Day 8 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Your character is shrunk to the size of a gummy bear… Now what?
Erin: “How do we get in there,” Lilly pointed nearly all the way to the ceiling. That is how huge the fridge had gotten. She had to point her arm as high as she could to have her finger in the direction of the top.
“Are you insane,” I screamed.
“We were shrunk in our coats. That has to be a sign,” she argued. “Now, stop being a party pooper and help me get in there,” she jumped trying to reach the bottom of the door, to no avail.
“You are being an idiot. That thing is bigger than a skyscraper right now. The door is one trillion times heavier than you,” I sat down to prove my point.
“Trillion, that’s dramatic,” she continued jumping starting to pant.
“Is it,” I grabbed a crumb from the floor and it was heavy. “Look at this,” I showed her what was about the size of a beach ball with our current height.
“Wow,” she seemed genuinely surprised for some odd reason. I wasn’t sure how she could be surprised by anything anymore.
A thundering came from the hallway. “Mom,” I groaned sure of our impending death.
“Mom,” Lilly cheered until she saw the threat our gigantic creator had become. When she opened the fridge the ground shook.
“Oops,” our mother exclaimed as a fast food ketchup packet dropped to the floor nearly crushing my sister, who seemed to not understand that was a bad place to be.
“This is our chance,” Lilly grabbed my hand and before I knew it I was dragged onto the packed and holding on for dear life. We whipped up into the air like an amusement park ride and were shot off when our mom placed us down. After our mom grabbed her apple we were left in complete darkness and I rubbed my hurting side. “Yes,” Lily turned on her phone light and shined it around.
“What the flipping hell Lil,” I screamed and she completely ignored me.
“Yay, yes, yes, yes,” she sprinted toward the huge pan of jello from her birthday party. She grabbed onto the cling film and grabbed fistfuls, slowly making her way up.
“What are you doing,” I grumbled leaning against a block of cheese.
“Utilizing a moment while I have it,” she swayed a little getting over the ledge, and eventually stood on the side.
“You’re going to kill yourself,” I sassed.
“You’re already dead,” she flashed the light at me and then took out a pocket knife. She cut a hole in the film and I almost believed her statement as she yelled, “Cowabunga.” That was of course until I saw the phone lodge into the jello with her body. They were both trapped by the jello crack they had created. The light slowly faded to darkness. I let her come to the conclusion on her own. “That was a lifelong dream, but I must say was quite anticlimactic,” I listened to her stupidity in the dark.
“You think,” I added. “That phone may have been able to call mom. You just lost our only chance of us making it out of this nightmare alive. We are going to freeze to death in her,” my teeth chattered.
Shannon: I decided to spend the rest of my lunch in search of a good book. Once I found it, I had enough time to spare to get a good start on it before my next class. “Is this seat taken,” I questioned the girl sitting alone at a table in the back of the library. I’d often seen her alone and never had the courage to ask if she was in need of company until today.
She didn’t respond immediately, and looked a little nervous. “Um, it’s not taken…but a…I don’t know if you might not want too,” she whisper very quietly.
“No I want to” I ensured her. “I’m weird, I like reading with company and I don’t have lot of friends who spend much time here. Thanks for putting up with me,” I joked. “My name is April by the way.”
There was a slight delay, but the corners of her mouth lifted into a kind smile. “That’s not weird,” she shook her head, “And my name is Amber,” she added before looking back to her book. I tried to read the title in case I had ever heard of it, but it looked like it was written in another language that I wasn’t familiar with.
I started reading my book too and really enjoyed the first chapter, but as I continued the words seemed to be getting larger. Then the table started growing too. I was shrinking into the chair and I felt like a little kid. And when I shrunk even smaller I started panicking, afraid I was disappearing, but finally I stopped. I was now standing in the middle of the chair. I figured I couldn’t be any bigger than the size of a bug.
“Oh my gosh,” I’m so sorry, Amber’s booming voice apologized as her shadow towered over me. “Here, I can fix you,” she put her hand in front of me and the wind from her movement knocked me over. This was bad. I regained my footing and was just barely able to hoist myself into her palm.
“Slowly,” I warned and I crawled to the middle digging my nails into her skin to get a safe grip.
She discretely raised me to face level with her back to the rest of the library. “What did you say,” she whispered.
“I said move slowly. It’s a big fall from up here. How did you do this,” I shouted, freaking out.
“I was reading spells,” she admitted ashamed. “I’m sorry I didn’t think they would work. I didn’t think I had the magic to pull them off, and I told you not to sit next to me.”
