Zap.pdf

The sun was rising and the morning light streamed through the windows of the Johnson family home. But this was no ordinary morning.

14-year-old Lily couldn't sleep a wink the night before, her mind racing with excitement. After months of scheming and saving up her allowance, she had finally bought the shrink ray gun she had been yearning for. And her snotty little brother Liam, 8 years old, was the perfect subject to test it out on.

Liam groggily stumbled out of his bedroom, bleary-eyed. "Moooom, Lily's picking on me again!" he whined loudly. But Lily just giggled deviously. She aimed the shrink ray at her brother and pulled the trigger.

ZZZZZZAP! A beam of red light enveloped Liam. He screamed as he felt himself rapidly shrinking down, down, down. Furniture and toys grew enormous in his shrinking perspective. Within seconds, he had shrunk to the size of an insect, no bigger than an ant!

"You little twerp!" Lily cackled. "Let's see how you like being a tiny bug, you annoying creep!" She prodded him with her finger, laughing gleefully as he tumbled head over heels.

Suddenly, the sound of a car pulling into the driveway made them both jump. "Oh no, Mom's home!" Liam squealed in terror. But it was too late.

The front door swung open and their mother stepped inside. She took two steps forward, then froze. "LILY! What is going on here?!" Her eyes fell on the toy-sized Liam trembling on the floor.

"Mommy!" Liam shrieked, waving his arms in distress. "Lily shrunk me! Help!"

But Mom was in a panic. She instantly started pacing back and forth, making phone calls. "Oh my god, I have to get to the office... The Smith account is a disaster... This is the WORST timing!"

In her flustered state, she didn't notice the tiny Liam on the floor. Still ranting on the phone, she aimed a step towards the couch - and felt a small squish under her high heel. "Oof!" She gasped in surprise, before continuing her frantic monologue.

Liam's high-pitched screams abruptly cut off with a sickening crunch. Lily stared in numb shock at the red smear left on the bottom of her mother's stiletto.

Mom finally hung up and looked down, her eyes widening in horror. "Oh my god... Liam!!" She dropped to her knees and swiped at the bloody smear, as if she could somehow scrub her son back to life.

Lily stood frozen, her face ashen. This wasn't supposed to happen! Tears streamed down her face as the reality crashed over her. She had killed her own brother.

Mom looked up at Lily, her face contorted in anguish and rage. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! Oh god, why weren't you watching him?! He's... he's DEAD!" She collapsed into wrenching sobs.

Lily could only stare in mute shock at her mother cradling her brother's tiny, broken body. Mom's anguished wails filled the room.

What had she done? In a moment of childish anger, she had destroyed her family. She didn't deserve to live.

The sobs turned to choked gasps. Lily looked down at the shrink ray still clutched in her trembling hand. In a trance, she slowly turned it towards her own face, a strange sense of calm washing over her.

ZZZZAP! The red beam engulfed her. In a matter of seconds, she too had shrunk, shrinking down, down, down until she was smaller than an eyelash.

Mom looked up at the tiny Lily, lying prone on the floor. Her mangled son still clutched in her arms. She stared, her eyes empty and cold with shock and grief.

But then, a spark of life returned to them. She lurched to her feet, her face a rictus of agony and vendetta.

She raised her other stiletto high above the miniature Lily. "You...you little MURDERER!" She shrieked. "You destroyed my BABY! You took away my SON!"

She brought the stiletto down with all her might. CRUNCH.

It was over in an instant. Just like that, her children were dead. Lily followed Liam to the grave, a size smaller but suffering the same fate.

Mom staggered to the bathroom and peered at her bloodstreaked face in the mirror. The face of a woman who had lost everything. What would she do now?

But that is a story for another day.