Instead of answering Erik's question, John said, "Hey, bro, I
discovered a hidden staircase behind this bookcase. Let's
investigate!"
John pushed the bookcase aside and darted up the stairs he had
discovered earlier.
"Hey, I want answers!" Erik stumbled out of his sandal and trousers.
Wearing only his mumu like t-shirt, Erik followed John barefoot up the
stairs. He was rapidly getting out of breath as he climbed. His knee
length shirt was soon rubbing his ankles. Erik looked up at the empty
staircase wondering where his brother had gotten to, and then down at
the open doorway below. If he was going to keep shrinking, this shirt
was going to weigh him down. He looked around, and decided that
modesty was overrated. He climbed out of the neck hole of his shirt
and stared at the now waist high riser. He hefted himself up, and
continued to climb the staircase. By the time he reached the second
stair to the top, Erik was staring at the top of the riser head-on.
He looked at the riser as if it was a six foot high fence, and he took
a running jump and pulled his body up over it. There was one riser
left, and John was nowhere in sight.
Erik pulled himself up on to the landing, and looked around. It was
dusty and dimly lit. The only light was coming from behind him, and
from the crack under the door in front of him. He knew he couldn't be
more than a foot tall at this point. He heard a creaking sound. Light
flashed in the lower panel of the door in front of him. He approached
and noticed that there was a swinging panel - a dog door, he decided.
He stopped the panel swinging, and cautiously pulled it toward him,
and peeked in.
The room looked bizarre. The room was as enormous as everything else,
but most of the contents appeared to be Erik's new size. He took a
deep breath. Then he stepped through the dog door. His brother John
was nowhere in sight, but Erik was certain that John was nearby.
Erik walked over to a mannequin dressed in board shorts. He stripped
the anatomically-incorrect plastic man, and pulled on the board shorts
to cover his own nakedness.
"Thanks, Ken," Erik said propping the plastic man back up against the
side of the pink plastic Jeep. Then he started to search the room for
John, and his explanation.