Small Talk: The rise, fall, and re-rise of Holly

[Firewall]

Hey all again! Earlier in the week, I had teased a one-shot based on a mostly GTS story series that I would post here. It is called Small Talk which the main story involves a guy shrinking and his former eighth grade bully turned friend navigating life as she helps him adjust as a "tiny". As an idea to help cope, he creates a podcast with her that they use to reach out to other tinies and their life stories.

Here's some background:

In 2014, A young woman mysteriously shrinks down to 9 inches tall over the course of four days. As the months go by, others start mysteriously shrinking as well. It was determined by the world as Proportional Reduction Disorder(PRD) or The Shrinking Syndrome. PRD had become one of the most studied, feared, and perversely fantasized-about phenomena in modern history.

No one knew exactly where it came from. Some blamed mutating viral strains, others pointed fingers at environmental nano-contaminants. Regardless of the cause, the effects were undeniable: mainly adults, primarily in their twenties and thirties, could unpredictably and irreversibly shrink to sizes between twelve inches and, in rare cases, as small as half an inch. The youngest that had ever succumbed to PRD was at the age of 15.

Over the next few years, world governments had no surefire idea on how to handle the increasing number of case popping up in the planet. The ratio on men and women shrinking was 2 to 1.

What made it worse, or perhaps more complicated, was that over time a quiet but undeniable kink culture had bloomed around the condition. Power dynamics, size fantasies, domination—things people once only explored behind the anonymity of browser tabs now had a real-world edge.

By 2019, millions of people worldwide live permanently at drastically reduced sizes—often 2 to 12 inches tall. There have been rare cases of those that shrank smaller than 2 inches. To prevent exploitation, marginalization, and safety risks, The Guardian Act was passed in most major regions of the world several years ago. This framework protects individuals affected by PRD and introduced the legal concept of tiny guardianship.

In this new reality, society has developed complex support systems: guardianship programs, micro-housing, and legal protections designed to balance safety, autonomy, and equality for Tinies.

Anyhow, here's the SW focused spin-off!

Small Talk: The rise,fall,and re-rise of Holly Whitlock

Holly had never saw it as discrimination. To her, it was just "being honest." Proportional Reduction Disorder had first made the news when she was in middle school. She’d grown up in a household that jokingly called tinies “pocket pets,” and that language had stayed with her into adulthood. Once she made her life on her own, PRD or Shrinking Syndrome became more visible in society and awareness campaigns began pushing for integration and accessibility. And as it did so, Holly just rolled her eyes.

"They’re not like us," she told her friends over brunch one day, sipping cold brew like it wasn’t a loaded sentence. "We can’t keep pretending this is normal."

At first, her friends let it slide—maybe chalking it up to ignorance, or immaturity. But as weeks passed and Holly’s comments grew more cutting—scoffing at tiny-friendly public spaces, refusing to watch media with tiny leads, muttering under her breath when a shrunken person was served at a café—her circle began to shift.

Elena stopped inviting her to group dinners. Max started texting less. Even Sam, her boyfriend of over a year, seemed increasingly uncomfortable.

“You know my cousin Erin shrank last year, right?” Sam said one night, voice tight.

Holly had scoffed. “Oh come on, Sam. Erin’s barely five inches now. That’s not a person—that’s a liability.”

The silence that followed was heavier than she expected. Sam left that night and didn’t come back for a week.

Now, Holly finds herself alone in her apartment, scrolling through her feed as she sees more of her friends attending events she wasn’t invited to—community-building mixers, awareness talks, even just movie nights where tinies were welcome. She thinks they’ve all “gone soft,” but she wonders: Why does it feel like everyone else is moving on without me?

That question lingers, especially when Sam texts her:

[I think you need to really look at yourself, Holly. This isn’t about being edgy. You’re hurting people. And you’re hurting us.]

For the first time, she doesn’t have a snappy comeback. Just silence. And maybe, the beginning of a reckoning.
==
Wanting to be heard and seen, Holly joined a message board was called Human First. Tucked away in the seedier corners of the net, it was a mix of pseudoscience, personal rants, and memes mocking tinies. Holly had found it after typing “Shrinking Syndrome hoax” into a search engine late one night—half out of anger, half out of curiosity.

Within days, she was posting.

At first, just small things:

“Anyone else sick of this tiny-friendly propaganda?”
“My boyfriend dumped me because I wouldn’t coddle a bug.”
“How is this NOT species replacement?”

The replies came quickly. Dozens of usernames chiming in with agreement, sympathy, and worst of all—validation. Holly felt seen in a way she hadn’t in months. She started attending virtual chats. Then in-person meetings.

The group called themselves Pure Proportion, and they met in rented backrooms of gyms, dive bars, even churches. Always low-key. Always “just for support.”

The leader, a sharp-dressed man in his forties named Len, welcomed her personally.

“We’re not monsters.” he said, sipping from a tiny-free labeled coffee cup. “We just want to preserve what’s left of normality. The world is changing too fast—and we didn’t get a say.”

Holly nodded, hanging on every word. She was finally around the people who got it.

But as the meetings went on, things got darker. They started encouraging members to protest at tiny shelters. To pressure employers who hired shrunken individuals. Someone even shared blueprints for devices that could block accessibility drones in public spaces. Holly felt a twinge of discomfort, but she told herself it was just her getting used to the idea of real activism.

And then came the night they met at the old warehouse on the south end. Len passed around masks.

“We’re going to make a statement.” he said, smiling. “Just a warning shot. Nobody gets hurt.”

Holly hesitated, mask in hand, staring at the Pure Proportion emblem—a stylized human silhouette towering over a tiny one. And for the first time in weeks, she thought of Sam. Of his cousin Erin. Of how scared Erin looked that one time they met, and Holly had called her a “paperweight.”

Her hand shook slightly but she didn’t back down.
==
They moved at night, in pairs. The target was a tiny sanctuary tucked in between two high-rise complexes—a community center and transitional housing facility for those recently afflicted with Shrinking Syndrome. It was barely a blip on most maps, but to Pure Proportion, it was a symbol of “society’s collapse.”

Holly wore her mask. Plain black, featureless. Her heartbeat thrummed behind it as she moved through the alley with a girl named Shara, another recent recruit. Shara had fire in her eyes—an intensity Holly found both energizing and unsettling.

They weren’t carrying weapons. That would come later, Len had hinted. Tonight was optics.

Spray paint. Broken windows. A few kicked-over accessibility drones.

“Hit ‘em where it hurts.” Shara whispered. “Remind them this isn’t their world.”

Inside, tiny lives were packed into scaled-down rooms, custom-built with care—miniature furniture, carefully warmed air, safe charging stations. The kind of environment tinies needed just to feel alive again.

They began the defacement.

Holly took her can of spray paint and scrawled the words “REAL SIZE = REAL RIGHTS” across the outer wall. Shara smashed a tiny-sized vehicle with her boot, laughing. Someone on the other side of the building set off a firecracker.

Screams, faint and high-pitched, echoed from inside.

For a moment, Holly stood still, paint can dangling from her hand. The sound of fear—raw, unmistakable—washed over her. A flicker of guilt twitched in her stomach. But she stamped it down.

They ran when the sirens came.

