Merlina
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Preview of tomorrow's story.
🕑 Added 2021-04-13 03:52:35 +0000 UTCThis is a bit of what to expect going forward. I don't have anyone to see this yet but just getting in the habit.
The Shrinking Tour.
“And from here, you can see the Evergreen forest just beyond the high rise district.” Christine pointed out the glass wall of the Telsa building for the tour she was guiding to see. “People come from all over the country to see the pristine lakes that are hidden within the forests there. If you look carefully, you may be able to spot some.”
She saw the flashes of cell phones out of the corner of her eyes and smiled to herself. As she looked out the glass wall, she saw her reflection. Her skin was pale, and she had amber eyes. She wore a blue jacket which was the same color as her hair, which she let come down over her right shoulder. Christine also wore azure slacks.
She looked down at her watch; it was nearing the time that she should be escorting this group back down to the bottom of the Telsa building so she can start with the next group. She turned around and clapped her hands. “Ok, people, it is time we head back down.”
Groans came up from the crowd. “But we just got here.”
“Ya, can’t we stay up at the highest point in the city for a little while longer?”
Christine tapped her foot on the ground. “Come now, people. There are more people that want a tour of this building.”
A young man in a sleek jacket and jeans stepped forward. He ran his hands through his dark hair as he tentatively looked Christine in the face, his blue eyes darting back and forth. “Before we go back down, I wanted to give you a thank you for taking us up here.”
Christine smiled. “Aww. That is very nice of you.”
He handed Christen a cookie. “I made it myself.”
“Oh, are you a baker?”
“You can say that.”
She took a bite out of the backed good. “Mhmm. This is really good.”
“I am glad you like it.”
Christine shuddered. “Wow, that has a strong aftertaste.” She walked towards the stairs. “We should get going. We have forty-seven flights of stairs to descend.”
She stopped just before the stairs. “I umm. Is the room spinning for anyone else?” Christine put her hand on the glass wall, only to have it slip downward. She looked around as her surroundings grew. “What is happening?” She looked back at her tour group as they began to look like giants. “This is not happening.”
The man who had given her the cookie stepped forward. “I am sorry about this, but I just wanted more time to spend up here.”
She started up at him, now only one-third his height. “You did this to me?”
“Yes. Don’t worry. You will stop shrinking eventually. And I left an antidote. At the lobby of the building.”
Christine crossed her arms. “This is nuts. Don’t you find this a bit extreme?”
He stood up, towering over her. “I find it to be perfectly reasonable. Have a good day.”
Christine fell to the ground when her body stopped shrinking. She was now only half a foot tall. She slowly stood up, brushing her hands across her jacket. “Well, this is absurd. I am about as tall as people’s feet. How am I supposed to make my way down to the lobby?” She tapped her hand on her chin. “Oh, wait the elevator. Of course.”
She ran out of the room. Once into the main hall, she took a moment to catch her breath. “It is exhausting just trying to cross from room to room. I hope I can get into the elevator.” Christine hurried to see the golden doors looming like mountains in the distance.
“But how will I get them open? I don’t want to take the stairs.”
She ran up to the door and stared upward. “I don’t see anything to climb on.” She crossed her arms. “What now? I don’t want to climb down forty-seven flights of stairs.
Suddenly the elevator doors creaked open as the janitor strolled out. Christine had to fall to the floor to avoid being run over by the janitor's kart. “That was a close one.” She looked up. “It is open.” She made her way to her feet and dashed inside.”
She ran to the corner of the elevator and slumped down. “Ok, one issue taken care of.”
Christine watched as the doors slid shut. “Now, how am I going to reach the buttons?” She looked up at the insane height she had to climb and gulped. “I hate heights.” She put her hands together. “But you have to do this. You can do this.” She slowly walked over to the padded wall. “You will get downstairs and get the antidote and grow back to your normal height. Everything will work out.”
She grabbed onto the outstretched hairs of the padded walls and pulled herself up towards the control panel. Don’t look down. About halfway up, the elevator door opened, and the janitor walked back in, his kart nowhere to be seen.
