Even before the knock on the front door, twenty-three-year-old Sophie could already sense who had paid her a visit at the moment. She opened the door, and her uncle and aunt appeared. The two of them wore their usual lavish attire, Aunt Martina with her black sleeveless dress and Uncle Joaquin with his casual black coat and tie. Sophie spotted the silver-colored vase, sealed shut with its own lid, that Uncle Joaquin held in his hands.
Sophie gave a little smile. "I hope they didn't give you any trouble."
Joaquin replied, "It turned out to be a very simple task."
Sophie let her relatives enter her apartment.
Joaquin placed the vase on the coffee table. "No niece of mine should ever endure such humiliation."
Sophie nodded. "I cannot thank you enough for this."
"It is fine. After all, it is free."
Aunt Martina sat down on the sofa. "Men these days can be so unkind."
Sophie asked her, "Has anyone ever given you such unwanted treatment?"
"I remember when your uncle and I still lived in Chile many years ago. What you've been through isn't as malicious as what has happened back home."
Joaquin remarked, "Please don't exaggerate, my dear. All he ever did was flirt with you in the library."
Martina rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes. But even as I told him I was married to you, the man overlooked my little announcement and continued to ask for my phone number."
Sophie chuckled. "That's what you call a straight-up pervert."
Joaquin kept his eyes on the silver-colored vase. "You're not the only one who had a little bit of fun. I remember at least thirty years ago, when I worked for that inexcusably conceited bitch of a boss. Nobody liked her, including me. I felt tempted to give her a piece of my mind, and Saturday night had become the perfect night to do just that."
Martina shook her head. "Oh, you were such a deviant back then."
"You held the same philosophy, also. There is no room for double standards. And besides, at least she admired the experience when it ended. And we soon parted in good terms when I left the company."
"The one in the library felt the same way."
Sophie picked up the vase. "Explain to me again how the two of you used such incredible magic."
Joaquin cleared his throat. "You know we are forbidden to give such elaborate details of our enchantments. If we did, then everyone in the United States would want to share these powers of ours. It's too great a secret to be revealed."
"I guess you're right."
Sophie pressed her left ear against the vase. She could hear muffled voices from inside. She couldn't comprehend the words due to such a faint volume, but she managed to hear the word "help" amidst the screaming.
"I can hear Brent's voice. He doesn't sound very excited."
Martina crossed her legs. "He will be as soon as you eat your mint."
Joaquin pulled out a little green box from his coat pocket and handed it to her niece. "One is enough, but if you feel the need to bring things up a notch, take two more."
Martina asked, "Do you mind if I stay with Sophie? I always love to watch such a dazzling performance."
"I should remind you that-"
"Oh, not to worry, darling. I won't participate at all. I will just have a look."
Joaquin readjusted his tie. "Good. Well, I must leave. I have to go back to Los Angeles for a business meeting."
Sophie added, "I'll take Aunt Martina home when everything's finished."
"Good enough. See you tomorrow, Sophie."
"Bye, Uncle Joaquin, and thanks for everything."
When Joaquin exited the apartment, Martina followed her niece into the master bedroom. Sophie closed the curtains and turned on the lamp on the nightstand.
She closed and locked the door just before Martina took the little green box from her and opened it.
"Explain again who those two young men are."
She pointed at the vase. Sophie replied, "It's quite complicated. I know one of them. His name is Brent, and he's four years younger than me."
Martina picked up a tiny sphere-shaped mint, the color blue dyed on its entire surface, and put it in her mouth. She chewed on it while she asked, "Were you truly attracted to that young man?"
"Yes, and I seem to regret the decision to go out with him."
"Oh, don't be too hard on yourself. His leaving you for another woman is good news. Now you can entertain yourself as he and his friend become your...how should I say this...your prisoners."
Martina handed her the open green box, to which Sophie took it and placed it on the bed. She remarked, "If this doesn't go very well, then I don't know what else to do."
"Do not feel so concerned. I promise you good times once you open the lid."
"Okay, here it goes."
Sophie opened the lid. The faint echoes of two frightened men had reached her ears. She lowered the vase, situating it right above the already-made bed, and tilted it at a diagonal position, as if she was about to pour water on the blanket. Screaming, two tiny figures slid out from inside the vase and landed on the surface. Brent and Andrew had an average height for two nineteen-year-olds. Now, with the use of some exotic magic, they had been shrunken in size. They were now four inches tall.
To the best of Sophie's knowledge, Brent and Andrew had been close friends for some time. So she blamed Andrew partially for what happened between her and Brent. At the moment, the two young white men both wore brown cargo shorts and plain t-shirts. Brent had short blond hair, while Andrew was the one with the brown shoulder-length hair. They stood up and gazed at the pair of Chilean women looking down at them with their arms folded across their chests. Sophie, especially, gave them an icy stare. Brent appeared as though he tried to fake a smile.
"Nice to see you again, Sophie. Uh..."
Sophie asked, "So who was that other woman you were with last night?"
"Oh, she's an old friend from high school. Nothing's really going on between us."
"You're not that good a liar, you know."
Martina interrupted. "You have to admit, both of them are so cute. I particularly like his friend."
She reached down and closed her fingers around Andrew's waist and legs. In a frantic manner, he tried to escape her grasp by pushing her fingers and kicking her nails with force. It proved unsuccessful as Martina lifted him up into the air. Andrew could do nothing but watch as she brought him up right in front of her face.
She smiled. "Oh, he looks fine."
Andrew's eyes remained wide open with fear as she asked, "Aren't you the one who persuaded your friend to see if Sophie would be the one for him?"
Andrew gulped down air as he tried to say, "Yes...I am."
Sophie shook her head. "That's not even the half of it. Brent always told me that I became something special. It seemed harmless enough. But it's a filthy lie, I tell you."
Martina still fixed her gaze on the tiny man in her grasp. "Please, tell me more."
Sophie replied, "I think Brent should be the one to tell you what's really going on."
Brent took one step back. "Oh, I wouldn't want to bore you with all the details."
She looked down at her shrunken ex-boyfriend. "Tell my aunt Martina about how you used me. Tell her how you wanted to see which one of the three women suited you the best."
Martina asked, "Is that why he broke up with you? Because he chose the woman he wanted the most?"
"It's sickening, isn't it? One day, he took me out to dinner. The next day, he bought the second woman flowers. And the day before that, he took the third one to the movies. And to make matters worse, he didn't even tell me about the other two. And I don't think they knew about me, either. It's an invisible contest, Aunt Martina. You pick the one you like the most and dump the rest. We had a trust that failed."
"What a shame."
"It sure is. I was used the entire time. It's been happening for eight weeks. And don't even think about what's been happening in his bedroom. I liked him very much, and now I'm crushed. Andrew has done the same thing."
Martina held a devious look on her face. "This will be better than I ever expected."
Brent had to ask, "Why? What are going to do with us?"
Martina inhaled Andrew's natural aroma through her nostrils as she softly caressed his long hair with her index finger. She whispered, "Oh, it's exquisite."
Andrew tried to look away. "You're not going to eat me, are you?"
Martina chuckled as she continued to play with his hair. "Oh, of course I won't. Sophie and I have another thing in mind. Would you like to see it?"
Andrew took a deep slow breath. "Okay. Let's see it."