I had just gotten home from work. After a full three hours of attending the board meeting, I felt ready for a break from the stress. Before I had reached the base of the stairs, a green glint of light caught my eye. Curious, I walked over to the source of the glimmer. A strangely familiar looking green emerald lay innocently on the living room table.

“This is interesting,” I said quietly, turning the emerald over in the palm of my hand. Suddenly, without warning, I shuddered when a surge rushed through my entire body. The feeling only lasted for a second before disappearing as quickly as it had come.

It took me a moment to realize that the table was slightly taller than I was. “But it wasn’t like that a second ago,” I said, thinking about it for an instant before walking to the bottom of the stairs.

I shook off the unsettled feeling and began walking up the stairs to my office, where I could try to figure out what to do with the emerald I’d discovered in the living room. For some reason, though, the stairs were also the same height as the living room table. “This just keeps getting stranger and stranger,” I said, having some trouble getting up the stairs. After a few minutes of climbing up the stairs, I made it to the last step and opened the door to my office.

When I closed the door, another moment of realization hit me. In the little time I had taken to open the door then close it, I’d somehow shortened in height. Wanting to find an answer to my strange experiences, I walked over to the personal mirror I had hanging on the wall of my home office. “How is this even happening?” I wondered, staring at myself in the mirror.

A ring of the doorbell sounded from downstairs. “I’ll be down there in a minute!” I shouted, not taking my eyes off of the mirror. A second after I’d answered, another insistent series of musical rings drifted up to where I stood. I took a last look at my reflection before standing on tiptoe to open the office door.

The trip down the staircase was even more difficult than before, and I constantly had to push my glasses back up correctly, while trying to avoid missing any stairstep. I finally reached the bottom of the stairs and approached the front door. I extended my hand out as far as possible and turned the doorknob to open the front door.

It was my son, Tom. Before I could say anything, his eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and disbelief. “Dad? You look…different,” my son said, backing away from me slowly and cautiously. “It’s okay, Tom,” I reassured him. Without warning, Tom let out a shriek, paralyzed with utmost shock. “Tom, get inside. Quickly, before someone sees me like this,” I ordered, ushering him through the front door.

As quickly as possible, I shut the door and locked it, peering in between the curtains to make sure that nobody was watching. After a moment of observation, I drew the curtains shut and turned around to face my son, who was standing stock still, rooted to the living room floor. “What’s happening to you?” Tom asked shakily. It occurred to me just how smaller I’d become since I’d arrived home from work. Even at a distance, my son stood a head taller than me. My glasses started to slide down the bridge of my nose, and I straightened them as best as I could before clearing my throat.

“I think I know what’s causing this to happen. Follow me,” I said, heading towards the staircase. Just as I was about to walk up the stairs, I realized Tom wasn’t following me. “Where did this come from?” my son asked. I turned around and saw that Tom was now holding a golden ring in both hands. “Tom, put that down, before-” But it was too late.

Tom showed the same reaction I’d had in response to the momentary surge that I’d experienced thirty minutes ago. “Dad, why is your hair turning orange?” he asked me. Startled, I walked over and stood tiptoed to catch a glimpse of what he could mean. In the light peeking in between the curtains, I saw that the roots of my hair were slowly turning orange.

“What is going on?” I wondered, shaking my head. I suddenly realized how much baggier my clothes had become, and I held up my work pants as best as I could. “Dad! What’s happening to me!” a voice shouted from behind me. I spun around. Tom was now starting to shrink down in size, while the roots of his hair began turning blue.

“Tom, it’s okay! Calm down,” I told him. I was just about to say something more, but stopped mid-sentence. Something was pushing against the back of my oversized pants. “This doesn’t feel right,” I said, shuddering as the feeling continued. I looked over my shoulder and saw two orange, white tipped tails unfurling from underneath my hanging shirt.

“What in the world?” I said in disbelief, staring in gap jawed astonishment at the impossible sight.