I'm not very good with introductions, so I guess I'll just start with my life story.

My Name is Charlie.  I'm just an average guy who lives in a small rural town just outside of Annapolis, Maryland.  Which is about 30 minutes from Baltimore and Washington DC respectively. I'm 19, and I'm about to finish up my first year at my local community college.

I used to have a group of friends that I hung out with all the time in High School, but almost all of them left to go their separate ways when it came time for college. Once they left, I was for the most part alone. I was an only child, and my Dad had died when I was 11 years old. My mom works as a lawyer, and spent most of her time at work. Occasionally, she would have business trips to go on, leaving me home alone most days.

I'm not a very active guy. I'm a guy who doesn't really talk that much unless it's to family or friends, or if I'm behind a keyboard on internet forums. I've never really dated a girl before. I didn't do any extra-activities after school, and I didn't have a job yet. Most of my days would include going to class, going to the gym every few days,  doing any homework or projects for my classes, play video games or watching movies, or just surfing the internet and chatting on forums.

Not the most interesting life in the world I guess. But a lot of this was about to change.

One night I was hanging out with Mark, my only real friend who still lived in town. We were hanging out at his house because his parents and little brother were out for the night, and we could have the whole house to ourselves. Final exams were about to start up at the college, so we used tonight as a study night with a little bit of gaming here and there.  

It was a really dark and stormy night that night. It was May and it was right in the middle of a massive storm system. One of the worst we've had all year. The rain was coming down really hard, and the wind was whipping  the trees back and forth. Lighting striking all around and some extremely loud thunder.  

It was about 11:00 PM when I told him I needed. to leave.

"You sure you don't want to stay the night?" Mark called, "The storm is looking pretty nasty."

"Thanks for the offer," I replied, "But If I stay here with you, we'll be up all night, and I need to get some sleep before my first final tomorrow."

"All right then, but be careful." Mark warned,  "The roads can flood over sometimes in weather such as this."

"Thanks, man. Have a good night"

"You too."

I ran as fast as I could to my car and drove out of there. Man, Mark wasn't kidding when he said to be careful. The rain and wind were really wicked, and you couldn't really see much out there. The power was out in some areas as well, because some of the street lights weren't on. So as I made my way down the main road back to my house when I noticed a construction fence blocking the road. I should have known better. The road went right over a small creek in this area, and it must have flooded over. Well great. I made a quick U-turn backwards, and back the way I came. I knew another way back to my house from here. It was a long country road that passed through massive old farm lands, and a thick forest, both that were home to massive mansions. The road wasn't very well lit, and it was difficult to see some wicked turns coming.

Everything was going pretty well until:

KA-BUMP!

I ran over something sharp, and I realized I had a flat tire. I pulled off to the side of the road into a gravel driveway of sorts. I took out my flashlight to inspect the damage. The rain was coming down even harder now. Within seconds, my entire body was soaked. I knelt down in the mud and checked my tire. The damage didn't look too bad,  and I didn't really want to change the tire in this awful weather.

So I hopped back in my car and thought I could try and get home to change the tire. But now my car just wouldn't start. Great. So I was stranded out on an empty road on a stormy night. I got my phone out to try and call for help. No signal. Just fucking great. Now I really was stranded. I had to do something. And then it hit me. The road I was pulled onto looked like a drive way. Maybe there would be a house at the end with people who could help. So I got out of my car again, into the massive storm again, and began to walk down the spooky driveway to see what laid at the end of it. 

The gravel road I was walking down seemed to go on forever.  The rain just kept on coming down harder and harder. I hadn't planned on getting stranded in the middle of a storm, and I was stupid enough not to bring an umbrella with me in the car. It wouldn't have helped much though. The strong wind coupled with the heavy rain made it feel like it was literally raining sideways.

It was almost completely pitch black outside. the only light source that I had was a small flashlight that I kept in my glove compartment, and the flashes of lighting that illuminated the sky for a second. The trees to the left and right of the road continued to sway in the powerful gusts. Some of the trees looked weak enough to fall over completely in the wind.

The gravel road up to this point had been going downhill. But now, the road seemed to be heading up-hill now. Now I was fighting the keep myself from being blown down back to the bottom. 

Once I reached the top of the hill, the road ended at a small, one-car garage. The door was shut, so I didn't know If there was a car inside or not. Then off to my right, It came into view. A large mansion appeared. I'm not an expert on houses, but the house looked pretty new. Probably one of those homes that millionaires retreat to sometime.  I walked up the front door and rang the door bell. I didn't hear it go off inside. Maybe they didn't have power,  or it was broken. I didn't know, so I started knocking on the door.

"Hello? Is anybody home?" I called out.

No response. 

"Hello?"

Still nothing. I guessed that there wasn't anybody home. Even though I was out in the middle of the storm and completely drenched, I didn't want to barge into a house with nobody home.  But when I turned away to return to my car for the night, I heard a very faint whisper.

