Nicole saw her aunt enter the room with a visibly upset look on her face. She stopped by the sofa and told her niece an office she worked with every now and then was hosting a foreign delegation and needed an interpreter right there and then.
‘That sucks. You want me to drive you to the office and wait?’
‘No, you’d get bored waiting there for me. But speaking of, can I borrow your car?’
‘Sure’ Nicole said, taking the keys from her purse and giving them to her. ‘But what about me?’
‘Get some rest, you’ve had a rough night. There’s some dinner in the fridge, just heat it up when you two get hungry’
‘Us two?’
‘Yes’ Kristine said, reaching behind her neck and taking the necklace with the birdcage off, handing it to Nicole ‘It’s going to be dull and noisy, I don’t want to have him rupture his eardrums. Can you take care of him until I’m back?’
‘Uh, um… Of course’ Nicole replied, carefully taking the necklace from her hands.
‘Thanks, hun’ Kristine smiled and leaned down, pecking her niece on the cheek ‘I should be back in two hours tops, or so I hope’ she added, as Nicole walked her to the front door, where she put on a pair of flat shoes. “You kids be nice” she said as a farewell and left with a smile.
Nicole locked the door and brought the hand she was holding the cage in to her eye level, looking at the little man on the other side of the bars. ‘Guess it’s just the two of us now’ she said, closing her palm around Sean as she moved to the living room.
She sat down on the floor with her back to the sofa, her left leg outstretched, her right one bent. She brought the cage closer to her face once more, as always uneasy at seeing Sean imprisoned like this. Even though he was tiny and vulnerable and she agreed with aunt Kristine this was the safest way to carry him around, she felt for him. It must’ve been so disturbing, being locked up several times a day in what was otherwise a piece of jewellery. Nicole could only imagine how humiliated he must’ve felt. She picked the cage up, placed it on top of her right knee and opened it, waiting for Sean to step out and only then hanging the necklace around her neck.
‘I though you might want to catch a break from this thing’ she told him, pointing towards the cage. ‘So I’m not putting you back in there until auntie’s back. But! Promise me you won’t get lost. You promise?’ she asked and smiled upon seeing him nod, repeatedly ‘Okay, that’s great. And I promise to keep an eye on you.
Sitting like this she could see him a bit better, without risking straining her neck by a continuous looking down. He still looked utterly minuscule against her knee, a tiny fleck standing on a rugged hill of her knee. ‘I kinda feel like letting you walk down my leg but I’m worried you might slip and slide all the way down so… Yeah, maybe that’s not the best idea’ she said with a sorry smile. ‘Though I don’t think you’d be hurt if you did, there’s carpet below. Then again, auntie would kill me if I lost you in the carpet again, she was so worried the last time. Oh yeah, again - sorry about that’. She saw him make a few gestures to show it was fine and she smiled at him once more.
She sat still for a minute, her eyes fixed on Sean. As she watched him walk in circles, she could tell he was getting bored. There was only so much he could see in that spot. She offered her hand and waited until Sean walked safely into her palm, then closed it, making sure her grip isn’t even remotely tight and slowly stood up. She then talked towards the lounge chair and sat in it, holding her palm high. She opened it and reached for the magnifier with her free hand, bringing the glass closer to take a closer look. She saw a man in her aunt’s age range, with thick scruff on his face and wearing plain, ordinary and slightly used clothes – not yet tattered but slowly getting there. Makes sense, she thought, he had no time or possibility to shave or change ever since he got so small. Another wave of pity towards him overtook her. If he was a bit bigger, even a few inches tall, they could figure something out to make his life more bearable. He could tell them what he needed and they would provide it, he could tell them how to bring him back to his regular size and they would aid him, but he couldn’t do that and thus the scope of their help was limited.
‘You poor, little thing’ Nicole whispered, looking down on him in the middle of her palm with sympathy. ‘I hope we can bring you back to normal soon. In the meantime, how about we watch something?’ she asked, trying to lift the mood, as she reached into her pocket and brought her phone out. Then she placed Sean on the coffee table as she rearranged the objects on it, bringing the book Kristine left closer and propping the phone against it. ‘Lucky for you, I have a streaming app installed. Let’s pick something’ she said, her massive finger browsing through the tall, shiny wall spreading before the little man. In the end she settled on a rom-com series she was in the middle of the second season of and leaned back, as they watched. Several minutes into the episode Nicole realized she was spending more time watching Sean than she did watching the screen, glancing at his tiny frame sitting in front of it every few seconds. Then she noticed the phone was sliding forward, having clearly set it against the book without checking if it’s going to be stable standing like this. Thinking quickly, Nicole put her hand over Sean, covering him as the phone collapsed on the table. ‘Phew’ she exhaled, lifting her hand and seeing him unhurt, much to her content. ‘That was close. I have a better idea – climb aboard’ she added, laying her open palm down and waiting for Sean to make it to its middle. She then brought him higher and held the phone with the other hand above him. They finished watching the episode in that manner and, when they were done, Nicole realized just how hungry she was. She put the phone back into her pocket, stood up and carried Sean into the kitchen in her cupped hands.
