Kristine was sitting in the chair, holding Sean in her palm and inspecting him with a magnifying glass as Nicole was walking around the room, speaking on the phone with Mandy. ‘Handsome little fella’ she thought, reflexively biting her lip as the thought appeared in her mind. She noticed he was about her age, his (now, obviously, tiny) legs revealing he wasn’t short before his accident. She liked his dark hair, his square jaw his green (or so they seemed; even with the magnifier she couldn’t tell for sure) eyes, even the little stubble that gathered on his face since yesterday. She found herself regretting, much to her surprise, the fact that he was this tiny right now.

Nicole hanged up and turned to face her. ‘I thought I’d catch Mandy when she was still around, but she’s at home by now. She asked us to bring Sean over, I got her address. Are you up for a ride?’ she asked.

‘Sure’ Kristine said, putting the magnifier on the coffee table and carefully sliding Sean into her breast pocket. ‘Hang on, little guy’ she told him, closing the pocket and standing up. They put their shoes on and left the house, locking the door. Then they got into the mini cooper, Kristine on the passenger seat as Nicole drove to their destination. After a fifteen minutes ride they arrived at the housing block Mandy lived in and soon were standing in front of her apartment’s door. She opened and led them into the living room, all three taking a seat around a short, glass table, Mandy in an armchair, Kristine and Nicole on the couch. As soon as they were seated, Kristine plunged her hand into her breast pocket and brought the palm holding Sean in front of Mandy’s eyes.

The young woman’s face was surprised at first, despite Nicole explaining his condition on the phone. The surprise then turned into shock upon seeing how small Sean now was. And finally, her face settled on an angry scowl. ‘I. Told. You. To wait with running the experiments until I’m back!’ Mandy cried out, making Sean fall to his knees and grabbing onto his ears.

‘Hey, pipe down. He’s still in one piece, no? He’s alright’ Nicole chimed in.

‘Alright? Alright?! He’s the size of a grain of rice for god’s sake!’

‘Mandy, please don’t scream. His ears are much more sensitive to noise at this state’ Kristine said in a calm, but firm voice.

It took Mandy a few seconds to calm down and a few more to speak again.

‘I don’t even know where to start. I have literally no idea how he did this to himself’

‘Is there anything you can do?’ Kristine asked, concerned.

‘I’d have to go through his papers, all of them. Then maybe I could try and build something that would bring him back to his normal size. Maybe. It’s him who normally handles constructing our devices. I really can’t promise anything, at least not at the moment’ she said and looked back to Sean still in Kristine’s hand ‘What about his well-being? Is he staying with you?’

‘Yes. And he’ll stay at my place for as long as he has to. Or wants to’ Kristine said.

‘Can you keep him safe until I figure something out?’

‘Yeah. Auntie Kristine knows what she’s doing’ Nicole said ‘He’ll be safe and sound with us’

‘I really hope that is the case’ Mandy said and stayed silent for a moment before addressing Nicole ‘Listen, I’m sorry for shouting like that’

‘I don’t mind. But I think you should tell that to Sean’

Mandy looked into Kristine’s palm and at the tiny man within. ‘Sorry, professor. I was just really worried. Still am’ she said in an apologetic tone. Sean shook his head and put up the palms of both hands forward, as a means of saying “it’s fine”.

‘You know, I’ve been to the lab twice after his disappearance’ Mandy said ‘Just because of this. I feared he would do something silly in my absence and, surprise surprise, I was right’

‘Mandy. There’s no need to get agitated’ Kristine said in a calming tone.

‘You’re right, I’m sorry. The point is, I haven’t seen anything he could’ve used for shrinking himself this small. No device or apparatus or anything’

That’s because you stepped on it, you big dummy, Sean thought.

‘Does it mean you’ll have to start from scratch?’ Nicole asked.

‘So it would seem. And I’m sorry to say but I don’t know how long it’ll take me. I’ll do my best but we’re talking a project we’ve been working on together for months. Even with notes and papers he left behind it might be a while’

‘That’s okay, as long as you promise to do your best’ Kristine said in a reassuring tone, putting her free hand on Mandy’s arm ‘We, in turn, promise to do our best to keep Sean safe until you figure something out. Right, Nicole?’

“Right’

Mandy smiled for the first time since the conversation began. ‘Well, I guess there’s a lot of work ahead of me. Better get on with it fast’

‘We’ll leave you to your work’ Kristine told her with another reassuring smile and they all stood up. As the two women were leaving, Mandy said goodbye to them and Sean and promised to keep them updated about her progress. Kristine and Nicole walked back to the car, the little one safely nested in the former’s breast pocket.

‘What’s the plan for the rest of the day?’ Nicole asked, fastening her seatbelt.

‘We’re going home. But first, there’s something I wanted to take care of. Do you know the jeweller on the corner of Hampton and Seventh Avenue?’

‘Uh, yeah? You think this is the right time to be buying jewellery?’

‘Oh I’m not planning on buying jewellery. I’m planning on buying something even better’

‘Suit yourself’ Nicole said and started the car as they drove to the place Kristine wanted to drop by.

Finding a parking spot in that part of town took longer than the ride there. When they did find one, they took a short stroll to reach the store and went in. Once inside, Nicole was keeping herself busy looking at the earrings and necklaces she couldn’t imagine to ever be able to afford as Kristine spoke to the seller. A moment later she could see her aunt finalizing the purchase and being handed a little white bag with the store’s logo imprinted on it in gold characters. They left the store and walked back to the car.

‘So, what did you get?’ Nicole asked, curious, as she watched Kristine open the bag and reveal a golden chain, at the end of which was a tiny birdcage, roughly half an inch tall, with a little door as tall as Sean was.

‘I’ve had my eyes on this for a while, but I’ve never really had a need for it. Until Sean came along, that is’ Kristine said, showing the purchase to Nicole and smiling wide ‘I can keep him on me at all times in here’

‘Uh. Do you think… he’ll like it?’ her niece asked, perplexed. She found the idea good, the means of realizing it – not so much. She couldn’t imagine Sean to enjoy being confined to a cage, even if it was for his own safety.

‘Let’s ask him’ Kristine said, opening the cage and bringing Sean from out of her pocket on her fingernail. ‘Look what I’ve got, little one. Go ahead, hop in’ she told him, bringing the cage closer. Nicole saw the little man hesitate, but still enter. Kristine locked the cage and hanged the chain around her neck, then reached for the cage once more and lifted it closer to her eyes. The spaces between the bars were wide enough for her to see him, but at the same time narrow enough to prevent him from accidentally slipping through. And if Kristine’s beaming smile was any indication, she was more than content with her purchase.

‘Let’s go home, Nicole’ she said, lowering the birdcage and letting it dangle against her chest. Inside, Sean took a seat on the cold, golden floor, wondering what he had just gotten himself into.