The Incredible Shrinking Man  

     As a child, I dreamed about all the animals that surrounded me. I grew up on a farm, away from the cities and suburbs, not where most kids my age would think about. 

We had chickens, cows, horses, pigs, and a large variety of other animals that I need not go into now. We also grew the food we ate. 

We lived a simple life. We had the basic items to survive. I went to school from first grade up until 11 grade. I was supposed to take over the family farm.  

     My mom taught me not to waste the food that we grew. Growing up, I thought about the crumbs on the table.  I never wanted to waste anything.   When I began school, the teachers noticed how detail-oriented I was. They constantly told me to pay attention to what was going on in the classroom. By the time I got to high school, I became one of the best students in the school. My favorite subject was science. By tenth grade, I was getting straight A's in all my classes. In science, we learn about atoms, protons, neutrons, and electrons.  I was so fascinated by this new subject, I began reading more and more about this microscopic world. I read about quarks. Scientists believe these are elementary particles. This means that they aren't made up of anything else. 

     I told myself that this was impossible. Just because we couldn't see them doesn't mean that nothing else existed. I continued reading and researching the subatomic world. I visited scientists from the best universities. But alas, I found no one who could confirm my hopes of an even smaller world. This was the time I opened my mind to speak to people who were on the bleeding edge of science.  I met a Dr. who was working on a formula that would shrink atoms. She found that by separating atoms by type and then immersing them in her formula the atoms would disappear. She was able to determine that the quantity of quarks would increase proving that she was shrinking atoms. I read all about her research. I asked her what her ultimate goal was. She wanted to find out how small was small. She sounded like the way I thought. The only difference I could find was the urgency to find out about these things. She didn't mind going slow and methodical, whereas I wanted results as fast as humanly possible. 

     One Saturday I decided to go into her lab, knowing that she would not be there. I wanted to see more of her formula. I found a refrigerator where she stored her research. I opened the door and found a large jar labeled formula. As I went to lift it, I heard a noise coming from the door of her lab. I panicked and while trying to put the jar back in the refrigerator, the jar slipped, spilling the formula all over me. The Dr. entered and approached me. She asked me if everything was alright. I explained what happened. Much to my surprise, she wasn't angry, instead, she said to me that this could be the opportunity to find out, truly, how small, small was. 

     She brought me a special suit of clothes. She got me a camera that I would wear on my head and a two-way communication device.  All were drenched in her solution.

So, this is it. No turning back. Was I afraid? Yes. I had no idea what was going to happen to me. She told me to talk to her as much as I could. Within minutes I began to notice that everything around me was getting bigger. The truth was that I was starting to get smaller. I could hear Doc talking to me on my headphones. I think she was as excited as I was. She told me that she would lift me onto the table as soon as I became small enough. She didn't want me to shrink, and not be able to find me. 

     Soon, I noticed that being on the table opened up a new world to me. The crumbs on the table became alive. Animals were climbing over one crumb. They noticed me and came over to investigate. Luckily in seconds, I disappeared from their sight. Next, I noticed things whizzing past me. I had to keep ducking so as not to be hit by them. I realized that these projectiles were atoms. My whole field of vision was filled with these atoms. I wasn't sure I could survive here. Again, in seconds I didn't see anything. The atoms disappeared. All that was left was darkness. I kept talking to Doc, keeping her informed as to the environment. She told me that my journey up to this point was expected. The emptiness and darkness were not expected. I was now living between atoms, quarks, and whatever else was here. It felt like hours passed and nothing changed. The emptiness and darkness hadn't changed. I was beginning to think that I was not shrinking anymore. I was still able to talk with Doc, but my communication was becoming garbled. It now felt like days were passing by, with no change. 

     I thought I saw a twinkling in the distance. I wasn't sure if it was real or just a headache I was starting to get. Again, there it is. There is something there. Now the emptiness was starting to show life again. The darkness was beginning to lighten up. It began as a twinkling but now I can see a sky full of lights of different sizes. 

     My communication with Doc ceased. I was truly on my own. I think that I was still on the table in Doc's lab. I haven't moved since my shrinking began.  Funny, I feel as though I was falling. As small as I must be getting, the larger I felt I was becoming. The lights were getting clearer. They are starting to fall into distinct clusters. What I was viewing was amazing. They were beginning to look like spirals. I didn't understand any of this. 

     When I was a child, I looked up at the sky and saw the stars. I read about how billions of stars would form galaxies and billions of galaxies would form the universe. What I am witnessing is the creation of all the universes. Yet, I felt I was being pulled in one specific direction. I was passing universe upon universe. The smaller I became the bigger I was. I was seeing red, white, yellow, green, and almost every color you can imagine, forming galaxies. Yet, I was being pulled in one specific direction. There was one such galaxy that was formed into a giant spiral. This was where I was headed. I was being swallowed up by this spiral galaxy. The stars were different sizes and colors. There was one yellow star that was standing out from every other star. This was where my journey was taking me. I must have been traveling at the speed of light. I was seeing objects that must have been planets. I remember that the furthest planet from the sun was Pluto. Up ahead, that must have been Neptune followed by Uranus. Further on I saw a planet with rings around it, Saturn. And the biggest one is Jupiter.  To my amazement, I was viewing a red planet, mars, but the biggest surprise was what I was seeing for the very first time. The blue of the next planet was breathtaking. Not one blue color has been witnessed since I entered this universe. And this was where I was being pulled to. I was shrinking at a slower rate. The blue planet Earth was right in front of me.  

      The most amazing thing, something that in my wildest dream, I couldn't believe. I was listening to Doc, on my earpiece.  She was asking me if I was alright she hadn't heard from me for a few minutes. I told her I was fine, but had a lot of questions. She told me she found a solution to my shrinking and wanted to know if I was interested. I said I was but I didn't know if I was going to see her again. 

     Before I knew it I was flying down, through the clouds, getting closer and closer to the ground. I recognized the coastline of Florida. The closer I got to the ground the shrinking 

was starting to stop. All of a sudden I was standing on the sidewalk just outside of Doc's laboratory. I was the same size I was when I sneaked in, whenever that was. I knocked on the door this time. Doc was standing there, her jaw was almost touching the floor. Both of us hugged, and neither of us could imagine what had happened. 

by Dennis Weingart