The Syndrome : April in July

Chapter 1 - Sweet Little Lies

    Robert Ladner’s Ford pickup speeds down the highway, thirty five miles per hour over the speed limit.  The red truck barrels down the crowded road, dangerously weaving in and out of traffic as other vehicles honk, a few slamming on their brakes, lighting up the dusk with their red brake lights.  The truck is on a mission, driven by the pure desperation and apprehension of it’s driver, who, at five and a half feet tall, had already lost a good six inches to the much dreaded Subtraction Syndrome.  He was not far now, it had been a long trip, from New York city to Boothbay Harbor, Maine.  He has nothing but the blue shirt on his back, the shorts on his waist, and the ill fitting shoes on the passenger seat, which were now a size or two too big to drive in.

 A green destination sign passes over head, which reads Boothbay Harbor - 1 mile.  Robert sighs, his hands shaking as he slows the truck down a bit, turning on his right signal and peering behind him, and then at his rear view before shifting into the right lane.  The sound of the engine had been his only companion on this trip, which left him free to second guess the whole venture in the first place.  Soon after his diagnosis, he scoured the internet, looking for anything and everything that had to do with Subtraction Syndrome, any way to stop it, anywhere he could go for help.  

 It struck him almost immediately on the first day, that he had no one to turn to. His parents having disowned him, and as he frantically clicked, he came across a web forum, for people like him, who had just found out.  There, he read about what to expect, and how to cope, he even posted his own story, which got quite a few replies, some offering support, others relating to how he was feeling.  

 The next day, there were a few messages in his inbox, one from this woman, in her mid twenties, named April.  The message was quite lengthy, containing paragraph after paragraph, in which April explained her mission in life - to take care of people afflicted with the Syndrome.

 At first Robert was a bit skeptical, not sure who to trust, he certainly was not prepared to trust some random over the internet, but as he talked to her throughout that day, he realized she made some very convincing arguments, some of which frightened him, like how he was going to get out of his apartment once he was too small to reach a door knob.  She offered to take care of him, and of course, there was a fee attached to her offer, she even gave him her address, at which point he stopped responding to her messages.

 A few days later, after the twenty seven year old experienced the agony of his first shrinking episode, he quickly found himself thinking about April, desperation overwhelming him to the point where he simply climbed into his truck and got on the highway, never looking back. It was hard for Robert to comprehend just how far away from home he had driven, time seems to hold very little meaning as he pulls his truck up the exit ramp, slowing down at a stop sign on the service road.

 “Next right turn, onto Julian street.” The computerized voice of Robert’s GPS chirps as he turns onto the road and then turns down another, smaller street, looking at addresses.  The neighborhood seemed eerily silent compared to what Robert was used to in the city, the houses spaced at least three times the distance apart than in New York.  “Seventy two...” He says to himself as he pulls up to the curb and kills the engine.  

 He sits there for a long moment, looking down at his bare feet, and then his shoes, in the dark interior of the truck, the sun gone from the sky, an orange glow left in it’s wake.  He takes a deep breath and pulls the keys from ignition, sweat dripping from his brow.  He then opens the door, and steps out onto the warm blacktop with his bare soles, turning and slamming it shut.  Robert  walks up the walkway towards the green front door, stepping up the three steps and running his hand through his short black hair nervously. He rings the bell and shifts back and forth on his feet, and a moment later a small blonde swings the door open, standing no taller than Robert’s chest.  Her hair is down to her shoulders, her eyes a piercing green, her face carrying the youthful look of someone in their early twenties.  

 “Hello there.” The girl finally speaks, smiling warmly.  

 “Are you-?” Robert begins, but is Immediately cut off.  “April? Yes, and you must be, wait, don’t tell me...” She says playfully, tossing up a tiny hand, palm facing out towards Robert’s chest.

 “Robert?” She asks, after a long moment of contemplation.  

 “Yes...” Robert replies, as April looks down at his feet.  

 “Where are your shoes Robbie?” She grins, turning her head back up to look at him once more.

 “In the truck, they...they don’t fit so well anymore.” He stammers as she just continues to smile.

“Well, no matter, come on in.” She says, stepping aside and gesturing with her right hand for the man to come into her home.  Robert steps inside, and sighs a bit as the cool air conditioned air hits him, the faint smell of sea water still present, even indoors.  The house was tidy, and cozy, the living room, while neat, was filled to brim with bookshelves, furniture, a fancy television, and all sort of amenities, most of which looked pretty expensive.  April quickly leads him into the small kitchen, and pulls out a chair for him.  “Here, pop a squat.” She offers while she saunters over to the opposite end of the table, sitting down.  Robert nods.  “Thank you.” he replies, as he sits down.

“I knew you’d come.” The small girl says, smiling and whipping her hair a little bit.

“Yeah, I kinda had...nowhere else to go...” Robert says, looking down at his crossed hands.

“That’s ok, that is what I am here for sweetie.” April says as she leans across the table, laying her small hand atop his.  “I know how scared you are... I mean, I have it too.” She admits.

“You do?” Robert says, looking the girl over again.  

“Of course, I used to be a good seven inches taller.” She says, her face growing serious.

