Shrinking Diary

Day 1

By Richard C.H. Davies

Day 1

It was the bottle, it very clearly said "DO NOT DRINK", I know my wife works in medical studies, she worked on shrinking technology, at Pharma-Kleine, I know that. But I don't know … something pulled me to the bottle like a moth to a flame. 

I suppose I kinda wanted to feel closer to her again. 

She's been working late so much recently. I just wanted to see what it would be like to have a little bit of the serum. 

To be fair the liquid was quite tasty and it felt warm all over my body as I sat back on the sofa at home. 

I just sat there feeling my body throbbing and humming like it was vibrating. It was kinda fun. 

I knew I was safe, my wife was an expert in this stuff. 

Also, if it was not really supposed to be drunk, why did she leave it in our house? 

I remember holding the TV remote and seeing how it looked normal size in my hand, then a few minutes later the remote looked bigger and the sofa seemed deeper. 

It was really trippy. My clothes were starting to feel baggy around me.

The front door banged shut. I checked the time; it was late again. 

"Hey," I heard my wife, Gemma, call out for me. 

"Hey, I'm in the sitting room," I replied anxiously. 

I looked over as she walked in. She was wearing her business outfit for work. She looked down at me and frowned. 

"Have you been on the sofa all afternoon?" She asked in disappointment. 

I couldn't help but shrug. 

"John, I've told you; you need to get outside and get some fresh air. Fine so you lost your job, but… you know… you need to get back on your feet," 

I nodded. 

"Sorry," I said. 

"Don't be sorry to me darling, I’m just trying to help you," she said sympathetically, giving me a light kiss on my forehead. 

"How was your day?" I asked as I watched her head to the fridge to grab some milk. 

"Oh yeah fine… Err…  John…" she walked back into the sitting room holding the medical bottle. "I hope you've not taken any of this?"

I looked at the bottle wide eyed and gave my best innocent expression. 

"I can see the cap has been removed and there's less liquid in here, you haven't drunk from this have you?" She asked in concern. 

"Erm…" I stammered. "Well, I just…"

"How much?" She demanded, stomping towards me angrily. "This is confidential and prototype stuff, how much?" 

"Erm… like… I dunno, a few mouthfuls," 

"Mouthfuls?" She repeated in shock. Her eyes wide and her face a mask of worry. "Oh god John, that's… we've only been testing a few drops of the stuff on test subjects…"

"Oh… shit," I replied, "sorry…" 

She looked at me as if I was a complete dick head. 

Well, I was a dick head I suppose. I couldn't argue with that. I drank the bottle that said "DO NOT DRINK", what had I expected to happen? A reward?

But I suppose I had to try. 

"Why did you have it back at home?" I asked with concern. 

"Because…" she trailed off looking embarrassed. 

"What's it going to do to me?" I asked, looking down in concern. 

"Well, a pipette of this stuff shrinks people about a foot in size…" she said. 

"Oh shit," I replied. "You've got an antidote though… right?" I asked hopefully. 

"Not one that's safe for testing yet, Oh John… how could you…"