“Mmm,” Julia moaned contently as she lounged on the couch, her legs resting comfortably on the coffee table which abutted the cushion, “I must say, Tiny Tim, your foot massages have really improved over the past week. It’s a shame all this has to come to an end after today.”

     Julia grinned and seductively leaned forward over her legs. Her feet were resting on the coffee table with their soles gently pressed together, and a healthy slather of lotion oozing out from between them; the woman carefully opened her feet, revealing her tiny nephew cradled between her soles, covered from head to toe in a healthy coating of thick, pink fluid.

     “Of course, if it were up to me,” she continued with a chortle, staring down over her tiny, lotion-covered nephew, “I’d probably just leave you that size. I could certainly get used to having an inch tall nephew catering to my whims for the summer.”

     Tim writhed between his aunt’s feet, struggling catch his breath and recover from the giant woman’s “foot massage”. While Aunt Julia might have been having a good time that afternoon, but HE, most certainly, hadn’t enjoyed it one bit. Much to his dismay, Aunt Julia had spent the entire afternoon serving up a replay of the greatest hits from her torture playbook which she’d been developing over the past week from all of the “fun” she’d had at her tiny nephew’s expense:

     After spending the remainder of the morning stuffed into Aunt Julia’s sweaty ass crack while she vacuumed the remainder of the living room, Tim spent the latter half of the day stuck between the giant woman’s toes as she puttered around the house. She left him there all throughout her late lunch and into the mid-afternoon when, despite having expended a lot of energy vacuuming and cleaning the house that morning, Julia still found the time and energy to do a light yoga workout, with Tim struggling between her scrunched toes the whole time. The smaller, lighter stretches weren’t so bad, but some of the poses, like the downward-facing dog where Julia was putting a good portion of her body weight on her toes, were sheer agony.

     Yet, the worst was yet to come. After enduring Aunt Julia’s workout, and spending an exhausting fifteen minutes struggling inside the giant woman’s pussy while she pleasured herself, Tim was subjected to an agonizing shower with her:

     First, Julia placed the tiny teenager in the tub while she stripped the rest of the way naked; then, she purposefully tried to step on him as she climbed into the tub, giggling maniacally as she watched him squeal and scramble like mad to avoid being squashed. Thankfully, the giant woman humored him and closed the shower drain to appease his frantic squeaks, but while that act may have spared him from getting sucked down the drain, it also meant the tub wouldn’t drain out either. In no time at all, Tim was swept off his feet and left at the complete mercy of the rising, churning currents of water pouring in from the bathtub faucet, and then from the shower head as it rained down from above. Tim paddled frantically to keep his head above water, while at the same time desperately avoiding Julia’s feet as they constantly shifted and splashed about, sloshing water in every direction. To make matters even worse, a constant downpour of water and body wash streamed off his aunt’s naked body as she nonchalantly lathered up and rinsed herself off, threatening to drown the tiny teenager beneath a deluge of used bath water and soap suds. And all of this happened before Julia used him to clean her feet by rubbing his tiny body across her soles and violently shoving him into and out of the crevices between her toes.

     To finish out the rest of the afternoon, Julia dressed herself in a tank top and pink shorts and relaxed on the couch in front of the TV, forcing Tim to give her a foot massage by smashing and rolling him around in between her lotion-covered soles. By the time the entire ordeal was over, Tim was exhausted and almost completely submissive to his giant aunt….almost. The only source of strength that kept him from completely giving in to his aunt’s punishments was the knowledge that in a few short hours, his mother would be home with the antidote, and this whole shrinking nightmare would finally be over.

     “Whoops, it’s almost 5 o’clock,” Julia uttered, practically losing herself as she watching Tim flail about and fail to climb out from between her lotion-covered soles. “Your mom should be home pretty soon. Man, did this day really fly by!

     “Now the , see how much nicer things can be when you just behave yourself and obey me, Tiny Tim?” Julia inquired, scrunching her index finger at him.

     Tim didn’t reply audibly; he merely sighed heavily and wiped the sweat and lotion from his face, thankful that in a few minutes, he’d be back to his normal size…and would finally be able to tell his mother about all the torture Aunt Julia had put him through since he shrank.

     “Whelp,” Julia commented with a chuckle, “I guess I should get you out of there and get all this lotion rubbed in, huh?”

     Julia peered up at the clock again, contemplating how much time she’d realistically have before Natalie got home. After a few moments, she looked back down at the tiny teenager between her feet, a playful grin on her face, which only made Tim extremely nervous and uncomfortable.

     “Eh, I still have a little time left,” Julia said wryly.

