It was now 12:30. 30 minutes. Matthews new caretaker was now 30 minutes late to pick him up. He had gotten up early to get ready for this day only to be forced to wait. “Great first impression” he thought, “maybe its not too late to get out of this.” He sat at the table in the meeting room, with Michaela in an office chair behind him finalizing paper work.

“Are we sure this is the right person, maybe this is a sign?” He asked, looking up at Michaela

I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation, if she’s not here soon we’ll call, ok? It’s only been…30 minutes” She responded, looking down at her watch

Matthew sighed and went back to waiting, dreaming about what the future held for him at his new size. His thoughts were soon interrupted as the meeting room door flung open. In walked a young girl, no more than 25 Matthew guessed, standing about 5’7”, and was clearly thin. Her jet-black hair cascaded down to just past her shoulders, and perfectly framed her face. Her porcelain skin was dotted with freckles and contrasted with the dark eyeliner and black lipstick she wore. Her nose was small and upturned. She wore a black jacket with a short black skirt that led into a pair of fishnets, which went well with the scuffed-up combat boots on her feet. She was adorned in various studs and silver chains, and to finish it off, a septum piercing hung just above her lips.

“Oh my god I am so sorry I’m late I overslept and had to stop and get gas and plus it took a little to get dressed and I –“ The girl said in a manic voice before Michaela interrupted her

“Its fine, its really fine” Michaela assured her, “We’re just glad you’re here now Haven, isn’t that right Matthew?”

Matthew in fact, was not glad

“Of course,” he lied, forcing a smile. How do you oversleep past 12:00 he wondered. Especially for something this important. And what was she wearing? He knew he wasn’t exactly hip, but it was entirely too informal he thought.  

“Oh my god this is him?” She squealed, gazing down at Matthew with her pale blue eyes. “OMG you are just so cute!!” Her sharp voice pierced Matthew’s ears, he squinted his eyes shut in discomfort.

“Well thank you I guess but –“ Before he could finish he opened his eyes to see her slender fingers flying at him at Mach 4. He tried to let out a scream but before he could even do that her fingers had reached him, pinching his head and lifting him up to her face. It felt like his head had been put in a hydraulic press, he began to squirm out of desperation. All he could see was one of her massive eyes staring back at him. He felt like he was going to pass out

“I mean I knew you would be tiny but not this tiny!” she giggled, “And look at your little clothes, adorable! I bet I could get you some stuff and we could even match, OMG like my little accessory” she said, her eyes lighting up thinking about all the possibilities. Matthew continued to thrash, feeling like his head would pop any second. Was this how it all ended, squished by some overenthusiastic bitch.

“Haven please put him down now!” Michaela commanded firmly

Haven looked up with a shocked expression on her face, she finally noticed how hard Matthew was struggling against her grasp. She quickly lowered him and gently sat him down on the desk. Matthew scurried backwards away from her, huffing to catch his breath from the terrifying ordeal.

“What the fuck is wrong with you bitch!” He began to shout up at her after creating some distance between them.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize I was hurting you I just wanted a better look at you,” She apologized, clearly upset.

Michaela reassured her and made sure Matthew was ok. She then explained to Haven to always ask before lifting Matthew up and making sure he was comfortable. Haven promised it wouldn’t happen again.

“Well normally there would be a bit more to this, but as we are already behind, we’ll cut to the chase and have you two on your way. Here is an instruction manual with any questions you may have about caring for Mr. Graddy, and this here is his housing unit” Michaela explained, setting both on the table for Haven. “If you have any questions feel free to give us a call, we will be by for a check up in a week or so” She then stooped down to Matthew’s level, “And it’s been great knowing you Matthew, I look forward to seeing you for the checkup” She smiled.

“I do have one question actually, when will I get the first check for taking care of him?” Haven asked

“Should be there by tomorrow” Michaela answered

Matthew was placed in his habitat and Haven finished signing off on a thick stack of paperwork. After what felt like an eternity she signed the final form, before being given Matthew and his belongings. She then carried him out and sat him and his habitat in the passenger seat after cleaning it off.

Matthew looked around the car and was appalled at the state it was in. Taco Bell bags littered the floorboards, empty cups and snack rappers covered the back seats, the rear-view mirror held up 10 different air fresheners.

