There was a certain peacefulness in the air as Annie finally had a still moment to think on her actions. It took her a few seconds of regaining her composure to realize the full extent of what she had done. “Oh god,” she said weakly. Her heart sank, remembering no mention of a cure. As far as she knew he was stuck like this indefinitely. At least he’s safe with me, she thought, finding a very small silver lining with her situatuon.

Annie looked down at the shrunken boy in her palm, complete bewilderment in her eyes as his tiny body twitched spastically. She couldn’t help but stare at his tiny chest that rose and fell consistently.  Her mind eventually drifted to how fragile he looked. His tiny, helpless form only took a fraction of space on her pale, fleshy palms. At his height, he was slightly shorter than an inch but not enough to even warrant an exact measurement.

“So stupid…” Annie sighed under her breath. She slammed her head against the backboard of his bed, ignoring the thud her impact made as she stared into the ceiling. She bit her lip harder than before, feeling her teeth sink deeply into her lips as she just had to accept the panicked decision she made.

All Annie did was sit against the back of the bed, her legs crossed and her tiny best friend in her hands, wondering her next course of action. She felt the symptoms of sleep as she actively fought against them, but she knew that sleep deprivation wasn’t going to help anyone. She laid down keeping the tiny Josh on her chest as she nestled herself into the bed, her right hand pinning him down. She sighed loudly, telling herself that she would hopefully figure everything out by the morning. Unfortunately for her, she found her night to be sleepless until a worried fatigue finally put her to rest.

Later into the night, Josh found himself awake, his head still unclear and unfocused. But for once in as long as he could remember, he felt somewhat at ease. The general warmth around him seemed to elevate that sensation of comfort. His mind was clear, clearer than it has been for years, no longer filling with bold, unforgiving statements of self hatred, hopelessness or even confinement. He felt safe and at ease from the relaxing heat that seemed to melt away his troubles.

The world around him was pitch black, but the boy did not care at all about the lack of sight. All he wanted to do was to hold onto the feeling for as long as possible, knowing that at one point the thoughts would return, leaving him on his own again with nothing to shield him from his ruthless psyche.

It didn’t take him long to notice that he was alone, which was something he had feared most of his life but had to reluctantly deal with on a daily basis. Although now, he didn’t mind it as much, enjoying the surreal isolation he was in without a single problem. He couldn’t say the same about the weight that was just heavy enough to keep his entire body immobile. Josh tried, but could not find a way to describe whatever was keeping him down as his arms and legs remained completely stiff, yet he had movement in his hands and feet.

And then it hit him, it was dark, absolutely quiet, and he was unable to move. He was dead.

Josh didn’t know whether or not to cry out of elation as the resounding thought of “now what” had become apparent. Sure he was at bliss, but he couldn’t help but think about what he had done.  The boy began to doubt himself as a single question burned into his head.

Was it worth it?

At any other moment, Josh would’ve answered with an absolute yes, but now he was having some regrets about his choice.  He began to weigh his accomplishments in life finding nothing to be proud of as he realized that at his current rate there was no way he’d get into college, and he could honestly say he nothing about anything, having absolutely no specialized skill to keep him afloat in the world. He had no one to care for him, which was what he kept telling himself as a certain girl kept capturing his attention.

Annie. There was something about her that he admired endlessly. She always had a wide chipper smile and her endless confidence in everything she did. As much as he tried, he could not keep her out of his mind. The petite blonde with short hair always stood by his side, and he couldn’t help but feel he had only let her down.

And then he remembered. Josh remembered the look of heartbreak on her face as she held a flask in his face. On the surface she was furious, but her body language said everything as he had a clear memory of her quivering lip, her teary eyes, and the way she made eye contact but immediately broke it to stare at the pavement.  The realization of the way her voice cracked when she cursed haunted him as her words rang in his head, scolding him for unforgivable deed of becoming as worthless as his drunken father.

But she still forgave him, she still took him home, she still cared, and he had just left her behind in a moment of self obsessed weakness. He couldn’t remember his last words, but he definitely remembered saying something to Annie as he faded into unconsciousness. He racked his brain but drew nothing as his final words were still a mystery to him, eating away at him with no end to its hunger.

