Julia was sitting comfortably on the couch—one foot resting on the coffee table, and the other stretched out onto the adjacent cushions—switching between TV programs during the commercials and passively fiddling around on her phone. A laundry basket with the final, dirty load of the family’s washing was sitting on the floor beneath the far, left corner of the coffee table, and Julia had decided to sit and relax a little while and wait for the latest loads of laundry to finish before she took the last load downstairs. It wasn’t until one of the programs she was watching began rolling credits that she noticed the time.

     “Uhn,” she grunted, sitting up, “almost 4:30. Your mom should be getting home pretty soon, kiddo.”

     She carefully pulled back her top and reached her right hand into her cleavage, plucking her tiny nephew from between her giant breasts and placing him gently in her left palm.

     “Now then, Tim,” she began in a cordial tone, a satisfied grin on her face, “have you have you had enough time to think things over?”

     Tim writhed in his aunt’s palm, panting heavily and struggling to catch his breath as he strained to push himself on his side. He was too hot and tired to verbally respond, only wiping the sweat from his face and giving his giant aunt an exhausted nod.

     “So, once again, we’re agreed: we’re not telling your mother anything about our deal and keeping it strictly between us…AND we’re not telling her about your little ‘incident’ this morning, or any other ‘incidents’ that may happen going forward, got it?”

     The tiny teenager quickly shook his head ‘no’.

     “Good!” Julia smiled, carefully lowering the tiny boy to the table. “I knew you’d see it my way. Just remember, you open your mouth about any of this, and I’ll be closing it with my foot!”

     The giant woman gently, albeit haphazardly, dumped her tiny nephew on the coffee table and leaned back into her prior resting position, awaiting her sister’s return from work.

     Tim tumbled across the table’s surface for a moment before coming to a stop. He was tired, thirsty, and in desperate need of sustenance as he lay on his back, trying to regain his strength and recover from the day’s events:

     Just like the majority of that morning, Tim had pretty much spent the whole afternoon stuffed inside Aunt Julia’s cleavage, smashed between her giant breasts, the only exception being the half hour he spent stuck between the giant woman’s toes, an additional time out he’d earned from his escape attempt while she was sunbathing, and from almost being spotted by some neighbor kids.

     Tim stared blankly up at the ceiling, lamenting his dumb luck that landed him in his current situation. It was his own, stupid fault that he ended up small, but he ever suspected Aunt Julia would be so cruel and uncaring towards his situation. The past 3 days had been absolute torture, and given the most recent days events, there was currently no sign that it would end in the coming days. All Tim could do in the meantime was somehow grin and bear it….and pray to God that his mother would find a cure for him soon.

     As Tim lay contemplating how the hell he was going to make it through the rest of the week, Julia absentmindedly kicked her left foot back up on the coffee table.

    “HEY!” Tim yelped in fear, planting his palms on the table’s surface to brace himself. “AUNT JULIA, TAKE IT EASY!”

     The giant woman didn’t answer, however, her attention never wavering from her phone. Tim honestly couldn’t tell if Aunt Julia had done it on purpose, trying to taunt him again, or if it really was an accident. At the very least, she did have the presence of mind to place her heel a good distance away from his current resting place, but the impact was still enough to shake the entire table…and scare the hell out of the tiny boy.

     Tim sighed in frustration, laying his head back down and craning his neck, his gaze now fixated upon his aunt’s giant, bare foot. Her wrinkled sole stared him in the face as it scrunched and relaxed reflexively, her meaty toes wiggling playfully back and forth. Tim crumpled his nose in disgust, the stench of his aunt’s toe jam still fresh in his mind…and all over his body. The tiny teenager sighed again—this time, dejectedly—and nervously bit his lower lip. Even if he obeyed Aunt Julia’s every command, bowed to her every whim, and tried to be extremely obedient for the next few days, he couldn’t help but worry that somehow, no matter what the circumstances, he was still going to end up underneath that giant foot of hers again. Whether it be an accident, or on purpose, Tim knew it was only a matter of time before that wrinkled sole that was staring him ominously in the face, or one just like it, was going to come down and squash him.

     Julia and Tim both perked up when they heard his Natalie’s car pull into the driveway.

