Chapter 2: Day One

Waking up face planted on hard-wood floors sucked. Waking up freezing in a t-shirt and shorts and on the floor sucked infinitely more. Waking up with all that and a growing gnawing pain in my stomach from forgetting to eat, priceless. Judging by the growls coming from my abdomen I was in desperate need of food. I pulled myself upright and glanced around the room for an answer to my problem. A paper next to the phone caught my eye, the number for room service emblazoned at the top. My mind started to battle itself then. Hunger or sanity, which would win.

Not that I had an eating problem, talking was always the problem for me. No, that's not right, any kind of communication was difficult. Just sending a single word text was asking for my head. What if I ruined a friendship? What did I say, something weird and they never wanted to talk to me again? What if I said the wrong thing and caused someone else's life to collapse. Words have power. Talking on the phone was a pure nightmare. Having a conversation with someone in front of me and not blood-related caused me to play dead. It was as if I was a possum playing dead to confuse any predators to go away and not eat me. Picking up the paper my mind had made its choice, sustenance was more important than fear. I could die from fear later, and maybe I would if this proved more difficult than just saying my order and retreating.

Looking at the list I decided that pasta would be the best way to go. It was the most straightforward option without any extra things to choose from. Picking up the receiver and dialing the short number I waited for the click on the other end. "Room service, What can I get you?" My pulse quickened with just those few words. " Hello, this is room 666 I would like to order some food." My voice cracked with those few words but I still managed to tear them out from my throat. He seemed a bit gentler at the sound of my voice in his replies "Okay sweetie, what can I get for you?" I can do this, it's just ordering pasta! " I would like some fettuccine alfredo with the wine roasted chicken" There nothing crazy or absurd or out of line had popped out of my mouth. " Sure sweetums. Now, what would you like for yourself." My brain couldn't process this sentence. So I just repeated my order and said: "That's what I want." I was hoping I had just mumbled and he hadn't heard what he said the first time and this would all be over by me repeating it but his voice once again came through the phone. "Oh dear. That's more of our grown-up menu I'm afraid. Are you sure? We have some lovely mac and cheese on our big kids' menu?" The air felt more and more solid as I tried to breathe and answer evenly."No, I would like the fettucini. It's just for me." The kind man didn't seem to get it and replied " Are you sure I have the whole order? Is your mommy or daddy there? I just want to make sure that you don't go hungry dear and the chicken is a bit bitter." His kindness was misplaced and I found myself blurting out "Nope no mommy or daddy here. They're dead. Could I just please have the fettucini soon. I'm quite hungry." My brain blanked out at that moment and I think he did too as I heard him whisper "Oh. Dear" I squeaked out a sorry and goodbye before quickly trying to get the phone back in its cradle and succeeding after a few near misses.

"I shouldn't have said that. I should not have that. What was I thinking I should have just ordered the mac and cheese and been done with it. Now, what am I going to do? I need to eat something and they won't want to give room service to a possessed rude kid. Why did I hang up?! I couldn't even put it back like a normal person. I just kept missing the stupid cradle. It must have sounded like some lunatic trying to bludgeon someone with the phone." My inner monologue spewed from my mouth as I stared at the phone. The clouds hung low over my head as I tried to think over the next steps to scrounge for food. Maybe I could risk starving for a few days. Maybe they'll forget if I just keep real quiet for a little while. I could try calling at random times and maybe the same person wouldn't be there. As the thought of talking to another person weighed heavily on my mind, the door knocker sounded.

The sound echoes in the suddenly oh to quiet room. Thoughts quickly stream into my head. " Was I screaming. Is it the neighbors "Oh god. Are they kicking me out?! I'm a little kid. They can't possibly kick me out. Is he here to kidnap me for ransom!" I shouted before I realized that was exactly the last thing I should be doing. A gentle voice sounded through the door in response "Hi, sweetie I'm terribly sorry for giving you such a fright, I have brought your food here. I'm the general manager here and the misunderstanding has been cleared up now. If it would not be too much of an imposition could I perhaps open the door and come in?" Listening I decided that he didn't sound like a kidnapper. I realized paranoia was getting the best of me. My thought calmed down enough for me to analyze his voice some more. In fact, he sounded very reasonable and managerial. I decided to reach out my hand open the door.

