Andrew's life had been extremely traumatic since childhood. Born into a large Microputian family that could not support him, he and his siblings were abandoned by their parents at the age of 6 at an adoption center for Microputians. This center was located within a huge adoption complex for potential Prodigan parents who wished to adopt children of the smaller races considered.
Life at this center was not easy. With thousands of Microputian children arriving each week and few Lilliputian and Gulliverian parents interested in adopting them, resources were increasingly limited. Dressing and feeding them was becoming increasingly difficult and education was reserved for Lilliputian and Gulliverian children only as they were more likely to be adopted by larger parents because of how difficult it was for parents to interact with and care for them due to their microscopic size.
However, Andrew's life would change forever. On what was thought to be just another afternoon while playing in the huge field behind the center, a gigantic blue iris had unexpectedly appeared in the sky blocking out the light of the moment, leaving Andrew, his siblings and the other orphans stunned by this irregular phenomenon.
They knew very well what that giant eye represented, some gigantic father or mother was observing them through the lens of an advanced microscope.
The Prodigan adoption center had hundreds of such microscopes, allowing parents to view the millions of Microputian children awaiting a chance to be adopted, in the hope that they would be encouraged to adopt at least a few hundred of them.
However, the strategy was not always successful, it was not common that a Prodigan or a Brobdingnagian who visited the center was interested in adopting Microputian children and they quickly opted to observe the other races, so Andrew only witnessed these moments a few times during the many years he spent at the adoption center. He could never know who the person watching them was, whether it was male or female, as it was never mentioned by his caretakers and teachers who ran the center.
“Look, guys! Up there!” exclaimed Andrew pointing to the sky.
“It's really gigantic!” reaffirmed Sam, his best friend at the center.
“Do you think it will adopt us?” asked Thomas, another center kid.
“Don't get your hopes up, Tom. It looks like it's just watching us out of curiosity, as is routine up there” deferred Nikki, a blonde girl in the group.
“What do you think it is?” asked another child in the group named Henry.
“It's a Brobby!” expressed Jessica, another brown-haired girl who joined the group.
“No, I don't think so!” pointed out Sam, “It's much bigger.”
“It's a Prodigan!” assured Andrew, something deep down inside made him think so. They were all stunned at that beautiful iris in the sky. To the children, its shiny texture made it look like a vast, blue ocean with a swirling black vortex in the middle.
“A beautiful Prodigan woman!” declared Tom.
And they were not wrong, that gigantic iris belonged to that of a beautiful, young Prodigan woman who was observing each one of them through a powerful microscope in the center She could distinguish the thousands of children who lived there and managed to see their faces as if she was looking at them from just a few meters away. She imagined herself chatting, talking and playing with them, an impossible feat of course, due to the abysmal size difference between them. This brought out that maternal instinct she had supressed for many years.
“How cute and tiny they look from here!” she mentioned.
“These children are the residents of Microputian Adoption Center no. 506” mentioned Dr. Alice O'Hara, a very tall, thin, adult woman, director of the Prodigan Adoption Center who accompanied this young woman and watched through a screen everything the young woman saw through the lens of the microscope.
They were in a small room filled with several glass tanks resting on metal shelves. This was the Microputian adoption room, the smallest in the center and at the same time the largest in population of all. It was the least frequented room by Prodigan parents wishing to adopt, usually inquiring about the Gulliverian rooms or the Brobdingnagian adoption halls upon arrival.
However, on this occasion, Dr. O'Hara was astonished when she saw this young woman arrive asking about the Microputian adoption halls first, so she immediately volunteered to accompany her and personally counsel her around the place.
“How old are these children?” asked the young Prodigan who was still observing the orphans from the microscope.
“They range from being as old as twelve to as young as only a few months. The population of this center is approximately 30,000 children, and there are two thousand more like them inside this tank” Alice replied.
“They are all healthy and strong, and ready to accept a new home” she concluded, hoping to convince the young woman to adopt at least a few hundred of them.
“Oh, I see!” the young woman said who turned away from the binoculars and turned her attention to the doctor.
“And I imagine they have been living in here for many years?” she asked.
“Indeed. According to our records, some arrived at our center only a days after they were born. They have lived most of, if not their whole lives inside this tank which as you may have noticed, has a shielding that does not allow them to see outside” the doctor explained.
“But we can see what's inside the glass” the young woman replied, turning her attention back to the gleaming glass tank filled with finely cut soil and grass and a few patches of trees, lakes and houses. It looked very much like a finely crafted terrarium.
“Yes, and if you want to get a precise look inside the various adoption centers and the children in them, the scanning microscope can help us with that” the doctor offered, pointing to the small microscope on the edge of the tank that directed its lens toward the center of the terrarium.
“It's fascinating” said the young woman, who went back to peering through the binoculars for a while longer.
When she finished, she turned her attention back to the doctor and enthusiastically declared her decision, greatly surprising Dr. O'Hara.
“I have decided to adopt all the children in this tank” she told her. “They're perfect for me!”
“Really?!” exclaimed the doctor in utter shock.
“Yes, really!” the young woman reaffirmed with conviction. “And I would also like to adopt all of the Lilliputian children you showed me in the previous room. Will there be any problems?” she asked, seeing the doctor's expressionless face.
“No, not at all!” Alice answered exasperatedly “It's just that I am amazed at your affection towards them” she told her. In all her years of running this place, she has never seen someone so excited to adopt Microputian children.
“If only there were more people like you in this world” Alice praised. “Your attitude towards them makes me confident you will raise them with great care and affection” she expressed with sincere gratitude. “What is your full name dear?”
“Sonia Élise Softmore, doctor” the beautiful young woman replied. “Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity. It has been my greatest desire to have children and now I can finally fulfill it. When can I take them home?” she asked.
“Right away, just sign the necessary adoption forms and you can leave with them” Alice said.
“Great” replied Sonia Softmore, a cheerful and sociable biologist who was on the cusp of her career, about to turn 30, and who had long put off marriage and having children to pursue her academic and professional successes in the pursuit of science and wisdom. But now, she was ready to take on this new journey and forever change the lives of countless children who did not have the opportunity to be raised and educated with love and kindness like her. Now she would be their mother. Their gigantic mother who would care for and watch over each one of the billions who would come to live in that little glass tank.
Although she was excited about this new chapter, fear and doubt began to invade her mind for a moment. How would she communicate with all of them? How would she get to know all of them? Would they get along with her and accept her as their mother? The questions in her mind began to swirl, but they quickly vanished when she was handed the small tank in which Andrew and thousands of other orphans lived.
Andrew's life and in the lives of thousands of other orphans were changed that day when they heard over the center's huge loudspeaker that they had all been adopted by the immense being they had seen that day. Now they would move to a new home and live happily under the care and protection of a benevolent and giant Prodigan mother who would give them the love and care that their biological parents were unfortunately unable to give them.
Today, after ten years, a handsome and brilliant 22-year-old Andrew who likes adventures and difficult challenges, is about to embark on a magnificent and fascinating adventure.
A wonderful and unique exodus into a special world.
Inside his mother.
The gentle mother that every orphan desires.