Annie was riding in the passenger seat of the car. The girls were on their way to Liz's house, where they would be spending the night. Autumn had been setting in, and it was getting cooler outside, so Annie had worn a red hooded sweatshirt. It was zipped up most of the way, leaving some of her T-shirt visible. On either side of the zipper were two pockets, perfect for resting one's hands in. On this particular occasion, however, they were being used to transport two small pieces of cargo. One of these was me; the other was my car, which I would need to get to work the next morning. I had made sure to impress on Annie to be careful with my car. She said she would be careful. I still don't know how she ever convinced me to go along with all this. The interior of her sweatshirt was quite comfortable. A dim red light filtered in. Annie's hand rested gently on her shirt, cradling the bump inside, in mutual reassurance. It was quite warm and cozy in there; I think I actually started to doze off. Suddenly, Annie's shirt began to sway, and I heard the car door slam. We were at Liz's house.

  Stowed away in Annie's pocket, I tried to guess what was happening. I heard the girls' footsteps as they approached the front door. They entered, and closed the door behind them. I heard an unfamiliar voice greet the girls. Liz's mom, I thought. Mrs. Kim said she was glad to see Annie. Her Korean accent was apparent, but not very thick. I wondered idly what she looked like. She made some small talk with Annie. I hoped she wouldn't discover the little secret in Annie's pocket. I was sure the girls wouldn't let that happen.

  The pocket jiggled as Annie mounted the staircase. The rhythm of her feet on the wood floor slowed as she reached the top of the staircase, and walked into Liz's room. Annie's hand appeared and gently retrieved me from the pocket. My eyes adjusted as she brought me into the light. I saw the girls' faces smiling above me. Annie set me down on the bed, where I was able to get a better glimpse of the room. The green walls were adorned with posters depicting characters from various Anime series. One of these characters watched over the room from the wall above Liz's bed: a girl dressed in a steampunk corset, with long, flowing silver hair, and big blue eyes. Across the room, above a desk, a plain wooden wall shelf supported 7 inch figurines of the girls from Hero Team. Annie began to unfurl a sleeping bag on the floor. Liz had carried Annie's book bag for her, and she set it down next to the sleeping bag.

  As the girls got Annie's sleeping area set up, they talked among themselves: the latest school gossip, the new episode of Hero Team, the answers to tonight's homework, which they had both made sure to do in advance. I could only stand there and listen patiently, stranded, as it were, on the plateau of the bed. As Liz attended to some business at the other end of the room, Annie stood with her hands on her hips, her head turned to me. She tossed me a furtive smile, a smile that seemed more for herself than for me. A triumphant smile that spoke of the imagined jealousy of her classmates, who could only dream of so easily smuggling a boy to one of their sleepovers. I saw in her eyes that she wanted to brag about me, even though both of us knew she couldn't and wouldn't. There was a secret between us, something special, something that even Liz didn't know. I felt a strange giddiness at the thought, and smiled back at Annie.

  Suddenly, Annie jumped onto the bed. The shock wave sent me tumbling backwards. When I recovered, I saw Annie crouched over me, like a playful tiger. Her mock threatening pose made me feel small, like a cornered mouse at the end of a hunt. I looked into her eyes, the benevolent but stern eyes of a tigress.

  A chuckle erupted from across the room.
  "Annie, what are you doing?"

  The tigress smiled, and flipped into a sitting position. A light bounce in the mattress rippled my way as she shifted.

  "Come on, Annie, I'm ready."

  Annie scooped me up without warning, her fingers gently clutching me as she got off the bed, and she spilled me on a paper towel, which had been set on the floor. I saw the columns of Liz's legs, which buckled as she crossed them to sit on the floor in front of me. Jean fabric was stretched tight against her kneecaps, which rested on top of her bare feet. I turned around, and saw Annie remove her socks, and toss them aside. She then sat in a similar position as Liz. There was a hole in her jeans, on her left kneecap. White threads frayed at the edges of the hole. I examined the seated girls' faces curiously, cautiously, wondering what they had in store for me.

  "Will," Annie began. "Ever been to a girls' sleepover before?"
  "No," I replied.
  "Well, here you are. Here's your chance to see what girls do at sleepovers. Mostly girl stuff, as you probably guessed. I hope you have fun doing girly things with us, Will. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

  Annie smiled, and set a glass vial on the floor in front of me. It was nearly as tall as I was. There was a deep red substance inside, tinged with orange. The vial had a black cylindrical cap. Gold letters on the front spelled out: Autumn Red. It was nail polish.

