A Step Too Far - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The incessant singing of crickets filled the dark of night. The air was warm and humid surrounding Teddy. But for a slim naked man who stood at a maximum height of maybe four feet tall, the night air still held a bit of a chill. Teddy hugged his knees to his chest. He had hidden in a hollow between the roots of a big leafy tree. It was a certainly a large tree, but from Teddy’s perspective such venerable plants seemed more like ancient old-growth behemoths. For a moment, he was reminded of Vivianne’s thighs, the way the roots curled around his diminutive frame. Teddy shook his head and pressed his back up against the solid rough trunk of the tree. He was exhausted, parched, and hungry. His thoughts kept replaying the events of the day.

Teddy couldn’t sleep. His mind was racing and this wasn’t exactly a comfortable place. It was odd to be completely naked out in nature like this. Stars shone in the gaps between the silhouettes of leafy branches overhead. Teddy supposed it was good that the moon was out of sight, either low on the horizon or in a new phase. It made it easier for him to hide. 

Would they even look for him? Maybe this had been the plan all along. Drive Teddy out of the house so they could have it all to themselves and do what they wanted.

But then, why would Morganna lock him in his room? It wasn’t like she didn’t already have everything her way, more or less. Teddy sighed and rested his cheek on his knees. He missed his comfy bed. Running all evening had been an almost cathartic experience. He had been driven by pure fear, despair, and anger. But many of those emotions had flowed out of Teddy as he’d exerted himself for hours, crying and swearing as he moved deeper and deeper into the darkening woods. Now he was spent, both physically and emotionally. 

Was this really better than just doing chores for Morganna? If he’d done as she told him, maybe Vivianne wouldn’t have been able to shrink him so easily. She’d have had to force him in a much more blatant way. 

The possible truth of that was hard for Teddy to bear. The idea that Vivianne had been right about his disobedient nature leading to his loss of size was enraging. Worse, the idea that obedience and submission to Morganna could have prevented his most recent bout of shrinking was making him wish he’d conformed to her household rules, if only to keep himself in the comforts of his bedroom, his home.

Teddy shook his head. No! No it was Morganna’s fault any of this had happened in the first place. She and her daughters were the ones who started all of this, who had made the choice to shrink him. People didn’t just shrink. Why should he bear any responsibility for his own loss of size? It was completely unnatural!

Teddy sighed. 

It felt like hours had passed, but he had no idea what time it was without any sort of clock to keep track. At one point, Teddy heard scurrying sounds in the understory that put him on the edge of bolting off into the dark. Was it a possum, a raccoon, something worse? 

Mosquitoes occasionally whined in Teddy’s ears, and he swatted at them blindly, feeling the sting of occasional bites.

He was so tired.

The last time Teddy had shrunk, he’d slept deeply and way longer than he normally might have. This time, he’d shrunk twice in a row. The experience had ramped up from deeply unsettling discomfort to actual pain. His whole body was fatigued from the after-shock of shrinking, of being drained and remade. Then, his run had drained even more from him. 

Teddy closed his eyes, never really able to fall fully asleep in his hiding spot. Bugs and the strange sounds of the forest kept him on edge all night. He felt small and vulnerable. Being totally naked only compounded that sense of vulnerability. 

———

After what seemed like an eternity, the sky began to lighten in pre-dawn anticipation of another summer sunrise. Teddy realized he could make out some details around him: the shape of leaves, the outline of branches, as the stars above began to fade. Teddy slowly stood up, groaning at the feel of his aching muscles. He’d gotten a cramp from sitting curled up all night. His body was sore from rapidly shrinking, running to exhaustion, and now also sleep deprivation.

Teddy felt terrible.

He looked around, holding a hand to his head as he felt the beginnings of a headache begin to throb in his skull. Everything around Teddy seemed like it had been magnified a bit. The lush summer foliage of the forest - trees and understory plants - all seemed over-sized. It was like some sort of prehistoric nature documentary. The fronds of a nearby fern stood at least as tall as Teddy’s waist, maybe higher. A nearby stand of wood-nettle cast green shadows onto the forest floor. Teddy reminded himself not to be so stupid as to wade through the plants, many of which now came up to his navel. He was already covered in mosquito bites. The last thing he needed was nettle-stings raked across his exposed skin.

Teddy walked around the area where he had slept, taking stock of his situation while the first rays of sunlight began to filter through the forest. He hadn’t exactly planned this far ahead. He hadn’t had time to make a more strategic escape. Teddy didn’t even really know where he was. Was he still on the family property or had he run across the property line? He wasn’t even sure which direction to walk in order to reach the nearest road. Possibly east? Should he just walk toward the rising sun? 

Teddy cringed at the idea of standing naked by the side of the road, especially now that he was shrunken. How tall was he now anyway? Vivianne had gleefully speculated he was around four-feet tall. But she couldn’t be trusted. Either way, he was now far too small to be normal. He didn’t even have access to a mirror to assess his own appearance.

A gnawing panic began to rise in Teddy’s mind as he stood in the woods. What the hell was he going to do now? Risk getting spotted naked on the road? People would call the cops. The cops might call Morganna. Or maybe he could find someone’s house and steal clothing somehow. But there weren’t exactly a lot of houses out this far in the country. That’s why his father had bought the property in the first place - the quiet and privacy. 

Teddy cursed in the morning quiet of the woods.

If he somehow could get to a friend’s house, then he could get new clothes, some food, and hide out for a bit. That was really the only hope. But Teddy didn’t exactly know many people around the local area anymore. Most had moved away for college or work. The only person Teddy still kept in touch with near home was Elliot. But Elliot lived in town. Teddy would have to make his way through a small city just to meet with Elliot. He didn’t have a cell phone or money. He didn’t even have clothes.

The brief flare of hope in Teddy’s mind soured back into despair within minutes.

Teddy shook his head, but that only served to exacerbate his slowly growing headache. He needed to start moving. He couldn’t just sit here. He needed food and water. With that thought, Teddy realized that he had other concerns now that possibly trumped his rage and humiliation at Morganna and her brood. He could literally die out here, in theory. It wasn’t like he was in some vast wilderness, but Teddy had seen enough survival reality television to have a healthy fear of being lost in the woods. 

