Nicole had trouble sleeping that night, tossing and turning in bed well into late hours, unable to fall asleep despite being tired. She tried browsing the web on her phone, counting the sheep, even lying still with her eyes closed, only to get frustrated none of these solutions were working. She was staring at the ceiling, her hands folded under the pillow, her long legs outstretched. As she glanced towards them, the memory of Sean wandering around her body came flowing back. She smirked, imagining him in the room with her, walking all the way from her feet to her face. She knew she wouldn’t be able to see him there, even if it wasn’t for the darkness in the room, but wondered instead if she could feel him. She barely could back at aunt Kristine’s place, his microscopic feet hardly registering against her skin. She switched the position, now lying on her stomach and imagined it would have been easier for him to explore her this way. If he could climb up the wide slope of her foot, the road ahead would’ve been smooth, soft, easy for him to march through, at least until an even longer slope of her back. But with her hair down, he could’ve climbed more easily, Nicole thought. And then, she imagined, he would stop at her arm and if she turned she could see a tiny speck of a man proud of himself. She opened her eyes, surprised at herself for these thoughts, for daydreaming about something like this, almost embarrassed. She closed them soon after, finally falling asleep.
She woke up to the sound of her phone ringing from her nightstand and she groggily picked it up, still half-asleep. It was a friend calling, the other girl she was going to the trip with. She was calling to give Nicole the news that a certain person, specifically the guy she was interested in, resigned. She groaned and cursed, withdrawing the phone from her ear so her friend wouldn’t hear it, and thanked her for the news. She hanged up, sat in her bed and rubbed her eyes. The day was off to a bad start, at least for her. After a minute or two of still waking up, she stood up and walked to the kitchen to have a light breakfast. She then brushed her teeth, showered and went back to her room where she changed into a black, sleeveless crop top and jean trousers, her midriff bare. ‘Eh, good enough’ she thought, seeing herself in the mirror standing in the corner of the room, then put on a pair of brown sandals with two wide buckles and left the house, getting into her car and driving to Kristine’s place. She was still dazed and annoyed after a short night cut even shorter by her friend calling her with bad news, but at least the road was almost empty and the ride was smooth. That and the fact she had the whole day to spend with her aunt and Sean.
Mandy spent the night slouched over the papers, looking for a lead. Despite fatigue, she was beginning to see a pattern, or maybe it was her tired mind that caused her to think she did. Nevertheless, something was there. ‘Huovi radiation particles’ she read from her notes ‘Compressing the molecules of professor’s body. Keeping them in check’. Of course, it was so obvious. The radiation was present in several elements of the machine and the fact worried her when the device was still in the construction phase, despite the professor assuring her it’s virtually harmless to living organisms. And apparently it was, Mandy thought as she recalled Nicole telling her Sean was still “in one piece”. The process didn’t harm his body, only diminished it drastically. In one piece, one very tiny piece.
She picked up a pencil with one hand and a notepad with the other and started to write, kneeling on the floor. She jotted down what she thought happened that day when Sean seemed to have vanished, then her reflections on Huovi radiation, then sewed a few facts together and finally reached a conclusion. If she could somehow remove the radiation particles from his body, would this cause him to grow back, now that his molecules would be unbound? It wasn’t certain but it was a lead worth following, Mandy thought. But to even approach that question she had to first measure the exact radiation level still residing in and around his shrunken frame. She searched her memory and remembered there were some counters in the lab; at least one of them, she figured, could read Huovi radiation. She stood up, determined, a plan hatching in her head. She would first grab one more coffee for the road, then head to the lab and find the right counter, then head back home and compare her notes one more time. And the next morning she would come by Kristine’s place and do the reading. She was tired, dead tired, and she knew she had to get enough sleep if she wanted to do it right, to get the precise data. Besides, one more day wouldn’t make a difference, she thought; it wasn’t like they couldn’t take care of him a while longer or that he’d be stupid enough to try and run away from them. Or, if he were, that he could even manage to do so. She smiled, cut her musings short and went to boil herself some more coffee.
Nicole rang the bell and was answered by her aunt flashing a cheerful smile at her. She was wearing a purple, short-sleeved buttoned top and a white dress with floral patterns of the same colour, reaching her knees. Her shapely legs and feet were bare and, as per usual, the golden cage was hanging around her neck.
‘Hey, hun’ chirped Kristine ‘Did you sleep well?’
‘Hi, auntie. Hi, Sean’ she greeted them in a resigned tone ‘Not really’
‘Aw, I’m sorry to hear that. Come in, we’ll figure something to help you relax’
She entered, took her sandals off and followed Kristine into the living room. Kristine sat on the sofa and patted her lap with one hand. “Lay your head down” she told her with a smile. Nicole, on her part, was too tired to argue and soon was lying down, her head in Kristine’s lap, her legs stretching beyond the sofa’s edge.
‘Now, tell me about that other thing’
‘What other thing?’ Nicole asked, taken by surprise.
‘I could always tell when you were just tired and when you were tired and stressed. Did something happen? Something back home?’
Nicole sighed and recounted this morning’s phone, letting her frustration out. Kristine listened, stroking her niece’s hair with one hand, looking down at her with care, a gentle smile never leaving her lips, despite Nicole’s tone getting more and more agitated. She was still caressing her hair when Nicole went silent and as she looked up to her aunt’s face, she felt as if she was a little girl again, when Kristine would comfort her after a long day at school or after a fight she had with her mother, her head in auntie’s lap just as it was now.
‘So I guess you’re disappointed?’ Kristine asked after a while.
‘Very. He knew I’m coming and he still bailed. Guess I wasn’t in his agenda after all’
‘Boys will be boys, hun’ she said with a reassuring smile ‘Are you still going on that trip?’