Back at the rendezvous point, the warehouse buzzed with triumph. Len smiled at her like a proud father.

“You did good tonight.” he said. “They’ll think twice before expanding again.”

Everyone clapped. Holly forced a smile.

But that night, she didn’t sleep. Not even a little. Her mind kept circling back to a tiny face she’d glimpsed through a cracked window—someone clutching a smaller figure, possibly a child, shielding them from the noise.

They weren’t fighting back. They were hiding.

Was this really power? Or just cruelty dressed up in ideology?

And yet... she said nothing the next day. And the day after that, when a video of the attack hit the net and sparked outrage, Holly deleted all her old posts and locked down her accounts. But she didn’t leave the group…..Not yet.

A few days later, the video of the sanctuary attack made national news. Night-vision clips, low-res phone footage, blurry silhouettes. The message “REAL SIZE = REAL RIGHTS” was crystal clear, stenciled in sharp red across the building’s outer wall. Commentators condemned the vandalism. Hashtags surged: #SanctuaryStrike, #TinyLivesMatter, #PureProportionExposed.

Holly told herself she’d been careful. Covered her face. Wore gloves. No direct evidence tied her to the scene. But one evening, as she returned to her apartment, her phone lit up with a message from Elena:

[You home? We need to talk.]

She barely had time to respond before a knock came at the door. As Holly opened the door, Elena stood in the hall, arms crossed. Her jaw was set like stone.

“I saw the video.” she said. No greeting. No warmth. “You were there, weren’t you?”

Holly’s stomach dropped. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t insult me. I know how you move, Hol. I saw the way you handled that spray can. I recognized your boots.”

Holly swallowed. “You’re being paranoid. It could’ve been anyone.”

Elena stepped forward. “You used to laugh with us. You used to care. Now you’re terrorizing people who are already vulnerable. What the hell happened to you?”

“I’m not terrorizing anyone,” Holly snapped. “We’re making a statement. This syndrome is warping society, and no one’s talking about it. We didn’t hurt anyone.”

“You traumatized people,” Elena shot back. “That child in the video? Crying in their mother’s arms while you and your friends played fascist cosplay? You think that’s not violence?”

Holly’s mask cracked for a second. “You don’t understand what it’s like. Everyone’s bending over backward for these tinies—what about us? The ones who didn’t shrink but have to change everything for them?”

Elena’s face twisted with disgust. “You want to talk about burden? You think having to watch your tone or make space is oppression? Erin had to relearn how to breathe when her lungs shrank too small. You were always blunt, Holly, but this—this is poison.”

Holly’s voice rose, angry now, defensive. “At least I have the guts to say what everyone’s thinking!”

“No.” Elena said, eyes hardening. “You’re just too scared to admit you’re wrong. And too weak to change.” She turned and walked out, leaving Holly standing in her doorway, boiling with rage—but also… hollow.
==
Elena’s words echoed for days in her mind—but Holly refused to let them settle. She told herself Elena was brainwashed. Soft. Just another casualty of tiny propaganda.

She posted in the Pure Proportion forums that night under her alias: BigHorizon.

“Lost a friend today. She sided with the bugs. That’s one less sheep in my life.”

Dozens of replies flooded in. Encouragement. Applause. One even said: “Losing the weak means we’re getting stronger.”

It felt like vindication. Len invited her to a strategy session. Not a public meeting this time, but something smaller. Trusted members only.

The apartment was upscale, tastefully sparse. Framed art on the walls. A wine bar. Not what she expected from a group that hated “modern decay.”

Len closed the door behind her. “We’re moving forward, Holly. No more warnings. This next phase—real disruption. And we want you involved.”

“What kind of disruption?” she asked.

“We’ve identified a law firm. They just hired a tiny partner—big publicity moment. There’s a ribbon-cutting next week. We hit them then. We break their drones, humiliate them. And.” he said with a small, cruel smile, “leave them a message they can’t ignore.”

Holly felt a chill, but she masked it. “I’m in.”

Len nodded approvingly. “Good. We need people like you. People who don’t flinch.”

That same night, she messaged Sam.

[You know what? You were right to leave.]
[But I’m right, too.]
[You just don’t have the stomach for the truth.]

He didn’t reply. And even though she stared at the read receipt for hours, she didn’t unsend it. She wouldn’t beg to be understood anymore. The world was changing—and if that meant burning bridges, then so be it.

She’d become something else now. Not cruel but clear.
==
The law firm was sleek, glassy, and humming with morning energy. Protestors already gathered outside—mostly Pure Proportion, chanting the usual lines: “Scale Over Sympathy,” “Don’t Shrink the Standard.” “No Equal Rights for Unequal Size.”

Holly stood near the edge of the crowd, holding a sign and watching the main entrance. Her eyes landed on a small, mobile access ramp deployed by the firm’s security drones.

A tiny figure approached on a motorized scooter, maybe seven inches tall, wearing a crisp gray suit tailored to perfection. He had dark hair, a black briefcase slung over one shoulder, and a badge clipped to his lapel: Malcolm Rey, Esq.

He stopped as he reached the edge of the protest, looked directly at Holly’s sign—“Real Size, Real Law”—then up at her.

Their eyes locked. To Holly’s surprise, he didn’t flinch. He didn’t look scared or angry. He just… stood there.

“You with the group?” he asked through his voice amp, calm and level.

“I am.” Holly replied, squaring her shoulders. “We’re not going to stay silent while you people erode everything normal.”

“‘Normal.’” Malcolm echoed. “Interesting word. Usually means ‘just like me.’”
She scowled. “You’re not like us. That’s the point.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I have a law degree, a mortgage, and a family. What else do I need to qualify as a person to you?”

“You’re not the same.” she said sharply. “We have to build ramps for you. Recalibrate drones. Public transit has little cabins for you tinies. Redesign our entire society around a fluke of biology.”

Malcolm smiled faintly. “Society redesigns itself all the time. For cars. For phones. For pandemics. For planes. But when it’s for people smaller than you, suddenly it’s tyranny?”

Holly gritted her teeth. “You want to change everything—and you want us to pretend it’s normal.”

“I don’t need you to pretend anything.” Malcolm said, voice still steady. “I just need you to understand that being different doesn’t mean being less.”

She stepped forward, lowering her voice but sharpening it. “You think you can stand here and lecture me? I could—”

He cut her off with quiet steel. “You could what, Miss? Crush me? Prove your superiority by threatening someone you could kill with your shoe?”

For a heartbeat, Holly didn’t answer. Not because she was stunned—but because she wanted to. That dark impulse flared in her gut. Not to act—but to say it. To show she wasn’t afraid to be real.

Instead, she said, “You don’t belong here.”

Malcolm nodded once. “That’s the difference between us. I stand here knowing I do.”
He turned and continued up the ramp without saying another word. The crowd jeered behind her, but Holly didn’t join in.

Her sign felt heavier than before.
==
She didn’t sleep that night.

Every time Holly closed her eyes, she saw Malcolm Rey’s face—steady, unafraid, unimpressed. Not with her, not with Pure Proportion, not with any of it.

But she wouldn't let it rattle her. Couldn't.

The next morning, she was already drafting a post titled “Strength Isn’t Scalable” for the group’s private forum. It was a scathing rant, full of rhetoric about “moral dilution,” “microscopic entitlement,” and “the tyranny of accommodation.” She quoted
Malcolm without naming him, twisting his words to make him sound smug, elitist.