"Come in, Come in, Come in"

I just barely heard it over the sound of the rain coming down. I turned around to see if there was anybody. Nothing.  I guess I was just hearing things. I kept walking, and then I heard a creaking sound. I turned around again to see that the front door had opened a little bit. Strange, I thought, but I wasn't about to enter a stranger's house uninvited. I decided to keep walking, when suddenly there was a bright flash of light and an incredible boom sound. I sounded like a bomb when off right in front of me. Apparently, lightning had struck just a mere few feet in front of me. It startled the shit out of me and I ran straight towards the house, opened the door, slid inside,  and slammed it shut.

 Once I came to my senses, I realized the mistake I made. I just broke into a strangers house. I was really hitting myself for it. Oh well, I was inside away from the storm, and that's all that mattered to me at the time. I found a light switch near the door, but the lights wouldn't come on. I was right. The power was indeed out in this house.  My clothes were completely soaked, but I didn't exactly want to strip down in some stranger's house. I at least took off my shoes, and hid them near the front door so they wouldn't be found .

I decided to explore the ground floor of the house a little bit. The house looked like a pretty rich house. It had a large living room area with a large TV(Looked like one of those new 4K TVs), a large couch, and a recliner, and a side door that emptied out onto a wooden deck overlooking a yard.  A pretty modern looking kitchen.  A pretty fancy looking dining room that didn't look like it was used very much judging by the amount of dust. 

I didn't want to be in here, nor did I want to go back to that storm again. So I decided to look for stairs that lead to a basement.  sure enough, I found a set of stairs and went downstairs. Once I reached the bottom, I found that it was a Rec Room. It had a Pool Table, Ping Pong table, a Bar, Dartboard, and just through a sliding door was a home gym.

But then, I heard the whisper again.

"Come in, Come in, Come in."

This time I heard it much clearer. Somebody must have been in the house! They must be teasing him. It sounded like It was coming from a door next to the bar. I opened the door and entered what was a storage room. It was really dusty and full of cobwebs like nobody had entered here for a long time. It was so dusty, It set off my allergies and I started sneezing and my nose got stuffed up.

I decided to call out again.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

No response.

"I'm sorry for entering your house without your permission."

Still nothing.

Getting more and more nervous, I kept walking. Searching for the person who was whispering to me.

"Okay, you've had your fun. I said I was sorry. You can come out now."

Nothing.

After I let out a large sneeze, I stayed perfectly still and silent to try and listen for sounds of somebody.  The only sound that could be heard were the occasional rumbles of thunder outside.

"Well, Okay then, if that's how it's going to be. I guess I'll be going now-"

And then it happened. I smelled something really weird. I couldn't describe what I smelled like, only that it was strong and irritating. A gas of sorts had filled the room and I couldn't breathe. I start to move toward the door, but then I started feeling light-headed. I started to feel drowsy. Then I fell on the floor, and my mind went blank. 

******

I woke up on a cold surface. I had no idea how long I was out. I didn't know where I was. Last I remembered I was in a spooky storage room of a mansion I walked into. I got knocked out by some sort of gas, but I didn't know what. I noticed that my shoes were back on my feet for some reason. And that my clothes had dried. I felt really cold though.  My nose was still stuffed up and my throat was really sore. Sounded like I caught a cold from walking around in the storm. Wonderful.

I couldn't tell where I was. It felt like I was on a marble floor of sorts. Whatever kind of room I was in, it was dark and really wide open. But then I heard the sound of a door opening and closing. It didn't sound very far away.

Then suddenly the whole room filled with light and that's when I realized what was going on. The room that I was in was Kitchen I walked through earlier, except that it was huge. The marble floor I was on was actually the island counter top. I was absolutely stunned. I had shrunken. How? Where? Why? Who?  These questions raced through my confused and scared brain at the moment.

Then I heard a voice that sounded like it was coming from another room

"Ah, home at last."

This voice definitely wasn't a whisper. It sounded like whoever lives in this house had come home. And they probably wouldn't be pleased to see a tiny man on their kitchen counter. It might scare the shit out of them.  As long as nobody came into the kitchen I'd have time to think and assess the situation. 

Now I could hear them talking again. They sounded like a man and a girl.

"All right, I'm heading up to bed.” The man said.

"Okay," said the girl's voice, "I'm going to get something to eat first and then head to bed."

Shit! One of them was coming in right now! I had to act fast. I needed a place to hide.  There wasn't much to work with from where I was at. There was a news paper off to the side. Maybe I could hide in one of the folds. I ran as fast as I could, but trying to run with a stuffy nose isn’t an easy task.  Thankfully there was an open fold on my side I could easily push up and get inside.

