On the ride to the DeSoto home, Josh tried to spin scenarios to
explain the bizarre phone call from Mike's nephew.
Josh, a couple of years older than Mike, was six foot three inches
tall, with a runner's build, slender but toned. He had short-cropped
blonde hair and green eyes.
Mike had a good relationship with all his nephews, and Josh, having
met them on numerous occasions, also liked each of the boys. His only
complaint was their father, Paul, a man he had described as homophobic
to his lover. Mike had disagreed, defending his older brother.
"He just has a hard time accepting," Mike had said while insisting
that Josh join him in the closet whenever they visited with Mike's
brother and nephews.
Well, maybe Paul wouldn't be home. Josh could remember how excitable
adolescent boys could be. Bryan had probably blown some mundane
incident into a crisis. Still, the strange wording Bryan had used
during their conversation. Had the teen really meant to say that
everyone was shrinking? What could he mean by that?
At the DeSoto home, Paul, along with sons, Bryan and Brett, were very
aware of the concept of shrinking. For them, shrinking wasn's some
abstract word but an increasingly unsettling reality.
Their forced new perspective began to truly extend itself over their
minds as they found themselves all reduced to a height of a mere six
inches tall!
Paul, as the father, was finding himself challenged to keep his own
sanity as his familiar, safe surroundings became so alien. Although
panic wasn't far from his mind, for the sake of his sons he tried to
maintain a brave front.
"We'll be all right," he told the boys.
"This is not all right!" Bryan argued. "Look at us! What's happening
to us?"
"Dad, I'm scared," Brett said in a small, fearful voice.
"We have got to keep our heads," Paul said. "Think our way out of
this...this problem. Someone will come along. Your brother Don will
surely come by to visit over the weekend."
"We can't stay like this for days!" Bryan exclaimed. "We're no bigger
than mice!"
Paul was losing patience. Bryan's hysterics threatened to push Brett
into full-fledged panic.
"Bryan, will you please stop fighting me on"
Suddenly, they heard a loud rapping noise. Paul found it difficult to
pinpoint the source of the noise.
"Oh my God!" Bryan shouted. "Someone's at the door!"
Bryan raced across the carpet toward the front door.
Paul started to follow, but Brett screamed not to be left alone.
Bryan, staring up at the distant door knob, wailed. "We can't even
open the damn door!"
The rapping started again, followed by a voice. "Hello! Bryan? Anyone
home?"
"Hey, that's Josh!" Bryan exclaimed. "He can save us!"
"No!" Paul shouted. This was a nightmare. His kid brother's gay lover
on the other side of the door, him and his kids shrunk to the size of
toys on the other.
Suddenly, the door bega