"All right, here's how it works," Art Lassiter began, and instantly every flashlight in the little group was trained on his heavy, raggedly mustached face. "Hold out your plate in front of you and bang on it with the back of your spoon as you run."
"This is ludicrous," muttered Kathy, giggling as her boyfriend Luke Cunningham wrapped his lanky arms around her shoulder. "A snipe hunt? You've gotta be joking!"
"C'mon, Kath, it'll be a blast," said Luke softly in her ear. "Besides, I already told you, Nick's got no clue. Look at him over there! He's eating this up!"
The group of young college co-eds chuckled together, glancing over at the thin, tousle-haired young man a quarter of the way round the campfire. Absently, Nicholas Stinson pushed his thick glasses up on his lightly freckled face, pretending not to hear their comments, though he found it hard not to. Had they had no idea he could make out every word they said? Did they even care if he heard their cruel barbs?
Probably not, he thought. At nineteen years of age, Nick was an incredibly perceptive guy, and yet was horribly naïve. This was his freshman year at college, and since he'd lived at home his entire life, he had absolutely no idea what to expect now that he was out on his own. He was smart, but possessed virtually no social skills whatsoever. He seemed like he was always saying the wrong thing at the wrong moment, and laughing well after the punch line of any joke was delivered.
Some of the others in his dorm took pity on him, trying to include him in their activities, such as this weekend's campout. However, early on Nick figured out the real reason they brought him along was so Luke didn't have to stay back as a hall monitor just for him. Better to just let him tag along and hope he stayed out of the way. Besides, they could tease him and play with his mind, and more often than not his gullibility led to some great laughs.
More than once Nick wondered why he even put up with their antics. He would probably wind up with a 4.0 average without any problems, but it seemed like no one cared about such things in the "real" world. The only things that impressed anyone were expensive clothes, glib words and athletic prowess, and Nick had none of these things. He just couldn't seem to fit in no matter how hard he tried. Every time he thought he'd figured out the right thing to say or do, he managed to embarrass himself even worse than the last time. He was smart enough to recognize his problem, and wanted to fix it more desperately than anything. He just didn't know how.
Perhaps that was why he stuck around, Nick thought, listening to Art drone on about running through the forest, making a ruckus and shouting out "Snipe!" as often as possible. Sooner or later, Nick knew he had to learn the trick of interacting with people, and he could look at this as useful practice. At least this crowd couldn't look down on him any further than they already did. After all, snipe hunts were a joke for young kids and cub scouts--even he knew that! The only reason they were setting this thing up was to make fun of him.
Finally, Art finished off his long-winded explanation and handed off the required equipment to the assembled group. The dozen or so who bothered to show up began to fan out, but it was obvious they didn't all intend to really proceed very far into the woods. Kathy and Luke were already kissing each other passionately, Nick noticed out of the corner of his eye. They were just looking for a chance to get alone, somewhere in the shadowy forest, so they could make out.
Nick sighed resignedly. Kathy sure was pretty, he thought wistfully. Her long blond hair seemed to sparkle in the firelight as Luke ran his lucky hands through it, sucking on her lips as though trying to draw her tongue into his throat. Someday, Nick thought, shaking his head sadly. Someday, I'll have a girl like that, and I'll get to find out what that feels like!
"GO!" Art shouted, interrupting Nick's pleasant little fantasy. With flashlights on and shouts of "Snipe!" echoing from their lips, the group of excited co-eds raced out into the darkened forest.
The rusty bottle cap lifted up and Emily Johnson peered out of the tunnel, metal spear gripped firmly in a gloved hand. The sky far above shone in the glow of a nearly full moon, so she could see easily in the darkness. Giant blades of grass waved around her in the light wind, and she smiled. The night was perfect.
Shutting the door to the hidden access passage behind her, she took one more cautious look around and jogged towards the massive roots of the nearest tree. The fresh air felt wonderful, she thought, and it was good to get out of the colony's confines. She figured the risk of encountering some nocturnal predator was well worth taking if it gave her a chance to get out on her own, away from her parents and all those other stuffy scientists.
Even though over a year had passed since she and her family came to join the microcolony, being out in the giant-scale world was still amazing and awe-inspiring. She was one of the few in the little community who felt that way, actually. Most everyone else was scared to death of the outside. Once Emily's parents learned of her fascination, they forbade her to leave, but what could they do? She was eighteen now, an adult, and could do whatever she wanted.
The colony was an experiment, really--an attempt by researchers to find out if miniaturized people could survive and prosper, should some plague or other apocalypse befall the rest of humanity. Being small did have its advantages--food was plentiful, comparatively, and because of the size difference between themselves and microorganisms, the colonists were all but immune to disease. Still, Emily had to laugh every time she thought about what the experiment was supposedly "proving." Shrinking down a bunch of families to 1/20th scale was all well and good, but they were living in a prefabricated underground tank, with its own electricity and other technological comforts. If they wanted to really try surviving in the giant world, why not try it someplace less controlled? Say, someone's basement, or a shopping mall, or a farm? Or in the open wilderness, with nothing around but raw, unbridled nature? But no, she thought, they'd never be quite so bold as that, would they?
Emily jogged easily along, avoiding several huge insects scuttling along on the rough earth. As she moved silently through the immense forest, she automatically kept her eyes and ears open for clues that some animal might be nearby. Acutely aware of the danger from owls and other airborne predators, Emily ducked under weeds and leaves at every turn. She froze, spear at the ready, as the dry brush ahead rustled, but then relaxed as she saw the approaching creature was only a field mouse. Though the rodent stood almost as tall as she did, she knew it would only attack something her size if starving, and it clearly wasn't. After a moment, the russet-furred critter moved off, paying her no mind at all.
Emily continued along, following a route she knew well. For the umpteenth time, she asked herself why she agreed to get involved in this crazy experiment. When her parents explained where they were going and why, she just thought they were nuts. Why would anyone want to be shrunk down to a few inches tall and live in a secret underground colony for several years? Talk about your really perverse dedication! After a while, though, Emily thought more carefully about the offer they were making. The researchers needed to find out the effects on younger people as well as old, which was why entire families were coming. Besides, when it was all over, her college education would be more than paid for with the salary she was getting!
There was more to it than just the money, of course. After considering the idea for some time, Emily discovered she kind of liked the idea of being small. What an adventure it would be! The very concept of being four-odd inches high was incredible. She could sneak into houses and climb up on giant tables like those "Borrowers" she read about as a child! Oh, sure, it'd be dangerous, but so was getting in a car or walking around downtown at night. As long as she was careful, she'd have nothing to worry about. Why, the whole experience would be a total blast!
The reality proved to be far different, though. The colony was out in a forest, miles from civilization, and way too far to try to walk to the nearest building or street. The only time any normal-sized person came out here was a rare camper looking for someplace to rest after a long hike. In fact, one of the spotting cameras noticed a big group of them down on the south edge of the ridge the night before. Even now, as far away as they were, she could hear the faint echoes of their voices coming up the valley.
Of course, Emily had no intention of going anywhere near them tonight. She was heading for the river. The night was warm and humid, and a midnight swim would feel wonderful. There was something about the flow of the cool stream over her tiny body that just beat the hell out of a shower back in the colony.
As she crept carefully along, she began to whistle happily.
"Snipe! Snipe!" yelled Nick, as though he actually meant what he was shouting. In between calls, he listened carefully to the sounds around him. The rest of the group seemed to be moving directly away from him as quickly as possible, as if his very presence repelled them.
In due course he ceased his inane cries and slowed to a walk. His feet crunched through the underbrush for several long minutes as he meandered along, shaking his head sadly. In the distance, the voices of his supposed "friends" gradually died out as they either went back to camp or found a quiet spot to do whatever else they were planning.
In due course, Nick came to a stream, which seemed to glint and flash under the moon like a cascade of diamonds. He turned off his flashlight and just stood there, awash in the beauty of what he was seeing. Let those idiots back there have their fun, he thought. All their ridicule was worth it just for sights like this one!
He meandered along further, following the rocky shore of the bubbling brook he'd discovered. After a couple of minutes, he found a spot where the water cascaded over a couple of rocks and fell about a foot or so into a little pool. Not bad, he thought appreciatively. This would be a good spot to just kick back and relax for a while. Who knows? Maybe if I rest quietly, a snipe will come out after all.
Chuckling at that crazy thought, he looked around for something comfortable to sit on, but the area was too rocky. He took a few steps up the nearby slope, pushed aside the long grass and settled back against the trunk of a tree. The undergrowth blocked most of his view from here, but it didn't really matter. He figured he'd just hang out for a while until enough time passed that he could go back to camp without looking too stupid. Besides, maybe if he waited long enough, someone might actually get worried about him.
Nah, there's not much chance of that, he decided, leaning his head back into the soft tree bark and letting out a long sigh.
Emily advanced cautiously. A few minutes before, she heard some of the giant voices getting closer, forcing her to take shelter under the curve of a tree root. After a while, the noises departed. There was even something that sounded very much like banging, and the wind carried the word "Snipe" to her from beyond the trees.
That just cracked her up. An actual snipe hunt! When she was much younger, in girl scouts, they did those hunts a couple of times on campouts, and she thought it was a lot of fun. Afterwards, when she realized it was a big joke, she got a good laugh at her own foolishness. The whole thing was really kind of embarrassing, actually. She even remembered wondering what the heck a snipe really looked like, as if she knew it was a trick even as a child, but hadn't wanted to admit it to herself.
Emily shook off those old memories and brought her mind back to the immense, noisy forest around her. Chirps of insects and the calls of night birds sounded all around, but the human voices faded into the distance. When she felt certain the giants were gone, she pressed on. Deftly meandering between huge rocks and plants, she avoided bugs and other dangers with ease, but still took another ten minutes to reach the river.
Since by now she knew the route like the back of her hand, she arrived almost exactly at the spot of the waterfall. The cascading river looked as cool and inviting in the moonlight as it had every other time she'd visited the place. She wasted no time hurrying up to the rocky shore, where she removed her backpack and tossed it aside.
She thought she heard something and froze for almost a minute, looking around cautiously. She would be vulnerable once she got in the water, she knew, so it paid to be as careful as possible. After a bit she decided it was all right and continued to disrobe, pulling off the boots and gloves she wore and unzipping the form-fitting protective bodysuit that passed for clothing in the colony. The steelweave mesh, made of an organic fiber and miniaturized to her scale, was almost impenetrable, making her all but invulnerable to attacks from stray insects or scratching thorns. Plus, the skintight weave preserved nearly all her body heat at her scale. Nonetheless, Emily thought it was a bit boring wearing the same outfit all the time. Oh well, at least she didn't have to worry about keeping up with the latest fashion trends!
She slipped out of her underwear without the slightest fear of being seen in the nude. After all, she thought as she waded into the cool, inviting water, who could possibly see her all the way out here?
The ground underneath Nick slid slightly, causing him to slip down and jerk his head just enough to wake him up. He blinked and opened his eyes, wondering just how long he'd been napping. His neck was already sore, so it must've been more than just a few minutes. A quick glance at his watch, which he could see just fine in the bright moonlight, showed maybe half an hour had elapsed. Well, he thought, that ought to be long enough to convince everybody I was taken in by their little game. If there's one thing I've learned, it's best to humor them instead of argue. That only encourages them all the more.
Sighing, Nick started to rise, but then hesitated as his eyes fell on the little waterfall just ahead of him. Something was moving in the pool! He sat back down, trying to figure out what the creature was. He figured it was definitely a bird or small rodent of some kind, by the size of it, but it seemed awfully familiar. Almost like a--but no, that's impossible!
Nick continued to stare at the tiny thing in the water, which was moving around for all the world like a swimmer doing laps. Part of him wanted to get up and go see what it was, but something in the back of his mind told him to stay put lest he scare it away. He could afford to be patient, he decided, and settled back against the tree, pushing the grasses aside to afford a better view.
