It started with an inch.
I was just sitting there reading the news; something about hurricanes and nuclear war. I felt pressure on the top of my head. I stood up and had to cough.
I ran to the bathroom. That spot of toothpaste splatter on the mirror that had always sat on my cheek was just about eye level. I didn’t want to think about it, so I cleaned the mirror. I ate, a little less than usual, and headed to work.
When I got home, my roommate asked me if I’d heard about a shooting in America. I said I hadn’t and headed to my room to check the news. I picked up my computer. It felt heavier. When I went to google I found I’d somehow typed all the wrong letters. I looked down at my hands. I’ve always been self-conscious about my hands but this was serious. I got up, went to the mirror. My clothes were baggy, my glasses looked huge.
I tore all my clothes off, glasses too. I went to bed.
When I woke up there was no denying. I couldn’t have been more than four feet tall. I had to wear my girlfriend’s shirt and shorts to go to the store. They wouldn’t sell me cigarettes. When I got home I immediately got on my phone. I started to try and look up something, anything that might explain. I found myself reading an article about how children in Ghana are not as tall as they used to be; something to do with a lack of food or maybe something in the water.
I tried calling out for my roommate but even my voice wouldn’t carry. I leapt down off the couch. I looked up at the lip of my coffee table and realized that it was my last chance. I jumped and caught the edge of my laptop; brought it down. Thankfully it didn’t break. I got it open by some miracle. I’ve been having to write this by hopping from one key to another. I can’t be more than an inch now. Something is very wrong and I am so very tired.
I am going to take a nap on the mouse pad.
Reblogged this on BCSBook Reviews and News and commented:
take a breath….
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haha thank you, will do.
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an excellent horror bed-time-Story! Like the nightmares where you want to run away but your feet stick to the floor, or you have to dial a phone number and you always type the last number incorrectly …. what makes him smaller and smaller?..the bad news or the fact how he bypassed with the bad news? Or has it nothing at all to do with the news, but is the normal course of life? people grow physically and spiritually, and at some time they become less and less … and if they do not become like children, they will not enter the kingdom of God ? The illustration goes at least in this direction.
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I wasn’t really sure about what makes the character grow smaller but it’s mostly centered around the fact that news and media being so accessible makes individuals much much smaller these days.
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Yes. we’re all feeling a little powerless, right now. I’ve been told it’s world-wide “Compassion Fatigue.”
Good idea to unplug for awhile. Nighty-night!
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thank you. Yeah I just remember the world being a whole lot smaller when I was a kid.
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“Ignorance is bliss.” I wonder if today’s schoolkids still have that luxury?
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I hope so!
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Certainly not. I teach a lot of kids and it always amazes me how much they know about the world and all of the things they think about that I wouldn’t have dreamed of at their age. Always connected and seeing everything. It’s strange. I remember I had a giant rock in the woods behind my house. That was pretty much it, and it wasn’t for posing for instagram shots. It was a f*cking pirate ship haha
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This is wonderful – totally needed a laugh, thanks. 🙂
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haha glad I could help
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A novel way of saying goodbye.
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thank you for this indication!
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haha not quite goodbye yet, but almost
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I got cracked up by “I’ve been having to write this by hopping from one key to another” and then “I am going to take a nap on the mouse pad.” My imaginations got tickled. I only hope it wont get worse!
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haha me too. and yeah that was kind of the image I had in my head that made me want to write the story. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
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A bit amusing, and a bit disturbing. As someone earlier said, we are all getting smaller and smaller.
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yeah, it’s hard not to feel that way. Sometimes I have to just disconnect sometimes.
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I realty liked this one. Digging your take on whimsy, and the illustration, as always, is on-point.
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haha thank you. Whimsy is the only solution sometimes.
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Sometimes the only way to handle the truth is by fictionalizing it.
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