Just as I made it underneath, the girl entered the kitchen. She was a beautiful blonde girl with blue eyes and looked about my age. From my size, she was huge. Even though I was on a counter top, she still looked pretty tall.  Imagine what she looked like if I was on the floor.  I swore I recognized her. But I didn't know exactly who she was.  She walked over to the refrigerator and was taking out what looked like some sort of left-over meat. She then put her food in the Microwave to heat up, and then started humming some sort of tune that I couldn't recognize.

That's when my nose started to itch. I was about to sneeze. Of all times, it had to be now. I tried to hold it in for as long as I could. But sadly, it was to no avail. All I did was charge it up. I tried to muffle it up by holding my left arm over my mouth and then-

"AAAACHOOOOOOOOO!"

The girl stopped humming. Her face turned towards the newspaper.

"What was that?" she murmured.

Crap.  She heard me. There wasn’t much that I could do now. If I changed positions now, she’d see me for sure. So I waited to see what would happen.  I heard footsteps coming over to my hiding spot and-

“This newspaper is over a week old,” said the girl, “I’d better recycle it.”

 Then gravity shifted.  She was turning it on its side and I started sliding out of the fold of the paper. There wasn’t anything to grab hold of, so I fell.  I would be OK if the paper was still over the counter-top, but that wasn’t the case.  When I fell out of the fold, I saw that I was falling towards the floor. The fall looked it would kill me if I landed. I screamed and shut my eyes.  

I felt like I hit the ground sooner than I thought I would. But to my surprise, I wasn’t dead.  Nor was I injured.  And the ground felt soft, not hard. Then I opened my eyes to realize I wasn’t on the floor. I was in the hand of the girl! I looked up saw the girl’s shocked and confused face. She looked like she was about to scream, but then covered her mouth with her other hand. We stared at each other for a few more seconds and then I decided to break the ice.

“Umm,  Hi?” 

I was absolutely terrified at this moment. I was being held by a girl more than 10 times my size.  I had no idea what she was going to do with me. I didn’t want to think about it.

“Wh-What are you?” the girl said nervously.

“I-I’m a human” I said, “Only I’m the size of a small toy.”

“But how?” she asked, “Humans aren’t normally a few inches in height.”

“I know.” I replied, “I’m normally the size of a regular person, but I got shrunk.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. I just woke up here on the counter, and suddenly, I’m shrunk.”

“Why were you hiding for me?”

 “I was, well, I was umm……..”

“Scared?” she finished.

I nodded. 

“Well, I can understand that. If this were to happen to me, I would be terrified too. Being so tiny in a world where everything is huge and anything can kill you in a split second.”

It was then that everything about my situation just hit me right in the face. I was only a few inches tall. I was just an insignificant little being. Anything could instantly kill me in an instant. Even the girl that was holding me in her hand could by simply clenching her hand into a fist and crushing me. My life could be ended in a matter of seconds and there would be nothing that I could do to stop it. The thought absolutely terrified me. 

Another thing that should be noted about me is that I suffer from anxiety problems. I've suffered through them my entire life. I can get really nervous or anxious about some things or changes that happened in my life. When I was a kid, my dad would normally help me through these situations and make me feel better. But then when he died, they started to get worse. My mom finally took me to a Psychiatrist  and prescribed me some medication that would help with anxiety. It helps a bit, but anxiety attacks can still happen from time to time.

This was one of the worst ones I've had in a long time. I had never felt an anxiety attack like this one before. My entire body was shaking from head to toe, I started feeling really cold, my breathing started increase and goose bumps appeared all over my body.  I lost my balance and fell on the girl's soft palm and just laid there, shaking and crying and worrying over my insignificance. Except this time, I really did feel insignificant.  

The girl looked horrified at what she was seeing. She looked like she was about to cry herself. Then she started to slowly stroke my back with her other index finger and tried to calm me down.

"Shhh, it's alright," she whispered, "I'm sorry about what I just said. I'm not going let anything happen to you."

I started to catch my breath and tried to calm myself down, but the horrible thoughts were still stuck In my head.

"No....No you're right" I mumbled, " Look at me. I'm only a few inches in height, I'm hardly a human anymore. I could die and nobody would miss me at all."

"Don't say that." the girl sternly said, "You ARE still a human. Remember, a person's a person no matter how small.  You matter to people. You matter to me. And that's why I am going to help you get through this."

I could feel myself calming down and  started to regain my composure. I stood up and looked up at the girl's  massive face. She truly was a sight to behold. Her blue eyes gave a concerned look to me, and she started to smile that would make you happy no matter what you were feeling at the moment,

"Sniff...Thank you," I said, "I needed that."

"Don't worry about it little guy." the girl said. "By the way, do you have a name?"

"Oh yeah, My name is Charlie."

"I'm Ashley, but most people just call me Ash."

"Thanks again Ash," I said, "I don't what I'd do right now without you."

Ash blushed a little bit.

"No worries." she said, "Anyways how exactly did you get shrunk?"