He shrugged and decided to go with his best guess. Teddy started walking toward the sunrise. It was slow-going. He was sore and tired. Fallen trees in his way were bigger obstacles than they would have been at his full size. Teddy had to step over tree roots, walk around fallen trees and boulders, and wade through streams he should have been able to stride over in a single step. On the other hand, he was able to walk under low-hanging branches, use small fallen trees as impromptu bridges over some streams, and he could even duck under partially fallen dead trees that would have required crawling over before.

Teddy’s mind drifted to high school biology class and the idea of evolution. He supposed there were advantages and drawbacks to being smaller, just as there were to being bigger. But who was he kidding? He had been robbed. Robbed of his home, his money, his future, his education, and his size.

For a moment, Teddy felt regret again at having run off. But he didn't want to admit that he could have made such colossal mistake. The fresh memory of Vivanne growing bigger and bigger over him, getting exactly what she wanted, was enough to keep Teddy determined. He couldn’t go back there; it wasn’t just the lifestyle Morganna wanted Teddy to adopt. He was terrified of being shrunk again. He was already unnaturally small. What if they made him even smaller?

Teddy paused as a dragonfly hovered nearby. It was enormous. It would have been big even from his normal perspective, but now shrunken down, the prehistoric bug was like some alien creature, bird-sized as it darted in mid-air. It moved side-to-side, glittering green-blue in a ray of sunlight. The dragonfly emitted surprisingly loud clicking noises while Teddy cautiously observed it. He knew dragonflies were harmless. They ate other bugs. They ate mosquitoes. Anything that ate mosquitoes was a fried of Teddy’s.

Yet the size of the creature was still unsettling. Why was that? Teddy had been this height before. He’d obviously been this height at some point when he was a boy, yet he didn’t remember finding the experience this peculiar. Maybe it was the fact that he knew what he was missing now. He’d been much taller and had been comfortable that way. As a boy, he’d known nothing else and had expected to grow bigger every year. Now, there was no real hope of “growing up” unless he could find a way to reverse what Morganna and her daughters had done. Teddy also wondered how having adult male proportions, scaled down in size, might affect also his perceptions of space and the physical dimensions of objects.

The dragonfly flew away. The hum of its rapidly beating wings faded and Teddy began to walk again. It had been a long time since he’d been this disconnected from technology, from everything. Teddy’s mind continued to work, through the fog of weariness and anxiety, while he moved through the woods. His walk was acting like a less effective replacement for coffee.

It was hard to keep track of the hours. The position of the sun was the only rough indication of the passage of time through the long summer day. Sometime around what Teddy though might be the afternoon, he heard a buzzing, whining sound. Having spent the whole day naked and surrounded by nature, anything different stood out. This was not a natural sound.

Teddy listened and darted under a small sapling. The sound was coming from above. Then he spotted it. A drone drifted over the forest canopy. Its propeller blades were whirring and spinning so fast that they were only a blur at the corners of the machine. Teddy could see a high-end camera had been mounted on a swivel under the belly of the drone.

Maybe it was just some hobbyist, messing around with an expensive toy.

No, they were looking for him. Teddy was certain of it. He sunk down lower against the base of the sapling, watching the drone as it drifted overhead and gradually moved on. Had he been spotted? Teddy worried but realized there wasn’t exactly much he could do about it. If he tried to throw something at the drone to bring it down, it would only reveal his location for sure.

Teddy waited for a long time, until he was certain he couldn’t hear the whining buzz of the drone anymore. Then he slowly stood up and began to move again. His stomach growled and he tried to ignore it. He was famished and parched. He really didn’t want to spend another night out here. 

Maybe it would be better to be spotted. Teddy was so hungry. It was strangely comforting to think that at least someone out there cared where he was, even if their motivations were based on a need to control him. Teddy had run away, yet he felt abandoned by his father, his friends, and the system in general. Morganna’s demanding bossy nature was almost starting to feel preferable to just staving alone in the woods. At least she cared. Even her daughters seemed to see Teddy as having some…value.

Teddy shook his head. No, his value was that of a houseboy to them. Was that really anyway to live?

Teddy marched through the woods with renewed resolve. He had to find his way out, to get back to normal people, and expose what was going on at his home.

But the day dragged on. It was hot and Teddy’s exposed skin was developing a sunburn, despite his effort to keep to the shadows under the trees. A couple rashes now appeared where he’d brushed up against thistles or other plants, and bug bites speckled Teddy’s arms and legs. He needed clothing as much as he needed food and water. His body ached from a lack of rest and his head throbbed. Teddy was trying to ignore his sense of despair, but he hadn’t found the road, much less spotted a single person. Could he have been going in circles? 

On at least two occasions, Teddy had followed what appeared to be a deer trail, only for it to meander into nothing or to circle back on itself. He had always fancied himself knowledgable and a master-guide of this wooded rural area, simply because his father owned the property. Teddy had taken walks in the woods and had done some exploring in his high school years, but he’d never really been a serious hiker and he’d never struck so deep into the forest like this. His belief in his own capabilities and skill in the wild was plummeting. What he wanted most was a bed, a shower, and food. Teddy’s mouth began to water at the mere thought of a pizza or some roasted chicken. 

He hadn’t seen any further sign of the drone, except on one other occasion when he’d thought he heard a buzzing sound in the distance. Teddy was walking slowly through a patch of large cattails on the edge of a wetland next to the woods as the late afternoon dragged on. He was forcing himself to keep moving as the light of the sun began to slowly shift toward the long shadows of the evening. Just a little further, and perhaps he’d find a house, a road, or some human infrastructure.

Teddy was stepping around a patch of marsh when he heard human voices, coming from somewhere on the other side of a the large stand of cattails he was tracing. Teddy’s diminished height meant that many of the cattails rose higher than his head. They swayed gently in the evening breeze as Teddy stood on his toes, trying to peek over the green blades and brown inflorescences of the wetland plants.