  Annie proceeded to unscrew the cap, which became the handle of the brush that emerged from the vial. She lifted the brush through the air above me, toward Liz's waiting hands. I dodged a glob of nail polish, as it fell from the brush onto the paper towel. The thick semi-liquid wasn't absorbed, but merely rested in a thick, metallic puddle. Gazing above again, I saw Annie meticulously painting Liz's fingernails, dipping the brush now and again, careful now to wipe it on the rim of the vial to avoid drips. Annie's face showed concentrated effort. Liz watched her nails, patiently. Finally, Annie finished, and Liz blew on her nails. She proudly showed them off to me. Annie passed the vial to Liz. It was her turn.

  Soon a layer of Autumn Red was drying on Annie's fingernails as well. She laid her fingers on the towel for me to see. Five shiny red plates glistened before me.

  "How do they look?"
  "Great," I replied.

  Annie uncrossed her legs, and set her feet on the floor. Her feet poked out from under her pant legs, her bare toes were lined up eagerly before me.

  "Say, Will, do you think you could give me a hand with these?"

  Her toes curled, scrunching up the paper towel. I looked at the vial next to me. I reached for the cap, but had difficulty removing it. I found myself growing slightly, and found I could more easily lift the brush. I looked up at Annie, and smiled in thanks. I walked toward her feet. The brush was a bit awkward to handle. I set the brush on the big toe of her left foot. I pulled it toward myself in a smooth stroke, leaving a streak of red down the pink nail. Her foot shifted slightly once in a while, reminding me that the giant fleshy form in front of me was indeed alive. I continued painting. I accidentally got some on her toe, which she dabbed off with a corner of the towel. I painted three of Annie's toenails, blowing on them after I finished.

  "Good job, Will," Annie said, taking the brush from me. "I'll do the rest."

  I sat and watched as the girls painted their toes, talking very little, devoting their attention to their pedicure. When the girls finished a toe, they had me blow on it. I took care not to inhale the fumes from the polish. Annie painted her toes, then Liz painted hers. When Liz finished, she sealed the bottle, and I stepped off the paper towel as the girls cleaned up. Annie picked me up, and sat on the bed, placing me on her knee. She raised her foot for me to see. She spread her toes apart, the deep red color of her nails gave her foot a mature femininity that pink or green wouldn't have suggested. I rested my hand on Annie's knee. I felt naked flesh. My hand was in the hole in her jeans. I wondered if there was an interesting story behind that hole. I looked down at my hand, pressed flat against her skin, as if I had tried to grasp her kneecap and it had expanded in defiance. I looked up and saw Liz standing in front of me.

  "What should we do now?" she asked.
  "Maybe we should ask Will," replied Annie.

  Liz looked down at me. I was staring at the wall above her desk. Liz looked up, tracing my gaze to the shelf on the wall.

  "Oh, Will, do you want to see my figurines?"

  Annie carried me along as she followed Liz to the shelf. She placed me up on the shelf with the 7 inch figurines, which were playthings to my giant friends, but which still towered over me. The whole main cast was there. I saw the girls from the Team, as well as Prince Solar and Queen Neutrina. I walked down the shelf, admiring each one, like statues in a museum. I reached the end of the shelf, and stopped, careful not to look over the edge. Across the abyss that cut off my platform was a tall dresser. On the dresser was a shiny trophy, with a little human figure on top. I asked Liz what the trophy was for. Girls' volleyball, she said, from a tournament a few years ago. The little figure stood in a victorious pose. It had simplified features: it had no face, and suggested no particular gender. Somehow, it made me feel confident. I asked Liz about volleyball. She said she enjoyed it. She said her father had always encouraged her to do well in school, whether it was her grades or her extracurricular activities. She shared her father's advice with me: If you want something in life, you have to fight for it.

  I looked at Annie. She was holding the figurine of Prince Solar, examining it closely. I thought back on the time we played Hero Team together. It looked to me like Queen Neutrina had captured Prince Solar again. No, I thought, Annie wasn't Queen Neutrina, she was Princess Rita.