“They want to be small and still cast a shadow. That’s not courage. That’s narcissism in miniature.”

Len commented within minutes: “Your clearest work yet. This needs to be published.”

That afternoon, Strength Isn’t Scalable was repackaged into a manifesto pamphlet format and distributed at new-member events. Holly’s voice was becoming the movement’s edge—sharper, colder, louder.

The attack on the law firm hadn’t stopped the public support for tinies. If anything, the backlash had rallied more people behind them. Holly saw videos online of vigils, fundraisers, support drives. Even Sam had posted a picture of himself at a #TinyTogether rally.

She muttered, “Weak.” and kept scrolling.

But part of her was starting to feel... cornered. The world wasn’t slowing down for her beliefs—it was speeding up against them. So she leaned harder into her cause. She volunteered for leadership roles. Started vetting new recruits. She became the one people pointed to when they wanted to say, “She tells the truth no one else will.”

She had respect. Fear. Power.

And yet, every time she caught her reflection—on a bus window, a phone screen, a mirror—she saw a woman clenched like a fist. Tight. Hollow-eyed. Always bracing for something.

There was no peace in it. But there was pride and for now, pride was enough.
====
It started with feeling exhausted in the morning. Perhaps all of the activites with the group were taking a toll on her stamina but she needed to see the doctor to make sure.

The waiting room at the clinic was bright and nauseatingly sterile, with cheerful signs about early detection and support services for PRD. Tiny-friendly seating was integrated seamlessly—mini benches, accessible consoles, service drones hovering like metallic bees.

Holly sat stiffly in a chair, arms crossed, glaring at a woman beside her who was softly chatting with her tiny partner nestled in a padded carrier. She rolled her eyes audibly.
“Parading him around like an accessory.” she muttered.

The woman turned, raising a brow. “Or maybe just taking him to a checkup, same as you.”

Holly didn’t respond. Her fingers drummed against her arm. She hated this place—its forced optimism, its tiny-height magazines, its progressive tone. She was only here because of a persistent muscle tremor in her right hand. Probably nothing. Overuse. Stress.

Then the nurse called her name.

The exam was quick. Standard vitals. Blood draw. A genetic marker scan. She rolled her eyes the entire time, making snide comments about "how desperate the tiny lobby must be if they’re scanning for fairy dust now."

But then the doctor came in with a concerned look on his face.

Dr. Raines was professional, middle-aged, with that particular expression reserved for telling someone their world was about to tilt sideways.

“We’ve finished reviewing your tests, Ms Whitlock.” he said. “And I need to inform you… you’ve tested positive for the PRD marker. You are in early-stage Shrinking Syndrome.”

Holly blinked as she heard that then laughed. “No. No, I’m not. I don’t believe in that garbage.”

Dr. Raines sighed. “It’s not a belief system. It’s biology. The tremors, your recent fatigue—it’s consistent with early-stage proportional destabilization.”
Her voice rose. “You’re wrong. Run it again.”

“We already did. Five times.”

Holly shook her head in denial. “This is a mistake.”

“I’m afraid it isn’t.”

She stood abruptly, knocking over the chair. “Do you know who I am? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?”

“We treat all patients the same, Ms Whitlock. That includes you.”

“No. No, I’m not one of them. I fight this crap. I don’t become it!” She stormed out before discharge paperwork could be printed.

That night, she ripped her Pure Proportion posters off the wall. Not because she rejected them—because they suddenly terrified her. Like mirrors turned backward.

She didn’t go online. Didn’t message Len. Didn’t scream into the echo chamber for comfort.

She just sat on her floor in the dark, staring at her hands. They looked the same for now.

She couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t eat. Couldn’t think straight beyond one howling, looping thought: What am I going to become?
====
The morning after her diagnosis, Holly woke to an inbox full of Pure Proportion chatter—plans for a new flyer campaign, a podcast invite, and a message from Len:

“Your article’s gaining traction. Media might reach out. Stay sharp.”

She stared at the screen, hollowed out. Her hands trembled slightly—barely noticeable. For now.

She typed back: “Glad to hear. Just under the weather today. Might go quiet for a bit.”

Then she shut her laptop and went to the mirror. No changes yet. Her height was intact. Hands, the same. Eyes, same color.

But she felt it. Deep inside. Like a crack in a dam, pressure building.

The first step was obvious: secrecy.

She canceled a speaking event. Told them she was recovering from the flu. Switched to oversized clothes to mask weight changes. She adjusted her hair—more volume to compensate for subtly narrowing facial lines.

Next, she created a second identity under a dummy email—one she’d use to research PRD forums without being tracked. She read about people trying experimental treatments. Underground clinics. Denial groups, too—people who believed they could "will" the syndrome away.

She bookmarked them all.

At Pure Proportion meetings, she said less. Smiled more. Nodded through speeches. Let others take the mic. When someone commented on her slimmer look, she brushed it off: “New diet. Low sodium, less bloat.”

No one suspected—yet. But the fear never left her chest. Not just of shrinking… but of being seen shrinking.

She even avoided Malcolm Rey’s name in group posts, afraid some karmic force would punish her for what she said to him.

But even in hiding, the changes advanced—slow, precise, unstoppable. Her shoes started feeling loose. She had to tighten her watch strap. She swore the kitchen counter looked taller than it did a week ago.

One night, while reaching for a mug, her fingers failed her. She dropped it.

It shattered on the tile like glass in a graveyard. She didn’t clean it up right away. Just stood there, staring. I am not this.

But denial, she was learning, didn’t stop entropy.
====
The turning point happened at a planning session. Low-key, private. Just five members in a dusty basement office Pure Proportion used for small-cell meetings. Holly arrived late, her hoodie oversized, sunglasses still on. She claimed migraines.

Len was presenting new talking points about PRD being a "social contagion." Holly, silent in the corner, scribbled notes with trembling fingers.

Then came Jordan. Newer member. Early twenties, cocky, eager to climb. He was holding a tablet, scanning attendance logs from recent events.

“Hey.” he said suddenly, glancing up from the screen. “Holly, your badge isn’t scanning right. You changed IDs?”

She looked up, startled. “No. Why?”

Jordan raised an eyebrow. “Says here your height was logged at 5’7” in January. Last rally it clocked you at 5’3.”

The room went still.

Holly forced a laugh. “Cheap tech. Glitches.”

Jordan didn’t back down. “Two different scanners. Same result.”

Len slowly turned to face her. “Is there something we need to talk about, Holly?”

She stood up too quickly, nearly tipping her chair. “This is ridiculous. You’re turning into a surveillance cult?”

“No one’s accusing.” Len said evenly. “We just don’t tolerate infiltration.”

“Infiltration?” she barked. “I built this branch. I’ve written half our materials.”

Jordan crossed his arms. “Then why the secrecy? Why’re you hiding in clothes two sizes too big? Why are your shoes off right now?”

Everyone looked down.

Holly had slipped out of her boots mid-meeting. They were obviously too large.

She hesitated—then snapped. “It’s temporary. A vitamin deficiency. I’ve got it under control.”

Jordan’s eyes narrowed. “You tested positive, didn’t you?”