“I can’t believe I forgot my radio.”
Christine lost her grip due to the giant’s vibrations, and she fell, thankfully landing in the janitor’s right pants pocket. He didn’t seem to notice as he hit the elevator button for the third floor. “Wonder why those damn kids are still up there. Isn’t it time for one of those bouncy tour guides to be taking them down the stairwells so they can leave their litter all over the place so I can play guess what floor the trash is on? I wish they would stop letting people come up here. I don’t like picking up after these punk teens who have no respect for this beautiful building.”
Christine carefully wormed my way to the top of his pocket. She didn’t want to have him know I was here. She stared up into his giant gruff grey beard. Darrel, that was his name. She didn’t speak with him that much as he preferred to keep to himself. She did know that he took his job very seriously; he never took a day off as he loved his work.
She looked around. “Ok, how am I supposed to get out of here without alerting him?”
She looked down. “Or falling to my doom.” She gulped and looked back up at the ceiling and Darrel’s rigid face. “Ok, that was a bad idea. I feel sick now.”
The elevator came to the third floor, and Darrel stepped out when the doors opened. Christine held onto the edge of his pocket for dear life. “Wow, he walks fast. I never noticed before.” She spied a table approaching that was meant to hold leaflets about the building for the tourists. “I need to try and jump onto that desk as I am not sure when I will get another chance.”
She pulled herself to the top of Darrel’s pocket, and when he passed by the table, she leapt for her life. She landed hard on the parchments, sliding towards the wall.
“What in the world was that?”
She buried herself under the papers as Darrel turned around, checking his pockets. “Is it just me, or did I feel something?” She peered out from under her hiding space as he looked around. “Must have been my imagination. Still, maybe I should look at the cameras later. I feel like someone is playing a prank on me.”
Christine sighed. “Don’t worry about it now. You can explain it later, explain it after you are back to normal size.”
She worked her way over to one of the table legs and slid her way down. “Ok, now I only have three flights of stairs to go down. That should be that bad.” She made her way back towards the elevator. Even though it had only taken Darrel a minute to reach the table, it took her over ten minutes to return. “How do mice live like this?”
Once there, she turned towards the stairwell. Thankfully at this time of day, the doors were kept open. She ran into the stairwell and came to a complete stop. “Whoh, the steps are much bigger than I remember.”
Christine lowered herself onto her hands and knees before dropping down to the first step. She only fell a short distance, but this was still going to be a slow process. “I am glad I was able to catch a ride down to the third floor.”
What felt like hours passed until She finally came to the first floor. Sweat dripping down her face, she slumped down against the first step. “This makes me want to find a new place to work. I never thought I wouldn’t want to walk down these steps in my life.”
She shook her head. “Ok, now to find that antidote.” Christine pushed herself to her feet and ran into the lobby. She was no longer concerned about people seeing her tiny frame as she was so close to her goal.
When she entered the lobby, she noticed a strange-looking bottle sitting next to one of the tables at the far end of the room with a note attached to it. “That looks suspicious.” Christine began to make her way towards it, avoiding the many people walking about, oblivious to her tiny stature. She ducked under giant shoes and leaped over sandals. It was like a crazy obstacle course.
At the end, she had her prize. She turned over the note. Congratulations. Here is the antidote to make you grow.
She gleefully ripped off the cork and drank from the bottle. Christen shivered as a strange feeling washed over her. “This feels so weird, right before I change in size.”
Suddenly she began to grow, her head hitting the bottom of the table. “Oops, I should have remembered to move out of the way. She pushed the table over as she cautioned upward, reaching her normal height. Still, though, she kept growing. “Hey, wait.” Up and up, she went until her head hit the ceiling, the growth coming to an end.
All eyes were on her. She looked around. “Hello.” They all went back to what they were doing.
Christine sighed. “Well, I wonder how long this will last or if I will be stuck being thirteen feet tall for the rest of my life.” She shrugged. “Well, it doesn’t matter. I am no longer the size of a mouse, and I can live with that.”