  Suddenly, I heard a voice: "Hey girls, would you like something to eat?"

  I ducked instinctively behind one of the figurines. I saw that Annie had almost jumped at the sound of the voice. She glanced at me for a split second, confirming that I was hidden from view. I peeked around the leg of the Intergalactic Princess, and saw Liz's mom standing in the doorway. She seemed to be in her mid 40s. Her black hair framed a happy face with dark Asian eyes and laugh lines. A few large white teeth were showing. Her lips pushed folds into her full cheeks as she smiled. She had an attractive face. She wore a purple, buttoned blouse, white khaki shorts, and bamboo sandals. Around her neck there was a silver necklace.

  The girls answered her invitation in the affirmative, following Mrs. Kim out of the room, leaving me, helpless, on the shelf. A few seconds later, Annie reentered the room, helped me off the shelf, and placed me on the floor by her things.

  "Don't worry, I'll bring you back something to eat."

***

  I waited patiently for the girls, walking laps around the sleeping bag on the floor, each time passing Annie's book bag, and her white, pink-striped Adidas shoes. Her socks were balled up in the mouths of her shoes. I ventured under Liz's bed. It was very clean under there. There was no dust, not even a stray sock. Suddenly, I heard and saw four bare feet smacking against the floor as the girls returned to the room. The natural light from the window was beginning to fade, and the girls turned on the overhead light. Annie called out to me, and I came out from under the bed, careful to avoid becoming a squish on her or Liz's sole, thereby ruining a freshly pedicured foot. Annie had indeed brought me something to eat, which she shrank for me.

  While I ate on the floor, the girls were busy over by the TV, going through Liz's DVD collection. They started up a movie, and sat on the floor to begin watching. Annie looked down at me, and saw that I had taken a seat on the toe of her shoe. Liz turned out the lights, and sat down to watch the movie.

  I didn't really find the movie that interesting, and my thoughts wandered. I thought of my last encounter with my wife. I felt a strange exhilaration at what I had done. I had asserted control over my life. I wouldn't let her control me anymore. I looked up at Liz's trophy, feeling like that little figure. I looked up at Annie, her face aglow, her eyes sparkling in the light of the TV. I felt she would always be there to protect me, but it wasn't a clinging, selfish protection - she wanted to keep me safe, to preserve something in me that she thought was special. I felt the same way about Annie.

  Restless, I dismounted the sneaker, setting my feet on the wooden floor. I looked through the door, which was cracked slightly, at the mysterious shadow beyond. I walked toward the door, feeling adventurous. I looked back at the girls, whose attention was completely absorbed by the movie. I walked out the door. The light from Liz's bedroom shone through the cracked door, casting a straight path of light on the floor of the hallway. It seemed like a conveyor belt pulling me into the unknown darkness ahead. Around a corner, I saw some light, and a handrail on the wall. The staircase. A carpet slinked down the staircase. The front door was visible far below. I looked back at the door of Liz's room, then over the edge of the top stair. I could probably leap down onto the carpet and not get hurt, I thought. Then I could climb back up by gripping the fibers of the carpet. Feeling like a daredevil, I lowered myself over the edge, and released my grip, landing a little roughly on the carpet. I felt proud of myself. I turned around, and tried to climb back up. I reached up high for some fibers, but they weren't strong enough to hold my weight. They slipped out of my hands, burning slightly with friction. Uh-oh.

  Panicking, I ran through my options. If I waited here, I risked becoming prey to any feet or footwear that happened to come stomping by, including Mrs. Kim's unforgiving flat sandals. I swallowed hard. I knew the girls would come looking for me eventually, but I also knew I wasn't safe where I was. There was nowhere to go but down. I began repeating my daring feat as I descended the staircase.

  After what seemed like an eternity, I reached the base of the stairs. I wondered how long before they noticed I was gone, and came looking for me, but I knew they were still watching the movie. I felt vulnerable in the open space by the front door. The staircase and the hallway met there. It was a high-traffic area. Mrs. Kim could come walking by at any moment. I heard talking. I cautiously followed the voices down the hall. I turned a corner, and saw Mrs. Kim, with her back to me, washing dishes in the sink. She was having a conversation in Korean with her husband, whom I could hear but not see. There were wooden cabinets running around the kitchen. Between the bottom of the cabinets and the porcelain floor, there was a small indented space. I ran into the space, feeling it provided me some shelter. I walked down the space and made a turn at the corner, near Mrs. Kim's feet. I thought she was less likely to see me there. Her feet were noticeably larger than Liz's. They rested on bamboo pedestals, a black Y-shaped strap holding them in place. I vaguely imagined what her toenails would look like in Autumn Red.