She didn’t answer. That was answer enough. A ripple of silence broke across the room like ice cracking.

Len took a slow breath. “Holly… you know the rules. Purity of scale. Clarity of message. If you’re one of them, even partly... you compromise everything.”

Her voice trembled for the first time. “I’m still me. Nothing’s changed.”

“Everything’s changed.” Len said, rising. “And you knew it would.”

Holly looked around, hoping for one ally. No one met her gaze.

Without a word, she grabbed her coat, her too-large boots, and left. Outside, the cold hit her like betrayal. Inside, the war had already begun between who she’d been… and who she was becoming
====
It took Holly two full days to work up the courage.

She stood outside Elena’s apartment in the cold dusk, hands stuffed deep in her sleeves. She hadn’t called ahead. She didn’t even know if Elena still lived there, but the mail slot still had her name. E. Cortez. That was something.

Her knuckles hovered over the door for several seconds before she knocked. When it opened, Elena blinked, stunned. Her expression turned immediately cautious.

“…Holly?”

Holly didn’t speak. She tried. Her mouth opened, then closed again. Her throat burned.
Elena stepped forward, tense. “What do you want?”

“I…” Holly started, voice small. “I didn’t know where else to go.”

There was a long pause. Then Elena noticed her. Really noticed. The loose hoodie. The hollow eyes. The way her frame didn’t quite fill the doorway the way it used to.

“You’re shrinking.”

It wasn’t a question. Holly nodded once, then tried to say something clever, something defiant—anything to hold on to what used to be her. But nothing came.
Instead, the tears did.

They came fast, choking, unstoppable—tears that had waited weeks to erupt. Her knees
buckled slightly as she leaned against the doorframe, one hand clutching her ribs like she could hold herself together.

“I didn’t believe it.” she gasped. “I mocked them. Hated them. Hated them. I called Erin a paperweight. I laughed when people panicked. I thought I was above it. And now—”

Elena caught her before she collapsed completely. Guided her inside, to the couch, where Holly sank like a stone.

“I’m going to lose everything.” she sobbed. “They kicked me out. I can’t show my face anywhere. I’ll be—God—I’ll be one of them. A thing.”

“No, Holly.” Elena said quietly. “You’ll be you. Just… smaller.”

Holly shook her head violently. “I don’t know how to live like this. I built my whole life on being against what I am.”

“You built your life on fear.” Elena replied gently. “Now you have to decide who you are without it.”

For a long time, they sat in silence. Holly cried until she couldn’t anymore. And for the first time since her diagnosis—since the world started shrinking around her—she didn’t feel alone.
====
Elena let her stay the night.

She gave Holly a blanket, tea, and a spare change of clothes—sweatpants that fit poorly now, even cinched tight at the waist. Holly barely spoke after the breakdown, her throat raw, her thoughts silent but relentless.

She lay on the couch in the dark, listening to the hum of the refrigerator, the tick of the heating vent. Her body ached in strange places—muscles she didn’t recognize, joints that pulsed like they were slowly unwinding.

The pain began around midnight. It wasn’t sharp. It was slow. Like a deep, seismic pulling—tendons shortening, bones whispering themselves smaller. Her fingers curled involuntarily. Her skin flushed hot, then cold.

She tried to stand, but the floor stretched away like a yawning chasm. She collapsed.

Her vision swam. The room grew. No—she shrank. Her limbs pulled inward, bones compacting, spine compressing in soft, wet cracks. The couch beneath her ballooned in scale. The coffee table towered. Her clothes slipped from her body like empty sails.

She wanted to scream—but the air left her lungs as her ribcage folded in on itself, shrinking, shifting. Her teeth ached. Her eardrums warped. Her heart thundered faster, faster, faster— Then silence.

When it stopped, she laid there, shaking, curled up in the center of a hoodie that now covered her like a collapsed circus tent. She was around five inches tall.

She knew it instinctively. Not just by comparison, but in her bones. The Syndrome had completed its course. Her body was light, delicate, altered in ways she couldn’t comprehend—but it was hers now. This was real. This was her.

She curled into a ball and sobbed—long, quiet, exhausted tears. Not just for the shrinking. For the years of cruelty. For the people she’d mocked. For herself.

In the early morning light, Elena returned to check on her. She paused when she saw the bundle on the couch. Moved carefully. Gently lifted the hoodie.

Holly looked up, eyes red, voice barely a whisper to Elena’s ears “Don’t say anything. Please.”

Elena didn’t. She just nodded, knelt beside the couch, and extended a hand—palm open, steady, safe. Holly hesitated at first then she stepped into it.
====
It had been two days since her shrinkage.

Holly hadn’t left Elena’s apartment. Most of that time, she spent inside a converted shoebox that Elena had padded with fleece scraps and lined with craft foam. It embarrassed her. Infuriated her. And yet, it was warm. Safe.

She barely spoke unless prompted. Elena got her a voice amp, which clipped like a collar mic to her tiny neckline. It made her cringe personally but Elena never looked at her with pity—only patience.

That morning, Elena tapped gently on the box before opening the top flap.

“Hey. I want to show you something.”

Holly stirred, pulling a scarf tighter around her shoulders. “If it’s a mirror, I’ll throw myself out the window.”

“It’s not.” Elena said, smiling softly. “Come on.”

She held out her palm, and Holly stepped onto it.

On the coffee table, Elena had set up her tablet. A video was paused on the screen: a small conference room filled with people—but scaled. A cluster of tinies, sitting in customized seating pods, talking, laughing, some even crying. A large sign behind them read:

"FOUNDATIONS – A Support Circle for the Newly Reduced."

Elena tapped play. The video resumed. A tiny woman was speaking:

“I didn’t think I’d ever matter again. I used to be a teacher. Then I shrank and thought, ‘What kind of authority can someone hear from a keychain?’ But I’m learning… I still am me. Just… different scale, different strength.”

Another man chimed in.

“My brother didn’t talk to me for six months. Said I was a burden. But I realized—his fear wasn’t mine to carry. I started over. I got small, but I started over.”

Holly watched, arms wrapped around herself. Something unnamable flickered across her face—grief… envy… maybe hope.

Elena lowered the tablet’s volume. “They meet virtually every week. In-person when they can. I know you’re not ready for all that yet, but… maybe someday?”

Holly looked away. “I don’t want to sit in a circle and tell strangers I used to be a bigot.”

Elena chuckled. “You don’t have to. You just have to be. You’re allowed to exist in this space, Holly. Even if you're still figuring it out.”

There was a pause.

Then Elena added gently, “Also… I’ve been looking into official registry stuff. You’ll need a guardian soon. Not just for protection but medical protocols require it for anyone under six inches. If you want me to file for it, I will. No pressure. You don’t even have to decide today.”

Holly didn’t answer right away.

She stared at the screen again—at the tinies, laughing in that fragile-seeming room. And for the first time, she didn’t feel rage. Or shame. Just… distance. And maybe the faintest desire to bridge it.

“I’ll think about it.” she said finally, voice quiet. “The guardian thing. And… the group.”

“That’s enough for me.” Elena said, smiling.

