After smashing a few buttons on his keyboard and clicks on his mouse, Wilfred waited patiently for his conversation partner to emerge on the screen.

"Well, that took long,”

Wilfred stared at Celeste's displeased countenance beaming from his laptop screen. He hated himself and felt disgusted when a tent was being hoisted in his pants. He could not help it, though. Since their first introduction, he has been intensely physically attracted to Celeste. She looked even more appealing now with the tanned layer on her comely face – courtesy of the exotic sun burning ceaselessly in a cloudless blue sky on her holiday destination.

A few drops of water trickled along her face and bare shoulders – persistent stragglers from her dip in the sea she took mere minutes before plunging down in her hammock. Celeste shook her head twice from side to side, flapping her lengthy hair like she was making a vain attempt to cleanse the wet look from it – which was also a feature that made her look more tempting than ever.

Wilfred watched with big eyes as he saw Celeste grabbing a big bite that looked like a double Quarter Pounder with cheese – with drips of ketchup and slices of pickle squeezing out on the sides. Celeste devoured it like an animal – munching one bite after the other.

"What time is it again there? 10 a.m., right?" Wilfred asked, looking at his watch.

Celeste nodded, taking another large bite, while shamelessly eating with her mouth half open.

"And you're eating a burger?... For breakfast?..."

"Mmm," Celeste nodded while chewing like it was the most normal thing ever to eat junk food for breakfast.

"Hey, listen," Celeste said with her mouth still full. "you've gotta help me out here, Fred."

Oh, boy…

There was only one thing Celeste could need from her stepdad. Money.

"Sure thing, Celes," he politely said while simultaneously fearing her request. "what can I do for you?"

"You know The Oasis, right?"

Wilfred nodded. "That Casino you mean? On Sunglow Boulevard?"

"That's right! Because you see, here is the thing. Dany and I went for a quick spin at the roulette table last night. And, I swear Wilfred, the girl was on a roll! She kept winning and winning and winning!"

Here it comes…

"Yeah, and?..." Wilfred prodded Celeste to cut to the chase.

But Celeste was not done yet. "So you see, I told Dany about my feelings of guilt I had towards you. You gave me this awesome sports car, loaned me all this money to go on vacation with my friends and all."

Loaned? Wilfred thought with a chuckle. The girl never mentioned anything about giving it all back in the future.

"So I desperately wanted to return the favor, Wilfred. I really, REALLY wanted!" She whined while closing her pretty face in on the camera with guilt-ridden eyes. "Sooooo….–"

"So you've gambled all of your money on one number in the hopes that Dany's spree of luck would aid you in becoming filthy rich." Wilfred took over.

"I, uhm... yeah."

"And you've lost it. All of it."

"Yes. Yes I did," Celeste scratched her nose. Wilfred sighed.

"But that's not all." She added after a moment of silence.

Wilfred cocked an eyebrow.

Celeste cleared her throat. "Well, you see, I also like…–"

Wilfred rolled with his eyes. "You've sold the car and used the money to place another bet – which you've also lost." He expressed his assumption.

Celeste lowered her eyes. The only thing Wilfred could think about at that moment was how beautiful Celeste looked, even while being sad. This was the moment where he should scold her for her irresponsible behavior. The girl had gambled away a substantial fortune in one night. But all Wilfred could do at that moment was to admire Celeste's breathtakingly facial features. Her high, sculpted cheekbones and those plush lips, that were framed on the underside by a narrow chin. Wilfred's eyes wandered off shamelessly to Celeste's chest. When he was sure that her eyes were still looking down, he took his chance and ogled her marvelous and juicy spheres – that were tightly packed within a white swimsuit top. His manhood rooted about in his underwear – like a snake who was poked awake from hibernation – when Wilfred's brain started creating evocative images. He saw himself at the size of a crumb while clambering along the curvy surface of Celeste's healthy bosom. Wilfred was quite alarmed about the development of Celeste's powers, though. He feared it. But at the same time, he was also intrigued by it.

The girl could shrink people, cars, whole buildings even. And multiple at the same time. Wilfred recalled Celeste's outburst from last week, whereby she shrunk down a good portion of the neighborhood during her stare-down with her mother.

Could a scale like that be the limit of her power?

Scientists from around the world were mystified by this occurrence. Pro tech's tower was subjected to a thorough investigation as to why it suddenly shrunk down to the size of a finger in the middle of the day – its poor employees included, some of them smaller even a sprinkle. No one knew who or what could have caused such a supernatural event. No one, besides Wilfred and his wife.

To soothe Celeste's whims, Wilfred had offered her enough money to go on a round-the-globe trip with her friends. And it worked, for now. Celeste had not used her powers for almost a week, at least as far as Wilfred knew. Celeste was far too occupied with trying out her brand new Porsche Cayenne – that was transported to her with urgent delivery. And now all of her money was gone, the car included. Wilfred had feared that something like that would happen. The girl will most likely ask him for more money – which he frankly did not want to give her. Wilfred had plundered a good chunk of his savings to buy her a car and had given her enough money for a trip around the world. This would hopefully allow Wilfred and his wife plenty of time to ponder their next course of action. Because what kind of advice would one give to a married couple whose daughter was able to shrink people and stuff down to microscopic proportions with the sheer power of her will?

It gave Wilfred also a sense of safety. He did not know the scope of her powers, but he was pretty confident that she would not be able to use it on him when she was staying on the other side of the continent.

"Is mom there, by the way?" Celeste asked, shaking Wilfred out of his moment of contemplation.

"She's working at the moment. I'll tell her you called."

Celeste sighed. "She's always working when I call."

"She's in the midst of a hefty project."

"Yeah, I know. You've told me the same thing last time. But a mother has time for her daughter, right?" Celeste's voice started to rise in volume as her eyes began to look fiercer.

"She does, Celeste. I promise you, she does."

"So where is she then? She does not answer my calls. I haven't spoken to her in days!"

"I… uhm…"

"I want my mom, Wilfred! Give me my mom!" Celeste sobbed. "Fix it!"

Wilfred rose his hands up. "I will, Celeste. I will, I promise."

"You bet you are!"

Wilfred watched, baffled when it looked like a pencil was floating in mid-air right in front of Celeste's comely face.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Celeste beamed. "Learned it just yesterday. Whoops!" Celeste chuckled when the pen fell down. "I'm still practicing here, as you can see."

Oh my God! Wilfred thought with despair. The girl could harness the power of telekinesis now. Her capabilities are still minor. But Wilfred did not dare to think about the consequences when the girl could use it on a large scale – combined with her size manipulating powers. She would be like a slumbering nuke bomb, ready to unleash catastrophe whenever she flew off the handle.

"How did you…"

"Knew that I could?" Celeste finished Wilfred's sentence. She shrugged, grabbed her half-finished burger again, and took a bite. "Don't know. I just tried it, and I could."

Wilfred swallowed hard. What more is this girl capable of?  "Have you tried like… doing other things?"

"Nah, just this." Celeste took a long swig from a glass of coke and pushed out a small burp.

"But hey, listen, you've got some money for me, right Fred? I mean, I know it's my fault and I'm sorry and all, but I'm stuck here and can't go anywhere without it."

"What about your friends?"

"Dead broke, all three of them." Celeste took another swig of her coke while pulling up one leg so that she was able to rest her elbow on her knee. It gave Wilfred a marvelous sight of Celeste's bare leg – splendidly tanned and unblemished. "So you see, Fred. You're the only one who can save us here. You're not gonna leave us to fate now, are you?”