Jerry was the first one up the next morning, having been used to getting up early for his delivery route. He was brewing himself a cup of coffee when Paul awoke, also used to rising early for he usually worked the morning shift. The two men talked little as Paul also fixed himself a morning coffee.

Carla was the next person up. She didn’t drink coffee; she said “hi” shyly to the two men before proceeding to knit. She had brought her sewing kit with her; she was working on a scarf. She judged she would have enough free time to knit during the competition. That was certainly true—of course, she hadn’t counted on being too small to move the needles, which was now her biggest worry.

Andy was the next up, spending far more time than most guys in the bathroom getting his hair right. He was more of a morning person and started up chatting with Paul right away. Marie emerged from her room a few minutes later, yawning and still wearing her pajamas and bare feet. She wasn’t so bubbly first thing in the morning; she sat and read a magazine.

Vera woke up a little later, not looking too happy. She had had terrible dreams about shrinking, getting smaller and smaller watching crowds of people looking down at her. She sat between Paul and Jerry. Jerry began to talk about things so far removed from the competition that it made her feel a whole lot better.

Not surprisingly, Dale and Hailey were the last ones up. Dale was wearing a victorious smile as he sat down between Paul and Andy, as Hailey emerged swaggering with a hint of a smile on her face. She sat down next to Marie, who entertained her in conversation.

Jerry and Vera teamed up to make muffins for the group, and their conversations drifted around to anything but the competition. Paul relayed the story of his military experience to Dale and Hailey, putting special emphasis on anything that exemplified his manliness. Hailey ooed and awed through the whole thing, while Dale tried his best to appear unimpressed.

Marie left the room to take a shower and get ready for her day, leaving Andy to scoot over towards Carla. Andy had noticed Carla not talking very much at all, and he was strangely attracted to this girl.

“What are you knitting?” Andy asked, pointing.

“A scarf.” Carla said. “I’m thinking of giving it to my little sister.”

“It’s nice,” Said Andy, feeling it. “Do you sew often?”

“Yes,” Carla said, still looking at his work. She could tell the earnestness of the man’s actions, and she knew he had other things on his mind.

“Are you looking forward to three o’clock?” Carla asked, looking at Andy for the first time.

“Yes.” Said Andy, a little too fast and causing Carla to give him a quizzical look. “I mean, I’m excited for this to get underway. The shrinking should be, well, interesting. I always like the chance to look at things from a new perspective.”

“I guess your right.” Carla said. “Still, I hope I’m not one of the ones picked.”

“Yeah.” Andy said. “I don’t know, it sure would be interesting?”

“Are you saying you want to be shrunk?” Asked Carla, smiling an amused smile.

“Well, um, not…” Andy fumbled for words, “I mean, I want to stay in the running and all…”

“I won’t say anything,” Carla said, still smiling. “I promise.”

“Thanks.” Andy said, nervously. “I mean, that is, if there was something to say.”

Carla just smiled.

Pretty soon Marie emerged from the shower, and she suggested that they go outside. She had seen several balls out there and volleyball net and she thought it would be fun. Paul, Dale, and Vera jumped at the chance with Carla and Andy quick to follow. Jerry and Hailey seemed reluctant at first but decided to join in also.

Before anyone could say anything Paul and Dale proclaimed themselves team captians, and Paul recruited Vera before Dale could say anything. Dale picked Carla, who was the next athletic of the lot. This attracted a pouty look from Hailey, who expected to be picked because of their experience last night. Paul then picked Andy, and Dale picked Marie. Paul picked Hailey, leaving Dale with Jerry.

They played a few rounds, but the dominant combination of Paul and Vera quickly made the game quite one-sided. Paul got some nasty looks when he enthusiastically spiked the ball at little Marie, who threw her hands up in front of her face. Dale called a timeout and called for a redistribution of teams. Jerry, Hailey, and Marie all decided they had had enough, and to make the teams even Carla offered to step out too. The teams were redistributed Paul-Andy against Dale-Vera, and play resumed.

Jerry and Hailey sat around to watch the game as Carla and Marie took a little walk around the house. Neither of them were really interested in the game’s activities and instead talked to each other.

“What do you think of this place so far?” Jerry asked.