     “Three days with Aunt Julia down…” Tim said to himself, sighing heavily as he sat up, “…but how many more to go?”

     “Hey, Jules,” Natalie said as she stepped through the front door, her purse draped over her right shoulder, and a bundle of folders tucked under her left arm.

     “Hey, sis,” Julie replied as she sat up, removing her foot from the coffee table. “How was your day?”

    “Long and arduous,” Natalie sighed, dropping her purse at the edge of the den and kicking off her pumps.

     “…but productive.” she added with a prideful smirk. “The presentation went great! I just KNOW the board’s gonna approve the extra funding I requested!”

     “Nat, that’s GREAT!” Julia exclaimed, getting up off the couch to head over and give her sister a hug.

     “I know,” Natalie said happily, embracing her sister, “it’s VERY good news…AND, I was able to get the last of the analyses done on that formula. (I was able to sneak the last few tests in with some of my lab techs’ other analyses. They just thought it was another one of the many samples they were testing—they didn’t suspect a thing). I gathered up all of the data and paperwork and brought everything home. I’m gonna start reading through it tonight, and hopefully, I’ll be able to start working an antidote first thing tomorrow morning.”

     “YES!” Chris squeaked exuberantly from the coffee table, pumping his fist in the air before holding his hands in front of him thankfully.

     “That’s great news, sis!” Julia said, tugging her sister’s hands, “Come on in and sit down on the couch for a bit. You must be exhausted!”

     “I AM!” Natalie sighed, letting Julia lead her over to the couch, where she quickly spotted Tim standing on the coffee table.

     “Hey, sweetheart,” she said sympathetically, setting her papers down on the coffee table as she sat down on the closest cushion, “how was your day?”

     Tim desperately wanted to tell his mother everything what had happened that day, but he also valued his life, and knew exactly what would happen if he did.

     “Oh….O-OK, I guess,” he squeaked, shrugging, “you know, considering…”

     “Aw, I know, kiddo,” Natalie tsked. “How’re you holding up?”

     “Well…uh…” Tim hesitated, shrugging again, “you know…Mom, it’s…not exactly been easy.”

     “I can imagine. I know this has been hard on you…”

     Natalie paused, finally taking notice of his disheveled appearance.

     “…Why do you look so…well, so filthy?” she inquired.

     “Uh…I, uh…” Tim stammered, trying to come up with a good explanation while appeasing Aunt Julia, “…well, I’ve kinda been helping Aunt Julia with the laundry all day.”

     “Ugh, the laundry!” Natalie sighed with exhaustion, collapsing back onto the cushion behind her. “I completely forgot about that. I’ve been so preoccupied.”

     “Don’t worry, sis,” Julia reassured her, placing a hand on Natalie’s shoulder, “I’ve got it all taken care of. I just have one more load of your things to take down and it’ll all be done…well, all in the machines anyway. I even stripped the beds and put out fresh towels for you guys.”

     “Oh, Jules, thank you so much,” Natalie sighed gratefully. “I really appreciate it. I hope it wasn’t too much trouble.”

     “Not at all,” Julia scoffed, “It’s not like I had anything else to do today…you know, besides watching Tim, of course.”

     “Even so, I appreciate the help,” Natalie said, motioning to the pile of folders she brought home, “ESPECIALLY since I’ll be spending my entire evening going through all this paperwork.”

     “Aw, I’m sure you’ll get through it, sis,” Julia said encouragingly. “Just take it one page at a time.”

     “Yeah, but getting THROUGH it isn’t the problem,” Natalie replied dispiritedly. “How am I supposed to focus on it AND keeping an eye on Tim tonight?”

     “Hm,” Julia uttered, pondering over the situation. “well, he’s been fine all day with me. I guess I could stay a little longer this evening; I don’t necessarily have to get home right away…HEY! I’ve got an idea: why don’t I just stay HERE for the rest of the week?”

     “WHAT?!” Tim squeaked in shock.

     “Oh, Jules, I couldn’t ask you to do that.” Natalie replied.

     “Why not?!” Julia rebutted with a chortle. “It’d save me from having to drive back and forth across town every day, and it’d give you some time in the evening to do your work without having to worry about Tim. You could even relax a bit if you wanted.”

     “But…don’t you have things that you need to do back home?” Natalie inquired.