She closed her hand around Holly, protective but loose. No control. Just support.
And for the first time since her fall, Holly let herself lean into it.
====
The park was quiet, the air soft with early spring warmth. Sam sat on a shaded bench; his tiny cousin Erin perched beside him in a portable hover chair that rested on the table.

Erin had grown into her new life—confident, sharp, dressed in smart, tiny-tailored clothes. She flicked through a tablet roughly the size of a hardcover book to her.

“I still don’t get why every tiny-friendly app has the worst UI.” she muttered, squinting.

“Because none of them hire tiny developers.” Sam replied with a smirk.

Erin rolled her eyes. “Put me on a design team and I’d fix it in a week.”

That was when Elena approached. She looked tired, but there was something in her posture—hope, cautious and weighty.

Sam stood. “Hey. Haven’t seen you since the rally.”

“I know.” Elena said softly. “I’ve been… helping someone.”

Erin tilted her head. “Someone?”

Elena gently set a small box down on the picnic table. Not cardboard. Smooth, polished wood, with a curved door on one side. From within, a voice spoke—quiet, amplified, familiar.

“Hey…”

Sam’s eyes widened. Erin straightened.

Elena opened the door, and Holly stepped into the sunlight.

She looked… different. Smaller, obviously—no more than five inches, dressed in a gray fleece wrap and simple soft-soled shoes. But more than that, her face was stripped of pride. No defiance. No armor.

Just… regret.

She stepped toward Erin and Sam, voice shaking through her amp.

“I didn’t think I’d ever be in front of you again. And I wouldn’t be, if Elena hadn’t dragged me back to the world.”

Neither of them spoke.

Holly swallowed. “I… wanted to say I’m sorry. Not the fake kind. The real kind. I said things to you—about you—that were hateful. I meant them then. I believed them.”

She looked down, then back up, voice thick with guilt.

“But when I got the diagnosis, the first thing I thought about wasn’t my body, or my job. It was what I said to you. What I’d made fun of. What I’d called people like you.”

She looked at Erin now, directly. “That day, when I said you were a paperweight? I meant it to humiliate you. But I see now—I was terrified. Of losing control. Of becoming you.”

Erin’s face was unreadable.

Sam finally broke the silence. “So what are you now, Holly?”

Holly took a breath. “I don’t know. I’m not asking you to forgive me. I just… needed you to know I see it now. All of it.”

There was a pause. Then Erin leaned forward in her hover chair, arms crossed.

“You hurt a lot of people, Holly. Some of us won’t forget. Maybe not for a long time.”
Holly nodded. “I get that.”

“But.” Erin added, voice softening slightly, “if you really mean this… you’ve got a lot to
unlearn. And maybe—maybe—some of it you can make right.”

Sam looked between them, the anger in his face dulling, replaced by something quieter. Maybe not trust—but something near it.

Elena gave Holly a nod. Holly took a step back, folded her arms, and sat on the edge of the box’s ledge—smaller than anyone else at the table.

But for once, she didn’t feel beneath them.

Just ready to begin.

[Firewall]

The support group met virtually that week—Foundations hosted a mixed-scale session, accessible to tinies and standard-size allies alike. The meeting interface looked like a grid of miniature windows, each holding a face that had shrunk but endured.

Holly sat in a custom perch within Elena’s apartment, microphone clipped gently to her scarf, tablet screen casting soft light across her features.

She counted the participants. Eighteen. Some just faces. Some paired with normal-sized loved ones. She recognized the woman from the earlier video—the former teacher. A few waved silently when they saw her log in, and someone even typed:

“New face! Welcome, Holly.”

When the moderator asked if anyone wanted to share tonight, Holly froze at first.

Elena, just off camera, nodded encouragingly.

Then Holly’s voice came on. Small, amplified, a little shaky—but hers.

“My name is Holly Whitlock.” she began. “I’m five inches tall. Stage three PRD.”

Several participants nodded. The kind of nod that meant We know what that night was like.

She continued. “I used to be one of those people who talked about ‘shrinking’ like it was a social disease. I called it weakness. I called you weak.”

Her throat tightened, but she didn’t stop.

“I ran with groups that used words like ‘purity’ and ‘real size.’ I vandalized tiny spaces. I told myself I was protecting society. But really… I was terrified. And when I finally got diagnosed, the first thing I thought wasn’t, ‘How do I live like this?’ It was, ‘How many people did I hurt?’”

Silence across the room. A respectful, attentive silence.

“I still don’t know who I am now. I don’t know how to be this small. I don’t know how to trust anyone who looks at me without seeing the person I used to be. But I want to try. I want to learn. I want to be someone worth hearing—even if my voice barely carries anymore.”

She let the silence hang, waiting for judgment.

Instead, the woman who’d been a teacher unmuted.

“You are worth hearing.” she said simply. “And we’re glad you’re here.”

One by one, the others nodded. Typed messages of support. Some waved. One said,

“Takes courage to speak when you’ve been part of the problem. You’re not the first.
You won’t be the last. But you showed up. That’s something.”

And for the first time since the fall, Holly felt something more powerful than guilt.

She felt seen.
==
Meanwhile, the Pure Proportion office had changed.

It wasn’t a basement anymore—it was a proper space now. Anonymous donors had stepped in after the sanctuary incident. There were new printers, polished floors, and a fresh mission statement hung on the wall in bold sans-serif: “Restoring the Natural Order.”

Len stood at the head of the long conference table, tablet in hand, scrolling silently through a social feed.

Someone had posted a clip. A tiny woman speaking on a support group stream. Framed by a small perch, voice amplified.

The woman in the group? Holly Whitlock.

Len didn’t flinch, but his jaw tightened. Her words echoed in his memory: “I was part of Pure Proportion. I used to hate people like you. But I was wrong.”

The others in the room—cell leaders, recruiters, donors—watched him closely.

Finally, Jordan spoke. “It’s not just embarrassing, it’s dangerous. She knows everything.
Locations. Messaging plans. Funders.”

“She’s one of them now.” someone else added. “She could flip the whole narrative.”
Len set the tablet down, folded his hands in front of him.

“She won’t.” he said, voice calm. “She’s too ashamed to face the world, let alone weaponize what she knows.”

“And if she does?” Jordan asked.

Len looked up. “Then we make sure no one listens to her.”

They murmured approval.

He continued. “Start with discrediting. Old footage. Get someone to anonymously leak clips of her during our early rallies—focus on her worst rants. Make it seem like she’s playing on both sides. That she’s a plant. A fraud. That she’s only pretending to shrink.”

“She’s five inches tall now, Len.”

“Then say it’s tech. Surgery. The Syndicate’s pushing new propaganda—let the conspiracy nuts do the rest.”

Jordan nodded. “And if that doesn’t stop her?”

Len’s smile was thin. “Then we remind her that even small voices can be silenced.”

Back in Elena’s apartment, Holly turned off the group chat stream and stared at the empty screen, feeling both lighter… and exposed.

“I said it.” she whispered. “I said it out loud.”

Elena smiled gently. “And now the work begins.”

But outside their quiet, healing bubble… the storm was already forming.
====
It started with a message. An anonymous sender. No subject. Just a link to an old video—one of Holly at a Pure Proportion rally, standing tall on a crate, fist raised, screaming:

“They’re not people. They’re parasites with Wi-Fi!”

The caption beneath read:
“Still think she’s one of us? Ask her what she used to say.”

