[Eelskin]

Merritstone - Thank you! I know there isn't a whole lot of conflict in the story; I intended for it mostly to be a series of isolated scenes that could exist within this little size-change-friendly pocket dimension, and I'm glad it's appealing to people besides me.

Dsojourn - Wow. That is a really wonderful character analysis of Kristen, and something I wasn't expecting at all. Thank you so much for that! I hope her personality doesn't actually keep you from enjoying the story.

As for my intentions when writing it... yes, I wanted her to have a pretty enormous sense of entitlement that she justifies through her power, but I think I ended up making her far more immature/spoiled/sociopathic than I had intended. If I were to rewrite the story, I don't think I would change her character, but I would include many more people who are trapped or unhappy in Kristen's world, since, as you say, she considers them like pets. As it is now, no one really seems to mind, and as I re-read it, that sticks out like a sore thumb. Richard is a pretty unhappy person, but that doesn't explain everyone else.

Anyway, thank you so much for your comments! I really appreciate your thoughts.


Part 8

When I stood up again, Kristen sat on the table cross-legged, suddenly much bigger- she was now, I guessed, about a half a metre tall. I looked at her warily, not knowing how to respond to this. I was very scared and very uncomfortable.

?I?m sorry you had to see that.?

?Does that happen often??

?No. That was my fault. I made a mistake in bringing her here; I should never have done that. I thought she would fit in, but? well, as you could see, she just couldn?t control her temper. And if everyone were the same size, that wouldn?t be so much of an issue, but you might understand how it?s simply not acceptable here.?

?Has she ever hurt anyone??

?No. She?s never been physically violent, but I?ve seen her act out of anger. And she just threatened me. I?m quite sure that if I allowed her to stay, she would eventually end up doing hurting someone else. She simply doesn?t belong here.?

?So where is she now??

?Back home. I?m sure she?ll be fine. She looks like she did ten minutes ago. She?ll land on her feet. Two weeks isn?t a long time to be away.?

?How long did you say I?ve been here??

?Only a day. You?ll be fine.?

?Yeah, but?? I thought back to the reason I had recognized Mia in the first place. ?you heard what I said before. The police were looking for Mia. They came to the bar asking me if I had seen her, and they showed me pictures of a few other people as well. You picked up a few people from the bar and the police have realised that the bar is the only thing some of these folk have in common. If I go missing, there?s definitely going to be an investigation.?

Kristen shrugged. ?I don?t really care about the police.?

?Yeah, but?? I hesitated.

?But what??

?I made a bet with one of the other bartenders that you were the person kidnapping everyone. And then I told him that I might be going home with you.?

She frowned and looked off into space. ?And you think he?d go to the police with this??

?For sure. I mean? you don?t want to show up on America?s Most Wanted.?

?No.?

?I don?t, uh? I don?t want to go, though.?

She looked up at me again.

?I mean? I don?t really have a lot going for me out there. I hate my job. I?m in debt and can?t afford to go back to school right now. My ex-girlfriend is a big fan of making my life miserable just for the hell of it. I would really like to be able to stay here. If- if I can.?

Kristen sat still on the table, thinking. For a minute, neither of us spoke. Soon she looked up. ?I need to think about this alone for a while. Ask Amanda if you need anything.?

?Yeah, but how will I??

Before I could get out my question, Kristen was gone. I spun around, looking for her, but I soon realised that I was actually in another room. I had left, not she. This new room was very small, maybe the size of a small bedroom. It was completely bare except for a ceiling lamp and a single, closed door. I looked down at myself and saw that I was now wearing the clothes I had arrived in, the day before, instead of the towel I had been wearing just a moment ago. Looking around the room, I saw nothing to keep me there, so I went through the door.

The door opened into the main room with the enormous piano. Amanda wasn?t there, but I could hear voices from on top of it and I could see an enormous escalator, which I somehow hadn?t seen before, leading from the floor to the top. It looked as though it would take several minutes to get there. I chose not to stay here and instead turned to the left. Along the walls, there were doors every so often. I picked one at random and went in.

Throughout the next few hours I explored the various rooms. Kristen had a nightclub, a concert hall, a food court, a movie theatre, a video games room, private residences, a greenhouse, a pool hall, a casino, and more. I don?t think I had time to explore half of her home before she came back. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the space here; a door might lead to one room one moment, another the next. Two doors next to each other might lead to completely different areas. It was extremely disorienting. Not only that, but my size was by no means static. At least twice I entered a room I had been in before without realising that I had been there, because suddenly everything seemed six times smaller that it had last time, or else high above my head. No one else seemed to be bother by any of this; presumably there was some way to predict where the doors would go or what size you would be when you went through, but it was way beyond my own understanding. With Kristen guiding me earlier, I hadn?t noticed, but wandering blindly was very strange.

It happened while I was in the music room. I had been fingering some of the guitars that she had hanging on the walls and had taken one down to play it a little. I was strumming some song I hadn?t thought of for years when I noticed that she was actually sitting on the head of the guitar. She was perfectly balanced, and she wasn?t upsetting my playing at all. It was as though she were totally weightless yet fixed to the wood. Until she didn?t want to be, of course. I stopped playing and she stood up.

?Can we speak in private??

?Yeah, sure.?

And suddenly we were back in her bedroom- or rather, a bedroom. The one where we had had sex the night before. She sat on her bed, actually full-sized, and I took a seat, next to her.

?You really want to stay here??

?Yeah. I really do.?

?Because in your case, if you decide to stay here, you?re never going to be able to go back.?

?What? Why? Why in my case specifically??

?Well, because you are probably going to be searched for by the police.?

?Yeah, but wouldn?t most people??

?The problem is that I can?t have you raising suspicion towards me. So if you want to stay here you can?t simply disappear from your old life. You need to make it look like you?ve gone somewhere.?

?I don?t get it.?

?Well you told me that your life is kind of shitty right now. Did you mean it??

?You want a list of the shitty parts of my life??

?No. I really don?t. Have you complained about your life to anyone else??

I thought back to the many times I had bitched to Chris about what was wrong with my life. He was getting sick of me, I think. ?Uh, yeah.?

?Well, then, you?ll just need to leave a note explaining that you?ve gone and that you aren?t coming back. Make it look like you?ve been thinking about it for a while. Sign it. Leave it in your home. And after you do this, you won?t be able to come and go as you please, as most of my guests can. Once you come back here, if you ever choose to leave, you will never see me again and you?ll never be allowed back in. Are you okay with that??

?Absolutely.?

?Good.? She smiled and kissed me. ?I?ll be pleased to have you.? She reached into a pocket and gave me a key. ?Put this on your key ring.? It looked totally ordinary- once it was on the ring, it looked exactly like all of the other rings that were already there. ?Go on. Take care of your loose ends. Once you?ve finished, this key will let you back in.? She kissed me again. ?I?ll see you soon.?