Saturday was my last day at sixteen inches tall, and Emily took advantage of that fact to keep me in her possession the whole day. I had no complaints, though, since she’d proven to be very caring and responsible with me during the past week. She decided to take me outside on a walk with her to the park, just like Mom had done with me on my first day of being shrunk. She also insisted that I wear the same doll’s dress she’d given me on my first day of being shrunk. Despite my objections, I decided to cooperate, since it would at least make me appear to be nothing more than a little doll to any people we happened to bump into.

Last night had brought with it a lot of snow, and the world outside our home was covered in white. Since it was so cold and snowy, there were basically no other people in the park, apart from an occasional person or couple out on a walk, so Emily decided she could have some fun with me in the park’s playground. She sat down in one of the swings on a swing set and began to swing back and forth. Usually, on the rare occasions I’d accompanied her to the park in the past, I’d be the one giving her a push, but now she had to do it by herself. Instead, I stood on her skirt, holding on tightly to her coat as she swung wildly up and down and praying that I didn’t accidentally fall out of the swing.

“This was a great idea, Emily!” I said to her as she played on the set. “I think I needed to get out of the house one last time, you know, before next week. I’m probably gonna be too small for you to take me outside like this then.”

“Aww, you think so?” she said, looking crestfallen. “But you’ll still play with me at home, right?”

“As long as you remember to play nicely, big sister. At least I’ll be too small for you to make me wear any of your stupid doll’s clothes then!”

“What, don’t you like being my little doll? Ha, you’re such a little baby sometimes, Benny! That’s okay, you’re still pretty cool, I guess. Come on, let’s go and play on the slide!”

She hopped off the swing and headed straight for the playground slide, carrying me tightly in her arms. The slide was only about ten feet high, but it looked almost fifty feet high to me and pretty terrifying. I sat in Emily’s lap as she slid down it over and over, shrieking with delight, and I couldn’t help but enjoy it too. She even let me go on my own several times, dropping me off at the top and laughing as I slid down and landed in the snow way below at the bottom. One time she came down the slide immediately after me and nearly landed on top of me. She would’ve squashed me if she hadn’t braked herself with her legs just in time.

After that we played on the see-saw for a little while. My weight was much less than Emily’s but she used her legs to push herself up, while I sat in the oversized seat at the other end and held on for all I was worth. The whole thing brought up vague memories of when I’d been very little and Mom had taken me to play in a park much like this one, so in a way it felt very nostalgic to me. Eventually, however, I began to feel too cold to continue enjoying it, so Emily decided to take me home. She held me against her body underneath her coat, where I could warm up again and stay hidden from anyone who happened to be around.

That evening, just after dinner time, Emily and I were watching TV. I was back in my regular clothes and was reclining against her gigantic body. She had her arms folded across me, holding me down firmly. My whole body rose and fell along with her breathing, which was a very relaxing feeling. I knew it wouldn’t be for much longer, though. Tonight, my mom would give me the next, even-stronger shrinking potion she had formulated, which would make me even smaller than I already was. Emily wasn’t too happy about it, since she really loved having her big brother as her new cuddle-doll, but I was strangely eager to be shrunk down to an even littler size. I couldn’t wait to see my surroundings from an even more extraordinary perspective. At about 8 p.m., just as the TV show Emily and I were watching was ending, Mom came strolling into the living room. She sat down on the couch next to us and put her arm around Emily’s shoulders. Looking down at me, she gave me a caring smile and laid her hand on my head.

“How are you doing, little man?” she asked me. “You look pretty content, I must say. Are you feeling up for phase two of my experiment?”

“Oh yeah, definitely,” I replied. “How small am I gonna be, Mom? Will I still be able to walk around on the floor on my own, like I can now?”

“No, I don’t think so, Ben,” she said. “I think you’ll be much too small for that. I can’t give you an exact size, since the potion has never been tested on a human being before, but I imagine you’ll wake up tomorrow less than three inches tall.”

“What? He’s gonna be that small?” Emily exclaimed. “Wow, that’s super-tiny! He’ll be like an action figure then.” She looked down at me and grinned.

