Escape.pdf

"Mom's going to kill me," thought Tommy, staring up at his mother towering over him with her eyes narrowed in fury. At the moment, Tommy was only two inches tall, having been shrunken down by his science project gone wrong. He had been working on it for his upcoming school science fair but in his haste to get it done, he accidentally activated the shrinking module, miniaturizing himself in the process.

Now, as he tried to scurry away across the hardwood floor, he knew his mother would surely notice the tiny figure trying to escape her wrath. He had only a minute or two at best before she arrived home from her day at the office.

"Run," he thought to himself. "RUN!"

Tommy scampered as fast as his little shrunken legs would carry him, his heart pounding out of his chest. The house seemed to be a mile wide at this size! Every step felt like a marathon as he raced across the floor, dodging dust bunnies and old socks.

Suddenly, he heard it - the front door opening with a click. "I'm home!" his mother called out. Tommy froze, his breath catching in his throat. He was only halfway across the living room and nowhere near safety yet.

He had to hide. Now.

Tommy spied a crack in the baseboard and dove for it, squeezing his tiny form through the narrow crevice just as his mother's platform mules came clicking into view. She strode into the living room, her eyes sweeping over the room, searching for any sign of her missing son.

"Tommy?" she called. "Are you home, sweetie?" Her voice was deceptively sweet but Tommy knew better. She was mad. Really mad.

He held his breath, praying she wouldn't spot him wedged in the crack. Her mules clicked closer and closer until they were right outside the baseboard...

Just as she was about to step directly on his hiding spot, the phone rang, diverting her attention. "Hold on sweetie, Mommy's got to get this," she said to herself as she reached for the receiver.

Tommy watched her mules pivot and walk away, his chest heaving with relief. He knew he had to keep moving and find a safer place to hide until he could figure out how to change himself back to normal size.

Slowly, he extricated himself from the crack and started making his way across the floor once again, feeling like a Shrinking Son in a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad situation...