The next morning, I woke up, turned off my alarm, and stretched. As I started making coffee, Annie walk into the kitchen. I watched as the girl who had shrunk me the previous night prepared her breakfast without saying a word. I sat at the breakfast counter on a stool, with the newspaper in front of me, though I found it difficult to focus on reading. She took a seat next to me. I looked over at her, and she just smiled as she ate her cereal. She looked different today. She was wearing a purple hooded sweatshirt, jeans, and socks. Her hair had been brushed neatly. She had on some sweet perfume, the kind girls her age seem to like. By the door sat a purple book bag and her sneakers. It was a short walk to the bus stop, so I didn't need to worry about getting her to and from school. I was about to leave when I heard her say, "See you tonight." I said goodbye, and walked out the door.

  During the drive to work, I mused over my situation. It seemed I was going to be spending the month with some kind of witch. She might as well have been, at any rate; any explanation I could think of seemed ludicrous, yet there she was. She definitely seemed more like a character out of fantasy than science fiction. Still, I was determined to find out as much as I could about her.

***

  I greeted the receptionist, and started mounting the staircase. I opened the door and made my way down the hall to my office. I put my things down on my desk, and then my wife walked in. Someone was with her. After some office talk, she introduced the stranger by her side.

  "Oh, Will, I want you to meet my new assistant, Cory."
  "Nice to meet you, Will."

  I shook hands with the boy, who had the naïve face of a college student. He was short and pale. It was very strange of Linda to suddenly get an assistant. Even stranger was that she never mentioned it to me, and she usually told me everything. I made eye contact while she talked to me, but my thoughts were preoccupied with Annie.

  "Will, are you alright?" she asked. "You seem... distracted."
  "I'm okay," I responded. "I... just didn't sleep great, that's all."

  She seemed to give me a suspicious eye, just for a moment. She dismissed herself; the boy trailed her, copying down notes as she dictated.

***

  When I arrived at the condo, Annie was already waiting for me.

  "How was work, Will?" she asked, smiling, as she opened the door for me.

  She seemed glad to see me. I was surprised at how quickly she was taking to me. She watched me enter the house, with a twinkle in her eye.

  "Excuse me, Annie," I said.
  "Oh, sorry."
  She blushed, stepping aside to let me in.

  We had the night ahead of us, and I was cautiously eager to see what Annie had planned.

  "So, um, Will... is it okay if I shrink you now?"

  I hesitated, but curiosity pressed me forward. I consented, and once again I felt that funny feeling. Pretty soon, everything in the room, Annie included, dwarfed me in stature. Looking ahead at her massive sneakers, I realized that she could easily squish me if she weren't careful. But looking up at her face, I could tell she intended to be extra careful with me. She lowered her hand for me and I got on. She lifted me to her face. The perfume that I had gotten a whiff of that morning seemed stronger. It wasn't overwhelming, but intoxicating nonetheless.

  "Will..." she said. The breath from her voice and the perfume seemed to create a warm cloud around me. I imagined she was a goddess naming one of her creations.

  "Look how high you are!"

  I carefully peered over the edge of her hand. From my lofty perch, I saw the legs of her jeans stretching downward to her sneakers far below. I swallowed hard, noting that were she to drop me, I would quickly become nothing but a splat on the linoleum. "It's okay, I got you!" she whispered, in a way I found very reassuring. I looked up and saw the breakfast counter. It seemed a mile away. It suddenly began to draw closer, and I realized Annie was walking. She put her hand down and I stepped onto the counter. She walked around the counter and sat at the stool in front of me. This was the same place she sat when I saw her the first day I came to the condo, and I recognized the same look in her eyes as they surveyed me eagerly. A few wordless moments passed, then I just looked up at her expectantly.

  "Sorry," she said, blushing. "You're just so cute at that size. So, do you want to have some fun?"
  "What kind of fun?" I asked.
  "I don't know. You're tiny! Something fun for a tiny person. Use your imagination."
  I was drawing a blank. I really didn't know what she was getting at.
  "Ooh, I know!" she exclaimed. "Come with me."

  She put down her hand, and I got on. She walked down the hall, briskly but carefully until we arrived in her room. She put me down on the floor. The carpet felt soft beneath my feet. Annie walked towards the bed. Her feet left temporary imprints in the carpet behind her. She sat on the bed and took her sneakers off, setting them at the foot of the bed. She looked at me from the bed and said:

  "See if you can figure out how to climb onto my bed. Meet you up here, okay?"
  "What? Wait, Annie, I..." I interjected, until I realized she probably couldn't hear me.

  I approached the bed. It was incredibly high. The bedspread was draped over the side. There was no way I could reach it, even with a generous jump. The legs of the bed were too wide to shimmy up. I had no idea how I was going to get up there, but Annie was up there, and I didn't think she could hear me, so I had to figure something out. I surveyed my surroundings. On the right side of the bed there was a wooden nightstand, with a lamp on top. With its smooth vertical surfaces, I certainly couldn't climb that. I looked to my left, and saw Annie's sneakers sitting by the bed. Further down that end of the room, I saw Annie's desk, her closet, and... wait a minute. Her sneakers! She had conspicuously taken them off and laid them there. They were pretty close to the bed. Perhaps a clue. I could climb them and get a better reach for the bedspread! I marched determinedly towards the giant pair of sneakers. I knew Annie was a petite girl; she couldn't have had very big feet, yet looking at her shoes from this perspective, it was hard to tell. By comparison, I estimated my own height at around 1 inch. The shoes were white leather, relatively new, with three pink stripes on each side. I walked to the front of one of the shoes.

  "Well, here goes nothing."

  I jumped up and managed to grab onto the ridge around the base of the shoe. With some effort, I pulled myself up onto the toe.

