This choice: "Hold on. Mom, do you know what that shrinking device is?" • Go Back... Both you and your mother awkwardly make eye contact, and you realise that hiding around the corner and peeking at her the way you were was definitely not a good look for you. You definitely don't want to come across as some kind of creep or weirdo, after all!
Your mother's mouth opens to start speaking, and you decide that you need to cut in first before she has the chance to question you about what you were doing or what she's no doubt found lazily hidden by your desk.
"Hold on. Mom, do you know what that shrinking device is?"
The two of you pause for a few seconds before your mom's face shifts in confusion, while yours shifts into barely concealed panic. Why the hell did you say something like that? That's not subtle at all! It's just more suspicious!
"The what?" Mom repeats. "Did you say shrinking device?" She shakes her head. "What are you talking about?"
You thank whatever deity is listening for the help when it becomes clear that she thinks you're just spouting nonsense. Now, to just play everything cool and you can still get out of this with your dignity intact. You force a laugh and shrug your shoulders. "Oh, y'know, I was just messing around!" You say. "I saw you in my room and thought I'd say something crazy to confuse you! Did it work?"
Your mother looked thoroughly unimpressed. "It did. But not in the way you intended."
You slump your shoulders. "Darn!" Quickly, you turn to leave. "Well, maybe next time-"
"Ethan." Her voice was stern and sharp. "Come back here."
You cringe to yourself as you slowly trudge into your room and in front of your mom. How was someone so short so intimidating?
She folds her arms in front of herself, pushing her chest up slightly. "Now then, care to explain?" She demands. "I don't know what you're up to in here when you close your door at night, but you were definitely panicking when you first spoke just now."
You squirm a little under her gaze at the idea of revealing the truth, but ultimately you're powerless to resist. Honestly, it was probably for the best that someone else knew about it anyway. What if something went wrong and you were stuck at a tiny size? You shudder at the thought of trying to get the attention of one of your sisters so that they could help you.
If they would help you.
"Promise not to tell anyone else?" You squeak out.
She raised an eyebrow. "It depends on what it is, but sure. Not a word to your sisters."
Feeling a small bit of relief, you turn to your desk and pull open the drawer. Sure enough, the remote is still in there, completely untouched. Gently, you lift it out and place it on the counter. "This is a device that uh...shrinks things." You explain lamely.
"Shrink things?" She repeats. "As in, it makes whatever you want smaller?"
You nod. "Yep."
"How small?"
You scratch your head. "Pretty small. I only used it the once on my desk, but it was pretty tiny." For emphasis, you hold your fingers only a tiny bit apart to show her how small you made the desk earlier. Her eyes widen at how small that was.
"No wonder you were acting so odd during breakfast." She comments, and you try to ignore the reminder at how terrible an actor you are. "Where did this thing come from?"
You open your mouth to answer, and freeze. Huh. Where did it come from? "Uhhh....I don't know?"
She scoffs. "And your first thought was to use it anyway? Boys." She rolls her eyes. "You can't not fiddle with things, can you?"
"Sorry." You say sadly.
Your mom thinks to herself for a few moments. "So you've only used it on your desk so far, right?" She looks at you and you nod again. "Do you think it'll work on people too?"
You assumed the answer to this question to be 'Yes', but you didn't actually know if that was true. "I...think so? I don't see why it wouldn't."
Your mom hums to herself, before she suddenly holds her hand out and speaks.
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