Teddy listened intently and he heard a woman’s voice say, “Check that way. It’ll be dark soon.”

He still couldn’t see who it was that was talking. Teddy struggled as a rush of hope conflicted with his skittish fear. He’d run away, after all. He’d been disobedient and reckless.

Teddy heard someone or something moving through the vegetation nearby. They weren’t bothering to be stealthy at all and they sounded big. After a day in the woods, Teddy wasn’t used to hearing such noises and he instinctively felt like a small mammal alerted to a potential threat nearby. Twigs snapped and leaves crunched as the threat came closer. Teddy heard a woman’s voice cursing as he withdrew away from the cattails into the understory of the forest. 

Peaking out from the branches, Teddy watched as a woman in her late-twenties came into view. The woman had brown hair in a pixie-cut style that framed her delicate features. She was wearing a mix of active-wear with hiking shoes and a small backpack. Thistles were stuck to her leggings. Teddy realized that the woman was likely shorter than 5’6”, possibly by several inches in fact. But from his perspective, she seemed amazonian - an amazon that had made a racket crashing through the undergrowth.

Teddy sunk deeper into the undergrowth, thankful for the longer shadows of the approaching sunset. The low-hanging sun made the forest a contrast of bright light foliage and darker shaded areas. 

The woman put her hands on her hips and looked around, then she pulled a smartphone from a pocket in her leggings on the side of her thigh. She was reading something on it, pinching the screen and inspecting something on the display. 

The woman looked up and scanned the surrounding plant life. Teddy made sure to stay as still as he possibly could. It seemed increasingly obvious that she was looking for something. What else could two women out in the forest at this hour be interested in finding? 

Then again, Teddy didn’t know this woman. Was he being paranoid? Maybe this was his chance for rescue and he was stupidly hiding. He could be losing his one hope of rescue and passing up the opportunity to be enjoying a hot meal within the hour. 

Teddy wrestled with his inner doubts and intuitions as the woman turned back to look at her device.

Then another woman walked up. “No sign on the other side of this marsh area, not that I can see,” the woman said. She stood nearly half foot taller than her peer.

Teddy blinked and realized he knew this other woman. It was Karla - one of the ladies who had come over the first night he’d shrunk. She was a friend of Morganna.

Teddy had been right to hide. They were looking for him. 

It had taken him a moment to recognize Karla. She wasn’t wearing heels or business attire. Instead, she was in a pair of well-worn jeans. Her dark-brown hair was pulled back in a practical pony-tail and covered by a black baseball cap. Karla wasn’t wearing any make-up and was carrying a small pack with water bottle and some other things that Teddy couldn’t make out from his location. He didn’t dare take more than the careful peaks at the two women.

“But you said he’d been sighted. The other teams were certain they located him earlier,” the smaller woman said.

“Well, he is pretty small,” Karla responded. “Vivianne said he ran really fast, like a frightened rabbit.”

The two women giggled at the simile. “Well, it’s not like he would make much of a trail or anything I guess, but I did think he would start a fire or something.”

Karla nodded. “I guess, but from what I was told, he has nothing. Like, literally nothing to help him. He was buck-naked when he ran for the forest,” she explained.

The smaller woman’s eyes widened. “Seriously?” She covered her mouth and stifled a laugh. “He’s out here all on his own…naked?”

Karla nodded and smirked. “Yeah, the poor thing must be pretty miserable by now. I really don’t see why he ran. It’s so emotional and petulant to do. He ran away from home.”

“Like a rebellious boy. Or a kitten.”

“Exactly,” Karla said. “He’s been a bad boy.”

“Well, Professor Dahl wants me to help retrieve him,” the smaller woman said. “We’ve put in way too much work for the project to fizzle out or be ruined by something like this. Morganna was very apologetic.”

Karla shrugged. “Andrea takes this so seriously sometimes, but it’s kind of funny…even cute,” she said. “How long have you been working with her?”

“Um, about a year,” the woman said. “I got accepted to the grad program over a year ago, but Professor Dahl—”

“Oh, just call her Andrea!”

“…well, I guess I can. Andrea took me on as a supervisor for research last year. I’ve been working close with her as an assistant ever since.”

“Well, I guess this is an odd assignment then,” Karla laughed.

The woman nodded. “You can say that, but I’ve also heard about the progress made by Morganna. I really hope to see what she’s accomplished!”

Teddy had heard enough. They were indeed searching for him. Morganna had roped in more than just her friends. She had her friends’ colleagues also out looking, and no doubt her daughters too. There were multiple ‘teams’ looking for him! Worse, Andrea seemed to be using whatever was happening him for her own professional ends. He remembered her patronizing tone when they’d first met and the jubilant reverence Nimue had held for a woman who believed men needed extra “shaping and guidance” to better “fit” into women’s lives. 

The horror Teddy had felt when he’d learned that he’d consumed Andrea’s augmented breastmilk was nothing compared to had come later. He was flashing back to that first night. There was something much greater at work here than just his own panicked escape from a domestic arrangement he didn’t like. Teddy’s step-mother had claimed she was head of the house, but she clearly had deeper designs concerning then men under her roof.

“Well, did you see Vivianne yet? Talk about accomplishments…” Karla said. She shook her head with a mix of confusion and awe.

“Uh…no, but I heard about it from Morganna. She sent Vivianne into town to buy new clothes, and from what I can tell, was not too pleased with how all this happened,” the smaller woman replied.

“Morganna tends to plan things out a lot,” Karla said. “Andrea and her are similar that way. I just enjoy the results!”

“Aren’t you a lawyer? Doesn’t that require a lot of planning?”

“Well, kind of. But I am more of a trial lawyer,” Karla said. “I like to wade into the fray more than all the nerdy paper work and planning. That’s what legal secretaries are for.”

“Well, maybe that’s also why you land the cute young guys you do,” the woman laughed. “You have a lot of confidence! You make gut-decisions.”

