I woke up with a start as my mum’s voice thundered through the huge door. I decided I should get out of my bed, but the end of my bed seemed a mile away. I thought it was very odd. I rolled towards the edge of the bed and used the bedsheet to slide down. I landed on the soft plush carpet that seemed like huge but soft blades of grass.

Why did everything look so big? What had happened? I tried to call my mum, but she couldn’t hear me.

Suddenly, I heard the earth shake. I thought there was an earthquake, but my brother was stomping around my bedroom. He could not see me, so he started calling my name.

Why was he shouting? I tried telling him I was on the carpet by jumping up and down, but he couldn’t hear me. My bathroom door looked like a mile away, but I began my journey. I was still a bit confused as to why I was so tiny.

As I made my way through, I saw something shiny stuck between two strands of the carpet. Wait! That was the earring I’d lost a month ago. I tried to pick it up, but it was so heavy and also triple my size! So I quit the idea of picking it up.

I still couldn’t understand what had made me so small. I decided to go under my bed, but the darkness made me shiver.

Suddenly, I saw something huge staring at me. I walked a little closer to find out that it was a cockroach. It looked monstrous and before it could notice me, I ran as fast as my legs could carry me in the opposite direction when I suddenly tripped on an M&M.

It seemed to be a spaceship, but when I tried to eat it, it was so enormous that I could only take a nibble even though I was so hungry. It was so good that I started scooping chocolate out of it. When I was full, I looked around the room. I realised that I was exhausted, even though I hadn’t even gotten halfway across the room yet. This made my heart sink.

But I didn’t lose hope and I ran as fast as I could to reach the clear passage, but then I tripped over my necklace bead and smashed into the leg of my study table. I woke up with a start to find my mother and brother splashing water on my face as I looked at them with a puzzled expression.

They informed me that I had been unconscious and lying down on the carpet and they speculated that, while turning to the side, I must have struck the side table forcefully, resulting in my loss of consciousness.

They had been attempting to rouse me for over 20 minutes.

With astonished eyes, I gazed at them and then looked at myself, while sighing with relief upon realising that I was back to my normal size.

I walked over to the specific spot on the carpet, took my missing earring and placed it on the table. At that moment, a perplexing thought crossed my mind: ‘If I was unconscious, how did I know the whereabouts of my earring?’

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 2nd, 2023