Frances stepped back, and Colleen picked up the portable reducing machine from a small table, and pointed it at Nathaniel. He watched as she pressed the switch, and a beam of light came and enveloped him. Slowly his perspective altered, as his eyes were no longer level with her face, and the room seemed, by comparison, to be growing larger and larger, as did Miss Balfour. When he was no higher than the base of her ankles, Colleen turned off the machine.

“Pick him up and see if he’s as small as you wanted,” she said.

Nathaniel heard Miss Woodfield’s footsteps on the carpet, and turned around to look up at her towering approaching form. She stooped down and picked him up.

“Do you need a ruler?” asked Colleen.

“I think there’s only one way to measure his height that really matters,” said Frances, and put out her tongue and pressed him against it, “He’s just a little shorter than what can be seen of my tongue. You got it right the first time.”

The feel of that tongue was the wildest thrill that Nathaniel had ever experienced in his life. To think that he would be feeling it countless times in the years ahead. It still came as quite a significant surprise to see that this had actually happened, even with all of the preamble with which Frances had assured him of it in the preceding weeks. However, he felt no shock or regret, only elation at being there in this way.”

“I’m like a lollipop and a doll in one!” he said, “Your tongue feels incredible!”

“A doll and a lollipop. I think I’ll call you Dollipop from now on, if it’s alright with you,” said Frances.

“It’s a great name,” said Nathaniel, “Have you used this device on anyone else, Miss Balfour?”

“You might have heard of Henry’s disappearance from school,” said Colleen.

“Wow! You shrank him and kept him here as your own Dollipop?”

“Actually he followed me home from school, snuck in here and shrank himself. He heard us talking about the machine one day at school.”

“Well I guess it won’t hurt for you to say hello to him from me,” said Nathaniel.

“It wouldn’t, but he wouldn’t hear. He wanted me to eat him, and the idea certainly appealed to me too.”

Miss Balfour pointed to her stomach.

Nathaniel gaped in surprise and turned to Frances.

“Are you going to eat me one day?”

“No, darling. I want you with me as you are, always.”

“Since you won’t be telling anyone, there are two others who’ve been reduced by this machine, but they’re not from your school,” said Colleen, and told him all about Stanley and Patrick.

“Boy am I lucky you gave me to Miss Woodfield then!” said Nathaniel.

“You do look nice and mouth watering, but Miss Woodfield and I are best friends. I did this for her. But you certainly are lucky. Well Frances, I guess we’ll have some lunch here, and then you’d like to be taking him home with you then.”

“Yes, and thank you again,” she said.

Nathaniel sat on the table and ate generous portions of food while looking up at the two ladies gulping down mouthfuls of food at least as large as himself. He could only guess at what it had been like for Stanley and Patrick.