I come from a family of very tall people. My mother is almost six feet and my father is almost six foot three. My grandfather is six feet four and my uncle is six feet five. Even my mother’s sisters are tall! We are a family of giants! It is a family trait that we all seem to cherish. I awoke one Monday morning at my usual six o’clock in the morning ready to start my day. Strangely, when I climbed out of bed it seemed that my feet were really far from the ground. I almost had to jump down off my bed and onto the floor. Making my way toward the bathroom I said to myself, “That dresser seems to be higher up than usual.” When I reached the bathroom to wash my face, I expected to take a good look at myself in mirror to see the sleepy crust in my eyes and to wash it away. However, when I looked straight ahead, I couldn’t see myself in the mirror. I thought to myself, “What is going on here?” I looked up and the mirror was not where it normally was—it was two feet above me. I had to jump up in the air so I could see myself! At that moment, a panic races over me. I realized that over night something happened to me and I was no longer tall--I was SHORT!
For some reason, my parents didn’t seem to notice that I was no longer their tall son. I got dressed and went out to the bus stop. When the bus pulled up, I had to take a giant step to get onto the bus. When I reached school, everyone was taller than me. Everyone! Not just the guys, but all the girls and even the middle school kids! I thought to myself, “This really is not going to be a good day.” When everyone was at their lockers, the shortest kid (besides me) in the school made fun of me saying; “that 4x2 locker is the perfect size for you, I bet you can probably fit in it!” Everyone started to laugh and I suddenly felt like I shrunk even more! I was mortified!
After school I went to basketball practice as usual. Everyone there was at least six feet tall. I was the only four foot kid there. When we started to do lay ups, it was very hard for me to do. I ran up to the basket and tried to take a shot. Each time I tried, the ball failed to go into the basked. I jumped as high as I could, but I “air balled” each time. I kept missing the basket by a mile no matter how hard I tried. . I was just too short to get the ball in the hoop. The coach called me aside and said that I couldn’t play anymore but that the water boy or towel boy spot was open if I wanted it. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I wanted to cry, but I knew it would only make matters worse. I decided to go home.
I figured that when I got home, I would feel better. Home is a place of safety and comfort. However, when I reached home, there was a new problem. I was too short to get the door open! Luckily, there was a chair out back. I stood on the chair so I could reach the door lock and let myself in the house. But the problems did end there. I realized that I couldn’t reach anything in the house. It was hard for me to make my afternoon snack or wash my hands in the sink since I could no longer reach the faucet. Once again, I almost felt like crying. I decided to just go to my room and take a nap. I was so stressed out. I figure a nap would make me feel better. The next thing I knew, my mother was calling my name. She said, “Wake up Alec, it’s time for school.” I rubbed my eyes and looked down at the foot of my bed. I was startled to discover that my sizes 13 feet were hanging over the bed. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom and I could see my sleepy face in the mirror. It had all been just a dream! I was still tall Alec! My nightmare was finally over.