Bree was irate. Her plan for the day had been to stop by her parents house and do some sunbathing in their backyard, something she never had the opportunity to do at her apartment. It was a sweltering day outside, and both of her parents had told her it was fine if she came by to catch some sun. What Bree did not count on was her older brother Josh being there.
It had been about a week since Bree had the idea to pull a prank on her older brother using her moms shrink ray. The already short brunette had made plans to grab a drink with her brother at a bar, when Josh made an annoying comment about Bree’s height. Tired of her brother making cracks about her height as he had done her whole life, Bree stopped by and grabbed her parents' shrink ray before heading to the bar.
While they had been sitting at a table and Josh was busy eyeballing their waitress, Bree had taken the opportunity and fired at him from underneath the table. She grinned wildly as he dwindled away in his seat, until he was just a measly quarter of an inch tall.
After teasing him about finally being the shorter one for once in his life, Bree plucked up her tiny brother and dropped him into her mixed drink. She had been sipping on a strong Moscow mule, and the combination of vodka and ginger beer were absolutely overwhelmed Josh’s senses, burning his eyes and assaulting his nostrils with a strong stinging sensation. The freezing temperature from the ice in the glass nearly made him go hypothermic. The bitter taste of the vodka made him gag.
On top of that was the motion of Bree chugging her drink, with Josh’s miniature body being forced against her lips, constantly being in danger of being sucked into the dark cave that was her mouth. After the drink had been emptied, Josh had assumed his humiliation was over. He was wrong.
Going to the bathroom with her soaking wet brother hidden away inside her mouth, Bree decided that would be the best time to grow him back. She placed his tiny body on the floor and restored him to normal. Josh was absolutely soaked from booze, mixer, melted ice and a bit of saliva, and got a ton of weird looks as he had to walk out of the bar. Even that cute bartender was giving him strange looks.
Josh hadn’t forgotten about that, and made the decision then and there that he would get his little sister back using their parents' shrink ray. When his mom told him that Bree would be coming by that afternoon, Josh had put everything together in his mind.
—
Bree was still irate, both at her brother and at herself for not seeing this coming. As she had been laying on a blue towel in the sunny backyard, she heard Josh call out to her. She saw him holding the shrink ray, and a thousand thoughts raced through her mind at once. She knew what was coming and barely had time to react.
“Dude wait!” she shouted, before being cut down to size. Bree was incredibly small. There she was wearing nothing but her blue bikini, stranded on her towel at an eighth of an inch tall.
It didn’t take long for Josh to appear, towering over her and making her feel smaller than ever.
“GOTCHA SIS!” he said with a cocky smirk, grinning down at her. “YOU DIDN'T THINK YOU'D GET AWAY WITH THAT SHIT YOU PULLED, DID YOU?” He could see Bree was trying to communicate but didn’t make any effort to help her.
“YOU KNOW, I REALLY DIDN'T THINK YOU COULD GET ANY SHORTER. GUESS YOU SURPRISED ME AGAIN!” he taunts, seeing her put her hands on her hips in frustration.
“”Come on, this isn’t funny, asshole!” Bree shouted, though her cries could not be heard. “It’s dangerous out here!”
“TELL YOU WHAT SIS, DON’T WORRY I'M NOT GONNA HURT YOU OR PUT YOU IN MY MOUTH OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT,” he started off saying. “YOU JUST NEED TO MAKE IT TO THE PATIO AND I'LL GROW YOU BACK!”
Bree’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious?! I’ll get eaten by a bird! Or lost in the backyard!” she screamed in frustration, though Josh didn’t seem to care.
“ALRIGHT, GET MOVING. I’LL BE BACK IN LIKE AN HOUR,” he laughed, before stomping off into the distance.
“You fucking asshole,” Bree muttered. She was practically shaking with anger and needed to take several deep breaths to calm her nerves. “Alright, just a walk in the park,” she whispered, trying her best to reassure herself.
Being at the miniscule height of an eighth of an inch tall, the grass towered over Bree, essentially turning the backyard into a jungle for her. It had luckily rained the previous day, so the ground was still soft enough that trekking across it didn’t hurt her bare feet. She listened to the sounds of the backyard for several minutes, hearing the wind blowing through the grass, birds calling out high above her, as well as the distant sounds of neighbors talking in their own backyards.
After several minutes, Bree stopped. She noticed the sounds around her had stopped, and everything was now quiet. “I really don’t like everything being this quiet!” she said loudly to herself, trying to break up these uncomfortable silences.
Bree heard what sounded like a strange tunneling sound behind her, like something was coming up from underground. “What in the fuck,” she said, turning to face whatever was approaching. In the muddy ground, she saw a tiny hill before part of a large, reddish earthworm plowed through the soil, nursing out towards the surface.