After a couple of minutes, the little thing swam over to the far edge of the stream and climbed out carefully onto the rocks. Nick just shook his head, his mouth hanging open. There could be no doubt of what he was seeing, even in this pale light. The creature was a woman--a tiny, naked woman! From the look of her, she couldn't be more than a few inches high.
Nick had never seen a nude woman in the flesh before. His only experience with the female body came from adult magazines and the occasional R-rated film. Considering that this was his first time, he handled it rather well, staring in rapt fascination but maintaining control over his conscious, logical mind. The way her little behind swayed to and fro as she watched, the smooth curve of her hips, and the swell of her miniature breasts as she turned to the side were all totally entrancing.
Yet, even as he gazed in appreciation at her supple figure, the intelligent side of him was baffled by her tiny size. How could a woman be so small? Was he dreaming? He actually pinched himself to be sure, but the spike of pain seemed to prove he was wide awake. Was she a fairy or nymph or something like that? A creature of legend, like a leprechaun or sprite? That seemed impossible, but then, so was a four-inch woman taking a midnight swim in the middle of nowhere!
Besides, that theory was spoiled the moment she dried off using the towel she brought in her little backpack. When she started pulling on her underwear, he knew this couldn't be anything but a tiny human being. As far as he remembered from mythology, woodland creatures didn't have any need for a bra and panties.
He continued to stare, unable to look away, as she climbed into the jumpsuit and started on the gloves and boots. Then he suddenly realized she was preparing to leave! Any moment now she'd hurry off into the forest, and he'd never find her in the heavy underbrush.
Fumbling around at his side, he started looking for his flashlight.
Emily zipped up the boots, her skin still tingling from the sensations left behind by the cool water rushing over her bare flesh. She stood and stretched, sighing happily, and yet not looking forward to the run back to the colony. There was no way she could get back inside without someone noticing her arrival, and by the next day her parents would be informed of her nocturnal journey. They'd have a few good words for her then.
Well, they'd just have to deal with it, Emily thought to herself. I'm sick of those metal walls and taking care of all the younger kids. I was bored, and they'll just have to understand that!
Reaching for her pack, she started rehearsing in her mind what she was going to tell them, when suddenly an unbelievably loud crunching noise sounded just a short distance away. She froze and looked that direction in horror. There was something there--something huge, and extremely close! But how had it closed in without her hearing it?
She whipped around in shock, afraid of what sort of monstrous creature she might see on the other side of the stream, when a tremendous brightness surrounded her. Wincing, she covered her eyes at the light, standing motionless in complete surprise as though paralyzed.
Another crunch sounded almost directly in front of her and something monstrous landed just beyond the range of her vision. Held fast in the glare of the powerful flashlight, she still could only barely see, and too late she realized just what it was that had appeared so suddenly. The immense, white, laced-up thing was a shoe--a sneaker the size of a truck!
At once she turned to run, but it was too late. From above, a hand came down and clasped around her, and she screamed and screamed...
Nick emerged from the forest near the dying campfire and started towards his tent, hoping to get there without being seen. Of course, there was no chance of that. Art and a couple of his jock buddies sauntered over to him, huge grins on their faces. "Hey, Nick," said the much taller man, almost bursting with amusement. "You were out there a long time! Find any snipes?"
Nick just shook his head as though dazed. "Huh? What's that? Oh, yeah," he replied somewhat absently. Raising an eyebrow, he said, "What if I had? What would I do with it?"
Art and his friends laughed at the joke they still thought was a private one. "Oh, if you got one, you should give it to me," he chortled. "We can all play with it, and when we get back to the dorm, we'll make it our floor mascot!" His friends thought this was uproariously funny for some reason.
Nick just nodded, a half-smile forming on his lips. "That's what I thought," he said. "Well, I didn't find any, all right?"
"Sure, whatever," laughed Art, who Nick could now tell was at least somewhat wasted. Whether it was from beer or some other drug, he had no idea. "Hey, geek, don't forget," he called out as Nick reached his tent, "early start tomorrow. If you're not up by eight we're leaving without you!"
"Yeah, yeah," was the resignation-filled reply.
Nick climbed into his tent and zipped the mosquito netting shut. Carefully he removed his jacket, set it down on the ground, and opened up the inside front pocket. Within, the tiny, terrified figure of Emily huddled in the bottom, looking up at him with fear and horror.
"Don't worry," said Nick comfortingly, keeping his voice as low as possible. "I won't let those meanies find out about you. I'll keep you safe. No one else has to know about you, okay?"
Choking back tears, Emily gave a weak little nod. Nick smiled at her and closed the pocket back up, certain that she'd be safe in there for the rest of the night. Once he got her back to the dorm, he'd have to rig up a little house for her or something like that, but he was sure he'd figure it out.
As pulled himself into his sleeping bag, he began to chuckle to himself. They tried to make fun of him, didn't they? The whole hunt was supposed to be a big joke to make him look like a fool, but he had the last laugh in the end.
After all, none of them could say they now had a pet snipe!
"What is this?" asked Dr. Leomund Johnson, one hand clasped tightly around his wife. "What's going on, Dr. Tolliver? Why did you rush us in here straight out of bed?"
"Please, tell us!" gasped his frantic wife, Patricia. "Is this about Emily? Did something happen to her?"
"Just sit down, please." Dr. Arvin Tolliver, chief scientist of the microcolony, pointed at the chairs ringing the metal-walled conference table. During periods of debate, this room might be filled with as many as twenty chattering scientists. Now, it was just Leo, Patty, Arvin, and a long, empty table surrounded by vacant seats.
The two worried parents managed to sit down shakily. Leo took his arm off Patty's shoulder, but the two continued to clasp their hands tightly. "What is it, Arvin?" asked Leomund harshly. "We did what you said--now you owe us an explanation!"
"All right, all right!" said Dr. Tolliver, shaking his hands vigorously and remaining standing. He, too, looked worried, and only now did the two parents begin to realize this fact. "Here's what we know. Last night, at approximately quarter till midnight, your daughter slipped out of the colony through the secondary escape tunnel."
"She did what?" demanded Leo, starting to stand. Arvin's outstretched hand prevented him from rising, but he kept on talking. "Not again! That's the last straw! When I get my hands on her, she's going to--!"
"She didn't come back," Arvin interrupted hastily. "I hate to have to tell you this, Leo, but she stayed out. We've got teams searching for her, but--"
Patty seemed frozen with shock. Leo collapsed back in his chair, face completely drained of color. "W-what does this mean?" he gasped. "Is--is she d-d--?" He couldn't seem to get the word past his teeth.
"We don't think so," Dr. Tolliver went on. "We knew she likes swimming in the river, near the falls, so that's the first place we looked. That's where we found her spear and backpack. There wasn't any blood or evidence she was attacked. There was one other thing, though. One critically important thing."
Patty was by now sobbing on her husband's shoulder. He looked up at Arvin with a pitiful look on his face. "What was it?" he asked, choking back tears of his own.
"A footprint," said Dr. Tolliver sadly, starting to lose control of his emotions as well. After all, everyone in the colony liked Emily, even if she was a bit headstrong. He narrowed his brows and forced himself to continue. "It was--it was a giant sneaker print. We're doing everything we can, but...well, there were campers down in the valley last night, and--"
"And what?" demanded Leo hastily. "What are you saying, Arvin?"
"I'm sorry," said the chief scientist, lowering his eyes and shaking his head. "We think she was captured."
Emily hugged herself tightly as her captor walked briskly along. There was nothing she could do and nowhere to go. Even if she could escape, she didn't even know where she was.
The last twelve hours were mostly a blur. First there was the long, seemingly endless night trapped in the stuffy, nylon-lined, impenetrable pocket. Then came the morning, when the giant called Nick struck camp alongside the other noisy giants, almost shaking her to death inside the coat. He spoke to her only rarely, and quietly, usually to reassure her that everything was "just fine." As if that were really true, Emily thought sadly.
For him, maybe, but not for me...
After a lot of jostling, the campers seemed to finish their work and piled into a vehicle of some sort, punctuated by loud slams that nearly burst Emily's tiny eardrums. After that came the interminable car ride, to where she didn't know. Now Nick was walking again, presumably to wherever it was that would be her new home.
She didn't know much about the young man who captured her. From the brief glimpses she had of his face, he was relatively youthful, probably in his first year of college based on the things she overheard earlier that morning. Nick had thick glasses and a beak of a nose, along with dark brown freckles scattered across his skin. The others treated him like scum, too, so she gathered he was something of a nerd.
Great, she thought, shivering as Nick turned a corner, throwing her momentarily to one side and leaving her briefly weightless. I'm the prisoner of a college geek! Could this possibly get any worse?
The mind-numbing fear had long since faded. Last night, trapped in the zip-up coat pocket, she fought for several hours against her raging emotions and the slippery weave of the nylon jacket in which she was imprisoned. If only she had her spear! Sadly, that was left behind near the waterfall, along with her pack, and everything else she brought along that night except her clothes.
Finally, convinced she couldn't escape from the pocket, she managed to drift off into a tortured sleep interrupted early the next morning by a violent banging from one of Nick's giant friends. Well, not friends, exactly. From the way they treated him, there wasn't much in the way of friendship involved.
Since then, she somewhat came to grips with her situation. There was nothing she could do but go with the flow and hope she could escape later, or somehow get word to her parents. Maybe, if Nick really were a geek, he'd have a computer she could use to send an e-mail. At four inches tall, that would be a challenging task, but not impossible. Perhaps this could even be the adventure she always wanted.
Yet, every time she thought of that, she remembered the grip of that massive hand clenching around her puny little body, and the sight of that huge face looming over her as she cowered in his palm. Months in the clinical normalcy of the microcolony hadn't prepared her for that sudden, crushing feeling of despair as she realized, finally, just how tiny and helpless she really was.
Nick might just be a nerd, but to her, he was a hundred-foot-tall, supremely powerful nerd who could crush her with a gesture. What was he planning to do to her when he finally got where he was going?
Suddenly Nick started to go upwards, jolting and jarring Emily in his pocket with each step. Stairs, she thought, hanging on for dear life until the climb finally halted. After a few more dizzying steps, he came to a halt and keys jangled outside before turning in a lock.
So, here we are, Emily thought. This is his home, wherever that is.
Nick took a few more bone-jarring steps and then a door slammed loudly behind him. Emily heard his breath hiss out in a deep sigh. "Finally," his distant, booming voice said, and the coat began to shake all around her. "I hope you liked the ride, little snipe."
Emily shook her head and shrugged to herself. Does he really think I'm a snipe? He can't possibly believe that, can he? He seems smart, but naïve, so maybe...
She felt herself lifted up and set on something solid. The outside of the pocket started shifting, and then, finally, the zipper moved aside at last. The light flowing in almost blinded her, but Nick's huge, bespectacled face came into view just as suddenly.
"Come on out," he told her in that horrendously loud voice. "You're safe now."
Shakily, Emily got to her feet and stepped out of the pocket onto a grainy, wooden surface. Nick was standing there, looming above, peering down at her in obvious amusement. Emily cast her eyes about, blinking, trying to ignore him and take in her surroundings. She was inside a cavernous room, standing on the wide plateau of a table. In the distance, she could see a messy, unmade bed the size of a football field, and in another direction, several towering cabinets and a warehouse-like personal refrigerator on a countertop. The crumpled-up red mass of Nick's nylon jacked blocked her view of the rest of the chamber.
"This is my dorm room," said the giant, waving a massive arm about to indicate the whole of the place. Emily supposed it was really very cramped, seeing as it was a dorm and all, but to her it looked like a massive, wide-open auditorium or theater. "Fortunately, I'm all alone," Nick went on. "Nobody else wanted to share a room with me. Now I've finally got a roommate, even if she is just a little snipe."
"I'm not a snipe!" Emily yelled suddenly, putting her hands on her hips in disgust at the term. "Quit calling me that!"
