Promises

During the summer between my junior and senior years at college, I worked in the local library. Since I was going to school for elementary education, they put me in the children's library. We had a great time that summer; I would pick stories to read and then we would do activities relating to the stories. From an initial group of two or three, I soon had a real following for my session among the younger school aged kids. One of the ones who never missed a Monday, Wednesday or Friday "Stories with Scott" session was Devon. Devon was about seven. He had straight blonde hair and was very enthusiastic about the stories, but very hard on himself when he couldn't get one of the craft project right. He seemed to need attention, and I gave him as much as I could, but I couldn't short change the other kids.

On the Friday before Labor Day, I told the kids that this would be the last "Stories with Scott". Cries of dismay. I guess I had done a good job. I let them all pick their favorite story and had them draw a new cover to the book and then I added the title (I was also pretty good at art). When it ended, they all said goodbye and I began to reshelve the books. Devon came with me. This wasn't unusual. His housekeeper brought him to the library and she would usually take a little longer than storytime for her to peruse her choices, read magazines, etc. Usually, Devon "helped" me for about five or ten minutes after the activity was over.

"Why is Stories over?" he asked.
"Well, you have to go back to school and so do I."
"Will you do Stories during school" he pressed on.
"I can't, my school is about two hours away."

"You don't have to go back to school" he said very matter-of-factly.
"Sure I do, what else would I do?"

"Do Stories for me!" he said. I laughed, but he hadn't said it as a joke.
"I can't just do that. Anyway, where would I stay?" I said, teasing him.
"With me!"

"How?" I said, not really paying attention to the conversation, just putting books away.

"You can stay in my room."

"I don't think your parents would allow that."

"They don't have to know"
"I think they' d see me." This was getting really silly.

"No they wouldn't, you can come in my pocket."

I laughed again at the thought.

Would you come if you could fit in my pocket?", he asked.

"Sure" I said, "If you can fit me in your pocket, I'll come."

"Promise?"
"Sure"

I walked back towards the biography section, and I had already put our discussion out of my mind. It was just a seven year old's imagination.

"Okay" he said and cupped his hands together, palms up towards me.

There was a flash and I couldn't see anything for a few seconds. When I did recover my sight, I didn't like what I saw. I saw a sneaker. Not a normal sneaker, but one bigger than I was. Not only a sneaker, but above it a leg, no two legs and way up there a face , Devon!

"AAAAAAAAAA" I screamed.

"There, now you can fit in my pocket," he said.

"AAAAAAAAAA" I said. He must have been 60-70 feet tall, or else I was only four or five inches tall. He started to walk down the aisle towards me. I turned and ran, but I could feel his footsteps behind me.

This aisle was a dead end. I turned back towards Devon. He had closed to only a foot or so (to him) from where I stood, frozen with fear. He knelt down in front of me, lower legs tucked under him.

"Let's go" he said.

"Devon, No!" I yelled.

"Yes, you have to." he said, and reached towards me. I couldn't take it, I ran and he moved towards me, blocking my way with his knees. There wasn't any place I could go that he couldn't grab me. His hand moved in closer. I just stared at it, not believing that my little seven year old friend's hand was now as big as I was. Finally it reached me. I almost let him grab me, but just as his fingers were curving around me, I freaked again. It was too late, though. He finished grabbing me and I felt my feet leave the ground. Only my head, shoulders and arms were outside of his fist. He was holding me in his hand!!! The view shifted quickly as he brought his hand up towards his face. His seven year old face swung into view right in front of me.

"Now we can go." He stood up and I held onto his index finger for fear of falling.

"Devon, no, put me down."

"You promised" he whispered and then I was moving first down and then back. His shirt rushed past me and I felt his grip change. He was lowering me---into his jean shorts pocket. I was relieved when his fingers let go, but then I slid down to the bottom of the pocket. I tried to stay upright as he began to walk, but gave that up quickly and sat down on the bottom of the pocket.

"Coming" I heard him call, and we left the library.

