Jim stood there feeling a mix of excitement and terror. He also felt a bit chilly. The balloon had not affected his clothes at all or itself. Now, he was naked and stuck at less than a foot tall. He looked up at his bed. (Yes, up.) He had been sitting on it a few minutes ago, now he realized he could walk under it without ducking. He had to be only 6 inches tall, he decided.
"Like a doll," he said.
For a moment, the terror edging into his mind was held back by curiosity as he explored this new world. He looked down at the fabric of the T-shirt below him. He remembered that the shirt had been getting a bit tight on him. Now, it was big enough for a party tent. He could see the tiny woven threads of the fabric. He could see a stray hair of his that had escaped shrinking. It was longer than his arm.
He carefully climbed down to the balloon and nudged it with a toe, noting that he could stick his whole leg into it now without much trouble if he wanted to. That would not help much with inflating it, though.
He looked up at the rest of his room, and the terror crept back in.
Initially, he had the sense that he was in a big city, surrounded by skyscrapers. Then, he started to see that the building in front of him was full of books that were taller than him, and the building next to him had drawers. He knew there were giant clothes in that building. He realized he could live in his sock drawer now, comfortably. Then, there was the door, taller than any opening he had ever seen. The handle alone was at least 30 feet above him. He pictured the size of a person who could reach that handle, and a shiver ran up his spine.
"Oh, God," he said. "What am I going to do?"
There was a noise downstairs; a door had opened. Someone was home!
"Oh, no," he said. "What do I do? What do I do? What if they find me?" He paused and added, "What if they don't find me?"
He heard footsteps on the stairs, echoing through the giant home, shaking the ground beneath his bare feet. A giant was approaching. What would he do?