     “Nothing that’s pressing,” Julia shrugged, shaking her head. “It’s the summertime: until school’s back in session, I’m pretty much free…the only thing I REALLY needed to do was the laundry, and since I got it all done here, I wouldn’t have to bring much from home; just pack a few toiletries and whatnot.”

     “Well…I-I guess it’d be fine,” Natalie relented, shrugging, “at least until Tom gets back into town.”

     “Mom, NO…!” Tim squeaked in protest, moving closer to her.

     “Shh, Tim, don’t be rude!” his mother shushed him.

     “But, MO-OM…!” Tim whined.

     “Honey, I said be quiet!” Natalie cut him off, pointing her finger at the tiny teenager before turning back to her sister. “Anyway, Jules, are you sure you’re okay staying here for a few days?”

     “Of course I’m sure! Heck, you’d be doing ME a favor! Like I said, I wouldn’t have to drive across town every day, and it’ll give you some much needed help around here keeping an eye on Tim until you figure out some kinda antidote for him. It’s a win-win for everybody.”

     Not for ME, Tim thought, wisely keeping his comment to himself.

     “Well…I-I guess if you’re OK with it,” Natalie said, “then I’m good with it.”

     “Great!” Julia said, rubbing her hands together. “I’ll head home and pack a few things, then come back tonight.”

     “Oh, Jules, you don’t have to make another trip back tonight. I was just venting, that’s all. Look, just go home tonight and bring back whatever you need with you in the morning. Besides, I still need to figure out the sleeping arrangements.”

     “What’s to figure out?” Julia queried, shrugging. “I’ll just stay in Tim’s room.”

     “WHAT?!” Tim squeaked with bewilderment.

     “Julia,” Natalie inquired with incredulity, “where is Tim supposed to sleep?”

     “He’s literally an inch tall. I can just make up a little bed for him on the nightstand.”

     “ABSOLUTELY NOT!” Tim exclaimed in defiance. “You are NOT staying in my room, Aunt Julia!”

     “Tim, what did I just say?!” his mother scolded, pointing her finger at him.

     “But, MOM,” Tim whined, “you can’t be SERIOUS!”

     “Tim, I’ve had just about enough…!” his mother warned.

     “Here, kiddo,” Julia interrupted, scooping up the tiny boy in her hands, “why don’t you just stay out of the way and let the adults talk for a bit?”

     “HEY!” Tim yelped as he was knocked into Julia’s hands and unceremoniously dumped on the far corner of the coffee table. He hurriedly pushed himself to his feet, stomping his way back over to the two giant women, but Julia quickly grabbed a tissue box and placed it catty-corner just in front of the tiny teenager, literally boxing him into the table’s corner.

     “MOM!” Tim called out as he pushed against the box, trying to move it out of the way. “MO-OM! AUNT JULIA!”

     “Anyway,” Julia continued, “as I was saying, I think it’d be best if I stay in Tim’s room to make sure he stays safe during the night.”

     “Well, I certainly appreciate the concern, Jules,” Natalie sighed, “but you can just stay in my room; we’ll share the bed. As paranoid as I’ve been for Tim’s safety, he’s been just fine on his own the past couple of nights; I’m sure he’ll be fine. Besides, I think he prefers sleeping in his own bed for the time being: it’s the only semblance of privacy he gets at the moment.

     “Oh, alright,” Julia sighed, slumping down in her seat. She considered telling her sister about almost stepping on Tim that morning as a rebuttal, but ultimately opted not to press her luck and admit a potential mistake.

     “Anyway, thanks for doing this, Jules,” Natalie continued. “This is REALLY gonna be a big help!”

     “Anytime, sis.” Julia replied smugly. “Anytime! Hey, maybe we can have a movie night one evening after Tim goes to bed? It’ll be like a slumber party.”

     “I think we’re both a little too old for slumber parties, sis,” Natalie chuckled.

     “Speak for yourself,” Julia chortled, playfully shoving Natalie’s shoulder. “I’m still young.”

    While the two, giant women jawed back and forth, Tim was frustratedly still pushing and throwing his body into the tissue box trying to move it out of the way, but was far too heavy for his little muscles to move, and too tall for him to climb over; his only option was trying to go around. Unfortunately, Julia had set the box down in such a way that two of it’s corners were protruding partly off the table’s edge. Nonetheless, Tim ran to the edge of the coffee table, trying to maneuver his way around the tissue box.

