It was only mid afteroon so I didn't think Amanda was going to sleep. I got up and walked off her hand. I walked toward her feet and sat up against her paw. At first I felt her foot twitch, I guess because she wasn't really expecting me to sit there. I waited for a while, and neither of us said anything. I was actually close to falling asleep when I heard Amanda start talking. She said, "Hey, Anthony?"

"Yeah?" I asked.

"You think there's anyone else like us?" She asked.  

"I don't know..." I said. "Maybe there could be and we just don't know about them."

"Hm, how come you always try to give me the answer you know I'd like to hear?" She asked.

"Because you're my little sister and that's what I'm supposed to do." I said.

"Is that why you came back to find me when I ran off into the woods?" She asked.

"Well, I felt really bad about what I said. And I couldn't just leave you out there, what kind of older brother would that make me?" I said.

"You keep saying that, but you do know that I'm not really your younger sister. So, why go through the trouble of trying to bring me back even after I threatend you?" She asked.

"We were raised as brother and sister, and like I said back in the woods, you have been my only real friend for almost all of my life. I had to go and help you, especially because I was the one to make you upset in the first place. And stop saying that you aren't my little sister, I'm your big brother and you're stuck with me." I said.

"Ok, ok, but still I dont really think that I'm your little sister anymore." She said.

"No matter how big you get you are still younger than me." I said.

"I guess you're right." She said. "By the way, while you're down there you wanna start massaging?"

I turned around and looked at the foot I was sitting up against and said, "Amanda, your feet smell pretty bad right now."

"You sure it's my feet? They don't smell any different to me. It could just be your new stronger sense of smell you know." She said.

"If it was that I would've noticed a while ago, remember I slept on your paw." I said. "I think it's because you wear those boots when you go outside."

She looked over to them and said, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Those boots do make my feet sweat more than usual."

"I'm not rubbing your feet until you take a shower." I said.

"But you were just leaned up ugainst them, come on" She said as she sat up straight looking down me. "Besides I thought you liked the smell of my feet."

"I never said that." I pointed out.

"I know that you do, so get to it." She said.

"No, I don't want to." I said. I was beggining to walk away and she pulled me back by my tail. She held my tail so I couldn't go anywhere. I sighed and walked back to her feet.

She smiled and said, "Hey it could be worse, I could put you in one of my boots and walk on you. Then you'd have to deal with the smell and you'd be pressed up against my foot."

I was wondering why she didn't just do that to start with, but I guess she either though she might hurt me under all her weight or she just found it pointless since she couldn't walk anywhere at her size. Either way I was happy she couldn't or just didn't want to do that to me. Whike I was rubbing her feet I notced that the sweat was getting in my fur. I knew I would need another shower. I did this for the rest of the afternoon. Eventually I asked if I could go and take a shower, because I had her sweat on me. She picked me up and put me down by my bathroom. I got new clothes and went into the shower. While I was in there I herd Amanda say something but I couldn't tell what over the sound of the water. When I got out of the shower I looked for Amanda but I didn't see her. I looked at the clock and notcied that we usually eat dinner around this time, so what Amanda must've been trying to say was that it was dinner time. I walked into the house and they were already eating. I sat down and for some reason I felt as if my parents were watching me while I was eating. It felt strange but I didn't say anything or even check if they really were. I just tried to ignore the feeling. Amanda and I walked back to shed after saying goodnight to our parents. I walked back with Amanda and started thinking again about how I was different and how the feeling I got that my parents were staring at me was a feeling I would have to get used to from everyone. I tried to hide it though, so Amanda wouldn't notice anything. We got back into the shed and Amanda grew back to her giant size. She picked me up by my tail and said, "Ok, so what wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing's wrong." I said.

"Haven't we been over this?" She asked.

"What?" I asked.

"You aren't a good liar, especially with me." She said. "Now, whats wrong? I could tell that something was since you came into the house at dinner."

"I don't wanna talk about it." I said.

