As Henry accidently dropped a couple of morsels, he watched them fall in slow motion. They rolled a bit on the kitchen counter before falling over the edge and out of sight. He should have asked Emily to pick up some more earlier. Wouldn't be no problem - but Henry was naturally stubborn. Although consciously aware that it would have only taken 2 seconds, he foolishly waited to the last minute. He needed to be more careful.

He could go get them of course, its not as if they had disappeared. The countertop didn't abut a bottomless pit. He would just have to climb down - to the floor. It sure did seem like a long way.

But lets not be hard on Henry for feeling this way, it was relatively a long way, magnified about 20 times the distance in fact. Its how he and Emily had calculated, according to plan in fact. They had setup everything before he was diminished. They reasoned that rather than try and make a change here and there as needed they should anticipate the problems and head them off beforehand.

That's why the ladder was there. That's why the ladder seemed to be 100 feet long. It upper side was tapped to the kitchen counter, resting just in-between the silverware drawer and the dishwasher. For Henry, at a modest 3 and a half inches it was the perfect fit. He had used it before, and he wasn't afraid of heights. But It was a hassle to climb all that way.

But it would be easier going down than trying to raise his bodyweight up. Emily could be his elevator later.

So henry prepared himself and set to work. He looked off over the marble edge and swung his leg around onto the rungs. Looking down he could see his morsels waiting for him. Descending wasn't so bad, and it was easier with gravity in his favor. He just needed to put one foot in front of the other, hand over hand, 3 points of contact at a time. Safety was something you just needed to take precautions for. Nothing was ever so dire if you were prepared.

In no time at all Henry landed on the bottom. He celebrated a little by jumping off for the last few inches. Being small he also weighed a lot less. He could afford what would haver otherwise been a 10 foot drop. He made a little plop as his shoes his the tile floor. He reminded himself that he needed to clean out this grout. Henry noticed a lot more of the finer details now that he was small.

But he never told his wife when observing her complexion.

Henry sighed a little and walked over to his morsels. The little chips of food had bounced and jumped pretty far from each other. The first was only a dozen paces away, his 2nd morsel has leapt forward towards the counter. Now it looked like it was just in front of the dishwasher door. The plastic grate at the machine's base had mercifully prevented his lunch from falling out of view. Henry started to walk over to it, then he immediately stopped.

Something else had moved. It was just out of the corner of his eye, but where. He was sure he had seen it. A fly, that was nothing. Did Emily come into the Kitchen - last he saw she was reading on the couch. It was lunchtime though.

Unfortunately reader nothing so innocent. Henry's tiny heart pulsed wildly as he saw a monster approach him. He saw the antenna and the skittering legs of a vile beast erupt from a crack in between the wooden cabinets and the flooring. From utter darkness Henry could see his life flash before his eyes.

There he was was at the alter with his beautiful bride, it was a perfect June day, the wedding in a converted barn. The white paint made soft and warm but the string of incandescent lights suspended in the hay bales and the rafters. They kissed each other as all their loved ones applauded. It certainly hadn't been their first kiss - they had done a lot more things than mere kissing as boyfriend girlfriend. But for a moment it felt like the first and last time...

Now Henry could see them unpacking boxes as they moved into their new home. It was a split level, something to grow into, not too old to qualify as a fixer upper. It didn't have the cookie cutter feel like some modern ones in the neighborhood. They bought it drunk on Optimism, Emily finally finished her degree, and he just scored a new record on sales commissions. He was doing so well in Sales... He was far from the only person to experience troubles in the last year. But why did it have to be him, why was he so shortsighted. Maybe Emily was right, maybe they should have waited. Henry told her she worried to much... Slow and Steady was winning Emily the race.

Henry saw his signature on the paperwork. The big time TV producer, some woman named Vanessa was explaining the rules. He hadn't seen the show when it came out last year, but the concept seemed perfect for when they were working from home. He just needed to be ready. Emily was going to be there with him. She was so confident, she knew that she could take care of him even when he was only big enough to hug her thumb. "I'll Protect you," she said. "My little man."

Henry was still running, dodging this way and that, When he zigged the creature behind him would zag. He looked behind, and the horrid thing was following him. He couldn't shake it. Where was he going, he was just running and it followed him endlessly. Maybe it was like a T-Rex maybe it was chasing him because he was running? - But this was no time for experimentation.

Wham!!!

A different shoe came crashing down from the heavens just behind Henry. He gazed up as the mountain of his wife gingerly lifted her foot to reveal the splatter of a centipede on the kitchen floor.

"Oh Henry," she said. She stepped away from him so that she could better lay down to look at him.

He tried call up to her but she waved him away.

"You know I can't hear you like that," she said. She held out her hand and brought her painted fingernail to the tile.

Henry obeyed climbing onto the palm of her hand.

"That ladder is only for emergencies," Emily said slowly raising herself up to her full height. She was very good at this, moving so gently that Henry was standing upright the whole way. She brought him to the countertop where Henry exited the Elevator, he then signed to his wife, "Thank you," bringing his hand underneath his chin.

Then Henry pointed at the empty dish on the counter. "Oh I see," Emily. She stepped over to the pantry - miles away from henry and reached into a bag to bring out some more for him. She emptied her hand into the dish; the little clink of peddles falling into a ceramic pond.

"You can tell me more in a moment," I'll be right back. Emily excuse herself and walked out of the kitchen towards the bathroom. Closing the door as the entered. That too might be a force of habit more than anything. There was nobody else in the house, and there was no way Henry was going to walk in on her.

Henry carefully took up another morsel from the dish on the countertop. He didn't drop it this time. He bit into the little granola bite and waited for his wife to return.