Josh was breathless, absolutely fatigued, yet he couldn't help but feel good. His mind was clear, focused even, as he leaned against the leg of Annie's coffee table. He could hear the quiet footsteps in the distance. They were light, delicate and deliberate as he could barely make out the gentle slaps against the hardwood floor of the next room over.

Josh listened carefully, hearing the now muffled steps caused by the transition from hardwood to carpet. She was nearby now, standing on her platforms while masking her steps. He learned quickly how to recognize her search patterns as he slowly sidled to the inside of the coffee table leg.

Sure enough, Annie's bare foot came into view. Walking around in a predatory manner, she kept quiet, hoping to catch her prey off guard or better yet in a false sense of security. Josh held his breath, hoping his staggered gasp wasn't audible. He grinned, realizing he was caught again in his favorite situation that forced him between two options:

Run to a new hiding place, or stick to his guns and commit to his spot behind the table leg.

That was the only decision that mattered for the moment. He didn't even recognize that he was over thinking a choice that really didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. All that was affected was whether or not the game lasted another ten seconds or five minutes.

He stood still, waiting and listening for the subtle all clear that came after six steps, a slight pause, and three quiet strides towards the next room. Walking out from under the coffee table, Josh took in a relieved breath. He arched his back, stretching out his arms comfortably. He couldn't help but feel something was off, almost like she gave up too easily.

Without any sort of warning, Josh felt an immense, sudden pressure on his back, catching him by surprise. And it finally dawned on him that Annie had pinned him down with her foot. She was seated on the couch with her left leg tucked under her, and she had the same cheeky grin on her face that came from the satisfaction of beating him again. The shrunken boy didn't even get a view of her smug expression as his face was pressed against the floor by the pad of her big toe.

"Okay, I give. You win." Josh admitted, his cheeks pressed against the floor, muffling his speech.

Annie leaned over from her perch and grabbed the shrunken boy between her index finger and thumb. She smiled, watching Josh flail at the sudden elevation. change.

"C-come on, let's go again." Josh stammered in between deep breaths. "I think I'll win this time."
"Yeah right," she mocked, sticking her tongue out at her tiny friend. "you're already out of breath."

"So what now?" he asked, there was a genuine enthusiasm in his voice. Josh found himself asking the question a lot more. The uncertainty of his situation weighed over his head as he desperately waited for Annie's cue, another suggestion for a game or a different time wasting activity.

"It's kinda late," she pointed out, "maybe we should go to sleep."
"I guess."

She held him in the center of her palm and walked off to her bedroom. Annie watched the tiny boy sway with her movements, trying to keep still as she gently laid on her bed.

Using her free hand, she blindly reached out for a small remote. There was a dull hum before the high pitched chime of the television.

"What are you doing?" He asked.
"Just putting on some background noise. It helps me sleep." Annie dropped the tiny boy onto her chest, laughing softly as he bounced slightly, finding the way he blushed adorable.

"They're just sacks of fat. Nothing to be bashful about." Abuse teased.
"Right." Josh answered, trying his best to be modest.
"Speaking of sacks of fat," she segued, "you ever watch this show?"

Annie pointed towards the tiny flat screen, bringing Josh's attention to the cast of brightly colored creatures with discolored gray stomachs.

"Teletubbies?"
"Yeah, it's just as bad as I remembered." Annie commented.
"Come on, Annie. That's my childhood you're stepping on right there. It can't be that-- oh god that sun-baby is horrifying."

"I know, right?" Annie asked. "Why do you think they air this near midnight?"
"Nostalgia probably." Josh answered.
"Nostalgia, huh? Never thought of that."

"And stoners, definitely stoners." Josh continued.
"Well, that too. You definitely have to be high to actually enjoy this."

Without any sort of warning, high pitched chimes came from nowhere, sounding muffled in the distance.

"Dude, make a wish." Annie instructed, leaning over and grabbing her cellphone from under the covers. She tapped at it, dismissing the alarm and moving it in Josh's view.

11:11

"What?"
"I have a bunch of alarms set to it. I know it sounds stupid, but just shut up and make a wish," Annie defended.

They waited in silence for the minute, watching the phone's backlighting dim and the number shift to the next minute.

"So, what'd you wish for?" Annie asked, curiously inching herself closer to the shrunken teen.
"Uh, besides being back to normal?"

"Besides the obvious." Annie clarified.
"World peace," he answered lamely, finding it hard to think of anything else.
“Hmm,” Annie hummed softly.

Their conversation ended there as the two began to drift odd to the sounds of the television in the background. Josh fell asleep first, his light snores catching Annie’s attention. She smiled as she noticed Josh was clutching her thumb tightly. She shut off the tv and let him lie there, having a hard time moving Josh to the cardboard box.