I heard the library door close and then a voice called "Alex!" It must be Devon's nanny/housekeeper who called but who was Alex? I could hear an argument:"I don't want to come yet/ You have to come/I'm still playing" and then some crying. Devon must have a younger brother. But if he was younger, why wasn't he in the library with Devon? I tried to climb the side of Devon's pocket to have a look out. I managed to stand up and tried to pull myself up to the lip of the pocket. Devon must have felt me moving, because as soon as I started to pull myself up, Devon's hand came into the pocket and pushed me back down. I was helpless to do anything against the fingers which were each as big as I was.

We started walking again and then Devon stopped again. I heard a bus arrive and we got on it. (Devon explained later that even though his parents could afford a housekeeper, they couldn't afford a third car, so they used the bus which they all seemed to like anyway.) Devon sat down and I found myself having to lie flat inside the pocket. As the bus started to move, the pocket moved so I was lying on the outside of Devon's leg rather than on top of it. Then, Devon's brother sat down with him and now I was trapped between Alex's leg on one side and Devon's on the other. I did feel Devon try to move over, but the seat was small and he didn't want to give away my presence. At one point, I felt his hand come on the outside of the pocket and try to move me, but Alex told him to stop touching him and he had to stop.

After about 10 minutes of being squished, the bus stopped and Devon got up. He snaked his hand into his pocket and moved all around me, making sure that I was all right. He walked for another few minutes and then, I could only assume, entered his house. He ran up some stairs and closed a door behind him. I braced myself for the inevitable.

His hand descended into the pocket again and wrapped around me. I tried to push it away, but there was no room to get away. Devon lifted me out of the pocket and put me down on his bed, the green bedspread looking for all the world like a football field. His hand hovered near me, ready to grab if I tried to run, and his face loomed just off the side of the bed.

"Welcome home" he said.

He whisked me over to his bookshelf and showed me his collection. Many of them were books that we had already done at the library program and most of the others were by the same authors. At least I had inspired one of the kids to read, I had no idea where that inspiration would lead. He continued to hold me in his fist as he pulled the books out, sometimes using that hand to steady one book. It was strange and overwhelming to see everything from this perspective. Tiny details on a cover were immediately apparent to me, every cover was as big as a billboard. The bookcase itself was as tall as my parents house, not to mention Devon himself. The arm holding me seemed a mile long and his face, never very far away was more than twice as tall as I was.

When Devon was called down to dinner, he left me on his bed, something of a relief. I had expected to be shoved in a drawer or put into a toybox or something. He didn't leave me anything to do though, but I needed a rest anyway to try to deal with my situation and figure out how I was going to get back to normal. I still had hope that Devon could do it; now I had to find a way that he would. I heard footsteps outside of the door and was still paranoid enough of the giants to head towards Devon's pillow for cover. I'm glad I did, becuase another boy walked in. He was a little older than Devin, maybe 8 or 9, but was definately related. Both of them had somewhat wavy blonde hair that never seemed to stay in control. This must be Alex, but I had assumed by his behavior outside the library that he was older, but he must just be very immature. I dove under Devon's pillow, leaving just a little room to look out. Alex was looking around the room - hopefully not for me. I heard him mumble something about "Where did he put it?" then "He's always taking my stuff" (not me then) and then "He won't be back for a while, so I can find it" Where had Devon gone? It must not have been his idea. There was no way he'd leave me out in the open by choice. Alex looked inside drawers, on shelves and spent quite a while looking in Devon's closet. I wanted to find a better hiding place, but didn't dare move and risk being seen. Alex stood up and walked towards the bed end of the room. "Where is it!" he whined. "Aha!" he said and crossed over to the bed. I was frozen in place. He stood right next to the bed, and I could only see his stomach and belt from my vantage point. He then bent down and I saw his head whiz past. He was looking under the bed. He put his hand up on top of the bed to steady himself. It was right next to the pillow! His pinky was only inches from me. I couldn't let him find me, but I couldn't move. Every slight movement of his hand as he searched under Devon's bed sent shivers down my spine. The hand would move towards me, then away, then towards again. Finally it withdrew and he stood up. "Darn it!" he whined again.