Nick laughed, and the sound washed over her like thunder. "You sound like a chipmunk!" he said between grinding sniggers, and Emily realized this was the first time he'd actually heard her speak. So far, until now, she'd been silent, afraid of what might happen if he revealed her presence to the rest of the campers. None of them sounded very nice, actually. If they picked on the weak, like Nick, what would they do if they saw somebody her size?
Emily slumped her shoulders. "Sorry," she complained, shouting as loud as she could. "In case you didn't notice, I'm really small, and so's my voice."
The giant grinned and shook his head. "I shouldn't laugh, but I can't help it," he told her. "I just never imagined anybody could be as tiny as you are. How did it happen? How'd you get all miniature like that?"
Emily paced along on the tabletop, thinking. How should she answer that question? If she told about the microcolony, she could endanger her whole family! Best to just tell a partial truth, she decided. "It was an experiment," she replied slowly. "They wanted to see if we could live like this. Everything was going fine until you grabbed me!"
"Sorry," said Nick with a grin, "but I didn't see any experiment. I just saw a little snipe taking a swim in the moonlight."
"You--you saw me?" Emily turned away, suddenly flushed with embarrassment. He must've been in the bushes, then. He was there when she arrived, which was how she didn't hear him coming! And he saw her--he saw everything!
"Sorry, I didn't mean to peek," Nick went on defensively, sounding a bit embarrassed himself, "but I didn't know what you were at first. Y'know, you just don't expect to see a tiny person swimming, um, naked in a stream like that. Didn't you bring bathing suits along with your, ahem, experiment?"
"Not really," said Emily weakly, not looking at him. She could still feel the stinging in her face. "I could've worn my, uhh, you know, but I wanted them dry when I--oh, never mind! Can we just get back to the important thing? You kidnapped me! Please take me back to the forest! My parents'll be worried sick!"
Nick shook his head. "I can't," he told her with an exaggerated tone of protest in his voice. "I don't own a car. Don't need one, since I live on campus, and who's going to loan me one to drive all that way? Assuming I can even find the place again--I wasn't really paying all that much attention, y'know."
He doesn't sound all that sorry, Emily thought. Obviously he means to keep me here! What can I do about it? I'm only one-twentieth his size. How can I convince him to let me go? Might as well try the pouty look--that always works on Mom & Dad, doesn't it?
With that in mind, she finally turned to look back at the massive face, giving him her best sad, pitiful expression. "You mean I'm going to be stuck here like this?" she asked in as pathetic a voice as she could manage. "Please don't do this to me, Nick! Don't keep me prisoner! Let me go! Ple-e-e-ase!"
"Oh, I can't do that," he told her, barely biting back a laugh at her pathetic, squeaky whining. "You'd never last long out there at your size, y'know. Besides, how would you ever get all that way on your own, even if you knew where you were going? You're better off with me. Now come on, I'll show you around your new home."
"Wait, I--!" she started, but suddenly his hand swept down and plucked her off the tabletop. In an instant she went from independent and free to trapped in the grip of a humongous finger and thumb, pressing against her from both sides. Before she could cry out in protest, he released her into his open palm, where she flopped onto her backside, staring up at him in shock.
"Sorry, I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked, still smiling from high above.
Emily sat up on his immense, warm, fleshy hand. The jolting fear that swept across her when he picked her up quickly faded, to be replaced by another emotion entirely. "How dare you do that to me!" she yelled, getting to her feet and wagging a hand in his direction. "I'm not a snipe, I'm a person! You can't just pick me up like a doll, you know!"
He laughed again, which of course only infuriated her further. "You do look sorta like a doll," he chuckled. "I can't hold ordinary people in my hand, y'know."
"It doesn't matter how small I am!" she shouted. "I'm still a person! You can't treat me like some kind of toy!"
"Why not?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and leaning down closer to her miniature form. "Why can't I? You look like a toy to me. Finally, there's somebody in this damn place smaller and weaker than I am! If I were you, I'd quit arguing and be a good little snipe!"
Emily missed the veiled threat in his remarks, focusing only on the single word that had by now become a hated insult. She threw up her hands again and raised her voice as loud as she could. "I'm NOT a snipe, damn it! Quit calling me that!"
"I can't help it," he replied sardonically. "You still haven't told me who you are. If you don't want me calling you a snipe, tell me your real name."
"I--oh, all right!" she shouted in exasperation. "My name's Emily Johnson. There? Satisfied?"
"Sure, Emily," he answered, obviously amused by her precociousness. "My name's Nicholas Stinson, Junior, but everybody calls me Nick. You can, too, if you want. Now come on, let me show you around the place."
He lifted up his hand suddenly, causing little Emily to go sprawling amidst his colossal fingers. Kneeling, she could see out over the edge of his palm as he pointed out the various features of his cavernous dorm room. Emily tried very hard not to think about hot his leathery skin felt, or the fact that she was perched in the middle of somebody's hand. Or, for that matter, how high off the ground she was at the moment.
"This is my bed over here, and the kitchenette," Nick told her, droning on for several minutes about various giant pieces of furniture, as though she hadn't seen such things before. Well, she hadn't, at least not in this scale. When Emily first got miniaturized, they took her and the others directly to the colony site. She hadn't been inside a normal-sized building since then. The place was intimidatingly large, but still somewhat fascinating, in a nervous sort of way.
Finally, Nick set her down on the top of the kitchen counter, next to the sink. "Go ahead and explore," he told her. "I don't think you can get down from there, so I'm going to go unpack. After that, we'll have to figure out someplace to keep you where you won't get into trouble."
"Okay," she agreed, shaking her head and recovering from the dizzying ride on his palm. "Are you sure you won't take me home? Please, Nick, I don't want to be cooped up in here!"
"I'll think about it," he replied with a grin, "if you're a good little snipe."
Before she could shout out an angry reply, he turned and walked off across the room, snickering to himself. Even from what quickly became a very long distance, she could still hear his irritating chuckle.
"I'm not a snipe!" Emily grumbled to herself, realizing only just now how much she really, really loathed that word.
Emily stopped at the edge of the countertop, looking down at the distant linoleum far below. Just a few feet...but to her, it was like looking over the edge of a cliff.
To her surprise, Nick didn't interrupt while she explored the kitchen from her tiny point of view. Every now and then she glanced his way out of the corner of her eye. He was unpacking a duffel bag, or at least pretending to do so. Mostly, he was watching her, and trying very hard not to be noticed in the process. A bemused smile seemed permanently etched on his face.
Emily tried to ignore him as she meandered about the sink, dish drainer, toaster oven, and other immense objects that littered the counter surface. A few times, she managed to forget he was there. Actually, the giant items littering Nick's somewhat messy kitchen were interesting in and of themselves. The back side of the sink's control knobs, for example. Most people never saw them from that angle. The slight graininess of surfaces she would've sworn were ordinarily very smooth. And again, as always, the constant amazement at just how big everything was.
In the microcolony, Emily was used to enlarged objects. Most of the items inside the underground shelter were built out of ordinary-sized equipment constructed as small as possible. The shrinking device (which was still a big secret, even to most of the scientists in the colony) only worked on organic substances, or so she understood from what her parents told her. That meant all the machinery was miniaturized in the conventional way--with delicate, robot-assisted precision. Even so, they were close to the right scale in most cases.
Not so outdoors. Back at the colony, Emily liked going outside, where she could let herself be awed by the size of everything. She often dreamed of going back to her old house and wandering around, seeing how different everything was from a different perspective. Now she had an idea of what that would be like. She would've been excited and thrilled, except for the presence of Nick Stinson.
He seemed all right, Emily told herself as she started back away from the precipice, towards the building-sized refrigerator in the distance. He was fascinated with her, obviously, but he hadn't hurt her yet, and when he carried her around, he was at least gentle about it. Yet some of the things he said indicated quite clearly he considered her nothing more than a pet.
A pet snipe...God, how she was sick of that name!
On her way back across the counter, Emily ducked behind the toaster oven. The gap was easily wide enough for her to fit through, seeing as how it had to be far enough apart that the plug could extend out of the nearby wall outlet. She was immediately struck by how dirty it was behind the appliance. By contrast, the countertop itself was almost immaculately clean.
Emily waited in the shadows, curiously investigating some of the crusted-on gunk lining the back of the oven and the countertop. How did some of this crap get here, anyway? A piece of what looked like an eggshell, for example, and a few bits of crumbly crackers. Down by her feet, she disturbed a lone black ant about the size of her fist. The creature scuttled swiftly into the darkness.
Not a threat, she thought reflexively, ignoring the insect completely. She'd seen her share of ants and other insects back in the forest. Unless she menaced its lair, it would avoid her, and even if it did try to bite, its mandibles wouldn't be able to penetrate the steelweave bodysuit.
After a minute or so, she peered out from behind the oven, looking to see if Nick was coming to figure out what she was up to. Nope, he was continuing to put things away and straighten up his room, no longer paying attention to her at all. Emily smiled, considering the oven's power cord thoughtfully. If Nick left her alone long enough, maybe he'd give her time to get away!
Slipping back into the shadows, she clambered up on top of the plug and grabbed hold of either side. With her feet pressed against the wall, she pulled as hard as she could. The cord didn't budge. Gritting her teeth from the effort, she started rocking back and forth, side to side. Gradually, a little bit at a time, the plug started to slide free.
After about a minute, the power cord released its grip in a sudden motion, causing Emily to bump into the back of the toaster with a loud clang. Well, she thought it was loud, but did Nick notice? Worriedly, she glanced around the side again, but he was still cleaning up. Was he looking her way out of the corner of his eye? She couldn't tell from all the way across the room.
No matter. He wasn't coming to investigate, Emily thought gratefully. Still holding the newly freed cord, she hauled it over to the nearby edge of the counter and dropped it down the side. She was in full view of Nick now, but he didn't seem to notice. Obviously, he was secure in his belief that she couldn't possibly escape from the countertop.
Emily smiled at her own ingenuity, and that he hadn't seen her yet. Still, she was only halfway home. The cord didn't reach all the way because most of its loops were fastened with a twist-tie. Emily scurried over there and started undoing the connector, once again marveling at how much more difficult this was at her size. She could remember opening up loaves of bread when she was normal, without even thinking about it. Now she had to carefully pull one edge of the plastic-sheathed tie while holding onto the other for stability.
After about another minute, she successfully undid the fastener. Immediately, the weight of the dangling cord pulled the loops apart, forcing Emily to jump back to avoid being swept along. The cord clattered as it dropped down the side of the cabinet, loudly enough to wake the dead as far as little Emily was concerned. Still Nick didn't seem to notice what she was up to.
Hurrying, before Nick spotted her, she dashed across the counter and started shimmying down the cord. Keeping a grip on the thick cable was easy, but she was glad she was still wearing the gloves and jumpsuit. Without those, she'd risk losing skin, considering how fast she was descending.
After a long slide she found herself at the plug, which was dangling eight inches off the floor. Emily gritted her teeth and took the plunge, rolling with the landing. The maneuver proved easier than she thought, and she got to her feet quickly, running over to the edge of the floorboards. Now she had a totally different view of the dorm room, looking up at the distant, towering form of Nick as he moved around. Plainly, he was oblivious to her escape, and Emily grinned at her accomplishment.
Now what, though? Maybe she could find an air vent to duck into, or a crack in the wall someplace. She raced across the kitchen floor to a nearby couch, diving behind it before he spotted her. Once again she found herself amidst dust, dirt and cobwebs, but she hardly cared now. She was nearly free!
Moving along behind the huge sofa, she passed several fallen coins as well as a giant pen. A dusty videocassette barred her path, so she climbed up over it and continued on. After a few moments she came to a floor vent, but a single glance was enough to tell she couldn't possibly fit through the slots. She tried the screws, but they were fastened tight. The fasteners used Phillips-style heads, too, so even trying to use coins to turn them would be fruitless. She moved on.