“Mmmhmm,” Karla nodded. “I find it works well both when dealing with some cocky 26-year-old opposing counsel in the courtroom just as much as it does with horny guys in the clubs. You have to channel your inner lioness.”

Both women laughed. Teddy resisted the urge to swat at a mosquito that was feeding from the back of his right hand. He closed his eyes, willing himself to be still. 

“Well, maybe we should check in with the others and see if there are any new leads,” Karla said.

Karla’s search-party partner nodded and began typing on her device. A few moments passed as the two women stood in the forest and Teddy tried to will them to move on. He kept still, even as his body ached with weariness and various bugs feasted on his exposed skin.

“Oh! Morganna said she is is going to send the drone over our way for another pass. She said the infrared trips haven’t gone off and she doesn’t think he could have made it much further than this area.”

Karla sighed. “So we have to wait? There are too many mosquitoes by this swamp,” she complained. “That little loser has a lot to answer for.”

Teddy realized he was in serious trouble. If he didn’t run, the drone might spot him. He look up at the canopy of undergrowth and trees over him. They didn’t provide total coverage. Could he hide from the drone’s view? What if it was equipped with more than just a visual camera? Teddy realized that for all he knew, the drone could have a form of heat-vision or another type of instrumentation. At this point, he no longer knew what to expect. Morganna and Andrea were not taking his escape casually.

His only other option was to try to run. But Karla and her companion were standing so close that any sudden movement would reveal his position.

“Well, at least I am making RA wages. So the longer he hides, the more I make!”

Karla laughed. “I forgot you are living the student life,” she replied. “What a job. Hunting down a shrunken man in the woods.”

Teddy didn’t have time to weigh his options any further. He had to act. He began to slowly withdraw into the undergrowth, trying to move away from the two women as carefully as possible, so as not to attract attention. 

“Well, the next step will be to bring in some dogs to search him out,” Karla continued. “I have a friend at the police department who can hook us up. It’s what I wanted to do right-away, but Morganna and Andrea don’t want to frighten or hurt him. I guess an aggressive German Shepherd charging at him through the bush could be a bit scary for such a small guy, but this is exactly what I mean. When I want something, I take action! This is too much plotting and overthinking for me.”

The other woman nodded. “Well, Vivianne would agree with you I think, but she’s not the one calling all the shots.”

Teddy was unable to see the chatting women now. He looked for a route back the way he’d originally come, pushing a branch to the side slowly.

“Hey…did you see that?”

Teddy froze. 

“What?” Karla sighed.

“That tree there…it just swayed.”

“Well, go check it out,” Karla said. “I am not getting anymore cobwebs or leaves in my hair. The drone will be here soon anyway.” 

Teddy heard twigs snap as someone began to push into the bush.

He began to run.

“There! Someone is right over here!” Andrea’s grad student exclaimed. “Hey, Teddy! Come back! Everyone is looking for you!”

“Don’t make this difficult, boy!” Karla hollered. “You have nowhere to run!”

Teddy scrambled over a large fallen tree as the pixie-haired grad student burst from the underbrush behind him. The sun had sunk lower on the horizon and only the occasional glimmer of deep orangish light now kissed the tops of the trees. The understory left in dark shadow. The grad student paused for a moment to get her bearings before catching sight of Teddy’s head slipping into a stand of maples.

As he ran, Teddy heard the familiar buzzing whine of the drone overhead. He panted as he ran. Several red LED lights blinked at the outer edge of the drone and made it easily visible above the trees as it searched for its target. He was clearly being tracked.

To Teddy’s right, he spotted the glow of artificial illumination between a distant stand of trees. The silhouettes of several figures carrying battery-powered lanterns and flashlights were coming closer. Teddy altered his path away from the figures, while the drone hovered above the trees.

Teddy skidded into a small stream and waded through it, scrambling up the mossy bank on the opposite side. As he reached the top, he heard a thud. The woman pursuing him had simply leaped over the water in one jump!

“No…no,” Teddy said, between panting breaths. 

Then suddenly a net fell over him and Teddy was yanked backward in a tangle of limbs. He squirmed and tried to get out of the netting, letting out a feral shriek. But before he could get out, a hiking shoe stepped down on the edge, then another. Multiple women were quickly gathering around the net one by one. The forest had grown dark with dusk and the search-party’s flashlights illuminated the area in a peculiar way, lighting up the women’s faces from underneath. Teddy didn’t recognize some of the figures looming over his prone form.

“There you are!” Teddy did know that voice. It was Andrea. “You gave us quite a chase!”

“Let me go!” Teddy cried.

Andrea laughed and the other women joined her laughter. “So feisty!” she said. “Just look at how small you’ve gotten!”

Several of the women were twisting the edge of the net to keep it closed. After a few moments, they lifted the corners. Teddy suddenly found himself suspended in the air. The women were carting him off, using a hiking pole run between the netting as a grip. They were carrying him away like some captive animal.

“I’ll give you anything you want,” Teddy negotiated. “Just let me go. I won’t tell Morganna!”

The women laughed again. “Oh, sweetie,” Andrea sighed. “You’re not too bright are you?”

“Maybe his brain shrunk with the rest of him,” the pixie-haired grad student offered. 

Karla snorted with amusement at the idea.

“Well, that might seem like a funny idea, Lauren, but I actually did consider it,” Andrea said. “I wouldn’t have been able to continue the project if that had been a major effect. But so far, this naïveté just seems to be his natural state. So, I guess this is just a better size for his little simple mind.”

“It’s better for most men,” Karla said.

“Mmhmm.” Other women nodded.

Another figure emerged through the trees. “You got him!” 

Teddy was only able to recognize Nimue by her voice as she wasn’t carrying any source of lighting and had slipped into place with the group quietly.

“Yup!” Andrea said. “It was Lauren and Karla who flushed him out. Your drone-piloting skills sealed the deal”

“I knew I’d seen him earlier!” Nimue explained. “But the resolution on the camera really had me second-guessing myself.”

She turned toward Teddy and learned down toward his tangled frame, bringing her face into view. “You are in a LOT of trouble with mom, Teddy,” Nimue said.

