A Family Tragedy
Tiny Way to Die
chapter 6
by
copier
· original author:
oddler
The increased pressure is too much. You can't seem to get any air into your lungs. You want to shout out, to plead with her, but you don't even have the breath to do that. Your vision starts to blur and you start making strange animalistic sounds, trying desperately to call your sister off. Ashley doesn't even seem to notice. She's too busy laughing at your plight, and scrunching her toes to torture you. Everything is just too intense. The weight on your chest, the smell of her feet, the foot jam polluting your mouth. Your blurred vision turns black as you start to lose consciousness. Your last thought is how unjust your fate seems. You're the height of perfection, one of the most popular and lusted after girls in your school, and everyone loves and adores you... Except for your runty, disgusting, undisciplined sister Ashley (and four eyes Emily). And out of all the people you could have shrunk in front of, who had it been? It was so unfair. Now you were going to die, crushed to death by your 'little sister' while choking on a clod of dirt, lint, and sweat that had been stuck between her toes. Your sister's malicious giggles grow distant. Darkness and silence overtake you.
When you come to you here voices talking... They're discussing... something, but the words are too garbled and nonsensical. You sit up. You have an amazing headache and it takes a few seconds for your vision to clear. Your mouth tastes like.... well, sour milk and foot sweat. The disgusting lump that your sister had forced into your mouth is gone. A revolting revelation comes to you. You must have swallowed it. You do your best not to vomit all over the hard wood surface you're currently lying on. Eventually you get your bearings. You're sitting on a table in your families living room. Looking up you see your parents and your two sisters... All four of them are talking, and there seems to be something resting in your mother's cupped hands.
"It's a good thing you were here Ashley, I don't even want to think what might have happened to her if she'd shrunk when no one was around. We've had that roach infestation recently and-" Your mother stops and shudders, not even wanting to think about the horrible thought. Ashley just nods.
That demonic little bare foot imp! She must have lied to your parents and told them she'd found you passed out on the carpet. Wait till you told everyone the truth. You do the best to stand but a sudden wave of dizziness causes you to fall down flat on your ass.
"It's just so tragic." Your mother sniffles, "I should have sent your sister to see a doctor sooner. I had this ominous feeling in my gut, but I never could have imagined..." Your mother pauses, sinking inward a little and allowing tears to escape from her eyes. Your father puts a sturdy hand on her shoulder. Eventually she collects herself enough to continue talking, "It's so tragic... Soooo tragic. Your sister and your brother." Your mom shakes her head in dismay. Wait a second, your brother? But isn't he at college?
The brother she's referring to is 20 year old Mike, your older sibling. He's currently a junior at a state college a few hundred miles away. He's a decidedly average looking person, not someone worthy of your notice but not someone you'd go out of your way to mock. Unlike you he has always been close to your younger siblings. In fact he, in many ways, encourages and exacerbates their weird and antisocial behavior. For example, when Ashley would bring him a bug from the yard to look at he'd feign interest instead of telling her what a repulsive little freak she was. And just three weeks ago, for no particular reason, he'd bought Emily a new microscope for the miniature play lab she has in her room. Your sister Emily, already being a scrawny metal mouthed bookworm, certainly didn't need any more books or science gadgets littering her room. If he had wanted to do her a favor he should have bought her some Hollisters. Unlike you, he actually has a close relationship with your younger siblings whom are very affectionate towards him. While you'd always been distant and a little cold towards him, he'd been the easiest sibling to tolerate.
"It's all right honey, we'll somehow manage to overcome this." Your father says, wrapping his arms around your mom. She's shaking slightly, "I just don't know what to do. We were visiting your mother one moment, and then the next we're getting a call saying Mike has shrunk to a few inches in height... And then after we pick him up we come home to find that Sarah has shrunk too. *sniff* My poor babies!" Your mother buries her face into the palm of her free hand. You're finally able to make out the object in her other. Why, it's none other than your older brother Mike! He shrunk too? What the hell? Maybe there was something wrong with you and your brother genetically. If that was the case then your parents were to blame. They'd given the both of you (but more importantly you) some weird genetic mutation or recessive trait. You felt a sudden swelling of resentment but it quickly dies. They may have given... what ever it is you have to you, that didn't mean they had done it maliciously.
"There there, it'll be all right. We'll find a doctor who can help them." Your father reassures, "Who cares what that quack Sarah visited thinks?"
Your mother nods but you have the feeling she's not even listening to your father. She's too wrapped up in her own grief, "Girls." Your father says suddenly, "It's times llike these we have to come together as a family. Things will be tough but we're the Klamerts, we'll persevere. Now since Mike and daddy's little angel have shrunk," You see both Ashley and Emily cringe a little at your nickname, a reminder of their second place status in your father's heart, "we need to do our best to watch out for them. They're not going to be able to leave the house unaccompanied, and there'll have to be someone keeping an eye on them at all times. This is a big responsibility now, they're your brother and sister, can your mother and I trust you to take care of them when we're not around?"
