Little By Little (Scenes 012-019)

Scene 12:

I remember the day clearly, the 1st time it happened...

I must have physically slept horribly that night. My neck hurt when I woke up, it felt like someone kept their foot on it all night, hurting when I moved it.

As I turned my head to try to unwind the knot I spent all night creating, I winced, hissing as air rushed in between my lips.

I looked at myself in the mirror. Having the mirror here actually helped me get ready for the day. When I saw myself, I saw motivation. I know it might seem kind of weird, but it helped... most of the time.

Already, something felt off, but I didn't know what. It's weird, looking back, the signs were there, they stacked on top of each other, and it's quickly obvious what was happening. But at the time, it was such an absurd thought that it wasn't even on my list of things to consider the cause of all the strange observations: Proportionally shrinking around 4" overnight...

Scene 13:

I stood up, turning the lights on, yawned and stretched and looked in the mirror.

I was wearing an already worn and loose-fitting tank top, as well as an old pair of gym shorts, perfect candidates to transition from workout clothes status to PJs: Well worn, loose, and soft, a great combination for comfort.

My first indication was easy to shrug off. The straps on the top felt looser than the night before, at least enough for me to notice. I pulled up on one of them, confirming.

"Not again..." I said as I pulled up on what I thought was the loose strap, easily attributing this to my tossing and turning I normally did while sleeping, which probably played a significant role in the pulsing pain still present in my neck. "It stretched..." It was an easy thought to blow off.

At the time, it didn't really come to mind as it wasn't as obvious, but my shorts were looser, especially around the thighs. Now that I think back on it, I remember them swooshing and swaying more as I walked. However, since they were already quite loose on me, I wasn't the wiser.

"I really need to figure out my aggressive sleeping situation..." I thought to myself as I let go of the strap to resume rubbing my sore neck.

Scene 14:

My morning routine was uneventful. I brushed my teeth and took a quick shower, throwing my PJs back on. I had a little extra time this morning, so I took my time, planning to eat a basic breakfast and then get dressed. There were a few signs that, even looking back, I can't even remember due to the subtleness of it. But I’m sure I had to start reaching slightly higher for the shower knobs, the counter height was probably off, even the size of the toothbrush in my hand probably felt different. Afterwords, while I couldn't put my finger on it, I still felt "off". At the time, I assumed it was my sleeping from the night before.

I made my way downstairs. Surprisingly, Natalie was already up, dressed and ready for class, clicking and clacking away on her laptop at the kitchen island.

"Morning sweetie!" I said. "Up early! Don't your classes start a bit later today?" I asked.

"Morning mom! Ya, they do, but I'm meeting up with Sam to go over the group paper we are working on. Matt is a lost cause to the group, us 2 girls have to take it to the finish line..." she responded, slightly annoyed but also with a stroke of confidence knowing she could get it done.

"Ah, the joys of group projects..." I said aloud, reminiscing a little.

As she continued typing and I began to walk by her, I stopped. This was the first time I noticed something that would be the first clue to lead me to the conclusion of what was going on: My daughter looked taller.

I stepped towards her, placing my hand on her shoulder. We both had no shoes on, hence why I thought she must have grown.

"Honey, did you have a late growth spurt?" I said with a smile. As I said before, I was tall, and I know it helped my confidence as a woman, hoping it would do the same for her.

Scene 15:

"What?" she responded, as she turned around.

We now stood facing each other. I looked at her. "You look like you've grown a bit!" I said, excited.

The excitement quickly spread to her, a smile forming on her face. "Really?" she said, as I placed my hand on her head, guiding it towards me, confirming there was some sort of difference.

"I think so, maybe a couple inches!" I said, trying to show her with my hand bouncing between the top of her head and me.

"Can you really grow that fast overnight?" she responded.

"Well, I don’t think so, but I may just be noticing now." I replied.

"Hmm, but I don't feel any taller. I haven't noticed anything. I remember having my growth spurts and my shirts riding up on me, or my jeans turning into capris, but everything feels the same to me." she said.

Again, no reason to think I actually shrunk. "Hmm, well something feels different to me!" I replied.

"You're always wearing heels, maybe today you are finally seeing you aren't as much taller than me." she quipped.

"Uh huh..." I said, crossing my arms.

