This choice: You have a proper lunch, and get ready for your afternoon. • Go Back...Chapter #36You have a proper lunch, and get ready for your... by: knuckles   You walk over to your right to snatch a little bit of chip, as you had been unable to enjoy your last bite. Above Tara gulps a month's worth of water from her thermos, you keep a wary eye out as you forcibly snap off a piece of chip two feet long and then begin making your way over to the overturned guac container. You yell, recalling that she coudn't hear you well from that distance when she first found you. "Well, obviously the possibility of ending world hunger!" You hear her snort into her water, quickly covering her mouth as she coughs away from you, desperate to prevent a repeat of the wrap. You smirk as you dip your long chip piece into the guac, even with the suit the resistance of the gooey substance is quite notable. Coming up with a large glob, you make your way back over to the open area she left you.
The coughs sputter out, "Yeah, I figured that one. I meant something INTERESTING." She thumps her chest a couple of times, the reverberations and power of her fists stirs and echoes in the air around you even at this distance. "And here, let me make it easier for us both." WIth that she rotates her legs behind her, and lowers herself to her side, stretching out like a sideways skyscraper "Ok, so saving the world isn't interesting...hmmm...guess I shouldn't bore you with the domed cities idea, the percentage of the population that would be required to stay normal sized, the ethics of child birth at reduced size, or the intricacies of survivalist life versus transference of current technology?" Her eyebrow raises, "Actually those do sound interesting, BUT not only would I rather read them, but they aren't exactly 15 minute lunch material are they now?" She has you there.
"Ugh fine..." You have one, but you are hesitant to reveal it. You had trusted her so far, hell with your life, but that didn't mean you had to embarrass yourself! Still you are at a loss for less complex topics, and this one had never made it far onto the page, just the occasional limited experiment and thoughts. "Ok, got it." She leans down a bit so you don't have to yell into your speakers, just raise your a voice some.
"So I got a couple of pages into one, but I had alot of trouble concentrating on it. It concerned...well it was about...erm..." Her gaze is now laser focused, "Oh, I gotta hear it now." Her distractingly big teeth and large smile amplified her devilish interest in what was clearly awkward for you. "Well it concerns the ramifications of remote interaction between variously sized individuals and the impact upon the psyche." There, you figured, you'd dressed it up so boring she was sure to lose interest.
Tara looked up and away, appearing to ponder for a moment. "So, what, the oddity of two people talking online who are different sizes and how they treat each other?" Shit, she'd figured it out without hardly a moment. And she seemed even more interested. "What was your method? Social posting? Virtual pen pal? Does someone regular sized know about you?" She looked at you with genuine interest. Her biologist mind was clearly digesting and processing the information, curious about it beyond some passing interest. And this was the lamest "experiment" you'd conducted. Double shit.
"No, my friends and family think I'm travelling the world. I send regular emails yes, but that didn't really factor into this failure of a thought experiment." You realized suddenly you had pretty much eliminated the last protection you had against Tara, you'd casually mentioned no one had any idea of your size or whereabouts. You must really trust her subconsciously too, or your just a fool. Whatever the reason, you were still holding back on this. She questioned further, "Well then what did you use? I don't think anonymous posting would really count..." "Tinder!" you interrrupt her, "I used frikin Tinder..." Tara blinks at you, suprised by your sudden outburst or the information, or both. She begins "So you were trying-" "No! No I was not trying to get a date. This was over a month ago. I was exhausted, mentally, and I just needed someone to talk to, just to recognize my existence you know? No lies about world trips, but nothing about this. Keep it casual, respond to someone who reached out to me, and of course looked intelligent, and just...I dunno...it got weird."
Tara is mulling it over, but clearly shows some sympathy for your isolation. The silence lasts too long and you keep going, "I started chatting to a couple of women, you know, more than just the one or two lines. After getting past the initial satiation of my need for contact though, it evolved. I wanted to keep talking to them, this normality even though I understood that I was insect sized, talking to a living skyscraper. It was something that I couldn't shake, that I was interacting normally with a creature who was so much...more. And they didn't even know. I know it doesn't make sense."