“Are you a witch,” I asked without fear. I was mostly just intrigued. This was pretty spectacular and she seemed harmless enough.
“We don’t prefer that term. We like to call ourselves magicians.”
“Well congratulations, you’re one hell of a good magician. Can you change me back before I get busted for skipping class?”
“I’ll try,” she stated, unsure. “And you won’t tell anyone will you?”
“I promise I won’t. I don’t think anyone would believe me anyway,” I shrugged.
“Ok,” she placed her hand on the table and I hopped off, happy to be on solid ground. “Get to the end of the table, so you don’t cause a scene when you grow. I don’t think anyone has noticed yet.”
I guess we were decently hidden, but even if we were in plain sight I wondered if our peers would have been observant enough to notice. Everything on the table looked like the biggest oddly colored trees I’d ever seen in my life. I ran to the end of the table and scooted myself so my legs were dangling over the edge. I glanced up at the wall of books in front of me. I always wanted to venture to the world’s largest library someday, but this took my dream to another level. It was beautiful.
I heard Amber whispering behind me some nonsense language. After a while of nothing happening I turned back looking for a progress update. “I don’t want you to panic, but it’s not working. I’ll keep trying, but you may be stuck like that for a bit until I can get help,” she winced ready to be scolded.
I felt my heartbeat pick up. I wanted to freak out, or at least get mad, but as I looked around at the vastness of the room I started to realize this could be fun. I turned around and walked over to leap on top of the page in her book. The words covered the ground the size of a gym floor. I brushed the page with my fingers, and smiled. “That’s ok, but you’ve got to protect me,” I demanded pointing up at her.
“Of course,” she nodded just before the bell rang. “Come on,” she plucked me up by the back of my shirt and placed me in the hood of her sweatshirt, so I could hide behind her hair. This was going to be one crazy ride.
Participate in today’s challenge and look at the world from a different perspective.
Pelky Sisters 
Kate:
I almost screamed as I fell awake, wrapped tightly in soft sheets and bathed in sunlight. Beside my bed my alarm sang a familiar, melancholy duet that got gradually louder. For a few moments I simply listened to the bittersweet music as I let my heart slow back to a normal clip and the dreamy haze faded away. When my heart and breathing were back to a normal rhythm I began to untangle myself from the comfortable bedclothes and get ready for bed.
As soon as my feet hit the warm wooden floors the music began to change, shifting from a calming harmony to a louder, more insistent tone. I padded leisurely toward an unfamiliarly ornate doorway, halting just before the weathered wood. Touching the rough surface with a delicate hand the very material hummed with anticipation; the refrain hitting a fever pitch as I stood breathing in the musty smell of wood.
Gingerly I took the cold gold handle, feeling the gilding entwined around the knob, and turned. Almost immediately the room was filled with a scratching noise like a record skipping and the song ceased. I was thrown into deafening silence as I stumbled forward through an arch and shored up against a sleek bar top. The room was dark save numerous lamps swaying above the never-ending slab of onyx. From the other end of the shaft of light a bartender waved soundlessly at me. As I waved back, attempting to call to him, a look of realization crossed his face.
He turned around to a little crank behind the bar and gave it a couple good spins, throwing the room into brilliant hues of brown and grey that you only understand when asleep. From the corner a grand piano began to play some jazz song I’d heard once; a cool melody that made you think of dark, smoky rooms at midnight. Letting the rhythm take hold I swayed a bit, attracting the attending once again of the barkeep.
Suddenly appearing beside me he mixed a colourful drink before my eyes that was topped with a sparkling star. It popped and sizzled before my eye, floating above the viscus liquid. Taking a tiny sip I smiled towards the man, who had disappeared entirely, when the alcohol burned sweetly in my throat. After a few more sips the room began to darken like a carnival ride that had lost its power; the lights flickered as the music wound down pitifully.
I was standing before the bar with its lights alone. The world began to grow, or more likely, I began to shrink at an alarming rate. Before long I was about an inch tall and was staring up at the bottom of the bar looming high above me.
In the quiet the darkened world was ominous until the mini world was set alight with bright pops of red lights to mark a dancefloor, mellow yellow chairs and tables, abstract emerald lines of light that snaked their way around the room mid-air and a bright blue bar. The same bartender from before hit a jukebox beside the bar; a song (if you could call it that) with a distinctly disco feel electrified the dancefloor and the lights all around pulsed to the beat.
Overwhelmed I snuck to the side of the bar where a door glowed pale white; as I moved the bar began to grow dimer and quieter but I just wanted out. Without a handle or knob I pushed the door and, to my surprise, it fell forward to reveal a blinding light.