     With a tiny yelp, Tim disappeared between his giant aunt’s feet as they closed around him again. Julia giggled playfully as she rubbed her soles back and forth against each other, rolling her tiny nephew around in between them.

     “Aw, what’s the matter, Tiny Tim?” Julia cooed playfully. “Aren’t you having any fun?”

     The only response the tiny teenager could manage, however, was sticking a tiny arm out from between his aunt’s smashed soles, flailing it about as he desperately tried to free himself and plead for mercy.

     “What’s that, little man?” Julia inquired mockingly. “I didn’t quite hear you. You’ll have to speak up.”

     Julia chuckled maniacally as she rubbed her soles together even faster and with slightly more force than before, reveling in the power she felt feeling her tiny nephew’s intensifying squirms.

     After a few more torturous minutes, the giant woman finally grew tired of having her fun and opened her feet again, giving Tim a well-deserved reprieve.

     “Aunt Julia,” Tim exclaimed breathlessly, “are you CRAZY?! You nearly KILLED me!”

      “Oh, relax, Tiny Tim,” Julia scoffed. “I was just having a little fun. Now, come on; let’s get all this lotion rubbed in before your mom gets home.”

     Julia gently plucked Tim from between her soles and carefully wiped the excess lotion from his tiny body before setting him down on the coffee table next to her feet. She directed him to finish rubbing in the leftover lotion on his body, while she took care of the sizable amount still covering her soles. Tim was more than willing to get the rest of the lotion rubbed off—or at least rubbed into—his tiny figure, although he could’ve certainly done without the loud, sickening slurps Aunt Julia’s hands made as she rubbed the excess globs of lotion into her feet.

     “Mm, that feels so good,” Julia moaned contentedly as she massaged her soles in large, firm, deep circles. “Oh my, God! That feels nice…”

     “Here, kiddo,” she commented as she plucked a fresh Kleenex from the nearby tissue box on the coffee table. “Make yourself a new toga while I finish up.”

     Tim eagerly accepted the tissue and began tearing off enough to drape around his body. He’d pretty much been naked since his prior toga was literally torn from his body when Aunt Julia sucked him up with the vacuum cleaner earlier.

     “Ah, there now,” Julia sighed with a satisfied grin as she finished rubbing in the last of the lotion into her soles. “All done…

     “…Ope, and not a moment too soon,” she added, hearing her sister’s car pull into the driveway.

     “‘Not a moment too soon’ indeed,”  Tim chimed in under his breath, beyond relieved that his mother was finally home.

     “Alright, now listen up, kiddo,” Julia instructed as she used her feet to shove the coffee table back into its proper place in front of the couch, an act which momentarily knocked Tim off his feet. “Don’t you be getting too over excited when your mother walks in the door. No doubt, given everything that happened today, there’ll be several things she wants to discuss with us before she gives you that antidote, so just be patient and hear her out…and don’t forget about our little deal: not a word about anything that’s happened between you and me over the past week, you got that? Just keep that little mouth of yours shut!”

     “Yeah, right,” Tim mumbled to himself, grinning sarcastically and giving his aunt a half-hearted nod of acknowledgement. Like hell he was going to keep his mouth shut! He may have acted subservient to Aunt Julia for the remainder of the afternoon, but it was all just a ruse so the giant woman wouldn’t torture him any worse than she already was. The moment Tim was big again, he planned to tell his mother EVERYTHING Aunt Julia had done to him that week…or at least the parts that weren’t completely embarrassing. What was she going to do, step on him again? Once he back to his normal size, all of Aunt Julia‘s power over him would be gone.

    Tim had never been happier in his entire life when he heard the jingling of his mother’s keys as they unlocked the front door, and could hardly contain his excitement as her giant figure stepped over the threshold. It was almost over: in just a few short minutes, he’d finally be back to his normal self, and this nightmare of a week would finally be over.

     “I’m home,” Natalie called out as she stepped through the front door, carrying nothing but her keys in one hand, and her purse draped over the opposite shoulder.

     “Hey, welcome home, sis,” Julia replied with an affable smile as she sat forward on the couch. “Bet you’re glad to be finally be home.”

     “You have no idea!” Natalie chortled as she closed the front door behind her and stepped towards the edge of the den. “It’s been a looooong week.”

     “Well, at least it’s finally over,” Julia offered.

     “Well….it’s not over just yet,” Natalie sighed as she slipped off her flats and dropped her purse at the edge of the den, scrunching and wiggling her newly freed toes among the carpet fibers, “but, yeah: thank God, it’s Friday!

