The months passed. Summer made way for autumn, autumn for winter. Snow covered the streets and houses of Sheffield. Outside it froze, but inside her home, Megan was steaming. She had just seen the episode of "Britain seeks a pop star" in which she appeared. It was the last of the shows before the recall, then the candidates having gotten the desired "yes" from the jury would be further thinned out. All had been taped already, safe the live shows. As usual, it took a few months between the taping and the broadcast.

The show, Megan found out to her great dismay, had ridiculed her even more than she feared. First, they made her appear like a boaster, who thought she could sing well enough to be the winner of this year. Although she had been interviewed like most other candidates before her singing, she had actually never boasted of her singing skills. But with some clever cut and pasting of the footage, they had turned her answers into a boast. Second, the voice-over made snide comments as well, not only siding with the jury, but also attacking her personally.

"Yes little girl," the voice said, dripping with sarcasm, as she left the jury's room after her below average performance, "that is what you get when your mouth is too big for your tiny frame."

Megan was pissed. The cheek! That bloody bastards! She was angry! And she realised all of a sudden that she probably would be recognised on the streets now, and being laughed at by total strangers. It made her heart sink.

After Megan was shown leaving the audience room, angry back then as well, the program showed the jury debating her performance as well as the answer she gave the chief jury member in her anger. Apart from a few other disguised-as-feedback-insults, they accused her of being an unsportive person who wasn't able to cope with criticism.

"Ah well," the chief jury member said, sighing. "She still has a lot of growing-up to do... both literally and as a figure of speech."

Megan jumped up from her couch. That bastard! She had to refrain from throwing the TV out of the window. Her heart pounded and she was at the verge of screaming. How dare they! She turned the television off, vowing never to watch any program of that channel ever again. Then she cried.

After a while, sadness made room for another wave of anger. Oh, if she only could get those pigs! She'd show them. But how? If only she had stayed at home that day! First they let her wait a long time in the studio, after that she had been mocked before a running camera and later, back home, that strange conversation with that weirdo who claimed he was a mage or something....

Megan suddenly remembered the amulet that guy had given her. What did he say again? It granted one wish, and she could wish that, and that alone, over and over again. Yes, something like that.

Megan stood up and walked to a closet, where she had tossed the silver thing in a slide that day, not having looked at it again ever since and even almost forgotten it. The little girl retrieved it and, vaguely thinking she was more than a fool as ever before because she believed it worked, muttered "I want to grow...".

Nah, that was silly. Sad, she dropped the amulet on the floor. But something strange happened suddenly. The floor looked a bit further away. As Megan, baffled, looked around her, she startled. It was obvious....

She had grown!