches to be found. Becoming desperate, Douglas begun to pound against the plastic frame but the window held strong.
“This isn’t happening. My life is crumbling before my eyes.” Douglas thought to himself as helplessly watched the girl sweet talk her mother.
“If and I mean If I agree to let you keep this, what did you call it, Pipsmart”
“Pipsqueak Mom!”
“Right Pipsqueak, you’re going to behave and get along with your sister when she gets back from soccer camp. A pet is a big responsibility and you know how busy I am. I refuse to help you take care of this. This would be your obligation as you’d be accountable for another life.”
“Oh I promise, pipsqueak won’t be any trouble. I will even take him to school with me in the fall and everything.” Ryan said as hugged her mother from behind. Douglas was absolutely beside himself.
“Amanda! No!! It’s me Douglas! Mr. Bryan from next door! This has been a big mistake. Please!!” Douglas shouts as he collapsed to his knees as he saw his grinning giant captor lift the roof of the model house to grasp him as she headed out of her mother’s office and into the kitchen before dropping Douglas on the counter.
“You can’t be trusted not to run off yet Pipsqueak.” Ryan said as she pulled out some nylon string from the junk drawer. She wrapped the string around Douglas’s body several times before knotting it around his waist. She then unrolled a few feet of rope before cutting the string and carrying Douglas over to the sofa in the living room setting him down on the floor.
“Sorry Pipsqueak, pets aren’t allowed on the furniture.” Douglas watched as she tied the nylon string around her big toe before stretching out on the sofa and turning on Gossip Girl. Douglas pulled and yanked several times against the nylon strong but it wouldn’t budge off her toe. He glanced down briefly at the knot she tied on him but it was smartly tied behind him so the knot rested against the square of his back.
Looking up at the young woman engrossed in her show Douglas wondered exactly how he was going to get himself out of this. There wasn’t enough string to get to the door, in fact there was only a few feet of string he had at his disposal.
“Unbelievable, I was out smarted by a teenager.” Douglas huffed as he finally resigned himself to his fate for now and slunk down onto the floor.
Forty five minute or so had passed when the front door opened up as Annasophia, Ryan’s older sister walked into the house with a suitcase in one hand and an oversized soccer duffel bag in the other. Douglas had only seen her a couple times before she left for her soccer camp in the beginning of the summer. He had remembered Amanda talking about her a few times on occasion.
“Hey! Hey! Help me!!” Douglas shouted as he sprinted towards Anna flailing his arms and jumping up and down.
“What hell is that? It looks like tiny tan lump. It sort of looks like our neighbor, what’s his name Bradly Bryan, Danny Bryan, help me out here” Anna said as she peered down at the miniature man rushing towards her.
“Oh you mean Douglas Bryan, yeah, he shrunk himself or something like that but he really hates it when you act like you don’t believe him” Ryan said not looking away from the television. However the statement caused Douglas to stop in his tracks. His head turned towards the giant teen watching television unable to believe that she had known all along and still put him through all this.
“He what himself? What’s he doing here?”
“HE SHRUNK HIM SELF” Ryan said pausing between each word. “Then you came in and he was yelling Hey! Hey ! Hey! Help me! And now…” Ryan says as she turns her head away from the television to see Douglas. “He has shocked and sort of upset look on his face as he stares at me. Any other stupid questions?”
“That’s not what I mean! What is he doing here, as in, in our home? Anna said as she dropped her suitcase and soccer bag onto the floor.
“Oh, I decided to keep him as my pet, Mom said it was okay. I named him pipsqueak as long as he doesn’t die we can get a dog next year.” Nonchalantly Ryan said as she grabs the remote un-pausing the episode of gossip girl.
“Hi honey, I missed you so much, how was soccer camp.” Amanda said coming up from behind her daughter and hugging her.
“Good! Mom did you really say Ryan could keep him as a pet?”
“What the pipsmart thing…I don’t see why not. I don’t see the harm and if you girls can’t handle this, how do you think I’m going to trust you with a dog” Amanda said.
“Pipsqueak” Both Anna and Ryan say unison.
“What? Amanda! It’s me Douglas” He shouted
“He sure does squeak a lot. His voice is so pitched, I’d love to catch up with you hun, but I have a big project due this week. We can catch up tomorrow okay?” Amanda said as she headed back towards the office. Douglas was beside himself. Amanda barely looked at him, and when she did it was as if she didn’t even recognize him. What Douglas hadn’t quite grasped was with his diminutive size his unique features were much harder to see unless you were looking at him up close. Not to mention his high pitched voice was much harder for people to understand.