Then he sat on the bed. I held onto the sheet so I wouldn't be moved by his movements on the bed and come out from under the pillow. Then he lay down on Devin's bed to think. Now I couldn't move, my legs were under where Alex's head was resting. Now what?!

"A ha" he cried and lifted up the pillow! I expected his hand to come swooping down at any moment, but it didn't. What was going on? Then I realized that not only had I gotten under Devon's pillow, but also under a t-shirt he had stuck under his pillow and that I was still out of Alex's sight.

"Darn, it's not there" Alex said and put the pillow back down. I felt him get off of the bed and heard him stomp out of the room. Wow! What a close call! I stayed under the pillow for quite a while, expecting Alex to come back into the room at any minute. About 30 minutes later I heard the door open. I didn't move.

"Scott," I heard Devon whisper, "Where are you?"
I crawled out from under the pillow. He came right over crouched next to the bed.

"Why were you under there?" he asked me, annoyed that I hadn't been right where he had left me.

"Your brother came in and I had to hide," I told him. He looked towards the door with real hate in his eyes.

"He has to stay out of my room!" Devon said, standing up and ignoring me for a moment.

"He was looking for something of his he thought you took," I tried to reason with him.

"I told him I didn't have it. He left his car somewhere and he thinks I took it,"

"Devon, where were you?" I asked him, trying to change the subject.
"My dumb piano lesson with Mrs. Nider down the street. My nanny said I HAD to go and I couldn't come up and tell you," he explained.

"Devon, when are you going to let me go?" I asked, quite innocently. He sat down on the bed and looked down at me.

"You said that you'd come and do stories for me if no one knew you were here," he stated, "You promised!"

"Devon, I thought you were kidding. I didn't think you could really fit me in your pocket. I thought you were just playing." I tried to remain calm. "I have to go back to school next week."

"No, you have to stay here. You're mine." he said.

"Fine, I promised. But I didn't promise for how long, did I?" I asked him, grasping at straws.

"No," he admitted.

"Then if I do stories for you for a day, I still kept my promise didn't I?"
"No, we can't do stories just for one day!"
"OK. I have to go back to college next Thursday, nine days from now. If I stay for..." (What would he accept? What could I stand!) "Five days. Would that be keeping my promise."

"Maybe if you stayed for a week," he said, not really liking to admit it.
"OK a week, " I had to take it. Any hope of an end to this ridiculous situation. Here I was,sitting on a kid's bed, making a deal with him about how long he could keep me shrunk! No one would belive me.

"But now you have to make a promise, actually two, " I told him. "You have to promise to make me regular size next week and...you have to keep me secret."

"Sure, I promise" he said, "I wouldn't tell Alex about you anyway."

So there it was. I was going to be four inches tall for the next week at the mercy of a seven year old boy. How surreal is this?

Devon and I kept very busy in his room that first night. He was so excited that I was there, he kept picking me up and then putting me down just so he could pick me up again. He got down a couple of the books we had done at the library and asked me to read to him. He knew that I couldn't resist telling stories to kids. He lay down on his bed, lay me down on his stomach and then held the book up so we could both see. This worked well except for the funny parts, since I would have to stop while Devon laughed and shook under me.

Having the book there saved me from being spotted when his family's au pair came to say good night (weren't this kid's parents ever home?). As she was opening the door, Devon quickly lowered the book down on top of me, hiding me from her. When Devon lifted the book up again, he told me that it was time for bed. He put me down on the table next to his bed while he left the room to change. I stayed hunkered down behind a couple toys in case someone besides Devon decided to come in, but luckily (HA!) it was Devon who came back a few minutes later, having changed into a t-shirt and sweats. He switched off the main light, leaving just his bed and the table lit by the small light mounted over his bed. Devon got into bed and then reached for me.

"Devon, stop!" I called as his hand came towards me.

