Trisha sighed as she settled onto her blanket, the droplets of water already drying on her skin. It had been a hard week at work, she was glad to be able to relax with her girlfriends at the beach: do a little swimming, take in a little sun, and enjoy a cool beverage or two. She scanned the area for her bag to grab her sun lotion, but didn’t see it.

“Shoot,” she said as she sat up.

“Hmm? What’s up?” Samantha asked, looking at her friend with slight concern.

“I forgot my lotion in the car. Can you unlock it for me?”

Samantha smiled as she stood up. “Not a problem!” Both she and Trisha walked over to the jeep as Sam unlocked it.

“This was a really good idea, Trish...thanks for suggesting,” Sam said as Trisha opened the door. Trisha smiled, turning to face her friend.

“Not a problem! I can’t even remember the last time the four of us got together for a whole day of fun! Life is just so busy all the time!”

“Oh God, tell me about it...I feel like the only time I rest is when I’m sleeping! I’m not sure I told you this, but just last week-”

Sam stopped talking as her vision suddenly went blurry. She grabbed her head, reeling as vertigo overtook her, followed by a sudden sensation of falling. She inhaled sharply, fighting back the urge to vomit as she took a step backward, falling into the sand, feeling the landscape beneath her back. She shut her eyes tightly, grasping her churning stomach.

As suddenly as it had started, the feeling was gone. Sam groaned, her chest heaving as she sucked in air. She sat up, shaking her head as her vision slowly began to return. The first thing she spotted was her jeep sitting in the sand...and next to it was the body of her friend.

“Trish!” she called out, her voice sounding strange to her ears. Shaking her head, she stood up, rushing toward her friend, tripping on the granules of sand beneath her. Was the beach always this bumpy?

“Trish!” she said again, reaching her friend. Trisha opened her eyes, looking up at Sam, squinting in the light.

“What the hell was that?” Trish asked, her voice also sounding strange and high.

Sam shook her head. “I don’t know...you experienced it as well?” She helped her friend to her feet, the both of them leaning against the jeep.

“What do you think it was?” Trisha asked, clearing her throat in an attempt to normalize her voice.

Sam shook her head again. “I’m not sure, maybe something we ate?”

Trisha cleared her throat again. “Yea, let’s head back to…” Trish paused as she stared down at the sand. The landscape of the ground had changed...instead of the usual pattern of small mounds of sand, she now appeared to be standing in a trough.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked. “And what is up with our voices?!”

Trisha looked toward where their friends had been. She could no longer see them over the expanse of the beach...both due to the odd hills of sand that had suddenly appeared and the fact that their little spot in the sand suddenly seemed incredibly far away. Trisha took Sam by the hand and the women climbed the first tiny sand hill until they had a clear view of the beach. Both their mouths dropped open.

----------------------------------------------------------

<Targets neutralized. Full reduction ratio achieved. Recharging batteries.>

The satellite extended its solar panels further, angling them at the optimal angle to collect the energy from the star.

<Assessing situation. Warning...affected individuals too close to civilians. Secrecy of project compromised.>

A microsecond later:

<Number of threats increased: 118. Too many for precision strike. Preparing for blanket exposure.>

A larger lens slid into place as it aimed its mile-radius blast toward the beach.

<Waiting for Response. Internal countdown initiated.>

----------------------------------------------------

Steve pounded on his monitor.

“Come on...come on! Dave! Make it boot faster!”

David was covered in a layer of sweat as he removed the boot disc, the login screen finally coming up.

“Oh thank God!” Steve screamed as he typed in his credentials. He opened the tracker programs and typed in two entirely different sets of credentials before a huge countdown appeared on the screen.

“NO NO NO!” he shouted as he brought up his command prompt and continued to frantically type. Dave took the moment to quietly exit as Steve jammed the enter key, sending the last command.

High up in space, the satellite contracted, pulling its lenses back inside as it returned to sleep mode. Steve received the confirmation of the order and sank into his chair, breathing a sigh of relief, fanning himself as dabbing his brow. He laughed to himself, his nerves all coming out at once as he read the screen. His face immediately dropped when he saw the messages that had been sent over the past half hour.

The phone at his desk rang, and he checked the caller ID. He went white as a sheet as he cleared his throat. Gingerly, he picked up the phone, knowing that he was in for a very rough time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What the hell?! Why are we...how did we…” Sam tried to express herself but her mind was racing a million miles a minute. Trisha just stared at the vast landscape of sand between them and the area where they had been sitting, unable to speak.

“Did we shrink?! Why are we so small?!” Sam finally blurted out as she ran to Trisha, grabbing her and holding her for comfort. Trisha wrapped her arms around her friend instinctively, the skin contact jostling her out of her daze.

“I...I don’t know...fuck,” she said as she continued to gaze around. Their jeep was still the same size...at least, relatively. Whatever had shrunk them had shrunk it too...but everything else still seemed normal.

“Fuck is right! AHH!” Sam yelled as Trisha pulled her in more tightly, gently holding her head.

