It couldn’t have taken longer than 10 minutes, but to Katy it felt like an hour as she sat there, clasped in Sara’s large, sweaty hand, inches away from Elisa who was undergoing the same treatment. The two women stared at each other, seeming to silently agree that now was not the time to communicate as they both watched the sleepy girl’s eyelids droop.

Eventually, her breathing became slightly deeper and the grip around her body loosen, giving Katy the courage to finally try to extract herself from her handheld prison. She gingerly rotated herself, lifting one of Sara’s fingers as she let herself fall to the bed. Elisa was having less luck, struggling at an angle that held her more tightly against the sleeping giant. Katy looked over at Elisa, and remembered back to their previous interactions with Sara. She took a few steps toward the smaller woman and put her hands on her side.

“Elisa,” she whispered, grabbing her nanny’s attention. Elisa turned to look at her.

“Shh,” she responded, also in a whisper, “She usually naps pretty deeply, but not all the time. Help me out of here and we can figure a way out of this mess.”

Katy took a deep breath.

“Not until I get some answers…”

Elisa looked at her.

“Like what?”

Katy took another deep breath.

“Have you been...disciplining Sara...in certain ways...without telling me?”

Elisa raised an eyebrow.

“Katy...this isn’t the time to get into this. Help me get out of this...hand...and then....”

“No, Elisa...I need to know. Have you or haven’t you?”

“Katy look...we’ll talk this all out soon but right now it’s hot and it’s sweaty and this dress is scratchy, so just help me out...please?”  Katy stomped her foot, the ruffle of her doll dress shaking.

“Now.”

Elisa sighed.

“Okay, okay...yes. Sara is usually very sweet, but sometimes...just sometimes...she has these streaks of defiance. And sometimes her behavior is just plain unacceptable. Did you know that one time she splashed paint all over my shirt just because I wouldn’t let her have candy? I kind of lost it and...yes...I spanked her.”

Katy began to feel angry. As though she could sense it, Elisa put up her hands.

“Not a lot! And not hard at all! I think it was mostly just going through the motions that shocked Sara the most. I swear I’ve only done it a couple times and only when she was being very bad. I never told you because...well……” Elisa lowered her eyes to the ground.

Katy frowned. “You should have told me.”

Elisa nodded. “I’m really sorry. I should have. I’m sorry.”

Katy shook her head. “This is a major breach of confidence, Elisa. I’m really upset about this.”

Elisa nodded. “I know I’m sorry...but I swear I never hurt her.”

Katy could feel herself still getting angry. “I don’t know how I feel about this...at all. I’m not even sure if I want you around my daughter anymore….”  At this, Elisa’s demeanor changed. She looked up and narrowed her eyes.

“Oh sure, Katy. Because I’ve done such a bad job feeding her, playing with her, comforting her...it’s not like you’re around enough.”

The words hit Katy like a knife in the heart. She inhaled sharply and staggered back, accidentally bumping into Sara’s hand. The giant girl drew in deep breath as her fingers twitched and her body began to move. Elisa squeaked in terror as she was suddenly dropped, hitting the end of the bed and rolling off the edge. Katy sprung into action, grabbing the shrunken woman’s arm and steadying her. Elisa looked down at how far the ground was and whimpered, pulling hard on Katy until she was back on the bed.

Both women stopped to pant, letting the adrenaline of the moment pass before Katy spoke.

“Let’s...let’s at least get out of this room.”

Elisa nodded. Both tiny women stood up and took in their surroundings. They were at the edge of the bed and it was a long way down. Katy motioned to Elisa and the two tiny women scampered to the edge. Katy heaved against the blanket and managed to push a portion of it over the edge of the bed. Motioning to Elisa, she grabbed the fabric and slid down the makeshift slide, hitting the ground softly with a tiny squeak. Elisa followed, and both women found themselves on the floor of Sara’s room. The doll women ran as quickly as their little legs could take them and soon they reached the hall, their little feet plodding down the hall until they were halfway down. They stopped, leaning against the wall, panting.

“Katy,” Elisa finally said. Katy turned to look at the smaller woman who looked back up at her. 

Tears filled her eyes again.

“I’m...s..sorry….I.. *sniff*  I really am…..” her lip quivered as the tears began to flow freely.

