Mary could only see shadows at first. Then colors. Very slowly her world came into clear view. It took even longer for her to remember why she was only five inches tall and lying on her carpet, but the memories came to her in flashes. First the growth chart growing taller, then the vial that was larger than her, then the forest of carpeting, and the amazing yet horrific sight of the subatomic world. The shock to her system was past, and her lungs were satiated with air again.
Then she heard a strange sound. She couldn't quite make out what it was. It was like the buzzing from a power substation, only deeper and louder. Still lying on the thick carpet, she turned her head around and her heart skipped a beat. Flying around her room was an enormous mosquito. She knew it didn't look huge just because she was so tiny. This mosquito was buzzing about, landing on furniture and walls. From the looks of it, it must have been over two feet long from head to abdomen.
Mary didn't need to wonder how it got so large. All she was worried about was getting somewhere it couldn't find her. She was actually glad it was so much bigger than her at the moment...it probably didn't notice her small body.
Very slowly, she dragged herself along the floor, inching closer and closer toward the vial. It wasn't even a foot away but it seemed to take forever. She was barely bigger than it at the moment, but she could still carry it. She hefted the empty tube and walked as fast as she could to the couch, an even further distance away. Once safely underneath, she went back for the cork. This smaller, lighter object was much easier to lug back. However, just as she was starting to cart it back, she heard the buzzing get louder. It was coming straight for her! She broke out in a run with the beachball-sized cork in her arms and dove under the couch. She squirmed farther and farther in as the mosquito prodded his long spear of a proboscis into the confined space, barely missing Mary's legs with its wide sweeps.
She had to squat while under the couch, but she'd gladly take the inconvenience if it meant being somewhere the mosquito couldn't reach. The long, teethed proboscis was a frightening sight. It looked like it could cut her body in half. It swiped the cork a few times, cutting off tiny bits. Once the mosquito retreated a minute later, Mary bravely moved toward the cork and pulled it further back underneath the couch. Then she went to drag the vial further as well. Once she was satisfied with her distance from the opening, she tried to force the cork back into the vial. It took plenty of hammering, and her fists were red and sore afterward, but she breathed a deep sigh of relief as she watched the vial magically refill itself.
She wasn't nearly prepared enough for what she had to do next, but she had little choice. The only way to take her house back and stop that mosquito was to squash it. She mounted the vial, pinning it with her weight as she pushed the cork back off. A torrent of growth serum began to flow, and Mary dunked her head right down into it, sucking in as much as she could until the vial was empty once more.