At the far side of the couch, she wiped off the cobwebs and dust as best she could and looked out at the underside of a gigantic coffee table. Another power cord dangled overhead, leading to a lamp somewhere high above. Next to the power outlet, a telephone jack hung on the wall high above, but it was empty. Damn, Emily thought. He doesn't have a phone!
She considered the door, some distance away along the wall opposite her current hiding place. There was a gap underneath. Was it enough to fit through? She didn't know for sure, but it was worth a try. Creeping along under the coffee table, she took another glance out at Nick's massive form, over on the other side of the room. He had a rag in his hand and was cleaning something on a shelf. Was he preparing a place for her to stay? He mentioned something about getting a dollhouse for her, but she had no intention of living in someplace like that. Far too humiliating. She was a woman, not a Barbie doll!
Assured that he wasn't looking, Emily ran out along the edge of the floorboard, over to the door. She was in the open now, but the risk seemed worth it. If she could slip out through the gap, she'd be free of Nick and could try to hide somewhere outside. Maybe at night, when everybody else in the dorm was asleep, she could figure out how to get word to her parents without being caught.
She finally reached the door and immediately dropped to her hands and knees, trying to squeeze into the slot. Unfortunately, as became quickly obvious, she didn't even come close to fitting. Maybe if she was half her current size she might be able to make it, but not now. All she'd accomplish by continuing to try was that she'd get stuck.
Suddenly Nick's voice boomed out across the room. "Oh, too bad, you don't fit," he said with a chuckle. "I was wondering if you would. Thanks for letting me know."
Emily's heart sank as she got to her feet and stared up at him. He had his head turned slightly sideways and was smiling. Yelling a response seemed pointless, as he couldn't possibly hear her little voice from several feet away, so she just sort of stood there, unsure of what to do.
"Oh, come on, you don't think I didn't notice your little escape attempt, do you?" he went on. "That's okay, little snipe. Go ahead and explore all you want. I'm pretty sure you can't get out. You can hide if you like, but just remember, if you want any food or water, you're going to have to come out sooner or later."
Emily clenched her fists in anger. He knew the whole time! There she was, thinking she was pulling one over on him, and he didn't even care. Damn, damn, damn!
Still, she had to admit she was enjoying herself. This was her chance to run around inside a normal-sized home, just like she always dreamed about doing. Knowing Nick was aware of her escape didn't change the fact that she was having fun. As long as he didn't come grab her, she might as well keep going. Turning away, she hurried off across the floor, darting under the bed to continue her explorations.
Meanwhile, halfway across the room, Nick finished straightening up the top of the cabinet. Moving to his closet, he opened the door and withdrew a small fish tank, which he carried over to the cleared-off space. His previous attempts to keep a goldfish alive had failed, but the glass-walled cage would make a perfect place for Emily.
Still smiling, he started wiping out the dusty interior of the aquarium. This time, he told himself, he'd make sure he kept much better care of his new pet.
Emily was still exploring under the dark, dusty bed when the mattress above suddenly bounced and creaked under the weight of something very heavy. She ducked automatically and rolled up against an old shoe, only to jump a second time as Nick's huge upside-down head appeared in the nearby gap. "Oh, good, you're still under here," he chuckled loudly. "I was afraid I was going to have to hunt for you."
"Don't do that!" she shouted at him angrily. "You scared the crap out of me!"
"Sorry," laughed Nick, pushing his glasses back into place on his inverted head. "Come on out, Emily, I need to put you up while I go get some things."
"I don't wanna come out," she complained, backing up behind the torn, ratty shoe. "Go ahead and go if you want. I'll be okay."
Nick shook his head and clucked his tongue, making a tsk-tsk sound. "Nice try, but I don't think so. You'll just get into trouble. Besides, I just spent a lot of time getting your home ready, y'know. So come on out."
"What is it, a drawer or something?" demanded Emily, backing up as his huge hand reached in and swiftly yanked the tennis shoe out of the way. She retreated towards the corner, ignoring the dust and webs that seemed everywhere. By now, her hair and jumpsuit were coated with them.
"No, of course not," he replied with a sigh. "I wouldn't just cram you in a drawer! A cute little snipe like you deserves a proper home. Come on out and I'll show you."
"I don't think so," she replied with a precocious smile. "You can't get me under here. I think I kinda like it, actually. It's...cozy."
Nick sighed and shook his head, which suddenly moved upwards and disappeared. The bed creaked and groaned as he moved around above, and his feet appeared on the ground, where his head was a moment before. Then, in a sudden swift motion, the mattress lifted up, leaving her exposed to the light. Nick was standing there, holding the entire bed up over his head. Emily gasped. At her size, she hadn't realized just how little the bed really was.
Before she could move, Nick leaned down and grabbed her in a quick swipe with his hand. She screamed in surprise, struggling against his grip, but couldn't get away. How did something so huge move so damn fast?
Nick shouldered the mattress out of the way and stepped back, letting the bed fall back into place with a loud thump. He was chuckling as he carried his little captive across the room. "Bad snipe!" he intoned, wagging a massive finger in front of her terrified face. "Bad, bad! You didn't come when I called you! I can see I'm going to have to teach you some tricks, now aren't I?"
He opened up his hand, letting Emily sprawl weakly in his palm. She was hyperventilating, for his grip had pinched off her breathing. With a couple of fingers, he tried brushing some of the cobwebs out of her hair, but she shied away from him in obvious fear.
"Oh, don't be so scared," he laughed. "I was just kidding. I'm not gonna hurt you or anything. Seriously, though, you really should do what I tell you, y'know. If you don't, you might get hurt. What if I accidentally stepped on you?"
Emily gulped and pushed herself up against his thumb. He continued to stroke her hair, working the cobwebs out. She started to protest, but decided it wouldn't do any good. What could she possibly do against those mighty fingers, anyway? Instead, she concentrated on getting the sticky strands off her clothes, because as soon as he finished with her hair, what would he start working on next?
He seemed satisfied after a moment, though, and was content to watch as Emily cleaned herself of webs and dust as best she could. She became very uncomfortable under his gaze. What was he thinking, anyway? He seemed mesmerized by what she was doing.
After getting as much of the sticky gunk off her jumpsuit as possible, Emily paused and looked up at him. He didn't react for a moment, until she snapped her fingers and waved. "You still in there, Nick?" she called out.
"What?" He jerked his head back in surprise, blinking. "Oh, sorry, I couldn't--I mean, you're just so, uh, umm..."
"What?" she asked, smiling despite herself. The fear she was feeling a few moments before seemed to quickly drain away. Nick didn't seem dangerous any more. No, he was too...she couldn't quite place her finger on what she was sensing from him.
His face seemed to darken slightly. "So...small," he offered weakly, and Emily got the impression he meant to say something else entirely. "Every time I look at you, I just think...how can anybody be that tiny? What does it feel like? Does it...hurt?"
She sat up in his palm and crossed her arms. "Only when you grab me! That's really rude, you know."
"Sorry, but you would've run away if I gave you any more time. You know you would have."
Emily nodded slightly. "I guess that's true," she admitted. "Anyway, other than your pinching and squeezing, it doesn't hurt at all. When I first got miniaturized, I was numb all over for days, but that faded after a while."
"How'd they do it?" asked Nick with curiosity, sitting down at the table and continuing to stare at her unnervingly. "How'd they shrink you, I mean?"
"They didn't really say," Emily replied, glancing away from his hovering face. The way he was looking at her was starting to get embarrassing. No one had ever been so fascinated by her before, and it was sending chills up and down her spine. Instead, she concentrated on studying the little lines and furrows in his warm palm. "It was some kind of big government secret. They put us in a room, and these lights came on, and then I got really sleepy. The next thing I know, I was in the m--well, I mean, the experiment had started. They didn't really even let us see any giant people."
"Heh, that's funny, you think I'm a giant!" He snickered at that for a moment, and then went on. "Nobody thinks of me like that. I'm the classic 98-pound weakling here at school."
"Not to me!" she told him. "You're bigger than anyone I've ever seen. Well, not everyone, I guess. I saw a hiker go past in the woods one time, but he didn't see me in the bushes."
Above, Nick raised an eyebrow. "Really? You've never seen any normal-sized people? So this is the first time anybody's ever...held you?"
"Um...yeah, I guess so," she admitted shyly.
Nick swallowed, and Emily could see the huge Adam's apple on his throat bob up and down. The sound of the gulp was almost otherworldly. After an uncomfortable moment, he went on. "What does it feel like, being held? I mean, if you don't mind telling me, that is."
Emily looked up at him and saw the honesty there. He did seem genuinely interested, and when was the last time anyone did that, except as part of a science experiment? Come to think of it, when was the last time she actually talked to anybody new? Nick might be a giant nerd and all, but at least he was different.
With that in mind, Emily sat back and crossed her legs. "Oh, all right, you really want to know?" she began. "Well, it's kind of hard to explain. You see me as little, but to me, I'm the one who's normal and everything else is just really huge. I feel...well, I mean, when I'm not somebody's prisoner, I feel really free. Especially when I'm out in the woods, or when I go swimming like last night. I'm so small nobody can see me, and yeah, there's giant bugs and stuff, but it's like an adventure! Can you understand that? I mean, most people don't really have any adventures any more. There's nothing really dangerous in the world, unless you count the chance you might get hit by a bus or whatever."
Nick gave a slight shrug. "You aren't a nerdy freshman all alone in a college dorm, or you wouldn't say that," he replied disdainfully.
"Oh, yeah, I guess I see what you mean," she agreed. "That must be tough."
"So what's it like where you live?" he went on, changing the subject quickly. "Do you just live under rocks or something? You mentioned your parents, so is your whole family small like you?"
Emily sighed. What harm could it possibly do to tell him the rest of it? The microcolony's days were numbered now that she'd been taken away. The veil of secrecy was gone.
"Yeah, I'm an only child, you know? My parents are both scientists, see, and after high school they got me to go with them to this experimental colony. Kinda like that bio-dome thing, remember that? Only underground. It's safe down there, and we have TV and stuff, but it's so boring all the time! There's nobody my age, so I'm either taking care of the younger kids or getting involved in experiments and crap like that."
"So you snuck out," he replied with a nod. "That's why you were alone in the middle of the night! Wouldn't you get in trouble?"
Emily nodded. "Oh, sure, I was gonna get yelled at real good this morning, but I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore. My parents are freaking out right now, I'm sure."
There was silence for a moment. Emily turned away, the image of her distraught parents easily visible in her mind. Nick, too, finally tore his eyes off her tiny form. "I'm sorry I took you away," he said after a noticeable pause, no longer looking in her direction. He seemed to be studying something down on the floor. "When I saw you, I just--well, you were so beautiful, and I didn't know who or what you were--"
Emily saw the opportunity and seized it. "Nick, please let me call my parents!" she begged. "I can call the company they work for, and--"
"No!" he replied quickly. "I can't! I'll get in trouble! Besides, you should be happy I've taken you away from that place! Think about it. You wanted to have an adventure, so here it is. I know what it's like to be ignored and shunned, so that the only time I'm really happy is when I'm off in another world. You don't have to worry--I won't ever treat you like that. I'm going to take real good care of you, Emily, I swear."
Emily looked up at him with pleading eyes, but her hands were clenched into fists. For a moment there, she actually thought he might take her to a phone, or even agree to send her back to the forest. No such luck.
"All right," he went on after a moment, "this has been fun and all, and we'll talk more later, but I need to go get some supplies for you. Here, let me show you your new home."
Emily suddenly felt herself being lowered, and immediately got a look at where she was going. The aquarium was spacious enough, and Nick had thoughtfully added a soft cloth to the floor, but she knew what it really was--a cage! "No, please don't put me in there!" she yelled as he set her down inside. "Come on, Nick! I'm a person, just like you! You can't just lock me up like this!"