The two girls nod. Emily extends her hand to your mom, almost eagerly. Your mom, very hesitant to let go of her now miniature first born, eventually tilts her hand. Your naked brother lands in the palm of your mutual nerdy sister, Emily. She adjusts her glasses and raises her palm to her face.
She looks down at your brother, a sad smile on her face, "I'm sorry it had to be this way, but I'm glad you're home." It's very difficult to hear, but you think you can make out your brother's words.
"Well I would have rather not shrunk, obviously." Your brother replies, "but since I have, I'm glad I'm back home with you all. There's no place I'd rather be."
"Really?" Emily asks, her smile widening as she looks at your brother with big wet eyes.
"Yeah really! We're else would I want to be besides home with my two favorite girls?" Emily giggles and her cheeks flush. Ashley rolls her eyes, she's not big on the mushy family bonding stuff, but she does shoot your older brother a smile. It's not the same twisted sneer that you received from the imp when she'd nearly crushed you beneath her stinky foot, but one of genuine affection.
"I suppose, since they can't take care of themselves, they'll have to sleep in our rooms?" Emily asks your dad.
He nods, "We can't have them alone in their rooms. What if they shrunk further in the middle of the night and we lost track of them? What if they needed help? No, we're going to have to look after them 24/7."
Emily nods, "Well, Mike can stay in my room." she says shyly.
"... Alright, but you have to be careful with him."
Ugh, the scene is disgusting. Emily takes a lot of crap, deservedly so, but your brother only ever has nice things to say to her and, in the rare instances he teases her, it's always in a playful manner that Emily is quick to reciprocate. She was very clingy and affectionate towards him. When he left for college she no longer had a defender to stand up to your bullying, and you know she missed him terribly when she started her Freshman year at your high school. Not having an overabundance of friends, she'd usually lock herself in her room and call up your brother whenever she was feeling depressed, or fed up with your metal mouth jokes. Now that he was back though, and apparently rooming with her, Emily looked positively ecstatic. You do your best to pull your eyes away from the dorky sight. Family bonding was supposed to come in small, barely tolerable doses, and it wasn't something you should actively seek out. Your sister is uncool to the extreme though, so her delighted reaction isn't surprising though. You have to wonder how much she actually grasps the situation. In a few days you and Mike will probably be the size of dust mites, good as dead. You almost smirk thinking of what her reaction will be then. She'll probably feel terribly guilty about being glad her brother came back (considering the reason he came back was because he was afflicted with a fatal illness), and of course she'd most likely feel terrible about neglecting you, her older, smarter, prettier, sister.
"Frank, I just..." Your mother presses her cheek against your father's chest.
"Girl's, I'm going to go lie your mother down. Today has been quite a shock for her. Watch your siblings for the next few hours, all right?" Your father turns and walks your mother out of the room as if she were an old woman in a nursing home.
"No wait! Mom, dad, I'm awake!" You squeak. After the way Ashley treated you, you definitely don't want to be left alone with your devilish little tomboy sister again.
Too late though, they're gone. Fortunately your two giant little sisters didn't hear your voice either. Right now they're busy looking at your brother.
When you come to you here voices talking... They're discussing... something, but the words are too garbled and nonsensical. You sit up. You have an amazing headache and it takes a few seconds for your vision to clear. Your mouth tastes like.... well, sour milk and foot sweat. The disgusting lump that your sister had forced into your mouth is gone. A revolting revelation comes to you. You must have swallowed it. You do your best not to vomit all over the hard wood surface you're currently lying on. Eventually you get your bearings. You're sitting on a table in your families living room. Looking up you see your parents and your two sisters... All four of them are talking, and there seems to be something resting in your mother's cupped hands.
"It's a good thing you were here Ashley, I don't even want to think what might have happened to her if she'd shrunk when no one was around. We've had that roach infestation recently and-" Your mother stops and shudders, not even wanting to think about the horrible thought. Ashley just nods.
That demonic little bare foot imp! She must have lied to your parents and told them she'd found you passed out on the carpet. Wait till you told everyone the truth. You do the best to stand but a sudden wave of dizziness causes you to fall down flat on your ass.
"It's just so tragic." Your mother sniffles, "I should have sent your sister to see a doctor sooner. I had this ominous feeling in my gut, but I never could have imagined..." Your mother pauses, sinking inward a little and allowing tears to escape from her eyes. Your father puts a sturdy hand on her shoulder. Eventually she collects herself enough to continue talking, "It's so tragic... Soooo tragic. Your sister and your brother." Your mom shakes her head in dismay. Wait a second, your brother? But isn't he at college?
The brother she's referring to is 20 year old Mike, your older sibling. He's currently a junior at a state college a few hundred miles away. He's a decidedly average looking person, not someone worthy of your notice but not someone you'd go out of your way to mock. Unlike you he has always been close to your younger siblings. In fact he, in many ways, encourages and exacerbates their weird and antisocial behavior. For example, when Ashley would bring him a bug from the yard to look at he'd feign interest instead of telling her what a repulsive little freak she was. And just three weeks ago, for no particular reason, he'd bought Emily a new microscope for the miniature play lab she has in her room. Your sister Emily, already being a scrawny metal mouthed bookworm, certainly didn't need any more books or science gadgets littering her room. If he had wanted to do her a favor he should have bought her some Hollisters. Unlike you, he actually has a close relationship with your younger siblings whom are very affectionate towards him. While you'd always been distant and a little cold towards him, he'd been the easiest sibling to tolerate.
