The Life of a Borrower

Chapter 1

Benjamin was never very good at being a borrower. He had been borrowing from Samantha for years and almost been spotted several times. He was surprised he didn't get caught with his sloppy borrowing. Dropping things, leaving things behind by accident, being clumsy and making loud noises. His timing wasn't all that great either.

Ben had been alone ever since he could remember, so he didn't have a lot of guidance growing up. He remembered the main rule of borrowing was to never be seen. He couldn't remember the last time he saw his parents, or even another borrower for that matter. He was eighteen years old and lived in the walls of Samantha's house.

Samantha lived in an old house built about two hundred years ago. It was her grandmother's house who had just passed away a few months prior, and she inherited the house. But little did she know, she inherited a tiny roommate as well.

Ben knew his way around a mouse trap, he knew how to get the food without setting off the trap. This time, however, he was clumsy. He tripped over his own foot and fell forward, getting his forearm caught in the trap. He cried out in pain, then remembered he had to be quiet because it was the middle of the night and the human was home. He desperately tried to free himself to no avail.

"Fuck!" He angrily whispered to himself. His face wet from tears, Ben was forced to sit behind the garbage bin in the corner of the giant kitchen the rest of the night with his arm in the trap, in agonizing pain. He held his satchel close with his free hand, with the strap still over his shoulder. His shaggy brown hair was a mess. He had eventually worn himself out and cried himself to sleep.

He awoke a few hours later to the sound of thunderous footsteps. The human was awake and approaching the kitchen. Ben started to panic, holding his grapple hook to use to protect himself. Samantha, still in her pajamas, made herself some coffee and appeared to be tidying things up. She walked right past him several times, totally oblivious to his existence.

Ben thought Samantha was very beautiful, with her long blonde hair and ocean blue eyes behind her thick-framed glasses. As beautiful as she was, that didn't stop Ben from being absolutely terrified of being seen by her.

Ben moved himself ever so slightly for better comfort, but ended up causing excruciating pain in his trapped arm. He let out a small whimper that he tried to stifle, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

Samantha stopped in her tracks after hearing what she thought was a small whimper. But how could that be possible?

"Hello?" She called out. She felt totally ridiculous. Of course she was there by herself, who else would be in her house? She slowly approached the trash bin where she remembered there was a mouse trap.

Ben tried not to make any noise, hoping she wouldn't suspect anything and just move on. That was sadly not the case when Samantha carefully pulled the garbage bin out of the corner and revealed the mouse trap that Ben was stuck in. They made eye contact, and Ben shrieked out of fear while Samantha dropped down to her knees.

"Oh, my god." Samantha said quietly in complete shock. "Oh, my god!" She repeated.

She couldn't believe her eyes. A very small boy, no more than four inches, was stuck in the mouse trap. She felt horribly guilty, seeing the amount of pain he was in, and the pure fright in his eyes. His shoulders heaved up and down as he hyperventilated, and he slowly reached for his grappling hook.

"Here..." Samantha said as she reached her enormous hands out to try to help the tiny boy. This only frightened him even more.

"No!" He blurted out as he pointed his grappling hook at her in an attempt to defend himself. Samantha retreated her hand.

"Whoa, easy! I'm not here to hurt you." Samantha said as she held her hands up to show that she means no harm.

Ben continued to hyperventilate while shakily holding his hook out at her. He struggled to hold it still while perspiration covered his forehead.

"I'm not going to hurt you, okay? My name is Samantha. I just want to help you." Samantha calmy said to the small boy. "Now, put the hook down." She gently said.

Ben still trembled with fear, but slowly lowered the grappling hook back into his satchel, never letting his grip on it go. Samantha carefully reached out again and gingerly freed the small boy from the trap. She set the trap aside and saw the boy scramble to his feet and take off.

"Wait! Please don't run away!" Samantha said. But he was long gone. He ran back behind the baseboard into his little hole in the wall, and swore to himself that he would never borrow again. He had never been so terrified in his life.

Samantha, on the other hand, had so many questions. Where did the boy come from? Why was he so little? What was he doing in her house? Did he need help? Who even was he? Was he even real? She thought maybe it was all a figment of her imagination. But it couldn't be. She helped him out of the trap. She physically touched him. She just sat there on the floor, staring at the mouse trap. All she could do was wonder.