Holly stared at the screen, stomach twisting. It wasn’t even the worst footage they had.
More followed. Voice messages from numbers that didn’t trace back anywhere:

“Stay quiet, and no one gets hurt.”
“You’re a fraud. We know where you sleep.”
“Small doesn’t mean invisible, traitor.”

Elena wanted to go to the authorities. Holly hesitated.

“They’ll just say I’m unstable.” she muttered. “That I’m some turncoat trying to rewrite my history.”

Elena crouched beside her perch, voice firm. “You are rewriting it. But not with lies—with honesty.”

That night, Holly lay awake inside her fleece-lined box, tablet lighting her face.
She pulled up a blank message and began typing.

To: Foundations Admin Group
Subject: Former Extremist – I Have Information

“My name is Holly Whitlock. I used to work with Pure Proportion. I know locations, strategy, funding channels, and private comms.

I stayed silent because I was ashamed. But silence keeps them alive.

I’m ready to talk. Fully. Publicly.”

She hesitated… then tapped Send.

The next morning, she was on a video call with a journalist. Not some fluff piece interviewer—Lucia Gaynor, known for investigative exposés.

They spoke for an hour.

Holly didn’t spare herself. She confessed to her involvement in the sanctuary vandalism. She walked Lucia through Pure Proportion’s coded language, recruiting tactics, and digital laundering. When asked why she was speaking up now, she said:

“Because they only have power when people stay afraid.
I used to be one of them. Now I’m not.
And I owe it to every person I hurt to tear down what I helped build.”

The article dropped three days later. It went viral.

“I Shrunk. They Threatened Me. So I Spoke.” — Former Extremist Turns Whistleblower on Anti-Tiny Hate Group

Pure Proportion denied everything. Claimed she faked her condition. Claimed she was coerced.

But the video clips Holly provided? The meeting logs? The burner messages she leaked?

They spoke louder than any amp ever could. And Holly—five inches tall, voice trembling but steady—kept speaking.
==
The fallout was instantaneous. Within hours of the article dropping, Holly’s name was trending—first on tiny advocacy sites, then mainstream media. Screens flashed headlines across every platform:

“From Hate to Hope: Holly Whitlock Exposes Tiny Hate Group”
“Ex-Extremist Comes Clean—Too Little, Too Late?”
“5 Inches Tall, and Taking Down a Giant”

News anchors debated whether she deserved praise or condemnation. Panelists shouted over each other. Comment sections split down the middle.

Some hailed her as brave:
“It takes guts to turn on your own and admit you were wrong. She’s saving lives.”

Others weren't ready to forgive:

“She only changed sides when she shrank. She doesn't care—she's just scared.”
“No redemption for someone who only repents after the fall.”

Activists in the tiny community were similarly divided. Erin, when asked in an interview,
paused before answering. “What Holly did was right. But it doesn’t undo what she was. That’ll take time. She knows that.”

Sam reposted the article with one sentence:
“People can change—but not without owning it. She’s owning it.”

But not all reactions were online.

A bouquet showed up at Elena’s apartment one morning. A tiny card nestled in the petals read:

“Thank you for speaking. I lost my brother to Pure Proportion. He never got out. You did. Keep going.”

Anonymous. Holly kept it on her desk.

But she also kept her amp turned off when she left the apartment. She noticed people staring—some with recognition, others with resentment.

She’d become a symbol, and symbols are rarely allowed to be human.
During a video roundtable, a moderator asked her directly:

“Do you think you deserve forgiveness?”

Holly’s answer was measured.

“Forgiveness isn’t owed to me. I poisoned the well, and now I’m trying to clean it, one cup at a time. I don’t expect people to drink from it again. But I’m not walking away from it, either.”

The chat filled with a storm of hearts, angry emojis, clapping hands, and fire icons all at once.

And for the first time, Holly didn’t flinch at any of it. She just kept talking.
====
It was late afternoon when the knock came.

Elena was out shopping, and Holly had been perched on the edge of the windowsill, watching the world from a five-inch perspective—birds, passing cars, children skipping stones in the alley fountain below.

She called out, “Door’s open!” through her amp as she unlocked the door through her tablet.

Footsteps approached. Familiar ones. She had turned around.

Sam stepped in, hands in his coat pockets, a hesitant smile on his face.

For a moment, they just looked at each other—him tall and framed in the light, her small and resting against a bottle cap she used as a footstool now.

“Hey.” he said.

“Hey yourself.” she replied, voice quiet but even.

He sat at the table nearby, lowering himself carefully so she didn’t get lost in his shadow. “I read everything. Watched the full interview. You were… different.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Better different, or just not-screaming-at-tinies different?”
He chuckled softly. “Better. Still blunt. But honest now.”

There was a pause. Neither of them filled it with apology or flattery. Just silence that felt, for once, earned.

“I wanted to see you.” he said. “To tell you… I’m willing to give this…us… another chance.”

Holly’s eyes widened slightly. Her fingers tensed against her scarf, like she was grounding herself.

“But” Sam added, “Erin… she’s not there yet. She supports what you’re doing, but it might be a long time before she can look at you without remembering.”

Holly nodded. “That’s fair. Honestly, she’s probably smarter for it.”
He tilted his head. “You holding up okay?”

She sighed dramatically, placing the back of her hand to her forehead in mock despair.

“As well as someone forced to live in a shoebox palace and get carried around like a house pet.”

He smiled, and she added, “I’ve decided I’m going to discriminate against a new group, just to stay balanced.”

“Oh God. Who?”

“Giants. You know, people like you.” She continued as she pointed at Sam. “All that height, no idea what to do with it. Just bumping into doorframes and reaching things on the top shelf like show-offs.”

Sam laughed, full and real this time.

She grinned, resting her chin in her palm. “But don’t worry, I’ll allow exceptions for reformed tall boys.”

He leaned in just a bit closer, expression soft. “You really are different.”

She shrugged. “Guess it takes getting small to finally get some perspective.”
====
The Foundations support group had set up a new peer mentorship initiative: “One to One,” matching newly shrunken individuals with others further along in their adjustment. Holly volunteered—nervously, but firmly.

Her first match was delivered via hover-drone pod to a clinic meeting room with padded flooring, soft lighting, and a digital security attendant on standby.
Inside the pod sat a tiny figure—no more than two and a half inches tall. Barely taller than Holly’s stomach.

The drone gently lowered the pod to the floor near Holly’s perch. She walked forward slowly, not wanting to overwhelm him. Her amp was dialed low, her posture careful.

“Hey there” she said softly, kneeling. “I’m Holly.”

The tiny figure peered out—young, maybe late teens. A boy. Thin frame, oversized medical shirt, eyes wide and shimmering with fresh fear. His name tag read Micah.
He didn’t speak.

“Can I sit with you?” she asked.

He nodded cautiously.
Holly climbed into the padded pod beside him and sat cross-legged. She didn’t try to smile too big. She just breathed with him for a moment.

“I know it feels impossible right no.,” she said. “I was five feet eight not too long ago. I had a job. A voice that could carry across a rally. And a personality that… let’s just say didn’t age well.”

Micah’s brow furrowed slightly. “You… weren’t like this before?”

