Not to take when sick Remaster

Not to take when sick (Remaster)

Sarah quickly closed the door behind her. “Brrr. It is freezing outside.” She shivered as she threw her coat onto the hanger. “I am glad to be home and not stuck at the register.” She rolled her eyes as she walked into the next room. “Why can’t that fool of a boss Gregory buy some decent heat for the store?” She sat down on the couch in the living room. “And just because he is renting the space in the mall isn’t enough of a reason to be a cheapskate.” She coughed. “Ugh.”

She pulled the footstool up and tried to relax. “Ok, I am home now. I don’t need to think about my crazy boss anymore for the night.” She picked up the remote and coughed again. “I should find something to watch.” Sarah repeatedly coughed into her elbow. “No. I knew I should have gone home at lunch.” Finally, she stood up and continued to cough. “Had to ring up multiple people who were hacking up a storm after two today, and this horrible weather didn’t help.”

Sarah rubbed her nose. “This is just swell. I can’t be sick. At least not until the weekend.” She ran her hands through her dark hair. “I can’t risk Gregory firing me. That jerk would make me work even if I had a sawed-off leg.” She coughed once more. “Damnit. I can’t lose this job.”

She jumped up and rushed into the next room. “I need to find something and fast to beat this cold. Please tell me I have some anti-cold or flu medicine.” Sarah ripped open the cabinet doors. “I need to be up and on my feet by six tomorrow.”

She went from one cabinet to another without finding any medication of any kind. “You have got to be kidding me. Where did all of the pills go?” She coughed into her arm and hit herself in the head. “Oh, what is wrong with me? I moved them all into my nightstand after that incident with those dammed pills that crazy Fredrick guy gave me.” She narrowed her eyes at his name. “I hope that I don’t see him again.”

Sarah turned around and rushed towards the stairwell in the next room. “When your body starts to change shape and size, you hide the pills.” She shuddered as she rushed up the steps. “I can just see my boss demanding I grow for his advertising whims again.” She coughed as she reached the top of the steps. “That wasn’t a pleasant day.”

Sarah turned and headed towards her bedroom. She thrust the door open and rushed over to the nightstand. “Ok, where are the pills.” Her hands dug through the pill bottles. “Nope, nope.” She picked up a red bottle. “Fredricks Fancy Joint Relief?” She dropped the bottle onto the floor. “Yuck. I can’t believe I still have the damn thing.” Sarah kicked the bottle under her bed. “The damn thing made my neck grow longer than a giraffe.” She coughed and returned to looking for cold pills.

Eventually, she pulled out a bottle with a semi-scratched-out label. “Hmm –ough remedies special.” Sarah sighed. “I guess it is better than nothing.” She opened the pill bottle and shook it until a small white pill fell into her palm. “Ok, down the hatch.”

She swallowed the pill and coughed. “Hopefully, that helps.” Sarah turned around. “Might as well try and watch some television while the medicine does its thing.” She walked to the doorway. “Just try and relax.”

As she walked out of the room, heat began to spread throughout her body. “Phew.

I hope that little pill does its job.” She put her hands into her pockets. “I think this cold is getting worse.” Sarah sneezed. “Which is the last thing I need.”

Small tremors began to ripple throughout her body as she walked down the stairs. “Maybe I should head back up and lay down.” She put one hand on the railing and the other on her chest. “My heart is beating a mile a minute. I need to sit down.”

Sarah walked down to the bottom of the stairs and plopped herself down on the last step. She took deep breaths as her body quivered. “I feel so weird. My skin feels rubbery and constrictive all at the same time.” She shook her head. “I only feel this way when I have had a Fredricks Fancy product, but that is pure nonsense. That pill wasn’t made from Fredricks Fancy.” Sarah laughed as she suddenly grew a foot and a half, her clothing closing in on her like a vice. Her right hand grasped onto the railing of the stairwell as her left snapped it like a twig.

“Holy crap.” She coughed and looked out over the room. “What just happened?” Sarah made her way to her feet as she pulled at her jeans. “Everything is so tight now. Ugh.” She winced as she took a few steps forward. “I thought those pills were not made by Fredricks Fancy; what is going on?”