“How do you plan on keeping this from mom? At some point she’s going to pay half a second of attention to him and you know he’s going to squeal on you. She will blow her lid when she finds out your keeping a person a pet.”
“Look, there an antidote in my house. Just take me over there and we can let bygones be bygones. I will tell you what; if it doesn’t work I will relent and agree to stay like this as your pet as I won’t have much of a choice anyway.” Douglas shouted as both Ryan and Anna look at each other before agreeing. Ryan pulls the nylon string off her toe and presses her finger through it before grabbing Douglas.
A sense of relief washes over Douglas as he watches Anna run up stairs to drop her stuff off. Knowing that he was going to get changed back thanks partly to Ryan’s older sister made him not even so much as mind the girls hijinks. Not to the level he wasn’t going to make sure they had hell to pay, but maybe a just a grounding.
“Okay, let’s head over.” Anna said as the girls ran over to the property next door, opening the unlocked door. Douglas directed the girls to closet shelf he kept the vials on.
“Wait a minute, you shrunk yourself, and then kept the vials on the top shelf of your closet. How were you planning at getting at these? And why did you shrink yourself again, you never did answer that.” Anna asked she grabbed the vials.
“Well I uh, didn’t think it would really work. Who has ever heard of shrinking serum? Once I saw it was working I panicked and tried to get over to your house for help and well you heard the rest form your sister.” Douglas said rather proud of himself for the convincing lie.
“So this is all there is? Can you like order more?” Ryan asked excitedly.
“No, the company has since gone under. They couldn’t come up with a practical use for it. I thought it was just some kind of joke product. Now why don’t we get this re-enlarging under way.” Douglas said anxiously.
“Okay, yeah. I had a long ride home. Let’s do it in the kitchen. There is more room and we can put you on the counter.” Anna said running off to the kitchen with Ryan following slowly behind.
As Anna entered the kitchen she opened up several of the cupboards grabbing a small water glass and filled it with an inch of water before opening up two more cupboard finally coming across a box of food coloring. Anna quickly squirted in red food coloring into the cup giving the water a pink color just like the enlarging serum before stuffing the vials into her pocket.
“Hurry it up you two, I don’t have all night.” Anna said carrying the glass part way out of the kitchen as Ryan came in setting Douglas down on the cupboard. Douglas walked up to the cup as Anna tilted it. He drank a good portion of the liquid before stumbling over unable to drink anymore. The three of them waited for a good ten or fifteen minutes before either one of them spoke.
“It looks like it’s not going to work.” Ryan said happily as she started reaching towards Douglas.
“No there must be some mistake. I can’t stay like this. I’m a person.” Douglas Said as he walked over to the glass he tried to jump up and inside the glass but the rim was much too high for him to reach.
“Oh but there is no mistake, this is priceless. You can actually see the horrified look on his face Ryan. It’s like he really thought this was going to work. Who has heard of someone shrinking let alone growing them back? This so sci-fi if I wasn’t staring at you I’d never believe it.” Anna said smugly as she lifted the glass away from the counter dumping the liquid down the drain before placing the glass back in the cupboard.
“No that serum was my only hope. You just dumped it down the drain.” Douglas said rushing towards the sink. However after a few feet Ryan yanked her arm back causing Douglas to stumble face first onto the counter. Douglas looked back seeing Ryan waving the nylon string wrapped around her finger
“Please, there has been some kind of mistake. This wasn’t supposed to be like this. Take me to your mother!” Douglas shouted in a panicked voice.
“Sorry you bet against the house, and the house just won. Let’s take our pet home, but wait while I run upstairs and grab his ipad. It’s not like you need it anymore, do ya pipsqueak!” Anna chides as she sprints upstairs. a few minutes later his nude body was enveloped by her left hand, while she gripped his Ipad in her right. The two girls walked out the front door locking and closing the door behind them without looking back.
“You will have a good life as our pet Pipsqueak. Try not dwell on the past, my history teacher always says everything happens for a reason. Everything and everyone has a fate. This just happened to be your fate.” Ryan said to her pet man.
“Wait a minute, that means if was true, than everything leading up to the shrinking was predetermined, preparing himself for life as our pet? That would be really pathetic if it were true, don’t you think pipsqueak.” Anna said while staring at the tiny man clutched in her grip.
“Just remember Pipsqueak, no more talk about this previous life mumbo jumbo. You promised, besides we tried your little antidote and it didn’t work. Just make the best of this new life as our pet. On the Brightside you don’t have to worry about scavenging for food, sleeping outside, or getting killed by a cat or a bird, or whatever. All you have to do is make your masters happy.” Ryan Gleefully said as the girls ran inside their house eager to play with their new pet.
~fin