It was another boring day. I was living in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, outside a town in the middle of nowhere, in a county in the middle of nowhere. We were kind of a poor family, and had our share of troubles. Our family was a little weird and divided, and my parents were the only ones who were “stable” or whatever that means. I lived there with my “niece” who was only two years younger (like I said, a different family). She had red hair, the only one in the family like that. It was paired with green eyes, which gave her an unusual, distinct appearance. She was a bit of a tomboy, and we tended to play out in the woods together. It’s not like there was too much for us to do… but go in the creeks, go biking, or maybe just sitting out reading somewhere. Her family had treated her badly… but as someone without siblings of my own, I was glad to be with her. Even as we hit puberty, we didn’t get along any worse than we did before, and with me 16 and her 14, I figured that life would continue to be bearable with her around.
But something strange… something big… was beginning to happen…
August 20, 2020
“My legs hurrrrrttt…” Riley whined, as she flopped into the bed next to me.
“Your legs hurt? That’s quite an update… you didn’t get upset when you busted your knee a few weeks ago. Drop an anvil or something?”
“They just hurrrrrrttttt!!!” Riley whined some more, flailing her arms on the bed next to me. Her stomach growled loudly, and she shot up, looking kind of tired. “Damnit!” She cried. She was thirteen, but I didn’t really mind her cursing, I thought it was kind of cute in a way.
“Why are you so upset about? They’re just sore or something?”
“THEY REALLY HURT!!!” But Riley smiled, looking up at me. “Which means that I hit my growth spurt! I’ve been eating a TON too… and I’m not getting any fatter. Just bigger. It really hit me, all at once!” She did a little dance next to the wall, jumping right off my bed. “I can show you! Let’s look at the growth chart.” I rolled my eyes.
“Are you going to stand on your tiptoes again? You always do this… get really excited about growing. I look at it, and there’s pretty much nothing there…” But Riley pouted, before dashing off into the hallway.
“I REALLY mean it this time!” I chuckled as I followed her. She seemed really happy to say the least.
“Hey, Riley, what happened to your legs…” but I lost my speech. Riley was standing there, beaming against the wall where she marked her height. For the past several years, every mark had been at the same place: 4’11. It was measured every month, and I had last taken it only a week ago… but her head clearly went above the last one. She was taller. Than a week ago.
“You’re speechless, aren’t you! Your little Riley isn’t so little anymore!” She beamed, looking up at me affectionately. “Maybe soon… I’ll be taller than you, than taller than stupid dad! Taller than a house!!!” Her imagination was really running wild… and I looked down. She was wearing socks, wriggling her toes. Her feet were flat against the floor.
“I… I’ll get the tape measure,” I stuttered, causing Riley to jump into the air with glee.
I brought the worn tape measure out of its designated cabinet. Riley used it so often that the thing hardly stretched out anymore. But when I brought it to Riley, she was still just has happy, bouncing up and down with anticipation.
“Put it under my foot. Come on. Come on…” Riley eagerly awaited the tape measure. I rolled my eyes as I placed it under the sock, Riley stepping on it properly. And I traced it… up her body. Until it reached the top… and I couldn’t believe what it was saying.
“5 foot 1… when did you grow two inches?” But at that moment, my ears were blown out.
“YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” Riley screamed with all of her breath, going on for something like thirty seconds. “MY GROWTH SPURT!!! GROWTH!!! I’M BIGGER!!!!”
“Ok Riley…” I chuckled. But at that moment, she pressed into me, wrapping around me in a hug. She almost sounded… sad?
“I didn’t want to be little my whole life, Tommy…” She said. “I want to grow a lot… lot… more. I want to be huge… bigger than dad. Bigger than everyone. Then people won’t push you around. They won’t push me around… anyway…” Riley sighed, slumping her shoulders. “You’re kind of overreacting. People can grow fast, you know. This is probably going to peter out soon… um… maybe… I should get off of you…”
Riley was dangling off of my shoulders, having perched herself up on my like a bird. She didn’t feel any heavier… but it kind of felt like her breasts were pressing into my back. Riley jumped off me, as she gave me a curious look.
“Anyway… it’s hot as hell out here… and my friend canceled out anyway… I’m going to go swimming at the creek. You can join if you want.” With that, Riley went out of the house.
She was probably right. It was likely just an overreaction.