She quivered once again, and suddenly her surroundings grew. Sarah slipped out of her clothing and fell onto her rear end in an instant, her body not just a few inches tall. Before she could figure out what had happened, her work uniform and bra fell on top of her body.

“Hey!” Sarah coughed and pressed up against her massive shirt. “This is absurd.” She flailed around beneath her t-shirt in vain. “Why is this thing so heavy? Damnit.” Eventually, she gave up, fell onto her hands and knees, and crawled as she looked for freedom. A few moments later, she emerged out from under her shit into the dim light and looked around. “What am I going to do now?”

Her body quivered, and Sarah grew a few inches. She looked around with a look of surprise on her face. “No.” She coughed once more. “I didn’t mean for this madness to continue.” She slapped her hands on her sides as she grew another few inches. “I need to do something.” Her body swelled again. “Maybe call poison control?” Sarah shook her head as she walked into the next room. “No, that is crazy. I doubt they would listen to me long after I say, hey, I took a strange pill that is now making me change in size, and I can’t stop it.” She shook her head as she grew to three feet tall. “No, I would either be hung up on or be laughed at.”

“Maybe I call my friend Carien.” Sarah crossed her arms. “But what could she do?” She closed her eyes as her body tremored and grew to seven feet tall. “Just because she saw me working at the size of a doll at work one day doesn’t mean she can help me now. Huh.”

She grew once more and bonked her head on the ceiling. “I do wish I had more downs than ups, though. Sheesh.” Sarah rubbed her skull. “Hopefully, I shrink down again soon. I have been cramped in a car before I don’t want to know what it will be like to be cramped inside my own house.”

Sarah made her way into the kitchen, sat down on the floor, and caused the table in the center of the room to vibrate. “If it wasn’t thirty degrees out, I would head outside.” She shivered and caused the table to shiver with her. “I am not going to freeze my ass off and make this cold worse because of a bad reaction to medicine.” Sarah grew once more. Her head tapped the ceiling, and her feet pushed the table and chairs into the stove. “Or maybe sitting outside would be a good idea.”

As she crawled to her hands and feet, her skin constricted once more. “Oh no.”

Down she went, from seventeen feet to four. Sarah looked up at the ceiling, bewildered. “Oh god, I feel like I am on the world's worst rollercoaster. The medicine may help with my cold but. . .” She held her hand over her mouth as she stood up. “I still feel like I want to hurl.”

A ringing sound suddenly blasted from the other room. “Great.” Sarah stood up and dusted herself off. “The last thing I need right now is to deal with a random phone call.” She walked into the next room while her body slowly grew a few inches. “Where is that phone?” She shivered and grew again. “Oh, there it is.” Sarah walked over and grabbed her cell phone off the table where she had left it after coming home from work. “This isn’t a good time right now.”

“Sarah? It is Tess. I wanted to see if you were coming to the Dungeon Delvers group this weekend.”

Sarah scratched at her head as her body continued its unpredictable growth. “Hello, Tess. I would love to but-

“But you are busy. You have said this every week for the last month ever since you showed up to the group with that crazy neck. Hey, Patrick and I told you it was fine.”

Sarah gulped as her head neared the ceiling. “Look, Tess, can we talk about this some other time?”

“No. We are going to settle this right now. Do you still want to come to the groups?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then what is wrong with you? Why can’t you come tonight? What is so important that you can’t come and hang out for a few hours and have fun? And if you can’t tell me, then you are out of the group.”

“Tess, this isn’t fair.” Sarah made her way to her knees as she grew another few feet. “I am in a bit of a situation.”

“Hey, we all have rough situations, but what is so important that you can’t come tonight.”

Sarah narrowed her eyes as her head hit the ceiling once more. “Ok, you want to know what is going on, Tess?” She held the phone in her massive palm. “I am sick and took some medicine that I thought would help me. But now, I am growing and shrinking out of control. I don’t think I would get down the driveway before something crazy happened, like I turn thirty feet tall or one inch high. Are you happy?”

“I umm.” Tess paused.  “I can see you next week. Bye.”

Sarah sighed. “Well, at least that is dealt with.” She quivered, and the ceiling above her groaned as she grew. “Oh, that isn’t good.”