     “Hi sweetheart,” Natalie continued, waving cheerfully at her tiny son as she spotted him on the coffee table.

     “Mom!” Tim squeaked excitedly, literally jumping for joy as he scurried across the coffee table towards her.

     “Whoa!” Natalie uttered in surprise, quickly cupping and lowered her hands as Tim leapt into her open palms.

     “My goodness,” she chuckled as she carefully raised her hands up towards her face, overjoyed that her son was in such a chipper mood, “someone’s excited to see me!”

     “I AM, mom!” Tim exclaimed eagerly. “I’ve never been happier to see you in my whole life!”

     “I’m sorry, Nat,” Julia apologized with a shrug, “I warned him not to get too overexcited.”

     “Oh, that’s okay,” Natalie chortled, cooing at her tiny son. “If I were in his shoes, I’d probably be excited, too.”

     “You can say that again, mom,” Tim chimed in eagerly. “I’ve been waiting all week for this! I’m finally gonna be my normal….regular-sized self again. So, come on, where’s the antidote? I wanna get big before anything else happens.”

     “Honey, just calm down for a second, okay?” Natalie settled the tiny teenager, gently raising him up to her face. “Look, I know you’re excited to get back to normal, but there’s a couple things we need to—“

     Natalie stopped talking mid sentence; her face scrunched in confusion as she noted her son’s slightly unkempt appearance.

     “Honey, wha…why do you look so disheveled?” she inquired, looking him over…

     “…And what’s that scent?” She added, taking a couple sniffs as a distinct aroma wafted into her nose. “Is that lavender…?”

     “Oh…yeah, that’s just my body lotion,” Julia spoke up. “I put some on after I showered.”

     “O-kay…so why does TIM smell like your body lotion?” Natalie pushed, turning her gaze back to her tiny son in her palm. “…And furthermore, why does he look so sweaty and disheveled? What did you do, bathe him in it?!”

     “Well…actually, most of that’s probably from him giving me a foot massage a few minutes ago,” Julia confessed.

     “Wha…What?!” Natalie exclaimed in confusion.

     Tim stood slack-jawed and bug-eyed, completely beside himself. He couldn’t believe Aunt Julia had actually just admitted the truth to his mother.

     “You…You had my son give you a foot massage?!” Natalie exclaimed, dumbfounded.

     “Well…kinda,” Julia continued timidly. “It’s more like: I put my foot on the table and he just rubs the parts he can reach.”

     “That’s not exactly how I would put it!” Tim squeaked inaudibly.

     “Look, details aside,” Natalie continued, slightly bothered by her sister’s admission, “I still wanna know why you had Tim giving you a foot massage.”

     “Well, he DID almost get himself discovered by the neighbors today,” Julia replied defensively, “you know how much running around and lying I had to do to convince Sandra and that nosy daughter of her’s that they DIDN’T see an inch-tall teenager running around when they stopped by earlier. I figured he owed me a little thank you for keeping him out of trouble.”

     “‘KEEPING’ ME OUT OF ‘TROUBLE’?!” Tim squeaked irately. “YOU TRIED TO SQUISH ME!”

     “Tim, sit still!” Natalie scolded her son firmly, quickly moving her free hand around the front of the one her son was in to keep him from falling. “If you don’t stop all that jumping around, you’re gonna fall off my hand!”

     Natalie hadn’t quite made out what her tiny son had just said, but she was too shocked by Julia’s recent admission to press him any further.

     “Relax, Nat, okay?” Julia continued explaining herself, “It’s no biggie. Tim’s fine. You know, despite his current size, you’d be surprised how resourceful and adept he is.”

     “Look, sis, regardless of what happened today OR how resourceful you think he is,” Natalie stated bluntly, “I’d prefer you kept your nasty feet away from my son…at ANY size.”

     “Hey, my feet aren’t ‘nasty’!” Julia rebutted defensively, lifting her left foot into her lap…timidly brushing off a few stray carpet fibers that had gotten stuck to her freshly-lotioned soles. “Besides, I just washed them…”

     “I don’t care, Jules. We’ve had too many close calls this week and I don’t want him getting stepped on before I can get him back to normal, so just keep your feet to yourself, and no more foot rubs…or at least wait until Tim’s back to his normal size first.”

     “Gee, thanks, mom,” Tim chimed in sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

     “Anyway, speaking of the neighbors,” Natalie continued in a calmer tone as she stepped over to the couch, “I have some good news on that front: I was able to get a hold of Sandra this afternoon and smooth everything over.”

     “Oh, good,” Julia sighed with relief, “I assume you stuck to the story that all she and McKenzie saw was a bug?”