“Oh, I don’t know.” Said Hailey. “Wait until after I’m shrunk a few times!”

Jerry chuckled. “Yeah, it’s weird.” He said. “But I like the people so far.”

“Yeah,” Said Hailey. “They’re all pretty neat. But I don’t know who I can trust, you know what I mean? I don’t even know if Dale would take my side.”

“It’s all fine and good while we’re all on the same side and none of us have been shrunk.” Jerry said. “But wait until later. I can guarantee you the shrinking will change everything.”

“Yeah,” Hailey said, shivering a little with the thought. “I hope no one gets hurt though. This could be dangerous!”

“No one was hurt in the first season.” Jerry said. “I don’t think anyone here is that rough.”

“I don’t know.” Hailey said. “Paul looks like he could rough someone up real good.”

“He’s tough all right.” Jerry said. “But of course, one we’re shrunk it will only matter what size you are. No matter whether you are strong or weak, your size will determine everything.”

Hailey laughed. “So maybe I’ll end up pushing them around!”

“Wouldn’t that just take the biscuit.” Jerry said.

Out in the yard, Carla and Marie were walking and chatting. Last night they had already agreed to their pseudo-alliance. It wouldn’t mean anything yet, but the odds were three to four that one of them would remain full-sized. That sounded a lot better than the one to two individual odds.

“So what do you think,” Marie said. “In your gut feeling, do you feel you’re going to be shrunk today?”

Carla stopped and thought. She really didn’t know, but she had a feeling. “No.” She said. “Somehow, I think I’ll stay big.”

“I’ll probably shrink.” Marie said, giggling a little. “I’ve always been a small girl. I’m sure I’ll just get smaller.”

“Well, at least this isn’t the end-all.” Carla said. “There will be many chances for size-changing after this. Gosh, I can barely imagine being three feet tall; I don’t want to think about any smaller sizes yet.”

“Hey, I have a question,” Said Marie, her eyes lighting up. “It’s kind of a personal question though—sort of, that is.”

“Go ahead,” Carla said.

“If you had a shrinking machine and were in a relationship,” Marie said. “Would you—uh, if one of you was going to do it, would you want to be the big one or the small one?”

Carla smiled at Marie. Obviously the girl had given it some thought. “You first,” Said Carla.

“Well,” Said Marie, timidly, “I’m used to being tiny, so it’d kind of be interesting to…but I mean, it would be cool to be big too, I guess.” Marie giggled. “I’m not being very clear am I. I really don’t know what I’d prefer, that’s kind of why I asked you.”

“Well,” Carla said, a smile creeping onto her face. “I think I’d actually want to be the big one. That way you’d be in charge. And you can make him do what you want. And this:” Carla cupped her hands and raised them. “He would be cute!”

“Yeah,” Giggled Marie. “That would be great. But I mean, I’m still undecided. I think with a gentle man being small could be loads of fun.”

“I’m still going to go with the big.” Carla said. “I don’t trust men enough to give them that kind of power.”

“Well, we’ll see how it goes.” Said Marie, her mind lost in fantasies.

Back at the volleyball net, both sides played hard but were getting ready to call it a game. It was approaching the afternoon, and the sweaty players wanted to get a shower and have some lunch before the big event.

Vera took a nice cool shower first, the refreshing droplets washing the sweat away from her body. The game had done wonders to take her mind off the shrinking, but now that it was over the shrinking started to creep back into her mind. She looked down at her feet and up ad the showerhead and tried to imagine herself at half-size. She would only come up to her own waste, and what a scary thought that was! It would be hard to do anything, not to mention the guys. She would have Paul to count on, but she still had some doubts about him.

The others started to prepare a small lunch for the group. Dale, Paul, and Hailey all tried to fight down the stress by eating extra helpings of food. Andy—on the other hand—was shaking so much it seemed he could barely eat. Other people might have mistaken it for nerves, but Carla thought she knew it was something else.

Marie fought down nerves by becoming extra chatty. Now that everyone’s mind was on the shrinking machine she stopped trying to fight it, but instead tried talking about it in a context that didn’t involve them.

“I was rooting for Serine myself,” Marie said, reminiscing on the first competition. “But I knew when the vote came she had no chance of remaining Queen.”

