Middle School Miniature

Chapter 17, Small Spat

His hand reached out towards me and I fell backwards in the bag with my hands still over my ears. I felt his hand snake around my body while I started to thrash, fearful of what he might do in anger. I kicked and punched and squirmed in an attempt to escape but within a couple of seconds the hand pinned down my arms and trapped my legs. The fist was even tighter than usual and it made it hard to breathe.

"Let, me, GO." I wheezed. He held me up to eye level and glared daggers at me, which made me feel very disoriented going from lying down to upright. "Can't breathe!" I said the best I could as I squeezed my eyes closed and the hand tightened.

For one horrible moment, I thought he would squeeze the life out of me. But then the pressure eased up to nothing and I sucked in a huge breath and let it go in a ragged breath

"Sorry," Max said and looked away guiltily.

"You monster! You unthinking idiot," I yelled. I blame the lack of oxygen in my brain for the faulty thinking behind screaming at the person with the power.

"No, you are the idiot." He snapped back at me, luckily only verbally, "You're the one that constantly puts your life in danger because you want to explore. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but the cat nearly killed you!" I just stare at him with a small frown, my confidence draining to a smoldering grain of dust. He lowered me down a little, and my eyes started to water at the attack on my insecurities. He stood up and walked a couple of steps over to his desk. My feet dangled over the air, until his hand lowered, opened, and slid me down... into another glass jar?! How many jars does this guy have?

"Hey, you can't do this to me." I caught my hand on the top of the jar trying to keep me from falling into my glassy prison.

"Yes, I can. Besides, it's only for tonight." Max pushed my fingers off the jar and I dropped down to the cold glass floor, sliding onto my knees. It was bigger than the other jar. The top was out of jumping distance, so I knew I wouldn't be escaping from this one. Max left the room with an angry expression and clothes in his arms so I presumed that he was going to change and hopefully cool off.

I just looked down feeling as significant and strong as a bug. A tiny bug. That lived in a cage its whole life. After a while, I looked up as Max walked back into his room. Blinking back the tears I asked a question.

"Hey! Can I come out now?"

"No." He said without looking at me. That flat dismissal was.. a little insulting.

"Can I sleep somewhere else?" I asked. He didn't bother answering so I continued. "Sleeping on glass is like sleeping on concrete." To this, he gave a sigh.

"Can you just, be quiet?" He asked, annoyance seeping into his voice, and opened his sock drawer.

"Can you just not put me in jars." I retorted.

He took a few steps towards me and dropped a sock in the jar without responding. The sock, which happened to land on me, was the weight of four, thick, woolen blankets, plus some. I'm sure it was an accident.

"Dude!" I complained from under the sock.

By the time I made it on top of the sock, the lights were out and Max was on his bed. His phone let off a bright glow that illuminated his face and cast haunting shadows. So I settled down for a short uncomfortable sleep. But I took ease knowing that the padding of the sock made it more than easy to escape the jar.

---
That night, I dreamt again.

I was trapped in a jar, on the edge of a high cliff. I peered over the edge and saw the endless gray fluff of clouds spread out miles below me. I scrambled backward pressing my back against the cool glass when a thunk pounded on the glass behind me. Pushing the jar that smidge closer to plummeting off, my heart wildly pumping against my chest, a giant finger repeatedly tapped the jar. Pushing it closer. Thunk. Closer. Thunk. To the edge and the swallowing air.

I turned around just before the container was doomed to fall, and caught a glimmer of Max's face grinning wickedly as the container tips as if in slow motion over the edge. A sob catches in my throat as I feel myself going weightless.
Falling
Falling
Falling into visions of screaming people, clawing for me, grabbing my clothes pulling me under the masses of squirming bodies until my screams melded with theirs.

Hands.
Greasy, grabbing, squishy hands.
Warmth.

I could feel the wet tears on my face and the pressure on my back as I slowly awoke. I was on my side curled up lying on... something soft and warm. I didn't remember going to sleep like this. My foggy mind buzzed as I tried to make sense of my surroundings.

"It's ok." I froze as the deep voice said the words. I cringed into a tight ball, hiding my face in my knees and arms. The fleeting image of the wicked grin on the face of the giant persisted in my head and I became acutely aware of the finger stroking my back.
"You're safe here." He said soothingly and sleepily, continuing to pet me. I must admit that it felt nice. No one had been there to comfort me like this before, except maybe my parents when I was younger, but that thought made me want to cry all over again.

I shifted so I was sitting up in the palm of his hand. He raised me so I could look into his giant green orbs filled with gentle concern. He also looked tired, but I didn't want to point it out because it was probably my fault. I realized that, for some reason, Max seemed to care what happened to me, and that made me feel bad for the spat I got into earlier with the big guy.

"Thanks," I said wiping my eyes, hopefully, loud enough for Max to hear it. He cracked a genuine smile, shattering the image of the wicked one from my dream and warming my heart. The lamp went back off and I slipped into a silent sleep.
----◇◆---

I marveled as the tiny girl fell back asleep. Did that just happen? I awoke when I heard small screams in the night and found her crying in her sleep and thrashing. I reached into the jar and scooped her into my fingers as gently as I could. The nightmares still had her in their grasp so I tried stroking her head and down her back with my pinky to wake her up. I comforted her as best I could. She was just so small that it blew away my sleepy mind. I set her gently next to my pillow. I didn't move hardly any in my sleep, so that didn't concern me, I just hoped I would wake up before she did.

Aww.

~ Ema