"To be perfectly honest, I really don't know."

"Well, let's see. What happened to you before all of this happened?"

I didn't really want to tell Ash that I broke into her house right at this instant, so I decided to buy some time.

"Sigh, It's kind of a long story." I said.

"OK, we can talk about it later. In the meantime, I gotta eat some dinner, so why don't we get to know each other. "

"Oh......Oh........AACHOOO!" I sneezed, "OK."

"You alright?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, I think I got a cold or something." I responded.

"Poor guy," she consoled "Being shrunk AND having a cold. You just can't catch a break can you?"

"Heh, guess not." I chuckled.

"Did you want anything at all to eat?"

"Yes please, I'm actually a little hungry."

Ash lowered her hand onto the counter and I exited her palm. She when over to the microwave and got her dinner and silverware.

"I hope you like leftover chicken!" she said cheerfully.

Ash set her plate down on the counter and pulled up one of the stools and sat down.  She took her knife and fork and cut off a piece of chicken and nudged it to the edge of her plate.

"Is that enough?" she asked?

"Yeah." I responded

To Ash, this was a pretty small slice off of her meal. To me, this was pretty huge! It was almost the size of me! And then I realized that regular silverware was too large for me and there wasn't any around at my size. So I would have to eat this chicken with my hands. Oh well. I ripped off a chuck of meat and stuffed it into my mouth. It was a little dry coming out of a microwave and having a stuffed nose made it harder to taste, but it was still pretty good. After we had both eaten for a few minutes ,Ash wanted to talk for a bit.

"So tell me about yourself Charlie." Ash pried. "What were you normally like before, well, this happened?"

"Well," I said trying to gather my thoughts, "I was about to finish up my first year at the community college."

"Really? Me Too!" Ash exclaimed.

Now I remembered her!

"We were in the same Intro to Film class together right?" I asked

"Oh yeah, you're right!"

"Yeah, I remember you having really cool final project on Sam Rami."

"Thank You, yours was good too."

"Thanks."

We chatted for a little bit about school and friends and other stuff until we were about full. Ash took her plate and silverware and placed them into a dishwasher.

"Whew, I'm beat." Ash said

"What time is it right now?" I asked.

"2AM."

"Wow, I'm never usually up this late."

"Me neither. Let's go to my room."

"OK."

Ash reached out her giant hand and attempted to grab me, but I flinched and jumped back a bit. She stopped and gave a confused look.

"What's wrong?" she asked

"I just....don't feel comfortable being grabbed by someone." I said a little embarrassed.

"Oh, that's OK." She said as she laid an open palm down on the counter

I hopped onto Ash's palm and she raised it up and started to walk out of the kitchen and up the stairs. I had explored the ground level and the basement of the house, but I didn't get to look around upstairs before I was shrunk. As she passed by a door she gave a call to the other person in the house.

"Alright, I'm going to bed now dad!" Ash said

"OK, good night darling!" called a voice from the other side of the door.

"Good night!" Ash replied back.

We continued down the hall until we got to Ash's room. When she opened the door and turned on the light, I was stunned.  This didn't look like a girl's room, it looked more like a guy's room. For starters, the walls were lined with posters for stuff guys like. There was a Ferrari Poster, a long poster of a supermodel,   movie posters for movies like Robocop, Army of Darkness, Blade Runner, and Spider-Man, and Video Game posters for Left 4 Dead, Uncharted, Zelda, and Mario. There was a large desk with a large monitor and some large speakers connected to what looked like a really powerful and expensive computer.  There didn't seem to be a dresser anywhere in the room. The bed was a huge, not just to me, Queen sized bed with some dark colored sheets, and a night stand off to the side with an alarm clock.   

"Are you sure we are in your room?" I asked.

"Yup, this is it!" Ash responded.

"Well, judging by the decor, you are my new best friend."

"Aww, thanks." she blushed, "Although this wasn't always my room. It used to be my brother's until...."

Ash stopped talking mid sentence and looked nervous.

"Until what?" I asked.

"It...It's a long story." she responded.

"Alright, we'll talk about it later."

"My old room is effectively a giant changing room and closet."

"Huh, that must be nice."

"I guess." Ash sighed, "In the meantime, I'm going to get you a bed of sorts ready and get myself really for bed as well. Do you mind waiting here on the night stand?"

"Not at all." I responded

"Great! I'll be back in a few minutes."

Ash let me off on the night stand and then went through a side door that looked like it connected to a bathroom and the other room. As I sat there, I contemplated my situation a little bit more. I still didn't really know how I got shrunk or whatever mysterious being brought me to this house and shrunk me for some unknown reason. Ash said that she would help me in any way she could, but what really can she do? She can at best make my shrunken situation better, but how would we find a way to un-shrink me and figure out what brought me here? I didn't really want to think about it now. I was tired and worn out after not only being shrunk, but running around in the middle of an intense storm beforehand.  

