The virus spread across the world like a wildfire. Though denied by the government, it was suspected that it was a weaponized genetic virus that had escaped from the secret lab. It only seemed to affect certain people based on their genetics so not everyone was shrunk. Some people actually were carriers without showing any symptoms. With a long incubation period, when the victims began to shrink, it was too late to do anything about it. About twenty-five percent of the population of the Earth shrank over a period of a year. By now, it appeared that, except for unfortunate victims, the virus epidemic was over.
No one in Jennifer's family had been affected by the virus. She assumed her family didn't have the genetic code that the virus could latch on to and cause them to shrink. What she had never been told by her parents was that she was not her father's biological daughter, but the product of a tryst her mother had when her father was away on business.
It was during the break between her freshman and sophomore years in college. She was riding her bicycle on a lonely country road when she began to feel strange. While pedaling her bike, she suddenly realized that her foot was leaving the pedal on the downstroke and the handlebars seemed to be getting larger. She stopped her bicycle, but her foot couldn't reach the ground and she and the bike dumped over on the side of the road. As she sat on the ground, she realized what was happening to her....she was shrinking!!! Within a few minutes, she found herself buried in her now hugely oversized clothing. Struggling to get free, and when she extricated herself from her garments, she looked around and saw that she had shrunk to about 5 inches tall.
There was nothing and no one in sight. This was a blessing and a curse. She had known a few victims of the virus and had heard stories about the fates of other victims of the virus. The world's governments, not knowing how to handle the epidemic and not wanting to be burdened with the long-term care of the victims, stripped them of their human rights. Some of the victims became pets of their families, others were sold on the black market as toys or sexual slaves. She knew she was, to her in her new size, more than one hundred miles from home. The last thing she wanted was to be found by a stranger with intentions she didn't want to even think about. So, she started walking alongside the road, ducking for cover when the few cars, bicyclists or hikers passed by her. Just as the sun began to set, she came upon a house. Knowing she had to find some shelter, she decided to see if she could find a way inside. Walking along the foundation, Jennifer found hole by a dryer vent that she could squeeze her tiny body through. Inside, it was warm. She made her way down to the floor and found a water pipe dripping from condensation and she relieved her parched throat with several drops of the cool water. She located a box on the floor with some rags inside, so she made herself a bed and exhausted, fell asleep.
In the morning, she decided not to start off again, but began to search the house for some food. Obviously, someone lived in the house. A bag of garbage was on the floor of the kitchen and there was a rip in the plastic. Jennifer could smell food and reaching inside the bag, she found a pizza crust. It didn't seem too stale, and she was really hungry, so she managed to break off a piece and returning to the mouse hole she used to get into the kitchen, she sat down and ate it. Suddenly, she felt the floor vibrate and the door opened, and an older woman walked into the kitchen. Jennifer stayed in the mouse hole and watched her as she made herself a cup of coffee and cooked breakfast, dumping the remains of her breakfast into the trash bag when she finished eating. "Well", Jennifer thought, "at least meals will be easy to find here".
It was well into the Fall and Jennifer knew traveling now would not be possible for her. There was no way she could stay warm with the ever increasingly long and cold nights, so she resigned herself to spending the winter in this house. By now, she knew that the lady lived alone, had no pets and rarely had a visitor. She could move about the house at night freely and find things she needed. She laughed at herself when she remembered reading "The Adventures of Arrietty" as a child, feeling like she was a "borrower" herself now. Some scraps of cloth, thread and a needle found in the sewing room became a rough smock and, in the basement, she found a fishing treble hook and some string she used as a grappling hook to climb up onto chairs, tables or anywhere else she couldn't climb by hand. She made a bag out of burlap an old sack to carry her findings. As the house was quite old, Jennifer discovered many places where mice had gnawed through walls, and she found she could move all over the house along these mouse-made trails. She even found one leading out onto a whatnot shelf in the kitchen and another under a cabinet in the living room. She could perch on the shelf while the old lady was in the kitchen, mouthwatering as the lady fixed her meals, and she could lie under the cabinet and watch television, although her and the lady's taste in shows were quite different. Over the next few months, Jennifer's life was sparce and sometimes a bit difficult, but she was warm and dry, had plenty of food and water and since the lady so far did not notice any of the things Jennifer "borrowed" and had no reason to even suspect a tiny girl was living in her house, being found was not much of a danger. Jennifer did consider making herself known to the lady a few times, but she seemed rather grumpy, so she decided not to reveal her presence. The one thing she really missed was taking a hot shower or bath. The best she could manage was a cold water sponge bath with a small silver of soap she found in the bathroom trash can. Her hair was a constant mess, growing longer than she liked it and getting stringy and dirty.
