What the fuck?

Eli bolted upright. “Moooom!” He paused. “Ally? Winter?”

He rolled out of bed, his bare feet landing on wood, oddly warm and distinctly foreign. The bed itself, its thick navy sheets crumpled into a pile at the end, resembled no furniture he’d ever seen. In fact, nothing in the bedroom looked anything remotely familiar. Not the dark curtains, not the beige wallpaper, and certainly not the huge closet mirror —

His hair was gone!

It wasn’t gone, but it was significantly shorter. Even more concerning, he wore a diaper, and from the sensation of moisture in his pelvic area, he imagined it to be less than clean.

He had to be dreaming. He pinched his arm, mimicked by the half naked individual in the mirror. When that failed, he ran into the adjoining room and spun.

A sea of beige walls and plastic furniture, an overly tidy kitchen, and a door leading to a bathroom. He bolted toward the latter, stripped off the wet diaper and wrapped his lower half in a towel that felt more like cheesecloth than terry cloth. He searched for a trashcan, and when finding none, deposited the wadded material in the empty bathtub. At least he hadn’t done the second number in it.

“Mom!!!”

He rushed into the living room and threw open the curtains. What he saw made no sense. It wasn’t grass or trees or sky or anything like the outdoors. It was…impossible.

After finding no means of opening the window, he pressed his face against it. The shades of pink and red reminded him of his sisters’ bedroom, his bedroom since Ally had switched with him, but the scale made no sense. The red bedsheets below stretched for yards in all directions, the walls like enormous feats of architecture in the distance.

Fuck.

What the hell had happened? The last thing he remembered — he was with Parker and they were skating. Well, she was skating and he was riding...piggyback. The tingling sensation had returned, he’d lost his grip around her neck, and…

He couldn’t remember anything past that. He didn’t appear to be injured, lacking nothing other than his hair, but he couldn’t have possibly shrunk so much. Could he? And why the hell was he wearing a diaper?

The ceiling shifted. An enormous hand and a giant face filled the sky.

“Time for you to eat little guy.” The voice sounded like Winter, but it’s resonated with a quality and power that stopped his heart. “Hey, where -- “

He screamed and dashed into the bathroom, slamming the door before realizing the roof no longer existed.

“Oh my god!” The titanic head swiveled on it’s perch, waves of hair whipping across the sky, creating a tangible wind. “Ally, Eli’s walking!”

He cowered beside the toilet in the corner of the bathroom, burying his head in his knees. Maybe if he didn’t see his surroundings, they would disappear, and he’d awaken from this surreal nightmare.

“Eli?” Ally’s voice, soft yet powerful like her sister, reverberated. “Eli, are you back?”

He looked up to see his sisters staring at him like a newly discovered species. He recognized them as his sisters, sure, but like through a telescope at high magnification. Even from the distance, he could make out the fine hairs on their skin, the fibers in their clothing, and Winter’s newly missing bottom tooth as her smile formed.

Winter’s ridiculously huge hand blocked his view and floated towards him. He screamed again, throwing up his own hands in what would likely be a fruitless effort to ward off the menacing digits.

Somehow it worked, her fingers retreating below and out of view.

“What’s wrong with him?” Winter asked.

“He’s terrified of us.” Ally said. They spoke to each other as if he wasn’t even present.

“Why?”

“Put the top back on. We need to call Mom.”

“But he needs — “

“Just do it, Winter. Right now he needs to be left alone until we call Mom.”

“Okaaay.” She moved the roof of the house back into position, her one arm lifting the flat structure as if it were a mere textbook. “Don’t worry, Eli. We’ll explain everything. You’re going to be fine.” She flashed a pitying smile before the roof returned to its moorings, shaking the floors and walls.

He wasn’t going to be fine. He’d known this day would arrive, but it had happened entirely too soon. His sisters were not just big, they were gargantuan, and the fear...the fear was real. They wouldn’t hurt him of course, but his heart stammered and his chest tightened nonetheless. He simply couldn’t control it. The fear spread like chilled ink in his veins.

He made himself smaller, sinking into the corner until the stucco wallpaper dug grooves into his back and his stomach rumbled. Eventually, a tap on the ceiling and a voice.

“Eli, you’re probably hungry,” Winter said. “Can I come in?”

“No!”