Josh looked down at the depths below. He had been standing on Annie's desk for what felt like hours with only one thing on his mind.

Jump.

Just one word, a simple action that would send him to his death. Josh had already made his choice. He wrote "I'm sorry" on the table top, hoping it would be enough of a goodbye. He didn't want to think about it, just do it.

The carpet seemed plush, but the height from the desk would be enough to compensate. Josh stood on the edge, perfectly in balance on his heels, knowing that one slip would be enough to send him over.

He was stiff, and his joints began to lock up. Whether or not it was out of protest, he couldn't tell.

The intrusive thoughts began to force their way in, reminding Josh of his failures, his short comings, his insecurities. Everything he wanted to forget came pouring into his mind. He didn't want to remember, and he didn't want to think. He just wanted to end it.

So he did.

His mind was clear as the hurtful clutter disappeared. Except he had the same feeling the night Annie brought him home, regret.

He hit the ground, hard, feeling something pop, twist, break under his weight. The pain was numbing, sickening, and Josh could do nothing but lie there, questioning his decision. The shrunken boy wanted it to end quickly, but he didn't even get the luxury as he could feel himself lose blood.

Josh's vision went fuzzy, fading in and out of clarity. He couldn't stand the waves of pain that came in and out in agonizing intervals. His thoughts came battering in, leaving him with the realization that he couldn't even kill himself right.

So he laid there, letting the tears flow and feeling like a failure in everything including death, and after what felt like hours of intense pain, Josh felt the faint vibrations in the ground. He knew it meant one thing, Annie was coming. Attempting to move only made it escalate. He struggled to move, hoping, praying, that he'd have the strength to move out of sight. He didn't want Annie to see him, not like this, not the broken mess he is.

"Yeah, of course I can cover for you. Okay, I'll be there. Six thirty? Sure." Annie's voice was light, delicate. She spoke on the phone, looking out and away from the floor. He latched on to the swiftness if her movements and the little nuisances in her face as she spoke.

He did nothing but watch. The footfalls were careless, booming around his paralyzed body. She continued talking on her cell phone, unknowingly stepping around Josh, threatening his life with her black flats.

Annie looked over to the cardboard box, expecting to see her shrunken best friend inside. Annie's eyes grew wide as the empty box registered, and her attention moved to the sloppily written note on the desk top.

"Oh god. No, sorry. I'm gonna have to go." Annie going up her phone, and her eyes darted towards the ground. She lifted her right foot, looked under it, and repeated it with her left. "Josh? Josh!"

Annie's gaze locked on Josh's battered body, her expression shifting to one of absolute horror at the sight of the bloodied mess below her. She dropped to her knees, one hand other her mouth and the other on the ground, keeping her from collapsing.

"What happened?"
"I fell." Josh answered, concealing the truth, despite knowing the note have everything away.

Josh could tell she knew he wasn't telling the full truth. She tried to cup him in her palms but was met with screams of pain and protest.

He could see the pity in her eyes, the heartbreak and sympathy he felt he didn't deserve. They both knew he was too far gone.

"Ann-- Annie, p-please... Just do it."
"No, Josh... I won't. I'm sorry." The tears were flowing, and whatever attempts to be strong were gone. "I can't!"

"Just fucking do it!" His screech was loud, high pitched. He begged for release as his voice became garbled as the metallic taste of blood entered his mouth.

An uncomfortable silence followed, ruined only by Josh's deep, pained breaths. "Please. For me."

"Okay," she said behind grit teeth.

Annie stood up, rising to her full height and towering over him. The lively light in her eyes had vanished, replaced with a stony look of sorrow. Slowly, the tears rolled down from her eyes and over her cheeks, cascading and crashing on the ground.

She lifted her left foot up high above him, the toe of her shoe pointed down over his body. She didn't want to risk him surviving the initial step, choosing to end it quickly, mercifully.

Josh simply watched as Annie's massive foot came crashing down, closing his eyes as he felt an immense, sudden pressure.

There was a loud sharp beeping in the distance, followed by a light bubblegum pop tune. Josh's eyes burst open, and he shot up to an upright sitting position. He scanned his surroundings and sighed in relief as the familiar walls of cardboard reminded him where he was.

Josh’s attention moved to the blocky alarm clock in the distance and the bright red numbers that read 11:11.

It didn't take him much longer to notice the giant sticky note with Annie's handwriting stuck on the inside wall.

"School! Be back at 3."

He couldn't help but think about it, and he questioned himself again on whether it was something he truly deserved or even wanted. He just didn't know how to feel, so Josh simply recounted what happened.

It was just a dream. Josh was alive, and he was alone.