Scott arrived home from playing basketball at Blake’s house to find a UPS truck pulled up by his house’s curb.  Raising an eyebrow in confusion, he hiked up the driveway and slipped in the front door, where he found his mother signing a digital clipboard.  A large brown package the size of a microwave sat on the ground, wrapped snugly in packing tape.

                “Thank you so much!” smiled Judy Stevens sweetly as the UPS driver nodded and walked past Scott, closing the door behind him.  Sighing with pleasure, the woman winked at her son.

                “Well, are you proud of me, honey?” she giggled.  “Of my first big appearance on the little screen?”

                “I… I…”
                “I know, you’re probably a little surprised about how involved I was, but you know the house rules: no business comes in here.  In here, it’s just family,” she said lovingly, brushing past the issue like it was nothing.  “Did you have a good time at Blake’s?”

                “Yeah, yeah, I had a great time, but… um…” mumbled Scott, idly eyeing the package still sitting on the ground.

                “Wondering what it is, huh?” cooed Judy.  “Come on.  Help me get it set up.”

                Stooping down, Judy clutched the box and grunted a little as she lifted it up before proceeding toward the kitchen.  Nervously, Scott scurried behind.  This situation was not improving at all with each passing second.

                Setting the box down on the table, Judy handily began tearing through the tape with a box cutter and in no time was removing a large silver briefcase from the sea of green packing peanuts inside.  Grinning with delight, she set it on its side and removed the latches holding it closed.  As she set the lid open, Scott’s eyes became glued to the wand-like device inside.  Looking like a large, heavy-duty flashlight and handgun combined into one, it had a simple design, with a tough metallic shell, an infrared translucent orb attached to the barrel at the end, and on the other side was a tiny touch pad-activated control panel with a variety of switches and levers that Scott had no idea what purpose they served.  However, even without his mother introducing her newest purchase, there was no mistaking it.

                It was a portable matter reduction device.

                Scott’s blood turned cold.

                “Mom… is that a… a…”

                “What, you thought all that time I’d spent advocating it, and I WOULDN’T want to utilize the features?  I ordered it about a month ago, and had my license officially instated this morning, when the law was passed.  I was the first in line,” stated Judy proudly, turning the unit on and getting busy calibrating it on the touch screen.  “Along with all the necessary legal procedures to ensure my family is as well-protected as can be.”

                “Um… legal… procedures?” mumbled Scott, his hair standing on end.

                “Well, yes, of course, silly,” grinned Judy.  “I wanted to get it all taken care of at once, so we can just cut to the chase.  I listed you and your brother and sister as my dependents, and after it was confirmed through the records, the device will actually function when I use it on you, now that we’re in the official system.  Which… if the manufacturer told me correctly, should already be ready to use on the three of you, right out of the box!  Now… let’s just see if I can get to the right menu and…”

                “Mom, I’m really… really… not…”

                “Not what, honey?” asked Judy absentmindedly as she set about thumbing through the digital menus on the touch pad, gripping the device firmly in her fist.

                “Not feeling good about… all this… I mean…”

                Judy looked to her son with a look of concern.  “You know, I thought you’d say something like this, Scott, and I don’t want you to worry at all.  You see, as a safety measure, the device will ONLY send out the waves toward the target when my thumbprint is on the pad in firing mode.  Trust me, safety was my primary concern for all of this when we took it to Congress.  So, you can rest assured… that no one but ME will ever be able to shrink you, honey.  That make you feel better?” asked Judy sweetly.

                Scott couldn’t believe his ears.  She actually believed that was going to improve things?

                “Here.  Try it out.  I’ll prove it to you.  Just aim and hit this switch right here.  Easy as pie,” insisted Judy, handing the device to Scott.  Gripping the tubular computer in his hands, Scott hesitantly aimed the reticle at his mother’s face.  She nodded approvingly at him.  Gulping, Scott flipped the switch on the device, keeping his thumb firmly over the scanner pad on the touch screen.  Lights flashed, and a soft humming sound emanated from the device.  Scott held his breath.

                Nothing happened.

                “Told you.  It’s completely safe from anyone else using it against you, honey, you have my word on that,” promised Judy confidently, brushing a blonde lock out of her eyes and placing both hands on her supple hips.  “Hand it back to me?”

                “Um… sure…” said Scott slowly, handing the device over to Judy.  She smiled, placing her thumb on the scanner pad, then gradually brought the device up higher, aiming it squarely at her son’s nose.

                “Now… let’s see if it does the job it’s supposed to do,” she whispered softly, pulling the trigger.  Gasping and watching the laser point settle on him, Scott took a few steps back, considering running for his life, but there was no way he was going to outrun the fast-acting device, and he knew it.  Before he could take another breath, Scott’s eyes were being practically blinded by a bolting flash of emerald light that left him blinking desperately to regain his sight, a green imprint invading his limited vision.  As he rubbed his eyes with his fists, groggily coughing a couple of times, he could feel the fabric of his shirt flopping loosely on his side, even as he reached up toward his face.  As Scott’s eyes finally readjusted to the room, he stared ahead and found himself staring at what looked like a smooth knee.

                Still befuddled, Scott’s eyes traveled downward until they were locked onto a pair of massive, silky, tanned bare feet, the toes painted a stylishly sheek bright purple.  A small silver toe ring adorned the middle digit of the left foot.  The toes began wriggling merrily, scrunching against the hardwood and then flattening again, splaying outward.  Finally grasping what had happened, Scott’s eyes shot upward and he made eye contact with his mother Judy looking downward at him.

                It was breathtaking to the boy.  He was barely halfway up his mother’s shin in height.  Her sun dress looked taut and velvety, hugging her beautiful curves all the way up her body, around her slightly wider hips and rotund breasts.  She grinned triumphantly down at him, relishing her monumental position high above her pitifully statured son desperately hugging his shirt around his body to maintain some modesty.

                His clothes hung limply on him, threatening to slide directly off of him if he stretched too far.  Clinging to his sides to ensure he remained fully clothed in front of his mother, Scott opened his mouth to speak, but found his throat far too dry to make a sound beyond a pathetic peeping squeak.

                Judy giggled at her son’s attempt at protest as she gazed condescendingly down at his puny body, so small she could easily punt him across the room if she had a mind to.  Of course, she had no intention of truly harming her son in any way, but she couldn’t help but be entertained by the sight of him cowering before her, confused beyond belief, like a baby deer in headlights.  The longer she looked down at him, she almost felt sad that he looked so terrified, and felt compelled to try to comfort him in some way.  Cooing with pity, Judy hunched down on her knees, her arms resting on her thighs, as she observed her trembling son.

                “Awwww… honey, don’t look so sad.  It’ll be all right, I promise.  This is going to be a good thing!  For all four of us!”

                Grimacing, Scott looked up at his mother’s face.  “How?” he croaked.

                “We’re going to have such better relationships now that we can keep things a little more orderly around this house, you know?  And… plus…” she said slyly.  “You’re so adorable at that size.”

                Scott clutched his limp clothes more tightly to his body, taken aback a little.

                Judy clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, reaching her hands out.  Scott flinched as if he’d been struck when his mother’s gargantuan fingers stroked lovingly along his cheek.

                “Shhh… shhhh… it’s going to be all right, honey…” she whispered softly, lulling her son into a sense of security as her fingers slowly gripped the overly large shirt hanging over his shoulders.  “I’m here for you, and everything will be absolutely… perfect,” she sighed with resolved delight, yanking the shirt away from Scott, leaving him standing totally in the nude.