Doubt was the only thing that he could remember as his newfound appreciation of life would probably ripped away before he could thoroughly appreciate it. Who knows, maybe it would come back.

Annie found herself in her home at five thirty early that Saturday morning, frantically tending to the stove, watching as the various pans began to sizzle invitingly. She blocked out the thoughts of the night before, telling herself that she would address everything once she had a decent meal in her stomach.

The teenage girl stared down at the various plates of food on her small, rounded dining table. Her breakfast was a somewhat excessive selection of eggs, bacon, breakfast sausages, a rather large bowl of cereal, a glass of orange juice, and half a grapefruit. The teenage girl shrugged off any feelings of shame and anxiety as she dug into the meal without thinking.

"Annie?" A voice called, startling the teenager as she looked up to the source as a half eaten strip of bacon hung from her mouth. Her eyes were wide, ravenous and somewhat worried as she glared at her mother standing in the doorway.

"Mmph?" she moaned, addressing her mom in a less than lady like fashion.

"Are you okay, Sweetie?" she asked, walking closer to the dining table, brushing away loose streaks of platinum blonde hair to get a better look at her daughter. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Annie lied, "Why?"

"Because you look like the poster child of a balanced breakfast." Annie's mother answered, receiving a sheepish grin from the girl. "You can't keep emotionally eating like that. It's not healthy."

"But it's turkey bacon..." Annie mumbled, her voice sinking a little as she swallowed the bite.

Annie's  mother, Heather, approached the dining table, sitting next to her daughter as she adjusted her thick lavender bath robe. She leaned over, grabbing a napkin and wiped away loose crumbs and jam from her daughter's face. "Now tell me what's bothering you."

"Nothing," she insisted, stuffing her mouth with the second half of the remaining toast.

Heather brought her neatly manicured hand to Annie's shoulder, lightly squeezing at the nape of her neck the way the young girl always appreciated. She loved her daughter, proud of everything she had accomplished but was definitely annoyed on how secretive and cryptic Annie was sometimes. "We can dance around this all you want, but we need to talk."

Annie swallowed the rather large bite, her brown eyes looking into her mother’s green ones. "My..." Annie paused, "friend is kinda in a rough spot right now.” Heather nodded, listening intently to the child’s words. “I’m really worried for him, like mentally.” Annie gestured to her head, finding it hard to explain the truth.

“Well do you know what’s bothering him?” Heather asked, remembering her old school guidance counselor days.

“I have an idea,” was all she said, before taking a large sip of the orange juice. The mother simply gestured for her to keep going, but Annie had made it clear she had stopped talking and didn’t intend to speak further.  Annie sighed, running a slender hand through her short hair. “What would you do if you knew, but your friend didn’t know you knew that he was…” Annie paused, trying to find the right words after slightly fumbling a stuttering slightly. “Suffering?”

Annie’s mother stared blankly, analyzing the statement before saying, “it depends on how severe it is. Do you know how bad your friend might be hurting?” Annie simply shook her head, having a bleak expression on her face. “Just be direct. No fluff, no filler, just sit him down and talk. Just don’t be patronizing, and make sure you take everything he says seriously.”

“Okay,” Annie answered silently, getting a better idea of her next course of action.

“If you’re concerned about your friend’s,” she coughed a little before continuing, “health, don’t hesitate to come to me, okay?”

“Okay,” Annie repeated, standing up from the table. 

“I’m serious,” Heather reinforced gripping Annie’s hand tightly, “keeping your friend alive is much more important than keeping his problems secret.”

"Thanks, Mom," Annie siad graciously as she nodded again, an increasing doubt weighing heavily in the back of her mind, thinking about the tiny boy she had left unattended in her room. “I’ll be right back,” Annie piped, leaving the room and rushing upstairs. She practically ran into her room, rushing towards the desk in the back corner of her room with a worried alarm. She approached the shoebox of her old favorite hightops and peered inside feverishly.

In the center of the box, there was an impossibly small teenage boy lying on top of old white t-shirts stacked high enough to provide a decent padding but not enough to provide an escape route. Sure it was oddly specific, but she wasn’t sure if Josh was going to wake up when she wasn’t around, being over precautious for Josh's own good. Luckily for her he was still fast asleep and completely tranquil. Annie sighed as she stared sympathetically into the box for a short, silent minute.