     “Well, what other choice did I have, Jules?!” Natalie shrugged, trying not to jostle her hands too much as she took a seat on the couch; unfortunately, but Tim ended up falling onto his backside regardless.

     “I mean, our stories had to stay consistent,” Natalie continued, “and I honestly couldn’t think of any other logical explanations at the time.”

     “So…you think they both bought it?” Julia inquired.

     “Yeah, I think so…” Natalie acknowledged timidly, “…well, Sandra bought it, anyway. I’m not so sure on McKenzie just yet. I could only hear her intermittently in the background of Sandra’s and my conversation. The girl seemed pretty upset, and I could only make out bits and pieces of what she was saying, but it sounded like she calmed down eventually. Needless to say, let’s just hope this all eventually blows over.”

     “Enough small talk, mom,” Tim spoke up impatiently. “Gimme the antidote so I can get back to normal.”

     “I’m getting to that, hon,” his mother stifled him, “just be patient for a second, okay?”

     Tim sighed and crossed his arms in frustration, only growing more impatient by the second.

     “Now look, you two,” Natalie explained, “I know we’ve already discussed this, but there’s a couple of things I really need to reiterate to the both of you before going forward. Now, I know that we’re very close to putting this whole shrinking situation behind us, but that doesn’t mean we’re in the clear. No matter what happens going forward, I cannot the stress to the two how absolutely vital it is to keep everything that’s happened this week a secret. You can’t tell ANYONE about it, even if my company goes public with the discovery of the shrinking formula, no one can ever know that Tim was accidentally shrunk for nearly a week….

     “…and that includes telling your father about any of this, young man,” Natalie reiterated, pointing to Tim with her free hand. “Understand?”

     “Yes, mom, I understand,” The tiny teenager nodded impatiently; however, at that point, he was willing to agree to anything if it meant getting un-shrunk faster.

     “That goes for you too, Jules,” Natalie continued, turning her attention towards her sister. “There’s no wiggle room on this. Just keep your mouth shut, got it?”

     “Nat, for Pete’s sake,” Julia said with resentment, “I might be dense at times, but I’m not a complete idiot.”

     “I’m not saying you an idiot, sis,” Natalie replied, rolling her eyes, “I’m just trying to stress how important it is that we keep all this quiet. I mean, just look at what happened with the neighbors today: this incident is a prime example of what can happen if we’re not careful. People’ll start asking too many questions and then everything just falls apart and comes out. Luckily, I think with all the damage control we’ve done so far, this’ll all just blow over without any more issues, but we still can’t let our guards down. For now, just stick to the story about you being sick this week, Tim….and you looking after him while Tom is out of town, Jules, and I think we’ll be fine…and if either Sandra or McKenzie comes around asking questions about what they saw while they were over here today, just be adamant that all they saw was a bug…and if they push any further, just point out how ridiculous they sound inferring that Tim was actually the size of a bug. Everyone clear?”

     “Alright, mom, we get it,” Tim said impatiently, “we won’t tell anybody. Now, can you PLEASE just give me the antidote so I can get back to my normal size?”

     “Right…” Natalie explained apprehensively, scratching the back of her head, “…the antidote…about that…”

     “What?” Tim squeaked anxiously, starting to get extremely nervous. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

     “Well…um…” Natalie stammered, trying to spit out her words, “…You see, I’m…not quite ready to give it to you yet.”

     “Wh—WHAT?!” Tim squealed with aghast. “Why not?!”

     “Honey, I’m sorry,” Natalie explained, “I know I called and said that I was bringing the antidote home with me this afternoon, but…after I finished talking with your Aunt Julia this afternoon, I decided I wanted to wait at least 24 hours to make sure there weren’t any latent or adverse side effects on any of my test subjects before giving it to you….but don’t worry, I’m gonna go back to my lab tomorrow morning and do one last check on the rabbits; if everything seems okay with them, I’ll bring the antidote home with me tomorrow afternoon.”

     “‘TOMORROW AFTERNOON’?!” Tim squeaked indignantly, “Mom, NO! Y-You can’t be serious! I-I don’t wanna spend another day this!”

     “Honey, calm down,” Natalie said, trying to mollify her tiny son, “I know you’re anxious to get back to normal, but it’s just for one more day. Look, I promise, I’ll get you be back to normal by tomorrow evening.”

     “I don’t wanna wait until tomorrow evening, mom,” Tim shouted, stomping his foot in frustration. “I wanna be un-shrunk NOW!”