Katy looked at her as the little latina broke into tears. She was still upset, but she knew Elisa was truly sorry. She looked down at her, and instantly felt bad for her. She had to remember that Elisa had never shrunk before, so as much as being the size of a doll was a shock for Katy, it was probably ten times worse for Elisa. Katy stepped forward and drew Elisa into her arms, holding her close.

“Elisa...it’s okay. It’s okay, I’m sorry too. I’m sorry all this happened. I’m sorry I wasn’t there as often as I should have been...I’ll fix this. We will get through this.”

Elisa squeezed her tightly as she wiped her eyes and sniffled away her tears.

“Y...yes. Okay, what’s the plan?”

Katy thought hard.

“At our size, trying to get up to the counter seems impossible. Maybe if we could get up to the bar chairs, we might have a chance, but how would we even get up there?”

Elisa thought. “Maybe there’s something we can use in the playroom? Let’s check it out.”

The two women scampered down the hall and back into the playroom. They were again in awe of their tiny size, the toy cars the size of real one and the stuffed animals seeming like giant guardians. The dollhouse loomed in the distance like a manor. Katy took it all in and realized that, if perhaps this reduction in size had been pre-planned, she might actually enjoy being the size of a doll, snuggling up against giant stuffed animals, falling asleep against their softness. Katy had to shake her head to keep her bearings, her mind trying to draw her into the illusion.

They ducked in between the various toys strewn about, looking for anything that could be of help to them. But nothing seemed to be panning out.

“Wait, Elisa,” Katy finally said, “Didn’t Sara get a fire truck toy for Christmas?”

Elisa’s eyes lit up. “That’s right! I think it’s still downstairs!”

Katy was elated. The toy had an extendable ladder on it that raised up quite some height. AND the truck was downstairs already! It was perfect!

The two doll women scurried back to the stairs. Slowly, they help each other down, step by step, their bare feet slapping gently on the wood. Finally reaching the end, they ran to the living room where Elisa spotted the metallic red toy in the corner. They ran over to the toy and while Katy grasped its front, Elisa pushed from the back. They began to push.

KLIK KLIK KLAK KLIK KLIK!

They stopped, shocked at the nasty noise.

“Oh God...it has those obnoxious clicker wheels.”

Both little women turned their head toward the stairs. They heard nothing.

“We’re going to have to risk it,” whispered Elisa.

Katy nodded and began pulling again, slowly.

KLICK….KLICK…..KLICK……...KLACK

With every noise, the women watched the stairs nervously. Inch by torturous inch they made their way across the floor, KLICK by terrible KLICK. It took minutes, but finally they were close enough to the kitchen counter. There was still no stirring from above, and the women breathed a sigh of relief.

“Okay, so, who is going up, and who is going to work the ladder?”

Elisa answered, “You should go, Katy. You’re taller and can reach better.”

Katy nodded. Together, they went to the back of the toy and found the wheel which controls the ladder. Together, they turned the wheel, slowly raising the ladder until it pointed up at an angle to the bar chair above. Moving to another gear, they extended the ladder until it touched the chair.

“Okay, here I go,” Katy said. Slowly, she mounted the truck and made her way to the ladder, which, at her diminished size, was exactly the perfect size. She climbed, inch after inch up the ladder, carefully placing each foot on each rung so as to not accidentally fall. As she began to go higher, the ladder began to shake under her weight.

“Eliza...this isn’t as stable as I thought,” she said as the ladder shook under her step.

“Keep going! You’re almost there!” Eliza yelled.

Katy stepped onto the last section of the ladder and reached the end of the ladder. She reached out to get onto the chair, only to feel the ladder give way beneath her. She grabbed the edge of the chair as the ladder fell, the toy fire engine falling over below her with a loud clang! She gripped the chair, her legs dangling in the air as she desperately attempted to climb up.

“Oh my god...Katy! Hold on!” Elisa yelled up at her. Katy’s feet continued to bicycle in the air as she slowly began to pull herself up. Finally, with one last heave, she managed to make it up onto the chair. She lay back, panting, as she regained her energy, hearing the tiny squeaking cheers of Elisa below.

“Good job Katy! Now, when you’re ready, make it up to the…”

That’s when they heard the loud pounding sound, and the sound of feet slapping on the wood. They turned and saw the titanic Sara plodding down the stairs. The tiny women turned and stared in horror as she came into the living room and wiped her eyes before turning toward them.

“There you are dollies!” she said, a smile coming to her face.