"So...you kind of catfished them?" You look up eyes wide, oh god she thought you were fucked up. You'd be lucky if she just packed up her things and left, and didn't toss you and your home into the next county. You retreat into yourself. Tara seems to pick this up as she stares. "I don't mean it like that! Well I kind of do, you have to admit you weren't presenting them a real image of yourself don't you?" "All the pictures were real" you protest "my education, my previous job, my age..." "Your height?" She interjects. "Most people don't care if you add or shave a couple of inches, but come on Richard." You nod meekly, then recalling she can't see that say "Yes..." It probably was ultra soft to Tara, but she understood you.
"I get the need for human interaction, and I get that needing to be treated normally even though you weren't physically the same. But, why the fascination? I mean in reality you were smaller than these girls pinky toes. Why continue with these conversations when you knew you weren't going to take them anywhere further?" You pondered, still certain she thought the worst of you. But now that it was on the table, honesty was the only way forward. "BECAUSE of the difference, I think. Because here me, in reality a bug sized man, beneath their notice, capturing the full attention of these powerful beings, and being fully in control of the situation. I could say or do whatever, virtually of course, but in the real world...I couldn't."
"Ah," a self satisfied smirk comes over her face, "so it was about control, of 'conquering' these gigantic creatures, holding their emotions, and therefore them, in the palm of your teeny tiny hand." Wow, she'd gotten further than you had in your measly two pages. You had tried to keep it concerning equal treatment and online relationships, and she'd cut through to a subconscious level in no time. You weren't even sure if she was right, but it made some sense. You had felt more in control of your world than at any other time when you interacted with those people.
"So do you still talk with any of them? Come close to telling them anything about the REAL you?" This was the last secret, but since you'd already opened yourself up, why hold it back now? "Actually I stopped the whole thing completely, I couldn't make it into an effective study and was too distracted. Plus, I kinda had a bad experience with one that soured it all." Her hand swoops over you and she grasps one of the chips, dipping it into the guac and taking a terrifying amount with her, and into her waiting maw. She looks down at you expectantly, not bothering to ask the obvious. You sigh. "This one, she wanted so bad to meet, and when I was evasive, because duh," he motions the length of his body "she got pretty upset. I think she was drinking and she sent me all sorts of photos, then some begging, and...then the threats. I just couldn't take it anymore, even though most of my interactions were positive."
"Did the size thing have to do with your reaction maybe?" You pause for a moment. "Probably. She said she'd 'destroy' me at one point. And while I knew she meant emotionally, or hell my career, obviously it was well within her actual physical power to do so, and in so many disturbing ways with no one to know but her. I think the implications got me nervous to the point where the whole thing was counterproductive. Like, you'd just pointlessly antagonized one of the gods of Olympus. An awkward conversation with a regular human being, but now with terrifying implications due to the power difference. It really made me worry about the viability of this project on a larger scale if things like that can happen..."
Tara finished the last bite of her wrap, but she was clearly mulling over your words. She swallowed, then said "While I don't think you should have led any of those people on, I do get the need for interacting, however weird the implications get. It must be fascinating to have such an effect on a creature so much larger too. I guess until it goes wrong!" She thinks for a moment, "I supposes we all want to have a greater impact on the world around us, regardless of physical limitations. In the relative sense, you had an element of control over your immense environment, something you hadn't had since you shrunk in the first place. Maybe even longer?" Her stare seems to cut right through you, you felt emotionally naked. "No worries Richard. You're only human, like me. Just a little more vulnerable." She smiles warmly, and lowers her index finger again. Cautiously you rise to your feet, then walk to where it meets the plate. "Come on up my guy, I'll get rid of this stuff and we can return to our responsibilities, after we lay some ground rules. If I hurt you I wouldn't stop crying for months."
You grasp the whorled surface, looking up at her questioningly. After all that she was still fine with you? Maybe things had changed, maybe she appreciated your honesty, or now recognized you for the mid life crisis you imagined you were before this all started but was being kind.  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
| Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author