She set him on the table and checked the fridge. ‘Ugh’ she groaned shortly after, turning towards where he was standing, barely seeing him from the distance. ‘We’re having rice for dinner again. No meat this time’ she told him, as he took a bowl full of rice pilaf out of the fridge. It was more than enough for the two of them. She took a pan out and began to heat the meal up as the smell of curry filled the room, whetting her appetite. As she stirred the rice she wondered how overwhelming the smell must’ve been for the little man stranded on the table. A few minutes later the dinner was ready and she sat down to eat, a pile of rice steaming under her eyes. Then she noticed Sean approaching the plate. ‘What? You want some?’ she asked with a smirk, feeling playful ‘Okay, you can have some if you make it up there’ she added and smirked even more as she saw the little man look up towards her face and spread his arms, clearly annoyed with her antics. Nevertheless, she soon saw him approach the fork, which rested against the plate, and walk up, until he reached the rim. It wasn’t until he lifted a grain of rice, threw it on the table below and jumped down himself, did Nicole start to eat. While she was busy with her food, she took occasional glances at Sean, impressed with how easily it was to feed him at this size, with just one grain of rice constituting a meal to him. Before long they were done, Sean having eaten his fill first, his unfinished meal lying nearby. Even this little could be too much for the tiny man. Nicole stood up and put the plate in the sink, washing it as well as the pan. When she was finished she wiped the dishes, put them in the rack and took a step back. But, because the kitchen was small and the space between the sink and the table narrow, she accidentally hit the table’s leg with her heel, hurting herself. Sean however was even more unlucky, as he was close to the edge at the time, and the sudden shake in his surroundings made him trip and fall to the floor, miraculously surviving hitting the tiles, possibly due to how light he now was.
Nicole looked around the table for Sean, wanting to pick him up, but being unable to find him. ‘Sean? Are you hiding from me now?’ she asked, impatient, as she checked everywhere behind the salt shaker, in the fruit basket, even looking under napkins, but he seemed to vanish. She got worried for a second, before remembering having hit the table with her foot, and immediately turned her attention towards the floor. She noticed Sean soon enough but she also noticed he wasn’t alone down there. A tiny spider, only a bit bigger than he was running across the floor in his direction, as Sean stood there, frozen in fear. She brought her foot down on the insect, squishing it with disgust painted on her face, then crouching down and laying her palm flat against the floor. ‘Another close call. You owe me, little guy’ she told Sean with a smirk as she brought him up and carried him out of the kitchen.
They spent the rest of the day on the sofa, watching the same rom-com on Nicole’s phone, which she held at the eye level so that Sean, whom she put on her left arm, could see the screen too. By the time Kristine came home it was already getting dark and as soon as Nicole heard her park the car she brought the birdcage closer to the spot where Sean was. ‘In you go. Sorry’ she told him and locked the door as soon as he was inside, letting it hang from her neck. Seconds later Kristine entered the room, visibly tired, but still smiling at her niece.
‘How was it?’ Nicole asked, watching her take a seat by her side.
‘Exhausting’ Kristine gasped, turning to her ‘What about you? Have you eaten?’
‘Yeah. And chilled’
‘And… Him…?’ Kristine gasped for words, catching her breath and pointing towards the cage.
‘Oh? Oh, he was very, erm… obedient? I kept him in the cage the whole time’
‘You’re not a very good liar, Nicole’ Kristine said, smiling wide ‘But don’t worry, I know you’ve kept him safe’
‘Thanks for trusting me with him’ Nicole said with a genuine and honest smile.
She went home shortly afterwards, saying goodbye to her aunt and Sean and driving away, as Kristine carried Sean into the bedroom. This night she went to bed early, tired after today’s unexpected ordeal. She took a quick shower, checked on Sean (only to find him sleeping already) and lied down on her side. From the bed she watched his tiny frame resting against the pillow several times his size, having chosen the beige and gold one tonight. He looked so peaceful in the buttery light of the night lamp. She wanted to tell him goodnight but, worried she might wake him up by speaking, chose not to. Instead, she reached out and turned the light off, drifting to sleep soon after.