  "Now we're in business."

  I scaled up the laces like a ladder, and I got to the top. Across the mouth of the shoe was the heel. Not far above was the bedspread. If I could get over there, I could definitely reach it. Carefully, I approached the side of the shoe, and lowered myself over the outer edge. Hanging on with my hands, I shimmied myself around to the heel, until a giant Adidas logo stared me in the face. Looking straight up, I saw the bedspread dangling down. I could definitely reach it with a good jump. I pulled myself up until I was standing on the lip of the heel. Carefully, I bent my legs in preparation for a jump. 1, 2... Suddenly I lost balance. Shit. I struggled to get a solid footing, but it was too late, and I tumbled face-first towards the inside of Annie's sneaker. I landed quite roughly, and I looked up. I realized I was trapped.

***

  Recalling the next several minutes is still unpleasant for me. I went into panic mode. First, I tried yelling for Annie, to no avail. Then I tried climbing the wall of the shoe, but I couldn't get a good grip on the material. Then I preoccupied myself with terrifying thoughts, like Annie forgetting about me and putting her shoes on. It really struck me then how puny and helpless I was at that size. Finally, I heard Annie calling my name. I called back, though I doubted she could hear me. I saw her peering over the edge of the bed. I jumped up and down and waved my arms. Finally she saw me, and smiled. She grabbed the shoe and lifted it onto the bed. She turned the shoe, dumping me out, much as she would a pebble that had been irritating her sole. I landed on the bedspread and looked up. She sat in front of me, with her legs crossed, still smiling playfully.

  "What were you doing in my shoe?" she asked.

  I explained what had happened; meanwhile she was leaning closer to hear me better. She laughed at my story, and told me I was supposed to climb the cord of the lamp on her nightstand, then jump onto the bed. How was I supposed to know that? Suddenly Annie started to shrink. She seemed to be about the same size as me now. She got up and ran over to me.

  "I love to explore my room at this size," she said.

  Suddenly she reached out her hand, and hit me on the shoulder.

  "Tag! You're it!" she exclaimed.

  She started to run to the head of the bed. She turned around and saw I wasn't following her.

  "You're it!" she repeated, emphatically. "Come and get me!"

  Reluctantly, I started running after her. I never used to get a lot of exercise. I dreaded any kind of strenuous activity. Which is why I thought watching Annie was going to be easy. I never expected to be running around playing tag on her bedspread.

  "Slow down! Wait! Where are you going?" I shouted.
  "You'll see!"

  She hopped onto the nightstand. I followed. She ran around the lamp.

  "Wait! Slow down!"

  I ran around the lamp and saw her rappelling down the lamp's electrical cord. Where was she going? First, she wanted me to climb onto the bed, now we were going back down. I thought back to what she had told me two nights ago, about her being such a mature girl. But I hadn't expected this kind of playful behavior from a teenager. Then I reminded myself that this girl was not a typical teenager. I began to descend the cord, careful not to look down, and pretty soon felt my feet hit the carpet. I saw Annie dash under the dresser and I followed her. She led me under the bed and to a giant shoe box.

  "In here!" she said.

  I saw her run into a hole cut in the side of the shoe box resembling a door. I followed her inside. At first it was dark, and then there was a "CLICK", and I realized that Annie had just turned on a flashlight. The interior of the shoe box resembled a cross between a knick-knack drawer and a makeshift doll house. There were all sorts of things strewn about the place: doll accessories, coins, cheap jewelry, and a watch minus the wristband, which hung from the wall like a clock. In one corner, there was a doll's bed.

  "Welcome to my secret lair," she said. "Do you like it?"
  "Sure," I said.
  "Sometimes when I can't sleep, I like to come hang out in here."

  Annie was sitting on the doll's bed. I walked around the place, examining the objects Annie had collected. I saw a postcard from Paris, with a picture of the Eiffel Tower, leaning against the wall opposite the bed.
  I pointed to it and asked, "Do you like Paris?"
  "My dad went to Paris on a business trip," she replied. "Before I was born. He sent that to my mom when they were still dating."
  "Where is your mother now?" I asked.
  "My parents got divorced when I was 8. I don't see my mom much. She remarried and lives in New York."
  "Annie... I want to ask you something. When did you first learn about your powers?"
  She hesitated a moment.
  "When I was in grade school."
  "What happened?"
  "I wished that something would shrink and... it just happened."
  "What did you want to shrink?"
  She seemed to become disconcerted.
  "I... I'm sorry, Will, but I just don't want to talk about it."
  Fair enough, I thought. But still, I was determined to find out whatever I could.
  "Annie, why did you show me your powers?"
  "I don't know. I just felt I could trust you. There's something about you."
  She gazed into my eyes mysteriously.
  "Does anyone else know?"
  "Only one other person knows. My best friend, Liz."

  I supposed that it was smart that Annie had kept quiet about her powers. It probably would have been stressful for her family: her parents fearing that something was wrong with her, that other people would find out, or that she would use her powers to hurt them. This girl still mystified me, but looking back now, I can see that this was where I started to understand her as a person. She was a timid girl. Her parents had divorced. She was an only child, and had lived a quiet home life with her father for the past eight years. After she discovered her powers, she was undoubtedly alarmed at first, and played around with them alone in her room. These games she was playing with me were probably a remnant from her childhood. I could see how the need to be secretive growing up gave her a childlike imagination and wary intelligence.

  Afterwards, Annie returned us to normal size, we had dinner, and got ready for bed. By 10 p.m. Annie was already in bed. I had turned off the kitchen lights and was walking down the hallway towards my bedroom. I paused in front of her doorway. She was sleeping.

  "Good night, Annie."