"It's all right honey, we'll somehow manage to overcome this." Your father says, wrapping his arms around your mom. She's shaking slightly, "I just don't know what to do. We were visiting your mother one moment, and then the next we're getting a call saying Mike has shrunk to a few inches in height... And then after we pick him up we come home to find that Sarah has shrunk too. *sniff* My poor babies!" Your mother buries her face into the palm of her free hand. You're finally able to make out the object in her other. Why, it's none other than your older brother Mike! He shrunk too? What the hell? Maybe there was something wrong with you and your brother genetically. If that was the case then your parents were to blame. They'd given the both of you (but more importantly you) some weird genetic mutation or recessive trait. You felt a sudden swelling of resentment but it quickly dies. They may have given... what ever it is you have to you, that didn't mean they had done it maliciously.
"There there, it'll be all right. We'll find a doctor who can help them." Your father reassures, "Who cares what that quack Sarah visited thinks?"
Your mother nods but you have the feeling she's not even listening to your father. She's too wrapped up in her own grief, "Girls." Your father says suddenly, "It's times llike these we have to come together as a family. Things will be tough but we're the Klamerts, we'll persevere. Now since Mike and daddy's little angel have shrunk," You see both Ashley and Emily cringe a little at your nickname, a reminder of their second place status in your father's heart, "we need to do our best to watch out for them. They're not going to be able to leave the house unaccompanied, and there'll have to be someone keeping an eye on them at all times. This is a big responsibility now, they're your brother and sister, can your mother and I trust you to take care of them when we're not around?"
The two girls nod. Emily extends her hand to your mom, almost eagerly. Your mom, very hesitant to let go of her now miniature first born, eventually tilts her hand. Your naked brother lands in the palm of your mutual nerdy sister, Emily. She adjusts her glasses and raises her palm to her face.
She looks down at your brother, a sad smile on her face, "I'm sorry it had to be this way, but I'm glad you're home." It's very difficult to hear, but you think you can make out your brother's words.
"Well I would have rather not shrunk, obviously." Your brother replies, "but since I have, I'm glad I'm back home with you all. There's no place I'd rather be."
"Really?" Emily asks, her smile widening as she looks at your brother with big wet eyes.
"Yeah really! We're else would I want to be besides home with my two favorite girls?" Emily giggles and her cheeks flush. Ashley rolls her eyes, she's not big on the mushy family bonding stuff, but she does shoot your older brother a smile. It's not the same twisted sneer that you received from the imp when she'd nearly crushed you beneath her stinky foot, but one of genuine affection.
"I suppose, since they can't take care of themselves, they'll have to sleep in our rooms?" Emily asks your dad.
He nods, "We can't have them alone in their rooms. What if they shrunk further in the middle of the night and we lost track of them? What if they needed help? No, we're going to have to look after them 24/7."
Emily nods, "Well, Mike can stay in my room." she says shyly.
"... Alright, but you have to be careful with him."
Ugh, the scene is disgusting. Emily takes a lot of crap, deservedly so, but your brother only ever has nice things to say to her and, in the rare instances he teases her, it's always in a playful manner that Emily is quick to reciprocate. She was very clingy and affectionate towards him. When he left for college she no longer had a defender to stand up to your bullying, and you know she missed him terribly when she started her Freshman year at your high school. Not having an overabundance of friends, she'd usually lock herself in her room and call up your brother whenever she was feeling depressed, or fed up with your metal mouth jokes. Now that he was back though, and apparently rooming with her, Emily looked positively ecstatic. You do your best to pull your eyes away from the dorky sight. Family bonding was supposed to come in small, barely tolerable doses, and it wasn't something you should actively seek out. Your sister is uncool to the extreme though, so her delighted reaction isn't surprising though. You have to wonder how much she actually grasps the situation. In a few days you and Mike will probably be the size of dust mites, good as dead. You almost smirk thinking of what her reaction will be then. She'll probably feel terribly guilty about being glad her brother came back (considering the reason he came back was because he was afflicted with a fatal illness), and of course she'd most likely feel terrible about neglecting you, her older, smarter, prettier, sister.
"Frank, I just..." Your mother presses her cheek against your father's chest.
"Girl's, I'm going to go lie your mother down. Today has been quite a shock for her. Watch your siblings for the next few hours, all right?" Your father turns and walks your mother out of the room as if she were an old woman in a nursing home.
"No wait! Mom, dad, I'm awake!" You squeak. After the way Ashley treated you, you definitely don't want to be left alone with your devilish little tomboy sister again.
Too late though, they're gone. Fortunately your two giant little sisters didn't hear your voice either. Right now they're busy looking at your brother.
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June 1
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