     “Tim, don’t be rude!” Julia chimed in sternly. “Your mother has been working her butt off this past week analyzing that shrinking formula you drank and working on an antidote; the LEAST you could do is show her a little gratitude…and patience.”

     “I’ve been patient enough!” Tim shouted irately. “I’m tired of being stuck like this!”

     “Tim, sweetheart, I know you’re upset,” Natalie said, trying to be sympathetic, “but honestly, I really think it’s best if we just wait on this. I mean, what’s one more day if it means you don’t suffer any nasty side effects?”

     “I don’t care about the side effects, mom!” Tim affirmed. “Nothing could be worse that THIS! I’d rather take my chances.”

     “Oh, Tim, now, don’t be ridiculous,” Natalie scolded him, “you have no idea what the possible side effects could be! I mean, what if I gave you the antidote tonight, and then went into work tomorrow only to discover that not only was the antidote temporary and wears off after a few hours, but that it ends up shrinking my all my test rabbits even smaller than they were as a result? I mean, is that what you want: to shrink so small you disappear?!”

     “Of course not, Mom!” Tim whined. “But even if it IS only temporary, ANYTHING’S better than spending another night like THIS!”

     “Oh, Tim, stop your bellyaching,” Julia scoffed. “One more night of being an inch tall isn’t gonna kill ya.”

     “So says YOU!” Tim shouted in rebuttal. “YOU’RE not the one who had to massage your nasty feet today.”

     “HEY!” Julia snapped irately. “My feet are not ‘nasty’!”

     “Alright, that’s enough out of both of you!” Natalie exclaimed, pointing a firm finger towards her sister. “Jules, from here on out, keep those nasty feet of yours away from my son!”

     “HEY!” Julia aped resentfully.

     “And Tim,” Natalie continued, turning her attention back to her tiny son, “I know you’ve had some close calls this week, and yes, given everything that’s happened, I agree, there’s some risk, but I’m not risking your life any more than than I already have by giving you an antidote before I fully test it and know that it’s safe, alright?! End….of….discussion!

     “….Besides, it doesn’t matter anyway,” Natalie explained more calmly, “the antidote’s still back at my lab. I didn’t bring it home with me, so we’ll have to wait until tomorrow regardless.”

     “Well, go back and get it, Mom!” Tim pleaded on his knees, “Better yet, just take to your lab and give it to me there. Please!”

     “Tim, I am not taking you anywhere,” Natalie reiterated. “Not tonight, and certainly not like this. Now, I’m not gonna tell you again: we are waiting until tomorrow to give you the antidote, and that’s final!”

    “Good, then, it’s all settled,” Julia chimed in gleefully as she stood up from the couch, “if there’s nothing we can do about it tonight, then we’re not gonna worry ourselves about it. Tonight, sis, you and I are going to relax. We gonna having a girls night in: I’ve already got that casserole Sandra brought over for us in the oven to warm it up, so while we’re waiting, you can relax, take a shower, change into some comfortable clothes…tonight, we’re relaxing.”

     “‘GIRL’S NIGHT’?!” Tim squeaked with aghast. “Hey, wait a minute—!”

     “Oh, Jules,” Natalie replied appreciatively, “I appreciate the gesture, but I couldn’t possibly—“

     “‘But’ nothing,” Julia interrupted her, “you said it yourself: ‘there’s nothing we can do tonight but wait’, and if we have to wait, there’s no sense in worrying ourselves to death.  We’ll have some dinner, drink some wine, watch a few movies…Come on, Nat, you’ve been working non-stop all week; you deserve a little rest.”

     “Well…I-I guess I could relax a little bit this evening,” Natalie accepted reluctantly, gesturing to her tiny son in her palm “…but, what about Tim?”

     “He’ll be fine,” Julia responded, “he can stay in his cage. If you want, we can leave him one of our phones so he can watch a movie or something.”

     “I don’t wanna go back in that stupid cage!” Tim squeaked irately, hopping up and down in his mother’s palm. “I wanna be big again!”

     “Jules,” Natalie replied with a look of chagrin, “I wanna keep him safe, but I don’t wanna just stick Tim in his cage all night.”

     “MO-OM…AUNT JULIA…!” Tim screeched, “Would you PLEASE stop talking about me like I’m not in the room?!”

     “Honey, clam down!” Natalie rebuked, “You’re getting yourself all worked up.”

     “But, mom, I don’t wanna go back in that stupid cage!” Tim whined.

     “Tim, now, stop that whining,” Natalie scolded him more forcefully, “I mean it!”

     “NO!” Tim shouted up impudently. “I’m not just gonna sit in that cage all night! I wanna be un-shrunk! I wanna be big again! Now, I want that antidote, and I want it NOW!”