After a few more minutes, Ash came back into the room wearing a black t-shirt and dark blue pajama bottoms. She was carrying a pink colored pillow and a small fabric cover as a sheet of sorts. I'm guessing this was going to be my bed for a little while.

"Will this be Okay?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, this will be perfect." I yawned.

"Sorry about the girly colors."

"Nah, don't worry about it. I'm lucky to have any sort of bed at my size."

Ash smiled. "Well don't worry. We'll get you back to normal in no time. I'll do whatever it takes."

"Ash, you have no idea how grateful I am for what you are doing."

"Don't worry about it. I don't want to see anybody be suffering. Now since my night stand is a little small, I'm going to put you on my desk. That sound good?"

"Yeah, that's good."

Ash lowered a hand on the night stand and I hopped on. She then set me and my makeshift bed down on her desk. I hopped onto the pillow and got under the sheet and laid back.

"Comfy?" she asked

"Yup." I responded.

"Ok then."

Ash then lowered her face toward my body. I flinched a little bit, because who wouldn't flinch from a giant face coming right at you. Then she did something I did not see coming at all. She kissed me. My reaction was of joy, but apprehension. I have never had a girl kiss me before. I guess this was my first kiss of sorts.

"Good night little guy." Ash whispered and winked at me as she went to shut off the light.

"Good night." I replied back.

The light went off. Darkness filled the room. Time to get a good night's rest. 

I woke up, but something was wrong. I wasn't on the pillow in Ash's room. I got up to see that I was in some sort of narrow tunnel and the only source of light that I had was a torch that was on the side of the wall. I didn't know where I was, but I knew I didn't want to stay here. So I grabbed the torch, and decided to follow the tunnel.

"Is anyone there?" I called down the tunnel.

No Response.

"Hello" I called again

Once again, nothing.

I was really not liking this at all. What was going on? Why was I here? How did I get here? Was it the same thing that shrunk me back at Ash's house? And what about Ash? I had no idea. I just had to keep moving.

The tunnel finally ended and opened in to a forest. The trees were really tall with no leaves on them at all, and there was no grass on the ground. The sky was completely dark as clouds hung in the dark. There was a cold breeze that blew around  and made me shiver a little bit. There was a path that started as the tunnel ended and continued on deeper into the forest. I continued to walk through the forest to see if I could find something or someone.

"Hello?" I called again.

Nothing.

The path continued through the forest for a long time. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary. I heard a few owl's hoot in the distance and the sound of crickets on the ground. The path and forest seemed to go on forever. 

Then I heard the whisper again.

"Come in, come in, come in."

It was the same whisper that I heard in Ash's house. Something was definitely wrong here.

"Hello?" I called, " Is someone there?"

Silence.

Then my torch went out. I don't know what caused it, it just happened. There went my only source of light. Now I was walking blind. I kept walking straight hoping that the path would continue the same way. Then suddenly the wind picked up again. This time, it was much stronger than before. It was blowing against me, so it was difficult to keep moving forward. Then I heard the whisper again. But this time, it said something different.

"Charlie, Charlie, Charlie."

It was calling my name now.

"Who's there?" I yelled.

Then a large crack of lighting filled the sky, and I saw the shadow of something large. It looked like a creature of sort but I couldn't make it out. And then-

"CHARLIE!"

A thunderous yell filled the air. It was so loud it startled me, and the wind blew me to the ground. Then I felt something hover right over me. I couldn't see whatever it was, but it was huge. I shut my eyes preparing for the worst. I didn't want to get up for fear of it attacking me. Finally, I opened my eyes and then-

"HWAAAAAAAA"

The large thing that was hovering over me was Ash's face. Then I realized I was laying on the pillow I originally fell asleep on. I was having a nightmare. Except this didn't feel like an ordinary nightmare. Most of the time, I don't even remember my dreams/nightmares at all. I just wake up and poof, they're gone and I forget them the moment they happen. But this one stuck with me. I remembered everything.

"Sorry about that little guy. I just needed you awake for a second." Ash said as she pulled her face away from my body

"No.....No problem." I said still half-asleep.

"I just wanted you to know that I'm going to make breakfast and then I'll come back and bring you down so we can eat. That sound alright?"

"Sure. Sure. Just so long as there's coffee."

Ash giggled a little bit.

"Don't worry, there will be plenty of coffee." she assured. "I'll be back in a little bit. You can go back to sleep if you want."

She then left the room and shut the door behind her.

I wanted to fall back to sleep, but after the nightmare I had, I really couldn't. I was scared not of the nightmare, but why the nightmare occurred. An old forest. The same whisper as before. What did it all mean? How does it tie into my current situation? I tossed these thoughts around as I lay on my pillow waiting for Ash to come back.