“I didn’t like Serine.” Jerry said. “I was mostly rooting for Cameroon. He still should have won, in my opinion.”

“Come on, no Sandra supporters?” Dale joked, referring of course to the most unpopular character. “I liked Bill at first, but I think he wussed out.”

“I didn’t watch all of it,” Said Paul. “Too busy with work, and it was on too late. But I thought Tom was a good competitor.”

“Ah, Tom had no chance,” Hailey said. “I knew it from the start. I thought it would either be Annie or Sherri, and I guess I was right about Sherri.”

“It’s weird to think that we’re here now, that we’re following in their footsteps,” Said Marie. “We’re part of the same show! Do you think we’re really that different from them?”

“I don’t know.” Dale said. “There were some pretty extreme types in that group. I would have thought it was staged even if I knew shrinking machines existed.”

“Well, I think there’s some real nuts here!” Jerry joked, getting him a playful slap on the arm by Dale.

Three o’clock was fast approaching and the members of the house were trying to find ways to distract themselves. Paul went into his room and made his bed over and over again. Jerry convinced himself that he saw spots on the silverware he had just washed and washed them again. Carla tapped her fingers on the table, and Marie tried unsuccessfully to concentrate on her magazine.

At precisely three o’clock there was a hard rap on the door. At that moment Hailey had been closest to the door and she opened it. Standing in the door was Betty, wearing a tank top, shorts, and sandals. She was smiling with joy for seeing them all, and to announce the event ahead.

“How are you doing today?” Betty asked.

“We’re pretty good,” Hailey said as the rest of the competitors crowded around the door. They all looked fairly calm, but it wasn’t hard to detect the nerves hiding just under the surface.

“So, are you ready for the challenge?” Betty asked.

“As ready as we’ll ever be, I suppose.” Dale said nervously.

“Well,” Betty said. “You know what’s going to happen, don’t you? So all you need to do is follow me to the shrinking room.”

Betty led the group out of the house, and they followed her at a bit of a distance across the small lawn and up to the door of the compound. Betty opened the door and led them immediately down a hallway to their left, and the contestants found themselves in the dark, windowless room made infamous by the first season.

“The ones who are destined to shrink have already been chosen.” Betty said, producing four cards from her pocket. “They were picked entirely at random by a computer. When you leave here today, four of you will be normal size, and four of you will be half-size, and an eighth of your current weight.”

Betty paused to let the impact sink in. They all knew the moment had arrived, and they were all trying to compose themselves accordingly. Marie and Hailey had both developed a case of the shakes. Andy tried to calm himself, telling himself he would pretend to be disappointed if he was picked. Paul was once again standing as if he was at attention, and Dale was swinging his arms. Vera’s lip trembled a little.

“I will announce the names one by one, and when you hear your name, you will walk forward into the shrinking machine. The machine will shrink you automatically, so you don’t need to worry about pressing anything. After you are shrunk, you will proceed through the far door and wait in the far room for me to come collect you.”

Eight breaths were collectively held as Betty brought the first card to her face, out of the contestant’s eyesight.

“The first person to be shrunk,” Read Betty, “Is Dale.”

Dale nearly laughed out loud. He had known he would have a good chance of being shrunk, but he never expected to be first! Well, at least he’d be a pioneer of sorts, being the first one of the group used to it so he could help the others adjust. He walked into the booth and the door automatically closed. A few seconds later there was a bright flash of light. Somewhere, on the other side of the door, Dale was three feet tall.

The seven remaining contestants looked at each other, but all eyes were on Betty as she procured another card.

“The second person to be shrunk,” Ready Betty, “Is Marie.”

Marie really did laugh out loud. Her prophecy turned out to be true. The small girl was going to become the tiniest woman in the world. She couldn’t help shaking as she walked forward, entering the shrinking room and smiling timidly as the doors shut. There was another pause of a few seconds, then another bright flash of light.

Betty cleared her throat and read another card.

“The third person to be shrunk,” Read Betty, “Is Hailey.”

Hailey jumped a foot when she heard her name being called. She had been dreading this moment, but now she had to walk forward and accept it. The girl tried to give a smile to her comrades, but it looked more like a grimace as she shuffled forward into the shrinking machine. The door closed and once again the flash soon followed.