“Calm down, Sam...I...I don’t know how this happened, but we need to figure out a plan.”

Sam nodded, sniffling a little as she pulled away. Trisha let her go as Sam took deep breaths, trying hard to level out her emotions.

Trisha stared into the distance, perceiving large looming shapes all over the beach. “Look...over there is where Lily and Kayla are. I don’t know what happened, but I think our best bet is to get over there.”

Sam looked as well and her jaw dropped. “It’s so far away!”

Trisha nodded. “Yea, I know, but fortunately there isn’t really anyone between us and I think that maybe we were the only ones affected.”  She pointed at the huge shapes of other people in the distance.

Sam sighed. “It’s going to be quite the walk...but you’re right.”

Trisha took Sam’s hand and they both started walking, their tiny feet sinking into the sand inconveniently as they made their way across the large, bumpy landscape toward their friends.

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Kayla yawned as she stretched in the sun, feeling the coarse fabric of her towel behind her. She reached over, fishing for her water bottle, but found herself catching the fabric of her towel. Confused, she opened her eyes, glancing over. Her towel ran for many feet in each direction, the pattern elongated and huge compared to how she remembered it. To the left of her, a large cylindrical tower with the same logo as her water bottle rose up. She shook her head, rubbing her eyes.

“Ugh...weird dream,” she said as she stood, feeling the towel beneath her feet. She walked over to the bottle, staring up at it. Reaching out, she yelped as she touched the hard, metal surface. Shaking her hand, she peered around at the vast expanse of beach as her heart began to beat faster.

“L-Lily,” she stammered, her voice incredibly high. She gazed across her towel, spotting her friend also sprawled out on her own gigantic towel. She ran over to her friend’s form, shaking her hand.

“Lily!” she shouted, startling the other woman.

“Hmm? What Kayla...ack! What’s wrong with my voice?!” Lily said as she opened her eyes. Her mouth dropped as she took in her surroundings.

“What the...how the…” Lily started to say as she heard a faint squeaking in the distance. Looking over, she saw the tiny forms of Trisha and Samantha running towards them over the large pits of sand that now surrounded them on all sides.

“Girls! What…” Lily started as Trisha and Samantha rushed up to them. Sam drew Lily into a huge hug.

“Shit...it got you too!” she said, panting as she held the other shrunken woman in her arms.

“What?” said Kayla. “What got us? What’s going on?!”

Trisha shook her head. “We don’t know. We went to the jeep and then there was this flash and the next thing we knew, we were tiny!”

Kayla shook her head. “This has to be a dream...you’re all just messing with my head now. I’m going to pinch myself until I wake up.”

Trisha reached over and pinched Kayla...hard.

“OW!” the other woman squeaked as she drew back her arm, rubbing the spot. “Why’d you...ah crap...this is real?!”

Trisha nodded her head as Sam finally let go of Lily.

“Well...what do we do now? Should we call a doctor? The city? 9-1-1?” Sam asked.

“That wouldn’t be the worst idea,” Trisha said. “Does anyone have their phone? Ours were in the Jeep which...um...shrunk as well.”

Lily raised her hand. “Mine should be in my bag,” she said, pointing over at the gigantic object. “But I’m not exactly sure how we’re going to get in there to get it.”

“Maybe I can help you pull it down, Lily,” Trisha offered. The two women scampered over to the huge beach bag, staring up at it. Trisha scratched her head as the other two friends joined them.

“Okay, maybe it would be best if we ask someone for help,” Samantha offered.

“Yea, but who? I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to walk up to a group of college guys right now….” Kayla added, wrinkling her nose.

“No no, I’m sure we can find someone to help if we just-” Sam was cut off as a huge shadow loomed over the group of women, blocking out the sun. They turned around only to be greeted by a pair of huge legs. Staring up, they spotted the face of a huge child, picking her nose with one hand while she held an orange bucket with the other.

“Holy cow,” Kayla said, turning a little white as she stared up at the huge child.

“Wh-what do we do?” Sam said, moving behind Trisha.

“Wait,” said Lily as she narrowed her eyes. After a few moments she smiled. “Don’t worry, I know this little girl! Just a moment.”

Lily strode forward a couple steps, staring up at the huge child.

“Hi Natalie! Remember me?” she said in a high, squeaky voice. The little girl looked down at her, taking her finger out of her nose.

“Dollies?” she said, staring down at Lily. Lily frowned.

“N-no, not dollies, Natalie...remember we met just earlier? Except I was waaaay bigger then, right? Well, we need your help, can you call your mommy over to-”

The little girl put her bucket on the floor and in one, surprisingly fast motion, reached down and grabbed Lily in her pudgy fist. Lily squeaked as she was carried up into the air before Natalie dropped the tiny woman into her bucket.

The other three women squeaked and tried to run but they were also easily snatched up. One by one they were tossed into the bucket, lying in a heap at the bottom as they tried to untangle themselves. They felt the bucket being lifted into the air again, shaking back and forth as the gigantic girl carried them away.