The Purge - Chapter 10

Melody tries to see her husband, while Milena comes home with a surprise.

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After letting out a string of curses, shrunken Melody let go of the thick fibers of her daughter's bra and cussed again when a knife stab pierced through her ankle, twisting it after landing upon it from such a relative height. She desperately wanted to see her husband, despite Milena's warning that this was not allowed before she polished her sandals. She stumbled back to the makeshift workplace made of shoe polish, a piece of cloth, and a toothbrush.

Melody's protests of her telling her daughter that she was far too small to operate these tools properly fell on deaf ears.

"Clean my sandals until they sparkle blindingly bright like a mirror assaulted by a burst of sun rays. Only then can you see Dad." Milena had said just before she'd left.

Melody felt foolish for compliantly handing over all the information to her daughter, granting her access to valuable resources and money in exchange for seeing her husband. She did not have any string left to hold sway over her daughter - Melody was nothing more than a pet now.

Only now could she understand what it was like to be merely two inches tall. The world appeared monstrous when you were so small like that. Mere everyday objects like a long drink glass now loomed over you like a house.

Melody was just in time to clutch a piece of tissue in her tiny hands – that was almost as big as a circus tent to her – to resume her polishing duty. She diligently began scrubbing like she had been non-stop for hours - Which was partly true in a sense. Melody had been plowing for more than two hours before she ignored her daughter's demand and saw Roland nonetheless.

Her whole face was covered with smears of shoe polish. Even her rags that had to pass on for clothing but were, in fact, an improvised dress made of the same tissue she used for polishing had more black than white on them.

Melody fixed her gaze on the monumental sandal looming over her like a three-story high building and began polishing, ignoring the weary muscles in her arm when the door of her daughter's bedroom flew open.

In came sauntering Milena with a twinkling of glee dancing in her eyes while holding something in her hand.

Melody frowned, looking over her shoulder with curiosity, speculation racing her mind. Did the girl actually manage to get hold of a city?

No, the thing appeared too small for that.

Just as Melody was about to turn back to her task, she shrieked and fell on her butt when, without warning, Milena dropped the object she'd carried in her hand right next to her on the desk. Her daughter clattered it down with a deafening thud. Upon inspecting it, Melody could see all sorts of minuscule houses inside a box made of plastic.

It wasn't a city, but it was definitely some residence for micro people. She saw dwellings and workplaces that barely reached up to her knees. There also stood a building in the middle of it that resembled that of a church. Were there actually crumb-sized people living in there? Where did her daughter get them from?

Melody peered up, about to pry her gigantic daughter about it when she saw something that pushed these questions of curiosity to the background.

Melody gawked, flabbergasted, as Milena leaned her skyscraper-sized form against her desk, her monumental weight making the desk shudder to light up a cigarette.

With her eyes closed, Milena took a long drag and puffed out a curl of smoke that swirled through the chamber. She turned her gaze towards Melody and narrowed her eyes in silent challenge.

Milena's face was a picture of defiance as she laughed. "Don't give me that look like you didn't know this, Mom! "

"I'm not." Melody crossed her arms and bluntly showed her back to her daughter. "I've been knowing this for months. I just waited for the moment when you finally had the guts to tell me. Guess that moment is finally here – when I'm small enough to crane my neck to look up at a jar of salt." she added.

Milena's hand shot out as she crashed a fist on the desk, making her shrunken mother jump in surprise. She gasped as Milena's billboard-sized face soared closer, inches of hers - her breath wearing a smell of tobacco. "Do not think that I'm afraid of you, Mom! Not even when you were still full grown."

Melody squared her shoulders, standing tall despite her two-inch height, and returned her daughter's glare, her voice unwavering as she began speaking. "Oh, but you are afraid. You can act all tough what you want, but you need me. You're just a kid."

Milena stood tall as if accentuating her superior height compared to her mom's. "I'm a Goddess, Mom! And just like them," Milena pointed at the microscopic village resting on the desk. "You will learn to worship me!"