Andy, Carla, Paul, Jerry, and Vera looked at each other. They were almost out of it—they all knew they had almost survived. There was just one more person to be shrunk, just one more…

Betty cleared her throat again, raising another card to her eyes. She didn’t say anything for a few seconds, and then announced the last name agonizingly slowly and drawn out.

“The final person to be shrunk…is…” Betty said. “Jerry.”

Jerry nodded his head and smiled in acknowledgement. He partially suspected that this would happen to him. It was just like him—to have the irony of being picked at the last moment. He walked forward into the machine and even gave a little bow before the doors shut on him. A second later there was a final flash, and all the day’s shrinking had been finished.

Andy, Carla, Paul, and Vera looked at each other. They were standing in a much smaller group than they had come in, but they all understood that they were the lucky ones. Andy was a little upset that he wasn’t shrunk, but after watching the others reactions he was starting to have second thoughts about it. Carla felt grateful, and Paul lifted his head up proudly, although inside he knew it was all luck. Vera could feel nothing but a deep sense of relief: she had dodged the first round.

“Congratulations on avoiding the machine this first round!” Betty said. “I’m sure you’re all quite relieved. But remember, there will be plenty more chances for you to be shrunk. However, you are the leaders for now. Enjoy the power while it lasts. Now, I will go fetch your friends, so hang tight.”

And with that Betty made off down a side passageway to meet the first-time shrinkers, leaving the four of them to relax in their victory.

When the door closed on Dale in the shrining machine, the three seconds that passed before he was shrunk felt like an eternity. He had enough time to take in the room—it was very small, no bigger than a phone booth. The walls were a solid color and there were no protrusions except for the seams of the doors and the industrial looking light above.

Just as Dale started wonder when it would happen, it did. All he saw was a blinding flash of light that filled his vision, followed by a mild dizzy spell. He struggled to blink the dots out of his eyes and make sence of his situation.

Dale found himself in a very tall room about the floor size of a bathroom. The celing was more than three times his height and the visible screw heads on the wall were the size of coins. He could scarecely believe this was the same phone-booth-sized room he walked into just seconds before. But apart from still seing a few bright dots, he felt comopletely normal.

The door opposite the one he came in opened and Dale walked out into a second room. This room was another meeting room, slightly smaller than the one they had entered in. But to Dale is was much, much bigger. It was the size of a very large room with a two story celing. Dale saw a door with a doorknob just above his eye level. He tried not to think about a person coming through that door.

Suddenly there was another flash of light behind him. Somebody else had shrunk. Who could it be? Dale sincerely hoped that Paul would be amoung those shrunk—he wouldn’t want to compete with someone whom he only came up to the waste on.

The door opened, and out came little Marie. She was still staking a little, a smile coming weekly to her face. Marie’s mouth had dropped open in amazement the moment she saw the enlarged world around her. She had always been a short girl and used to looking up at things but this—this was a view she hadn’t seen since her very early childhood.

Marie smiled weakly at Dale but did not stand by him. Both of them were too busy waiting for the next person to emerge to talk. Marie really hoped Carla was going to stay full-sized, because at this moment she had a one in three shot of being shrunk. She wouldn’t mind Jerry shrunk, too. For some reason she didn’t want him full-sized with her shrunk.

There was another flash, and a few seconds later Hailey walked out. Her head was tilted back and her mouth agape, looking at the monumentally high celings around them.

“Honey,” Hailey said, walking over to Dale and gripping his arm, holding on to him for comfort in this new and frightening world. Dale smiled. It was nice to have a little friendly company.

The last flash occurred and they all wondered who had shrunk. Marie was hoping for anyone besides Carla; Dale was hoping for Paul. Hailey didn’t really care who turned up now that she was here.

The door opened and Jerry came walking out. Smiling jovally as he tried to pass it off as nothing, but his wide eyes betrayed his astonishment. “Hi,” He said, to which Marie weekly returned “Hi.”

For a moment they just stood there, not knowing what to do. They knew Betty would be back in a moment, and it was all they could do to brace for that moment. Seeing walls and doors was one thing, but seeing a full-blown person double their size, now that was something else.

