You could do nothing but sit in place, no thoughts other than stunned shock.
With your head bowed, your gaze remained purely on your new shortened height. The remnants of Ramona's shrinking process still lingered in your bones and muscles. That sensation was easily the most intense feeling you'd ever experienced, so you could be forgiven for needing some time to mentally and physically adjust.
Eventually, your eyes shifted up. The hardwood floor expanded frighteningly far, and the surrounding furniture loomed almost infinitely high above. Your breaths shook in and out with distraught, your chest expanding and falling at pace. Your gaze then landed back on Ramona's gigantic feet, still cladded in your old white socks that you'd adorned her in.
Never before did you think you'd see them at such a size...
You turned to Kyle. At this size, he was some distance away, but regardless, you could very clearly identify the terrified expression that he was hurling back at you. That, and the vague irate glare that sat behind it. What did you both do now? How do you proceed at this height? Your jobs, responsibilities, all of it. They would be surely impossible to fulfill.
Maybe you couldn't blame him for being angry. Although, on that same point, if he hadn't reacted the way he had to Ramona's arrival, then she wouldn't have--
"There!" The seven-year-old reached down and yanked Kyle up into her mitts. Your eyes followed him as he soared into the air, a distinct yell quietening as the distance between you grew. She held him up near her face, which possessed an extraordinarily victorious grin. "Can't call the police now!"
The blonde child leaned her head forward, lips parting. She blew a raspberry close to Kyle's form, sending large droplets of saliva into the air, most of which struck him directly. You eyed the situation concerningly, until a single drop landed fairly close, quickly snagging your attention. The pure size of it was...alarming.
Ramona swayed the little man back and forth in front of her, as if to flaunt her success to him. Kyle did nothing but continue to yell in fright, unsure what to say or do at his miniscule size. After a moment, her gaze veered down to you. You were still staring at the enormous saliva drop, unaware that she was gazing at you. That was until she stepped closer.
The sound of her foot landing on the floor ahead was enough to startle your attention away. You looked upward just as she squatted down to observe you at a shorter distance. Your pupils examined every inch of her gigantic childlike gaze at a very rapid pace, in a similar fashion to how she'd acted when you stumbled upon her. It appeared the tables had very much turned.
"I almost shrunk you when we first met earlier, but..." She gently shrugged. "You were so nice to me. I didn't wanna."
You released another shaky breath, still entirely baffled by the situation.
"Y-You can..." Gulping, you required a moment before continuing. "Shrink people!?"
"Yup." She nodded.
"H-How is this even...possible!?"
She shrugged once more. "Don't know."
The vagueness of her responses made the situation even more baffling. You wanted to question further, but considering how mesmerized you currently were, such a feat was hard to proceed with. Rather, you continued to gaze around at the goliath world that your little house had been transformed into, doubting the validity of your own eyes. This must be a dream. There's no way you'd just been shrunken down to such a frighteningly small height.
However, there's also no way a dream could ever be this...vivid.
"LET ME GO!"
The sound of Kyle's venomous exclamation pulled you from thought. Ramona, visibly irritated by his voice, side-eyed the man with a frown.
"Let you go? Okay." Smirking, she did as requested and opened her hand. Kyle let loose another scream as he fell through the air, though this one was much more shrill and panicked. Wincing, you watched as he hit the ground at the base of her foot with a painful thud. The man groaned and slowly rolled over onto his back. "There ya go. Happy?"
She giggled and stood back up straight. Her young brown eyes examined her surroundings closely. The interior of your home was somewhat similar to the one she'd grown up in, moreso in the structural department than the furnishing. Guess that shouldn't be too much of a surprise, considering her old house really wasn't that far away...
"Okay! This is my house now!" She smiled down at her two shrunken subjects excitedly. Kyle could only stare back in anger, before turning his head to trade that same expression over to you. You didn't acknowledge it, instead choosing to focus on the young giantess as she let out a big yawn. "I'm sleepy. Is your bed upstairs?"
She directed the question to you, rather than Kyle. It took you a moment or two to respond with a simple nod.