“So that’s why you do this, then?” Robert asks, leaning back in his seat, already feeling a bit more at ease with the whole situation.

“Yes, I was one of the lucky ones, it happened when I was sixteen, they say when it happens early, it’s better, like chicken pox.” She explains as she stands up and walks over to the fridge.

“Can I get you something to drink, water, soda?” She asks as she pulls out a container of water, grabs two glasses, and places everything down on the table.

“Water would be great.” Robert replies, smacking his dry lips a tiny bit as April pours water into the two small glasses, pushing one towards Robert.  “Thank you.” He says as he wraps his hand around the cool glass and takes a large gulp of the frigid liquid.   “I was still growing, so, you know, I kind of gained some of those inches back, but not really.” She explains, retaking her seat and taking a small sip from her own glass.

“You seemed to have come out of it alright, how tall are you now?” He asks as he finishes his water off, setting the glass gently against the white table.

“Four foot, ten and a half...”  April smiles, “seventy two pounds...” She adds. “How tall were you? I mean, before you started to shrink?” April asks, standing up and grabbing a marble notebook, which she begins flipping through, attempting to find a blank page.  

She writes Robert’s name atop the page, and begins to number the side of the page.

“Um, I was five foot eleven...” He stammers as he looks on at what the girl is doing. “What’s that for?” Robert asks.

 “Oh, this? This is nothing really, I like to log shrinking episodes, see if I can find any patterns...” She responds as she scribbles a few things onto the page.  “Do you know how tall you are now?” She asks as she stands up, slowly walking over to a drawer, he bare feet slapping against the tiled floor, the neon pink of her toenails standing out against the pure white surface of the smooth linoleum.

 “Um, I’m not sure...” Robert replies, his head snapping upwards as a small bang is heard above his head.  He turns back to April, who is looking up towards the ceiling, her eyes narrowed a bit as she nonchalantly pulls a tape measure out of the draw, laying it on the countertop and sliding the drawer shut.

 “Excuse me.” The girl smiles, before turning and walking towards the living room, and running up the stairs.

 “Sure...” Robert says to himself, as he looks behind him.  When he is certain that she is gone, he leans across the table and pulls to book towards himself.  He looks down at the page, his abbreviated name ‘Rob’ sits at the top, the side of the page numbered 1 to 10.  Next to one sat the numbers ‘5’11” - ‘ it all looks innocent enough to Robert, and he flips the page.

 Atop the previous page sits the name Samantha, the letters descending in size towards the end of the name. The same number scheme running down the page, but on this page it is all filled out, all the way down to the number seven, which reads ‘4” - ‘ and next to the numbers are a few words in parentheses (Such a good little girl now!) Robert flips to the next page, the name Seth sitting atop the heading, he follows the numbers all the way down to number eleven, which reads ‘ 2” - :( ‘ He flips to the next page, skimming through it, and then the next, and the next, there had to be at least  twenty names in the book, and while some of them had various frowns next to their last size entry, some of them had smiley faces.

 “Looking for something, Robbie?” April’s voice causes Robert to jump out of his skin.  

 “I...I” Robert stammers as the small girl smiles, though there is nothing warm about her expression.  She slides the book back onto the other side of the table.

 “You shouldn’t look through other people’s stuff...” She says as she sits down, flipping back to the page marked ‘Rob’ and smiling once more before standing up and grabbing the tape measure off of the counter.

 “I’m sorry...” Robert says.

 “It’s ok sweetie, April forgives you! now stand up.” She insists as she walks towards him with the tape measure in hand.

 Robert complies, standing up and straightening his back, as April bends down, sliding the small metal flap at the end of the measurer under his big toe, and slowly sliding the tape up his leg.  She stands on a chair and holds a finger atop his head, her tiny fingernail resting on the number ‘65’

 “You lost about, hmmm.” April contemplates, letting the measurer snap back into it’s spool.

 “Six inches...Wow.” April says as she steps down off of the chair.

 “Wow?!” Robert asks apprehensively.

 “That’s...I’m sorry sweetie, but this is not good news.” April stammers, turning away from Robert and walking back towards the drawer, allowing herself a brief little smile before sliding the drawer back open and tossing the measurer inside.  

 “That is about three times the average loss for the initial episode...” April says, leaning her back against the counter, and frowning at Robert.

 “What does that mean for me?” Robert says, the color draining from his face.

 “That means you are going to b... I don’t want to scare you, but...” April stammers, biting her lip and turning away, her legs squeezing together a tiny bit as she feels a tingle down in her nether regions.

 “No.. Go ahead, I can take it...” Robert says, standing up and slowly shuffling towards her.

 April lets out a quivering sigh before continuing, almost having trouble containing her arousal.  

“You’re going to get...” April stops, raising her hand and pinching her thumb and forefinger close together.  Robert stops in his tracks, his face distraught, and his mouth hanging open a little bit.

 “No...” He says, shaking his head back and forth slowly.

“I’m afraid so...” April says,walking towards Robert, and embracing him, planting her head against his chest.  “You might as well make yourself at home, little friend...” April coos softly.