Amy & Penny

Chapter Thirteen

Penny pov:
I was starting to feel queasy the more the little girl ran around with her hand clenched around my torso. Her grip on me was a bit too tight and was starting to bruise my pinned arm and ribs. She was also not very good at keeping her hand steady. I was being jerked around violently and carelessly as the snot-nosed little brat caught up to her mother. Then she swung me in the air as if I was a toy airplane, making obnoxious whooshing noises with her mouth. I thought I was going to vomit, and probably get whiplash.

"Someone, help me!" I wailed. At that point, I no longer cared if I was drawing attention to myself. I needed help and it couldn't get much worse than this. Unfortunately, the only person who heard me scream was the child squeezing me. She stopped swinging me around and held me in her fist, eye level to her face. I was being held still, but felt like the room was spinning.

"What's wrong? I thought it was fun." The child presumed. Her bright blue eyes looked so innocent, like she was about to cry. I felt a pang of guilt. That's when I realized that there was nothing malicious about her behaviour towards me, and she truly thought we were having fun. She lacked motor skills and maturity because she was a small child and didn't know any better. She just wanted to play.

"I'm sorry, kid. I don't feel so good." I admitted to her. I felt very dizzy and nauseous.

"Hailey, where did you get that doll?" The mother asked the little girl. I was suddenly paralyzed with fear. I wanted to shout to her that I'm not a doll, or ask her to help me, but my mouth wouldn't listen. All I could do was stare in panic.

"I found it." Hailey replied to her mother.

"Well, put it back where you found it, baby. You don't know who it belongs to." The mother said as she knelt down to be eye level with her daughter. I wasn't sure how to feel about this.

"But, Momma, it talked!" She announced with bewilderment.

"I'm sure it did, honey, but you can't just take things that don't belong to you. It belongs to someone else and they are probably looking for it." The mother explained to her daughter. Hailey paused in perplexity, trying to understand the lecture that her mother had just given her.

"Okay." Hailey quietly muttered. She reluctantly agreed to let me go and I felt somewhat relieved. Hailey turned away from her mother and gently set me down on my back, on a nearby shelf containing large bottles of laundry detergent. I was still frozen in fear and didn't dare to make a sound. I just lied there silently and waited for them to leave.

"Good girl, Hailey." Her mother praised. She then took her daughter's hand and they walked away.

I let out a sigh of relief. I sat up and scooted backwards behind a jug of laundry soap. I leaned against the front of another jug behind me so I could catch my breath, and calm myself down from the horrible events that just took place. Now that I got out of that situation alive, I had to figure out a way to find Amy.

Amy pov:
I really hoped that Penny was doing okay. I knew it couldn't have been easy to decided to come out with me today. She was always very anxious and introverted, but with her new smaller size, her fears were magnified. Still, she wanted to get out of the house. I couldn't blame her. If I was in her shoes, I would probably be driven mental, too.

Even with that, I had strong feelings against her leaving the house. I pushed my feelings aside, trying not to smother her with my own worries and fears. As I weaved through the aisles of the store, I wanted so badly to check on her and make sure she was okay. Yet at the same time, I didn't want to make it obvious or cause a scene incase people were watching. The last thing we needed was prying eyes from other shoppers that could potentially hurt Penny or take her away from me.

I pushed my cart to an area where there were no people, and made sure no one was watching. I opened the the pocket Penny was supposed to be staying in, and became very alarmed when she wasn't there.

"Penny?!" I whisper-shouted and frantically searched the rest of my purse. Did she climb out? Did she fall out or get squished in my purse? Did someone take her? I could feel myself getting worked up, hyperventilating trying to find her. I scanned the floor and got down on all fours, shining the flashlight on my phone under the shelves incase she was hiding.

"Everything okay, miss?" A store employee asked. He was probably thinking I looked ridiculous crawling around on the floor with a flashlight. I flinched in response.

"Oh, yeah. I lost a contact lense is all." I said sheepishly.

"Let me know if you need any help." He said. I gave him an awkward thumbs up and he walked away. I sighed deeply and continued searching.

Penny pov:
I finally calmed down enough to somewhat think straight. I slowly stood up behind the massive jug of detergent and placed my hands on the back of the jug in front of me.

To my horror, giant fingers curled around the handle and I started to panic again. The jug shifted slightly, but didn't leave the shelf. It amazed me how someone could move that enormous jug so effortlessly. To me at this size, it was as immovable as the building itself. Still, the giant digits never left the handle. Instead, the jug was then lifted off the shelf, revealing the eyes of the person who those fingers belonged to. The person did a double take, looking directly at me.

Those eyes looked very familiar. They were big and very dark, almost black. They were caring, and filled with a bit of worry. I knew those eyes anywhere. They belonged to none other than Kamal.