I was also not looking forward to telling Ash that I broke into her house. I knew I wasn't going to be able to avoid it for very long. I'm hoping she doesn't get too mad at me for what I did. I really didn't want to feel the wrath of an angry woman. Especially at my size. That would be deadly. I really didn't want to think that way.  

After what felt like a half-hour, Ash came back into the room. She said that breakfast was ready. So I got up and out of the bed and hopped onto Ash's hand ready to head down to the kitchen.

"Wait," I said as a thought just popped into my head, "What if your dad sees me?"

"Don't worry," she assured, "My dad is gone already. He won't be back until much later."

We arrived at the kitchen and saw our breakfast. An omelet with some bacon, fruit in a side bowl, and a cup of coffee with some milk or cream mixed in. There also was a small shot glass filled with back coffee that seemed to be for me.

Ash set me down on the counter right near the plate and near my shot glass full of coffee. It was about one third my size and was filled with quite a lot of coffee. I lifted it, and while it was heavy, it was nowhere near as heavy as I expected. I tilted the glass and pored the sweet liquid into my mouth. It was rich, dark, and very hot. Just the way I like it.

Ash giggled a little bit as I was chugging coffee and started eating. Eventually I decided to have some food myself. Ash had set aside a small portion of omelet and bacon for me. It looked like a lot to me, but only a small bite to her. The omelet I wasn't the biggest fan of. I'm not really an egg guy, but I didn't want to look ungrateful, so I ate what I could of it. The bacon, however, I devoured quickly as everyone knows it is the greatest food ever created. Ash saw this and quickly gave me more when it looked like I was done.

After the two of us had finished eating, Ash took her plate and put it in the sink. She asked if I was done with my coffee, and after I said yes, she took the glass as well. Then I got on her hand as she walked to the living room and sat down on her couch.

"Alright, now that you've rested and had a good breakfast," she began, "Do you feel like telling me what happened to you before you got shrunk?"

I knew I wasn't going to avoid this forever. So I finally decided to just tell my story."

"OK, It all started last night. I was hanging out with a friend, and I decided to head home in the middle of the huge storm last night. The main road to get back to my house flooded, so I had to take a back road home. Then my car broke down,  and my phone had no service, so I looked for a house that could help me. This is when I came across your house. I knocked at the door but there was nobody home. I turned to leave, but then I heard this strange whisper urging me to come in. At first I ignored it but then-"

I paused and looked up at Ash. She was nodding and paying close attention with a concerned look. Finally, the moment I was dreading the most came.

"-then a bolt of lightning struck right in front of me and....and .....I.......I.....I ran inside your house!"

I immediately shut my eyes prepared for the worst.

"I'm really sorry!" I said. "I was scared! It happened so fast!  I didn't mean to!"

I was getting nervous again, and since I wasn't on my meds, I wasn't sure what I was going to do when anxiety struck. I opened my eyes and looked at Ash. She didn't look very angry. She smiled, sighed, and shook her head.

"It's OK." she finally said.

"W-What?" I said a little confused.

"I understand. You were lost and stranded in the middle of a storm. You must have been tired, cold, and soaking wet.  If I were home at the time, I would have let you in and helped you in a heartbeat."

It was then that she started stroking my back again as she continued speaking.

"I know you probably didn't want to tell me what you did. Probably for fear of me hurting or abandoning you. But don't worry. I promise I will NEVER intentionally hurt you in any way shape or form."

I was floored. I can't believe she was understanding.

"Th-Thank you for understanding." I said with a ton of relief.

"No problem!" She replied. "Anyway, what happened after you entered my house?"

"Oh yeah, so anyway, after I entered your house, I looked around for a little bit, but when I got to the basement, I heard the whisper again. I entered a dusty storage area of sorts where I thought I heard the whisper from. I called out to try and find out what it was, but no response. then I started to get tired for some reason. I felt dizzy and drowsy, and eventually collapsed. And when I woke up, I was on your kitchen counter where we met. And that's all I know."

Ash nodded and then started to scratch her chin. She was thinking about something.

"Hmm, you want to do down to the basement and see if we can find anything?" she asked.

"Umm, sure." I replied a little nervously.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. If anything happens, I'm right here."

I nodded.

Ash got up and we headed down to the basement to check and see if we could find anything. She walked past the bar, and opened the door to the storage room. It was as dark and dusty as I remember it from last night. But then Ash turned on a light, and I could see the room clearer now. It was really dusty. We looked around for a while and tried to find something. There didn't seem to be anything, but then I spotted what looked like a photo. Ash picked it up. It was a picture of an old house.

"Do you recognize this at all?" Ash asked me.

 I shook my head.

"Hmm, weird."

There was also something written on the photo itself. It said "steep". Neither of us knew what any of it meant.

"I guess we're going to have to do some research on this aren't we?"

I nodded.

We left the room and headed back upstairs to see if we could try and unravel this mess we got ourselves into.