Teddy let out a soft whimper.

“Oh wow, you really did shrink a lot out there with Vivianne after I ran inside,” Nimue said. Her eyes were wide as she inspected Teddy’s frame. “I thought she was exaggerating but you look really small.”

Teddy was bundled into the back of an electric all-terrain vehicle and whisked back to the house. He bounced around inside the net as the ATV drove over roots and hills. It was night by the time Andrea’s search parties got him back to the property. As they drove up to the house, Teddy was struggling to stay awake. He was famished, dehydrated, and exhausted. Worse, it had all been for nothing. He’d failed to escape.

When Teddy tried to sit up in the back of the ATV, he saw the figure of a woman with her hands on her hips standing out in front of the house. Morganna was waiting for them. Teddy felt a sense dread begin to rise in his gut. It was like he was a misbehaving boy who now had to ‘face the music’. 

As they drew closer, Teddy could see that Morganna was wearing a light blue silk robe, which she had cinched shut at the waist. Her knees were visible and Teddy noticed she was still in stockings or nylons, likely from some outfit she’d had on earlier in the day. Matching blue slippers completed her evening-wear ensemble. Morganna still had her make-up on from the day and had clearly just stepped out of the house to meet with the triumphant search-party.

Teddy saw Morganna’s face. Her eyes glittered with anger and displeasure as she stared at him. Teddy looked away, avoiding her gaze and laying back down. But then he was lifted and unceremoniously dumped out of the netting onto the grass at Morganna’s feet.

“Here you go, hun,” Andrea said. “We got him. Sorry it took so long, but I wasn’t about to let all our work go down the drain.”

Morganna nodded in appreciation, without taking her eyes off Teddy. She stared down at him imperiously from above. “Thank you, Andrea,” she said. “I am too upset right now to talk about this rationally with you. You must be exhausted after such a long day. Let’s meet up tomorrow or later this week to talk what happened in detail. I need to deal with my step-son right now.”

Karla folded her arms over her chest and smirked, observing the situation. Teddy noted she didn’t laugh though. Morganna’s anger was palpable.

“Of course,” Andrea said. “You need to manage your household. I will text you tomorrow.”

Morganna nodded. 

“Let’s go everyone!” Andrea addressed the crowd of young women. “Drinks at my place!”

The grad students let out a cheer and the group began to move off toward various cars parked inside the property-grounds.

“I’m going to join them, if that’s okay,” Nimue said.

“Of course, you go with them,” Morganna’s voice softened for a moment. “You did a good job today.”

Nimue ran off to catch up with Andrea and her assistants. Only Karla lingered.

“Stand up,” Morganna ordered, looking down at Teddy.

Teddy lifted himself to his hands and knees, then slowly stood up before Morganna. When he rose to his full height, he heard Karla inhale behind him. Morganna said nothing and looked down at him silently. 

Teddy was staring into the knot of Morganna’s silk belt. It was made of the same material as her robe and pulled the fabric tight to hug her hour-glass waist. The last time Teddy had been in Morganna’s presence, it had been an effort to avoid staring into her cleavage. That was no longer a problem. The swell of Morganna’s chest was now well above the top of his head. Her hips were essentially level with his shoulders. She towered over him. Even though Vivianne had been taller, Morganna exuded a much stronger and more palpable aura of authority as she gazed down at Teddy.

Several moments passed. The sound of cars driving off down the drive away was the only noise as Teddy struggled to come to grips with how small he was compared to his new step-mother.

“I’m extremely disappointed in you, Teddy,” Morganna said. “Look at you. You’re all cut up, dirty, and pathetic looking. I’m not even sure if you reach my belly button in height. You know, you did this to yourself!”

Teddy opened his mouth to speak, but Morganna wasn’t having any of it.

“Quiet!” She shouted. “You will listen to me now.”

Morganna pulled a variety of small plastic and laminated cards along with a pair of cuticle scissors out of her pocket. “Your adult privileges are now officially suspended, indefinitely, until you can earn them back,” Morganna continued. She began to cut up one of the cards in her hands.

Teddy was confused, looking up at Morganna’s hands as she used the scissors to cut up some sort of bright-coloured card. But then he realized that Morganna was cutting up his driver’s license. His eyes widened in horror. 

“W…wait, no, you can’t!” Teddy whined.

Morganna paused. “What did I JUST SAY?” She boomed. “Quiet, boy!”

The shards of his license fluttered to the ground and Morganna began cutting another card. It was his social insurance card. 

“Noo…noo…no,” Teddy whimpered as Morganna next destroyed his passport, and then various other cards. Even his library card and birth certificate were reduced to tiny shards. Where had she found his brith certificate? Teddy knew would be impossible to do so many things now. The system demanded these documents and numbers for just about any adult activity. It would also take forever to get such cards re-instated and re-issued, not to mention the cost. 

“Yes,” Morganna quipped. “Yes, this is how it has to be. You have proven that you are not worthy of such privileges. Your behaviour speaks for itself. Plus, you don’t even reach a woman’s breasts in height. Why should you need a driver’s license or be applying for jobs? Who would even hire you? This household is your job. I am your job now. You will serve me as a good step-son and a good houseboy. You tried to reject that. So now I have to adjust the rules of the house again. You need guidance. Rules.”

Morganna stepped closer to Teddy.

“You will address me as Mistress Morganna from now on,” she said. “You need to learn respect and honesty; loyalty and devotion. These are among many traits you are sorely lacking.”

Teddy was stunned. He was so incredibly tired, but this declaration by Morganna still made him react. “What? You want me to call you…”

“Mistress, yes,” Morganna nodded. She wrapped her fingers around the back of Teddy’s neck gently. “Say it.”

A soft moan sounded from behind Teddy. It was Karla. He’d forgotten she was there. She had been watching the scene of Teddy’s discipline unfold. The feeling made his humiliation even deeper.

“But you’re not—” Teddy began.

