An eight year old Noel walked up to his friend Maudie. She was killing ants in his backyard, wearing a white children’s dress. He gave her a carton of apple juice and looked down at her feet.

“Why are you hurting those ants?” He asked.

The little girl smiled continuing to stomp on the little things. “Because it’s fun.”

Noel put his hands on his hips in a sassy childish manner “Mom says it’s bad to hurt any of god’s creatures.”

“If god didn’t want us to hurt them, then they wouldn’t be so small.” Maudie said. “I think god made them tiny, just so I can squish them.”

Noel turned around as he heard his mother call for him. He went inside and entered the living room. A twenty-one year old Maudie smiled at him. The boy sat down in the couch facing the one Maudie was sitting in. In-between them there was a small coffee table, Maudie’s feet resting on it. He couldn’t help but look at her foot. He could see his own body sticking to her flesh. One of his arms moved. Beaten and barely alive, the tiny version of him struggled, as if there was still hope left.

He could hear the words of his best friend echoing through his mind “I just don’t see how a one inch tall creature can still be considered ‘human’.”

Noel almost screamed as he woke up.  Trying to catch his breath, he hugged his legs, put his head on his knees, and started sobbing. Afraid to go to sleep again he decided to wait till morning.

At the first sign of daylight Noel left his room and went downstairs. He grabbed a bottle of milk and some caramel flavored cornflakes. Before he even sat down at the kitchen table, Maudie had already entered the room. It was as if she had waited for him to get up, just in case he would try to avoid her. They hadn’t said a word to each other since what happened the day before. She sat down at the table.

“Good morning.” She said.

Noel didn’t answer and started preparing his breakfast.

Maudie stared at him and tried to start a conversation again. “You look like shit. Couldn’t sleep?”

Her friend looked at her with a sad, troubled face. He wasn’t the only one though. Maudie had been up all night as well, but not because of nightmares. She had been lying awake thinking about all the things they’ve been trough. The thought that her best friend soon wouldn’t be human anymore, It broke her heart.

Maudie grabbed the milk and cornflakes, and started filling her bowl. She looked at the cereal box and smiled.

“Hey Noel,” she said “Remember when you had a loose tooth, and we were eaten caramel blocks. You said it hurt too much to chew, so I chewed them for you and fed them to you like some kind of mama bird.”

Noel’s eyes were fixated on the cornflake pieces floating around in his milk. His depressed face didn’t move a muscle.

Maudie got nervous and her hands turned into sweaty fists. “We were such disgusting kids, weren’t we?”

Still not getting a response, she got up without finishing her breakfast. As she was about to leave the room, Noel broke his silence.

“Are you going to kill me when I shrink?”

Maudie looked at him, not knowing what to say. To Noel each second without an answer felt a stab in the chest.

“I’m still going to be me.” He said.

“No you’re not!” Maudie yelled, almost crying. “You’re going to be a bug, and I don’t know what…” She stopped mid-sentence and walked out. “I’m leaving for work, I’ll see you when I get home.”

Noel sat there, paralyzed. He had to come to terms with the fact that he couldn’t trust his best friend. He got up and went to the living room to pick his phone. He had to call a family member, a different friend, anyone; anyone who wouldn’t kill him. As he reached for his phone he felt a series of electric jolts run through his body.

“No, not now, not yet!” He cried as he blacked out.