How it all started

The eternal vicious circle of glass-wearing people. If you lose your glasses, you can’t see a thing. And because you can’t see, you can’t find your glasses. And without them, you’re still unable to see. Ugh! So annoying. Any of you who wears glasses will know what I mean.

Anyhow, I was sitting on a bench in the campus when I clumsily dropped them. Sighing, I got down on my knees to try and find them by touch. Without being able to actually see them, I grabbed the first thing my hand felt.  It immediately became evident that it wasn’t what I was looking for, so I held the tiny object on my open palm, right before my squinting eyes.

With my limited vision, I managed to make out what seemed to be a human shape. Realizing that what I was holding was actually another person, I yelped, startled, almost dropping the poor, tiny creature, obviously shaken by this whole incident.

“I’m so, so sorry!”, I said, truly embarrassed, my face blushing as red as an apple. “Are you OK? I’m really sorry. I was just looking for my glasses.”

“D…don’t worry about it”, answered the tiny person on my palm. By the sound of his voice, I immediately recognized him as male. “Do you need help finding them?”

I was taken off guard by that question. Not only had I snatched him from the ground without warning, but I had almost dropped him from a (to him) considerable height. And yet, he offered me to help. As surprised as I was, I still needed help, so I nodded.

“I actually do.”, I answered, placing my hand on the ground to let him climb down. “Again, I’m so sorry about all this trouble, and I really appreciate your help.”

After a couple of seconds, I heard his voice again.

“OK, here they are! Just follow my voice!”

I slowly reached down towards the direction of his voice, this time much more careful. My fingers then felt both his tiny body and my glasses. I picked both up, one in each hand. After putting my glasses back on, the world around me became “high definition” once again. I looked down at the boy in my hand once again, this time not visually impaired.

He seemed to be about 7.5 centimeters tall (a little bit less than 3 inches). He wore a red T-shirt, jeans and a pair of sneakers. He was carrying a school bag, so he was a student, like me. And boy was he cute! That made me feel much more embarrassed than I already was! I did my best to hide it, but I’ve never been good at that.

“My name is Daniel”, he said, reaching his hand towards me, as if offering a handshake. “Nice to meet you.”

I looked down at his diminutive hand and very carefully answered the gesture. My hand easily engulfed his whole arm, and even though I shook as slowly and carefully as possible, his whole body was still jerked along as I did.

“My name is Lena. Nice to meet you too.”, I said, smiling.

“So, are you American?”, he asked.

“American? No, no. I’m Canadian. Americans are huge, silly!”, I said, chuckling.

“Sorry, sorry. You speak almost the same way. Plus, it’s hard for someone my size to tell  'giant' and  'giant…er' apart.”

“Fair enough.”, I said, sitting back on the bench.

“So, what brings you to Mexico City?”, he asked, curiously.

“Well, I came here to study, actually.”

“Really? Why here?”

“Well, I actually already finished classes. I’m just working on my dissertation. I studied sociology, and my thesis is about the influence that people’s sizes have in the behavior of society, so I thought coming to live in a country so tiny might help me get a deeper insight.”

“I see.”, he said, sounding interested. “So, why a smaller country and not a larger one? It would have worked too”

“Oh! Yes, that’s true, but a bigger one sounded scary. Plus, I come from Canada. I needed a warm place for a change.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I noticed.”

“What? How so?”, I raised an eyebrow, confused.

“Well, it’s freezing today, and you’re just wearing a tank top, a pair of shorts and sandals. No one would ever wear that today unless they were used to a much colder weather.”

“Freezing?”, I asked, faking a gasp. “How can you call this freezing? It’s really warm.”

“Well, it’s winter, so I don’t think I’m exaggerating.”

“Well, even if it’s winter, this is warmer than summer in Canada”, I joked, smiling. “And if you find this cold, then you better never go there, or you might end up like a little ice cube.” I even pictured his tiny body trapped inside an ice cube while floating in someone’s glass of water.

We both giggled a little, but then an awkward silence started. We both looked around, as if trying to make it less uncomfortable. I even started playing with my black, shoulder length hair, while he took a couple of random steps on my open palm. Fortunately, he quickly broke the silence.

