****Jacen****

I awoke to the sound of my sister’s voice. It was rumbling all around me. I looked from left to right and panicked flailing my limbs at the sight of the walls so close to me. A few moments later the realization came to me. I was in my sister’s pocket. I remember climbing to the rim of her pocket to get her attention. That is when her best friend Emma came bounding towards Al.

I steadied myself as I once again looked up towards the top of the pocket, sighing loudly as I looked for Al’s IPod as a base to steady myself on my ascent out of this pocket. I ran down the narrow walkway towards where the IPod must have shifted too, but it was nowhere to be found.  Al must have put it in her locker or something. I could have sworn she kept it in her pocket so she could use it during class. I looked up at the rim of the pocket and knew this was going to be a much more difficult climb.

I walked along the narrow walkway of Al’s pocket looking for a fold in the pocket which would hopefully create some kind of ridge to make the climb easier, but I wasn’t having any luck. It wasn’t until I came to the end of the pocket and saw the stitching of the pocket to the coat that I saw my chance, at my size I could use the stitching like pseudo rope to climb to the rim of the pocket. I looked back at the long narrow shaft which made up Al’s pocket and knew that this was going to be my only chance.

I grasped onto the threading and used the walls of the coat and pocket that came together as a base as I shimmied up the pocket. I found the climb to be very slow going in comparison to when I was able to use the IPod.  What gave me hope though was that Al, Emma and god only knows who else, were still talking. I knew if I could get out of this pocket before her first class I would have a chance, but it would be next to impossible to get her attention in the middle of the class.

As I continued to work my way out of the prison I put myself into I could hear their voices getting louder and louder. It just wasn’t Al’s voice now; it was the voice of her friends, and her classmates, and teachers all swarming about the hallways. My tiny ears felt as if they were being assaulted from every direction. It took all my strength to continue to climb out of this pocket.

I could now see the edge of the pocket clearly. I was only a few feet from reaching the rim of the pocket when the bell blared across the hallway.  The bell silenced all for a moment as I heard lockers slam and now footsteps were everywhere. I heard Al’s say something but I couldn’t make out what it was. Then a moment later I felt us on the move. The initial lurch forward almost sent me reeling back to the floor of the pocket. I managed to hang on by luck, and luck alone.

As Al moved down the hallway I found myself unable to climb, her every movement would create new folds and indentations in the fabric of the pocket while others would disappear in unpredictable patterns. I would find myself being beaten and bruised by the rough material that made up the coat of Al’s uniform. The noise in the hallway began to dissipate and I could feel Al’s pace quickening. I tried calling for her once but my voice seemed to just be swallowed whole by the vastness of the world.  Then all motion seemed to stop and I heard fewer voices then before.

Since the motion had stopped I continued my climb to the rim of pocket. I knew contacting Al would be much harder now, if not impossible without drawing attention to me from the entire class. As once class begin no one would be talking except for the teacher and the last thing I would want would be 30 sets of eyes staring at me.

I finally felt my hand reach out into the fresh open air and grasp the rim of the pocket. I breathed a slight sigh of relief as I pulled myself up and looked over the rim of the pocket, while digging my feet into Al’s body. I turned my head and looked up at Al hoping that by some odd chance she would be looking down in my direction but instead I got the shock of my life. I found myself looking up at Emma Waitland, Al’s best friend. A look of horror and fear spread across my face. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The long wavy blonde locks of hair cascading over the seemingly broad shoulders, the tan skin, it all belonged to Emma.

I desperately tried to think back to how this could have happened. It just didn’t make sense until I remembered the hug. When I flew back into Al’s body I must have ricocheted off of Al and into Emma’s pocket. I started to scan the room as best I could to see if I could spot Al somewhere but she wasn’t anywhere that I could see.

I fought with the most obvious decision. I knew I was going to have to get in contact with Emma but it certainly wasn’t a situation I was looking forward too. It was bad enough that I my little sister has to see my like this. The thought of her friends seeing me this helpless is a whole new level of humiliation.  I sighed deeply with the realization that I would have to once again suck up my pride and make contact with Emma.

I wondered if it would be smart to try to get down onto her desk, and get in front of her pencil and try to get her attention. That Idea seemed the most practical but I was worried about getting left behind. What if class was over by the time I got there? It is one thing to be shrunk and with my sister’s best friend. It is another story to be shrunk and alone trying to navigate a gigantic school. Possibly found by some other person or worse yet mistaken for a bug like Al had done before and killed.  No, I was going to have to try to contact Emma without leaving her.

I looked up at the giant girl. I couldn’t believe that this was little Emma Waitland (Pronouncer = EM-AH Wait-Lynn).  When it comes to figures Emma was the exact opposite of Al. Where Al was athletic and had muscle tone Emma was dainty and with little no athletic ability.   Emma was much more a girly girl then the tomboy that Al was. Now though, Emma looks as if she could compete in the world strongest man competition.

As I continued staring at her an idea popped into my head. Emma’s wavy blonde hair which was draped over her shoulders wasn’t too far from me. If I could grasp some of her hair I could climb right up to her ear and contact her that way. Granted, it was very risky and then there was how Emma would react to some little person yelling at her ear that she couldn’t see. I might be flung from her hair and lost forever.  It was still my best choice, not to mention the only idea I had beyond the getting on the desk idea so begrudgingly I decided to try to contact Emma.