‘I don’t know’ Nicole sighed again ‘I’ll think about it. It’s not like I’d miss anything if I didn’t. Maybe I’ll just ditch it and spend time with you’
‘We’d love to have you around’
‘Yeah. Me too’ Nicole said and smiled for the first time since coming there this morning ‘And how are you guys doing?’
‘Good, we’ve slept the night through, had breakfast not ten minutes before you arrived. We’re relaxing’
‘That’s great’ Nicole said and felt her eyes close slowly, the missing sleep mixed with Kristine’s gently stroking her hair catching up to her. A moment later Nicole fell asleep in her aunt’s lap as the latter smiled at her. And then Kristine had an idea.
From his safe and comfy (as Kristine kept her word and adorned the interior with a cotton ball for better sitting) prison, Sean watched and heard the scene unfolding before him. He saw Nicole drifting off and Kristine cooing at how sweet she looked, having fallen asleep like that. Then he saw the door open and an unpolished fingernail appear. Instinctively, as though he was trained to react in such a way, he stood up and relocated onto the floating platform of Kristine’s nail. He watched her smile at him and felt himself descend, watching as her finger got lower and lower until stopping. Sean climbed down from it carefully seeing, to his surprise and marvel, he now found himself on a soft plain of Nicole’s right cheek.
‘Figured you might want to take a closer look’ Kristine whispered and as Sean looked up he saw a playful smile spreading across her distant face ‘Just try not to wake her up. And steer clear from her nostrils and lips. Just in case’
He didn’t have to be told that last part. From his position he could see the massive slope of Nicole’s nose and the gaping maw of her open, if ever so slightly, mouth. More importantly, he could hear the wind of her breath, even this calm being strong enough to either suck him in or blow him away. The young woman’s face was, just like the rest of her body, an awe-inspiring landscape, one full of wonders and dangers. He wanted to see all of the former and, hopefully, avoid all of the latter. He started by walking in circles around her cheek, feeling guilty about not having taken his shoes off, as if he was treading on something sacred, something holy. Even then he could feel the warmth emanating from within her skin, the air filled with aromas of soap and shampoo she used this morning. He approached her nose from the side, which from his perspective looked almost like a ski jumping hill. He walked along the slope, taking a turn when he saw he was approaching her eyelid, as big and still as a pond. He walked past it and the thin bush of her eyebrow, going uphill and reaching another plain, one that felt harder underfoot than the cheek and which was none other than her forehead. Sean stopped, looking in amazement at the tapestry of Nicole’s face spreading before him and the rest of her body even further down the road. She was so enormous, so incredibly colossal, a living, breathing continent. And yet she looked so peaceful now, so innocent, sleeping with her head softly resting in the lap of an equally humongous being who was watching his every step. There was one more thing he wished to do and he set off to do it immediately. Slowly, carefully, he walked down her forehead, past the space between her brows and stepped up on the bridge of her nose, only getting higher, walking up the dorsum and finally reaching the tip. He looked around, the view being even better from here, Nicole looking almost even more massive and majestic.
He stood there, at the edge of the tip of her nose, admiring his surroundings before making his way back to the giantess’ forehead, where Kristine’s finger was already waiting for him, this time upturned. He climbed aboard her nail, pressing his body close to her fingertip. At first he thought he was going back into the cage but then he noticed his surroundings shifting, Kristine’s body drifting away and himself being lowered once more. Once her finger stopped and Sean clambered down, looking at yet another massive plain which, curiously enough, was slightly rising and falling with each breath Nicole took, he realized he was standing on her abdomen. ‘Don’t you think these clothes are a bit too revealing?’ he heard Kristine whisper and gleefully giggle, as he began his sightseeing. The surface her was flat and even, Nicole clearly hitting the gym on a regular basis, and as warm and welcoming as he could expect. But in his wandering he forgot about the danger a body of a giantess can pose to a man his size and soon Sean found himself losing his balance as his surroundings moved beneath his feet, Nicole stirring in her sleep sending him tumbling down and falling into the chasm of her navel. Before he hit the soft, fleshy ground at the bottom, he heard Kristine gasp.
He stood up, slowly, and looked up, knowing it was a long way to the surface. Suddenly, Kristine’s worried face appeared in the distance. ‘Are you okay?’ she whispered and he lifted his right arm repeatedly to let her know he was unscathed. ‘Oh thank god. Hold on, I’ll get you out of there’ she whispered again and disappeared from his sight for only a moment. When she was back, he saw her hand moving in his direction, her thumb and index finger brought together and as it got closer he noticed something in between them. A rope, long and thick and gold in colour – her single hair. When it fell into the navel he quickly grabbed onto it, wrapping his whole body around as she lifted him back onto the surface, gently setting him down in the open palm of her other hand. ‘I think that’s enough excitement for a while, little one’ she told him as she brought her hand close to her face, but not without a smile, before she stashed him away inside the cage.
Shortly after, Sean saw Nicole waking up and apologizing to her aunt for dozing off, to which she replied she didn’t mind. The young giantess’ massive body passed by his cage as she got up and took a seat on the other end of the sofa. He heard her ask if she had missed anything but before Kristine could answer they heard a ringtone coming from over the bedroom. ‘I’ll go get it’ he heard Kristine say and sat still as she stood up and walked towards the source of the sound. He watched as she picked up the phone and, despite the display flashing him in the eyes as she lifted it past the cage, still managed to notice the word “work” on it. As Kristine answered the phone, Sean leaned back against the cotton ball he was sitting on, smiling as he mused about what happened a moment ago, oblivious to the conversation taking place far above. Until Kristine hanged up and Sean saw the cage being lifted, stopping only when it was in front of her face.
‘They’re calling me in’ she said with an annoyed look. ‘Let’s go tell Nicole’.