"It's for your own good," he told her. "If you got out, somebody else might find you, and they won't be as nice as I am. Now stay put. As you can see, there's some water for you, and that cracker ought to be enough to snack on. I'll be back soon. Bye!"
With that, he placed a metal screen over the top of the aquarium. From below, she had the impression of looking up at a chain link fence, one being held in place by wooden slabs on all sides. She doubted very much she could budge it, even if she could figure out how to climb the slick walls. "Please, let me out!" Emily cried out one last time, even though she knew it was a fruitless attempt. "Come on, Nick! This isn't fair!"
Nick didn't answer. Instead, he turned and headed off, opening the door and striding out into the hall beyond. Emily slammed her hands on the glass as the door closed, leaving her alone.
"Well, shit," she muttered, sinking down to the soft floor and burying her face in her hands.
As he shut and locked the door to his dorm room, Nick stifled a laugh. Even from the entranceway, he could see the distraught look on his little snipe's face. She really didn't like that aquarium much, did she? Well, it was either that or a dark, stuffy drawer. He had no intention of letting her roam around in there freely, without any supervision. He wasn't that stupid.
Nick was still grinning as he walked down the hallway, towards the stairs. His own little pet...who would've thought he would've found something so totally awesome? Although he called her a snipe, he had no illusions that she was anything else but a woman. A miniature, tiny woman he could keep and hold and take care of. Plus, because she was so itty-bitty, she couldn't laugh at him, or avoid him, or spurn him with the usual rejection. She didn't have that option.
She was perfect, really. Cute as hell, with a killer body and an outfit that didn't do anything to hide it. Adventurous, athletic, and defiant, too. He loved it when she squirmed around as he picked her up--when she moved in his hand, it sent shivers up and down his spine. She could struggle all she wanted, and it wouldn't help.
Why, he could hold her all day...
When he first caught her, she was scared and cowering, but now, that was pretty much over with. Now she was trying to figure out a way to escape her current predicament, but of course there was no way out. Nick had no intention of taking her back to the park. No way! Opportunities like this came along only once in a lifetime.
He couldn't help but snicker again as he thought of that cute, squeaky little pleading whimper as she begged him to let her go. Like he would fall for something like that! Then she tried to escape--that was the best part. As if he couldn't see her every move! The look on her teeny little face as she realized she couldn't get under the door was absolutely precious.
What was she doing now? Trying to figure out how to climb out of the aquarium? Nick grinned. The top was clamped on tightly. Considering how ineffectual her struggles had been against his fingers, he was sure she wouldn't have the strength to pop the lid free.
She was so small! That was the icing on the cake. She was simply adorable. Perfect, in every sense of the word. He couldn't imagine a better situation.
To think, people actually let themselves be shrunk down like that voluntarily! Well, if Emily wanted to be only four inches high, Nick wasn't about to complain. Besides, after a while, she'd come to realize her new home was a lot better than the last one. No parents around, and no silly chores to do. She was so bored back in that colony place that she was willing to sneak out into the night just to have some fun. Well, her new life would be a lot more interesting than the old one. Nick would make sure she had plenty of adventures.
"Hey, nerdlinger!" barked a loud voice, interrupting Nick's happy thoughts. The smile on his face collapsed at once as he saw who was speaking--Art Lassiter, one of his more annoying tormentors. "What the hell are you grinning about?" the bulky jock demanded.
"Nothing," Nick replied deferentially. "Just, um, thinking about how much fun I had on the camping trip."
"Oh really?" Art put his hand on top of Nick's head and rotated it back and forth, mussing his hair. This was one of the football player's trademark moves, calculated to remind Nick just how puny he was. "Had fun, huh? Did you enjoy the snipe hunt?"
"It was okay, I guess," replied Nick, trying to back away, but the meaty fingers were wrapped solidly around his skull. Art was at least a foot taller than he was, and probably twice his weight. "I mean, I, uh, well, I knew it was fake and all, but it was still cool."
"Oh, you knew it was fake!" Art threw back his head and laughed, finally releasing Nick's head. "Yeah, right! Who told you that? Was it Luke? No, let me guess. It was your fellow geek Ryan, wasn't it?"
"No!" Nick insisted, not wanting to get Ryan into trouble. Ryan Williams, an overweight computer science major, wasn't really a friend--he was even more of a loner than Nick was. They did occasionally meet for occasional roleplaying games, which were one of the few activities Nick really enjoyed at the college. Naturally, he and Ryan shared the same enemies, and the last thing Nick wanted was to see Ryan hurt and the deed blamed on him! "Look, I knew all along, okay? I just went along so you could have your fun. Besides, when I was out there, I found--well, I saw some really cool things in the moonlight. Deer, y'know, and a stream, and--"
"Oh, stop lying!" Art insisted, seeing right through Nick's hasty bluff, but making absolutely the wrong assumption. "You were totally buying it--I saw you. Don't try to get out of it now."
Nick started to protest, but he could already tell this was an argument he couldn't win. Instead of saying anything else, he just fell silent, glancing around to see if there was any way he could escape Art's presence. Sadly, the jock was blocking the way to the exit. All he could do was go back upstairs.
"You're so pathetic," Art went on. "Well, I just wanted to say thanks for giving us all some good laughs this weekend! Oh, and you left your stupid tent in my car. I'll put it in your room later, when I feel like it."
Nick's face went white. "No, don't do that!" he blurted, but just as quickly realized he'd made a huge mistake. "I'll--well, I'll, uh, come get it later," he stammered weakly.
"Oh, something in your room you don't want me to see?" Art asked with a raised eyebrow. "Got some porn in there, do you? Yeah, that's it! Some Playboys under the bed! Ha ha! That's as close as you'll ever get to a real woman!"
Now Nick's face was turning beet red. He knew what he'd done, but couldn't fix it now. He struggled to think of something to say, but couldn't. If he protested, that would be proof of his guilt. Appealing to Art's better side wouldn't work, either--there was no better side.
As Art continued to laugh, Nick got more and more flustered. Finally, unable to think of anything else to do, he pushed past the huge jock, who thankfully was too distracted to interfere. Without looking back, Nick hurried out the exit door, cursing himself all the while.
Damn, damn, damn! Now Art suspected Nick had something hidden away in his room. At least it was just porno magazines on Art's mind, Nick thought worriedly. That wouldn't be enough to convince the jock to break in. Fortunately, Nick had thought to lock the door, or Art might just go check on it right now--and there was no way he could miss spotting the tiny woman in the aquarium!
Even Art wouldn't be so foolish as to break the lock, though. Security in the dorms was a big issue at the school. Art wasn't about to risk his precious football scholarship just to play a prank on a nerd.
As he walked across the campus, Nick slowly pushed those worries to the back of his mind. He focused his thoughts on the tiny woman waiting for him back in the aquarium, and his mood gradually lightened. She was going to need a few things, wasn't she? He couldn't just leave her in that big empty glass cage with no amenities at all.
Fortunately, like most colleges, this one had a main street nearby, filled with shops to cater to just about every student's need. Nick angled for one spot he knew from his previous attempt to keep a goldfish alive in the dorm.
With the smile on his face gradually returning, he crossed the street and walked purposefully into the pet shop.
Although he dismissed the possibility that Art might try to break into his room, Nick was still worried as he approached his door, toting a shopping bag under his arm. To his great relief, the lock was still tightly secured. He glanced up and down the corridors, making sure nobody could see inside, and that Art wasn't lurking someplace nearby. Fortunately, the halls were empty and all the other doors tightly shut.
Quickly he used his key and pushed himself inside, shutting the door and throwing the dead bolt behind him. Across the room, a tiny figure in black stood against the glass, waving her arms frantically.
Nick grinned. "Couldn't wait for me to get home, huh?" he asked, setting down the bag nearby. "I've got some presents for you, little snipe."
"Nick, please!" Emily's squeaky little voice begged. "I've gotta go! I've been holding it, but if you don't let me out I'm going to have to leave a big mess in the corner!"
Nick smacked his forehead. "Oh, damn, I forgot all about that! My bad! Come on, I'll take you to the bathroom."
He started to lift up the lid, shaking the aquarium so badly that Emily fell over. She got to her knees and waited for the inevitable hand to reach down and pluck her off the metal floor. She felt just like a pet mouse as he dropped her into his open palm, where she lay on her side, saying nothing.
"Hey, come to think of it, shouldn't you have had to, um, go long before now?" he asked curiously.
"If I were your size, yeah," she answered with a shrug. "Not like this. The scientists say we digest and absorb almost everything we eat at this scale. Hardly any waste products come out, you know? That's one of the nice things about being so small. Our bodies are real efficient. Now come on! I've really gotta go!"
Nick snickered as she held her legs tightly together, crossing her feet one behind the other. She was so damn cute! As he thought about the situation, though, his mirth began to fade. The dorm had only a community bathroom, which wasn't private. If somebody came in...but what other choice was there? He couldn't just put her in the sink--that would be gross!
He thought for a moment, trying to figure out how she could possibly use a toilet at her size. All she had to do was sit down on something round, with a hole in it. He cast his eyes around the room, spotting a cardboard box on one of the shelves. The box held some gaming supplies he rarely used, so it wouldn't miss one-half of the lid.
He set Emily down on the shelf while he tore off the wide, flat piece of cardboard and punched a hole in it with a mechanical pencil. "What are you doing?" she asked as he held it up to her, narrowed his eyes, and then widened the opening with the tip of his little finger.
"You'll see," he replied, picking up a nearby purple velvet Crown Royal bag. Emily's eyebrows went up as she saw this extremely unusual item in his hands, but a moment later the container's purpose was revealed. He undid the drawstring, turned it over his bed, and dumped out two giant-sized handfuls of dice. "Now get in," he ordered, setting the bag down next to her on the counter.
She sighed and crawled into the opening. A moment later he lifted up the sack, drawing a surprised squeal as she tumbled about inside. Looking up, she saw his huge eye staring in after her. "Comfy?" he asked jovially.
"Just hurry up, or you're going to have to clean me off!" she shouted in frustration.
Nick grinned and shut the bag, and she got the distinct impression he thought that might not be such a bad thing.
Emily was sure Nick was violently swinging the bag on purpose, just to annoy her. Damn him, anyway! I'm having enough trouble controlling my bodily functions as it is without being tossed about like a boat in a storm!
After a minute or so, the shaking came to a halt. She heard a creak from outside, followed by a kind of thump, and then a soft ripping as if of cloth being torn. Then the bag, with her inside, came down on something solid. She got to her feet and crawled towards the shaft of light at the entrance.
Emerging, she found she was standing on the cardboard slab he poked the hold into earlier. She was inside a room with high green walls. The box lid was resting on top of something round and white, and as she turned about, she realized what that was.
A colossal toilet.
So, that explains it, she thought, noticing now that a single sheet of toilet paper waited in a crumpled pile next to the hole. That was what the opening was for. She'd expected to be dropped in the sink, but this would work just as well. For the first time in a year, she was going to actually use a real lavatory.
Fortunately, Nick wasn't watching. He had thoughtfully closed the door to the stall, but she could see his feet outside, heels facing her. Guarding the exit. He could still turn around at any moment and come in, but at least he was trying to yield to her modesty.
Before he changed his mind, Emily steeled herself and undid her jumpsuit. The hole in the cardboard was bigger than she would've liked, but she was in no danger of falling in. She did her business quickly, and then suffered through the use of a rough corner of toilet paper. Back home in the colony, they had no such amenities, using a washing device instead since paper was impossible to produce or import. This was the first time she'd used T.P. in ages.
Before Nick could open the door again, she quickly donned her underwear and jumpsuit, zipping it up hastily. Although he'd already seen her in the nude once, that was at a distance. She had no desire to let him look her over again, close up. He could do so at any time, of course...she knew that, but forced the idea out of her mind. So far, he hadn't tried anything. Maybe he wouldn't.
God, she prayed he wouldn't...