“So…I kind of have to get going.”, he said, looking down at the ground. “But before I go, I was wondering if you’d like to…umm…like…maybe go get a drink or something. Like, after school.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. Was he already asking me out? This never happened to me. At least, not so fast. He looked so cute while doing so, too. His cheeks blushing as he tried to avoid direct eye contact with me.

“Sure!”, I said, failing to avoid sounding eager to answer. “I…I mean…yes, why not?”, I completed, trying to sound much more cool.

“Oh! Great”, he said, clearly relieved after hearing my answer. “Well, how about I see you here at around…8:00 pm?”

“Perfect”, I answered, lowering my palm to the ground so he could climb down.

“OK, then”, he said, climbing off my palm. “See you later, Lena. Nice to meet you”

“Likewise”, I said, waving down at him. “Take care!”

“You too! Adiós, señorita.”, he said, turning around and walking away.

Oh, boy. I almost melted when he spoke in Spanish. I was super excited about our date, but also pretty worried. I knew I had to give a good impression if I wanted this to work. I wasn’t exactly very popular with guys, and I didn’t want to blow it with this one. He seemed like quite a catch.

***

So there I was at 7:45 pm, sitting on the exact same bench. I had straightened my hair and wore make up, which I usually never do. I also wore the classic little black dress and a pair of high heels, which actually made me walk a little funny, since I never, ever use them. I felt like I was wearing a costume. I always used casual clothes, so I obviously felt strange. I really lacked practice in dressing up for situations like this. I even had to google a few tips to avoid screwing it up and looking like a prostitute.

At around 7:55 pm, he finally appeared. He didn’t seem to be wearing an outfit as formal as mine, which made me feel a little embarrassed. A blue dress shirt, a pair of matching trousers, and black shoes. He immediately spotted me and walked closer, waving up.

“Hi again, Lena. You look astonishing.”, he said, standing right by my feet.

“Hehe, thanks…”, I said, sighing in relief, as my outfit had actually worked. “You look great too.”

“Well, thank you”, he said, smiling. “So, shall we get going?”

“Yes, yes, of course. Ummm…should I…like…”, I simply couldn’t say it. Fortunately, he did.

“You can carry me”, he said, easily guessing what I meant.

I smiled at him. I liked him more and more every second.

“Very well.”, I said, more confident, and crouched, placing my open hand next to him.

As soon as he climbed up, I stood back to full height and got going. He indicated me the path to follow, and in about 5 minutes we were there. It was, of course, a mixed-size bar. I usually don’t go to bars, since I don’t drink, but what’s the harm on going every now and then? We took a seat at the bar. Well, I did. He actually sat ON the bar, so he was closer to my level.

“Un tequila, por favor”, he asked the bartender. “What are you drinking?”

“Oh, just water for me, thanks. I don’t drink.”

“You don’t? How so? Are you an alcoholic?”, he joked.

“Oh, no, no! I just don’t like the flavor.”

“Just the flavor? OK, then, I have a surprise for you.”, he called the bartender. “Un vodka con arándano para la señorita.”

“What did you say?”

“You’ll see”, he said with a grin.

After a couple of minutes, the bartender placed a big glass with a red liquid inside.

“Thanks”, I told him, and then looked down at my date. “What’s this?”

“It’s vodka with cranberry juice.”

“Oh, I don’t know…”

“Trust me. The thing with vodka is that it almost doesn’t taste.”

“Well…”, I took a deep breath. “OK, fine…”, I picked up the glass and took a sip. He was right. It tasted almost as pure cranberry juice. I then took a bigger gulp.

“Whoa, calm down, girl! It might not taste as alcohol, but it sure has it.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t overdo it.”, I said, confident, and took another sip. I should have listened to him, though. After I ordered a few more of those, time flew, and he started to look a little worried.

“I think you should maybe order that glass of water you wanted before”, he told me, obviously feeling uneasy.

“Oh, don’t worry. I feel really fine. The same as when we walked in.”, I said, smiling down at him and patting his tiny head with my finger.

“No, really. You might not feel it yet, but it’s a lot of alcohol, especially if you don’t usually drink. Plus, you’re a girl. Girls tend to get drunk faster.”

“Hey, that’s sexist.”, I said. “Let me show you that I’m fine.”