     “Alright, that’s it!” Julia said impatiently, snatching the tiny boy out of his mother’s palm.

     “HEY—!” Tim squeaked as he disappeared into his giant aunt’s fist.

     “YOU need to learn to mind your manners, little man,” Julia spat, gently shaking her fist, “AND learn to have a little patience.”

     “Jules, please, be careful,” Natalie said nervously as she quickly jumped up from the couch.

     “No!” Julia affirmed sternly, pointing her finger to keep her sister at bay. “HE needs to learn to be a little more grateful.”

     “That’s fine,” Natalie relented, “but please don’t jostle him so much.”

     “Don’t worry, sis, he’s fine,” Julia replied, feeling her nephew’s squirms inside her closed fist. “Look, why don’t you go relax for a bit; get changed, and take a shower or something? In the meantime, I’m gonna put this little one back into his cage to cool off.”

     Julia quickly stepped over to coffee table and snatched a fresh Kleenex from the tissue box, then marched out of the living room and disappeared down the hallway.

     “Jules, hang on a second,” Natalie pleaded, quickly scurrying after her sister.

     Tim continuously shouted muffled screams and squirmed within his aunt’s fist, but the giant woman paid him no heed as she stomped down the hall and quickly entered his bedroom.

     “Jules, wait,” Natalie called as she hurried down the hall and stopped in Tim’s doorway, slightly irked by her sister’s behavior. “Look, let’s not be rash, okay—?”

     Julia, however, didn’t respond as she stepped around to the dresser to the front of the hamster cage, which now donned a wire-mesh lid.

     “Wh—Where’d you find the lid for that?” Natalie inquired.

     “I found it downstairs while I was cleaning today,” Julia replied quickly, nimbly using her Kleenex-clad hand and the knuckle of her other fist to carefully lift the lid off the hamster cage. “Figured I might as well bring it up and wash it off. Here, hold this a second.”

     Julia handed the lid to her sister, then lowered her fist into the in the cage, slowly opening her hand and unceremoniously dumping Tim onto the floor of the cage.

     “Uhn,” Tim uttered as he rolled onto the floor in a collapsed heap. He scrambled to  stand back up and began shouting up at his giant aunt, but Julia quickly lowered her other hand into the cage and dropped the Kleenex she was holding on top of him, burying the tiny teenager beneath it.

     “Here, gimme the lid,” Julia said, holding at her hands and taking the lid from Natalie.

     “Oh, Jules, do you really think that’s necessary?” Natalie asked with incredulity as her sister fiddled with the lid to get it back on the cage.

     “Absolutely….” Julia affirmed as she smacked the lid of with the palms of her hands, securing it back into place. “….Uhn….especially, given his most recent outburst.”

     Tim struggled frantically to get out from under the tissue, immediately squeaking up curses one he emerged, but Julia kept smacking the lid with her hand, forcing him back into submission.

     “Besides,” Julia continued, tapping the lid a few more times in accomplishment, knocking her tiny nephew to the floor of the cage in the process, “I got to thinking today: you don’t want any mice, or insects, or anything else to eat Tim while we’re having our girls night, do ya? This way, nothing gets in…

     “…and nothing gets out,” Julia grinned widely, tapping the side of the glass. 

     “Jules,” Natalie sighed with dissatisfaction, “I told you: I don’t want my son feeling like a prisoner in his own house. This cage is just supposed to keep him safe until I can give him the antidote.”

     “I know you did….and that’s exactly what I’m doing: keeping him safe.” Julia replied, answering her sister’s questions respectively. “This’ll make sure he doesn’t try anything foolish. I mean, you wouldn’t want Tim climbing out of his cage and running around on the floor unsupervised, would you…?”

     Julia turned her attention to her tiny nephew, who was pressing his hands and face against the glass of his cage.

     “…One of us might step on him,” Julia said with a sly grin, swiping her index finger along the glass.

     “Oh, Jules, do you honestly think Tim can actually climb out of that thing?” Natalie inquired dubiously.

     “Like I said, sis,” Julia replied, “you’d be surprised how resourceful he’s become now that he’s an inch tall. This way, he’s completely safe.

     “Now, come on,” she continued, nudging her sister out of the room. “I want you to get out of those work clothes and into something more comfortable so you can relax.”

     “But, Jules—“ Natalie protested as her sister practically shoved her out into the hallway, closing Tim’s bedroom door behind her.

     “No ‘buts’, Nat,” Julia interrupted her with insistence, guiding her towards the end of the hall. “Now, you’ve been under a lot of stress this week, and you need to relax.”

