Her Tiny World

Chapter 16. Feelings

Mina

I didn't hear footsteps coming so I was taken by surprise. The only thing that was clear was that it was a female voice. I was paralyzed in place. There was someone else here. Someone like me. How? I held the diary tightly in my hands. I couldn't let go of that.

"Did I scare you?" She laughed. "You're so silly."

I turned to the voice hiding the journal behind me. I saw her. She was a woman who was probably in her twenties. She also had a somewhat laid-back attitude as she stood there with her arms crossed on her stomach.

"Look at you." She said running her eyes over my clothes. Her gaze was almost reproachful. "What a doll."

"Who are you?" I ignored her spicy comment. "How did you get in?"

"I don't want any trouble." Her expression changed to something welcoming on a certain level. "I just want to talk."

"What a way to start a conversation." I glared at her. "Really friendly, huh?"

"Oh, forgive my manners." She patted her forehead. "I'm not very good at this, I guess."

"You must be confusing me with someone else." I raised my eyebrows suspiciously. "I don't know you."

"I know you don't know me. But you're Holb's daughter, aren't you? You just said it yourself." She said. "You're the one I've been looking for."

Looking for me? I was completely lost on the subject. I didn't even know who she was until a few seconds ago and now she was talking like I was some kind of hero who was going to save the day.

"How do you know my father?" I demanded.

She walked around the room, looking at every piece of furniture, every decoration. I stood in place, waiting. I couldn't tell if she liked it or not. Her face was expressionless. I pressed the diary once more. For some reason I felt I should keep it hidden.

"I know I broke into your... house." She paused, looking around judgmentally. "But I'm here to help."

"How you're going to help me?" I asked. "You're taking me home?"

"Not really, I'm afraid."

"So you can't help me." I was cold. "Now, please, leave me alone."

"I think we started off on the wrong foot." She turned to me and smiled. "I'm Daya."

She held out her hand for me to shake, but my hands were full. Even if they weren't, I wouldn't shake hands with her. I had never seen her before and she had already mocked me. I raised an eyebrow at her. After a few seconds of her hand hanging in the air she pulled it back, kind of embarrassed though.

"So you finally found it." She hinted at the diary behind me. "What an unusual place, huh? No one would have guessed."

Does she know about the diary?  I didn't know who she was. She had entered not only the dollhouse, but also the humans' house unnoticed. I had no confidence in her, but she seemed like someone who knew what this was all about. There's only one way to find out.

"What is this about people who can change size?" I asked her. "Is that true?"

"Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?" Then she approached and sat on the armchair. "We're small and they're big. Haven't you ever though that there could be something in between?"

She stayed there, sitting cross-legged, speaking as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. But honestly it all seemed like a crazy story, a dream with no head or tail. I looked at the diary in my hand. That really belonged to someone who knew my father? Someone who could change size and called himself his friend?