They heard footsteps in the distance, louder than any footstep they could muster. Then they saw a shadow grow high up on the wall. Then, in a second, Betty was there in front of them. She was a sight to behold. Her hips were as high as the top of her heads, her legs as thick as their whole bodies. Her breasts were the size of pillows, and her mouth was as wide as their faces.

Betty smiled a big, thick smile as she looked down at the shrunken contestants, whose combined body weight equiled merely half of hers. “How are we doing now?” She asked, her voice sounding amplified from far above.

“We-we’re good.” Said Dale, not sure how good he really felt.

“You’ll get used to it soon.” Betty said. “But you better not get too used to it—there will be opertunities to grow as soon as tomorrow! But for now, let me take you back to see the rest of your competitors.”

Betty started walking down the narrow hallway that bypassed the shrinking chamber. The four dimunitive contestants followed her, transfixed as her legs took truly massive strides across the ground.

In the other room, the four contestants that had not been shrunk awaited the others return with an earnest excitement. They were going to see these people who they had gotten to know over the past day tiny! Carla tried to picture a little Marie, a little Dale…it was hard to picture, but fortuanitely she wouldn’t have to wait long.

First through the hallway was Betty, followed by the four child-size shrinkees close on her heels. Carla could not help a gasp of delight at seeing the tiny people. Vera put her hand on her mouth as her eyes opened wide. Andy murmered a soft “wow” and even Paul’s eyebrows raised.

The four shrunken people were experiancing the other side of the meeting. Dale looked up at the gigantic Carla, Vera, Andy, and finally Paul. He didn’t like the situation one bit, expecially Paul, but those girls sure were sights to behold. Jerry and Hailey were simply overwhelmed by the scale of everything.

Marie shreeked with excitement at seeing the tall people. To her, this was less something scary than it was something exciting and new. She nearly ran over to her big friend Carla and wrapped her arms around Carla’s leg, giving them a tight hug. Carla responded by putting her hand on Marie’s back gently.

The other six were not so eager to run up and touch each other. In fact they kept quite a distance, looking at each other with suspicion and worry. Hailey was still clinging onto Dale, who was trying his best to ignore Paul’s triumphant look.

“Well,” Betty said. “These are the sizes you’ll be stuck at until eight o’clock tomorrow evening. It will be then that you have a chance to change your situation. Until then, I have provided some extra things for your entertainment, and they should be fairly easy to find. Now, off to the house with you!”

Betty opened the door and they all walked out, big and small alike. The back yard was suddenly a lot bigger to the shrunken folk, who were careful where they walked so they wouldn’t get trampled on. Most of the tall people were courteous and paid attention to what was below them, but Paul was walking with his eyes faced straight ahead, uncaring as to what was underfoot.

Vera reached the door first and opened it for the rest of the group. The eight of them filed into the house and started staking out seats. Paul moved quickly to claim the largest easy chair and sat in it like a king perched in his thrown. Carla sat down on the edge of a couch, her little sidekick Marie sitting next to her. Vera sat down on the other side of the couch, with little Jerry filling the gap. Andy sat in another chair, while Dale and Hailey tried to keep out of sight by going off into their room.

“So what does it feel like?” Andy asked, leaning in a bit towards Marie and Jerry.

“It’s very weird.” Marie said. “I never imagined everything would look so huge! I thought I’d be the one smaller and everything would look mostly normal, but everything is just so gigantic!”

“Yeah, it’s a trip.” Said Jerry, looking to his sides at giant Carla and Vera. Something in the way he smiled indicated he didn’t totally mind the situation either.

“It’s hard to believe, seeing you,” Said Vera. “It’s almost unreal.”

“It almost makes me giddy,” Said Marie. She stood up, but even standing on the couch her head didn’t come up to Carla and Vera’s heads. She jumped down to the floor, a distance about waist height to her. “It reminds me of being a child!”

They all smiled as Marie started walking around the room, looking at everything as if she was seeing it all for the first time. Abruptly, she turned and came up to Carla.

“Carla, could you pick me up?” Marie asked, an earnest look on her face.