“Sorry about the mess little dude…I’ve been kinda busy, and sorry again about earlier. We’re cool right?” she asked, grinning at him.

“Yeah, its fine, can we just go to your home now, I’d like to set the housing unit up tonight.”

The long car ride home was uneventful for the most part, mostly just the occasional small talk. Though Matthew was subjected to Haven’s musical taste, which seemed to be mostly screaming and whining to him. He decided against complaining though. He was stuck with her until the check up next week so no need to make her upset with him.

Soon they arrived at Haven’s one bedroom apartment and entered. As the door crept open Matthew’s face dropped. This couldn’t possibly be where he was staying, it was somehow worse than the car. Fast food bags everywhere, dirty clothes piled up in the corner, the walls obscured by a variety of band posters and Sanrio merch, and an unmade bed tucked into the corner. This was Hell, he must have died and went to Hell he thought. Less than a month ago he lived in a gated community in one of the nicest houses on the property, and now this?!

“Home sweet home huh?” Haven joked, causing Matthew to look up at her, “So, this is my place, it’s a little messy right now but – “

“A little?” Matthew interjected.  

“Chill little guy, I’ll clean it up tomorrow, promise” She laughed, “let’s get you set up for now. I was thinking you could go on my nightstand for right now at least”

She took him over to said nightstand and after cleaning off some of the mess placed him down on it. Matthew looked out over the seemingly never-ending mess in front of him in amazement, how could one girl make this much mess. Haven dug in her bag to get out the stuff to finish setting up his habitat.

“So…bad news…Your little backdrop didn’t exactly survive my bag” she said, holding up the crumpled remains of what was once his nice mountainous backdrop. “And I know you wanted me to plug up the electricity but there’s not an open spot exactly, my phone charger and computer kinda already take up the outlet, but that’s cool we can just go buy a power strip tomorrow with the money they send!”

“Can’t you just, oh I don’t know, unplug one of them then?” He asked angrily

“Well, no, I’m using both tonight actually, and you can watch the attitude, ok? She replied, a hint of anger in her own voice, “This is new to me too, plus its getting late. Maybe just head to bed for tonight dude” she suggested

Who did this brat think she was, sending him to bed like he was a child. He huffed and headed into his house, slamming the door as hard he could, though Haven didn’t notice the miniscule thud. It had been a long day and as much as he hated to comply to her suggestion, he decided it was just best to go to bed. He navigated his way through the dark to the tiny bed in his housing and laid down, hoping tomorrow would be better. Soon though he heard Haven moving around the apartment, he looked out the window to see her at the microwave, presumably heating up dinner, he rolled back over and tried to ignore it. Soon she sat down at the desk beside him and booted up the computer, bathing Matthew’s bedroom in the pale blue glow from her monitor. Matthew groaned, throwing the pillow over his head to block out the light. Before he could even adjust though her YouTube video and laughs began to fill the apartment with noise. The noise cancellation feature in his habitat was off of course thanks to Haven’s lack of an open outlet. Matthew sprung out of bed and stormed out of his home onto the synthetic lawn.

“Haven! Haven!” He called, as she continued to laugh at her entertainment and eat, “HAVEN!!!” He shouted, hurting his voice. She noticed finally, turning the video down and rolling her chair in front of him.

“What’s up dude” She asked, munching on the hot pocket in her hand.

“Do you mind?! I mean for fucks sake I’m trying to get some sleep” He responded

Haven rolled her eyes before glaring back down at him, “lighten up dude, I mean, all you’ve done is complain since we met. I’ll turn it down a little and ummm… here, this should help with the light, now no more complaining, I’ve got a hot pocket to attend to” she said, before reaching down and picking up one of the many discarded shirts from the floor and draping it over the tiny habitat, blocking out the light.

Matthew called back out for her again, he wouldn’t be treated like this. He got no response this time, Haven either couldn’t hear him or had simply chosen to ignore him. He stood shouting in the near total darkness created by the dirty shirt, looking up at the giant Hello Kitty printed on it which now loomed over him as if it were the sky. Soon, the foul smell of the shirt filled his tiny habitat, rubbing salt in the wound. He went back into the house defeated and laid down. Maybe being accidentally crushed wouldn’t have been so bad if he knew this was the alternative he thought.