Her head burst through the floor and pushed her bed aside. “Oww. My hair.” She rolled her shoulders and made the hole even more extensive. “This is not good at all. I should call Tess back for some help.”

Tess tried to dial her phone, but she couldn’t see her hands, and her fingers were too big to use the phone by muscle memory. “I need to get this damn thing in front of my face.” She thrust her arms through the floorboards. “I will fix that later. Ok, focus, Sarah.”

She thumbed her phone, and it immediately called someone from her contacts. “What no. Crap, hang up.” She pressed the button again, only for the phone to go into speaker. “Dammit.”

“Hello, this is Jenny Pride of Jenny Pride Handy Shop. How can I serve you today?”

“Umm hello.” Sarah gulped. “I am sorry I umm hit the wrong part of my phone with my fat finger.”

“Uhuh. Look, can you not scream into the phone?”

“I am not screaming.”

“Yes, you are. My eardrums are bleeding. Sheesh, if you don’t need service, just get off the line.”

Sarah looked at the massive hole in the floor just below her head.

“No, wait.” She lowered her voice. “I, umm, could use your help. I dropped umm my safe through the floor and need it repaired.”

“Ahh, of course. We will help repair your home. How does next Friday sound?”

Sarah winced as she grew another foot. “I, umm, don’t think I can wait that long. How much do I have to pay for you to come out today?”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Two hundred bucks. Extra.”

Sarah gulped. “Fine. Fine. I just can’t sleep in a cold in a freezing house.”

“See you soon.”  The line went dead.

Sarah sighed. “Well, I guess I should get ready to meet Jenny.” She turned her head and shoulders. “If only I could move my body. Ugh.”

She sneezed, and when she opened her eyes, she found herself staring up at the hole in the ceiling, once more her usual height. “Oh, thank you.” She stood up on her crumpled bed. “Now, can I please stay this size?” She looked over her naked body. “I need to get dressed before Jenny Pride gets here.” Sarah paced back and forth. “I can’ let her come in here when I am butt naked. What did I just do demanding that she come here and fix my roof when I am having a size-changing problem?” She hit herself on the forehead. “I am such an idiot.”

Sarah rushed towards the stairwell and up to the second level of the house. “Stay the same size. Stay the same size.” Her body quivered, but nothing interesting happened. She turned the corner and ran to the open door at the end of the hall. “Just need to get some clothes and— Sarah threw up her arms as she came to a halt. “Holy crap.” She looked at the massive hole in the middle of her room. “Oh ya. I burst through my bedroom.”

She looked up to see her dresser on the other side of the gap. “Well, this is just great. I should have knocked that down when I was still big.” She sighed. “I feel like I am back at Jenny Downs at this point.”

Sarah took a few steps back and cracked her shoulders. “Ok.” She then broke out into a run and jumped over the pit in the middle of her room. With a crash, she landed on the other side. “Ouch.” She rubbed her knee as she stood up. “At least I am over here. Ahh, there is my purse. I will need this for later.” She grabbed it and threw it on top of the dresser. “Ok. I feel it is safe enough to put some clothes on. I haven’t changed in size for a while now.” She pulled open the drawers. “Now, let’s see here. I should put on something loose in case something does happen. I don’t want to rip anything apart.” She dug into the cabinet. “But nothing that would crush me if I shrank. I don’t need that again.”

Sarah pulled out white and black leggings and a plain t-shirt. “This will have to do.” Her body quivered as she slipped the shirt on. “I won’t bother with anything else until I know these size-changing issues are under control.”

She turned around and rushed downstairs. “Now, just to wait for Jenny to arrive.” Sarah smiled as she heard a knock at the door. “That was quick.” She opened the door to greet Jenny Pride. Jenny had a blue and grey uniform, a baseball cap, and a small scar on her dark forehead. She grunted as she and a young man walked in.

“This is my son Herold.” Herold waved at Sarah with one hand as he used the other to thumb on his phone. “He helps me on my jobs for the weekends.” Jenny turned her head. “Isn’t that right, Herold?”

He didn’t look up from his phone. “Righhhtt. Just tell me when you need me.” He walked into the kitchen and sat down.