Morganna bent down and brought her face close to Teddy’s. Her green eyes blazed in anger. She looked vivacious and powerful in her anger; intimidating and yet beautiful. “Say it, or I am shrinking you right now, tonight. Andrea managed to talk me out of it, but don’t push me,” she hissed.

Teddy swallowed and felt Morganna squeeze his neck slightly.

“Yes…Mistress,” Teddy said.

Morganna stood back up to her full height. “Good,” she said. “Now say, ‘I am sorry for running away, Mistress Morganna’.”

Teddy hesitated and then obeyed. “I am sorry for running away….Mistress Morganna,” he repeated. It was easier to say the second time.

“Mmhmm…well, I’m afraid there do still have to be consequences,” she said. “You need to be punished for misbehaving.” 

 Morganna’s gaze lifted. “If you will excuse us, Karla, this is a private matter between me and my houseboy.”

“Ohh….yes, okay,” Teddy heard Karla say. “I guess I should go join the…party. I just…fuck…I need a guy like him.”

Morganna nodded understandingly, but she was still too displeased to smile. “I know. It’ll happen, soon. I’ll see you soon,” she said.

Morganna reached out and grabbed Teddy’s wrist. She turned and began to walk toward the front door of the house, pulling Teddy along with her like a petulant boy. Teddy stumbled after Morganna, having little choice in the matter. She had acted so decisively and sudden. The last thing he saw before the front door shut was Karla, staring after them with an expression of obsessed excitement, like she was trying to soak in every detail of what she was seeing.

Teddy was marched up the staircase as soon as the door closed, straight into Morganna’s bedroom.

No, this was his father’s room, Teddy tried to remind himself. Or it had been. It had been so thoroughly redecorated now that it barely resembled the way it had looked in the past. The master bedroom even smelled different. The scent of moisturizing creams, perfumes, and hair products lingered in the air.

Morganna sat down on the edge of her bed, gripping Teddy’s wrist. “Lay down across my lap, face down,” she instructed.

Teddy looked at Morganna’s lap. Her light blue silk robe was parted slightly, revealing a sliver of stocking and outer thigh. “W..what?” Teddy asked. “Are you going to…your going to spank me?!”

Morganna nodded. “How perceptive of you,” she replied in a dry tone. “I told you there must be consequences to your actions and that your adult privileges are suspended. You need to be disciplined.”

“But I’m a grown man! You can’t spank me!” Teddy’s voice rose in shrill panic.

“You will address me as Mistress!” Morganna said, yanking Teddy toward her by his wrist. “You don’t ever tell me what I can or cannot do, boy.”

Teddy stumbled toward his step-mother and had to use his free hand to stop from tumbling right into her lap as he fell against her thigh.

“I can see we’re going to have to this hard way,” Morganna sighed. She grabbed Teddy by the back of his neck and pushed him downward until he fell over, face down over her thighs. Teddy began to struggle, but after nearly 48 hours of sleep-deprivation, a lack of food, and dehydration, he was not up to the task. Morganna was much stronger and much larger than him.

“Finally. I’ve been wanting to do this ever since you first mouthed-off to me, on that first day you showed up at my house,” Morganna said. “Such a spoiled boy.”

Teddy felt her wrap one thigh down over his slender legs. Her sheer smooth stockings made it feel like a soft silken anaconda was pressing down on the back of his thighs. Morganna adjusted Teddy until his naked bottom was exposed in her lap. She kept pressure on his neck with one hand, holding him down as Teddy squirmed and shouted in protest.

SPANK!

Teddy gasped at the feeling as the first spank landed on his bottom. This couldn’t be happening.

SPANK!

Teddy let out a howl of humiliated frustration. The shocking sting of the spanks was bad enough, but this whole situation should never have been possible. He was too small to stop Morganna. She was spanking him like a naughty boy, disciplining him for bad behaviour. Emotions surged up from inside him like never before.

SPANK!

The spanks landed again and again on Teddy’s bottom as his howls and whimpers turned into wailing tears of defeat. He cried as his emotions let loose completely.

“Nooooo!” Teddy wailed. “I’m ssssooorrrrry.”

“This is for your own good, believe me!” Morganna said. “I’m doing something your so-called parents should have done years ago! Don’t you know you could have died out there? You could have gotten hurt. You are too immature to be left to your own decisions. You need a mother’s guidance. You need to obey!”

Morganna’s thigh seemed to grow heavier as she spoke, as she bore the weight of her leg down on his frame. Her spanks got harder. Teddy could feel her lap seeming to get subtly wider as she lectured him. Even in his tear-streaked crisis, Teddy could tell that Morganna was growing thicker and bigger while she spanked him. The moment was far more intense than anything either had ever experienced together before. Disciplining Teddy was only empowering his step-mother. Her voice grew husky as she talked about his need to be a good obedient boy. 

This somehow made the experience even more emotionally wrenching as Teddy’s punishment combined with Morganna’s increasing physical and relational power. She spoke right to the heart of Teddy’s doubts over the past day. His own self-doubt and temptations to run back to the safety of Morganna’s home were brought home by her words. Teddy cried and tears ran down his face in little streams. His step-mother’s increasing thickness and proportions only seemed to align with her growing authority in his mind.

Morganna relaxed her legs after a time and Teddy slid down to the soft rug beside her bed, sniffling and whimpering. “I’m sorry, Morganna,” he said. “I mean…I mean Mistress Morganna. I didn’t mean to worry you. I was just scared when Vivianne shrank me! She made me get so small and I…I wanted to be big again and I…I…I…”

“Shhh….” Morganna soothed. Her robe had been tugged open during her struggle with Teddy and her sudden growth, exposing her white lace panties and bra. Morganna was a vision of feminine beauty and sensuality. Her elegant bra was moulded around her full breasts and her white thong plunged alluring between her creamy inner thighs. The stretched sheen of her stockings covered her painted toes, near where Teddy lay.

Teddy felt his member begin to stiffen.

“You need to learn,” Morganna said. “This is a good start, but I need to see much more from you. My daughter Vivianne acted rashly, but maybe in the end it was for the best. You weren’t mentally ready to fit into my household. Now, there is a new opportunity to find a role. And we’ve adjusted again. Did you feel it happening? I certainly felt it. I’ve grown.”