Now finished, she waited for him to come in, but he had no idea she was done. Emily paced about, glancing into the toilet bowl over the edge. The waste she deposited within wasn't even visible any more. She walked over to the side, looking down at the tiled floor, and then moved to the back of the toilet. Was climbing down even possible? Perhaps...but what then? Could she hide from him in the bathroom? Probably not. Noplace to go, really. Her only hope was to get someone else's attention.
Did she really want that, though? Emily frowned. Nick might've teased her and called her a pet, but that was all he'd done. He was also willing to keep her a secret, too. What if the next person turned her in? That would be the end of the microcolony project right there! Worse, though, was the knowledge that she was totally helpless like this. A giant could do anything he wanted to her. Not that Nick wouldn't eventually try something...but so far, he hadn't. Maybe he never would.
No, trying to find somebody else to help her wasn't a valid option. She had to get to a phone, so she could call her father's old office number. They would know what to do.
"Are you done in there?" Nick's voice asked from beyond the door. "If so, give me a squeak or something."
Emily frowned. Why did he have to be so condescending? Because he's twenty times bigger than you, she reminded herself. "Yes, I'm done!" she shouted as loud as she could. "Squeak, squeak, squeak!"
Nick opened the door and grinned down at her. "Thanks, little snipe," he chuckled. "Maybe I should start calling you my little mouse."
"Very funny!" Emily yelled, putting her hands on her hips and giving him a disgusted look. "I'm not a--!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, you're not a mouse or a snipe, you're a person. Whatever! Now get back in the bag. I bought some stuff at the pet store for you."
"Pet store?" she asked, frowning even more deeply. "You went shopping for me at a pet store?"
"Yep. That's where you buy things for your pets, remember? They didn't have a lot of things for pet snipes, but I think I found a few things you'll like. Now get in and let's go!"
His fingers appeared, poking her towards the open end of the velvet sack. Emily shook her head and crawled inside, curling up in the bottom to prepare for yet another wildly swinging ride back to his room.
I've got to think of a way to show him I'm not a pet, she thought unhappily.
"Well, we're all here," said Dr. Victoria Bushnell. "What do we know so far?"
Dr. Tolliver, seated at the head of the conference table, gave a cursory nod to the eleven assembled scientists. As a group, they acted not only as the head research team, but also as the de facto government of the two-hundred-plus miniature people in the underground facility. The experiment was more than just about science, after all. The microcolony was, essentially, a gerontocracy, and the aged Arvin Tolliver was considered the leader. The title was informal, of course, but if it came down to it, he would be the one who made any final decisions.
"Well, so far, not much," Dr. Tolliver replied. "We know there were campers in the park last night, and we know one of them was at the pool where Emily was swimming. The forensics team says whoever it was left nothing behind we could use, though. No DNA, no hair samples, nothing."
"So we're nowhere?" Leomund Johnson looked terrible. His eyes were sunken, and he obviously hadn't slept all night. "You mean my daughter is just--gone--and there's nothing anybody can do about it?"
"No, that's not what I'm saying," Arvin replied, holding up his hands in a calming gesture. "The cameras in the park didn't give us anything to go on, but we do know they were young people, men and women both. We suspect they drove down from the city, possibly from one of the high schools or the local college."
"Did the cameras get the license plate?" asked Dr. Jonas. "I doubt it, but still..."
"No, of course not, you know they're too small to get that much detail," Dr. Tolliver answered. "We do know they had several vehicles. We sent images back to the home office, and hopefully, they'll be able to examine satellite tracking and--"
"This is stupid," Dr. Zenfrew said, absently rubbing his mustache and not looking directly at anyone, as was his custom. "Why are we wasting our time talking about this? The experiment is over. We should arrange for retrieval at once."
"What?" demanded Dr. Bushnell. "That's crazy! I have over a dozen long-term experiments in progress! I know most of the rest of you do, too! We can't just leave because one--"
"Because one what?" asked Leo Johnson, his gaunt face taking on an obviously menacing expression.
"Okay, I'll say it," Victoria answered, absently smoothing back her short dark hair, even though not a single strand was out of place. "I'll say it because nobody else will, but you know you're all thinking it. We can't abandon this entire project just because one foolish girl screwed up and got herself caught!"
There was silence in the little room for several long seconds. Dr. Johnson seemed to go through several emotions over the course of those dreadful moments. Finally, he rose to his feet, clearing his throat and getting control of himself.
"I'm glad my wife isn't here to hear you say that," he said in a distressingly even tone. "She considers you a close friend, Dr. Bushnell. However, she's not here, so she doesn't have to hear me say how much I agree with you."
The tense mood in the briefing room suddenly shifted to one of amazement. A ripple of conversation coursed from virtually every throat at once. Finally, Leo held up his hands for silence. "I haven't been able to sleep all night," he told them. "I was worried, like my wife, but somewhere in between sucking down drops of coffee, I realized just how foolish my daughter really was."
He paused for a moment, gathering himself, and then continued. "But that's not the worst part. I'm the one who was the bigger fool. I knew she liked to sneak out there, and I didn't do anything to stop it. Oh, yes, we lectured her, but what good was that? Emily, like any teenager, is rebellious and independent. She wanted to get out on her own, and here in this place, she couldn't. So she found a way, and now she's gone."
The others realized he was crying, but he kept right on talking. "So I screwed up," Dr. Johnson went on. "We all did. We could've locked that hatch, or posted a guard, but we let her go, knowing it would make her happy, when what we should've done was let her leave the experiment. No, no, we couldn't do that, too much of a security risk, they said. Well, that was our mistake, and it's too late to fix it now!"
"Leo, I--" started Dr. Tolliver, but Leomund cut him off with a quick gesture.
"So that's it," he went on. "My wife and I want out. We're done here. Call a pickup team and put us back to normal. We're going to search for our daughter at normal size, and don't even think about trying to stop us."
The room was silent once again. Finally, Arvin stood. "Are you done?" he asked calmly.
"Yes, for now," replied Leo with a nod.
"Good," said Dr. Tolliver. "Now let me start by saying that if you really want that, it can be arranged. We'll let you out, but of course, there is one problem, and I'm sure you know what that is. The restoration process will take weeks, and during that time, there's no way you'll be able to help in the search."
"Yes, but there's no way any of us are going to find her at this size," complained Dr. Johnson.
"Perhaps, perhaps not," said Arvin. "At least like this, we can't be seen very easily. That's not the point, though. Think about this. We're monitoring every form of media there is--newspaper, Internet, radio, television, you name it--and so far, nothing. The NSA even has people listening for keywords on cell and land phone communications. Nothing."
"So?"
"Well, think about it," Dr. Tolliver replied with a shrug. "If you were a college student, say, and were out camping and found a tiny person, what would you do? Keep her completely to yourself? Or would you tell somebody? How many people could keep totally quiet about something like that?"
"Somebody who wanted to keep her for himself," growled Leo.
"Yes, but think about it this way. If they haven't already sold their story to the papers or TV yet, they probably aren't going to."
"That's a huge plus for the colony," interjected Dr. Bushnell, glancing over at the dour Dr. Zenfrew, who was still staring blankly at a point located somewhere near the center of the table. "If Emily blabbed, there'd already be people tearing up the forest looking for us."
"This isn't to say she won't," Zenfrew put in.
"Stop it, you two," Arvin interrupted. "This isn't about the colony. It's about Emily Johnson. Now as I was saying, I figure if nothing appears in the media about a tiny person within the first twenty-four hours, it's not going to. So that means whoever has Emily has adopted her."
"What are you saying?" demanded Dr. Johnson. "Are you saying someone's making my daughter into some kind of pet?"
"I don't know, but that's one possibility," replied Arvin calmly. "Look, all our experiments at this stage have kept us in isolation. We don't know how ordinary people will react to tiny ones. However, I will say this--most human beings are basically good, and they respond favorably to small, cute little creatures. That's why there are so many dogs, cats, birds and such in people's homes. There's no reason to expect Emily won't be treated similarly."
"You aren't making me feel much better, Dr. Tolliver," growled Leo threateningly. "Make your point, damn you!"
"Sorry, this can't be pleasant to hear, but I really must go on," Arvin continued. "My point is that if someone has Emily, he or she will almost certainly treat her well. She may be kept prisoner, but there's no reason to expect she'll be mistreated."
"So you just expect let her stay like that?" demanded Dr. Johnson. "Let my Emily live the rest of her life in a cage somewhere?"
"Of course not. I just think we need to be patient. Sooner or later, something will happen. Someone else will see her and tell other people about it. Or, she'll escape, and get word to us by phone or computer. Or she'll convince her captor to let her go. One way or another, we'll find out where she is, and then we'll take action."
"This is crazy," complained Dr. Bushnell. "You mean your whole plan is just to sit here and do nothing?"
"In a way," came the reply. "Yes, in a way that's right. There is one other thing we can do, though. Remember how I said there were advantages to being so small?"
"Yes?"
Dr. Tolliver had the whole room's attention now. "Well, there is one other possibility," he began. "What I propose to do is this..."
Finishing the proposal took another minute, but the group managed to argue about it for another full hour before deciding, reluctantly, that it was the only real option.
Nick locked the door behind him as he returned to his room, carefully cradling little Emily in his palm. Still holding his tiny captive there, keeping his fingers wrapped around her but not bearing down too hard, he used his free hand to fluff up the crumpled pillow on his bed. Then, with a wild jump that caused his pet to shriek with surprise, he flopped out lengthwise and came to rest in a reclining position, bouncing slowly to a stop on creaking springs.
"Did you have to do that?" Emily shouted once she recovered her equilibrium. Still sprawled amidst his cage-like fingers, she glared up at him in obvious irritation. "I thought I was gonna go flying!"
Nick just laughed. "Sure, I could've just set you down, but what fun is that? Didn't you say you wanted some excitement?"
"Just warn me first!" she piped in that hilariously tiny voice. "Now are you planning to put me down, or are you just going to hold me all night?"
"Depends," he replied with a grin. "If you promise to be good and not try to get out of the room, I'll let you roam around. I have some, uh, research to do before the game."
"Okay, whatever. I promise." When he didn't move, she glared at him once more, this time more pointedly. "I promise I won't try to escape again, okay? Just put me down!"
"Sorry, I was...oh, never mind. Here you go." With that, Nick flattened out his fingers and turned his palm slightly to one side, letting her slide off onto the plateau that was his stomach. She now found herself on her knees amidst the folds of a wrinkled T-shirt. His entire torso was rising and falling with his breathing, and the effect of that gentle motion was unlike anything Emily could ever remember. There was something strangely soothing about it, like drifting on the gentle waves at the beach.
Suddenly aware that he was staring at her again, she crawled off to one side and slipped down the side of the shirt, landing it the midst of a wadded-up bedsheet. Getting to her feet, Emily padded away from him, following the line of his arm towards the foot of the bed. True to his word, he didn't try to seize her or impede her progress. His eyes never left her, though. She could feel those massive orbs boring into on her back the entire time, up until the moment when she finally lowered herself over the side.
Nick chuckled to himself. God, she was so cute! That perfect little figure, wrapped up in a black catsuit that hid none of her feminine curves. And what curves! He could still picture that image of her naked body glinting nymph-like in the moonlight as she swam.
He could see her that way again, of course, if he wanted to. She was his pet now, and nothing she could do would prevent him from ripping off that skintight little outfit of hers. Or better yet, he could force her to take it off for him a piece at a time, like a striptease. Why not? Nothing was stopping him.
So why didn't he?
Why, indeed? As he listened to the sound of her lithe form hitting the wood floorboards, followed by the soft tapping of tiny boots passing underneath the bed, he let his mind wander. He could sweep her up, screaming, in his fingers and play around with her. Tear off the suit and caress those full, pert breasts under his fingertips. Fondle her like a living doll. Maybe even let his tongue--
He couldn't. He just knew he couldn't.
