Caitlin cursed herself for a fool. Of course he would want to carry them to the set! For him it would seem only natural to pick them up, but for her, the thought of climbing onto his palm was nothing short of terrifying. She shied away from the tremendous hand, backing nervously into the doorway.
"Come on, don't be afraid," the director said patiently. "I promise I won't drop you, or close my fingers. We'll go straight to the set, I assure you."
"Oh, God, I can't..." Randi whispered behind her, shivering involuntarily.
"We have to," Caitlin told her, fighting back her own fears. "Somehow we have to get through this."
Tania, trying her best to sound unafraid, agreed in her own way. "Remember, if he wanted, he could just grab us any time he wants," she reminded them.
The thought of a giant hand snaring them and bearing them aloft sent shivers through all three women simultaneously, and Randi backed up a step further into the dollhouse.
"It'll be better if we go voluntarily," Caitlin said, more to herself than for the others' benefit. They had followed her down the phone cord, so perhaps they would do the same thing now.
Cautiously, she took a few tentative steps forward and stopped at the edge of the giant hand. The man's fingers were old and wrinkled, and the whorls of his fingerprints were clearly visible. Strange that she should notice that, Caitlin thought as she forced herself to climb into the open palm, trying to ignore how warm and squishy his thick skin seemed under her hands and knees.
For a moment she sat there, looking around in fear and wonder, then she gazed up at his immense smiling face. "Not so bad, is it?" he asked with a grin. His warm breath swept over her, and Caitlin shuddered. She had never felt more tiny and insignificant than she did at that moment, cradled in that giant hand.
The other two girls, struck by Caitlin's courage, came forward carefully and stopped at the edge of the hand. Caitlin rolled over into a seated position, pushing her back up against the meaty part of his thumb, and motioned to them. "Come on," she said, still fighting an impulse to bolt back inside the safety of the dollhouse. "It's all right."
"Might as well get it over with," muttered Tania, looking at Randi. "I'll go if you will."
"All--all right," Randi stammered. Her teeth were actually chattering from fear, but the two girls climbed onto the hand together. As they did, the director shifted slightly, obviously getting uncomfortable holding his hand still for so long. The two girls quickly crawled to the center of his palm to avoid being knocked back to the floor, and all three of them huddled together in a vain attempt to calm their fears.
At once the man stood up. Though he did so slowly and deliberately, the sudden rise caused the girls to gasp in surprise. Randi let out a scream, putting both hands out to steady herself, and glanced around in terror.
"This won't take long," the director said as he began to walk. None of the three girls moved a muscle as he carried them swiftly across the room. He paused at the door, opening it cautiously so as to not tip his open hand too far to one side, then continued on through a well-lit corridor.
To Caitlin, the ride in his hand was the most terrifying experience of her life, but as the man made his way slowly towards their destination, she realized, in a detached sort of way, that she was really in no danger at all. He was going out of his way to hold his hand steady and cupped in such a way that it was impossible for any of them to fall, unless they panicked and jumped off. There was not much chance of that, as the three girls were all but paralyzed with fear.
Other than the initial shock of rising into the air, the ride was completely comfortable. The slow rise and fall of the hand as the director ambled down the hallway, and the smooth, constant forward motion, were not at all scary. It was very much like riding in a convertible down a hilly highway, Caitlin thought. Gradually she relaxed, and then, surprising even herself, she got up on her knees and looked over the edge of the hand.
The view was amazing. The hallway seemed to stretch ahead into infinity. To either side, immense doors loomed, but all of them were closed. The fluorescent lights on the ceiling seemed like distant, white streaks of light, impossibly bright. She could not look directly at them.
The sight was otherworldly, and Caitlin realized it was just like she was on another planet--a world similar to her own, but where everything was of gigantic proportions. Perhaps, she thought, if she looked at it that way, she could deal with her situation more easily.
The director turned a corner, and Caitlin unconsciously grabbed hold of the man's thumb to support herself. They passed through a doorway and entered a wide room with a variety of lights, scenery, and cameras. Obviously, this was the set.
Two other men looked up as the director entered. One of them was Ron, the actor playing the mad scientist, while the other was the cameraman who'd filmed the full-size takes earlier in the day. Ron was looking at Caitlin and the other girls with surprise, interest and amazement, but the tall, imposing-looking camera operator barely glanced in their direction.
"You have them. Good, it's about time," the tall man said gruffly, moving to set up the cameras. His tone betrayed some measure of authority, and it was not until later that Caitlin learned he was the film's producer. "Let's get started."
The director came to a halt in front of a large desk. Here he lowered his hand and set it carefully on the wooden surface. Randi wasted no time scrambling off his palm and onto the desk, where she dropped to her knees, panting heavily. Caitlin and Tania climbed off the hand more carefully, then stooped to see if Randi was all right while the director's hand was withdrawn.
"I'm--I'm okay," Randi managed between breaths. "I'm--I think I'm getting used to this."
"Me too," Caitlin admitted. "I hate to say it, but that was almost fun."
"Fun?" Tania looked at her incredulously.
"I said 'almost,'" Caitlin protested, giving a weak laugh to indicate she had been kidding. "I mean, if you forget the fact that we're three inches tall and riding in a giant hand, it was no worse than a pretty weak roller coaster ride."
Tania just shook her head. "Better watch out or you'll start enjoying this."
"Not likely. I just want to get back to normal as fast as we can."
"Me too," Randi said, standing up and shaking her head. "Let's get on with it."