At first nothing. Then, she said, “Ok, I’ll leave some food and clothes at the front door. It’s unlocked.”

Another pause.

“The doctor said it’s normal, because you got so small so fast. You’re confused and afraid. If you just — ”

“Winter.” Ally’s voice cut in. “Not now. Let’s give him some space.”

Winter let out an exaggerated sigh. “The soup is hot, so don’t wait too long. I promise you’ll like it. If you need anything, just turn on the TV. It’s hooked up to Ally’s phone and...hey!” Her voice strayed further away. “Ok bye for now Eli. I really missed you. I’m so glad you’re back!”

He wasn’t glad to be back, whatever back meant. The inability to remember the recent past (because surely time had passed) ranked a distant third on his current list of concerns. His diminutive stature and physical appearance (diaper, haircut, what else had they done?) tied for first and second.

Eventually, he made his way to the front door, but couldn’t bring himself to turn the handle. Outside would be a world of which he wanted no part. A world he’d feared even before he’d begun to shrink. A world he’d been thrust into as a fully reduced premie, likely shrinking faster than the ninety-ninth percentile, enough to leave him utterly bewildered and deathly afraid.

His dry throat constricted in a sad attempt to swallow and his stomach rumbled yet again. The doorknob, a warm metallic material against his skin, twisted easily enough. The door itself opened outward and —

***

Winter watched from above, careful not to enter Eli’s field of view. Against Ally’s orders, she’d snuck back into her bedroom, unable to keep her thoughts off her little brother. Whoops — her ‘big’ brother. Though really, she wasn’t sure she’d ever see him that way again, especially not after the last month. She’d just have to be careful to avoid telling him that.

Her heart pressed against her ribs, filling with anticipation — he took his first step outside his premie apartment. She’d cleaned the room, made the beds, and even removed the partial collection of shopkins from his nightstand as Ally had demanded. Something about the size disparity being too much for him too soon, and the...what was the word again...dysphoria potentially returning. She preferred the phrase ‘baby Eli’, and if she were being entirely honest, she hadn’t minded it one bit. True, she’d missed her brother, especially at first, but in a way he’d become her baby (after all, she’d been his primary caregiver), and the throbbing muscle in her chest wouldn’t let her part with him so easily.

Eli stood there, wrapped in a premie towel, head turning slightly in either direction. This continued for a while, for minutes at least, several agonizing minutes. All the while her fingers twitched, itching to sweep in and gather his little body into the safety of her palm where she’d hug him and layer him with kisses until the look of fear she’d seen in his eyes vanished, never to be seen again. But Ally had warned her not to touch him for the rest of the day, and she’d promised to obey, at least for now.

Finally he unfroze and knelt, sniffing the contents of the makeshift bowl. More of a thimble than a bowl, it would have to do until his dinnerware arrived. Unfortunately, steam no longer rose from the soup — a delicious mix of vegetables and spices, the latter intended to mask the faint flavor of premie powder. She’d cooked it herself, having become somewhat of an expert in premie nutrition. The powder aided in the digestion of human food molecules, a fact she could attest to as it certainly made him easier to...clean...after an ‘accident’.

Eat the soup.

She opened her mouth but bit her lip instead of speaking. To her dismay, he skipped the food and grabbed the pile of clothes, then disappeared into the apartment.

He needs a bath!

She usually gave him several quick baths a day, essentially anytime he needed a diaper change. He loved the warm water and she loved keeping him happy, healthy and spotless. Besides, it was much faster and more hygienic than trying to clean him with those tiny wipes.

If he’d truly emerged from his dysphoria, he’d almost certainly insist on bathing himself, feeding himself, and entertaining himself. Unless...unless she could prove to him how much easier and more enjoyable his life would be with her assistance. After all, she’d practically been his nurse for the last month. She knew far more about caring for premies than anyone else in the house, and certainly more than him.

But none of her knowledge would do any good if she couldn’t remove this darn roof. Why did these apartments come with a roof anyway? It wasn’t as if he needed protection from rain or snow. She’d attended the premie training, including the advanced session, and she understood the lessons on premie independence and privacy, but she’d never taken them to heart. The instructors didn’t know her brother like she did. Deep inside, he longed to be cared for. One learned a lot about someone's deepest desires after regression to infancy. All ‘pretense’ washed away. Emotions laid bare, raw, and immediate.

She knew Eli better than he knew himself.