“She has gained more and more advantages, and basically can’t be stopped,” said Kenneth, who had learned everything by reading her manuscript, “She can take that portable reducing machine anywhere and surprise anyone with it. Before they know what to do, she can have them reduced and gobbled down at the venue of her choice.”

“Our only hope is to reverse those advantages, said the princess leprechaun, “As the surviving sovereign, I can authorize a journey to the deepest caverns to obtain the Ring of Reversal, but I can not instruct anyone to come with me. Whoever uses it will retain full memory of how it was used and why. Anyone who doesn’t will remain oblivious to a lot of things.”

“Could I come too?” asked Kenneth.

“You’d be most welcome,” said the princess.

They put fresh wicks in their lanterns after a long sleep, lit them, and the princess led Kenneth and five other leprechauns to the deepest caverns, where they found a large ring resting on a rock in a cavern that had its own unique light source.

“Most surface people think that we leprechauns are merely legends,” said the princess, “However, the Ring of Reversal is a legend well grounded in truth and known only to our people, and now to you, Kenneth.”

“How will it reverse her advantages?” asked Kenneth.

“To do that directly is beyond even the powers of the Ring,” said the princess, “It can only aid us by reversing the passing of time which has occurred since Colleen acquired all these advantages. Our kingdom would never have been found and dug up. The young men she shrank and ate will never have been shrunken and eaten, and everyone’s memory will work only as far as that point in time to which the flow has regressed. We know that she first perfected her non-portable version of the reducing machine and ate Stanley less than two years ago. So we will reverse the flow of time by two years. The memories of anyone touching the ring will remain unreversed. We will know everything that has happened in the last two years.”

“Before you do that, can I ask a special favour? I know you’ve done so much for me already,” said Kenneth, “But can I reverse things more than two years from my own perspective, and then you can all just go back the two years you want to?”

“You’re welcome to make the attempt,” said the princess, “But we do not know how a human being would be affected by the ring. Your memory may or may not remain unchanged as ours will. If it does change, you will have forgotten as many years as you end up reversing with the Ring.”

“It’s worth the risk, as I’d like to do some things over differently,” said Kenneth, looking at the Ring again.

To his tiny self it was the size of a large hoop, like the ones that people played with for exercise. Now he was holding something like that, but with vastly different attributes.