Jenny returned her attention towards Sarah. “Ok. What is so important that we had to rush over here?”

“This way.” Sarah walked towards the living room. “Just in here.”

They walked into the next room, and Jenny’s eyes went wide. “What happened in here? Why is your bed on top of your sofa?” She looked up at the giant hole in the ceiling. “What did you do? Jump on the bed until it fell through the floor?”

Sarah scratched at the back of her head as she looked at the floor. “I umm.

It is hard to explain.” She turned around and looked Jenny in the face.

“So, can you fix the hole?”

Jenny nodded her head. “Yes, but this will take a few hours.”

“Ok, as long as I don’t have to sleep with a giant hole in my house tonight.”

“Of course. You won’t have to worry about that.” Jenny raised her voice. “Herold.

Run out and get the tools out of the van. We are going to be here longer than planned.”

Sarah smiled as Jenny walked away. “Well, looks like things are going to work out after all.” She shivered and grew a few inches. “Crap.” She clenched her hands into fists and raised her voice. “Jenny, I am going to be upstairs in the guest room until the job is done; it is alright.”

“Fine by me. I was going to ask that you stay out of the way anyways.”

Sarah turned around with a grin on her face. “Good. I don’t want anyone to know about these size-changing issues, so it will be a good place to hide out for the next few hours.”

***

A few hours and many changes in size later, the job was finished. Jenny knocked at Sarah’s room door to give her the good news. “Sarah. We are done.”

She paused. “Time to finish our business together.”

Sarah opened her eyes. “Just a moment.” She turned her massive head. Her skull scratched against the ceiling as she looked for the door. She had endured another growth spurt recently, her body now filling the entire room. However, the changes in size were no longer as frequent, now only happening once every fifteen minutes to a half-hour.

She felt the door handle tickle her left foot.  There it is. Sarah lifted her leg and bent forward to open the door. “Ok, just come to the door, and I can pay you.” She held her hand over the doorway. “Just don’t come in. Things are a mess right now.”

Jenny’s voice floated from the other end of Sarah’s palm. “What kind of door is this? Look, I need to get inside to handle the business side of things.” She hid the back of Sarah’s hand. “Let me in, please.”

“No. I can’t right now.”

“Hey, we just fixed a giant hole in your floor when we should be working on the card shop's air conditioning problem. Don’t give me then I can’t pay right now shit.”

Jenny pushed on the back of Sarah’s hand. “Seriously, what is this door? Why does it feel all fleshy?”

“Please just give me a few more minutes.”

“I will call the cops. Don’t dare me.”

Sarah sighed. “Fine.” She lifted her hand. “Just don’t freak out.”

Jenny walked into the room and gasped. “What in the world?” She looked up at Sarah’s gigantic body. “So, umm. The hole in the other room?”

Sarah nodded her head. “Yes, that is how I created the hole.” She reached behind her; the room groaned with Sarah’s movement. “Look, this size thing isn’t in my control right now, and I just want to leave it at that, ok?”

Jenny nodded her head without taking her eyes off Sarah. “Alright.

As for my pay.”

Sarah pulled her purse out from behind her back.

“Here.” She tossed it to Jenny. “The cash is inside. I just can’t pull it out with these huge stubby fingers right now.”

Jenny looked down at the purse. “Wait, you trust me?”

Sarah narrowed her eyes. “No.” She slid her hand to block Jenny in the room. “But I think watching you while you take out the agreed-on amount or you don’t get out of the room will work just fine.”

Jenny sighed and leaned against Sarah’s leg. “Alright.” She slowly counted out the cash out loud for Sarah to hear. “Ok, two hundred and ninety. It is all here.”

“Put the purse down.” Sarah narrowed her eyes.

Jenny gently set the purse down. “No problem.” Sarah lifted her hand from the doorway. “I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.” She backed out of the room. “And please, whatever you are doing to grow so big, lay off. It can’t be good for your health.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Just go.”

“Harold. Come on.

Let’s get out of here.”

Sarah sighed. “Well, today has been very weird.” She shut her eyes as tremors shook her body, and she shrank a few feet. “Hopefully, this madness calms down, so tomorrow is just a normal day. Is a normal day too much to ask for?”