The Shrinker

PROLOGUE (PART-2)

Then, just as the spider was about to enter the shadow of the nearest chair, its attention fixed upon nothing but its prey, a gigantic children's shoe came falling from the air and stamped into the floor with such violence and ferocity that the lady was knocked off her feet. The giant toddler was back.

She collapsed into the floor, weeping tears of pain and frustration and despair all mixed together. She watched with terror as the great shoe lifted itself back up. The shrunken lady saw the paralysed dying spider lying where the foot had been, its body badly crushed and a couple of legs twitching in agony.

Her first feeling had been one of immeasurable relief at escaping those pincers of death, that she'd been rescued from her worst nightmare. That evaporated when the shoe stamped hard into the same spot; doing so repeatedly.

The shrunken woman was on her knees in terror, biting her knuckles. Her fist filled her gaping mouth. Above she heard the child's excitable and gleeful squeals of enjoyment, thundering to her ears and a stab of ice to her heart.

When at last the giant wore itself out, it stepped back, visible up to the Adam's apple, its chest heaving slightly. The woman had no desire whatsoever to take a look over at the spider's pulverised, scattered remains. Because she knew if the child caught her, that would be her fate too.

She desperately silenced her panicked breathing. It was absolutely critical to her survival she remained undiscovered; only complete silence would achieve it. She never took her eyes off the giant child as it paused in front of the chair at the head of the table.

The woman clasped her hands together and prayed with all of her might that the nasty brat would simply get bored and leave, or get tired and fall asleep; anything but discovering her. A loud yawn then resonated from it, giving her real cause for hope; the first time she'd felt it since being shrunk.

There was a long silence. Then without warning the child crouched upon its knees and looked straight at her.

The lady's legs turned to jelly, her skin the colour of milk and her shoulders shook as though she were suffering a stroke. The toddler was still wearing the damned wolf mask they'd made earlier together and the sight of it amplified her fear many times over. Between the wolf jaws it licked its lips before making another childish growl and roar.

This was no more than a game of hide and seek to the gigantic freak, but it was a deadly one between hunter and pray; she the mouse and it the cat.

She couldn't bring herself to move, paralysed by her terror, as the child began to try and make its way under the chair to get through to her, crawling on its knees and yet still towering far above.

But the chair was narrow; to her great relief it couldn't quite squeeze through. Frustrated, it withdrew and began to search around the table.

The other chairs were equally narrow and tucked-in, plus four thick table legs filled spaces between. The child wasn't strong enough to move the chairs and risked them falling upon it if it tried. One by one it knelt and relentlessly tried to reach through each chair, all to no avail. She backed a safe distance away every time the big pudgy fingers greeted her.

As it started to make its way to the far end of the table, the woman glanced at her watch; 8.10 it said. Her partner would return very soon.

She contemplated whether she'd be better off making a run for the living room. She could hide under the sofa again; safe now the spider had been dispatched. On the other hand she felt exhausted and weak, plus achy and sore all over from sprained ribs and a near-torn muscle.