Without thinking I fell forward, hitting a soft, damp surface I was too blinded to see. As my eyes adjusted I could see I was outside in the middle of a field; but the grass was twice my height. I glanced around at the forest of grass and saw music notes hanging in the air a short distance away. Awkwardly I stumbled towards the notes and a natural tune met my ears as an ant the size of a small horse rocketed past me toward the music.
From behind me a small army of the insects moved through the blades of grass like ghosts, leaving me only moments to decide what to do to avoid being run over. I jumped as high as I could, landing on the bony back of one of them. Up there I had a good view and could see that an odd assembly of insects, arachnids and reptiles was clustered peacefully around an orchestra.
I could make out some kinds of wind instruments as well as some percussion and strings; but who was playing them? When the ants stopped, forming a perfect semi-circle, I dismounted and picked my way through the motley crowd. A couple bees gave me a piercing look as I snuck around them and a toad flicked its tongue expectantly in my direction. But, for the most part, the group was very well-behaved.
Stepping around a family of spiders I stood before the ensemble. To my left bumble bees and cockroaches played a piercing melody on spider-web strings, on the right ants played the somber harmony on rolled-up leaves and reeds while several spiders banged out a great beat on mushroom tops in the back. At center stage a particularly elaborate cricket played a short uplifting solo in the middle.
As the song faded to a close the audience broke into a garden version of applause. I clapped enthusiastically as everyone bowed and dove right into the next song, some kind of rock tune that vibrated the very ground we stood on. In the distance, behind all the cacophony of the concert, I could see the sun beginning to set.
Rushing past animals of all shapes and sizes, leaving all sound behind me, I burst out of the grassy forest and in front of a vast ocean covered in lily pads and dancing lights. Sitting down to dip my toes in the cool waters I watched as the sun set lazily on my dream.
LikeLike
Russell:
Scott rubbed his eyes as he stared into the computer screen, the dull blue light painting his face. His cubical office was closed off from the rest of the world. A discord of chimes, electronic whistles and bells sang and pitched in an unpleasant racket. Scott sighed as he shoved his noise cancelling headset back on, the uncomfortable cushions edging into the side of his head. All he had to do was to process this client request for changing their property to a rental estate before moving on to the other twenty that needed to be done.
His eye lids close for a moment. Just a moment he said to himself. Scott’s eye lids felt like lead weights. He slouched over, resting his head beside the keyboard. “Just…a moment.” He closed his eyes, the heavy weights falling shut as he vainly tried to open them. It didn’t matter. He needed this.
Time seamed to pass for an instant for him. Quickly he opened his eyes but was awake. Jolting upright, he continued to click and tap away at the keyboard before him. He heard the slow passing footsteps of his manager. He wouldn’t be passing again for another 30 minutes. It should be enough for a small rest. He said to himself.
Waking up, he found he had fallen out of his chair. Ah the poor the insect, so worried about work that he slept on the job. He tried to climb back onto his chair now sitting miles above him. He could not jump high enough, not matter how hard he tried. He looks around, seeing his pathetic cubicle from that of an ant’s view. He sees his manager stop infront of his office. “Scott?” His voice boomed. “Are you there?”
Scott started to run up to him yelling. “I’m down here! I’m down here!” But his voice was not heard. The boss shrugged and stepped inside, the whole floor quaking as he walked in with his overpriced polished business shoes. Scott could dumbly watch as a foot began to loom over him. “No! No! no, no, no, no!” He screams, his bones crushing as the sole flattened him against the soft carpet floor.
“Wake up!” Scott felt someone shake his shoulders. It was his boss. “Why haven’t you gotten your invoice done?”
Scott rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’m, ugh, almost,” He yawned. “Done. Just give me,” He yawned again. “Anouterh five minutes.” He felt his words sluring as he tried to pronounce ‘another’ that broke several international conventions of war crimes that his wife would pester him for.
“No more sleeping on the job Scott. I will fire your ass if makes me more money. Why can’t you just work harder your ungrateful slob.” The boss angrily stomps away to the next unfortunate office worker. “I should just replace them all, at least I don’t have to pay robots.” Scott stared at the screen at a long time, the blue hue burning into his watery eyes.
LikeLike
(Sorry I’m behind. But it does help me with the story these characters are from, so YAY!)
Created to Write: “Okay, everyone. You remember who we are dealing with- Heather no!” August yells. But Heather runs ahead.
‘The team thinks I can’t handle this?’ She asks herself, parkouring around different obstacles over the rooftops. ‘That I don’t understand this life? Watch me!’
