When
Bertie was 9, he had been given some money for his 9th birthday, and
decided to go and look at the shops after school. He found a science fiction
magazine with a cover story about shrinking, and went to buy a copy. After he
had handed the money to the shop assistant, he turned to see that a beautiful
lady was behind him in the queue, and she was holding a copy of the same
magazine to purchase.
“It
looks interesting, doesn’t it?” she asked.
“Yes,”
said Bertie.
She
bought the magazine and then followed him out to the street.
“Since
we both like the same magazine, would you like to come over for afternoon tea,
and we could read it at the same time and then talk about it? I’m Doris.”
“Yes
please Mrs….”
“It’s
Miss,” said Doris, “I never married. I always wanted to meet a tiny boyfriend,
ever since I was 17 in my second last year of high school. I used to think how
wonderful it would be to have someone who was only as tall as my finger. But I
never did. I’m 36 now.”
She
drove him to her home, and they had pancakes together and then sat down on the
couch to read the shrinking story. They talked about it for a while, and then
she drove him home, to save time.
It
was years before he was old enough to get to her home again under his own
steam, and by then he had learned enough from Miss Corlani’s science class to
build a machine that could control the dimensions of time and space. He was 13
and keen to see Doris again. He set the time controls for the year that he
calculated that she would be 17. He set the location controls for her house and
then arrived on her desk at around 1 ½ inches tall on an afternoon, after
school for her. The Ring of Reversal’s side effects had gotten him too. He
thought of her longing and realised that he was now in a much better position
to win her over, even though this Doris had never seen him before.
He
had quite literally appeared on top of her desk, while she was sitting there
doing her homework.
Doris
looked over at him in surprise, and put down her pen.
“Where
did you come from?”
“I
teleported in this machine,” he said, unwilling to confuse her with talk of
being from the future.
“I’ve
always wanted to meet a little boy like you. I’m Doris,” she said, thinking
that he had teleported from another planet.
“Then
I’m glad to be the one you’ve met. I’m Bertie,” said Bertie.
“You
look younger than me. How old are you?” she asked.
“I’m
13,” said Bertie.
“I’m
17,” said Doris, and then added in a delightfully mischievous voice, “I hope
you like older women.”
“I
do now that I’ve met you,” he said.
“Little
Bertie, I think I’d like to kiss you,” said Doris.
Her relatively huge lips had looked inviting enough even before she had issued such an irresistible offer.