Haven't Seen Him Today (2022)

A true statement. Walden hadn't seen Tyler all day, which was exactly what he told Brian when his housemate inquired.

“Really?” Brian asked, his voice tinged with dismay. “He was supposed to drive me to work today.”

Walden, nonchalant, shrugged one shoulder, his left foot resting casually on his right knee. “I'm not sure what to say. I peeked into his room this morning, thinking of grabbing breakfast together, but he wasn’t there. No idea where else he might be.”

Brian heaved a heavy sigh, the disappointment evident in his slumped shoulders. “Okay, I better hurry then.” He pointed a firm finger at Walden, a playful sternness in his tone, “If you see him, tell him he owes me one,” he declared before striding out of the house.

Left alone, Walden let out a soft chuckle. ‘Sure, I’ll do that,’ he mused to himself, the corners of his mouth twitching upward as he returned to his day.

—

Tyler dashed across his room's floor, dwarfed by his socks, shirts, and used cups that now loomed like colossal structures around him. Somehow, overnight, he had shrunk to the size of a bug, spending his morning in a perilous descent from his bed. His goal now was the towering door, beyond which he hoped to find a roommate to help him.

A sudden tremor on the floor halted him. A thunderous noise, amplified to an ear-splitting volume, vibrated through the air from outside the door. Voices? Footsteps?

Resuming his desperate run, Tyler was mere inches from the door when it swung open abruptly. A gust of wind from the swift motion hurled him backward, tumbling him helplessly across the floor. Coughing, disoriented, he looked up to find his roommate Walden filling the doorway, now a giant figure towering over him.

“YO TYLER,” Walden’s voice boomed, the sound waves almost tangible in their intensity. “WANT TO GET SOME LUNCH, SLEEPYHEAD?”

In a panic, Tyler screamed, “Walden!! Down here!! Look down!! Please!!” His voice, however, was lost in the vastness of the room.

In a desperate bid to be seen, Tyler sprinted towards his friend, arms flailing wildly in an attempt to appear larger. His frenetic efforts ceased abruptly when Walden stepped into the room. To Walden, the bed appeared undisturbed, suggesting Tyler was still asleep. Unaware of the dire situation underfoot, he strode confidently towards the bed.

Tyler's scream was piercing, a sound of pure terror, as Walden's barefoot hovered ominously overhead, littered with debris from the house. In a futile attempt to escape, Tyler turned sharply, only to be met by the impending doom of Walden’s descending foot. The cool skin of Walden’s sole, chilled by the hardwood floor, pressed down mercilessly. Tyler's breath was crushed out of him under the relentless pressure, his face pressed agonizingly against the hard floor, his body engulfed in the shadow of Walden’s foot. Miraculously, he remained uncrushed, but the ordeal was far from over.

As Walden lifted his foot for the next step, Tyler's heart sank with the realization that he was now adhered to the sole. He braced himself as the floor loomed once more, Walden’s foot thudding down again.

Finally, Walden flopped onto the bed, reaching out to rouse Tyler, unaware of the harrowing drama unfolding at his feet. His hand met only the cold, empty sheets. Confused and slightly disappointed at the prospect of missing lunch together, Walden got up and left the room, oblivious to the tiny figure adhered to his foot.

Downstairs, as Walden conversed with Brian, Tyler's plight reached new heights of despair. Perched precariously on Walden's lifted foot, Tyler's minuscule form clung to a stray hair, screaming unheard pleas for help. Brian, oblivious to the drama on his roommate’s sole, missed the sight of their shrunken friend as the two discussed Tyler’s whereabouts, just feet away from his perilous position.