Bryan awoke when he heard the phone next to his bed ring.
He focused groggily on his alarm clock, which gave the time at 8 a.m. He groaned a bit at the unwanted wakeup call before lifting the phone.
"Hello," he said.
"Bro!" Bryan heard the familiar voice of his younger brother, Matt. "I haven't heard from you in ages."
"Sorry," Bryan said, trying to sound sincere. In truth, he did not mind going for a long length of time without contact from his younger sibling. Matt, in Bryan's estimation, never made contact without wanting to finagle some favor from his older brother. "I've been busy."
"Well, I thought I might swing by your place for a visit," Matt said. "How's this afternoon?"
Bryan felt elated. He was able to inform Matt that he was leaving on a trip. "Maybe when I get back," Bryan said. "I will give you a call."
"Where are you going?" Matt asked, unwilling to take the hint.
Bryan stopped himself from sighing. "I am going to visit our nephew," he said.
"Zack!" Matt said excitedly. "How is he doing?"
"I'm sorry, but I am very busy," Bryan informed his brother. "Give me another call in a week, ok?"
"Sure, bro," Matt said.
Bryan ended the conversation. He thought of going back to sleep, but in truth he did have a lot to do.
He got out of bed, showered and dressed.
After having a light breakfast, he wrote a note for Tommy and left it next to his transport box on the kitchen table.
He then went to his bedroom and took off his clothes. Returning to the kitchen, he held a tiny glass vial in his hand. He stared at it.
Glancing at the clock, he knew he still had a couple of hours before Tommy was due.
"Well, why not enjoy a couple of hours being tiny?" Bryan asked himself. In answer to his own question, he drank the contents of the vial.
He felt the familiar sensation almost immediately. By the time he stepped off a chair seat onto the kitchen tabletop, he was only about four feet tall and going down fast.
Within a couple of minutes the brilliant research scientist had dwindled to a mere quarter of an inch tall.
He took in his surroundings, amazed at the colossal scale of everything. His kitchen looked more like the geographical features of some bizarre landscape.
The tiny man walked over and saw the tiny pre-shrunk clothes he had left near the transport box.
"I'll dress later," he decided, leaving the clothes neatly folded.
According to the distant wall clock, the time was just a few minutes past noon. Bryan took a quick jog across the tabletop to stand in the shadow of the crystal salt and pepper shakers, which had transformed into some towering crystal cathedral structure.
Bryan figured he had time to explore these curiosities before he needed to secure himself in the box. He began the short jog to the middle of the kitchen table.
Suddenly, he heard a loud noise at the back door.
"What the hell?" Bryan said, knowing Tommy would not be this early.
The door opened, admitting both a colossal titan and a hurricane-force wind that swept over the tabletop.
"Matt!" Bryan screamed as he watched his enormous brother stand in the open doorway.
Matt slid the credit card he had used to jimmy the lock to the back door back into his wallet.
"Close the door!" Bryan screamed as the wind blew with even more ferocity.
Suddenly, a powerful gust caught his tiny body in an updraft and the speck-sized man found himself airborne.
Matt closed the door and yelled in an awesome roar. "BRO!" Matt's voice thundered as the storm weakened after the door was shut. "ARE YOU HOME?"
Matt failed to notice...
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