Etifia reached the storefront and stretched her arms over her head, her yawn accompanied by a secondary yawn and chuckle from her shoulder. Etifia raised a hand and ruffled George’s hair with a finger, a smile cracking her lips as she adjusted the bag and walked through the mall, the general din echoing around them.
 
 
“Yawns really are contagious, huh?”
 
 
“Especially when you yawn in my ear!” George said, putting a finger in his ear and miming a squeaking cleaning of it. “We’ve been in West Edmonton Mall for a few hours now, want to stop for some food?”
 
 
“Sure. We can stop at Chapel Hats afterwards.” Etifia said, looking up at the directory and mapping out the path she would need to get there. “Hey, we can pass by the ice rink on the way there! Think I could finally get you on the ice?”
 
 
“Not in a million years!”
 
 
They chatted while they walked, seeing other Micros and Humans traveling around them. Microsizing had risen in popularity in the last 7 years or so, where people would go through an enduring process to compact their form into a chapstick-sized form. While their diet and energy levels don’t change, most people do it out of convenience due to the fact that when you are that small, even the smallest house can be home for over a dozen tenets. A secondary bonus was that after you were shrunk, you were never expected to pick up a labor job, which prompted people to turn towards computer programming, writing, and various other organizing and creative jobs.
 
 
George was one such writer, actually the main writer and editor of his own comic company which hired exclusively Micros. Etifia had supported George the best she could, helping his company take the first steps into publication and getting their own copyright in place. Now, Etifia simply watched and read what George published, enjoying what her friend was doing.
 
 
Etifia was a caretaker under George's company, officially hired to be a driver and spokesperson to the other humans. Having a human was necessary to earn respect with people who didn’t believe in Microsizing and Etifia was well taught in legal battles and wordplay, which had saved their butt time and time again. Etifia didn’t mind, she liked caring for George and other Micros, carrying them around and letting them sleep on her while she worked on her own studies.
 
 
Etifia stepped away from a large group of highschoolers, commenting on how her experience through school was much different than the Micros she had talked to who transitioned during that time, and saw a booth flashing with an 80’s style neon light. Curious, Etifia diverted her path towards it, George not aware of the change until he also saw the sign.
 
 
“What does it say, Etifia?”
 
 
Etifia squinted, trying to read it through the seizure inducing light. “I think it says Kaymun’s Fortune seller?”
 
 
“Krynam’s Fortune Teller!” Etifia and George jumped as a very wrinkly human stuck their head out of the door. Three strands of white hair were attempting to cover their bald hair, but was doing a very poor job at it. The most noticeable feature that Etifia was trying her best to not stare at was the enormous hooked nose that dipped below their bottom lip. “Want to have a gander at my tricks and toys?”
 
 
“Umm, no thank you, uh, ma’am or sir?’ Etifia said, leaning away from the creepy human and looking around. They were still within the mall, so this little shop was quite the sore thumb in the midst of the modern shops. However, no one seemed to take any notice of the strange person.
 
 
“Oh, but I insist.” Etifia tried to leave, but there was something else in their voice that gave her pause. An undertone that seemed to be charged with magical power. Etifia blinked, trying to clear her head, but felt her legs moving on her own.
 
 
“Please, step inside.”
 
 
Etifia could hear George talking, his hands patting and slapping at her cheek. Etifia stepped into the shop, the stink of earth filling her nose like a river. The store was empty but for a small table with a crystal ball on top of it.
 
 
“Allow your mind to wander. What is it that you see?”
 
 
“What?”
 
 
The old crone walked around the table and sat down, their long fingers clicking on the glass. “What is it that you see? When you look upon your future?”
 
 
Etifia, despite her better wishes, looked into the crystal. She normally didn’t respect soothsayers due to her experience with them, but this one wasn’t charging her anything so she had no reason to not at least try. Raising a hand to steady George on her shoulder, Etifia leaned forward and peered into the crystal ball.
 
 
The mist swirled and parted, revealing a rather familiar sight. Etifia was in her room, toweling her hair off and sitting on the edge of her bed, using her other hand to scroll through her phone. She sighed silently, setting it down and pulling out an unfamiliar talisman, jingling it like a bell.
 
 
After a moment, they could see George and several others wander into the room as if in a trance, pushing past the slightly open door. Reaching down as if picking out snacks from a tray, Etifia plucked George between her fingers and lifted him up, parting her lips and gently putting his legs in her mouth, sucking him up to his chest and keeping him there. George’s face remained blank, as if he was under a charm effect that rendered him docile.
 
 
Etifia seemed also in a trance, a greedy gaze accompanying more grasping hands as the other Micros were picked up. Etifia tucked them into various parts of her bathrobe, moaning silently as they touched the sensitive parts on her body. Leaning her head back while she touched herself, Etifia sucked George in her mouth, pursing her lips to cover his hair.
 
 
Her adams apple bobbed and the vision ended. Horrified, Etifia looked up at the crone, who grinned toothlessly back at her. “And that is your future, young lady. You will purchase the Charm of Command and with it, you will become the true queen you are.” Within the palm of the crone’s hand was the same talisman that was in the vision.
 
 
“It will cost you, though. Are you willing to pay it?”
 
 
Instead of answering, Etifia turned and sprinted out the door, taking George with her as she did so. She was in the parking lot before she let herself calm down, her breath smoking around her head.
 
 
“Are you okay, Etifia?” George asked, shivering in the cold air.
 
 
Etifia looked down at him, his tiny form smaller than her finger and so vulnerable to her every whim. All it would take was a careless movement for her to have him scrambling for survival in a world that was too big for him anymore.
 
 
“Can, can we just forget what we saw?” Etifia pleaded, clutching George tightly and walking to the car. George seemed to pause, then wrapped his arms as best he could around her.
 
 
“Of course.”