"Why?" he said as the first fingers began to pull me into his hand.
"I thought it was time for bed." I said as his hand closed around me.

"It is," he said and lifted me off the desk.

"Devon, I should sleep on the table," I argued as his hand made its way down towards the bed.

"Why?" he asked and put his hand down on the other pillow on his bed, but didn't open it.

"Honestly, I don't want to be squished." I said as he turned on his side towards me and his hand.

"I wouldn't do that," he said and opened his hand, but still left it on top of me.

"Sure, not when you're awake, but do you move around a lot when you sleep?" I asked, and could tell by his expression that he did.

"Yeah" he said, knowing where this was going.

"Well, wouldn't it be better if I slept over there?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he said, but he was not happy. I hoped that I wouldn't regret having won at least one arguement with him.

"OK, hold on," he said and lifted me with just one finger and thumb, dumping me back on the table. Well, I said I hoped.

I took off my shoes and socks and grabbed a tissue from the box on the table to make a pillow with once folded. Devon watched me until I lay down.

"Night Devon" I said and lay on my back.
"Night Scott" he answered back and turned off the light.

"Hi Scott!" he said, reaching for me. He scooped me up this time and carried me in his upturned palm back over to the chaos of the bed. Seeing the state of the blankets, I was especially glad I had made him put me on the table.

"Wait here, " he said, I'll go get us breakfast. Like I had a choice.

He spilled me out onto the blankets and left the room. He returned with two pop tarts and a glass of milk. He got back onto the bed and sat down near me, crosslegged, putting the glass down on the table. He broke off a piece for me and held it out. It was as big as my head, but I took it from him anyway, but dropped it. It was fresh out of the toaster. He took a bite out of the rest of the pastry while I broke off a more manageable piece and blew on it. Devon's other hand went sailing over my head and returned with the milk. He held it next to me. I used my hand to scoop out some and then watched as he downed half of it.

After breakfast, Devon changed and then crossed to his shelves. He picked up a tinted plastic box about half the size of a shoe box with a hinged lid and started putting things inside. Some cards, some cars, an action figure. Then he came back to his bed.

"Let's go to my clubhouse," he said, grabbed me and put me in the box!

(added 9/20):
My world shook as Devon carried me and some of his toys down the stairs and outside. Through my blue box I would get some glimpses of the rest of the house, and got a bit scared at being seen. It wasn't a bad idea for Devon to carry me like this - not only did it get me away from being held in his hand constantly, but if I was just mixed in with the toys, other people would assume that I was one and not give it a second thought. (As long as Devon remembered!)

I think he carried me through the kitchen and out the back door. Their backyard was huge! (even if I had been normal sized) Tucked in one corner, there was a little clubhouse type building, roughlooking but all right; this must be his club house. Devon went inside and put the box down on a table or bench. He popped the top open and I climbed out. The box was a little shorter than I was - thank goodness something was.

Devon took out a couple of the toys and then the cards - Super Digi Poke guys or something. Then I spent one of the most boring hours of my life. After showing me the highlights of his club house - it was actually all right, a couple chairs, a cheap radio, shutters on the windows - he wanted to show me his cards. If I had any idea about the cartoon, it would have been one thing, but he just went on and on about
"And then if you give your guy the Super Mega upgrade, you can block the other guy's Ultra Evolver technique"
"And this guy's really cool, you need two kinds of power to power his power, but its a really cool power"
"I really wanted to get the limited gold Ultra Mega, but mom said no, but the silver Omega Maximum Mega is pretty good too:"
Getting the picture yet? I nodded a lot as he held each card up to me so I could look it over. Wasn't the pile getting any smaller!????

He finally put the cards back into the box and started to think of our next game when we both heard footsteps outside. I hopped back into the box and Devon closed the lid.

Alex came in and Devon stepped between him and the box.