Morganna’s eyes moved down to Teddy’s crotch. “And your own body shows me you will fit into a new role now,” she said.

“M…my penis?” Teddy said. His voice was ragged from crying and exhaustion. He didn’t even have the energy to try to cover himself.

“Yes,” Morganna said. “You will of course resume your chores as a domestic houseboy. But now you’re too small to be as efficient at that career as you might have been. However, I think you could fit into a sexual role to help offset that loss of usefulness. Your…appendage is really a sort of metaphor for you. A penis. A domesticated dick.”

Morganna stood up from her bed. “Get up Teddy,” she said. “We have to decide something.”

Teddy rose to his feet slowly. His bottom stung from the spanking Morganna had given him. That feeling blended with the various bites and scratches he’d accrued through the long day in the woods.

Teddy found himself staring right into the top of Morganna’s thong. A tiny white bow ornamented the panty and it was level with Teddy’s eyes. Her navel was close to level with his forehead. He fought back the urge to cry out in dismay. Morganna was enormous to him - a towering amazonian step-mother. His resentments mixed with a new need for her approval and a sense of intimidation in the presence of her feminine power.

“Well, well…” Morganna exhaled. “If I were to shrink you just a little bit, just think how perfect this could be. I remember how you stared at my thong the first time you caused me to grow. And now look at you. You’re barely taller than my crotch!”

Teddy wiped drying tears from his cheek and fought the urge to stare at Morganna’s thong. Her blue robe hung elegantly from her shoulders, open at the front. “P…please don’t shrink me,” he pleaded. 

“Aww…” Morganna cooed. “So polite now. A spanking is really just what you needed. But why not? Why shouldn’t I shrink you?”

Teddy struggled to come up with an answer. But then he remembered. “Well, because you  promised Andrea you wouldn’t?”

Morganna put a hand on her hip. “Hmm…that’s true. But I still get the final decision,” she said. “I suppose I won’t shrink you for now, but you need to decide something. You can stay this size on one condition.”

Teddy looked up, trying to see Morganna’s face above her large jutting breasts, which were now stretching her white lace bra to its limits. “What condition Mistress?” he asked.

“Mm…you’re learning,” Morganna said. “The condition is that you agree to perform cunnilingus for me on command. It seems to be something you are keyed to. I’ve seen the way you react to even the mere suggestion of a vulva, even in art. You will be my oral sex servant in addition to a house-boy. You will eat my pussy whenever I want it. You’re not exactly big enough to be able to do yard work well or anything now, so why not devote yourself to a higher calling. It’s perfect for a little perv like you anyway. You can stop looking at porn or dreaming of college dates. So now you can just focus on my pussy and pleasing your Mistress. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?”

Teddy’s eyes were wide as saucers as he looked up at Morganna. His mouth was open in shock. Vivianne had tried to force him to go down on her, but Morganna was proposing a permanent formal arrangement, a lifestyle. He didn’t know what to say. It was all he could do not to stare at front of her tongue, just below his eye-level. 

“Cat got your tongue?” Morganna asked. “Listen, I’m still very upset with what you’ve done, but Vivianne’s impetuous actions yesterday showed me that your sexuality can’t be left outside of my authority. Everything about your little life needs to be restructured. You’re a young man…well, manlet. You clearly need somewhere to direct all those pent-up desires. What better place to direct them than here?” Morganna pointed at the front of her thong, pulling Teddy’s gaze there.

Then she gave a casual shrug. “Otherwise, I see no reason not to shrink you again tonight. If only to make sure you don’t run off again.”

“I’ll do it,” Teddy blurted out. “Please. Just don’t shrink me.”

Morganna’s eyebrows went up and she leaned over a bit to look down at Teddy. “Oh? You’ll willingly become my cunnilingus-cutie?”

“Yes,” Teddy was blushing now. “Please don’t make me smaller again. I’m already so small.”

“That’s the spirit! But your decision is based on more than that and you know it,” Morganna said. “You want to eat my pussy, don’t you? Admit it."

Teddy looked down at his feet in shame.

“Your silence speaks volumes, Teddy.” Morganna said. “Now, go get me the high heels by my dresser.”

Teddy hesitated and then walked across the room. A pair of white five-inch heels were sitting next to Morganna’s dresser. Teddy picked up one shoe in each hand. They were surprisingly heavy and large. He brought them back to Morganna as she waited, tapping her slippered toe.

“Good boy,” Morganna said. “Now kneel down and help me put them on.”

Teddy obeyed. He got onto his knees and helped Morganna remove her slippers and put her stockinged feet into the shoes, one at a time. Morganna stepped into the heels and instructed Teddy. “Do up the straps now, there, you see how?” she directed. “No, not like that, little simp! Try again, but this time do it right.”

Teddy endured Morganna’s bossy directions as he did up her shoes just as she wanted.

“There,” Morganna said. “Now stand back up.”

Teddy stood up as Morganna loomed over him, her hands on her hips. The heels had boosted her height even further to the point that Teddy let out a small gasp. Her white thong crotch was directly in front of his nose. The horizontal seam across the lower panel of her panty was level with his chin. Each of Morganna’s thighs seemed as thick as Teddy’s ribcage.

“Now, tell me again. Promise me that you will abide by your new role,” Morganna said. “Stare right at my cunt and say it.” 

Teddy was surprised at Morganna’s use of such a lewd word. She seemed to relish it in the moment, forcing him to accept his new role in the most confrontational manner possible. They were alone in the house and Morganna had dispensed with any attempt to hide or conceal her intentions behind civility. She was talking to him like a true nobody, like none of his opinions had an effect on her social status. She should say whatever she wanted.

Teddy stared at Morganna’s thong. It was stretched over her recently enlarged sex and the memory of Vivianne exploding out of her one-piece rose unbidden in his mind. Teddy noticed how much larger Morganna’s panty-crotch seemed now from his new perspective, compared when he’d first glimpsed it. He summoned up his courage to speak.

