Some people didn’t know how to have fun, Tina thought, looking at the fairy diorama in a cubby in Peter’s office. It had been there for as long as she knew him, but looking at it now, she noticed everything was so prosaic, so who-cares. The prince was always in love with the princess. The shepherdess always watched her flock. The baker was always working. So, she started to improve the storylines of the figurines that lived among porcelain cottages lit up by twinkling fairy lights. It was adorable, and fun. Plus, it was a great way to mess with Peter.

When he was gone, Tina would sneak into his office and play her little pranks, moving the fairy figurines around to tell more…interesting stories. The shepherdess fell asleep on the job, letting her flock wonder, the two princes got into sword fights with needles, and the baker and the mushroom pixie would sneak off behind a barn. Childish? Perhaps. But these were better stories than the banal poses Peter put his pixies in.

Over the course of a month, Peter became increasingly paranoid about his diorama, subtly asking around for who might have been messing with it, but never able to prove the culprit. So, Tina kept up her playful games, adding trinkets to the diorama. She didn’t have any porcelain figurines, but she had some Lego minifigs to add more character to the diorama. Eventually, she devised a new plotline: the death of the fairy king, and the coming fairy civil war. But the moment she picked up the king, everything changed.

A swirl of greenish magic erupted around her, coiling around Tina from her feet to her head. She yelped as that magic picked her off the ground, spinning and twirling her. The next thing she knew, Tina sat in a cramped space. She pressed her hands against impervious glass, staring at Peter’s decorated, and gigantic, office. That was, however, only half her view. Turning, Tina discovered she was in the fairy village. A bit oversized for it, perhaps, but not that much so. Somehow, she had been shrunk. And costumed. And put in a jar.

“I was hoping it was you, Tina Bell,” Peter said, startling her as he returned to his office. He had to kneel to admire her. God, he was gigantic, and Tina was gawked up at him, trying to figure out how small she was now. Inches, certainly. But beyond that, she was unsure.

“Peter! It’s not what it looks like I was just…improving your diorama.”

“You certainly are, though you’re a bit larger than I hoped. No matter, I think I can fix that, so you can fit in better.”

“Fit in…?” She wondered.

“Yeah. You’ve been having so much fun with your little storylines, I thought you might like to live them out.”

Tina shook her head, “No, no, I don’t think I would.”

“But you haven’t even met your suitor yet. Well, one of them. I’ve got a love triangle planned for you. And there’s going to be enemies to lovers. Forced proximity. Fake dating. The works, really. All for you, Tina Bell.”

Tina gulped. “As nice as that sounds, could you, instead, just turn me back? I promise not to mess with your stuff again.”

“I don’t think you get it.” He said, reaching down, picking up Tina’s glass prison. She rolled and tumbled a bit in her confined space, until Peter raised her to eye level. “You’re one of my figurines now. Part of my diorama. If you’re good, maybe I’ll let you out of your jar. But, to be honest, maybe I’ll keep you in there. You’re a bit too cute this way.”

“Peter, you can’t just do this to me! I’m…I’m your coworker, your friend!”

Peter sighed as he set Tina back down in the diorama. “Some people don’t know how to have fun.”