    “Ugh, I just wish you hadn’t been so rough with him, Jules,” Natalie sighed resentfully as she rounded the doorframe into her bedroom. “You know how hard this has been for Tim, being that small.”

     “I don’t care HOW hard it’s been for him,” Julia retorted, stepping into the bedroom and closing the door behind her. “Small or not, he has no right to yell at you like that! I mean, this week’s been hard on us, too, ya know.”

     “Yes, but couldn’t you, at least, show him a little sympathy?!” Natalie said. begrudgingly as she took a seat on her bed, “I mean, he’s been the size of a bug for almost a week now, and counting on me finding a cure. He’s just upset because I got his hopes up.”

     “Well…yeah,” Julia acquiesced, “but he still needs to show you some gratitude. After all, you’ve been working your butt off all week to make that antidote for him, and I don’t think he appreciates how lucky he is that you managed to make one so fast.”

     “Well….OK, I guess you do have a point,” Natalie concurred reluctantly. “I mean, being able to make an antidote for a shrinking formula in less than a week is pretty amazing.”

     “Of course it is,” Julia chimed in. “Now, what’s say we both relax enjoy ourselves this evening?”

     “Ok….fine,” Natalie sighed, relenting. “I guess I am pretty exhausted. I could use a relaxing, stress-free evening.”

     “Perfect. Now, why don’t you get changed and relax for a bit while I go get the food ready and set up the coffee table. We can eat while we watch a movie.”

     “Julia,” Natalie balked, “we can eat at the table.”

     “We CA-AN….but this is girl’s night, remember?” Julia offered in rebuttal. “That means, no rules.”

     “You sound like a teenager,” Natalie chuckled.

     “Yeah,” Julia grinned. “Except mom isn’t around to tell us ‘no’.”

     “OK,” Natalie chortled, “well, I think I’m gonna go ahead and take a shower and clean up a bit. Would you mind checking in on Tim for me when you finish getting dinner ready? And while you’re at it, go ahead and put a movie on for him. Use his phone, it should still be sitting on his nightstand.”

     “Are you sure you want to reward him with a movie, sis?” Julia inquired dubiously, “After that little tantrum of his?”

     “It’ll be fine, Jules,” Natalie replied, stifling her sister’s objections. “By the time you finish getting everything set up in the kitchen, I think enough time will have passed for Tim to have calmed down a bit. Besides, I don’t want him getting bored sitting in that cage all night. I want him to relax, too, okay?”

     “Alright, sis,” Julia acquiesced with a nod and a sigh. “Whatever you say.”

     About a twenty minutes later, Julia was finishing up getting ready for dinner: a bottle of red wine was chilling in a small ice bucket on the counter top, the cork already popped to allow it to breathe a bit, and two wine glasses sat next to a pair shallow bowls, with two sets of silverware laying nearby. She’d already cleared some space on the coffee table, and had a few movies in mind for Natalie to choose from when they sat down to eat.

     With everything set in the kitchen and living rooms for dinner, Julia headed back down the hallway, grinning with smug satisfaction as she approached the linen closet at the end of the hall. She quickly retrieved a small bath towel and draped it over her arm before closing the closet door and heading back down the hall to Tim’s bedroom.

     “Now then, Tiny Tim,” Julia said smugly as she opened the door and stepped into Tim’s room, smiling with sadistic glee as she leaned over his cage, “have we decided to calm down and behave ourselves?”

     “Aunt Julia, would you PLEASE stop calling me that?!” Tim squeaked up irately, stamping his little foot on the floor of his cage.

     “Hmph, I guess not,” Julia commented apathetically as she straightened back up. “Maybe I should go and tell your mother that I decided that you needed to take some more time to think about your behavior instead of putting on a movie for you like she asked, hm?”

     “I don’t wanna watch a movie, Aunt Julia,” Tim whined. “I want you to let me out of here!”

    “Hmph, fine,” Julia shrugged. “Suit yourself, but you might get a little bored sitting in there all night with nothing to do while your mother and I are having our girls night.”

     Tim sighed loudly and folded his arms in frustration.

     “Alright, fine,” Tim sighed again. “Just be quick about it.”

     “Well, since you asked so nicely,” Julia replied sarcastically as she stepped over to the nightstand and grabbed his phone, unplugging it from its charger.

     “Now, then,” she continued as she stepped back over to the cage, “what’s your passcode?”

     “Wha—I’m not telling you that!” Tim squeaked with aghast. “I don’t want you going through my phone!”