Nick had never been comfortable around girls. He never dated, even in high school. The few times he tried to break out of his shell, he was laughed at and ridiculed. While his classmates eagerly reached first base, second base, third, and sometimes more, he never even tried to get a hit.
Touching a woman was...unthinkable.
Oh, he had his fantasies. Did he ever! Never mind the supermodel calendars, Victoria's Secret catalogs, and Internet web sites he could peruse almost at will. He was at college now! There were plenty of sorority girls and co-eds he fancied. Tracie Linden, for example. Front row, second from the left, English 101. She had pale skin and freckles, just like he did, but she was too gorgeous to know he existed. Not to mention Sarah Vickers--"Sarah Vixen," as he liked to call her. Lean and athletic, and plenty of brains to complete the package. How many times had he seen her working on the computers in the lab, but never approached her? Far too often, he thought. And then, topping the list, stood Kathy Ferrare. Girlfriend of Art's lapdog Luke, who didn't deserve her. Dumb as a post, but with her looks and body, what was the difference?
Nick smiled wistfully. Kathy Ferrare...now there was a woman he wouldn't mind having in the palm of his hand! Like Art and Luke, she was always mean and rude to him. Sometimes he wondered if she put on those public shows of affection in Nick's presence just to see his pained reaction. What would she think if she suddenly found herself four inches tall, clutched in Nick's palm?
Having just held Emily there, Nick could easily picture Kathy in the same place. What if she suddenly shrank, in that flirty little cheerleader miniskirt of hers, and Nick swept her up amidst his fingers? Oh, how she would scream and kick to get free! Not that she could ever hope to escape, of course. Getting away would be impossible. Nick could hold her there, pinned in his fingers while she exhausted herself with fruitless struggles. Her squeaky little screams would be like music to his ears. Then, when she couldn't fight him any more, he could run his fingers along those long, tan, perfectly toned legs of hers. He could squeeze and fondle her trembling flesh, even as his fingertips moved up higher and higher, and then--
Nick jerked himself back to reality, realizing all of a sudden that a certain organ of his was pressing painfully up against the inside of his jeans. He glanced around furtively, wondering if Emily, now lost somewhere in the room, had noticed. God, how embarrassing! Surely she would've giggled, though, and yet he heard nothing. The room was silent, save for the distant hum of an air conditioner deeper in the building.
He took a few deep breaths, letting the fear slowly dissipate, taking the unwanted erection with it. Damn, that was quite a picture in his mind, though! To have the beautiful Kathy totally in his power like that...but no, just thinking about such as scenario was bad, at least with Emily in the room! Nick knew he was going to have to guard his thoughts much better than this.
Too bad he couldn't have Kathy, but at least he still had Emily. Why not just pick her up and pretend she was a certain obnoxious cheerleader? Surely if he closed his eyes, he could imagine having Kathy at his mercy. Yet, even as he considered the idea, he knew he couldn't. Emily didn't deserve to be treated that way. Whereas the screams and protests of Kathy would only turn him on, such shouts from Emily would be painful to hear.
Why? What was different about Emily? Well, for one thing, she hadn't done anything to harm him. She wasn't a total bitch like Kathy, and in fact, was just an innocent victim of circumstance. Yeah, okay, she was tiny, and would make a great pet, but that didn't give him the right to abuse or mistreat her any more than he could a cat or dog.
I guess I'm too nice for my own good, Nick thought with a melancholy sigh as he reached for a nearby book.
As soon as she was off the bed, Emily hurried to a nearby bookcase and positioned herself where she could watch Nick's actions. From there, she had a good view as he fantasized about a miniaturized Kathy getting her just desserts. Of course, Emily had no idea what he was thinking about, but the look on his face was unmistakable.
Huddled amidst the books, Emily shuddered. A college geek, she reminded herself, glancing around the room. High on the wall, near the light switch, hung a calendar featuring a photograph of a buxom brunette in a skimpy bikini. No doubt other such paraphernalia abounded elsewhere in the cavernous dorm room, locked away in drawers or the distant closet.
Hormones, Emily gulped. Sooner or later, those hormones will take control of him, and when they do, what's going to happen to me?
Fortunately, the hormones kept their distance, at least for the moment. Emily crouched on the lowest shelf, amidst the books, ready to duck into the shadows if he tried to seek her out. Instead, though, he picked up a large hardback and started reading it, apparently forgetting all about her. Good, she thought with relief.
After a few moments, it was obvious he wasn't planning to come after her. She climbed out of the bookshelf and began to roam around, checking out every corner of what was obviously her new home. Every now and again, he glanced at her, but other than an occasional smile, he gave no sign that he cared what she was up to.
Fifteen minutes of exploring later, Emily realized there wasn't all that much to see down on the floor. The areas behind the couch and desk were so dusty she emerged covered with grime, most of which brushed off only with difficulty. Under the bed wasn't much better, and had far more cobwebs. Eventually she made her way to the closet, where an immense sliding door loomed, blocking her path. There was a gap to one side, but she knew there wasn't room to fit.
Still, with little else to do, she tried anyway. As she struggled to tug the door open, the bed creaked, causing her to dash away in fear. Nick just chuckled as he reached over and used a single fingertip to pop open the door wide enough for her to slip through.
With her further explorations thus approved, Emily cautiously made her way back over and climbed inside. The closet was dark, but her eyes adjusted quickly. She found herself amidst a pile of shoes, most of which stank horribly. Although their dark interiors seemed like good hiding places, she couldn't imagine putting up with that stench for long.
Pressing on, she came to several lengthy cardboard boxes, each half as long as the closet itself. Probably for magazines, she thought, clambering up the side. An oval-shaped handhold, punched in the side, provided a window to what was inside--a comic book.
Well, of course it was a comic, Emily thought. Geeks collect comics, don't they? Of course, she too had once read comics, but not since she was a little girl. Richie Rich, Little Lulu, and Baby Huey were her cartoon companions as a child. Did they still make those particular titles? Probably not, and even so, they were for kids anyway. Nick surely wouldn't have anything so juvenile in his collection.
She kept climbing, eventually reaching the top of a second stacked storage box, where she found herself amidst a pile of more hardback books. Obviously these were too big for the shelves outside, so Nick just kept them here. They bore strange names on the spine: Monster Manual, Fiend Folio, Complete Warrior, and so forth. What the heck were they? Certainly not schoolbooks--that much was obvious.
The books weren't stacked very straight, so she could easily make her way to the top of the pile. Now she could see the entire cover of something called a Dungeon Master's Guide. Dungeon Master? Oh, geez, now she understood. This was a Dungeons & Dragons book!
Yep, that clinched it, she thought, making her way back down towards the floor. Nick really was a geek. Comics, D&D, smart, nerdy...he had all the classic symptoms. No wonder the other students treated him like they did! He might as well have worn a label that said, "Hello, I'm Nick, and I'm a geek. Please abuse me."
She took a different route to the floor, winding up in the far corner, between the comic boxes and the wall. Here she made a discovery: between the two sets of stacked crates were several magazines, shoved there in such a way that they couldn't be seen at a casual glance. Squeezing tightly into the crack, Emily tried to get a better look at what they were, but couldn't quite see. Eventually, now covered once again with dust, she retreated without learning the answer. Of course, she had a pretty good idea what they were, but at present there was no way to prove her theory.
She made her way back out, cutting between the piles of shoes and avoiding the musty smell as much as possible. High above, hanging like the branches of a weeping willow, dangled shirts and pants so big they resembled the sails on a pirate galleon. Emily could remember once keeping clothes like that in a closet of her own. Those outfits were all in storage now, hopelessly out of style. Would she ever be big enough to wear something like that again, or was it doll clothes for her now, all the time?
Emily sighed. Worrying about her fate did her no good at all. Instead, she emerged into the light again, dusting herself off. She could feel some small grains of dirt inside her suit, but didn't dare try to get them out now. A bath would feel great, of course, but doing so would only invite Nick to try something, and she didn't want that. Not at all.
Unbidden, the thought of what might happen swept into her mind. Nick would take her back into that giant bathroom and set her by the sink. He'd watch as she took off her clothes, grinning at her from on high as she scrubbed herself in the sudsy water. Or would he take her in those immense hands and do the work himself? What would it feel like to have fingers as big as she was rubbing her down, sweeping every ounce of grime from her moistened, shivering skin...?
Emily blinked and emitted a short gasp. Oh, my God! I was actually thinking about that--fantasizing about it!
What am I doing? Am I crazy? He could hurt me that way! Besides, it would be wrong! He could touch me there, and there! Or run his fingertips over those! What would Mother think? And Daddy--he'd kill Nick just for even considering such a thing!
Besides, she reminded herself, I'm not a pet you can just pick up and play with! I'm a human being! He can't just tear off my clothes and wash me like a doll!
No matter how good it might feel...
NO! Emily put her hand over her head and marched away from the closet angrily. I can't think about things like that, she told herself. If I let him do that to me, he'll know he owns me then. I'll really be a toy, won't I? I can't allow that to happen!
Not that she could prevent it, of course. She knew, without thinking about it, that Nick could force her into anything he put his mind to. Frustrated, she put that out of her mind. If he tried, she'd just have to resist, hopeless as that was. She'd have to fight, and struggle, no matter how impossible the odds.
To give in was...unthinkable.
Under the bed once more, she turned around slowly, considering her surroundings. There wasn't anything else to see, she realized. She now knew the entire layout of the room. Bookshelf, sofa, bed, desk, closet. Not much else, really. Plenty of places to stay out of sight, but nowhere to hide. If Nick truly wanted to find her, there wasn't a small enough spot she could disappear into that wouldn't take him less than fifteen minutes to locate.
So what now? Nothing much to do, really. Suddenly bored, she walked slowly over to the side of the bed, where one of the sheets dangled within reach. Grabbing hold, she pulled herself swiftly upward, finally clambering onto the soft mattress next to one of Nick's crossed feet. He was lounging there, reading, but spotted her at once.
"Well, hello, little snipe," he said with a smile. "Done exploring, are we?"
"Yeah," she replied, slowly making her way towards him, trying not to think about how huge his leg was. "For such a huge place, your room sure is small."
"Tell me about it." He shifted in the bed, almost throwing her prone with the sudden violence of such a simple motion. "I guess you're bored, huh? Sorry, I wasn't expecting to bring a tiny girl home over the weekend, y'know."
Emily nodded and approached closer, following the wide channel his motion opened for her. She stopped directly adjacent to his right wrist. "Can I at least read something?" she asked. "You have comics in the closet, and a couple of magazines too."
"Maybe later," he told her, quickly ducking that subject. "I'll be leaving in an hour or so anyway. Wanna watch TV?"
"I suppose. What's that you're reading?" She pointed up at the hardback tome in his left hand, clearly labeled "Player's Handbook."
"Oh, this? It's for a game I play called Dungeons & Dragons. Ever hear of it?"
"Yeah, you put on costumes and roam around in sewers, pretending to cast magic spells, right?"
Nick rolled his eyes and slammed the book with a loud snap, making her jump in surprise. "Nobody does that!" he complained. "That one nutcase does it 20 years ago, and that's all anyone remembers! Look, role-playing is just a game, all right? We don't go down in sewers, and I've never put on a costume or cast a real spell!"
"Sorr-r-ree!" Emily snapped back, somewhat taken aback by his defensive attitude. "I didn't mean anything by it. That's all I know about the game, okay? Why don't you tell me how it really works?"
Nick relaxed. "Are you serious? Do you really want to know, or are you just playing with my mind?"
"No, I'm really curious," she lied smoothly. "I don't have anyplace else to go, anyway. You might as well just tell me."
He nodded. "Yeah, I guess I can see that. All right, here's how it works. In the game, you take on the persona of a character in a fantasy world. To represent your character, you have six primary attributes expressed in the form of numbers. With me so far?"
Emily nodded, gradually sitting down next to him so she was leaning against his hip. The warmth coming from his massive body swept over her, and she found herself suddenly very comfortable.