Holly gave a gentle snort. “I was exactly the person people like you feared. Loud, cruel, confident. Until it happened to me. Until I shrank. And suddenly, all the things I mocked were part of my reality.”

He trembled a little, voice barely above a squeak. “Everything’s so big now. Even people like you.”

Holly nodded. “And you’re going to feel invisible for a while. Unsafe. Unheard. But that won’t last. Not if you let people help. Not if you decide to keep showing up, even when you're scared.”

Micah looked up at her, his lip quivering. “What if I don’t know how to be like this?”

“You don’t need to know yet,” she said gently. “You just need to stay curious. And I’ll be here. Every step. I promise.”

She brought Micah in with a hug and he accepted it. Holly smiled softly, watching embracing him with her hug. “You’re already doing better than I did.”
====
Two weeks passed.

Micah was still quiet, still jumpy around loud noises and unfamiliar hands—but Holly noticed the changes. He no longer flinched when she reached out.

He started using his amp, even if his sentences were short. He walked across the mentorship pod room without holding the walls.

And every day, he asked one new question:

“Do tinies still go to school?”
“Is it weird if I miss being tall?”
“How do you not feel... like a burden?”

Holly answered all of them.

Sometimes with honesty and sometimes with sarcasm but at the end of the day? Always with care.

On their fifth meeting, Holly brought a scaled-down tablet and a tiny headset similar to one that she uses. “Try it.” she said. “It’s a real device. It won’t shock you.”

Micah looked skeptical but slipped it on. The screen booted up with simple icons: news, support apps, music. One corner had a blinking message.

Welcome to TinyNet. You are seen. You are valid. You are not alone.

His eyes welled up, but he didn’t cry.

“Why are you helping me?” he asked, almost a whisper.

Holly’s voice was steady. “Because someone helped me. Because I was lost and scared. And because you’re worth helping, Micah. Whether you feel like it or not.”

He looked at her, so much smaller than she once was, yet so much bigger than he imagined someone could be.

Micah nodded. “Can I... help someone like me someday?”

Holly smiled. “You already are. You’re still here. That matters more than you know.”
Later, as the two sat with each other, Micah took a moment and sighed to himself.

“I used to think being small meant being less.”

“Yeah.” Holly said. “So did I.”

He looked up at her. “But you’re not less. You’re just... different strong.”

She laughed. “Careful, Micah. You’re starting to sound like a mentor already.”
====
It took some convincing to get Holly to agree to it.

“Outside?” she’d said, arms crossed, perched on the edge of Elena’s windowsill. “Like... the outside?”

Sam smiled through the call screen. “Just a park. Not a political rally or a drone parade. Just... us. A walk. I’ve got a carrier.”

“A carrier…” she deadpanned. “Like I’m a hamster.”

“More like VIP transport.” he countered. “And it has shock absorption. And heating.”
She hesitated, then gave a lopsided grin. “Fine. But if you sneeze near me, I’m calling OSHA.”

They met in the early evening at Windlow Park, a sprawling space with wide walking paths and a few designated “multi-scale zones”—places where tinies and standard-sized folks could share the space safely.

Sam arrived with the carrier strapped across his chest. It was custom-built for small companions—clear-paneled, padded with soft fabric, voice amp synced directly to his earpiece.

Inside, Holly lounged like royalty, arms behind her head.

“This better be the deluxe model.” she quipped as he strolled.

“Has seat warmers and a sound mixer.” he replied. “And you’re the only person I’ve ever worn like a necklace.”

“Careful.” she said, smirking. “That sounds dangerously sentimental.”

They passed a few glances—some surprised, some curious, a few annoyed. Inter-scale couples weren’t unheard of, but they still drew attention.

Holly noticed. She always did. But today, instead of shrinking from it—pun fully intended—she tapped the amp switch and whispered, “Let them stare. We’re adorable.”

Sam chuckled and gently tapped the carrier in response.

They reached a quiet bench beneath a tree, and he sat down slowly, then unclipped the carrier and set it beside him. Holly climbed out onto the armrest, balancing like a gymnast.

“You ever get used to being this much... taller than your date?” she asked.

He looked down at her and smiled. “I think I’m just impressed by how you still somehow feel taller than me.”

She looked up at him, quiet for a beat.

“Y’know.” she said finally, “I thought I’d never want to be seen like this. Fragile. Small. Dependent. But I don’t feel any of that with you.”

“Why’s that?”

She gave him a crooked grin. “Because with you, I’m not ‘less.’ I’m just with you.”

He nodded slowly. “Same.”

The wind rustled the leaves above them. She leaned back on the armrest, legs dangling off the edge, watching the sky stretch wide and high.

Maybe the world had gotten bigger but in a way, so had she.
==
Sam didn’t tell her until they were halfway there.

“I invited Erin.” he said, walking slowly along the quiet residential street. Holly was nestled against his shoulder in her smaller soft-case carrier, her amp turned off for now.

She stiffened. “Sam...”

“She knows you’re coming. She said it was okay.”

“Okay to what? Glare at me from a distance?”

He shook his head. “You’ve done the work. She sees that. She wouldn’t have said yes if she didn’t want to.”

Holly was silent the rest of the walk, her tiny fingers gripping the edge of the carrier’s fabric.

Erin was already seated on the scaled platform of Sam’s kitchen table—a special extension with furniture built for tinies, complete with a low tea set and tiny stools.

She wore a pale blue jumpsuit, her blonde hair tied back, her amp clipped neatly to her collar.

She glanced up as Sam entered. Then her eyes settled on Holly. For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Sam set the carrier gently beside the platform and unzipped the side. Holly stepped out slowly, looking smaller than ever—not in size, but in presence.

“Hey.” she said quietly, voice amp barely above a murmur. “Thanks for letting me come.”

Erin nodded once. “Didn’t say I’d make tea.”

Holly smirked. “That’s fair.”

Another pause. Then Holly stepped closer, sat down on the lowest cushion near Erin’s table. Her voice steadied.

“I don’t expect a welcome. I don’t expect anything, really. I just want you to know... you were right. About everything.”

Erin’s brows knit. “So you finally believe we’re people?”

“I believe you’re stronger than me.” Holly said. “Because you endured what I mocked. And you didn’t let it make you bitter. You didn’t... become me.”

Erin looked down. Her fingers traced the edge of a tiny ceramic cup.

“I hated you.” she said evenly. “For a long time. For what you said. What you made people laugh at me for.”

“You had every reason to.”

Erin looked up at her now, eyes glassy but calm. “But I don’t hate you anymore.”

Holly blinked. “You... don’t?”

“I think you’re trying. And I think the world’s better when people like you stop hiding behind anger and actually try.”

She paused. “Besides.” she added with a slight smirk, “I need someone to complain about the app updates with.”

A breath caught in Holly’s throat.

She smiled. A real one. “You always did have excellent taste in bitterness.”

Sam chuckled behind them, setting down a plate with both standard-sized and tiny treats.

And for the first time, the table had felt level.
====
The apartment was quiet, sun-warmed, and peaceful in the way only late Sunday afternoons could be. Holly sat on a soft cushion at the edge of the windowsill, watching the neighborhood move below: kids on scooters, someone walking a cat in a harness, a delivery drone buzzing lazily by.