"Or, you know, don't you get shorter as you get older?" she said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Ha. Ha. ha." I said, as she began giggling, as I gently put my hands on her shoulders and spun her back around. "Why don't you get back to work little lady..."

I quickly grabbed some toast and orange juice, scrolling my phone, which at this point didn't feel much different, and headed upstairs to finish getting ready for work.

Scene 16:

Ah, how more observations begin to stack up, adding to my confusion...

I quickly disrobed and began putting on my outfit for the day: My top, a lightweight short sleeve knit top with a matching vest, paired with a lightweight skirt and leather slingback heels.

At first, I was dressing so quickly and not checking how I looked that I didn't notice anything. However, as I sat down to slide my foot into the first heel, something was off. I pushed the shoe forward, then backward, then forward again, then backward, hearing and feeling the sole of the shoe sliding across my foot. Why was there so much back and forth movement?

"What is going on? Is everything deciding to stretch out today?" I thought to myself, thinking the strap must have finally given way. "I literally wore this pair last week." I thought to myself again, wondering how shoes sitting idle for a week went from just fine to this.

The heels went well with my outfit, and I was running out of time. I was just going to have to deal with it.

Scene 17:

I stood up, looking at my outfit, adjusting it.

Again, signs right in front of my face. The skirt felt just a bit loose and a bit longer. I could have sworn this skirt rested just above my knees, but it was now touching them. The shirt, especially the sleeves, felt a bit loose. I reached back to pinch the vest, pulling it back to where it should be, noticing more play.

"What in the world is going on with my clothes?" I naively said aloud. "Did Natalie or I use the wrong wash cycle, or are the dry cleaners taking shorts cuts?" I said, trying to justify what was going on.

I took a few steps in the shoes, feeling the strap smack against the back of my heel with each step. I could put up with it. I played with the fit of the outfit. It was manageable, the clothes just felt "wrong", and little did I know, I was 100% right, just not about what was wrong.

Scene 18:

Work was mostly uneventful. I was so face-down into the client work I was doing that I didn't pay much attention to any differences I could have noticed. Heck, until I was heading back to the parking garage, I had forgotten how annoying my heels were, even after walking back and forth to 5 different meeting rooms throughout the day.

The only thing that occurred towards the end of the day was Bethany, a co-worker, saying I looked like I lost some weight. I had been trying to do more runs on the weekend, and even went to the gym once a week now. But that was only for the past month. Had I lost that much weight? I didn't even think about that. It would explain the clothes at least, not the shoes, but I just didn't think I'd lose enough weight that quickly to visibly show through my clothes. But hey, if I lost it that quickly, I was surely going to start going more often! And, looking back, I technically was losing weight…

As I walked through the garage, my echoing clacks ended as I stepped into the car. Funny enough, when leaving for work and even now, I didn't notice anything different with the car, no seat or mirror adjustments. Maybe I'm just a bad driver...

Scene 19:

When I got home, Natalie was still gone, which wasn't unusual.

I took a few minutes to look for a scale, but I couldn't find it. I could have sworn we had one. Then again, 2 girls in the house, there isn't exactly a need or a want for an accessible scale...

I quickly switched into some comfy PJs, planning to watch a movie and have some wine, some me time, after a very busy day. I slipped on some loose PJ pants and a long sleeve shirt. I liked how this shirt fit me, I used to wear it casually out, it really helped my figure. But it had been, in my eyes, now promoted to comfy wear.

Ah, more signs... I stood there, feeling the pants drag on the ground, bunched a bit, where they normally just gracefully touched. And my long-sleeve shirt, bunching up at my wrists a bit and seeming a bit long.

At this point, I had to acknowledge something else other than blaming the clothes. "Maybe I have lost weight..." I thought, pulling the pants up a bit, tightening the drawstring.

Oh boy, how wrong I was... I went downstairs, put on a feel-good movie with an obvious story and ending (yes, the lost-in-life girl who works at the food bank meets the hottest firefighter of the year who, somehow, can't seem to get a girl and they marry and live happily ever after), with a couple glasses of wine, and was feeling relaxed. By the end, I was ready for bed. I made my way upstairs, and hit the sack, thinking nothing more of my potential weight loss. I figured in the morning I could look for the scale or ask Natalie where it was.

The next morning, though, was going to bring more change, raising even more questions... The wild ride was just beginning.