Saturday, August 13, 2022

A Place to Call Home - Pt. 4


 


4.  

I could hear Megan humming to herself in the kitchen, as I slipped down the stairs.  One advantage of being smaller?  It was easy to be quiet.  I’d lived in this house my whole life, and I’d snuck out of it more times than I could count.  There was one creaky stair that was always a danger.  Third from the bottom.  I stepped on it, gritting my teeth.  At my new size, it barely made a sound. 

I held my jeans up with one hand as I crept toward the front door.  In my other hand, I held my oversized cell phone.  Brianna was texting me, and she was getting impatient.  I tried to hurry, but who knew what would happen if my stepmom caught me trying to escape? 

I’m sure I looked ridiculous - shirt dangling to my knees, my pants laughably big.  I was barefoot, my shoes way way too big to fit my smaller feet.

Something smelled good in the kitchen.  The sound of a metal spoon against a ceramic bowl.  Megan’s soft, lyrical voice, as she sang quietly to herself.  My heart ached for a moment.  This was the only home I’d ever known.  But I’d lost almost two feet of height in the few hours I’d been here, in the care of two giant women of questionable sanity.  Who knew what would happen if I didn’t get away?  

I grasped the handle on the front door.  I was so small I needed both hands to wrap around it.  I turned, and gave it a tug.  

The door rattled in its hinges.  Budged, but didn’t open.  Damn it, this door always stuck!

“John?  Sweetie, is that you?”  A spoon hitting a counter.  Massive footsteps, approaching.

I pulled hard, needing almost all my strength.  The door flew open.  I dashed out into the sunlight, not bothering to close it behind me.  Feet flapping on the pavement, I sprinted to Brianna’s car, where it sat waiting in the driveway.

“Woah, hey there little guy.  Is someone supposed to be babysitting you?  You can’t just get into a stranger’s car like that, don’t you know it’s dangerous?”

I looked shamefaced, up at my girlfriend, trying to haul myself into her car.  “Brianna, it’s me.  I just… shrank.”   

I hadn’t seen her in months, but I still remembered every detail.  Her dark curly hair, done up with a pretty red bow.  Her pouty lips.  Her soft, kind eyes behind wireframe glasses.  It was her.  Just… a whole lot bigger.

Slowly, I saw recognition dawn in her eyes.  “John.  Is that… no, it can’t be you.”

“There’s no time.  We’ve got to go.  Drive.  Please, drive.”

Through the windshield, a dark shape moved.  Megan’s wide, hulking form stepped onto the porch, filling the doorway.  She was frowning.   She wore a black apron over her seven foot frame, dotted here and there with bits of flour.  Her sleeves were bare, her muscles bulging as she crossed her arms over her gigantic chest.  

My girlfriend stared, her mouth hanging slack.  “Oh my gosh.  Is that your mom?  What happened to her?”

My giant stepmom sighed, brows furrowing in irritation.  With an air of unstoppable determination, she walked down the driveway toward us.

“Brianna!” I shrieked.  “Please!  Don’t let her catch us.”

She hesitated.  Looked at me, tiny and terrified beside her.  Then at the approaching amazon, only a few steps away.  

“Hold on!”

Brianna revved the engine, and peeled out in reverse down the driveway.  The front of the car spun wildly as we pulled into the street, then she shifted, jammed the car into gear, and we accelerated down the road.

I spared Megan one last look as we sped away.  I half expected her to be chasing us, like an unstoppable robot from the future.  But she wasn’t.  She stood at the end of the driveway, arms at her side.  Watching us go.  

It was hard to judge her expression as we sped away.  She looked almost wistful.  Or maybe, hurt.

Half an hour later, we were back at Brianna’s place.  She had me wrapped up in a heavy blanket, a steaming mug of hot cocoa in front of me.  Her apartment wasn’t air conditioned, and was pretty stuffy in the June heat.  Still, I appreciated the gesture.

She listened patiently while I told her the whole story.  Most of the story anyway.  I omitted the part where my little stepsister gave me a handjob.  All of the parts where I’d had my pants down, really.

My girlfriend sat beside me, arm draped protectively around my shoulder as I spoke.  When I finished she pulled me in for an enormous hug, letting me put my head on her shoulder.  She pet me for a while, and I accepted her comfort.  It was weird, having her almost a foot taller than me.  I didn’t hate it, though.  After how huge Megan and Willow had seemed, this almost felt normal.

“It must’ve been so scary,” she said, as she stroked my back.  “Your mom poisoned you with those shrinking cookies, before you even had a chance to know what they’d do.  That’s awful!”

I thought about that for a moment, and something occurred to me.  “I don’t think she actually knew what they’d do to me, though..”  My voice was muffled against Brianna’a chest.  “Willow said they affect everyone differently.”

“Oh?”  She nuzzled me playfully.  “I might’ve had a gigantic boyfriend, instead of a pocket-sized one?”

“Don’t make fun of me.”

“Sorry.”  She hugged me again.  “It’s not the worst look for you, honestly.  There are plenty of short guys who can pull it off.  You look kind of cute this way.”

I decided to ignore that.  “I’m just hoping it’ll wear off soon.  Maybe after a good night’s sleep.”

“Maybe.”  Brianna got that distant, thoughtful expression she always wore when she was thinking about nerd stuff.  The light glared off her glasses.  “Though whatever was in that cookie has to be some pretty advanced technology.  Selective hormone suppressors, matter decompilers, nano-robotics….”

“Or, like, a magic potion?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.  Anyway.  I’m saying this might be the kind of thing that requires an antidote.”

“Can’t you figure it out?”  My voice was very small.  “I mean, you’re smart….”

She pulled me in even tighter.  I was getting to like the way I fit in her arms.  “Honey, I can try.  But I don’t even know where to begin.  It would probably be easiest if we started by talking to your mom….”

“No,” I said, flatly.

“But if it was an accident, like you said….”  She trailed off.

We sat together in silence, considering my predicament.  Her very large hand idly rubbed my back.  It was nice.  Exactly what I needed after the way my stepsister had humiliated me.  I felt safe, and warm.

“I missed you, John,” she whispered.

“I missed you too”

“I had all these elaborate plans for tonight.  I was going to give you a tour of my new place, take you out somewhere fancy.  Then bring you back to my apartment, and….”  I could almost hear her blushing.  “And then.  You know.  We’d… do stuff.”

I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry.  My hand brushed against her leg.  It felt big, and strong.  Good.    “We can still do that.  Except, maybe we can order in?  I don’t really want people to see me like this.”

“Yeah?”  She sounded surprised.  “You still want to… do stuff?  Even though I’m bigger than you?”

My mind briefly flashed to my stepsister.  How good her gigantic hand had felt against my groin.  Shrimp.  Shrimp.

“We could try it,” I said, my voice cracking slightly.  “As long as you’re gentle.”

She gave me the biggest hug yet.  And grinned down at me.  “Before we do anything else, I’d like to measure you.  Okay?  For science.”

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