Incredible Shrinking Haley

Miniature Apartment

Once we got home, Maddie and I went to my room. We were looking at what clothes I could bring and what I might like to have to wear as soon as possible. I sent a few texts to people on the drive over, including to Hannah, and she finally replied saying she'd love to come with me. Dana responded saying to let her know how it goes, she'd love to come too but she has cheer practice.
Maddie was my saving grace, although just barely. She was able to get some of the clothes I wanted to bring from the shelves I could no longer reach. So I didn't look like her mini me, I got a yellow sun dress instead of a white one, a pair of jeans and a white button up blouse. A red camisole with some jean shorts. I didn't want to bring too much, or any of my expensive stuff, so I only grabbed a few more shorts and t shirts and another dress just in case. I didn't get bring any maxi dresses, mainly shorter ones. Dresses have been my best friend so far, so I wanted to bring a couple.
Hannah texted me saying she was busy, but if we wanted to go to her place and pick out some clothes for me to keep, we were more than welcome to. She placed any extra clothes she doesn't want in her spare room, and she told me what the code to her house is (I guess she has a doorknob with a code on it from the sound of it). Maddie jumped at this opportunity, as she really wanted to see a miniaturized apartment. She grabbed all my clothes and practically ran out of my room.
"Come on! Let's go! Wait! Do you have the address?!" After laughing at her, I nodded yes, and she continued to hurry to her car. I'm followed her as quickly as I could, but by the time I got outside, she was already done putting my clothes in the back seat. I jogged to her car and hopped in the front seat again. I could totally see how excited Maddie was since she had the biggest smile on her face.
"Are you excited?" I asked sarcastically.
"Yes! It's going to be to be such a unique experience. I'm going to be 10 feet tall! It'd different than like just you having shrunk, because, well, that's just you having shrunk. It'll be like Alice in Wonderland almost. I wonder if she even has a smaller front door?!"
"Well, I don't imagine so! How would a maintenance man come in to fix something if she needed? Or any other full sized guest? It would probably be so much work taking out the front door, patching it up, installing a miniature door, and all that."
"Aww, yeah you're probably right."
After a few more minutes, we pulled into her complex. Maddie struggled to reach the keypad to dial her number from gate, and I realized this would be impossible for me now. Even if there was a car I could operate at my size, I don't know how I would be able to reach so far away and upwards. The gate opened instantly, I guess she gave us a resident's code? Not sure, but there was definitely no ringing or anything. We got to her building which was conveniently the closest one to the entrance, and her apartment, which was conveniently the first one.
"Wow, I guess she either got very lucky or was able to pull some strings to get such a nice set up." Maddie said. "This is definitely her apartment though! It's definitely a full size door like you said it would probably be." Her front door had two handles. One is the normal size, about where the tip of my head was, and one about halfway between the floor and the other handle. Maddie entered her code, and when she turned the door knob, the door didn't open. Something told me to try the lower handle, and half of the door opened.
"That's so weird!! But also so cool? Let me see if I can open the rest from inside."
"I could maybe squeeze through there!" Maddie said. "The clearance isn't that much smaller than me. It's maybe just a few inches shorter? Like a foot and a half maybe? It can be my Alice in Wonderland moment! Fitting through the tiny door!" I didn't think Maddie was able to fit, she seemed much too big. But I wanted to indulge her.
"Yeah, try it out! If you need me to open it, let me know!" I said. I took a step inside and was so mind blown, I couldn't help but let my jaw hang. "Oh, my gosh....!" I yelled out. I almost completely forgot about Maddie with how shocked I was. Her apartment felt like a mansion with how spacious everything was, and especially because of how giant her ceilings were. Her kitchen was scaled down to my size! Counters, refrigerator, even her cabinets. I thought how inefficient it must be for storing things thought, unless she can find smaller items too? But I don't imagine they make smaller packaged good, likes Oreos for example. I was about to go to the living room, when I saw Maddie's long, slender legs up to her waist through the miniature door, with the rest of her body still on the outside. It looked like she was about to fall down when I ran over. "Maddie, are you ok?!" I asked, unsure of how I could help this bumbling giant through this much too tiny door. She managed to get her legs out. I couldn't see all of her body through the door I so easily walked through, which made me feel small. "Giving up?" I asked her.
"Hmmm, not quite!" She said as she got on one knee, presumably to analyze the situation better. I caught myself staring at her face as I slowly smiled as a reaction to how pretty she is. "What if I try... this?" She said as she went in head and shoulder first. To my surprise, she was able to get herself through the door! Once she made it in, she stood straight up, with her arms stretched out to her sides, absolutely towering me. "Ta-daaaa!! Man, if i was any bigger, I wouldn't have fit. Just like Alice in the movie!"
