Chapter 2 - The Troubles Begin

Nick looked around without much time to understand what had happened. He had just accidentally shrunk along with his prototype. Fortunately, as he held it in his hand as he pressed the button, so it was shrunk too. He pointed the device at himself and pressed the button again to reverse the process. Nothing happened.

- Oh no ...

He looked at the battery level, and his fears were confirmed: they were dead! He tried several times, but without success. Beginning to panic, Nick opened his suitcase and searched inside.

- It's not possible! Not that! Not now!

He emptied it almost of all its contents, before sitting on the ground, desperate. Not only, he was going to miss the Science Fair, but in addition, everyone thought he had already left. He thought and thought that if his father did not see him at 3:00 pm, when he was supposed to arrive at the event, he would call home and his mother and sister would look for him. In the meantime, he had to try to get their attention by himself. But reduced to a mere 5 millimetres in height, it was not going to be easy. He got up and made the decision to start by entering the house. He put his things and his prototype quickly in his suitcase. He was not going to carry it all over the house but he wanted to at least bring it back inside. He just had to leave it in a corner near the entrance and restore it back to its normal size once he was out of trouble.

Fortunately, Nick had shrunk close to the door, and it only took him a couple of minutes to reach it. Given his new size, he had no trouble passing under it. He entered the house, and looked all around him, rediscovering completely this place which was his home. The entrance led directly to the living room to the right, the stairs in front, and an opening on the left that reached the kitchen. For now, the room was empty. He walked a little to the left, and left his suitcase well against the wall next to the door so that nobody stepped on it.

Nick thought about his current situation as he began to walk slowly to the middle of the room. Apparently, there was no one on the ground floor. The boy continued his walk as he approached the stairs. He had no idea how to climb them, but if his mother and sister were upstairs, he had no reason to stay here. When he reached the middle of the room, he heard footsteps. After a few seconds, his desire was confirmed: someone was coming down the stairs. Finding hope, he saw Flore appear. As she descended, he realized how gigantic she was, or how tiny he was. As she approached, he raised his arms, shouting:

- Flore! Here! I'm here!

Nick paused when he saw his sister's enormous feet coming towards him.

- Flore …- he said shyly, noticing that she could not hear him.

The boy became afraid and started running. That's when Flore's huge shoe fell right next to him with a terrible crash. Nick screamed and lost his balance. The giantess continued on her way and settled on the couch. As he stood up, Nick realized that it was going to be more challenging than expected. Not only did she not even see him, but she almost crushed him! He realized that at this size, a simple gesture for a person of normal size could be a real danger of death for him! He was barely five minutes into the house, and he had almost been killed. A little hesitant, Nick approached the sofa while Flore took a magazine on the coffee table in front of her before reading it. Once at her feet, he tried again to shout :

- FLOOORE! I'm here! Help me!!!

But his sister did not hear him at all. Nick looked at her huge legs. He wondered if he could climb her jeans and then her top, to reach one of her ears. So he could be heard. But it was dangerous. The slightest gesture of the giantess could cause him to fall or worse. As he pondered, Flore lifted her legs and laid them on the coffee table to be in a more comfortable position. He could not think of climbing her anymore. Nick suddenly heard a noise coming from the table, which for him was the height of a building. He raised his head and saw a huge pen fall. It landed right next to him with a thud and started to roll.

- NO!

Nick ran to avoid being flattened, but luckily the pen only rolled a few inches behind him. He hardly had time to stop to see that the pen was still when he saw a huge hand plunge towards him.

- FLORE!

He found himself suddenly trapped between one of her fingers and the pen, and felt himself take off.

- Aaaaaah! Help!!

She lifted him to, what was at the boy's scale, a massive vertigo inducing height. Then she put the pen back on the table and went back to her magazine. Nick found himself laid on the coffee table next to the pen. He stood up and thought for several seconds trying to understand what had happened, then he became frightened. He had realized that even leaning towards him, Flore had still not noticed him. At least here, he was more visible and safer than on the ground. He tried again to call his sister but without success. He then heard his mother shouting from upstairs:

- Flore, can you come here please?

With a sigh, Flore stood up and placed the magazine on the table. Nick saw it falling towards him dangerously close to his position.

- No! Wait!!

He was then plunged into the darkness, expecting to be crushed by the weight of the numerous pages, but he felt nothing. He was right next to the spine of the magazine, in a place where the paper was not touching the table. He heard Flore leave the room and came out of his improvised hiding place. He then noticed the impressive surface of the magazine, which appeared to him as big as two football fields. He had an idea then. If he got on the magazine, Flore might see him as she read it! On the other hand, if she took the magazine into her hands, it would become dangerous. But he was willing to take the risk! He began to walk on it, trying to choose a place that would attract the attention of his sister and on which he would be clearly visible. He did not really have time to decide when Flore came down the stairs. Nick was expecting her to come to him, but he saw her heading for the kitchen before returning a few seconds later with a cup of coffee in her hand. Even without being on the ground, to see her coming closer to him was very disturbing. She sat down on the couch and stuck the cup between her legs. Nick screamed at the top of his voice, waving his arms.

- Flore!!! Looook down here!!!

She bent over him and grabbed the magazine. Nick started to lose his balance:

- No! Flore! Stop!!

She moved the magazine closer, which she leaned towards her to read. The tiny boy began sliding.

- NO! FLOOOORE! I AM HEEEERE!!

He desperately looked for something to cling to but the paper was too smooth and very quickly he reached the edge of the magazine and began to fall.

- AAAAAAAAAAH! * Splash *

He lands in a hot and rather thick liquid. He surfaced and found himself looking up at his gigantic sister. He now realised that he had fallen into her coffee cup!

To Be Continued …

Translated from French to English by jdragondawn