Things changed one cold winter night. A knock at the door and two adults and a teenage boy came into the house. Jennifer sat on her perch on the whatnot shelf in the kitchen and listened as they talked. It seems the boy was the lady's grandnephew whose parents had been killed in an accident. As his only living relative in the area, he would be staying with her, at least for the time being. The lady didn't seem too happy with the arraignment, but agreed to taking care of the boy until other family could be found. Jennifer knew she had to be more careful now. A teenage boy would be more curious and less stringent in his routines. And she remembered her brothers, half-brothers, that is, could be rather cruel as she had seen them torturing bugs and frogs, so she didn't want him to even suspect she was around. It would be at least another three months before it would be warm enough for her to consider trying to get home and she didn't need any complications. She limited her expeditions to late night when she knew both the old lady and the boy would be asleep and gather enough food for the entire day so she wouldn't have to venture out during the day. And she made sure she didn't "borrow" anything of his as he would probably miss any of his few possessions and search the house trying to find anything missing.
Over the next month, Jennifer got accustomed to her new routine, but boredom and curiosity often got the best of her. She would still sit on her perch in the kitchen during mealtime, but as the boy usually lay on the floor to watch television, she couldn't risk sitting under the couch anymore and being seen. She found another mouse-trail that led to a shelf in a closet in the boy's bedroom. He would often just lie on his bed, reading or playing a video game on his phone. As bad as her own situation was, she began to feel sorry for him. No friends and only this grumpy old lady for human interaction seemed to really cause him to be depressed.
One of the bright spots in Jennifer's existence was when the old lady went grocery shopping. Jennifer would sit on the shelf in the kitchen as the lady unpacked her groceries and Jennifer would think about the wonderful meals she would be enjoying soon, scraps of course from the lady and the boy's meals. Then something different.........the lady pulled a bag of "Mike and Ikes" from the bag. These were always Jennifer's favorite candy. She knew she had to get one, one being enough for a few days at her current size. "Maybe tonight......" she thought as she watched the lady pour the candy into a jar on the table.
She waited until she thought both of them were fast asleep. Creeping out of mousehole under the refrigerator, she walked to the kitchen table and threw her grappling hook onto the cushion of a chair. Jennifer climbed the rope (she had developed a bit of upper body strength over the past few months during her foraging ventures) and when she got onto the seat of the chair, she threw the hook onto the table. It caught on a dishcloth, and she pulled herself onto the table and walked over to the jar of Mike and Ikes. She had to jump up and grab the lip of the jar and when she did, the jar toppled over and slipped the candy on the table. Fearing one of them heard the noise, she grabbed one and when she started to get up, she saw the boy standing at the table looking at her. She dropped it and fell onto her butt on the table. She saw him raising his hand up and terror overcame her as she believed he was about to smash her.........but as his hand reached his chin, he extended one finger to his lips in an unmistakable "shhhhh" gesture.
"What are you doing out there?" the old lady's voice sounded from her bedroom.
"Nothing, Auntie. I just knocked over the jar of candy. I'm cleaning it up."
"You better. I think there is a mouse in the house. I have to feed your mouth and I don't want to feed any disgusting vermin too."
The boy scooped up the spilled candy and put it back in the jar. Jennifer knew she had nowhere to run as she could never make it to the floor before the boy grabbed her. She just sat on the table as he cleaned up. Then he put his hand down on the table, palm up, next to her. She looked at his hand, then at him. She knew she had no real choice in the matter, so she crawled onto his hand and sat down in the middle. The boy lifted her gently into the air, then picked up her hook and string and her bag and put them in his hand next to her. He turned towards his room, then stopped. He turned around and fished half a dozen Mike and Ike's out of the jar, then turned back and walked towards his room with the apprehensive Jennifer trembling in his hand..........
To be continued?
