By that point even something as simple as getting on the bed posed a difficulty. I had to pull myself up to mine, despite Justine’s insistence to help me. But I didn’t want help, I thought then, while I could still do it on my own. And so we sat on the bed, me, her and Maddie who came to check up on us. We were all still in a state of shock, the size difference between me and them as noticeable as never before, the shrink spurt I was expecting the night before having finally caught up with me. I couldn’t wrap my head around it and I doubt either could they. The rate at which I was getting smaller was erratic, to say the least. A foot there, a few inches through the night, then it stops and finally resumes with a whole foot in a matter of seconds. It made no sense, nothing about this situation did. I felt as if I was back to square one – small, panicking, sitting in one spot wearing oversized clothes. My legs hanged from the edge of the bed, not even touching the floor by then. It was almost funny to think that just a moment before we were certain all of this was over. Still, I needed some clarity of the mind and I needed to calm down if not for my sake then for theirs. If I start to panic, I thought, they start to panic and nothing good would come out of all of us losing our minds. We had to focus on here and now, as well as on the things that would change as my height did.

‘Okay, so,’ I started, dropping to the floor and taking a step ahead, so that I could look them in their faces. Or rather look up towards them. ‘I think it’s obvious we’ll have to make some adjustments to the place. As you can see, I’m getting too small to live here the way you do.’

‘Don’t tell me you want to move out,’ Justine said fearfully.

‘On the contrary, I don’t want to take even a step outside this apartment.’

‘Yeah, that would be a bad idea,’ Maddie chipped in. ‘A raccoon could get you.’

I gave her a weird look before continuing. ‘The point is, I’ll need something to make my life here easier. Something that will allow me to reach things, you know? Something like… boxes.’

‘Boxes?’ Maddie asked.

‘Boxes,’ I confirmed.

‘Boxes…’ Justine pondered. ‘Well, we have a few shoeboxes lying around, I think.’

‘I have two under my bed,’ Maddie said. ‘And there should be a few more hidden in my wardrobe. But don’t you think they would, I don’t know, collapse under you?’

‘I doubt it. Besides, I expect to eventually get, well. Lighter.’

‘We need to ask ourselves the obvious question,’ Justine interrupted us and we both looked at her serious face. ‘What happens when he gets really small?’

‘How small?’ Maddie asked.

‘I don’t know, a foot, less than that? Tiny, minuscule.’

‘Then we’ll think of something else, I guess,’ Maddie shrugged.

‘Don’t you think we should come up with something now? Before he’s still not too small to walk around the place?’ Her voice was quiet, but there was a hint of exasperation in it.

‘What’s your problem?’ Maddie asked, perplexed. ‘You want to keep him in a jar or something?’

‘I don’t want to step on him on my way to the bathroom!’

‘Nobody’s stepping on anyone. Unless on purpose.’ She winked at me and in response I showed her my tongue, like adults that we both were.

‘This is ridiculous. You’re ridiculous.’ She pointed at Maddie. ‘And neither of you seems to grasp the gravity of the situation.’ She then hid her face in her hands. We watched her for a moment, puzzled, as if we couldn’t recognize her. I did not recall the last time I’ve seen her this agitated and, no doubt, neither did Maddie. The stress of the situation was getting the better of her. Worse, she seemed to be stressed on behalf of us all.

‘Look, let’s just set settle down a bit,’ I started in a reconciliating tone. ‘When it comes to that, IF it comes to that, we’ll think of something. But for now it’s not so bad. I mean, it’s not so good either, but we can manage for now.’

‘There, see?’ Maddie rubbed Justine’s back with her hand. ‘If he says it’s not the end of the world then it’s not. We’ll get through this.’

It took a moment but eventually Justine uncovered her face. ‘Alright, we’ll see when we get there. But I still need you both to be careful, okay?’

‘We’ll be careful for each other,’ I assured her. ‘Right, Maddie?’

‘Right-o.’

The night set in for good and with it came the fatigue. We went to bed, too tired to continue our little debate. I lied in mine for at least an hour before I managed to fall sleep, turning from one side to the other, my mind preoccupied with what will happen tomorrow. My shrinking didn’t seem to stop, at least not for the moment, and I couldn’t help but wonder how small I’ll become by the next evening. But before that happens, there was, once again, still a day ahead of me in a whole new size. How would I manage, and could I?

I woke up in the middle of the night, feeling thirsty. Slowly and carefully getting out of bed, I headed to the kitchen. Even without the tape I knew I’ve gotten smaller, if only by a few inches. The apartment was dark and silent and the walk took me a while longer than usual, which was expected. As was the fact my walking around the place would soon be replaced by setting out for real expeditions. Join the not-so-incredible shrinking man as he tries to reach the bathroom! Will he survive the long trek across the floor? Will Maddie finally look under her feet? Such silly thoughts accompanied me on my way.

Once there, I realized having a drink would not be so simple. There was a two litre bottle of water and a glass standing on the counter. The same counter that was taller than me by now. I sighed, knowing what I would have to do. I approached one of the chairs and started dragging it closer to the counter, surprised by how heavy it seemed. I supposed it was only natural for every day objects to be like this from now on. Bigger, heavier, non-suitable for my use. I tried being as quiet as possible, hoping the chair legs creaking against the floor would not wake the girls up. When I decided the chair was standing close enough, I climbed onto it and from there I pulled myself up on the counter. The view from the top was impressive, in a way. I couldn’t believe how much larger our cosy little kitchen had become. But that was no time to take the surroundings in. I was still thirsty, even more so after my trip, and so I approached the bottle. Unscrewing the cap wasn’t too much of a hassle; that came with actually trying to pour the water into the glass. The bottle was almost full and thus it was heavy, requiring a few attempts from my part to lift it the right way. And even then I messed it up, as the bottle slipped out of my hands and slid across the counter, splashing water everywhere and making the glass fall and break against the floor. This was enough to wake the place up, as before long I heard footsteps coming in my direction. And then the light flashed and I saw Justine standing in the entrance, her face still sleepy.

‘Ugh,’ she groaned and opened her eyes wider when she finally noticed me. ‘Huh? Andrew, what are you doing?’

‘I was trying to get a drink,’ I sheepishly said. ‘Watch your step, there’s, uh. Glass. And water. Everywhere.’

‘You should’ve woken me up.’ She took a step in and looked at the mess I made. Even standing on the counter I still had to lift my head to look her in the eyes. ‘I’ll clean this up. But first, let’s get you down.’

‘Oh, I can get down on my… own.’ I watched her approach me, her towering frame getting closer and I stood still as her huge hands grabbed me by my sides and effortlessly picked me up and set me against the floor.

‘I’ll take it from here. Go to sleep.’

‘If you want I could help-‘

‘Andrew, please. Go to sleep.’ There was once more a note of irritation in her voice and I did not want to annoy her. I nodded and marched back to my room, feeling ashamed the whole way, as if I was a scolded child. My cheeks were still burning from shame as I clambered on the bed and lied down. I almost completely forgot about my thirst.