The Brob Girl Ch 33: A Nervous Morning

The morning air brushed against my skin as I blinked my eyes open, still heavy with sleep. The blankets slid off me, and I shivered, goosebumps prickling my arms. The apartment was quiet, the kind of silence that makes you feel like the only person in the world. I stretched, groaning softly, my mind still caught in that hazy fog between dreaming and waking.

Coffee. I needed coffee. Nothing else could happen until I had a steaming mug of it in my hands.

I stumbled out of bed, dragging my feet across the floor as I made my way to the kitchen. The faint hum of the refrigerator greeted me, a small comfort in the stillness of the early hour. I grabbed the coffee pot, filled it with water, and dumped it into the machine. The smell of ground coffee beans wafted up as I measured them into the filter. The machine gurgled to life, and I leaned against the counter, waiting for the brew to finish.

I stared blankly at the wall, the sound of bubbling coffee filling the silence. My thoughts were sluggish, tangled like a ball of yarn. Today was going to be busy—handling class was on the schedule, my least favorite subject. It was embarrassing, really. For most Brobs, handling smaller beings was second nature, but for me, it always felt clumsy, like trying to write with my left hand. The test was only a few weeks away, and I couldn't afford to mess it up.

As I stood there, staring at nothing, I felt a faint tickle in my right ear. At first, I ignored it, thinking it would pass, but it didn't. The sensation grew stronger, more annoying, like a tiny itch you couldn't quite reach.

"How annoying," I muttered, lifting my hand to scratch at it. My finger traced the inside of my ear, searching for the source of the tickle. Whatever it was, it wasn't going away easily. I pushed a little deeper, trying to get at the exact spot.

"Ugh, come on," I mumbled, still groggy. It was too early for this.

***

The cavern stretched out before me, dark and damp, with walls that shimmered faintly in the dim light my right eye gave off. I'd never been inside an ear before, but, well, here I was—Abbie's ear, to be exact.

It was massive, of course. Every inch of it was a stark reminder of how small I really was. The fleshy walls around me pulsed faintly with her heartbeat, creating a low, constant thrum that echoed in the space. If I had to guess, at least a dozen Lilliputians could comfortably fit in this cavern without bumping elbows. And here I was, just one tiny guy standing in this impossible place.

I ran my hand along the wall, the surface soft yet firm. It was surreal, like touching a living, breathing tunnel. I glanced up at the endless expanse of flesh stretching above me, then down at the green, glistening mounds scattered across the floor. Earwax. Big, sticky mountains of it.

"Nope," I muttered, steering clear of the stuff. The last thing I needed was to get stuck in that filth. I'd come this far without losing my dignity; I wasn't about to throw it away now.

As I walked deeper into the cavern, marveling at the sheer scale of it all, the ground beneath me suddenly trembled. A deep, rumbling vibration rolled through the air, and I stumbled, barely managing to stay on my feet.

"What the hell is happening?" I yelled, bracing myself against the wall.

The shaking intensified, and a shadow fell over me. A huge, dark mass was moving toward me, and my brain scrambled to make sense of it. At first, I thought it was some kind of living creature, but as it came closer, the truth hit me like a freight train.

It was a finger.

A massive, meaty finger was crawling toward me, brushing against the walls as it advanced. The fleshy pad moved with purpose, the grooves in the skin like deep canyons from my perspective.

"No, no, no, no!" I shouted, spinning around and breaking into a sprint. My legs pumped hard as I tried to put as much distance between me and that enormous digit as possible. The ground quaked with every movement of her finger, and the air around me grew thick with the smell of her skin.

The finger kept coming, closing the gap faster than I could run. It wasn't even trying, just lazily moving forward as if it didn't have a care in the world. To Abbie, this was nothing more than an idle scratch. To me? It was a nightmare.

The ground beneath me shook violently as the tip of her finger came closer, mere feet away now. Desperation kicked in, and I leaped forward, hoping against hope that I could dodge it.

My victory was short-lived. My dive landed me smack into one of those green, sticky mounds I'd been avoiding. The smell hit me first—sharp, earthy, and unpleasant—and then the realization that I was stuck.

"Shit!" I groaned, struggling to free myself. The wax clung to me like glue, and every movement seemed to pull me deeper. "Of all the places to land, it had to be this?"

I glanced back just in time to see her finger pause, looming above me like a fleshy mountain. It hung there for a moment, terrifyingly close, before sliding back and forth across the walls of the cavern.

The entire ear shook violently as her finger scratched, the sound deafening. The walls rippled, and shockwaves rolled through the air, whipping up fierce winds that nearly tore me from the waxy mound. The force of her casual scratching sent debris flying—small flakes of dried skin and wax bouncing off me like boulders.

"All of this from scratching her ear," I muttered, both awestruck and horrified. "What the hell am I going to do now?"

I tugged at my arms, but the wax held firm. My heart pounded as I looked up at her finger, still scraping back and forth just a few inches away. The sheer size of it was overwhelming, and the power it wielded without even trying was enough to make me feel like an ant in the middle of a landslide.

"Great. Just great," I grumbled, slumping in defeat. "This is fine. Totally fine. I'll just live here now. Maybe start a wax-mining operation. Abbie can pay me in crumbs."

Despite the ridiculousness of the situation, I couldn't help but laugh. It was either that or lose my mind.

***

The coffee was hot, the steam curling lazily upward as I took a sip and sighed. Mornings weren’t my thing, but a good cup of coffee always made it a little easier. My mind, still groggy, wandered to Michael.

I glanced over at the table where I’d left him last night. The tiny bed Monica had brought for him was barely visible from here, but it was comforting to know he had at least a shred of normalcy in this upside-down situation.

I took another sip, the rich bitterness jolting me awake a little more, and stepped closer to the table. It was a habit now—checking in on Michael. I didn’t want him to feel forgotten, even if he swore he liked being left alone.

But as I walked closer, something caught my eye. Something… wrong.

“Huh?” I muttered, lowering the coffee cup from my lips.

I leaned in closer, squinting to make out the tiny bed. It looked—broken? Pieces of it were scattered, and I couldn’t see Michael anywhere near it. My stomach twisted.

“Michael?” I called out, my voice hesitant.

I froze in place, afraid to take another step. What if he was nearby? The last thing I wanted was to hurt him. He was so small, so fragile.

I set my coffee down on the counter and reached for the earpiece I’d left by the sink. Sliding it in, I pressed the tiny button that connected to Michael’s communicator.

“Michael?” I called again, this time through the device. The silence on the other end was deafening.

My heart started to race. He was always quiet, sure, but not like this. I stood up straight, looking around the room. Where could he have gone? The longer I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt.

And then I felt it. That tickle.

It was faint, just a tiny sensation deep in my right ear, but it was enough to stop me in my tracks.

“No way,” I whispered. My hand instinctively went to my ear, but I stopped myself, my fingers hovering just outside.

“It can’t be,” I said, shaking my head.

But the tickle was still there, persistent and distracting. It wasn’t the first time I’d felt it this morning, and now my mind was racing with possibilities. I’d scratched at it earlier, brushing it off as nothing. But what if… what if it wasn’t nothing?

A cold realization washed over me.

“Michael?” I whispered, more to myself than anything.

The tickle didn’t stop, and I couldn’t ignore it anymore. If—if—he was somehow in there, I had to know. But how the hell would I even check without hurting him?

I lowered my hand and let out a shaky breath. “Okay, okay. Stay calm,” I told myself.

I had to think carefully about what to do next.