Breaking the silence, Annie’s small, tight stomach gurgled rather loudly, reminding her of the panicked feast she had prepared for herself. She looked down once more, dreading the moment the teenage boy wakes up. She left the room, her worried anxieties quelled for now as she went to finish her breakfast.

Inside the room, Josh began to show signs of life as his weary eyes opened slowly as he stained to even see clearly. The room around him was bland with absolutely no sign of decoration around him, the walls bare and featureless. The floor was nothing special; the boy found nothing of about the ground other than its simple plush texture.

The cold got to him next as he noticed the burning briskness of the air. He rubbed his arms thoroughly, struggling to recapture the all encompassing warmth he had felt earlier. He sighed at the sight of his gym shorts and his thin blue t-shirt, staring at the hairs that stood up from the cold.

He was cold and miserable. Oh yeah, he was also alive.

Once again, Josh wasn't sure what to think as he remained conflicted about what he really wanted. On some days he was perfectly fine, going throughout his day with nothing more than an anxious anticipation to his depression, wondering when it would strike him again. On others, he fought actively to keep it contained as he kept his quivering thoughts of self loathing at bay, refusing to tell anyone as he had felt it would just be an inconvenience or even a burden.

Even then on his good days, when he felt courageous and confident enough to take on the world, he still refused to tell anyone, feeling he didn’t deserve the help. Of course in late nights he was cursing himself for never reaching out for help, actively refusing to be a burden on anyone but himself. Besides, he just assumed no one really cared.

His mind quickly trailed to how much his head hurt, finding the pain a bit dull and meaningless as he had definitely remembered the sensation on several occasions beforehand.

His attention went back to the floor beneath him. It was soft, thick and a bright white, resembling snow as the tiny hills rose and fell along the room. He stood up, taking slow steroids that sunk slightly into the ground, leaving an ambiguous imprint as he strolled. The tiny hills flattened beneath his feet as he reached the dark brown wall that used to be well ahead of him.

It was tall and brown as he looked up into the sky above him where the actual ceiling seemed miles away. The way remained solid and strangely melancholy as the small almost unnoticeable imperfections gave him no clue on his location. He struck the wall, finding it rough and scratchy, completely unlike wood or some as its near paper like quality confused him.

Out of the corner of his eye, there was a tiny shape sticking out of the ground like a weed in a garden. Although it had the same ivory shade, it seemed glossy with something written on it. He rushed to it as the curiosity burned the closer he got to it.

Josh gripped the object with both hands, pulling against the heavy resistance. He felt himself begin to make progress as he quickly realized that it was buried deeply under the ground. He slowly worked against it until the built up force sent the boy tumbling backwards once it became dislodged.

Josh feverishly crawled towards the cloth, looking it over as he studied the text that simply read:

Women's S

At first the words didn't register, assuming it was an incomplete code as he racked his brain for the missing word but found none that made sense. The other side provided more information that consisted of percentages of fabrics like cotton and polyester.

He staggered backwards, slowly processing the information as the softness of the ground began to make even less sense, his mind racing the same farfetched conclusion.

Before he could say anything he heard a slight pounding in the distance getting louder by the second as each boom resounded and grew heavy.

Slowly a figure appeared over the edge of his prison. He slowly made out the features, struggling to comprehend the sight before him.

It was statuesque, the facial structure perfectly rounded with a pale but peachy skin tone. Its nose was thin with a slight upturn, and its cheeks were rosy red. He looked into the deep eyes of the giant, getting lost in the earthy brown eyes that stared at him invasively. Sure enough he could never forget the look in the eyes even if they were as large as him. Her telltale blonde hair rivaled silk and shone brightly in the gentle sunlight.

"Josh?" she called, her eyes wide with complete shock as she looked down at the young boy. She watched him come to terms with what was going on, noticing his confused and frightened expressions as he slowly crawled away from her, pushing backwards on his legs and arms.

"Annie?" Josh asked his voice small and a bit shaken, "what happened?" His heart pounded heavily in his chest, recoiling in fear as Annie’s larger than life face peered straight into him.

Annie took a deep breath, sizing up her next words carefully. "We need to talk."