About an hour or two had passed since we had found the "steep" photo. Ash changed into normal clothes, and then we went to her computer to do a little research on what we had found. Sadly, we didn't find anything.  We did a sweep of the outside of the house for anything. Again, nothing. Finally, we decided to take a break and rested for a while.

"Sigh, we're going to need help if we're going to figure this out." I finally said.

"I'm inclined to agree," Ash replied, "but I don't want just anyone seeing you in this state. You don't know how they will react."

“What about your dad? Can’t we get his help?”

“Not the best idea. My dad’s a little insular and doesn’t really trust people he doesn’t know very well. And if he were to find out that a little person was sleeping in the house and he didn’t know about it, he might not take it very well.”

"Hmm, you may be right, but we’re definitely going to need help from someone we can trust."

I thought about it for a while and then it hit me.

"MARK!" I shouted.

"Who?" Ash asked.

"Mark is my best friend in the world. I was at his place before all of this started. He's someone I can trust to help us."

"Great!" she replied, "Because I think I also know someone who can help us."

"Who's that?" I asked suspiciously.

"My best friend Kat. She knows this area better than anyone. We'll see if she can help us."

I didn’t know what to think. I don’t want to reveal myself to just any old person, I not sure of what they would think of me or do with me. But if Ash thinks that this person can be trusted, then I will trust her as well. At least for now.

"Umm, OK." I finally said.

“Great!” Ash exclaimed. “I’ll text her right now!”

“And I’ll give Mark a call too. Let me just-“

But then I realized it. It was only just now that I realized it. My phone and my other belongings were gone. I knew that I had my phone, wallet and flashlight with me before all of this happened, but now they were both gone. I noticed that someone, or something, managed to put my shoes back on before I shrank. Could they have possibly taken my pocket items as well?

In any case, I didn’t have my phone. Though I doubt that it would even work at my size. So I waited until Ash was done using her phone to text her friend, and gave Mark a call.

“Hello?” Mark answered.

“Hey Mark, it’s me.” I replied.

“Charlie? Dude, where have you been? I’ve been trying to get in contact with you ever since you left my house last night. Did you make it home OK?”

“Errm, it’s a long story.”

“What do you mean? Where are you?”

I told Ash’s address.

“You’d better come and see for yourself.” I told Mark, “You probably won’t believe me if I told you over the phone.”

“Alright I’ll be right over.” Mark answered. “See you then.”

“Alright, bye.”

I hung up the phone and sighed. But then I thought about something else.

“Hey Ash?”

“Yeah?” She replied.

“I gotta ask you something.”

“Sure thing, little guy. What do you need?”

“When you came home last night, did you happen to notice A silver car on the side of the road near the start of your driveway?”

“I don’t think I did. Was that your car?”

I nodded.

“Oh no,” she said, “Do you think somebody stole it?”

“Yeah, it was probably whoever, or whatever did this to me and stole all of the belongings I had with me at the time.”

“Wow, this whole thing is getting weirder and weirder.” Ash said to herself

We spent about 20 more minutes researching when the doorbell finally rang. Ash told me to stay put on the desk as she went to get the door. I sat down waiting and wondering weither it would be Mark or Ash’s friend Kat.  A few seconds later I heard distant footsteps coming down the call. Then I could hear voices on the other side of the door.

“Now remember,” I heard Ash’s voice say, “Do not freak out when you see this, and don’t make any quick or sudden movements. OK?”

“Sure, Sure.” I heard another feminine voice say, “Just show me what you’ve got already!”

The door slowly opened as Ash and another girl Ash’s age walked in. I assumed that this would be Kat. Kat had beautiful long brown hair, with brown eyes, a pink T-Shirt, and a pair of shorts. She was looking around the room in all directions looking for something.

“Well, where is the thing you’re going to show me?” Kat asked

Ash pointed to me at her desk, and Kat’s eyes darted toward me. I was completely frozen. I didn’t know what she was going to do, so I remained still. Kat gave me a confused look.

“What is that?” She asked, “Some sort of toy?”

Ash nodded to me signaling to get up and tell her what I was. I didn’t really want to, but I decided to get up, walk towards Kat.”

“Uhh, Hi Kat.” I said kind of nervously.

Kat’s jaw immediately dropped. She was currently in awe the same way Ash was when she first found me.

“Are-Are you human?” Kat asked nervously.

I nodded.

“Oh-My-God.”

Then, before I could react, she quickly grabbed me off of the desk. She was too quick for me to dodge of the way. I was now wrapped around Kat’s large hand. She had a very tight grip, and it was enough to keep me from moving and nearly impossible for me to breathe. I was freaking out right now. I didn’t know what to do. My body just completely froze in fear and pain. Kat then brought me closer to her face.

“Aww, isn’t he the cutest thing you have ever seen!” she said in a sweet voice.

