The 6-Inch Man

Waking up, Brendan thought at first that he’d been buried alive. He was covered in a layer of warm, nearly hot, softness that covered his entire body. He had to crawl and crawl until he was finally able to push his way out and draw in a gasping breath of clear air.

Wherever he was was dim and hard to see, but it was some huge space. The ceiling and walls on either side seemed to be miles away. He’d never heard of a building that had been built on such vast proportions. It was like being inside the ridiculously oversized mine of Erebor from "The Hobbit" movies, which had boggled his mind because one industrial accident would have resulted in a devastating flood of molten gold.

He squinted through the darkness, wondering if he’d been abducted by aliens. He’d gone to bed last night and here he was. Completely naked.

Who knew what had happened to him while he was sleeping.

He fumbled around on the surface he stood on, the bumpy softness made it hard for him to walk and he stumbled and fell several times. He reached the edge and realized he was at least two maybe three stories up. If he jumped down onto the hard wooden surface below he might break a leg. He didn’t think it was safe enough to risk it.

The light around him was brightening slowly. When he’d first woken, it had been dark enough that he’d been barely able to see his hands held out in front of him. Now he could make out the wood grain of the level below him.

He sat down to wait for it to get brighter. He didn’t want to waste his energy stumbling around in circles. He was already a bit hungry and thirsty, but he had no idea where to find food or water. It was better to conserve his strength until he could make a survival plan.

Brendan sat and closed his eyes. He drew in deep breaths through his nose and slowly exhaled out through his mouth. He couldn’t let himself panic.

The surroundings brightened and he opened his eyes to look around. His brow furrowed, then his eyes widened in surprise.

He got to his feet and turned around in circles, taking everything in.

This is my bedroom, he thought in amazement. It was the same size as it had always been, but it was him that had gotten small. Incredibly small.

So small that his electric blanket had nearly suffocated him in his sleep.

"How…" He clenched his hands together, squeezing until it felt as though his fingers were going to pop off, then he forced himself to let go.

Today was the first day of his two week vacation. He’d put in for time off from work with the expectation of a video game fueled staycation. Nobody was going to care if he didn’t show up today, or tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day… Nobody was going to check up on him or call the police or worry about him at all because they would just assume he was enjoying his vacation.

Nobody was going to care until they found his teeny tiny skeleton, likely still on his bed BECAUSE HE WAS TOO SMALL TO CLIMB DOWN.

Brendan stared out at the vast room around him and didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He didn’t know how he’d shrunk in the first place, so reversing the process was as far away from him as the moon.

"This sucks."

=END=

~Harper Kingsley

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