     “Well, good luck unlocking it on your own, little guy,” Julia replied acrimoniously. “Even sitting on its side, I doubt you could even reach all the numbers on the touchscreen.”

     “Just set it down on the floor in here. I can manage.”

     “Oh, now this I’ve gotta see,” Julia said eagerly as she tossed the towel she was holding onto the bed behind her. She lifted the lid and carefully lowered Tim’s phone into the cage, laying it flat on the floor. Then, she took a seat on Tim’s bed next to the towel and motioned for the tiny teenager to proceed.

     Tim determinately climbed up onto his smartphone and walked across the touchscreen; then, he quickly jumped on and off the right numbers in sequence to punch in his passcode and unlock his phone. He was so eager and impressed with his accomplishment that he didn’t even think to have Aunt Julia look away so she couldn’t see his passcode. Luckily, she seemed more focused on watching him jump around and accomplish the task rather than spying on his passcode.

     “Ta da,” Tim squeaked arrogantly as he jumped off his now unlocked phone.

     “Hmph,” Julia uttered, as she stood up, “I must say, I’m impressed. You HAVE gotten pretty resourceful since you shrank down to the size of a bug.”

     “I told ya,” Tim replied pridefully.

     “Well, what shall I queue up for ya?”

     “Just start up the Netflix app. I can manage from there.”

     “Suit yourself,” Julia shrugged.

     She quickly retrieved the phone, started up the app, then leaned the phone up against the wall of the cage before re-securing the lid.

     “Oh, and to help you create the right atmosphere for watching your movie,” Julia said as she retrieved the towel from the bed, “what’s say I make things a little darker for ya?”

    “HEY—!” Tim squeaked up protest as his giant aunt draped the huge towel over the hamster cage, shrouding him in darkness and muffling his squeaks.

    “Now, you behave and enjoy your movie, little one,” Julia cooed, gently tapping the towel. “Your mom and I’ll bring you in some dinner in a little bit.”

     The tiny teenager kept shouting up muffled profanities to the giant woman, but Julia merely disregarded his squeaks. Pleased with her exertion of dominance over her tiny nephew, she pridefully strolled out of his bedroom, closing the door behind her before walking back down the hall.

     By the time Julia made it back to the master bedroom, Natalie had already finished showering and was just stepping out of the bathroom, wrapped in her pink bathrobe and drying off her hair with a towel.

     “Feel better?” Julia inquired with a smug grin.

     “A bit,” Natalie sighed with nod as she stepped over to the bed, continuing to dry off her hair with the bath towel. “Did you check in on Tim?”

     “Uh…yup, just came from there,” Julia acknowledged, “and I put on a movie for him like you asked.”

     “Thanks. How’s he doing?”

     “About the same.”

     “Still upset, huh?”

     “Eh, just let him stew for a bit,” Julia shrugged. “He’ll calm down eventually.”

     “Aw, Jules, this is all my fault,” Natalie lamented with a heavy sigh, collapsing onto her bed. “He had his little heart set on growing back to normal this evening, and I let him down. I never should’ve called you guys and said that I had the antidote. I just got too overexcited.”

     “Sis, you had every right to be excited,” Julia said, sitting on the bed next to her sister. “I mean, you’ve been working nonstop all week analyzing that formula and working on a cure, and once you had it…”

     “Yeah, but I shouldn’t have implied I was bringing it home with me today. I should’ve said that I THOUGHT I had an antidote, but that I wasn’t finished testing it yet. At least then I wouldn’t of gotten Tim’s hopes up.”

     “Look, Nat, what’s done is done. There’s no sense beating yourself up over it. Besides, there’s nothing you can do about it now: the antidote’s back at your lab, so Tim is just gonna have to deal with being small for until tomorrow, so let’s all just calm down and relax this evening.”

     “‘Relax’?!” Natalie repined. “You keep saying that, Jules. How can I possibly relax when my son’s literally the size of a bug and sitting in a hamster cage in his bedroom like some kind of pet?!”

     “Nat, don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” Julia replied, trying to mollify her sister. “That’s why I set up that cage: to keep him safe and out of trouble. Look, he’s made it this long being small; it’s not going to kill him to have to wait one more night. Now, what’s say we go fix him up a little plate of food, huh? We’ll take it to him, make sure he’s comfortable, and then the two of us’ll go settle down for nice, relaxing dinner, okay?”

     “Actually….would you mind doing it yourself?” Natalie inquired apprehensively. “I-I don’t think I can face him…at least, not right now. I feel too guilty.”

     “Not a problem, sis,” Julia smiled softly, putting her arm around Natalie’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything.”