"Devon, you have my platinum Maximum Ultra card don't you?" (Is that what he had been looking for in Devon's room?)
"No, I told you already, now get out"
"No, Anna said you have to let me check you cards and if you don't she'll take them and give them all to me."
"OK, I'll bring them to you..."
"No, now, so you can't hide any, I saw the box, give it to me."
"There's other stuff in..."
"Just gimme" Boy could Alex whine. I was more worried about my own position. Devon couldn't take me out without Alex seeing me,but he couldn't just give the box over, since as soon as he opened it, Alex would spot me.

Devon's hand on top of the box started to glow, just a little. Then, I shrank again! Now I was only about one inch tall! Not that bad an idea, maybe I could hide under one of the toys and Alex wouldn't spot me.

Devon picked up the box and handed it to Alex. Alex ran out of the club house, into the house and up the stairs. I'm just guessing most of this, the box was jostled way too much for me to get more than a vague idea of our route.

Now not only was I shrunk smaller, Alex didn't even know I was here and if he did....then what? I promised myself I'd stay very still so he's think I was just some little uninteresting figure if he did spot me. He put the box down and I slid myself under a matchbox car which was leaning against the back side of the box, leaving me enough room to get behind.

Alex's huge hand came down into the box, just in front of my hiding place, picked up the cards and disappeared. The box moved and tipped over. The toys and I spilled out onto Alex's dresser or desk or table or whatever. I lay there unmoving, my arms clamped to my sides, my legs together. I kept my eyes open and tried to breathe slowly and shallowly. From my vantage point, I could make out Alex's immense form to my right as he picked up the cards, looking for his precious bronze super whatever. He didn't seem interested in the rest of Devon's things, thank goodness. I almost gave away the game when his other hand descended from nowhere that I could see and came down just a few feet (to me) to my right. He was just resting it there, but at my new smaller size, every little movement made me want to get up and scream.

I really can't take much more of this.

He must have gone throught the pile three or four times, not believing that the card he was looking for wasn't there. He kept getting more and more upset and even banged his palm down on the desk. Finally he had to admit that Devon didn't have his card. He reached for the box and I prepared myself for the inevitable. He would put the rest of his brother's toys in the box - including me. I would be picked up again. Oh, no, I wouldn't....this wasn't good. Alex positioned the box at the edge of the table and was pushing Devon's toys into it. I even heard one fall to the floor as he missed the box. If he did that to me... I didn't even get a chance to find out. Alex forgot me!!!

He got up from the desk and walked over to Devon's room. He came back a few seconds later and got out some action figures from a toybox and started playing with them on his bed on the other side of the room. I couldn't believe my bad luck!

Soon, Devon was banging on the door, but Alex must have locked it.

"You didn't give me back everything," Devon yelled, but Alex just ignored him. He couldn't tell his brother that I was missing, could he? I heard the boy's housekeeper tell Devon to go back to his room. Devon argued that Alex still had something of his. The woman told Devon that he'd get 'it' back later. Devon kept arguing. Then he was told he'd get it back later or not at all. I could only hope that Devon would be smart and wait until later. I wasn't looking forward to spending more time in his brother's room, but at least with Devon I had a way to get my life back. If Alex found me and kept me I might never get home.

As things quieted down, I kept looking over at Alex. He was engrossed in his game of something and I very slowly began to move myself back on his desk. There was a cup with pencils and markers in it not too far away. If I could get behind it, then there was less of a chance that Alex would spot me. I would move a few inches, stop, check Alex and then continue. I stopped for a while when Alex stopped his game and then walked around his room, looking for something to do. My luck continued as he sat down again at the desk. He reached down for some paper and then reached for a pencil, in the very cup I had been heading for. He didn't seem to notice me as he got the pencil and started to draw, copying off one of the game cards, Digi-Poke-Whatever. I didn't dare move when he was so close, but how long would he ignore me? He bent down over his drawing, moving his left arm, resting it right next to me - the all but invisible hairs(at his size) touching my arm. He moved his arm again, bumping it into me. I tried to stay still as he straightened up and looked down at what his arm had hit. Then he reached for me.

