For a moment, Nadja could only stare at her shrunken friend. She couldn't believe her eyes. How had...
"Nadja!" Violet yelled, her voice shaking the giantess out of her stupor. "Help!"
"How..." Nadja didn't know how to start. A million questions raced through her head.
"What happened to you?" she finally asked.
"I don't know! All I can remember is a really bright flash of light. I couldn't see anything else. And when I woke up, I was lost under my own hecking blanket!"
Nadja had to suppress a giggle. Despite the situation, the way Violet always avoided swearing was just to funny.
"I've been trying for hours to get out of there. So thanks, at least I can see something again."
Suddenly something dawned on Nadja. A horrified expression came over her face as she remembered sitting down on the bed and feeling...
"Oh my god! Did I sit on you, Violet?" Nadja almost screamed. Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed the minuscule woman and held her up to her eyes. With the trained sight of a veterinarian, she investigated Violets body, feeling her limps and torso.
"You aren't hurt, are you? You can feel everything, right? Please tell me I didn't..."
Violet had to forcefully push Nadja's probing finger away from her.
"Relax Nad, I'm fine. Guess sitting around all day has done wonders for your butt. It was a bit smothering, but you got up quickly enough. See?" She held up her arms. "Nothing's broken, so don't worry. I'm not blaming you for not noticing."
Relieved, Nadja took a deep breath.
"I'm so glad. I promise I'll be more careful from now on!"
"Again, relax Nadja. I'm just happy that I'm finally out of there," she pointed to the bed, "and can get something to eat. Wouldn't you know, shrinking this much somehow hasn't slowed my metabolism. Oh well, at least now I can brag that I 150 pounds in a day!" She giggled. "Just have to find out how I've done it and I'm rich!"
Nadja laughed as well. It was good to see her friend taking this strange situation with a bit of gallows humor.
"Something to eat sounds good. You have something here?"
Violet nodded. Nadja let her rest on her palm as she carefully carried her into the kitchen. A few minutes later, both of them were sat at a small table. Nadja had made herself a bowl of sugary cornflakes, something that Violet despised but still kept around for some reason. Wisely, Nadja had avoided looking at the expiry date. She didn't want to loose her appetite after all.
Meanwhile, Violet was fighting with a salad she had prepared. When she had put the dressing on she hadn't thought she would have to dive into her food just to grab a hold of something. After reaching in once, and smearing her entire arm in juice, she looked up at Nadja.
"A little help?" she asked, clearly embarrassed.
After Nadja had chopped the salad into manageable pieces, they ate in silence for a while. None of them quite knew what to say and despite her jokes, Violet was clearly distraught about her sudden loss of size.
"So, there was a flash of light?" Nadja probed her friend.
"Yeah, but as I said, that's all I can remember. It flashed and the next moment I was this size. There was nothing else. No noise before or after. It just happened."
"That's so strange," Nadja answered. She thought about it. In all her time researching technology - as well as in her actual school efforts - she had never heard of anything like this. As far as she knew, Violet shouldn't even be alive at this size. Her body wasn't made for it. So either the whole world had gotten something wrong about a fundamental law of nature, or this wasn't caused by anything natural. Nadja wasn't a believer, but she had to admit she had no other explanation than divine intervention.
Her thoughts drifted and something else entered her mind. The strange quiet this morning. She lived next to a busy street leading into the city center. The sounds could be measured from annoying to deafening - but quiet was an absolute outlier. In all the time she had lived there, the street had always been source of noise.
Furthermore, she hadn't even seen anyone else except Violet the whole day. And while she may have gotten up late, seeing absolutely no one on the streets was strange. And she couldn't remember seeing another car, either.
Violet jumped backwards, startled by Nadja's spoon suddenly dropping onto the table. Looking up, she saw the shocked look on Nadja's face.
"Hey, what happened? Are you okay?" she asked, worried.
"I'm... not sure," Nadja answered, slowly stammering out the words. She looked at her tiny friend.
"I just have a bad feeling, because... well, you're the first person I'm seeing today."
"Wait, the first? You're joking, right? How could a small fry like me be the first person you've seen?"
"I don't know, but there was no one else. No pedestrians, no cars, no children playing on the street, no shitty builder turning on his jackhammer at six in the morning, just... nothing?"
They looked at each other. It was clear what they were thinking.
"So..." Violet started, "you think this has happened to others too?"
"Probably. We need to find out. If there are more people shrunken down, we need to help! Who knows what might happen."
"Well, more like you need to help. I'm not really capable of that, you know."
"Damn, I know, Violet."
Nadja looked torn. On one hand, every instinct in her body told her to find out what happened. If more people had been shrunken, it was only a matter of time until they were hurt. She couldn't let that happen. But carrying Violet in her hand while searching for others was not really an option. It was too unsafe. Besides, would she just carry every single person by hand? No, she needed something larger. A bag or a container.
She slapped her forehead. Of course, a container! She was in a kitchen, god dammit! There were loads of boxes around! With that, she could carry any people she found and wouldn't have to worry about Violet.
She explained her plan to Violet as she rummaged through her cupboards. Her friend was hesitant about being carried around in a plastic box, but she had to admit that it was the best option they had.
Finally, Nadja pulled out a huge plastic tub. Now, armed and ready, she lowered Violet into the container and carried her out of her apartment.
She let her eyes wander over the empty street. Nothing, not even a single person was up and about. Her suspicions only became stronger.
"Okay, we need a plan. I can't just run around, trying to find people at random. Where should I search first?"
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