-=ERRRRR-ERRRRR-ERRRRR-ERRRRR=-

     My cellphone alarm goes off, laying on my bedside table on the other side of the room. While it's supposed to remind me that I have a raid in an hour, I'm already logged into the game and my phone is just out-of-reach enough to annoy me. While I'm not doing anything more than flying in circles in the middle of nowhere, I still whine as I stand up and grab my stupid phone. Tonight's raid was canceled, as all were this week. Cindy was giving everyone a break before we took on the last tier on Heroic mode next week. I'm the main healer, so it's important for me to be there for everyone, thus the alarm.

     As I touch the screen to shut off the alarm, I go ahead and put the phone on silent, then plug it into my charger. The battery is always going out on me, so I try to keep it charged when I can.

     I hop back into my roller chair and alt tab out from the game. I scroll down my facebook, seeing all of the 'Happy Birthday' posts. While social media isn't the standard sign of mass popularity, I -do- pride myself on the three thousand friends. That's right, three flipping thousand. Of course, I don't really know most of them. Just the girls from my High School, a handful of normal guys who have hit the Safe Zone or are close, and then my guildmates. One status from Cindy tells me to bring my big sexy birthday self into the game for a special gift. Another from Mandy is a bit more intimate and reads that she's sent me something in the mail. Before her I had girls sending me things from all over the world. I'll admit that I whore it up a bit on the internet, taking selfies and flexing my pecks. In a world of shrinkees, most women go nuts over a big strong guy like me. Not that I'm some action hero, I just like to stay fit.

     As I alt tab back into the game, my stomach reels. It feels like I've been punched in the gut. Shit, I might even throw up. Holding my stomach, I walk outside my room, past my sister's room and to the end of the hall at the bathroom. There are clothes everywhere, the hamper overflowing, signaling me that it's time to wash up. I'm the man of the house,after all, so it's basically my unspoken duty to cook and clean. My mom helps out when she cans but I've been doing it so long, it doesn't really bother me.

~gurgle~

     I shake my head and get ready to drop my pants went the room starts spinning. For but a brief second I imagine if this is what shrinking feels like. Dizzy weightlessness and an upset stomach. Nah, don't be an idiot Dusty. I sit on the toilet and hold onto the towel rack along the wall. Whatever this bug is, it's hitting me hard. Maybe mom will take me to the doctor later. Or even Kelly, if I can catch her in a good mood.

Perched on the porcelain like the king of rock'n roll, I hold my hand against my forehead, eyes closed tight and pass out.


:: Three hours later ::

     I awake with my head killing me and I'm freezing cold. I rub my eyes but it does nothing for my headache, and my stomach gurgles again. What did I eat? A strong breeze makes me shiver, and as I wrap my arms around myself, the realization dawns on me that I'm stark naked. I shake my head and open my eyes. The room is fairly dark, but there is a far off light barely illuminating my surroundings. I'm standing on a metallic~y white floor, with a white wall in front of me. The wall curves down at the bottom, which is weird, and turn around to take everything in.

     Holy fuck. This isn't real.

     It takes me a minute to realize exactly where I am. Behind me is a drop off to a red forest known as my bathroom carpet. In front of me, more terrifying than that, is a drop off into a very large bowel of water. The IMD got me anyways. And on the can of all places!

     I scream, “Twenty is the Safe Fucking Zone! This isn't supposed to happen!”

     I swear I can almost hear my echo across the still dark water below me. I place a hand out onto what I now know to be the toilet seat. I'm stuck in the in-between part of the horseshoe shape. As I look up the wall, I notice something else is wrong. I'm not six inches tall. Fuck, I'm not even an inch tall! Gazing up at this wall, which is probably little more than half an inch tall in normal measurement, I'm almost half it's height! I'm a quarter of an inch tall. There's no way I'll ever be able to function at this height. My whole life is just ruined.

     Worst birthday ever. It couldn't possibly get any-

     A faroff sound, like giant oak trees falling down, patterns. Closer and closer the 'whomping' noise approaches. It sounds like it's getting faster and closer with each passing second. It must be mom. I bet she's come to clean the laundry. Thank fucking God. I never really noticed how fast people move about, but I guess this is the first of many things I'll have 'never really noticed' before.

     BANG!

     The bathroom door swings open, the lights flick on and, to my utmost horror, I realize what's about to happen. In the movies things happen in slow motion, but my gargantuan sister is moving faster than anything I've ever seen. I see a flash of clothes, her face with puckered lips as if she's blowing a kiss and hear a loud “WHEW” as she slams the door locked behind her, pulls her pants and panties down and threatens to extinguish my life!

     “Kelly, wait I'm-!”