I tried going back to my book, if only to take my mind off what was happening, to no avail. I couldn’t focus and eventually tossed it aside, settling on lying on my bed and staring at the ceiling. I tried to ignore my now-loose clothes too, which I couldn’t manage to do either. All in all, I was worried. I started to think about my options. Maybe I should’ve gone to the hospital, or at least to see a doctor. Then again, could either help with what was happening to me? What exactly was it, anyway? If it was a virus (which I hoped it wasn’t), I could infect others and I did not wish to do that. Maybe it was a curse. But then, I didn’t know anyone at the time who could possibly wish such a thing on me, nor actually deal in curses. It wasn’t long before my head started to ache from overthinking. The only thing I could do (or should I say we could do) for the moment was to wait and thus I waited, but for what I did not know. For getting even smaller, I guess. I dreaded to even think how small that would be, or whether it would even stop. Shaking my head to chase the bad thoughts away, I tried to calm down. I sat down and rubbed my eyes, then looked over to the alarm clock showing 4 in the afternoon. As I glanced at the floor I noticed my pant legs covering my feet almost entirely. Soon my sweatpants would get too big for me to wear, I thought, as would all other clothes. As if gradually getting smaller than people around me wasn’t enough of a humiliation.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and the girls appeared in the entrance, their faces taking on a worried look as soon as they saw me. I quickly guessed they must have noticed I’ve gotten even smaller in the past three hours.
‘Hey,’ Justine said, smiling kindly at me. ‘How are you holding up?’
‘Could be better, I guess. Did you need something?’
They entered and sat on the bed, each to the side of me. Even sitting down they towered over me now. They weren’t just getting taller in my eyes, I realized, they were getting bigger.
‘We know you’re worried,’ Justine started, putting her hand on my arm. ‘But it will be alright. We’ll help you.’
‘I mean, I appreciate the concern but I doubt you could possibly help me with… that.’ I waved my hands over myself, as to emphasize my current predicament.
‘She means we’ll help you by taking care of you,’ Maddie said ‘However we can.’
‘Again, I appreciate it, but I can’t ask you to trouble yourselves with me.’
‘Oh, come on,’ Maddie jostled me lightly with her elbow ‘How much trouble could it be? I mean, it’s not like you’re dying or handicapped, there’s just less of you. No offense.’
‘Maddie.’ Justine gave her an annoyed look.
‘I said no offense!’
Could I really put my faith in them? It wasn’t as if I had much choice. But having lived with them for a while, I felt I could trust the girls with my well-being. ‘Alright, I guess I believe you. Okay, I do believe you.’ I corrected myself to reassure them. And also myself.
‘Think of it as an adventure,’ Maddie’s voice was back to a cheerful tone ‘Like in that movie from back then. You know, the kids? And they shrank? And there was this super tall grass?’
‘Those kids were microscopic!’ Justine exclaimed in a mild shock. ‘I don’t want Andrew to get THAT small!’
‘He could ride an ant, like a horse or something!’
‘He could get eaten by an ant!’
‘Well, how small do you want him to be?’
‘I don’t- I don’t want him to get small at all! Why are you being like this?’
‘Just trying to lighten up the mood,’ Maddie grinned and turned her attention back to me ‘In any case, you’ll be fine. Trust me on this.’
‘After that ant remark I’m starting to trust you even less.’
‘Jeez, what a bunch of killjoys the two of you are. Trust Justine, then.’
‘Fine, I trust you, both of you. We have to trust each other at a time like this.’
‘Exactly.’ Justine smiled at me with the most comforting, kind smile she was capable of.
‘Okay, enough talk,’ Maddie clapped her hands ‘This calls for a group hug.’
We embraced, still on the bed, the two girls momentarily pressing on me from both sides. I felt warmth and a slight discomfort at finding myself stuck between two people who were already becoming physically larger than me. For a moment, the sensation seemed rather pleasant. But there was still the nagging question of my shrinkage and how much of my previous height I have lost during this conversation. So when we were finally done hugging, I asked Justine to measure me again.
‘Four-foot-six,’ Justine said with a grimace. ‘This isn’t good. It’s almost as if it were accelerating.’
‘The smaller I am the faster I shrink?’
‘Possibly. I couldn’t tell for sure.’
‘Neither could I. One moment everything looks the same, then I blink and *poof*, the world gets bigger.’
My pants have dropped down the moment I stood up to be measured, but luckily my t-shirt reached to my thighs now. Not that it wasn’t much of a problem as my underwear seemed to still fit me, as if it was getting smaller along with me. Then again, I wasn’t keen on the idea of letting the girls see my undies. And as for girls, even Maddie was now a head taller than me. I could hardly believe how much bigger they’ve become from my perspective in such a short stretch of time.
‘Maybe it’s peaking up before it starts to slow down?’ Maddie asked.
Justine sighed. ‘I hope that’s the case. Otherwise we risk losing sight of him in the morning.’
‘I don’t suppose we have a magnifying glass lying around?’
‘Maddie.’
‘I’m asking just in case.’
I couldn’t really blame her. By the way things were going a magnifier could come in handy soon. I glanced at my big roomies, knowing they would only get even bigger in the following hours and days. But at the time I didn’t know nor expect just how much bigger that would be. I lowered my head and looked to the floor, noticing Justine’s feet were already almost twice as big as mine. Would they one day become bigger than my whole body? I shuddered at the thought.
The evening finally came and we had supper. When it came to food, we tossed that responsibility around ourselves like a ball. As in, our little custom was to have one person at a time prepare the dishes for all three of us to eat. This time I took it upon myself, while I was still big enough to do so, though the kitchen counter was already becoming a bit too tall for me. The girls offered their help but I shooed them away, insisting on doing the work myself and pretending not to hear Maddie’s hushed remark about my fragile male pride. Now, I was never that great of a cook, but even I could do something as simple as buttering some bread and serving it with slices of various cheese and occasional vegetables. Which, I realize now, is just a fancy way of saying I’ve made some sandwiches. But, since nobody complained (especially Maddie), I figured I did a well enough job. We ate in peace and in silence, for a change, the worries of the day having slightly exhausted us. After showering I asked Justine to measure me again. I was still wearing my t-shirt, which I figured I might sleep in anyway, and I stood still as she took my measurements. This time, to some relief of us both, it was four feet and four inches, just a two inches drop since the afternoon.
‘Maybe it is slowing down, like Maddie said.’ Justine remarked with a kind smile.
‘Or bidding its time to pounce on me.’ I wasn’t so enthusiastic. I had the whole night ahead of me and neither of us knew what would the result be in the morning.
‘Let’s try and be positive, shall we?’ Justine put her hand on my shoulder once more and I couldn’t help but notice just how big it seemed now, her naturally long fingers wrapping it almost entirely. ‘I promise we’ll get through this.’
‘I know, I believe you. Sorry for being so gloomy about it.’
‘You have all the right to be. Oh, but I don’t want to waste your time, you should rest,’ she turned to leave but looked at me one last time ‘Wake me up if you need anything, okay?’
‘Sure.’ I wasn’t going to do that. She needed her rest as well and I had no heart to deprive her of it. ‘Oh, and, thanks.’
We smiled at each other and she closed the door behind her. I stood still for a moment in the middle of my room, almost dreading going to bed. But eventually the fatigue got the better of me. I turned the light off and lied down. As was the case with everything else, the bed seemed surprisingly bigger than usual. But I didn’t have too much time to think about it, as I dozed off almost immediately after closing my eyes, still uncertain of what awaited me in the morning.