Linda & Shrink Ray.pdf

It was a typical Tuesday afternoon and 15-year-old Katie was home alone, bored out of her mind. She idly flipped through channels on the TV, sighing in frustration. Her annoying little brother Tommy, 12, was out playing with his stupid bug collection as usual.

Suddenly, a wacky idea popped into Katie's head. They had seen that crazy sci-fi movie last weekend about a shrink ray. She had a sudden urge to shrink her brother down to bug size just for kicks, to see him squirm and panic.

Katie snuck into her dad's home lab and rummaged around. Amazingly, he had a working shrink ray prototype! She quickly figured out how to use it. Her heart raced with excitement at the thought of what she was about to do.

Creeping into the garden, Katie snuck up behind Tommy who was engrossed in examining a moth. She pointed the shrink ray and fired. "What the fu-" THZZZZZZAP!

In a flash, Tommy vanished in a puff of purple smoke. Katie giggled and looked around. There, on a nearby leaf, was a teeny-tiny version of her brother! The little bug-sized boy started frantically waving his arms.

"Help! Help me, sis! What did you do?!" Tommy squeaked.

"Shhh, no one can hear you now, little bug!" Katie said, grinning down at him. "You're sooo small now! Aren't you excited?"

Tommy looked up at his giant sister, eyes wide with fear and disbelief. His leaf quivered as he cowered. "Make me big again! Please! I'll do anything!"

"Oh I'm sure you will," Katie smirked. She reached out and plucked up the leaf with her brother on it. "I think I'll keep you down there for a while. Maybe in a jar so you can't run away!"

Trembling with terror, Tommy could only watch as Katie carried him inside to her room. She plucked him off the leaf and trapped him inside an empty mason jar. "I'm gonna put you with my jewelry so you can't escape!"

Rising to her feet, Katie went to grab the jar, casually dropping the minuscule boy inside. She had just placed it on her dresser when they heard the sound of the front door opening and Mom's voice.

"Oh hello honey! How was your day, sweetie?" Their mother Linda called out.

Katie's eyes darted to the jar, the tiny bug-sized Tommy frantically banging on the glass. "It's fine Mom!" she called back, trying to hide the jar behind her.

Linda lumbered up the stairs, her flats slapping the wooden steps. Katie gulped, realizing she was coming right for the bedroom. The girl grabbed the jar and shoved it under the bed.

Linda pushed open the door and found Katie standing there awkwardly. "Well hello there! Why are you acting so strange?" She smiled, but Katie could see the suspicion in her green eyes, so like her own.

"Nothing, Mom, just...um, I was trying to sneak a muffin from upstairs before you saw," Katie improvised, tugging down her tight white t-shirt.

"Oh - well, you know you're not allowed to have junk food, dear. It's not good for you at your age..." Linda said, wagging a chubby finger at her daughter. "Now where is your brother? He needs to eat a real lunch."

"I don't know, probably still playing outside with his stupid dumb bugs!" Katie rolled her eyes.

Just then, Linda spotted a bit of movement under the bed, near her feet. She squinted. "What on earth...?"

Katie's heart stopped. Her mom was looking RIGHT at the jar with Tommy! The boy was running back and forth frantically inside, banging on the glass and crying for help.

"I...I don't see anything Mom!" Katie stammered, trying to act normal. "Maybe it's just a dust bunny or something..."

But Linda was intrigued now. She bent down and reached under the bed with a plump hand to grab the jar. "Oh my, what's this?" She pulled it out and held it up to the light.

Saw the tiny shrunken boy inside, screaming and pounding on the glass in a panic. "HELP! MOMMY! I'M IN HERE!"

"Oh my GOD!" Linda gasped, nearly dropping the jar in shock. "Katie! What have you done?! Oh thank GOD your father isn't home or he'd kill you! Unbelievable!"

Katie could only gape at her mother, frozen in horror. This was not how she expected this to go at all!

Linda hurriedly picked up the jar and rushed out of the room with it. "Don't you DARE follow me!" she snapped at Katie.

The terrified girl stood rooted to the spot, heart pounding out of her chest. What was going to happen now?! Would her mom tell her dad and get her in huge trouble? She'd never see her friends again!

After a few moments, Katie heard a blood-curdling scream from downstairs, then a sickening SQUISH. A wet crunching sound. Followed by an ominous silence.

Katie stood there trembling, mouth hanging open. What just happened?! Did she really just hear what she thought she heard? Did her own MOTHER just... kill Tommy?

Wide-eyed, she crept down the stairs. At the bottom, she gasped in shock. There was the broken remains of the jar on the floor. Shards of glass littered the tile.

And in the center, small bloody smear. A few bug-sized limbs and organs splayed out. The white sole of one of her mother's high heels was planted right in the middle of it.

"Katie? Sweetie, come here," Linda called, poking her head out from the kitchen. "It's okay honey, I cleaned up that mess. Let's sit down and talk about what happened, okay? We'll figure this out together."

Katie stood frozen, incapable of speech, her mind reeling. This couldn't be happening. Her brother was dead. And SHE killed him by shrinking him down!

What was she going to do? How could she fix this? Her eyes darted to the bloody smear on the floor, the shattered glass, the single high heel standing in it...

Katie knew in that moment that her life would never be the same. She had crossed a line. And there was no going back now.