I don't know how I managed to stay still as his huge thumb and index finger picked me up. He turned me over and then back again. He must have realized that I was what Devon had been looking for, since he then started looking around his room, probably for a hiding place. He finally spotted one. He got up from the desk and walked over near his bed. His robe was hanging on one of the bedposts. He dropped me in the pocket and then I heard him walk away.

What seemed like hours later, I heard Devon coming back. He had finally convinced the housekeeper that he should look in Alex's room. Alex let him, knowing that 'the toy' was probably safe. Devon now got more and more upset as he couldn't find me. I tried climbing to the top of the pocket, but it was impossible at my new smaller size. Devon was finally sent out of the room.

Alex soon came over to the bed and I heard clothes rustling. He must have been getting changed for bed - and then he put the robe on! The material swayed as Alex walked. I felt him go downstairs and then sit down. I heard the TV on and some family conversation. Alex must be loving this, having Devon's 'toy' right in the same room as him. Every so often his hand would snake its way into the pocket and pat me, must making sure I was still there. Since the pocket was resting right on his leg, I had to stay very still.

Finally, Alex and Devon were sent to bed. Alex took off the robe - and dropped it on the floor. I wasn't hurt, there as a lot of material between me and the ground. For all he knew I would be safe, I was just a toy afterall. From the pocket opening, I saw his bare feet cross the room and turn out the light and then by the light of a night-light, saw them come just in front of robe and then rise out of sight as he got into bed.

I needed to be very patient now. If I moved too quickly and Alex heard or saw, I would be done-for. Finally, all movement of the bed stopped and Alex's breathing slowed in deep sleep. I made my way out of the pocket and off of the robe. Though I didn't really want to, I looked up, up, up at the bed. I could only see the top of the mountain up there that was Alex. I quietly moved towards the door. It was closed, but there was a crack at the bottom. I looked back one last time and went under. I checked the hall several times, hoping not to see a parent or other adult, and this time my luck was good. I headed across the hall and slipped under Devon's door. His room was also pretty dark, but there was a nightlight.

Now my problem was how to get Devon's attention. If I couldn't, he might step on me when he got up during the night or in the morning. From what I remembered from the previous day, he had a couple of matchbox cars that made noises if you pushed the top of them. If I could find one and make it work!! It took several tries, but I did find one, a police car. I had to get on top of it and jump up and down, but when the siren came on, I almost fell off. Devon was awake like a shot. He saw the flashing lights and I saw him get out of bed. I jumped up and down next to the car, hoping to be spotted. Devon's huge form approached. I stayed close to the side, even when the noise and light stopped.

"Scott!" he said, and I knew that I'd been spotted. He was very relieved to see me. He knelt down and reached for me. First, he touched me and grew me back to my previous height of 4-5 inches. I never thought that size would seem big, but I could now lift the car I had just had to climb on top of. Then, he took me in his hand and carried me over to the bed. He pulled up the covers and put me down on top of them where they were suspended between crossed legs underneath. I told him about my adventure in his brother's room and he seemed genuinely impressed that I had made it back to him. Finally, I asked him to put me on the side table so I could get some rest.
"We have a lot to talk about tomorrow, " I told him.

The next morning I told, no, demanded that he grow me back to normal now.
"But you promised..." he started.
"And you promised that no one else would find out about me, and now your brother has. He doesn't know I'm a real person, but he knows that you have me." He frowned, and then sighed. I had him!

"OK" he said and got up to get dressed. I was going to be free!

After he dressed he came back over to the table. He bent down in front, putting his eyes level with me. "Are sure you don't want to stay? We'll have a lot of fun."

"No Devon, " I told him, "You're a great kid, but I have to go to school."

He stood up and scooped me up in his hand. No one else in the house was up yet, so he carried me in his hand down the stairs and out of the front door. He walked to the sidewalk and then put me down in front of his sneakers. I looked up at him as he straighted up. He cupped his hands in front of him, there was a flash, and I was back to normal size, looking down at Devon!

"Well, it's been interesting, Devon" I told him, "See you soon."

"Will you come back to visit?" he asked.

"Of course" I said.

"Promise?"

END!