“Nope!!” Bree yelled and started to back away from the giant, serpentine creature. The creature slowly crawled blindly out of the ground and inch towards Bree. It was completely random as the worm couldn’t see where it was going and meant no harm, but the tiny woman still lost it. She took off running in the other direction, brushing past blades of grass and tripping over tiny pebbles and mounds of dirt.
It turned out that Bree’s panic and cowardice may have been a benefit. She heard a swooping sound as a shadow passed over her head. She turned and saw a Robin larger than a pterosaur land where she was just moments before. The giant bird’s head disappeared into the grass, only to emerge seconds later with that worm snatched in its beak.
A chill went down Bree’s spine as she saw the giant bird fly off. “That could’ve been me,” she mumbled, frozen in shock. It was dawning on her just how dangerous a place her parents backyard could be.
“Okay, crisis averted,” Bree said with a slight laugh, proud of herself.
No sooner had Bree just congratulated herself, when a giant wall slammed down in front of her. Bree let out a scream and fell to her ass, instantly backpedaling and trying to assess the situation.
Glancing up, Bree’s jaw dropped, realizing that she was staring at the large brown sandal of her mother, with her enormous foot wedged inside of it. Unlike Bree, her mom Madison was a very tall woman, with long brown hair flowing down past her shoulders. She had not been dressed to sunbathe, rather she was just getting some gardening supplies from the backyard shed to do some work in the front yard.
“Mom?! Mom I’m down….” Bree started to shout before stopping, realizing it was stupid and pointless to get this titanic woman’s attention. If there was any chance her mom saw her, she’d probably end up being mistaken for a bug anyway, something Bree hated the idea of.
“Better just wait till Josh gets here,” she said. She wanted to wait till her mom moved her giant foot, then she could continue her trek towards the patio.
Unaware of her tiny daughter's struggles right under her nose, Madison was preparing to do some major gardening in the front yard. As she stopped in the back, she decided it was time to take a few extra seconds and apply some sunscreen.
Starting to grow impatient, Bree decided to just go around the giant foot. She broke into a jog, when she noticed another shadow, this one quickly descending right down on top of her. “Whaaa…?” she said looking up at the strange shape before it landed on her with a splat.
Whatever this was, it was cold, sticky, and absolutely covering her entire tiny body. Wiping the stinging substance out of her eye, the familiar smell hit her. “Jesus mom, did you get the strongest sunscreen possible,” Bree complained. “What is this, SPF 100?” She tried and failed to wipe the slime off her body, though there were many places she just couldn’t reach.
“Shit that’s cold,” she mumbled, as her mom stomped off. With no other options and still partially covered in sunscreen, Bree sighed and continued to slowly maneuver her way through the grass forest.
“Gonna shrink him so hard,” she muttered, trying to decide what she’d do to Josh once she grew back. Maybe he’s end up in her stomach, it would serve him right after all.
As she continued her seemingly never-ending journey across the backyard, Bree heard a strange scuttling noise. The tiny woman froze in place, trying to figure out what was going on. Then she heard it again.
Turning around, Bree screamed. There were several ants approaching her. Then there were more. It looked like there were about fifteen ants behind her now closing in.
The tiny woman’s mind was spinning. *Were ants predatory? What did they want? How much danger was she in*? Then Bree remembered her dad complaining about a large ant hill in the backyard he needed to get rid of.
Seeing one of the closer ants start to snap its mandibles towards her, Bree stumbled backwards before breaking out into a full on sprint. She felt blades of grass whacking her body but did not care. She continued to run, hearing that scuttling sound behind her as the ants pursued. Tripping over a tiny twig, Bree sprung back to her feet, her body now stained with mud along with the sunscreen.
Pushing through several blades of grass bent together, Bree froze. Her first thought was that she had made it into a clearing, but looking around it dawned on her. She was on the patio.
She could hear the ants still behind her, and could see them starting to emerge from the grass around her. “Stay….stay back,” she said, her voice quivering as she backed towards the house.
As if on cue, the ground started to shake and the ants began to retreat back into the forest of grass. The shadow cast over Bree, accompanied by a familiar voice.
“I KNEW YOU'D MAKE IT!” Josh said with a laugh.
Turning around, Bree jumped, seeing her brother squatting down over her, holding a magnifying glass in his hand to take a closer look.
“OH MY GOD!” he laughed at the sight before him. Bree looked incredibly disheveled, her bikini was partially torn, hair was a mess, her tiny body covered in sunscreen and mud. “YOU LOOK LIKE A MESS!”
“You’re fucking hilarious,” Bree shouted, rolling her eyes and folding her arms. “Now can you grow me back?”
“HEY, WHAT HAPPENS IF I POINT THE MAGNIFYING GLASS AT YOU LIKE THIS?” Josh teased, angling the magnifying glass slightly so it began to reflect sunlight.
Bree was not an idiot and knew the dangers. She instantly felt her body growing warm. “Knock it off!” the screamed, running out of the incredibly bright and hot zone around her. She glared upward and saw him laughing down at her. “Grow me back right fucking now!”