Realizing that this would be my first conversation with a person in this world. I should be gripped with fear. Instead, I'm just blindly trusting the disembodied voice of a stranger. Not panicking, which was beyond strange for me, I froze. I braced myself against the door as I balance precariously on my tiptoes just to get a peek at him. Looking out the peephole I saw a portly man in a fuzzy green tweed suit standing there. It was a strange suit. It reminded me of spring leaves. He was a bit larger around the middle than anywhere else. Every movement was accompanied by a rustling sound. Wild and untamed ginger hair topped his head like a mop and a matching mustache bristled on his face. If it wasn't for the red hair I would have thought a bush had been stood outside my door talking to me.

Slowly I unlocked the door and peered out while hiding behind the slightly ajar door. "Hello..." The bush, I mean the manager politely replied "Good Evening Miss my name is Mr. Silvervine and I'm here to drop off your dinner. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding with the front desk, you're not required to have an adult present to order food and as a long term guest, your meals are included. May I push this trolley inside now or would you like me to leave it here?" The man asked. He was clearly concerned but was being very polite about it. I felt guilty as I answered, "Umm.. can you please leave the cart there I will get it when you leave." He seemed to sense how flustered I was and left it at that " Okay miss I will leave this here when you are done with it leave it in the hallway and it will be collected." He smiled once more before walking down the hallway. As quick as I could, I opened the door and pulled in the cart. Wheeling it to the small table beside the windows. Underneath the food covers, I found pasta with bread on the side. Accompanying that was a single glass and a pitcher of water. Settling down I began to inhale my food. The gaping hole in my empty stomach was filled as I tried to make sure not to choke. I was glad for the water without it I might have done just that.

From all the weirdness of the day, I was completely exhausted. I decided then and there that I should get ready for bed. I wearily went to the bathroom and got ready for sleep. The mirror still freaked me out with the fact that I was now so small. Everything was just so inconvenient when you are short. If I had been any shorter I would have had issues just reaching the sink properly to brush my teeth.

Finally finishing all that, I thought it was the perfect time to expand my magical container. I sat down on the couch. If I had started practicing on the bed with how tired I was, I might have just given up and gone to sleep. The couch was just comfy enough that I could relax and still concentrate. It was heaps better than the floor. As my magic started circulating I kept pushing it to go faster and faster. Suddenly I felt something give and then my head dropped and hit the couch cushion. Another night of blackouts. When will I ever sleep in my bed?

Morning came quicker this time. I regained consciousness when my alarm when off. At least it was the couch and not the floor his time. It would have been better to have had a pillow or something for my head though. There was a weird crick in my neck from my sleeping posture, but the cushions were good enough to nap on and I was refreshed. Morning means I have to get ready for the day. After taking care of the necessities and being freshly showered I walked out of the bathroom in my robe, ready to look for the clothes that were supposedly in the closet. Sliding back the door I looked inside and there hung a navy blue lace-pleated dress with a white wool cardigan and a pair of stockings. On the door hook was a brown satchel. It was a nice bag with adjustable straps. Handy for me to use while going about. A pair of boots sat at the bottom of the wardrobe. After putting on the outfit I found that they all fit nicely and were surprisingly warm. If it wasn't snowing or raining I should be fine in these. With that, I was almost ready to leave.

I headed for the desk pulling out the main drawer. Inside there laid a few things that were necessary for me to live in this new world. A stack of papers, a passport, a key ring with many different types of keys attached and a little pouch sitting atop of the hotel letterhead. I grabbed them all and stuffed them in my bag, not knowing what I would need, before picking up my phone. I tapped the buttons on my phone and looked up the muggle bank to get the money for my stay. Standing at the back door of the suite, I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart. " You have to be brave now" I whispered to myself. Grabbing the handle and turning the lock until it clicked I swung the door wide open. Taking the last step over the threshold that separates me from the outside world, I turned coward again. I wanted to run and hide but the thought of calling the front desk stopped me in my tracks. If I didn't do this now, I would have to talk to even more people. Closing the door behind me I turned the key to lock everything inside. Moving forward cautiously I walked down the stairs and out of the building. Straight out into the cold crisp wind of a bright October morning.