    “MO-OM!” Tim called out as he somehow found a precarious handhold and carefully shifted his weight around the box. “MOM! AUNT JULIA! Would you t—whoa…AAA!”

     Tim’s foot suddenly slipped off the edge, and with no sufficient handholds to grab on to, the tiny boy immediately lost his balance and fell from the table. With a surprised yelp, Tim went tumbling downwards into the laundry basket directly below him…

     “Well, in all seriousness, as long as I get my work done, I guess I could unwind a bit one of these evenings,” Natalie relented. “Obviously, not tonight though; I’ve got too much paperwork.”

     “Awesome!” Julia exclaimed, getting up from the couch. “I’m gonna go through my clean clothes and figure out what I want to keep here and get the rest of my stuff out to the car….Oh, but first, lemme get this last load into the washer.”

     From the moment the daze of his fall wore off, Tim had been struggling and scrambling trying to right himself. Still somewhat disoriented from the fall, he wasn’t entirely sure where he was at the moment. All Tim knew was that his environment was completely dark, the air was stale and musty, and his surroundings felt like fabric of some sort…

     Tim immediately snapped to attention, suddenly realizing where he’d fallen…

     Before he could call for help, a pair of giant, thundering footsteps were booming towards him.

     A second later, he was being hoisted into the air…

     Julia absentmindedly reached down and picked up the laundry basket, tucking it under her arm.

     “Oh Jules, that’s OK,” Natalie stopped her, getting up from the couch herself. “You’ve already done so much today; why don’t you let me get that started while you go through your clothes?”

     “Are you sure, Nat?” Julia chortled. “You’ve practically been on your feet all day.”

     “Yeah, I’m sure,” Natalie nodded, grasping the handles of the basket before continuing in a hushed tone. “There’s a couple of things I’m currently wearing I’d like to throw in on top.”

     “OK, sis,” Julia chuckled, handing over the basket. “I’ll be back in the bedroom.”

     “OK,” Natalie replied, heading for the kitchen. “I’ll bring the rest of your dry clothes up to you when I’m done.”

     “Oh, my clothes are already done,” Julia called out, “Everything in there is your guys’.”

     “Oh, okay. See you in a few.”

     “OK,” Julia replied as she scurried off to the master bedroom.

     “HELpmf!” Tim yelped as his environment collapsed around him, burying him under a mound of dirty clothes. He desperately shouted for help, but everything was being violently jostled about, and the shifting, suffocating fabric kept invading his mouth each time he tried to breathe or scream.

     “Hlmpf! Mrm! Amnt Jlmrmnm! Hlmpf!”

     Natalie tucked the laundry basket under her right arm, holding it against her hip as she made her way through the kitchen. All the while, she was singing nonchalantly to herself, trying to stay in a good mood and focus on the considerable progress she’d made at work that week, rather than the sizable amount of paperwork waiting for her that evening.

     “MOM!” Tim shouted, finally able to free his mouth of the suffocating fabric that enveloped him. “MOM, AUNT JULIA, HELP!”

     For the past several minutes, Tim had been struggling to get out of the laundry basket; unfortunately, it had been slow going. After being jerked upwards, everything had been jostling and shifting around him, the entire basket bouncing in time to the booming footsteps the tiny teenager could hear outside his laundry-filled prison.

     Once she made it down the stairs into the laundry room, Natalie momentarily set the laundry basket on the edge of the dryer to provide some leverage, then carefully poured out the clothes upon the dryer’s top…

     “HELP! SOMEBODY, PLEASE!” he screamed again helplessly, “I’M IN HE—EEEEEEEERE!”

     Tim’s world unexpectedly tipped over and everything shifted around him…

     Then, he was suddenly thrust forward and flipped upside down…

     Natalie used her free hand to scoop the rest of the dirty clothes into the pile on top of the dryer, then dropped the basket onto the floor in front of the dryer door to collect the freshly-dried laundry.

