[Eelskin]

6

It wasn?t until I stepped through the door that I realised I had already seen the pool. Last night, when nothing made any sense, when I was running blindly and opened up that random door? except this time, the room was huge. That is to say, it was about as big as a normal Olympic-sized pool, whereas before, it had been many times smaller. I turned to my left to find that Kristen was no longer on my shoulder. I looked around on the floor, hoping that I hadn?t stepped on her without noticing, somehow, because at her new size, she was even harder to keep track of than before. I turned in a circle before I saw her over to my right, by the wall, rinsing herself off underneath a cascade of water coming from a ledge in the wall. It was too high for me to see above it, but I could hear voices talking and laughing. I headed over to where she was, and she turned around, smiled, and looked up- way, way up, as she barely came up to my ankle at this point.

?You coming in??

?I don?t have my bathing suit.?

?Do I look like I?m wearing a bathing suit??

?Uh, no.?

?So come in.?

I didn?t want to tell her that I don?t like the water. It?s something I?d always been somewhat embarrassed about. I could swim, that wasn?t the problem- I just always felt uncomfortable if I wasn?t on solid ground. ?I don?t? I?m not??

?Rich-ard?? Rolling her eyes, she slowly and deliberately snapped her fingers. As she did so, I suddenly got very light-headed and took a step backwards to balance myself. I stepped into a puddle of warm water I hadn?t noticed, slipped, and began to fall backwards, when I felt two enormous hands on my back, propping me up.

?Careful, there.? The unfamiliar voice of a woman came from above me, and when I looked up, I saw a gorgeous dark-skinned girl smiling down from above me. I turned around to look at her properly, and realize that I barely reached her hips. She must be over ten feet tall! I thought.

?Uh, thanks.?

?No problem.? She walked towards the pool and dove in. How did I not notice her before? I thought to myself. I looked back down at Kristen, who was still standing with her arms folded, smirking.

?I didn?t realize you had anyone bigger than normal size here. I mean, aside from Amanda.?

?I don?t.?

Huh? I took a moment to try to figure that out. But? and it was then that I noticed that Kristen now reached halfway up my shin. My mouth went dry. I looked around again and saw that the room was now far, far bigger than it had seemed a moment ago. The pool itself was more like a small lake than a pool. And I also saw that there were now lots of people taller than me. None of them seemed to care, or even notice, my size- I must have blended right in, because even though I now must have been only have of my previous height, I was far from being the shortest person in the room. For starters, there was Kristen right next to me, but even not counting her, there were plenty of folks running around who came up only to my hips or to my knees, even. There may even have been a few people smaller than Kristen. I turned back to her.

?Now, Richard, are you going to come in the pool, or so I have to bring you down to size even further?? She grinned mischievously. I had no doubt that she would carry out her threat, and I had no desire to know how much she was willing to carry it out. With a snap of her fingers, she had dropped me by? I would guess maybe half my height. Resigned to her orders, I nodded. ?Good.? She grinned again. ?And just because it means that much to you?? she snapped her fingers again and suddenly my clothes had disappeared. I looked down to see that I wasn?t completely naked- instead, I was now wearing the tiniest speedo I had ever seen. It was bright blue, with a large red spot right on my junk. I looked back up at her as she began to laugh.

?Oh, I knew it would be funny, but I didn?t realize how much? oh that?s wonderful!?

?You?ve made your point. I?ll go naked.?

?Are you sure? I think I really like this look for you.?

?I?m sure,? I said as I lifted it off myself. Looking around, I realised I had nowhere to put it. ?What should I??

?I?ve got it.? And she snapped her fingers again, and it disappeared from my hand. ?Shall we?? She jogged over to the edge of the pool, and I walked slowly so as not to outpace her.

In the pool were not only people doing laps, but also? boats? Tiny, model-sized boats were floating in the water, and looking out onto them, I could see that there were doll-sized people piloting them. I slipped into the water slowly, noting that even though the marker at the edge of the water read ?4 ft,? I couldn?t touch my feet to the bottom. As I tread water, a tiny motorboat sped past me with an engine that sounded like an electric razor, leaving a tiny wake behind it. I turned, looking for Kristen, and found her in a tiny dinghy, floating several metres away. I swam toward her, but when I approached, she just pointed behind me. I turned around just in time to see an enormous man- well, he seemed enormous, but he might not have been more then five feet tall- already in the air with his knees tucked into his chest and his hands clasped around his shins. I watched with horror as he laughed and struck the water with enormous force, sending a small tidal wave towards us. I began to turn, but not quickly enough, as the wall of water hit me and I was soon under water.

The force of the water twisted me around, and I couldn?t tell which way was up. I began to swim before realizing that I was actually pointed towards the bottom, and tried to right myself. By the time I got to the surface, I was almost out of breath and was having trouble exerting much force. My head broke the water, and I gasped in a huge lungful of air, but the water above me was still choppy, which, at my size, was not at all pleasant. I inhaled a bit of water with my air and started to choke. My head went underwater again.

Suddenly I felt someone?s hand grasp my own. I squeezed that hand as hard as I could (which was probably not very hard at all), and I felt myself being pulled up towards what I hoped was the surface.

My eyes were still closed and I was still trying to make sense of what was going on, but I knew that I had been pulled onto a boat, because I was resting on something that was bobbing and weaving with the waves. Around me, I could hear people laughing and applauding, though a few complaints could be heard as well. When I opened my eyes, I saw Kristen crouched over me, grinning, as she usually was. It occurred to me that if I saw her with a frown on her face, I might not recognize her.

?You okay??

I spat out a bit more water. ?Yeah.?

?Good. You want to stay in the boat??

It was then that I realised what she had done. For a moment, I was too disoriented to realize that we were, once again, the same size. Then it clicked in my head that I was in her dinghy. I'm no more than a few centimeters tall! I peered over the edge of the tiny boat and saw a world of giants. I was now not in a lake, I was in a sea. They were splashing tidal waves and spitting waterfalls at each other. This is too much for me to handle, I thought.

?HI, KRISTEN!?

Kristen turned and, completely nonchalantly, responded, ?Hi Mia! How are you enjoying the water??

I turned and saw, up-close, a woman treading water, whose head was three times taller than my entire body. She probably could have swallowed me. She didn?t seem to notice me, though. She and Kristen chatted away. She seemed to be new here as well, but she was adjusting just fine to this bizarre world. I wondered if I?d ever be able to. Then I realised that this woman looked familiar. Just as that thought crossed my mind, she turned to look at me, and the same thing showed across her face.

?Um, hey. I?m Mia. Have we met???

I wracked my brain trying to remember where I?d seen her. ?I think so? Uh, I?m Richard.?

It came to her first. ?Oh, I know you! You?re a bartender, right??

It struck me the very next moment. Her face was one of those which I had been asked about by the police officer. Mia has been to the bar. She disappeared last week. And this is where she disappeared to. Oh my God.