"Alright if you say so," She said as she put me down by my bed,  "but it's better to talk things out than to keep quiet." She said.

I thought about what she said as she shrank down and went into her bathroom to change clothes. She was right, last time I tried to just ignore it I ended up saying those things about her. I sat down at the edge of the night table and waited for her to come back out. She was in there for a while, I heard the water running so I assumed that she was taking a shower. I was a little confused because she usually took showers in the morning before she woke me up. I didn't think about that for too long though, the worries I had before came back. I saw Amanda come out and she looked up at me. I jumped down to the bed then the ground. I walked over to Amanda and she saw that I was still upset. I think she could tell because my ears were down, I guess it didn't happen before this because I was trying my best to hide it. She grew and picked me up. She sat down on her bed and put me on the night table. She looked at me and asked, "Ok, so you ready to tell me whats wrong?"

"Yeah I guess..." I said. "I just want to know something, but I didn't ask you before because I didn't want to make you upset."

"Well don't worry about me, tell me what it is and be honest." She said.

"How do you deal with the feeling that everyone is watching you?" I asked, I hoped she wouldn't get too upset about me asking her this but she did tell me to be honest.

Her expression changed a bit and she did get a little upset but she tried to hide it and say, "Well, I've been like this all my life, and I just tried to get used to it. But even after trying to get used to it for over ten years I still try to hide in here."

"So you really haven't gotten over the feeling have you?" I asked.

"No, I honestly haven't." She said. "It's just something that will be with us forever. I suppose, maybe eventually we will get used to it, but until then at least we are in this together."

"I guess you're right..." I said.

"Now, let me ask you something." She said.


"What?" I asked.


"When I asked you if you were upset about this why did you lie to me?" She asked.


"I knew that you would like having someone like you, and it just didn't feel right telling you that I didn't like the change." I said.


"It's one of the only lie you've ever told that I believed..." She mumbled to herself, unaware that I could hear her.


"It wasn't a complete lie you know." I said.


"What do you mean?" she asked.


"I did like the change at first, but I didn't think to much about the negative side of it. I only looked at the positive side." I said.


"What positive side?" She asked.


"Well hightened senses, I heal pretty fast, and I can fall like twenty five feet without getting hurt." I said.


"I guess if you look at it that way it doesn't sound awful, but still..." She said.


Thinking about the positive side seemed to distract me and I began to forget about being so upset. Amanda was still looking rather upset, and now that I was feeling better I tried to think of something that would make her feel better. She was still looking at me and I said, "Amanda, pick me up."


"Alright" she said as she put me in her palm. I jumped down from her hand to her leg and then walked over to her feet. "What was the point in me picking you up if you were just going to jump off?" She asked. I didn't answer, I just kept walking. She pinched my tail and picked me up and asked, "What are you doing?"


"You made me feel better so I was going to try and make you feel better." I said.


She smiled a little bit and said, "That's nice of you, but I don't want you rubbing my feet right now."


"That's a first." I said.


"I'm just not in the mood, alright?" She said.


"Ok, ok but does that mean you aren't going to let me sleep on your paw?" I asked.


"You have a bed for that." She said.


"Yeah but your paw is more comfortable." I said. She ignored me and just laid down on her bed still dangling me by my tail over her face. "You can put me down by my bed if you want." I said.


"Alright then," she said as she put me down on my bed, "Goodnight then."


"Goodnight Amanda." I said. I lied there in my bed and realised something, this was the first night in a while that I didn't sleep with the scent of Amanda's feet in the air. I looked over to the door and saw her boots, they were scaled to her size and I wondered why they grew with her and stayed big when she took them off. As I thought about it I noticed my school bag on the ground by my shoes. I remembered that on monday I would have to go to school again. Thinking about being around hundereds of other kids, who probably wouldn't keep quiet about thinking I was some sort of freak, made me feel awful. As I fell asleep I wished with every fiber of my being that I could be normal again...