“Okay,” Said Carla, surprised a little by Marie’s excitement. Carla was pretty sure that if she had been shrunk she would not want anyone to pick her up, at least so soon. Carla stood up, her body towering over Marie’s. Carla bent down and put her hands around Marie’s waste, lifting the little girl up into the air.

Marie gave off a deafening whoop of joy as Carla lifted her. Carla held the small girl up by her shoulder as Marie looked around her. Carla was surprised by how little Marie weighted—she was only half her size, so she should still be somewhat heavy. But the little girl couldn’t have weighed more than fifteen pounds.

“This is so cool!” Said Marie as Carla started walking around with her. Carla gave Marie a little spin, which caused her to cry out in exclamation again.

“Hey, let’s go outside!” Suggested Carla. Marie agreed, and before long they were leading the group out the door. Even Jerry went though he was sure he didn’t want to do anything athletic. Paul was the last to go, not wanting to appear as if he was following another person’s suggestion.

They found a soccer ball and played Carla-Andy against Vera-Paul, with Marie running with Carla’s side. Everyone was a little gentler than they normally would be, since getting struck by a soccer ball at full speed would easily be dangerous for someone as small as Marie.

Dale was able to convince Hailey that they were being cowards by staying inside, so they too joined the fun. Finished with soccer, the group played a game of horseshoes with a plastic set they found in the yard. Even the small people could still throw them since they were light, however unwieldy.

After a while they decided to go inside and prepare dinner. Paul, Carla, and Andy joined the cooking crew, and while Marie begged to be part of it, Paul and Carla said it would be too dangerous for her, so she ended up sitting cross-legged on an out-of-the-way part of the countertop watching.

Vera found herself among three tiny ones in the living room. Dale and Hailey shared a single chair together, as there was more than enough room to do this. Jerry came up to Vera and started a conversation.

“So you feel lucky after that first shrink?” Jerry asked, looking up at the much larger woman.

“A bit.” Vera said. “I’m still a little worried, but after seeing you small I’m starting to feel a bit better.”

“It’s really nothing.” Said Jerry. “It is scary and all, but I’m not alone. I know everything is set up to be safe here, as long as you avoid playing soccer with big people.”

“That Marie’s really going to get herself in trouble running around like that.” Vera said.

“It’ll wear off I’m sure.” Jerry said. “So do you think tomorrow will be the same as it was in the first competition?”

“What, where we vote someone to shrink and someone to enlarge?” Vera said.

“Yeah,” Jerry said. “I think that’s going to be the same.”

“Well I hope nobody votes for me.” Vera said.

“Well, I do hope somebody votes for me,” Jerry says, smiling. “But you never know. Tomorrow may be completely different. It could be the first competitive game, for instance.”

“It might.” Vera said. “If it has something to do with physical ability I’ll be pretty confident, especially if Paul’s on my team.”

“I hope it isn’t a competition.” Jerry said. “I’m not exactly the most athletic guy alive.”

“Well, it could be a trivia contest.” Vera said.

“I’m not too bad at that.” Jerry said. “But really, I hope it’s just a straight vote. That’ll be the best.”

At that moment Paul called for supper, and they all gathered around the table. None of the shrunken people could reach their plates, so Carla had to go gather pillows for them all to sit on. They had also overestimated the amount of food the small people would eat. In reality, all four of them collectively ate half a serving, so there was a lot a food left for leftovers.

All in all, the contestants were starting to get comfortable with their situation. Jerry was starting to become less phased by everything, and Hailey was starting to calm her nerves. Dale was still the most uncomfortable: this was not a naturally tenable position for an alpha-male type. He certainly didn’t like seeing Paul as a giant but what was worse yet were the women who were so much bigger than him. It made him feel emasculated and he didn’t like it.

After dinner Vera and Paul did the dishes, freeing up the others to watch TV. Marie still wanted to be part of the operation, so Paul allowed her to dry the dishes. Being made out of glass, the dishes were very heavy and hard for Marie to handle. She managed, however, and turned out to still be a help. Paul dried the casserole dish himself—it would probably crush little Marie.

Right as the dishes were done being washed and dried, there was a knock on the door. It wasn’t as loud as Betty’s knock and didn’t carry the same authority. Wondering who it could be, Vera walked forward and opened the door.