“I…I promise to be your oral-sex servant from now on,” Teddy said. His voice sounded timid and small.

“Hmm?” Morganna said. “Speak up, Teddy!”

Teddy spoke bit louder, repeating the same words.

“Again, but this time address me properly,” Morganna said, wagging her finger down at Teddy.

“I promise to be your oral-sex servant from now on, M-Mistress Morganna,” Teddy said. He could’t believe this was happening. “Thank you for not shrinking me.”

“That’s better,” Morganna said. “I will take care of you. If you do what I say, you won’t be all cut-up, filthy, and miserable like you look now. You’ll get to live in my comfortable house and have your needs taken care of. But you need to learn how to please me and my daughters. You need to learn how to be a good boy. You must never, EVER, run away like that again.”

“I won’t Mistress,” Teddy said.

“Good,” Morganna said, with a tone of finality. She reached over to her bedside table and retrieved a dark strip of fabric. “Now, hold still.”

Teddy blinked in confusion as Morganna began to put something around his neck. He heard a clicking noise as she adjusted it. 

“W…what are you doing, Mistress?” Teddy asked. 

“Such a curious boy,” Morganna said. “Your promise tonight is a start, but I need other insurances until I can trust you again. You have to re-earn the right to wander around without a tag. This is a collar with a tracking chip inside. If you remove it, I’ll know. If you run, I will be able to track your location exactly.”

Teddy was too tired at this point to really care, even if a part of his mind was bleating in shocked dismay. She was making him wear a collar, like some pet. At least pets got food and a comfy place to sleep.

Morganna tilted her head to the side as she looked down at him. “It suits you,” she said. 

Her hands slid up from the collar to cup Teddy’s head. Morganna’s fingers slowly splayed out on either side of Teddy’s face, lacing into his hair, and she tugged him closer to her pussy.

“Now, prove to me you are serious,” Morganna said. Her nails pressed into Teddy’s scalp. “Eat my pussy. Now. Give it a long kiss, Teddy.”

Teddy began to kiss the front of Morganna’s thong, his nose pressing against the moist material. He could smell her musky aroma in his small sensitive nostrils. Morganna moaned softly and shifted her hands, cupping Teddy’s head in one hand and with her other hand she pulled her panty to the side. Her dark red pubic hair was trimmed neatly in a triangular patch that framed her ready sex. Teddy hesitated as Morganna’s pussy loomed right in his face, but he had already started. Truthfully, his natural sexual desire was surpassing his fading sense of pride. 

Teddy began to kiss Morganna’s labia. He passionately kissed her sex and started to lick. It was completely different than what had happened with Vivianne days before. Teddy was giving Morganna gentle cunnilingus, doing as he had agreed rather than being suddenly shoved face-first into a woman’s mound. Morganna kept a hand on his head and moaned as Teddy licked and explored her sex with his tongue and lips. She backed Teddy against the wall of her bedroom and humped his face slowly while he ate her out. His small hand was on her thigh as her crotch mashed against his face. Teddy felt Morganna’s labia spreading on his face as she humped his head, the opening of her vagina pressing and wet on his features. 

Morganna kept talking. She constantly corrected Teddy as he licked, either by telling him what to do, or by physically manipulating his head into the right position. She also made comments that further diminished his dwindling self-worth. “Is this how you did it for girls at college? Are you sure you’ve done this before. You’re going to need a lot of instruction. You’re so much better at this size. That’s it, get your face right in there. Deeper! Come on, don’t be such a timid guy! Swallow, go on!”

Teddy’s face was coated in juices and he felt increasingly humiliated by the way Morganna spoke to him. Hot aromatic liquid ran down his face. Morganna was literally using him to get off. Humping his face and moaning as he swallowed any residue of her arousal in his mouth. Morganna’s orgasm, when it finally came, was like a force of nature. Her hips slammed his head into the wall as she moaned. Her pussy burst hot wetness all over his chin and mouth, and she gripped his hair in her hand. After it was all over, Morganna let out a deep exhale and looked down at Teddy dismissively.

“That’ll have to do for now, I guess,” she sighed. “You need more practice. But don’t worry, you’re going to get it.”

Morganna sat down on her bed. Her cheeks were flushed with passion and she was breathing deeply. Meanwhile, Teddy was barely able to stay on his feet. He was so tired that he was starting to feel like he was losing his mind. Reality seemed to move between a hallucinatory experience and an aching continual disconnect.

“Well,” she said. “Let’s get you cleaned up and fed. Then, bed.”

Teddy nodded. “Yes, Mistress,” he said.

Morganna followed Teddy to the bathroom, watching to make sure Teddy washed himself thoroughly in the shower. Teddy nearly collapsed asleep on several occasions as the wonderful warm water washed over his body. The only thing keeping him awake was the sting of his spanked bottom, bug-bites, and tree-branch cuts. Hot soapy water washed away two days worth of grime and sweat.

After making sure he was clean, Morganna gave Teddy apple sauce, walnuts, some tropical fruit juice, and a large pitcher of water. She sat at the table and watched as he ate and drank everything she offered him. Teddy was so famished that he swallowed it all down, filling his small stomach with much needed nutrition. He drank glass after glass of water, gradually quenching his body’s desperate need for hydration.

Soon, no matter how hard he tried, Teddy began to slump and fall asleep. Morganna rose and put her hands under his arms, hoisting him to his feet. 

“Come on, time for bed,” Morganna said, prodding Teddy toward the stairs. 

But he stumbled and blinked in groggy confusion. Morganna sighed and simply picked Teddy right up off the floor, shifting his weight to her hip and holding him against her as she ascended the staircase. Teddy was barely aware of what was happening as he slipped in and out of consciousness.

“You’re a lot lighter than I expected,” Morganna said. She gently lowered Teddy into his bed. 

“Tomorrow, we’ll continue your training,” Morganna continued, before closing the bedroom door and turning out the light. The last thing Teddy heard, before sleeping into a deep sleep, was the sound of the lock clicking shut.

He was home.