Elena sat beside her, flipping through a book with one hand, sipping tea with the other.

Holly’s tea, brewed in a thimble-sized ceramic cup, sat nearby on a warmed tile. She took a sip, legs crossed, and her blanket over her lap like a robe.

“I never thought I’d like silence this much.” Holly said.

Elena looked up. “You used to hate the quiet. You once told me silence was for cowards who didn’t know what to say.”

“Yeah, well. Turns out sometimes I was just shouting so I wouldn’t hear myself think.”

Elena gave her a knowing look. “You’re thinking now.”

Holly smiled. “Too much. But at least it’s honest.”

She looked out the window again. Her world used to feel so big it terrified her. Now it felt right-sized—not because she shrank, but because she learned how to live without pretending to be larger than she was.

“Elena?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for not giving up on me.”

Elena reached down, her hand flat beside Holly. “Thanks for making it worth not giving up.”

Holly stepped onto the offered palm and leaned back into her guardian’s fingers.

There was comfort in the height difference now. Not fear. Just love.
==
Later that evening, Sam picked her up—literally —with the soft grip of practiced, protective fingers and nestled her into his jacket’s chest pocket, lined with fleece and rigged with a custom voice amp linked to his earpiece.

“Movie or dinner?” he asked as they walked through the plaza.

“Why not both?” she replied. “I’m small enough, you can afford two date nights.”

He grinned. “We’re starting with a food truck that’s rated tiny-inclusive. They have a perch counter and mini tacos.”

“Mini tacos?” Holly gasped. “You’ve never sounded sexier.”

They reached the food truck just as the sun dipped low. Holly stood on the tiny-service counter beside Sam while he ordered, her hand on his thumb like it was the most natural thing in the world.

They sat beneath a string of hanging lights, him on the bench, her resting on a napkin-blanket across the tabletop.

Between bites of a taco no bigger than her hand, she looked up at him. “You think we’re... good? Like this?”

“I think we’re better than we’ve ever been,” he said, eyes warm. “Because now we’re honest. And I don’t care how tall you are, Holly. I just care that you show up.”

She blushed, then smirked. “I am very punctual these days. Have to be when a sneeze can knock me off schedule.”

He laughed, and she joined him.

The world was still big. Still messy. But tonight, it was enough.
==
Back at Elena’s, the living room was alive with light. Holly sat curled up in a fleece beanbag beside Erin and Micah, both of them watching the wall-mounted screen as the NewsLink Live broadcast rolled.

The headline read:
PURE PROPORTION LEADERS INDICTED ON FEDERAL CHARGES
Whistleblower testimony leads to raids, arrests, and official disbandment of extremist group.

Erin crossed her arms. “Took them long enough.”

Micah nodded. “Len’s the one who threatened to send someone to scare Holly, right?”

Holly sipped her thimble of tea. “Yup. Said I’d be silenced. Turns out his mic was the one about to get cut.”

The anchor continued: “Former member and whistleblower Holly Whitlock, who once held a leadership position, was instrumental in the investigation. Public response to her redemption arc has been mixed but increasingly supportive.”

Micah looked at her. “Redemption arc, huh?”

“Sounds dramatic.” Holly said. “Where’s my award speech?”

Erin snorted. “Save it. We’ll nominate you once you go a full week without self-deprecating.”

Micah grinned. “She’ll need a mic that fits her ego.”

“Hey!” Holly threw a wadded up speck of paper at him. “Respect your elders.”

They all laughed. For a moment, Holly let herself lean back and just be. Not fighting. Not defending. Just existing—small, surrounded by people who had every reason to hate her… but didn’t.

She didn’t know what would come next. But for the first time since the fall—since the protests, the fear, the shrinking—she wasn’t afraid of the future. She was building it.

Three tinies—Holly, Erin, and Micah—perched beside each other on a couch-sized cushion. Above them, Elena sips tea. Sam leans against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching the laughter below.

They are giants. And yet… they are equals. And Holly? She smiles.

Not because she’s no longer tall in the world. But because, finally, she knows her worth.
====
The familiar chime of the Small Talk intro theme played through thousands of earbuds and speakers across the city. On-screen, the podcast’s iconic split-frame appeared:
Patrick, four inches tall and seated in a custom mic booth with his signature coffee thimble; and Katherine, full-sized, cross-legged in a cozy reading chair beside him, smiling gently at the camera.

Katherine gave her usual warm welcome:

“Hello, friends of all scales—welcome back to Small Talk, the podcast where size doesn’t define significance.”

Patrick chimed in with a grin. “And where the tiniest voice in the room is usually the loudest.”

They both laughed.

Katherine leaned toward the camera. “Today’s guest… has a story unlike any we’ve heard. Former activist. Former extremist. Current advocate, mentor, and now a fellow PRD tiny. You know her name. You’ve read the headlines. But now, you’re going to hear the heart.”

The camera switched to the third frame: Holly, perched comfortably on a miniature armchair within a cozy micro set. Her brown hair was tied back, and her expression was calm but focused—seasoned. Ready.

“Welcome, Holly Whitlock.”

She gave a small nod. “Thanks for having me.”

Patrick smiled. “Been a long time coming.”

“Yeah.” Holly said. “A year ago I probably would’ve hacked your feed and called you propaganda.”

They all chuckled, even Katherine—though the pause that followed held weight.

“But you didn’t.” Patrick said. “You changed. And you helped others change.”

Holly took a breath. “I didn’t set out to do the right thing. At first, I just fell apart. And part of me still wishes I could’ve gotten here without hurting people first.”
Katherine leaned in. “What pulled you back?”

“My best friend Elena.” Holly said immediately. “Then my boyfriend Sam. Then his cousin Erin… and Micah. And honestly? The people who didn’t slam the door when I knocked. The ones who said: ‘Okay, now show us.’ So I did.”

Patrick’s tone softened. “Do you consider yourself forgiven?”

Holly looked down briefly, then back up. “I don’t think forgiveness is a finish line. I think it’s a door people choose to open again. Some have. Some haven’t. And that’s okay. I’m not owed grace—I just get to be grateful when it’s given.”

Katherine smiled. “What do you say now to someone who’s just been diagnosed and feels like their life is over?”

Holly looked directly into the camera.

“I say: You’re still here. You’re still you. Your value didn’t shrink just because your body did. You’re allowed to grieve. But then, if you can… reach out. Let someone help you. That’s how you build something new.”

Patrick nodded, eyes bright. “And you’ve built something, all right. A legacy of redemption.”

Holly smirked. “Not bad for a former hate group mouthpiece.”

They all laughed.

Katherine concluded, voice warm: “From fear to compassion. From silence to advocacy. Holly Whitlock—thank you for sharing your truth with us.”

Holly nodded once more. “Thanks for giving me the space to do it.”

As the outro music began to swell, Patrick gave his signature sign-off:
“Whether you’re pocket-sized or people-sized, your voice matters. Stay small but speak loud.”

The episode faded out. And somewhere, in a quiet apartment with tiny furniture and oversized courage, Holly sat back… no longer afraid of how far she’d fallen.

Because now, she knew how far she’d come.
~ Fin

[AB23]

This was a banger to read! Really good redemption arc. Love to see some fluffy scenes too.

[ensmallen]

Seconded. SW and allegory, love it.