"Hahaha, yeah. Just hope you still don't shrink like in the movie either!" She looked down at me and let out a smile and let out a little laugh. Maddie quickly moved into the kitchen and started admiring the miniaturized kitchen. I went to the living room, where everything was miniaturized as well, except for few things. One of which broke my immersion. Her couch, love seat, media center, coffee table were all small. And yet, with so much space she was able to make it work. For example, she had a "short" column floor lamp which was maybe only 45 inches or so, but at my new size was towering! Same with her TV. It was maybe a 42", but looked like a movie theater screen. Her living room furniture, since it was so small, was able to be placed relatively close to each other, which really opened up a lot of space making the living room seem, well, spacious. She could use a rug that was smaller, and less expensive, to cover all of the floor the furniture was on too. All of the light switches were lowered to about my height. It was a good in between height for full size people and miniature sized people. The only seemingly out of place item, which was the one that broke my immersion, was a 3 story Barbie doll house. This doll house was taller than me by a noticeable amount of inches, and had a few Barbies in it. I couldn't see the top of the roof, even on my tippy toes! I looked at the dolls for a second, and saw one I actually really liked. It was a blonde doll with long pig tails, a sleeveless blue top and split pattern leggings. I picked her up and was shocked at how big she was to me now. Even when I was younger playing with Barbies I don't remember her this big. At the same time, I was loving some of their outfits, and caught myself thinking if shrinking to the size of Barbie does happen, at least I'll have some cute outfits.
"Having fun?" Maddie asked as she came over giggling. "I know you're kid sized now, but I didn't think you would play with dolls like a kid!"
"Oh! Ha ha," I said, still holding the Barbie. "I wouldn't really call this 'playing' with her. More like, 'admiring her outfit'?" I had never been as jealous as a full sized person than I have been now, solely because Maddie was easily taller than the doll house. I know I've felt like a kid before, but now more than ever. I felt a rush of embarrassment as the more Maddie looked down at me next to this doll house, holding a doll, the more I felt like she resembled a mother watching her daughter. Especially with all the miniature furniture, it felt like I was in a playroom or a daycare. I was about to put the Barbie back on where I found her, when Maddie quickly picked me up from behind and made way for the couch. I wasn't sure if the couch could support her size and weight, but before I could process what was going and say something, Maddie was already on her way down.
Surprisingly, it was fine, other than Maddie taking up almost all three of the seats, and her legs being much too long for the short couch. I was kind of smushed between her legs and her boobs, as I awkwardly held onto the Barbie. I wasn't sure what Maddie was trying to do, but I imagined she just wanted to have me sit on her lap. It didn't work out because how how little the couch was, but she didn't let me go.
"You have your Barbie, and I have mine!" She said while hugging me tighter. "We need to get you furniture like this. It's so adorable! I'll even get you a few Barbie's and a dream house too! We can go to Target after this."
"I might be horrible wrong about Maddie treating me the same..." I thought. "Maddie, you know I'm not actually a little girl, right?!" I managed to get out.
"Aww, of course I know!" She said, loosening her grip. "But being in here, where everything is your size makes me think of my little sister. I just want to spoil you." Maddie had only ever told me about her sister once before.
When Maddie was 5, her parents had a second child. It was a complicated birth, and her sister almost didn't survive. After a about a year of health complications, everything seemed fine. Maddie of course loved her sister, and would always want to be with her. She was old enough to remember spending all her time with her sister; playing with her, coloring with her, taking care of her, all of it. About 2 years later, her sister unexpectedly passed away due to more medical complications. Maddie was so devastated. She mentioned that she essentially shut down. Didn't focus on school, didn't want to play with other kids, she didn't even want to leave her sister's bed. Now that she brought up her sister again, I was able to out a few things together. She might be so shy because during her formative years, she had become a recluse. Another thing is that now that I am the size of a 3-year old, I am about the size that her sister was when she passed. Even if Maddie is much taller than she was when she was 8, she might just be associating me with her. I think I understood why Maddie is more adamant about being with me after college; she might be feeling an older sister role wanting to protect me. I guess it wouldn't be the worse thing in the world letting her spoil me I suppose. Although, I would have to establish boundaries with her. For example, I don't really want to have to play with Barbies... and for that matter, her calling me her Barbie has me scared she wants to dress me up. But as long as it some of the clothes that Hannah gives me it should be fine.
"Oh, Maddie... I'm so sorry. I know how much she means to you."
"No, it's ok, I shouldn't be projecting that onto you. It's just hard, to be honest. The only time I really feel tall is near little kids, and since I was so much older than her, I was always so much bigger. It sort of just brings out that same instinct. Plus,. I legitimately see you as a sister, I am not sure if you are the same way with me, but  you mean so much to me. We just did everything together for the little time I was with her. You are honestly the best friend I have had since her, and even before you shrunk, you always reminded me a little of her. I know she was a baby still, but she was always so happy and so full of life. Ever since I met you, you were always smiling too. I don't know, but something about you now is just like, her reincarnated. Which I know that also doesn't makes sense, since you were born before her, and you didn't get younger, just smaller. I just... I don't know. I'm sorry. I love you. I just want to keep you safe and protect you Lauren." She had never told me her sisters name, but I assume she had just let it slip. I didn't know what to say, and after a few seconds, she rested the side of her head on my back, while still trapping me in her arms tightly. A few more seconds had gone by, and I felt like I needed to say something for some reason.
"Hey...," I started, not entirely sure where I wanted to go with this. "Isn't her outfit actually so cute?" I couldn't think to say anything else. She lifted her head and looked at the doll I was attempting to wave to get her attention while my arms were still bound by her. She laughed and agreed while she released me to wipe a tear that was rolling down her face. She easily picked me up from under my arms and placed me on the floor.
"Ok, you dressed up your Barbie and now it's my turn. Let's go look at some outfits for you." She stood up, and I noticed that unlike before in class, I have began to feel very small next to her. Hopefully this passes...