Milos scratches his stomach as he stumbles into the kitchen. He yanks the refrigerator door open and pulls out a gallon of milk. He grabs a glass and pours milk into it. He hears a small yelp and finally opens his eyes, blinking at the harsh white light coming from the inside of the refrigerator. He looks around but sees nothing. He shrugs and lifts his glass of milk to his mouth. He is about to take a long drink when he freezes. His eyes focus on a small shape in his milk.
“CARMINE!” He yells, placing the milk on the counter and flipping on the kitchen light. “CARMINE! WHY IS THERE A—” He looks closer at the object in his milk and then sighs, resting his forehead on the counter. “Carmine… what are you doing in my milk?”
The tiny figure swims to the edge of the glass. Carmine stares through. She is wearing a swimming cap and goggles.
“I hear swimming in milk is good for your skin,” she says in a tiny voice that is barely audible.
Milos reaches in to the glass and plucks Carmine from his drink. She is wearing a blue one piece swimming suit. He places her on the counter and crouches down to stare at her at eyelevel. “Carmine… you can’t just go swimming in my milk! I drink that stuff! And besides, couldn’t you pour a little in a bowl and swim in that? Why did you have to jump into the whole gallon? Now I can’t drink any of this!”
“I’m sorry Milos,” Carmine shuffles her bare feet. “It won’t happen again. I promise. And I didn’t swim in the other gallon! You can drink that!”
He sighs, “That’s not the point Carmine. If you want to live here with me, you need to respect my things. Okay?”
She nods and then her body begins to grow and expand until she is back to her normal size.
“I’m sorry Milos,” she repeats, her voice back to normal as well. “I get bored at night. It won’t happen again.” She pushes herself off of the counter to stand next to him. She is about to head to her bedroom when she stops, turns to him and says, “But… next time you go to the store... could you buy whole milk?”
Milos gives her a chilling glare and she is quick to say, “Never mind. Never mind. Good night Milos.” She scampers out of the kitchen, dripping milk in her wake.
Milos growls as he pours his milk down the drain and goes back to bed.