  The cabinet overhang provided me cover for the moment, but I had to either find a way back to Liz's room, or find a way to get their attention when they came looking for me. I briefly considered trying somehow to catch a ride upstairs on Mrs. Kim's clothing, but there was too much risk of getting injured or discovered. I thought my best bet was just to wait it out for now.

  I could hear the clink of dishes above me, and the splash of soapy water. In the living room, the TV murmured lowly. I watched Mrs. Kim's feet carefully for any sign of sudden movement. The skin under her toes looked dry, and slightly rough. Her toenails had a dull shine. Suddenly, her foot was lifted off the floor by her leg, which swung to the side. Her powerful leg planted the sandal on the porcelain tile, which creaked slightly under her weight. The other sandal followed. She walked into the living room to join her husband.

  Suddenly, I heard a tapping sound. I turned, and saw a pair of feet enter the kitchen. I looked up, and saw they belonged to Liz. Her feet walked over to me, pausing in front of the counter. I tried calling out her name a few times, to no avail. Instinctively, I didn't yell too loud for fear of alerting her parents, but I realized that the sound of the TV, coupled with my reduced size made it fairly unlikely they would hear me. So I shouted her name as loud as I could. She was getting something from the cabinet above the sink. She walked across the kitchen to the fridge, filling the cup in the water dispenser. She turned to leave, while I continued shouting in vain. She had disappeared from the kitchen, when I heard her mother call out.

  "Liz!"
  Liz walked back into the kitchen.
  "Yeah mom?"
  "Don't stay up too late, okay?"
  "'Kay."

  While this brief conversation was taking place, I ran into the middle of the kitchen, waving my arms and shouting. She didn't notice me, so, taking a chance, I ran right up to her, and dove onto her foot. I stretched out my arms, my chest resting on her soft flesh. I looked up, and saw a surprised face staring down at me. Carefully and discretely, she reached down her hand and picked me up, and we were on our way back to her room. I breathed a sigh of relief.

  She pushed her door open, and I saw Annie silhouetted against the bright TV. Liz set me down somewhere on the floor, and then she took a seat next to Annie, not mentioning to her a word of what had just happened.

  After the movie finished, it was late, so the girls decided to call it a night. Annie had asked me if I needed to use the bathroom, and I said no. She slid herself into her sleeping bag, and she picked me up and laid me on the pillow next to her. I looked into her big eyes. She said good night to me, and Liz turned out the light.

***

  The next morning, the alarm clock woke us up at 6:00. Liz shut it off, and reset the alarm to go off later, and Annie and I got up. She put on her sweatshirt, and retrieved my car from a drawer in Liz's bureau. She placed it in her pocket. She picked me up, and brought me over to Liz, still in bed, to say goodbye. I told Liz I had a good time, and she said she enjoyed having me over. Then Annie put me in her pocket.

  Annie walked out of the room, down the stairs, and made her way out the front door, all as quietly as possible. She pulled me out of her pocket, into the cool, fresh morning air. The sun had not risen yet, but some of its light managed to make its way over the horizon, making the sky a cold, pinkish blue. She set me down on the street, and grew me to my normal height. She then produced my car from her other pocket, and did the same, its rubber tires dragging on the pavement as it expanded.

  "Well, I guess I'll see you tonight, Will."
  "Yeah, guess so."

  Annie stood on her toes, and gave me a kiss on my cheek. She turned around and began walking back to the house. I stuck my key in the car door. It fit perfectly. I thought for a moment.

  "Hey Annie," I said. She turned around.
  "Yeah?"
  "How can you tell when you un-shrink something, that it's the size it's supposed to be?"
  She thought for a second.
  "I can feel it... when something isn't the right size, and I concentrate on it... I can feel it wanting to be the right size... then I imagine a letting-go feeling, like when you stretch a rubber band and then let it go. Then it grows back to normal size."
  "Oh," I said.

  She walked back to the front door, and I got in my car, and started driving to work.