A classic Borrower's tale: Community of Borrowers threatened by an unscrupulous real estate developer, a plucky young Borrower with a plan, and her elders who do not approve... Throw in some magic, inter-generational trauma, and unexpected catharsis and we're really cooking with gas here :}
Two. Small Enough to Live in Small Walls.
“P-put me—You—” the tiny thing, small enough now to fit into her hand, pushed himself into a standing position, his mote-like hands balled into useless fists as he looked up at her and Kipper, “You—”
He squeaked again, a new terror settling over his features as he began to comprehend his nakedness, his own vulnerability. Desperately, he shrieked,
“Undo it! Un- un- Unshrink me now! You disgusting little—Eeep!”
Kipper swept Bellfrey up, holding the pipsqueak at an arm’s length but low enough that the man would still have to stare up at him. Peppercorn could tell Bellfrey was still trying to struggle, thrashing beneath the calloused grip of the insect-tamer as he whined,
“P-put me down—Put me—”
Kipper squeezed the small body and Bellfrey let out a yelp of pain.
“Shut your flea mouth,” Kipper said, low and weighted, “Or I crush you the same way you crushed Feather and Peapollen.”
Bellfrey’s face fell again and he went quiet.
“Kipper,” Peppercorn tried, “He—”
“I know who he is,” Kipper said, gaze darkening, “I don’t care. His stinking body has threatened this town three times now and I think we should put an end to it. No more trouble here, we squash the termite and move on.”
Bellfrey looked as though he was about to cry.
“P- please,” he rasped, but Kipper only squeezed him harder.
“Kipper.”
Peppercorn turned at the sound of Milkseed’s voice, her own voice catching in her throat. Her Mother stood there, eyes dodging the prone, pathetic body in Kipper’s grip, a large glass jar balanced in her palm.
“We put him in here and we decide what to do with him.”
“Mil—” Bellfrey managed before Kipper squeezed him again.
“Kipper,” Milkseed tried, voice softening slightly, the tilt manipulative, the way she had taught Peppercorn to speak to Beans, “He did it to you, now is your chance to—”
“I don’t care about that!” Kipper tensed, his wasps, the hornet lifting off behind him in agitation, “He killed Mayfly’s boys, he—You—”
For a second, Peppercorn thought she saw sadness in Kipper’s steely gaze before the emotion dissipated and he offered the shrunken man, limply, towards the mouth of the jar.
“N-no, don’t—” Bellfrey tried before letting out a tiny squeal as he tumbled down into the vessel.
Milkseed sealed the lid, passing it—him—into Peppercorn’s hands.
“You said you had a plan,” she said, still not looking at the pitiful thing in the jar, “Is this part of it?”
“Kind of—” Peppercorn bit her lip, “Maybe, I— I wanted him to see the village, I wanted him to see that we aren’t just rodents or bugs or—”
“WOAH!”
A child surged from the gathering crowd, attempting to seize the jar from her hands,
“THAT WAS WHAT STEPPED ON MY HOUSE? HEHAH—” he tapped his plump, sharp nailed fingers against the glass, sending Bellfrey scrambling to the other end, “It’s like a Borrower for us Borrowers—” the child let out a loud, belly laugh and the tiny man clamped his hands over his ears, “Ewww!”
“I’m not—” Bellfrey whimpered, voice even smaller behind glass, but his protest was lost as Peppercorn hoisted the jar over her head and away from the curious children now gathered at her waist.
“What is it?”
“It could live in our walls!”
“Little bug!”
“Can we play with it?”
“Can we put it in the stream?”
“Can we put it in a hole?”
Bellfrey paled.
“We aren’t going to do any of that,” Peppercorn said, locking eyes with Kipper, “We’re going to force him to call off his construction contract and then—”
She looked at the creature in the jar, face scrunched in thought.
“Unshrink me then,” he wailed, “I swear I’ll give you anything you want, I—I’ll do anything you want—Just—”
Peppercorn gave the jar a shake, ignoring the mixed expressions from her Mother and Kipper as well as the scream of indignation from Bellfrey. She held him up to her eyes, narrowing them with purpose,
“Don’t make it worse for yourself, you tried to kill me and most of the Borrowers here,” she shook the jar again, lightly, so that he lost his balance and fell onto his backside, “I’d probably talk as little as possible if I were you.”
“But—I’m—You can’t do this to me—I— I own this land, I—I could have all of you stuffed and put in a fucking children’s museum, I-- "
Kipper cut him off, flicking the glass and sending Bellfrey scurrying,
“Listen to the girl, you little freak,” he grunted, addressing Peppercorn next, “How does this keep us safe?”
“Well, I didn’t mean for it—him—He wasn’t supposed to be this tiny. I wanted him to see how we live, my life here, and then maybe…”
Kipper let out a high, cruel laugh, cut short as Milkseed swatted the back of his head.
“Oh Pepper,” she said, “I don’t think—”
Peppercorn felt new anger flare up in her,
“No, I understand that it was foolish now, he’s never—I mean, he’ll never—” she felt tears in her eyes again, the ferocity of how badly she wanted her Mother, Mitehollow to understand.
“You idiot,” Bellfrey chirruped, “Me being here doesn’t change a thing. Those bulldozers are still going to rip up these backwater little woods and your stupid little village with it and—”
“And you’ll be the first under their wheels, Bean,” Milkseed spat, taking Peppercorn by the shoulders.
Peppercorn watched the hatred in his miniature face shift, melting into a new terror, tiny hands again coiling into fists.
“Then un- unshrink me! I can call it all off—”
“I—” Peppercorn began, swallowing her own fear, “I don’t know where the Stick is—I dropped it when you tried to—It—It fell into the well.”
Kipper let out a bitter laugh, “You’re stuck with us, Bean.”
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