Up above the floor, in the comfy embrace of the chair, Kristine was having her own share of inconveniences. The book she was reading was boring her; in fact, it had been doing just that for the better part of it. The characters were one-dimensional, the romantic interest of the main heroine was the worst choice available, the very plot seemed to be tearing apart at its seams. She fought the urge to close the book and throw it in the corner, or better yet – out the window. But, one, she paid decent money for it and two, she had only about a hundred pages left till the end. This was doable, she could finish the book this evening, despite desperately not wanting to. She sighed, taking her glasses off and hanging them around her neck, as they came with a thin, leather strap. She looked out the window, at the soothing stillness of the early evening. ‘Nothing exciting seems to be happening lately’ she thought. A moment later she put the glasses back on and resumed her reading, oblivious to the world around her – especially to the little man struggling below.

After a few minutes of trudging through the fibres, choking on dust and dirt gathered on them as he marched on, Sean was finally out. He took a moment to shake the leftover grime from his clothes and looked around. He was facing the massive wicker chair, not unlike a throne for a goddess from his perspective. He knew he had to climb all the way up there to be noticed and he wondered how to accomplish that feat. ‘I could try the legs…’ he thought, looking over to the spot on the floor where her enormous feet rested. If he could climb one, it would be only a question of a long walk upwards until he reached her lap. And what a long walk it would be; even this minuscule he could tell she was tall by the length of her legs. As enticing as the idea seemed to him, he pondered about the risks. She could easily toss him off just by moving her leg, even so slightly. She could feel him tickle her on his way and mistake him for a bug, something he feared in the case of her and, before that, of Mandy. Two big, red flags, too big to ignore. He looked over to the chair. It was more stable than the leg of the giantess and offered a bit more climbing possibilities, the wicker patterns on its sides forming lines he could easily walk on and grab on to. And thus the question was settled and Sean wasted no time in running towards the chair and beginning his climb. He spent the next several minutes either marching upwards along the wicker paths or pulling himself up, alternating between these two actions repeatedly until he reached the armrest. Fortunately for him it wasn’t occupied by Kristine’s massive arm and so he could climb down into her lap. From that point onward the plan was simple – get onto the book, where she was focusing her gaze, and hope for the best. He started to run through the wide plain of blue and white, the part of her dress covering her right leg, determined to reach his destination.

Kristine grimaced as she made it to the love scene the book has been building up to since the love interest’s appearance several chapters ago. As she was taking in the tacky descriptions of the process, she couldn’t help but wonder whether the author had ever let a man into her bed. Or whether she was fully aware how certain parts of her own body worked. She shook her head, struggling through line after line of badly-written scene peppered with cringy dialogue. ‘Fifty pages more’ she thought ‘I can’t do this. I need a break’. She took the glasses off and was about to close the book and stop torturing herself (if only for a moment) when she noticed something very small and moving, erratically, on the paper.

‘Oh my, an ant’ she whispered, a bit astonished. She could easily flick it off or kill it, if she so wished. But Kristine was the kind of a woman who cherished life, including that of other people and living beings, even those who were as small as her surprise visitor. Instead, the reached towards the coffee table, picking up a bookmark and bringing it closer to the “ant”. She knew it would climb on and it did exactly that. ‘It’s not safe for you in here, little one’ she followed, not seeing a slightest problem with talking to an insect ‘I’ll take you out’. She put her other hand beneath the bookmark and slowly stood up, making sure she wasn’t making any sudden movements that would endanger the little guest. Her eyes still on the “ant” she made it to the front door in a few swift steps and opened the door. As she was about to crouch down and set the bookmark on the ground she noticed the tiny thing move again, even more erratically than before, as if it was nervous – or afraid. It was then that she realized it seemed to be standing on two legs. She put her glasses on and took a better, much closer look.

‘Goodness’ she gasped, astounded, as it became obvious just what exactly was she holding ‘You’re a person. A teeny-tiny person’

She slowly lied the bookmark on the palm of her hand, waiting for Sean to step down and when he did, she cupped her hands around him, gingerly walking back to the living room. She opened her hands only when she was comfortably seated on the lounge chair, looking inside her palm at the tiny human being nestled in the middle of it. She smiled gently at him to let him know he was safe. It seemed to her something exciting was finally happening.

At the same time, Mandy was lying on her bed, listening to music on the headphones and thinking about the day. Something wasn’t right. She was feeling anxious for an inexplicable reason, anxious about Sean and his mysterious disappearance. She turned the music off and dialled the professor’s number, only to be answered by his voicemail. ‘I’ll just check it back there tomorrow’ she decided and returned to listening to her tunes.