Construction Site

I had to get to my locker. I had to get one of my pills before it was too late. Already I could feel the change starting to sweep over my body. It was like a mild case of pins and needles, only it was all over me and it washed over me like a breeze.

The pills were in my bag, in my locker and my whole being was concentrating on getting there in time.

Too late.

The world around me started to grow. A cement mixer next to me was already as tall as me whereas it should have only come up to my shoulder. I dropped the hammer that I was still carrying as its weight increased dramatically. The world seemed to rocket up around me now as the shrinking accelerated. In a matter of only seconds it was over. I was three inches tall again and in mortal danger.

To say that a construction site is not a good place to be when you are smaller than a childs toy is to underestimate the situation beyond belief. Dropped nails were as big as a knights lance, small pebbles the size of boulders. But they pale into insignifance compared to the danger that other workers present. Taller than any building I had ever worked on, I watched as one of my co-workers came into view. His massive form moved with impossible grace as he walked by, his house sized workboots sending vibrations through the concrete that nearly knocked me over.

I had to get help and I had to get it soon. I needed one of my pills to reverse the shrinking and I was too small to get to them myself. I needed to contact one of those massive, hulking monstrosities called men and get them to help me.

The foreman was the best bet, in my mind. He had a vested interest in his workers. Surely he would help.

I raced across a vast concrete slab, larger than a football field. All around I could see builders, going about their work with no regard for my tiny form. I reached the edge of the slab and looked down at the eighteen foot drop to the mud below.

I hesitated, unsure of myself. Vibrations through the concrete warned me in time to turn and see a huge mountain moving towards me. Dirty, battered workboots were slamming into the concrete, beating a path directly towards me.

With an alarmed shout, I turned again and jumped over the edge, landing in the soft mud at the same time as the massive boot. I watched as it lifted from the ground, a sucking noise and half a ton of mud and water rising with it.

I watched as water raced into the footprint of this behemoth, filling it and creating a large pond.

I re-orientated myself. The foremans office was that way, across the mud. I sprinted again, my feet barely making an impression in the mud. I dodged pools of water and mountains of mud, lept over discarded nails and ducked under stacks of wood.

Only to be confronted by a river of water twenty feet wide. It took me a moment to realise where it had come from - tyre tracks. A vehicle had been this way recently and water had filled its track. A twin river lay far beyond this one.

I walked up to the murky obstacle, daunted. How deep was it?

I threw a small handful of mud into it but it disappeared without a trace.

The mud betrayed me then. I didn’t hear him until it was almost too late. A house sized boot, caked with mud squelched down next to me. The weight of this massive labourer pushed a tidalwave of mud up and over me, crashing onto my legs.

I struggled out of the mess, covered in thick, clinging mud up to my waist. Before anyone else could come along, I walked over to the river and climbed down into the brown water. It came up to my chest and I waded through it.

Clambering up the other bank, I started towards the other river. Halfway across, a roaring alerted me to the truck even as it came around a bend.

I froze.

Bigger than the largest building, it hurtled towards me, mud and water crashing out of its path. It flew over the top of me, deafening me with its passage. Water and mud buffetted me. I stood, dripping, jaw dropped in awe as it squelched to a stop a reasonable distance away.

A new river had formed in its passing, wider than the other, water still draining into it.

I slogged over to it and climbed down into it. The current grabbed me and dragged me into the middle like a strong rip at the beach as water rushed along.

I dragged myself out of the river of muddy water a bit further along than I had intended. I was fully soaked now, muddy water dripping from my clothes, my boots full of it.

I could see the foremans office now, far in the distance.

A siren sounded in the distance. Lunch time.

The sound of loud voices made me realise my danger. I knew what that truck had been now. It was the lunch wagon. Which meant that any second now, dozens of hungry workers would be descending on this general area, clambouring for their midday meal.

I broke into a sprint - not easy when you are covered in mud and dripping wet.

A group of giants appeared in front of me - six of them. They were talking and laughing amongst themselves, not looking down.

Twelve massive mud caked work boots were slamming down on a direct path towards me. I slid to a stop and desperately looked for a hiding place.

There was nowhere to go, I was in the middle of a mud caked field. I took the only meager shelter I could - the lee of a pile of mud thrown up by a passing vehicle.

I could hear their voices and the sound of their footsteps coming closer, but I couldn’t feel them - the dense mud was soaking up their vibrations.

Even though I knew it was coming, the first boot that slammed into the mud near me made me jump. It was quickly followed by others, the weight of these massive men plunging their boots into the mud. Then a shadow fell over me and I looked up just in time to see a boot coming down. I dove forward, desperate to escape being crushed. Full stretch on my stomach, in the mud, I felt an incredible weight come down on my legs. Mud squelched up and over me, up to my shoulder blades. When the pressure disappeared, I found myself almost totally encased in mud. I knew what had happened, the giant had trodden on the ridge under which I had been hiding, pushing it forward and down beneath his foot. I knew that above the mud in which I was imprisoned, there would be a gigantic footprint.

It took me almost ten minutes to prise my way out from under that wave of mud. I staggered weakly away from it, slowly regaining my strength after the effort that I had just exerted. I found shelter under a pile of broken roof tiles.

To be continued...