“Yes, and he’ll be even more defenceless than he is now, so we’ll have to take extra-good care of him, okay?”

“Uh-huh! I promise I’ll look after him…but I can still play with him, right?”

“I don’t know, dear. He might be too small for you to use as a doll, but we’ll have to wait and see. Okay Ben, if you’re absolutely sure you’re ready, then we can proceed.”

“I’m ready, Mom. Just tell me what to do.”

“You can stay where you are. The potion is inside this syringe. I’m gonna ask you to open your mouth, then I’ll just squirt out the amount needed. Don’t worry, it shouldn’t taste too horrible!”

She took a tiny plastic syringe out of her jacket pocket. It was filled with a few drops of clear liquid. I opened my mouth like she told me. She put the syringe’s plastic tip in my mouth and squeezed out the contents. It tasted slightly bitter, but I managed to swallow the couple of drops without any difficulty. I immediately began to feel a numbness spreading throughout my whole body. All of the feeling went out from my arms and legs and I discovered, to my shock and horror, that I couldn’t move a muscle below my neck. I looked up at my mom in distress, but she didn’t seem too perturbed. Emily picked me up by the waist and held me up in front of her. She shook me up and down a little and gasped when she saw what had happened to me. My arms and legs flapped senselessly around, completely out of my control.

“Mommy, look!” she cried out. “What’s happened to him? He’s so floppy – like a doll! A real doll, I mean.”

“What have you done to me, Mom?” I cried. “Is this…permanent?”

My mom took me from my little sister’s grasp and lay me down in her lap. My body was completely limp and unresponsive and I could only move my head, eyes and mouth. I lay there, frightened out of my wits, looking up at my giant-sized mom and sister. Emily was right – I had apparently been turned into nothing more than a doll. But Mom had an explanation ready for me.

“This shrinking potion is far more powerful than the last one,” she said. “It immediately begins to affect your cells, immobilizing them and then beginning to miniaturize them. You’ll soon be unable to move at all. But there’s no need for alarm, Ben. Once the shrinking process is complete, you’ll regain full control of your whole body. When you wake up tomorrow, you’ll be able to move around just like normal.”

“Are you sure?” I wailed, feeling like crying but trying my best to act rationally and in a grown-up manner. “What if I’m still like this tomorrow? What if I don’t turn back to normal?”

“Ben,” Mom said, looking at me firmly. “I know that to you I’m just your typical uncool mother and all, but I believe I know more than you do about my field of scientific research. Now, I gave you my word that you’d be completely safe and sound throughout the whole experiment. Look at me, Ben – I promise you that, come tomorrow, you’ll be perfectly fine and able to move again. The only different thing about you will be your size.”

“Okay…okay,” I said, swallowing hard. “I trust you, Mom. And yeah, you are a lot smarter than me, so I guess…I believe you. You were wrong about one thing, though.”

“Oh, really? And what might that be?”

“I don’t think you’re uncool at all. You’re probably the coolest mom in the world, I think.”

She and Emily both giggled at my awkward compliment. I was aware I was blushing. Emily picked me up again and nestled me in her arms for a bit. She played around with my floppy arms and legs, marvelling at my impotent condition.

“Can’t you make him stay like this?” she begged my mom. “He’s the perfect doll for me now. He’s the right size and everything. I can cuddle him at night, in bed…”

“No!” I screamed. “Mom, don’t make me be her doll, please!”

“Oh, don’t get so worked up, Ben!” Mom said, laughing. “You’ll be much too small for your little sister to squeeze in her arms tomorrow morning. In fact, I think you should stay in my room tonight. That way I can watch over you and make sure I’m there if you need me. I’ll put your crib at the foot of my bed. Besides, the immobilizing effect of the potion will soon affect you completely. It’ll feel just like falling asleep. In fact, it looks like it’s happening to you already. Ben…”

I couldn’t hear the rest. My eyelids began to feel very heavy and before I knew it, my eyes were closing on their own accord. I drifted off into a deep slumber, not even dreaming. Even though I was completely unaware of it, I knew Mom must have carried me up to her room and tucked me in. The next morning, when I awoke, the world around me had changed dramatically again.