I stood up from my seat, determined to show him I was perfectly fine. However, I was not. The moment I got up to full height, everything around me started to spin. I couldn’t stay standing for more than a couple of seconds and sat back down with a thud.

“Oh, boy...”, I said, dizzy.

“Told you…”

“N…no, no. I’m fine…it’s just…it’s just one of those times when you stand up too fast and feel a little lightheaded.”

“Uh huh…”, he said, skeptical. “Well, still, it’s getting pretty late. Maybe we should go home now.”

“OK, OK. But I just want you to know I’m fine, OK?”

“Hehehe, whatever you say, girl. I’ll walk you home. Or, I mean, you can carry me until you get home, and then I’ll get going.”

He was really a gentleman offering to walk me home. Not that I needed it, though. I mean, what could happen to me in the way? They say Mexico City can be dangerous late at night, especially for a lone woman, but it's not like a robber or rapist shorter than my ankle could pose any threat to me. I even grinned thinking of a criminal that size trying to assault me.

He paid for our drinks and I picked him up, walking out of the bar. Once outside, I started to feel even dizzier. I had barely taken a couple of steps when my shoes caused me to trip. I barely managed not to fall, but I had to use my hand to hold onto a building’s roof. I left a huge handprint on it.

“Oh, boy…”, I said, really embarrassed. “I’ll…I’ll pay for that. Ugh, stupid heels.” I took them off, not wanting to trip again. So there I was: a tipsy girl, holding a guy with her right hand and her shoes with her left one, trying to walk through a portion of the city to get home. It was a recipe for disaster.

I did my best to watch my step and walk on a straight line, but being tipsy, I was bound to have a few accidents on the way. Every now and then, I’d stumble a little and cause some minor damage to the city. Bump my hip against the side of a building, cracking its side a bit, or accidentally kicking a parked car and flipping it to its side. A few pedestrians had to move (or even dive) aside to avoid my clumsy feet.

Please don’t get me wrong, I’d never, ever do anything to harm anyone. But bear with me here, it was the first time I ever drank more than one sip of alcohol, and it wasn’t easy at all to cross a tiny city like this one. Plus, fortunately, no one got hurt. The closest I got from that to happen was when I completely failed to notice a tiny car, boldly trying to outrun me. Just as he was about to drive past me, my foot landed on his car.

Oh, it’s not what you think! It wasn’t my whole foot on top of his car. I only stepped on the car’s hood with my bare heel. The airbag kept him from getting hurt, but his engine was obviously ruined. Feeling this, I immediately turned around and crouched to get a closer look at him.

“I’m so, so sorry! Are you OK?”, I asked, really worried.

He simply got out of his car and started yelling up at me in Spanish.

“Ummm…what’s he saying, Daniel?”, I asked my date, confused.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know…”, he answered, shaking his head.

“Oh! I get it.”, I said, sadly. I apologized again and turned around, continuing my way.

Soon enough I finally got home. It was a simple flat, built specifically for foreigners around my size. I lifted him to face level.

“Hey, I’m extremely sorry for ruining our date.”, I said, probably engulfing him with my alcohol breath. “I swear I never, never drink.”

“Yeah, that's pretty obvious, hehe.”, he joked, trying to cheer me up. “But don’t say that. I had an amazing time.”

“You did?”, I asked, dubious.

“Of course!”

“You’re just saying that.”

“No, really. It’s not every day that you can see a giant woman rampage through Mexico City like that!”

“Hey!”, I said, really embarrassed now. “I wasn’t rampaging! I was just…walking.”

“I know, I’m kidding, Lena. Anyway, you should probably get some sleep. You might not feel very well in the morning.”

“You’re right. Well, then you should get going, too. Thanks for walking me home.”, I said, staring down at his tiny body, wondering if I should kiss him right then, right there. But I was too embarrassed by the recent events, so I simply put him down on the ground.

“Good night, Daniel.”

“Good night, Lena”, he said, waving up at me and walking away.

I walked inside and closed the door behind me, thinking I’d probably never see him again after that night’s performance. Fortunately, though, I was wrong.

***

PS: Oh, and don’t think I got away with all the damage I did. I had to pay for every single thing I broke that night, but that’s another story.