* * * * *
"You read that right, Jay. Four inches tall! How do I know this? Well, I didn't know it, right away. Initially, I thought I'd been locked inside some giant metal sculpture built to _resemble_ a birdcage covered with chicken wire-mesh."
" 'Man!' I remember thinking: 'These Midwestern hicks have a weird sense of humor when it comes to community service. If they wanted me to spend each night of it, sleeping on the premises, all they needed to give me was a cot and a house-arrest ankle bracelet!' "
"Anyway, I went over to the nearest pair of bars and called through them."
" 'Hey! Is anybody out there? Can you hear me?' "
"That's when it happened. First, there was a loud 'beep.' Like a smoke alarm with a weak battery. Only ten times louder! Then, this giant metallic square opened up. Revealing a milky-white glass screen. And, finally, there was this electronic whine, like a cable TV when it's first turned on. But, this one was even more near-deafening than the beeping noise that had preceded it. I actually had to close my eyes and cover my ears!"
"When I reopened my eyes, there she was; Amelie Sargent. Still wearing her baton twirling ensemble. And, it's only when she started talking that I learned she really wasn't standing there, before me, in three dimensions."
" 'Hello, Professor Gambol. I assume you're awake, again. Sorry for the black-out! But, I'm afraid it's an inevitable side-effect of the shrinkage. Your brain's way of coping with the reconfiguration of your pituitary system. Hence, this pre-recorded message left behind on a portable DVD player linked to the voice-activation app of my cellphone.' "
" 'And, yes, I did say 'shrinkage.' You see; you are now just four inches tall! Imprisoned within a birdcage, atop the same office desk as my cellphone and the DVD player. A statement that I'm sure you're dismissing as crazy talk, right this instant.' "
"In that regard, she was a better mind reader than you, Jay."
" 'Well, it doesn't matter what you think, Professor. So, why don't you just watch the rest of this recording and relax? Take it easy for the next eight hours! Just watch...and relax.' "
"At which point, she began twirling her baton with her right hand, while holding her left arm akimbo."
" 'Watch...and relax.' "
" 'She's beginning to sound like a broken record,' I thought to myself."
"Because, that's all she kept saying, over and over: 'Watch...and relax.' That's when it suddenly occurred to me; she was trying to hypnotize me! Which, of course, immediately made me defiant. I shook my head; took a deep breath; stood up a little straighter; and stared determinedly at that baton for what seemed like only sixty seconds."
"The next thing I knew, a big rough hand was shaking my left shoulder."
" 'Rise and shine, sleepy head! Time to start Day 2 of your community service.' "
"I looked all around me, completely disoriented. Then, I realized where I was; in the junkyard manager's office! And, I was standing before a cot that I had apparently just finished making up. While wearing a house-arrest bracelet around my right ankle."
"Anyway, I was given a bowl of granola cereal, and a cup of black coffee, for my breakfast. After which, I reported back to the crusher area. Repeating every single thing I had done, twenty-four hours earlier."
I could not read any further at this point. Instead, I closed the manuscript and looked at my old friend's namesake.
"Did you make it this far, in _your_ reading, after you called me?"
Kenny Gambol (the country singer) grimly nodded.
"I don't know what to tell you, Dr. Grant. Except that I hope you find your friend...and get him some much-needed help. I wish I could stick around, but I got to go prepare for my first evening show!"
I nodded in perfect understanding, and shook hands with him.
"Thank you for your courtesy, Kenny. And, I told you; it's Doc!"
He grinned: "Right back at you."
And, we went our separate ways. He, to his rehearsal. Me, to my own hotel room, elsewhere on the Strip.
tbc
Giantess World