"Alright..." She reached back down, this time picking the both of you up into her grasp rather than just your housemate. The moment you felt the piercing wind flow past you as you were lifted high up into the air, the idea of this being a dream was taken completely off the table. This was, unfortunately, all too real. "Let's go then."
Ramona carried you and Kyle through the kitchen and onto the stairs, which she accordingly climbed. You avoided opening your eyes as you did so, not wanting to see the perilous drop that lay below you, especially when you were entrapped in the possibly clumsy hands of a seven-year-old. Entering your bedroom, she inspected the nearby bookshelf and table top, in search of something in particular.
That's when she found a small used jar that you'd kept on top of the drawers, the one you used to catch and remove spiders when they crawled in. This time though, as she grabbed it and set it on the carpeted floor, it was being used to contain something entirely different...you. Kneeling down, the young girl set both you and Kyle into the jar, the latter of whom was still beyond irate.
"There we are!" She announced elatedly. "Now you can't run away!"
"Hey, kid! You can't just do this to us!" Kyle reprimanded. "You have to grow us back RIGHT NOW!"
"I dunno how." Ramona replied, rubbing her increasingly fatigued eyes. "If I grab your hand again, you'll just shrink down even more. You'll be like a baby ant!"
She quietly giggled once more, in such an innocent and childlike way that it still tugged at the strings of your heart, even if that innocent child had just not-so-innocently turned you into her tiny prisoner. You gazed up at her helplessly and pleadingly, in the hopes she'd at least release you from the jar. However, in her tired state, it was clear there was only one thing on her mind...
"Goodnight." The young girl said as she stood back up, lifting her left foot up into her hand so that she could pull the white sock off. After doing the same with the other foot, she set both feet back on the ground, attracting your attention through the walls of the glass jar. The enormous size of what were earlier her cute little bare feet sent your heart into a world of terror. "See you in the morning..."
She said nothing more as she reached down again and tightened the lid above you, which you'd thankfully bored holes into before, to ensure nothing living inside would ever suffocate. Never could you have imagined that, one day, you would be that living thing. Stepping over the jar, Ramona climbed into your bed and pulled the duvet over her body, sighing with relief as her head sunk comfortably into the pillow.
Within a minute, the exhausted kid fell into a deep slumber...
A stark silence remained inside the jar for a long period. Both you and Kyle had a lot to say, but considering the situation you now found yourselves in, it was difficult to do so without falling into intense disbelief. Finally though, as he held out his shrunken hands in front of him, Kyle was the one to break it...
"This..." He mumbled as he shook his head. "Is all your fault."
You immediately shot him a defensive frown.
"How the hell was I supposed to know she could shrink people!?"
"If you didn't bring that stupid kid into our house, without even telling me by the way, then everything would be totally normal!" His words were shooting out like spraying bullets from an Uzi, indicating how long he'd been holding them back. "But now...we're as good as dead."
You rolled your eyes.
"What are you talking about!? She's not gonna hurt us! She's a sweetheart." Your response drew an incredulous look from your shrunken counterpart. The fact that same 'sweetheart' had just shrunk you down and trapped you within the confines of a jar wasn't lost on you, but at this point, you'd do anything to quell the prospect of death at her hands. "Besides, you're the only she'll be hurting. The same guy who yelled and tried to call the police on her! Me, though? I think she still likes me."
"Even if that's true, we're still tiny compared to her!" Kyle lifted a scolding finger in your direction. "It might not even be on purpose. She might forget where she put you, and then BAM! One misstep and you're nothing but a red stain on the bottom of her heel!"
You looked towards your bed, where Ramona was peacefully sleeping with a contented smile lingering on her face. If this predicament hadn't escalated in the way it had done, you'd still be proud of the fact that you'd rescued that child from the wet and cold and provided her a snuggly bed to rest in. In all honesty, you still kind of were.
However...at what cost?
"That's..." You heaved a deep sigh. "Not gonna happen."
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." Kyle spat as he laid down on the glass floor, turning his back to you as he tried to find a comfortable spot to get some sleep. "I'm gonna get some shut-eye before tomorrow, cuz y'know..."
"I have a feeling it's gonna be a pretty bad day."  You have the following choice: 1. Continue |
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