Melody peered at the micro village, straining her eyes as they sought to see one of its speck-sized inhabitants. "I don't see anyone," she said skeptically. "Are there even specks in there, or are you pulling my leg?"

"They are in there, mom. Trust me. They need to adjust to their new situation, that's all." Milena sighed and made herself fall into her chair. Leaning over in her chair, she placed her chin on her arms, allowing herself a good view of the village. It looked deserted indeed. But Milena knew that thousands of them were hiding in these pitiful small buildings. She had seen them scurrying off the moment she took them away from their former owner. They are probably hiding from her. But they should not be hiding. They should be out here, greeting their new Goddess.

Melody walked up to the micro village, gluing her tiny hands on the plastic while glancing at all the tiny houses. A shiver crackled along her spine as she imagined herself living among them as a speck. What a horrible existence it would be to be forced to dance at the whims of some megalomaniacal teenage girl who saw herself as a God. Melody sincerely hoped that fate had not concocted for her to shrink even smaller. "Where did you get this village from?" Melody asked.

Milena merely shrugged as her eyes attentively scanned the area, hoping to see some of the micro people coming outside to greet her. "Some kid was hiding them in a barn."

"And you… just took it?" Melody asked.

"Yep," Milena said as if stealing from others was the most normal thing in the world.

"Is the kid okay?" Melody asked.

"Yeah, sure. I did not deck her if that's what you think. I only gave her a hard push when she tried to stand up to me for these mites - she'll probably have a scrape on her knee from the fall, nothing more."

Melody's eyes squinted when she saw something that looked to be a pedestal. On top of it, Melody saw some sharp edges, like something had been broken off. "Was there a statue there?" She pointed.

"Oh yeah," Milena replied as if it was nothing remarkable. "It was a statue of that kid – whatever her name was – and these mites worshipped her. But I broke it off and threw it away."

"And now, you want them to worship you?"

"Yeah, I do!" Milena clenched her fist, anger boiling again as her mother reminded her that these micros weren't following her command to worship her.

"Come out!" In a fit of rage, Milena slammed her immense fist – which was bigger than the entire village – down on the desk, creating a forceful earthquake these mites had never experienced before.

"They are afraid, darling," Melody's eyes shifted from one house to another. She thought she could hear some screaming coming out of several homes the moment her daughter's godlike fist landed next to their village.

Milena leaned her eyes closer, seething with anger. "Well, they should be. And even more, if they dare to keep ignoring me like that. Wait…” A sardonic sneer stretched across her lips as she pulled out her lighter from her pocket. "I'll burn them out instead." She lit up a flame.

"Noooo!" Melody screamed in terror, imagining the destruction this act would bring the innocent villagers. "Don't burn their houses! Listen, I have another idea."

Milena tensed, eyes shooting in her mother's direction as she was curious to hear her suggestion.

"Listen, break down one of the plastic plates and let me communicate with them," Melody said.

Milena scoffed. "And why should I do that?"

"Well, for one, I'm way smaller than you are. I look a lot less frightening. I will talk to them. Specify your wishes to them."

Milena rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair. "What's there to specify? They heard what I said, didn't they? It's not very complicated. All I'm asking is for them to forget their former Goddess and embrace me as their new deity."

"So you want to convert them? You cannot expect them to do that in a single day. Who knows how deep their faith in their former deity runs? They need time."

Milena paused, tapping one finger against her lips. "One day!" She flashed a finger. "You will get one day, mother. I will be out with some friends, and when I return in the morning, I want all of these specks neatly lined up to bow down before my stunning face. And I want to witness them labor to construct a new statue with my likeness. If not, I'll burn every last one of them, you got that?"

"Loud and clear!" Melody saluted her daughter.

"Good!" Milena cracked the plate that blocked her mother's entrance to the village. "Now, get to work while I'm going to take a nice long bath."