Before taking his shower, Bryan made one last check of his preparations. Staring down at the tiny box, soon to serve as his transportation for a trip to California, he felt the electricity of excitement begin to build in his mind.
He didn't bother to get dressed after his shower. After using a towel to thoroughly dry his body, he wrapped his towel around his waist and walked barefoot into his kitchen.
Bryan took the vial of shrinking formula in his hand. He watched, mesmerized, as he sloshed the pale blue liquid within the glass tube.
He upended the vial and swallowed the contents in a single gulp. The formula remained virtually tasteless except for a faint metallic aftertaste.
Bryan removed his towel and tossed it onto the kitchen counter. He then moved quickly to use a chair to step onto his kitchen table. Although he had undergone the astonishing process on several other occasions, he still marveled as his surroundings appeared to expand rapidly in all directions.
In less than two minutes the brilliant research scientist shrunk from six feet tall to a mere quarter of an inch.
As on past occasions, his body felt somewhat numb for a few seconds after the shrinkage ceased.
After he re-asserted control over his body, Bryan took in his surroundings with the same sense of wonder he had experienced the first time he used the formula to reduce himself.
Bryan stared across the vast expanse of the kitchen table. The shipping package now resembled some large building.
He began his trek toward the box, eager to dress in the clothes he had shrunk in preparation for this moment.
As he approached the box, however, Bryan suffered a rude shock when he saw a bizarre sight. Two lines of ants, each individual ant measuring a full four feet in length, streamed toward and away from the box.
Bryan halted and stared at dozens of the large insects. Each six-legged insect stood at shoulder height to the shrunken man.
"What the hell?" Bryan said.
He moved with a measure of caution closer to the lines of ants.
As he got closer, he could clearly see antennae twitch on the hideous heads of the segmented insects.
In addition, he saw that some of the ants held items in their mandibles. A second look identified the items as crumbs of food.
"They're stealing my supplies!" Bryan yelled in anger. The little man rushed forward, nimbly stepping between two ants rushing away from the box with crumbs of food held in their jaws.
Bryan watched as ants crawled in and out of the small entrance he had cut into the side of the box.
Bryan looked around and saw that the ants appeared even more numerous. He saw dozens of the insects.
Bryan heard a strange grating noise and turned to see an ant heading toward him with its fearsome mandibles clicking. Bryan gasped when he saw this ant looked larger and more sturdy than the worker ants milling around the box.
He prepared to run, but two smaller ants blocked the oncoming ant's path. Bryan used the diversion to slip past the ants and reach the entrance into the box.
Bryan started to make his way inside the box when he met an ant making its exit. The tiny man recoiled and let the ant make its way past him.
At that moment, the kitchen door opened. Bryan, startled by the unexpected noise, looked up and watched as Tommy entered, right on time, to pick up the package for mailing.
Bryan's nerves nearly failed him. Nothing could have prepared him for how huge Tommy now looked to him. The teenager looked like a fearsome behemoth.
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