     For a moment, everything seemed calm; then, Tim heard the dryer door opening, and someone shuffling about outside the laundry pile. He kept shouting for help, but his cries weren’t yielding any response indicating anyone could hear him. The only saving grace was that the pressure on his back was significantly lighter at the moment, and he quickly renewed his efforts to wiggle and free himself, knowing he didn’t have long before he ended up in the washing machine.

     “MOM! AUNT JULIA! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!”

     With all of the clothes from the dryer unloaded into the laundry basket, Natalie closed the dryer door, straightened back up, and opened the lid of the washing machine. Then, she reached over to the dirty pile of clothes on top of the dryer and started tossing handfuls into the washer…

     Tim yelped with a start, nearly jumping out of his skin when he heard the booming slam of the dryer door closing, followed by the washer lid opening...

     “Oh, SHIT!” Tim exclaimed, redoubling his efforts to free himself. “Come on, Tim! MOVE!”

     Then, the piece of clothing he was trapped inside was being lifted up. He squeaked frantically, desperately flailing his limbs to escape the surrounding fabric, but before he could make any headway, something hit him from below…

     The next thing Tim knew, he was was falling…

     About halfway through the pile of laundry, Natalie reached into a small patch of her underwear, using her fingers to grip as many pairs as she could and toss them into the washer all at once. Unfortunately, several were left hanging precariously off the bottom of the clump she’d grabbed, and in her haste, one of her black pairs slipped from her grasp.

     “Whoops!” Natalie exclaimed softly, jerking reflexively to reach out and grab her panties. She tried snatching them out of the air, but couldn’t effectively grab on with her fist already full. Her panties ended up falling to the floor, collapsing into a scrunched mass…

     “AAAAAA—!” Tim squealed, tumbling about as he fell helplessly through the air, trying to grasp the fabric in a futile attempt to arrest his descent.

     “OOF!” he cried out as he hit the floor, the fabric around him collapsing into a small heap. Tim immediately shook off the impact, regained his composure, and scrambled to get out from under the fabric, hoping he’d be noticed before being picked up again…

     “Aw, nuts!” Natalie exclaimed in frustration, seeing her underwear fall onto the floor. She was about to bend over and pick them up, but her back was already feeling a little stiff from all her running around at work that day. Instead, Natalie hurriedly reached down under her dress and removed her pantie hose, tossing them into the washing machine, then reached down with her bare foot to retrieve her panties…

     “MOM! AUNT JULIA!” Tim called out, crawling through partial darkness trying to get out from underneath his cover. “CAN YOU HEAR ME?!”

     Then, he spotted unfiltered light up ahead, and immediately scampered towards the source.

     “MOM! AUNT JULIA!” He shouted again. “DON’T DO ANYTHING! I’M ALMOST OUT!”

     Tim finally stuck his face out from under the waistband of his mother’s underwear…

     He was immediately greeted with the sight of a massive set of plump, splayed toes reaching towards him.

     “NOOmmpf!”

     Tim was barely able to utter a squeak before the giant toes grasped the fabric around him, scrunching him in between and scooping him up.

     Unfortunately, Natalie didn’t notice her poor, shrunken son struggling beneath her underwear as she nonchalantly grasped the fabric with her foot and scooped them up off the floor, unintentionally muffling his desperate squeaks for help. Although she might have easily felt someone of Tim’s size squirming and wiggling between her scrunched toes, Natalie couldn’t discern her son’s presence from the odd sensation of her panties gripped in between as well, merely dismissing any unusual feelings as normal.

    Completely oblivious to her tiny son’s predicament, Natalie snatched the panties from between her toes and quickly tossed them inside the washer before continuing on with the rest of the pile.

     “OOF!” Tim cried out again when he landed atop a pile of clothes in the washing machine. He desperately tried to get up again and shout for help, but his mother kept tossing more and more clothes on top of him, burying him alive underneath her laundry.

     “Nrmpf! Mrrmmm, Hlmpf!” Tim kept screaming, struggling to find his way back out from under the pile of clothing, knowing full well that he HAD to get his mother’s attention before it was too late.

     “There!” Natalie sighed contently as she tossed the last of her laundry into the washing machine.

     She paused for moment, tongue in her cheek as she pondered over the open lid of the washer.

     “Eh, why not?” she said with a shrug. “It’s not like I’m not going right upstairs to change anyway.”

