He noticed the happy gleam in her eyes, as he took in her incredible announcement. She had mistaken him for some sort of tiny being who had always been small, and demonstrated an appetite that he had not foreseen.

Stefan watched Mrs Robertson locking his bag away in the cupboard, closing and locking two laboratory windows which the students had left unlocked and then approaching him again. She picked him up and sealed the classroom from the outside, and turned the key in the lock.

Mrs Robertson carried Stefan to her own office and placed him on her desk beside a cup that was taller than himself.

“Mrs Robertson, could I please say something important?” he asked nervously.

“By all means, but you’ll need to be brief about it. I’m going out to dinner with a friend of mine on the administration staff. I don’t want to keep her waiting.”

“Well I hope you enjoy your dinner,” he said, “I don’t mean to show you any discourtesy, Mrs Robertson. It’s just that I …”

“What?” she prompted.

“I feel a certain reluctance in the area …”

“In what area?” asked Mrs Robertson.

“The area of being eaten,” said Stefan, “You can understand it from my point of view, can’t you?”

“I hope it won’t seem too callous to say that I guessed you’d feel that way,” said Mrs Robertson, “But I have told you my lunch plans for tomorrow, and I won’t be making any allowance for your reluctance. I honestly hope you’ll enjoy most of your trip up into the mountains, but you’ll be riding down again inside my stomach after I’ve eaten you up. Here’s a cushion to sleep on and some food for you. I’ll see you tomorrow, little boy.”

Mrs Robertson met her friend Thora at a restaurant in Darlinghurst, and learned that her day had been largely uneventful.

“Mine was one of a kind,” said Mrs Robertson, “You simply won’t believe this, Thora, but I found a tiny boy in the laboratory after all the students had left.”

“How tiny?” asked Thora.

“As small as one of my smaller fingers,” said Mrs Robertson.

“I wonder how that could be possible,” said Thora.

“We know so little about the universe, and even about the university, it seems,” said Mrs Robertson, “He could have come from some undiscovered location of tiny folk on earth, or he might even be from another planet.

“The scientific implications are phenomenal!” said Thora.

“I suppose they are, but I’ve been more interested in the culinary implications,” said Mrs Robertson, “I’m going to eat him for a picnic lunch in the mountains tomorrow.”

“Really?” asked Thora, smiling with interest, “Does he know yet?”

“Oh yes. I told him before I left. He’s in my office now.”

“How ironic that a being who may be from outer space will soon be exploring inner space,” Thora mused, “And how is he taking the news?”

“He did suggest an alternative,” said Mrs Robertson.

“Both our cars are still parked at the university. Could I walk back to your office with you and meet him before you do it?” asked Thora.