Taller Than Ever

By J. L. Ender

“Do you really think this’ll work?” It hurt to ask the words, but I had to know.

“You designed airplanes. If anyone can pull this off…” My wife Stella patted the side of the hulking drone, the result of a month’s hard work. An arm-length sewing needle rested against her shoulder, the thick steel dwarfing her long, delicate fingers.

Nobody knew why humanity shrank. I was in my office when it happened. Within a day, the entire human race had been reduced to the size of ants. It had taken me nearly a week to find my family. After that, we’d lived in a cavernous kitchen cupboard for months, but the food was spoiling, the insects growing bolder and more numerous.

If a rat ever found us… No. I couldn’t let that happen. I had to protect my family. We needed community. We needed to answer the call and find our neighbors.

“It’s been over two weeks since the broadcast,” I said.

“We’ll find them,” she assured. “We can do this. It’s one house over. I’ll make sure Lily’s ready.”

I didn’t say what we both knew. A house away may as well have been the other side of the planet.

Stella climbed the string into our cupboard home. I glanced out at the smooth formica plane of our kitchen countertop, then returned my eyes to the drone, the jury-rigged product of long days and sleepless nights. Slightly larger than a deck of cards, the aircraft was little more than a platform with propellers. The remote control being in my bedroom and far too large, I’d gotten creative, putting my engineering degree to work rewiring the drone for passenger control.

Springy as a flea, my daughter dropped from the cupboard above, Stella close behind. We climbed onto the drone.

“There’s no seats!” five-year-old Lily pointed out.

“Daddy couldn’t find any,” Stella said. “We’ll just have to hold on tight.”

An understatement. The handles I’d fashioned were all we had. If one of us fell in flight, they might never be found.

“This is scary.” Lily shook her head. “Let’s stay here.”

“It isn’t safe anymore,” I said.

I looked back at my family, huddled together and clutching at slots cut into the plastic. My stomach turned at the thought of risking their lives.

So don’t screw up.

The drone wobbled on takeoff as I struggled with my makeshift controls, which amounted to tugging on the correct internal wire. But no one fell, and we didn’t crash. Our tiny weight was nothing to the steadfast airship.

We flew over open tile, covering more ground in seconds than I’d managed since our journey to the kitchen. The main problem with being so small had been height, not distance. Every piece of furniture towered over us like mountains.

We flew through the doorway and into the living room. What had been a vast blue wall the last time I’d seen it looked normal from this altitude, the family couch exactly as we’d left it.

Now for one of our greatest hurdles—getting outside.

The window next to the front door hung open a sliver. That would be our saving grace—a crack so narrow insects could barely fit. Insects. We’d been sent down to live among the bugs we used to squash.

I set us down on the windowsill as gently as I could.

“Now what?” Lily asked.

I forced a smile. “We walk.”

We made for the window, through which sunshine and summer warmth spilled. A spider also squeezed inside—a fat wolf spider the size of an elephant with three rows of eyes and arm-length fangs. Nightmare fuel. And it stood between us and the window.

Spotting us with its multitude of big, black eyes, it launched toward us at sickening speed. There was no time to think, only act.

Without a backward glance at my family, I brandished Stella’s needle. I couldn’t cut with it, only stab, so I’d have to make my attack count. The spider struck, but I’d been expecting the motion and was already diving forward. Under the spider’s hairy body, I shoved upward with both hands, driving the needle deep into the spider’s belly.

It hissed and twisted, trying to free itself from my weapon. I held firm, and the cut widened before the needle slid out. I rolled out of the way and rose, panting, needle dripping yellow gore. I expected the spider to strike again, but it scuttled off, deeper into the house.

Lily pumped a fist. “Go, Daddy!”

I flicked spider gunk from the needle as I returned to my family. “Time to go. Got a long walk ahead of us.” As we left the house, I felt fresh confidence mingling with my familiar anxieties. I glanced at Stella as she helped Lily duck under the window.

You said we can do this, Stella.

I hope you’re right.

Two days later, we staggered into our neighbor’s front yard. The fence had an ant-sized opening for humans, where a well-tended path through the grass led to the mountainous front stairs, from which rickety rope ladders hung. On the lofty porch, two men with makeshift bows manned a tower built from nailed-together baby blocks.

Covered in dirt and bug guts, Stella, Lily, and I were in no shape to impress, but the guards smiled anyway.

“Come in!” one of the men urged. “We’ll get you a cup of tea while we wait for someone to come down.”

“You’ve got tea?” I asked.

“Yep, coffee too, though it’s stale.”

“That sounds wonderful.”

Dawn came as we reached the foot of the tower. I turned to watch the light spill over the lawn. Stella leaned against me, and Lily ran ahead.

In that moment, I felt taller than ever. There were no difficulties we couldn’t overcome. In reality, we’d always been specks. Now we just felt it every day. To venture so far and survive… it gave me hope we could conquer this world again.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J.L. Ender‘s first published novel, Portal World, is available now. He has also released several short stories, including The Rocket Game and The Meek Shall Inherit. His new superhero series, Steel Fox Investigations, will begin January 2020. Ender has worked as a dishwasher, a beef jerky labeler, a warehouse worker, a shelf stocker, a greeter, a traveling technician, a laser engraver, a package handler, a copywriter, a graphic designer, a librarian, an editor, a dispatcher, and a phone operator. He lives in Ohio with his dog Bear.

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