I tried to yell at her to put me down, but my lungs were being crushed right now and I could barely speak. I was starting to get one of those panic attacks again. If this girl didn’t free me right now I would be doomed.

“Kat, what are you doing?” Ash asked.

“I’m just looking at him that’s all.” Kat responded.

“Put him down right now!” She said sternly, “You’re hurting him!”

 “No I’m not, I’m just holding him.”

I was barely getting breaths in right now. If I were held like this any longer, I might pass out.

“Kat, give him to me NOW!” Ash demanded.

“Oh, alright.” Kat conceded.

Bless you Ash.

She released her hand and I fell a short ways onto Ash’s open palm. I was finally able to breathe again, and let out a few coughs. I regained my breath, but my body was still sore all over. I lay down on Ash’s soft palm, and looked up at Kat. I gave her an angry look, and managed to spit out a few words.

“Don’t….grab….me……again!”

I backed away from her as my body was still shaking.

“God damn it Kat, what did I just tell you?” Ash yelled, “I told you not to make sudden movements, and now you’ve gone and scared poor Charlie half to death!”

“I…I didn’t mean to!” Kat responded with a sad look on her face. “I…I’m so sorry Charlie. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I promise I won’t grab you ever again. OK?”

I stood up, still very sore from Kat’s strong grip. I wanted to trust this girl, I really did. But based on first impressions, I didn’t want to be anywhere near this giant girl again. Especially alone. But she was Ash’s best friend, and we needed help in figuring this whole thing out. And if Kat acted out of line again, Ash would probably be there to knock her back in. So I decided I’d let this event slide.

“Sigh, alright.” I said defeated.

“YAY!” Kat said with a smile.

Just then, the doorbell rang again. That must have been Mark. We decided to head downstairs into the living room near the front door. Kat sat down on the couch, and Ash set me down on the coffee table right in front of the couch. Ash had to go get the door and let Mark in, so I had to be alone with Kat for a little bit. I wasn’t very happy about that, but Ash told Kat sternly not to touch me until she got back. Kat agreed, and Ash went to get the door.

We sat there looking at each other for a little bit. Ash answered the door and let mark in. I could hear them talking:

“Charlie gave me a call and told me to come to this address.” I heard Mark say, “ Is he here right now?”

“Yes, but….” Ash responded nervously.

“What happened?” Mark asked worriedly, “Is he hurt?”

“Not exactly. Come with me.”

Ash guided mark to the living room where Kat and I were. Ash introduced Kat to Mark, and then he looked around the room in the same confused manner that Kat did just a little earlier.

“Uhh, Is Charlie here or not?” Mark asked.

“Of course I’m here ya moron!” I yelled playfully.

Just then, Mark’s eyes darted to the coffee table and looked at me. Just like with Ash and Kat before him, Mark’s jaw dropped. He stood there just staring at me for about half a minute, blinking his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

“Ch-Charlie is that really you?”

I nodded.

“Hooooly Shit!” Mark said as he put his hands on his head looking a little stressed, “How did this happen? What the hell is going on?”

“Yeah, I kind of want to know what’s going on as well,” Kat chimed in, “What really happened? How did you get so tiny?”

So I told Kat and Mark the story of how I found her house, how I found myself shrunk, how I met Ash, How she took me in, how much stuff we share in common, and some of the weird things that have been happening.

Damn, dude,” Mark finally said, “You’ve been through quite a lot.”

“Yeah, I know, and we still have no idea what any of this stuff means.”

“I can go to the library,” Kat offered. “I’ll see if I can find any information on the picture you guys found.”

“Sound’s good,” Ash said, “Now who’s hungry? I’m going to make some lunch.”

“Can I help?” Kat asked.

“Sure, you boy want anything in particular?”

“Nah, I’m good with anything.” I said

“Me too.” Mark followed.

Ash and Kat got up and walked into the kitchen leaving Mark and I alone for a little bit.

“You lucky bastard.” Mark said as soon as the girls were out of earshot.

“What?” I said confused.

“I mean, you got a smoking hot girl taking you in and befriending you. And you two seem to be into almost all of the same things, you should really go for it!”

“I dunno man, I’ve never really been good with girls, and I’m afraid I’ll just screw something up.

“Come on Charlie, this could be your big chance. She’s practically made for you!”

This came as a bit of a surprise to me. Mark was trying to convince me to ask Ash out. But I was still only a few inches tall! I didn’t exactly want to get romantically involved with someone who felt like a Titan at my size. That, and we had only just met yesterday. Though Mark was right about one thing: Ash was practically made for me. We share so many things in common, she is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen, and she’s been so nice to me by taking me in and being so gentle with me, and I don’t know if I can ever repay her for what she is doing.

“Alright Mark,” I finally said, “I’ll give it a shot, but only after this situation blows over. If it ever does.”

“It will man,” Mark reassured, “and trust me, you won’t regret taking my advice.”