     Natalie looked around, making sure the coast was clear, then reached down and hiked up her dress. She grasped the waistband of the panties she was wearing, quickly pulled them down and stepped out of them, then spiked them into the washing machine.

     Just as Tim managed to make it to the top of the pile of clothes he’d been buried in, his mother flung her soiled underwear into the machine. Tim squeaked out a muffled yelp as the panties smacked him squarely in the face, knocking him onto his back. He struggled to get the latest article of clothing off him, but was interrupted when something cold and slimy splash all over him. It smelled of lavender and flowers, similar to bar of soap in the bathroom…

     “UGH, MOM, NO!” he squeaked as he frantically scrambled to get out from under the panties. “DON’T WASH ME!”

     Before Tim could scream again, there was a loud creaking…

     A split second later, the washer lid closed!

     Natalie finished pouring in the last of her laundry detergent, then closed the lid on the machine. She reached for the control panel on the back of the machine, set the dials, then pushed the START button.

     “MOM, NO!” Tim screamed in terror as a torrential waterfall burst forth from the back of the pitch-black washing machine. “HEEEELLLLP!”

     The tiny teenager shouted frantically for his mother over and over again, but with the lid closed and water pouring in, there was no way she was going to hear him. Tim scrambled in near darkness to get to higher ground, desperate to stay ahead of the rising water quickly filling the machine. He knew it was risky, but he started making his way to the huge, obelisk-like agitator in the center of the machine, hoping to use its screw like a ramp to make his way up to the top of the washer.

     Even if he made it, however, Tim knew his chances of survival were bleak at best: if no one rescued him before the agitator kicked on, his only hope would to hold on for dear life and pray he didn’t get thrown off…but once the machine hit the first spin cycle, he knew he’d be a goner.

     The rising water was right on Tim’s heels by the time he’d crawled his way over to the agitator and scrambled to ascend the steep incline.

     “MOOOOM!” Tim shouted as loud as he could without slowing his ascent, panting heavily. “AUNT JULIA, HELP! I’M IN THE WASHING MACHINE! PLEASE! SOMEBODY, GET ME OUT OF HERE!”

     With the washing machine now filling up, Natalie promptly grabbed the laundry basket full of clean clothes and headed back upstairs, her bare feet stomping up the wooden steps and sticking to the linoleum as she made her way back through the house to the bedroom.

     As Natalie stomped through the living room, she took a passing glance at the corner of the coffee table where the tissue box was.

     “Tim!” she gasped, immediately remembering she had left him there when she took the laundry downstairs. “I’m so sorry, kiddo. I forget all about you.”

     She peeked around the box, half expecting to still see her tiny son moping on the corner of the coffee table.

     Tim, however, wasn’t there.

     Natalie wasn’t overly concerned initially, figuring Julia had simply come back and retrieved the tiny boy and taken him back to the bedroom with her. Natalie shrugged and made her way down the hall, finding Julia in the bedroom rifling through her folded clothes that were laid out on the bed.

     “Hey, sis,” Natalie said as she stepped into the bedroom and set the laundry basket down on the floor. “Figure out what clothes you need for the week.”

     “Almost,” Julia replied, “just need to set out some pairs of underwear. I don’t think I’ll need socks. I can just wear my flip-flops if I need to go outside for anything…

     “…or just go barefoot,” she added with a smirk, shrugging offhandedly.

     “Sounds good,” Natalie said, scanning the room. “Where’s Tim?”

     “What do ya mean ‘where’s Tim’?” Julia shrugged quizzically as she turned away from the bed. “I thought he was with you.”

     “No, I went to take the laundry downstairs, remember? I didn’t have any free hands. I figured you grabbed him and brought him in here with you!”

     “Nat, as soon as you took the laundry basket from me, I came straight back here to sort through my clothes…”

     “Oh, no!” Natalie exclaimed as she turned and ran back out of the bedroom.

     “Nat, relax,” Julia called as she chased her sister down the hallway. “He’s probably still on the coffee table!”

     “No, he’s not!” Natalie called back frantically, “He wasn’t there when I walked by just now. I thought YOU had him!

     “TIM?!” Natalie called out anxiously as she entered the living room and made a beeline to the coffee table, intently scanning the surface for her tiny son. “Tim, sweetheart, where are you?”