"All right," Nick went on enthusiastically, "did you ever see Lord of the Rings? This is sort of like that..."
After about fifteen minutes of getting a full-blown introduction to the game known as D&D, Emily was pretty sure she understood why someone like Nick would enjoy it so much. The entire point of the game was escapism, pure and simple. Everyone took on the role of some imaginary character, like in a novel or movie, and played a part in the story. The thing was, the story wasn't really written yet--the players were, in effect, creating it as they went along.
In other words, for a few hours of game time, Nick and the other D&D players would escape from reality, into a world of orcs and goblins and magic swords, of heroic deeds and the constant struggle to fend off evil. They could forget, at least for a while, that they were nerds on a college campus where they were little more than social outcasts.
The thing was, Nick didn't bother to even hide the fact that this was the case. In fact, he made a point of explaining it, and admitting it. D&D, according to him, was his chance to feel better about himself. Furthermore, it was the one truly social thing he ever did at the university--at least, successfully. Trying to go on other outings, like camping trips, were just a chance for the jocks and greeks to pester and abuse him.
Once Nick explained the social purpose of D&D, he proceeded to go over the more technical details of the game. Emily forced herself to listen to this at first, but after a while she realized it was, in its own way, somewhat interesting. She'd never seen "Lord of the Rings," which was what a lot of this stuff was based on, but she was familiar with Conan and some other sword and sorcery movies. D&D was basically some friends sitting around a table and pretending to be characters in something like that. You could be a warrior or a sorcerer or thief or...well, anything you wanted, really. One of the players, the Dungeon Master, would tell you what was happening, if something was attacking you or whatever, and you decided what to do. Or rather, what your character would do.
That was where things got a little confusing. Your character was apparently made up of numbers on a sheet of paper, and each number impacted how successful you were at doing something. For example, if you tried balancing on a tightrope, you'd use a skill based on Dexterity, one of your character's primary attributes. If you tried to bash in some monster's face with a hammer, how much damage you did depended on your Strength. And so on.
Nick showed her one of the character sheets, and Emily tried to follow along, walking along the paper and studying the information there. However, she got lost trying to do the math. For some reason a Strength of 19 gave Nick's barbarian, Grimgol, a +4 bonus to his combat abilities. Emily thought about asking where that number came from, but decided it wasn't all that important. There must be a chart or table somewhere in the books that told him that.
The books were the really daunting part of the game. There were, from what she could tell, at least a dozen of them, and of course to someone her size they were huge and intimidating. Emily was used to games no more complex than chess, which she occasionally played with her father, and some of the card games she often had to play with the younger kids. None of those had rules longer than a few paragraphs. D&D, apparently, required a few encyclopedias to play. How could she ever hope to grasp something like that?
"So, that's the basics of it," said Nick after Emily finally got to the end of the scrawl-covered character sheet. "I know that seems kinda overwhelming, but it's actually real easy, once you play it a few times. Got any questions?"
"Not really," she answered. "Well, that's not true. I could ask questions all day and probably never really understand it."
He chuckled at that. "Yeah, well, trust me, this isn't anywhere near the most complicated game out there. Besides, I know there's a ton of rules, but most of it's just reference. The basic part of the game is just the first couple of chapters in here." He patted the book titled "Player's Handbook."
"So you can be anyone," said Emily. "And you choose to be Grimgol, a fierce barbarian with a great big sword. That's what you would really like to be, Nick? A barbarian?"
"No, no, don't get the wrong idea," he answered quickly. "I'm not saying I want to be Grimgol! That's what everybody always gets wrong when I tell them about this stuff. It's just a role, like I'm an actor. I've played sorcerers, clerics, and I even tried a monk once, but it sucked ass."
"So you're saying, if I played, I could be a barbarian too? I could carry around a greatsword and hack people's heads off?"
"If you wanted, sure," he replied with a grin, obviously trying to imagine Emily doing something like that. "You could play a male character if you wanted. We have a girl in the group, Heather Cassidy, and her current character is a male warlock named Elian. Oh, and Ryan Williams has a female ranger named Haelli. So yeah, gender doesn't really matter."
"Okay, okay, I get it. You can play whoever you want. Sounds real interesting."
He looked genuinely surprised by that admission. "Really? You mean it? I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, y'know."
"Yeah, sure I mean it. Sounds like fun. Actually, I can appreciate what it's all about, I guess. Back at the colony, I'd sneak out to go on adventures. You can just do the same thing with some books, some paper and some dice. Right?"
Nick nodded. "Yeah, that's true." He paused for a moment, watching her carefully as she meandered across the character sheet, still trying to comprehend what an Armor Class was, and how your character's Base Attack Bonus figured in hitting your target. "You know, I think you actually honestly mean that."
She looked up at his gigantic face, looming over her. "Yeah, I do, is that so hard to believe?"
"Well, yeah, it is," he replied. "Most people's eyes glaze over when I start talking about D&D, and I figure you're a captive audience, so..."
There was a pause as he let his voice trail off. Emily watched him carefully for a moment, and then, quite suddenly, caught hold of an idea that had been bouncing around in the back of her head for some time now. Seizing the opportunity, she pressed forward swiftly.
"Look, Nick, I can tell you aren't going to let me go," she told him, crossing her arms in determination. "I can get that, okay? A lot of things about you make more sense, now that I've gotten to know you a little bit. We seem to have at least something in common, strange as that may sound. You're lonely here, and so was I, back in the colony, so I'll tell you what, I'll make you a deal. Okay?"
"What deal?" he asked curiously.
"I'll stay here a week, without fighting you, or trying to escape, or anything like that," she explained. "You can keep me in the aquarium if you want, but at least let me watch TV or read or something so I don't die of boredom. Entertain me however you want, just don't mistreat me, okay?"
"Hey, you know I wouldn't--"
"Just let me finish!" she interrupted. "What I mean is don't treat me like your pet snipe anymore. I'm a human being, dammit! Really small, but still human. I have feelings, just like you. So treat me like a person, got it?"
"Fine, but I still don't get it. What's the deal I'm supposed to be agreeing to?"
She smiled. "If, after a week, you've taken care of me properly, I'll agree to be your pet. Permanently."
His eyes, already abnormally large behind his thick glasses, managed to widen still further. "You mean it? You wouldn't try to get away, or get in touch with your parents somehow, or any of that crap?"
"Nope," she answered with as much honesty as she could muster. "Look, Nick, I already told you I wasn't happy there, and that wasn't a lie. I was going crazy, really. Why else would I sneak out whenever I got the chance? If you can offer me something better, and actually live up to your promises, I'd much rather stay with you."
"Hmm." His brow furrowed as he considered what she was saying. "I'm not sure I really believe you, but I'm willing to give it a try. Fine, I'll stop calling you a snipe, or treating you like a pet, at least for now."
"Then we have a deal?"
He nodded. "Yep."
"Good." She smiled in acceptance. "Fine, then the first thing you can do is let me watch you play this D&D game of yours. Maybe if I see you playing, I can figure out what it's all about."
He laughed. "You're kidding me, right? You want me to take you out of the dorm? You'd just get out and--"
"No, I won't!" she protested, stamping her little foot forcefully to emphasize the point. "Look, that's our deal, okay? I won't try to escape or draw attention to myself! I just want to watch. Put me in your pocket or something, where nobody else can see me, and I'll be a spectator. If it looks as interesting as I think it does, you can help me make a character later, and we can play here in the room. It's definitely got a lot more going for it than chess does."
"Okay, then--wait, you play chess?"
"Yeah...but I'm not that good. Daddy beats me nine times out of ten, or at least it seems like it."
"Well, we'll see about that later, but okay, fine, if you want to come to the D&D game, I'll take you at your word. I warn you, though, if you make any noise or try to get out--"
"I won't, Nick. I promise!"
He let out a sigh of grudging acceptance. "Fine, you can come then. Let me rig up something for you to hide in, so you can watch from the tabletop. Hmm, I better hurry, the game's supposed to start in half an hour, and I usually grab food at the cafeteria on the way. Hey, that reminds me, are you hungry at all?"
"Yeah, I could stand to eat something, I guess."
"What do you eat, anyway? Anything?"
"Well, back at the colony, we had something like graham crackers that gave us all the nutrition we needed," she explained. "It came in several kinds of flavors, but it's really bland, you know?"
"So what do you want, then? A burger, or what?"
"Just some of whatever you're having, I guess."
"Fine, I'll put some in your box after I order. Sorry about not asking you sooner, Emily."
"That's okay. Good to see you're already starting to think of me as a person and not a snipe."
He smiled. "It'll take some work, but I think I can manage."
Good, she thought as he got up and started casting about for a suitable container for her. Mission accomplished.
Actually, Emily had every intention of living up to her side of the bargain she'd just made--until the right opportunity presented itself to escape. What she'd just done was buy herself some time--a week, in fact--to find a fool-proof escape from her current predicament. During that time, as long as she didn't do something stupid like try to yell for help, he'd even treat her with some respect, which was more than she had before.
All in all, it was a perfect deal.
Much to her surprise, he actually seemed to be trying to live up to his side of the arrangement, at least initially. Instead of just slapping a box together and forcing her into it, he asked for her input and saw to it she was comfortable. The end result was quite simple, actually. He got out an old glasses case, dusted it off, and put some foam padding into the inside. Then, after some testing, he came up with a way to prop it up so she could see out the crack in the side while lying down comfortably in a variety of positions. She also noticed, without complaint, that it was still quite firmly clasped shut, so she couldn't escape if she tried to.
This wasn't a big deal, as she had no intention of trying to break out. No, she was going to be on her best behavior for the foreseeable future, until the right moment came along. She was only going to have one real shot at escape, so she'd have to make it count. Busting out of a glasses case in front of a bunch of wide-eyed gaming nerds would definitely not be the right moment!
After ensuring she was comfortable in her new carrier, Nick set out from the dorm room on a journey across campus, where the D&D game was held at an apartment two blocks beyond the last university building. That put it about two miles away, which was too far to walk. That meant a trip by bicycle, so he stopped to unchain his twelve-speed from the crowded rack outside the dorm. "Sorry, I forgot to warn you about this," he said in a low voice, after checking to see he was alone. "I told you I don't own a car. If I want to get anywhere, I gotta bike it."
"It's okay, I'll manage," she called out, but he gave no indication that he heard as he wrapped the chain about his seatpost and climbed aboard.
Almost as an afterthought, he took out the glasses case and fastened it to the handlebars using a bungee cord normally employed to secure his books to the cargo rack. "No, wait!" she cried out, realizing as she peered out what he was intending to do, but it was too late. With a quick push forward, he was off.
At first Emily tried closing her eyes and curling up in a ball, but the jostling and bouncing threatened to make her motion-sick. Watching through the crack helped somewhat, but even so, she was scared to death. What if he crashed, or if her container broke loose and she fell? The giant world was rushing by so fast...!
After about a minute, though, the fear began to fade as she remembered her original plan. Ignoring the harrowing nature of the ride, she struggled to observe her surroundings. Nick was riding along a bike path through a well-manicured lawn that seemed sandwiched between large, red brick university buildings. Trees surrounded by flowerbeds were everywhere, and in the distance, there was a high clock tower ringed by a line of hedges. Other students meandered about here and there, mostly walking or studying in the afternoon sunlight, with a few on bicycles. There didn't seem to be a road anywhere in sight, nor were there any names on any buildings as near as she could tell. She still didn't even know what university this was.
After a few more minutes, they finally came to a street, which Nick crossed after slowing briefly. The sight of a gigantic car, rushing by like a colossal freight train, drove out any lingering thoughts Emily had of leaping out or trying to hitch a ride on such a beast. Even the stench of its exhaust was overpowering at her size. No, if she did ever get away, she'd have to avoid roads at all costs.
After another minute of riding, this time much bumpier as she was now on a sidewalk with regular cracks, the bike came to a halt. Nick took a momen