She lands behind the villainess. “…You must be new.”
Heather’s eyes widen, because she thought she was being stealthy. ‘What was her power again?’
The villainess turns around and looks at Heather with a smirk. “What? I can even sense those ninja friends of yours.”
Heather’s grip on air tightens. She starts to run.
“Ōkami! Stop!” But Heather doesn’t listen, or hear in time. The villain reaches out and touches Heather’s forearm, which is bare of any armor. She is confused for a second, staring at the villain’s smirk. But then she starts to get bigger. Or, more accurately, Heather starts to shrink. Even after the villain lets go, Heather continues to get smaller. The Novelty actually face her how they planned originally, while Jacey picks up Heather, shrinking still, and takes off.
Mid run, she changes into a cheetah. Heather is grasping the hair on her back, until Jacey stops. “How are you?” She asks, becoming human again.
Heather waits until she’s off Jacey’s back before answering, “…Good news, I’ve stopped.”
Jacey breathes a sigh of relief.
“Bad news,” Heather cringes. Jacey turns around, then looks down. “I’M THE SIZE OF A GUM DROP!” Heather screams, which sounds more high pitched than her normal voice.
Jacey stares at her, then picks her up gently. She puts her second hand to her earpiece, “Ghost, taking Ōkami back to Command.”
“Is she okay?” August asks.
Jacey looks at Heather, then sighs, “She’s alive.”
***
Everyone arrives, unable to stop the villain as they were worried for Heather. But when they get back, they stare at Heather. She’s sitting on the edge of Rick’s desk, her arms crossed as she pouts. Josh can’t help but burst into laughter.
“You’re so tiny!!” he blares. Heather stands up and stomps her foot.
“The first butt I’m kicking when I’m bigger is that villainess, but the second one is you, Jade!” She yells.
Finn snickers, then takes out his phone, “Can you repeat that for the camera, you sound so cute!”
Heather glares at him, but it only makes him laugh harder. “I take it by your reactions, I’m not in trouble.”
Nikki shakes her head, trying to keep her own laughter at bay, “It will wear off. The greater the shrink, the longer it takes. So for you, about a few days.”
“And it will go away gradually,” August adds.
Heather sits back down, content with the answer. Then she looks up, “Can I have a crumb?”
Josh falls to the floor, his belly hurting. Finn leans on Jacey, who’s bubbling with giggles.
Heather scowls at them. “This isn’t funny, guys! My belly is grumbling!”
“Really?” Finn asks, “I can’t hear it.”
“This is what you get for running ahead,” August says. Heather looks at him, but he doesn’t laugh at her predicament. He only smirks to himself and goes to the kitchen to get her crumb.
LikeLike
“Debbie where did you go?” Caroline called. She twisted around in her seat creating fierce gusts of wind that almost blew me away. I had to close my eyes every time or else I would start crying they were so watery.
“I’m down here!!” I yelled but it came out so quite. My body had suddenly stopped tingling and I stopped shrinking. It must have been something in that coffee. I ran up to Caroline and tugged on her, I couldn’t reach her shirt, her belt loop. She didn’t feel anything. “Caroline. Do you hear me??” I tried my best to be as loud as I could. “Caroline.”
Finally, she looked down. “Debbie, Why are you so small?”
“I don’t know.”
She tilted her head. “I couldn’t hear you.” Her big hands seemed to go in slow motion to pick me up. They completely enclosed me blacking out everything else. My feet got stuck in the crack and I almost slipped through. It was all I could do not slipping and falling onto the ground.
The ground seemed like it was a hundred feet away. For a moment I forgot which way was up the world was spinning so fast. Caroline began to open her hands which squeezed my foot. I feel down because of all the movement. It felt like a really bad earthquake.
“What were you trying to say?” She whispered out of the side of her mouth. I wonder if she was starting to feel self-conscious, talking to herself.
“I don’t know why I’m so small,” I said.
“Ah,” She then turned on me with a devilish grin. “So we should probably figure out why and all that stuff, but, I could also sneak you into a movie theater. And I can take your ticket to your vacation. You can still go you just would be tiny.” I definitely wasn’t surprised when Caroline offered to steal my ticket. It was in her nature.
“No, we should skip right to making me big again.”
“C’mon, we don’t even know how to do that. We might as well take advantage of this situation while we still have it.”
“You know what, fine. Let’s do all your crazy adventure ideas. But as soon as we figure out how to get me human-sized. Well, let’s just say everything else goes out the window.”
“Deal.”
LikeLike