     “Tim?” Julia chimed in, following suit. “Kiddo, are you there?”

     “Jules, I don’t see him,” Natalie said nervously.

     “Neither do I,” Julia replied, shaking her head.

     “SHIT!” Natalie exclaimed, immediately snapping her eyes to the carpet. “Jules, don’t move! He might’ve fallen onto the floor!”

     Julia froze where she stood, twisting her body to check the carpet around her feet for any sign of her tiny nephew.

     “Tim?!” Natalie called down, trying not to move, “Sweetheart, are you down there?!”

     She intently scanned the carpet with her eyes, looking for any sign of her shrunken son.

     “Jules, quick, check your feet!” Natalie directed, carefully lifting and inspecting her soles. “Make sure you didn’t step on him!”

     Julia apprehensively checked the soles of her feet, hoping she wouldn’t find her tiny nephew smashed beneath on of them them.

     Meanwhile, Natalie was still scanning the carpet, moving slowly but being very deliberate when and where she stepped. L Julia lifted her foot and was about to take a step towards her sister, but Natalie immediately stopped her:

     “Jules, DON’T MOVE!” She commanded frantically. “Don’t take another step! You might SQUASH him!”

     “Nat, this is ridiculous!” Julia replied, freezing in place with her foot raised in the air. “If Tim was down there, we’d see him! He’s not THAT small!”

     “Jules, we can take any chances!” Natalie heaved nervously, turning her attention back to the floor. “For all we know, he could’ve shrunk even smaller!”

     “Nat, he’s been the same size for three days now,” Julia replied indignantly. “If he was gonna shrink any smaller, I’m sure it would’ve happened already.”

     “Tim, sweetheart, please!” Natalie continued calling down to the floor, practically ignoring her sister’s objections. “If-If you’re down there, you’ve gotta come out where we can see you!”

     Natalie stood absolutely still, trying to give her son all the time she could for him to emerge into her line of sight, half expecting to his his tiny figure appear at her feet.

     “Nat, this is ridiculous!” Julia spoke up, repeating herself and growing tired of trying to balance on one foot. “I can’t stay like this all day!”

     “OK, Jules,” Natalie relented hesitantly, putting out her hands defensively, “just PLEASE, be careful when you put your foot down!”

     “Nat, I already told you,” Julia restated, slowly lowering her foot to the floor, “If Tim was down there, we’d see him, and if he was somewhere we COULDN’T see him, surely he would’ve come out by now!” 

     “You’re right,” Natalie affirmed, carefully getting down on her hands and knees, “We’ve gotta start searching the carpet. Tim, sweetheart, if you can hear me, we’re going to get down on the floor and start looking for you. Try to get into our line of sight, OK?”  

     The washing machine was almost full by the time Tim reached the top of the agitator; he was quickly running out of time. He cupped his hands around his mouth, and screamed as loud as he could:

     “MOOOOOOM! AUNT JULIAAAAAA! HEEEEEEELLLLLLLP!!!!!!”

     Seconds later, the agitator kicked on...

     Natalie and Julia had been thoroughly scouring the carpet for the past several minutes, looking for any sign of Tim, but despite a thorough screening of the carpet around the coffee table, Tim was still nowhere to be found.

     “Have you found anything yet?” Natalie asked anxiously.

     “No,” Julia replied. “Nothing!”

     “Well, keep looking! We HAVE to find him! He HAS to be here!”

     “Nat, we’ve been searching the carpet for, like, 10 minutes!” Julia exaggerated, venting her frustrations. “He’s not here!”

     “Oh, Tim,” Natalie cried tearfully, “sweetheart, please, you’re scaring me. Where are you?!”

     “Well, what do we do now?!” Julia shrugged, sitting up on her knees and resting her hands on the coffee table.

     “I don’t know, Jules!” Natalie replied hysterically, sitting up herself. “I don’t know, but we have to do SOMETHING!”

     “Well, we can’t just keep searching the carpet all night, Nat!” Julia rebutted, chortling nervously.

     “Well, we CAN’T give up, Julia,” Natalie said frantically. “We HAVE to keep looking! Even if we have to search the whole house!”

