Evan and Malcolm were walking toward their
cars in the parking lot next to the softball
field.
"Hey, isn't that Nick's car?" Evan said.
Malcolm looked at a red car. "I think so."
Curious, they walked toward the car. As they
approached, they saw a heap of clothing on
the asphalt next to the car. It was the same
red shorts and T-shirt that Nicholas had worn
during the softball game.
"That's strange," Evan remarked.
--------
Nicholas, still standing in the middle of his
red shorts, saw the approaching giants. He
felt almost detached from the reality of his
situation as his mind reeled from the shock
of finding himself reduced to a size of three
inches tall. His teammates, Evan and Malcolm,
looked 150 feet tall! He didn't know whether
he should hide or scream for help. In any
event, Evan solved the problem for him.
--------
Evan was reaching with his hand to pick up
Nick's discarded clothing when he saw a tiny,
pale shape in the center of the red shorts.
"What the hell?" Evan gasped. "I've got to be
seeing things."
--------
As Evan's huge hand stretched down toward
him, Nicholas had panicked and ran screaming
back into his enormous jockstrap. The
immensity of his friend's size completely
unnerved the usually cool and steady young
man.
--------
"What's the matter?" Malcolm asked. He stared
at Evan who had gone slightly pale.
"It's— shit, I think I saw Nicholas— he's
shrunk," Evan stammered.
"What are you saying?" Evan demanded.
Evan again reached his hand toward the heap
of clothes. His fingers hovered outside the
entrance to the jockstrap where Nicholas had
sought shelter.
"Nicholas? Are you down there?" Evan asked.
"Quit fooling around," Malcolm complained.
"What the hell are—"
Suddenly, as he looked down himself, Malcolm
spied movement within the jockstrap.
Suddenly, a very tiny Nicholas stepped
outside and cupped his hands to his mouth.
"Yeah, it's me," Nicholas shouted up at the
giants.
Evan felt his head begin to spin. "Oh, fuck!
Look at him!"
Malcolm could not tear his gaze away, looking
down at the tiny man's naked body. Nicholas
looked as splendid as ever— if at a severely
reduced scale.
"You've got to help me!" Nicholas shouted.
They could barely detect the tiny man's
shouts.
"Let me give you a lift," Evan said. He
reached out his hand and wrapped his fingers
around Nick's body.
The tiny man felt strange yet incredibly
arousing in Evan's hand. Malcolm stood
watching, extremely jealous of his friend's
quick action.
Evan lifted Nicholas until he was level with
their faces.
"What happened?" Evan inquired.
Nicholas, his tiny hands grasping Evan's
massive fingers, looked at the colossal faces
of his friends. "I don't really know. I was
walking to my car when this pink fog blew out
of nowhere. The next thing I knew I'd
shrunk!"
"Malcolm, you get his clothes," Evan said.
"Don't worry, Nicholas. I guess it's a good
thing we found you."
"But we've got to do something," Nicholas
said. "We've got to find out how this
happened."
Malcolm had gathered Nick's clothes and also
his dropped car key. "What now?" Malcolm
asked Evan.
"I think I should take Nicholas back to my
place until we figure out what to do," Evan
said.
"Well, maybe I should go, too," Malcolm
suggested, envious that Evan already had the
little man in hand.
"Sure," Evan agreed. "But we need a safer way
to transport the little guy."
Nicholas, from within Evan's sweaty grasp,
agreed with that statement.
Malcolm saw a discarded Styrofoam cup. He
grabbed the cup and looked inside. "Looks
clean," he remarked.
"That's perfect," Evan said.
Nicholas wasn't so certain, but before he had
time to muster any disagreement, Evan had
dropped him into the surprisingly roomy
confines of the cup.
"Let's go," Evan said, leading the way to his
car. At the vehicle, he unlocked the car and
then placed the cup and Nicholas in the car's
cup holder.
Then, with Nicholas looking up from within
the cup, the two giants climbed into the car.
The enormity of his situation was driven home
to Nicholas when he allowed the fact to sink
into his head that he was enclosed in a
Styrofoam cup and at the complete mercy of
two giants.
Well, he thought, at least they were his
friends.