“Okay, okay, I can see you’re mad. Can’t hear a word you’re saying though. I assume you want to be back to normal, even though you’re almost your normal height anyway,” he continued to taunt. “Anyway, let’s get you back to normal size,” he said, reaching down and plucking Bree up between two fingers.
“Hey careful!” she shouted, her tiny body being squeezed uncomfortably. “Don’t squish me!”
As Josh walked into the house, he was surprised to see the shrink ray out on the living room table. “Huh, not where I left it,” he muttered to himself under his breath. “Whatever though.”
Placing his miniscule sister down on the floor, Josh began messing with the shrink ray. He was sure he had previously set it to re-grow, why wouldn’t it still be that way. “Any last words?” she teases, aiming it at Bree.
“Josh is that you?” Madison’s voice called out from down the hall.
Josh jumped a foot. Not paying attention, he blindly fired the ray, striking himself in the foot. He began to plummet downward, not realizing he was shrinking until the giant shrink ray landed next to him, nearly crushing him.
“What the fuck?! Why am I small?” he shouted in a panic.
“Hey dickhead,” Bree called out from behind him. As soon as he turned she slapped him hard across the face. “Way to be a fucking idiot!”
“It’s not my fault!” Josh said, clearly starting to panic. “I thought mom was still outside, how should I know she was right around the corner. Besides, I left it on re-grow. Even if I shot myself, nothing should have happened!”
Josh’s poor argument was interrupted by two pairs of footsteps walking down the hallway. “Go, now!” Bree yelled, shoving Josh as they both ran towards the couch for cover. Just as the tiny duo made it to the relative safety underneath the couch, the bare feet of their mom, Madison, and their dad, Mark came into view.
“What’s it doing on the floor?” their father’s voice asked.
“How should I know? Were you messing with it!” their mom responded.
“You know I wouldn’t do that! I hate shrinking!”
Their mom let out a sigh. “Well I don’t like it either. Let’s just get this over with.”
Peeking out from underneath the couch, the pair of eighth of an inch siblings saw their mom hand their dad the shrink ray. “And no dropping me in your pants this time! Remember, I’m just checking for bugs, your job is to keep me safe!”
“Copy, step on you, got it!” their dad laughed, pressing a button.
“Mark…..” their mom said, before she dwindled down into the carpet.
“Now where did my pretty wife go,” Mark said, before plucking up her tiny body.
“What’re they doing?” Josh asked Bree, his voice low.
“I have no god damn idea,” she responded in annoyance.
The duo saw their dad stomp off towards a nearby corner of the room, squat down and place their mom on the floor. “ALRIGHT, I’M RIGHT HERE BABY. LET ME KNOW IF YOU FIND ANYTHING.”
Josh and Bree soon realized their parents were addressing the ant situation their dad had constantly complained about.
“We need to get one of them to grow us back,” Josh said, clearly starting to panic. Several minutes had passed and their mom was coming out from the other side of the couch. “Now’s out chance!”
“Josh don’t be stupid, just wait for now,” Bree yelled, though he was not listening.
“Mom! Mom it’s us!” Josh said, bolting out from underneath the couch, with Bree hot on his heels.
Madison heard the commotion and looked up, her eyes soon widening into a shocked expression. “Josh? Bree?” she yelled, seeing her two kids running towards her from underneath the other couch in the room. “Why are you two….”
“GOTCHA!” a booming voice called out. Everyone froze as a giant shadow looked over everyone. “NO ANTS ARE GONNA ATTACK MY WIFE,” Mark bellowed.
The siblings froze, staring up at their giant father. Before anyone could react, a giant hand slammed down onto the floor, directly on top of Mark.
Everything seemed to freeze, with Bree and Madison just standing there in shock, watching silently as the massive hand lifted up, revealing the pulverized remains underneath it. Then they both started to scream hysterically as Mark wiped his sons remains off on his pant leg.
“ONE DOWN,” he said, turning his attention to Bree.
“Mom, mom! Help me!” Bree shouted as her fathers hand approached her. “Don’t let him get me!”
Madison was in a total panic mode. Tears streamed down her face as she desperately ran towards her husband's hand. “Don’t you dare hurt her!” she yelled helplessly.
Bree shouted in panic as her dad plucked her up between two fingers. “Dad no…..” she shouted as she was lifted high up into the air.
“THIS IS WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU MESS WITH MY WIFE AND MY HOUSE!” Mark sighed, rolling Bree in between his fingers. He then started to apply a bit of pressure.
Bree just had a second to let out a yell before her body burst. “I’M SO TIRED OF THESE DAMN ANTS.”
Down on the floor, the tiny madison had fainted, having just witnessed her children get obliterated by their monstrous father.
“HONEY WHERE'D YOU GO?” Mark called out, having lost track of his wife on the floor, his massive barefoot now hovering above her…..