     “But sis, where could he have gone?!” Julia asked bluntly, “I mean, he’s only an inch tall! And we were only gone a few minutes! I mean, honestly, how far could the little guy have gotten?!”

      “I don’t know, Jules, but we can’t take any chances!” Natalie said. “We’ll just have to expand our search. Maybe he’s under the furniture!”

     “Nat, listen to me,” Julia stated flatly. “Let’s be reasonable: why would Tim be under the furniture? Look, if he was here, we would’ve found him, and if he WAS under a random piece of furniture, he would’ve come out by now.”

     “Yeah, but what if he CAN’T, Jules?!” Natalie sobbed, her tone growing more and more frantic and hopeless. “I mean, what if he’s hurt, or trapped somewhere and we can’t see him?! What if one of us STEPPED on him without realizing it?! For all we know, he could be lying helpless somewhere, unable to call for help!”

     “Nat, calm down,” Julia tried to reassure her sis. “Look, we’re not giving up, okay? We’ll find him, I promise! We just have to keep looking.”

     “You’re right,” Natalie said, calming down a bit as she lowered her torso back down to the floor, “we’re gonna find him. We just have to—“

     Natalie stopped mid-sentence when her hand brushed over a slight indentation in the carpet. She turned her head and looked up, noting the indentation’s position directly beneath the corner of the coffee table where she’d last seen Tim. Her mind was racing, pondering what had been…

     “JULES!” she exclaimed frantically, snapping her body up. “What was sitting right here?!”

     The two women’s eyes locked, practically widening in shock at the same time.

     “The LAUNDRY BASKET!” Julia exclaimed, scrambling to her feet and taking off towards the kitchen.

     “Oh my, God!” Natalie exclaimed, immediately getting up and taking off after her sister.

     The two women sprinted through the kitchen, practically tripping over each other as they stomped down the back stairs.

      “Julia, quick, stop the dryer!” Natalie gestured frantically as she crowded her sister down the steps. “I’ll get the washer!”

      Julia hurriedly lunged for the dryer door and yanked it open, rummaging through the wet clothes for any sign of her tiny nephew, while Natalie practically flung herself over to the washing machine and flipped open the lid to stop the cycle.

      “TIM?!” Natalie called down into the machine, quickly reaching in to remove a few soaked pairs of her underwear from the top layer. She frantically, yet meticulously, searched the wet clothes in her grip, hoping her tiny son would be there. Initially seeing nothing, she set the wet clothes on top of the dryer and looked back inside the washing machine.

     Then, as Natalie plucked a pair of shorts from the machine, the up-current suddenly brought the tiny teenager to the surface.

     “HELblbgrgl!” the tiny boy gurgled squeakily, flailing his arms to attempt to stay afloat.

     “Oh my, God!” Natalie gasped, covering her mouth with her hands at the shock of seeing her tiny son drowning inside their own washing machine.

     In her haste, the giant woman accidentally dropped the soaked pair of shorts from her grasp. Tim yelped as the giant pair of shorts splashed back down into the machine right on top of him, knocking him back below the surface.

     “EEP, NO!” Natalie squeaked, frantically plunging her hands into the soapy water.

     “Tim…Tim!” she cried frantically as she scoured the depths of the washer to find her son. “Jules, he’s in here!”

     “WHERE?…WHERE?!” Julia asked frantically as she stood up and joined her sister over the washing machine.

     “In the washer; I just saw him!” Natalie replied in a frenzy, redoubling her search. “Tim! Hang on, sweetheart! I’ll get you out!

     “Jules, quick, the clothes!” she directed her sister. “Get the CLOTHES OUT!”

     Julia hurriedly reached around her sisters arms and started pulling wet clothes out of the machine and tossing them onto the dryer.

     “Anything?” Julia asked, reaching back in for more clothes.

     “No, I don’t see him? Quick, check the wet clothes! Make sure he didn’t get scooped up by mistake!”

     Julia reached over and had just started to rummage through the pile of wet underwear when Natalie spoke up again:

     “WAIT, Jules! I think I’ve got him!”

     Natalie gently closed her fist around Tim’s submerged body and quickly scooped him out of the soapy water. When she opened her hand, her tiny son lay lifeless in her palm.

     “Oh my God!” Natalie cried. “TIM! My poor, baby boy! Speak to me!…”