At first she didn’t see anyone, but then her eyes fell downwards, and there stood little three-foot Sherri, smiling widely.

“Hi,” Sherri said, waving up at Vera, “Can I come in?”

“Sure,” Said Vera, holding the door open for the little woman. Sherri walked in and attracted the attention of the other contestants, who offered her a spot on the couch between Carla and Jerry.

“Betty let me come here to hang out with you.” Sherri said. “I thought it would be fun to come half-sized.”

“Weren’t you the one who was afraid of shrinking?” Asked Andy.

“Yeah, at least at first,” Said Sherri. “But over time I got used to it and even learned to love it!”

“That was some pretty neat stuff,” Said Dale. “When you killed that mouse I thought for sure it was faked, but I guess it was real!”

“As real as could be.” Sherri said. “I still keep that spear in my house!”

“You didn’t know what was happening to you that first season, did you?” Asked Paul.

“We actually had no clue.” Sherri said. “We were flying blind over the whole game. It was an experience though.”

“And you won!” Andy said. “What are you doing with your million?”

“Well, I bought a new house,” Sherri said. “Right on the coast. Not terribly big, but with a view to die for. The rest of the money I really haven’t touched yet. I’m not even sure what to do with it; I’ve never had so much money before!”

“I could think of some suggestions.” Said Jerry with a grin.

“You could buy a fast car,” Suggested Paul.

“I guess I could,” Said Sherri. She stretched out her legs and laughed: “Right now I wouldn’t be able to reach the pedals!”

“That’s funny.” Marie said. “Wow, I couldn’t imagine being small out in the world. Did you ever shrink outside of here, Sherri?”

“No, the shrinking machine’s immobile after all.” Sherri said. “Besides, we can’t take it out of here for security concerns.”

“I have to ask you a question, though.” Vera said, leaning in. “Did you—uh, on the last night of the competition, did you…get your way with all seven at once?”

Sherri smiled. “What do you mean by that?” She asked.

“Well, Betty told you that you won the rest of your teammates for the night.” Vera said. “I was just wondering if you, uh, at all…”

“I’m not telling!” Sherri said, brushing a little.

“Did you?” Asked Hailey, earnestly. “I know some racy stuff happened, with Sandra and Bill and Cameroon and all. But did you go all the way with a, um, a four inch man?”

Sherri laughed. “I’m not saying anything at all.” She insisted. Vera wondered how anything sexual with a four-inch man would be exciting, since he would really be to small to do anything. Andy, on the other hand was listening with wrapped interest in case Sherri said anything about her escapades.

“But you did something with at least Tom or Cameroon, didn’t you?” Hailey asked.

“I’m saying nothing.” Sherri said. She obviously didn’t want to tell them the truth—they would find out the fun little behind-the-scenes activities slowly as the time came.

“It’s weird to think that we’re in the same competition you were in.” Marie said. “I mean, you’re practically a celebrity!”

“I don’t think of myself that way at all,” Said Sherri. “Although a number of people recognize me in public. They all go, ‘Hey look, it’s Sherri!’. I had a few people shout ‘What’s it like to be shrunk?’ to me, which I just usually wave off with a laugh. They all think I’m an actress with wires.”

“That’s funny.” Marie said. “They’ll probably think we’re all actors too.”

“Me an actor? Now that’s funny.” Said Jerry, prompting a laugh.

“If there’re any producers out there, call me agent!” Joked Hailey. “I’m available for movies!”

“Hey, let’s see if there are any games,” Vera suggested, indicating a cabinet. Indeed the found a bundle of games, including Twister. Deciding it would be neat to try it with half-sized people they played it.

Paul and Jerry sat out, preferring instead to play a game of battleship. But the other six had a wild time as Sherri sat perched on the edge of the couch with the spinner. The half-sized people couldn’t reach the colors on the ends at the same time so they ended up at a stark disadvantage, but winning or loosing made little difference. At one point both Carla and Andy were twisted into odd configurations, and Carla finally broke, nearly crushing Dale under her as she collapsed.

They played for a while before deciding to watch a movie. Dale and Hailey retreated again to their chair where they covered themselves in a little blanket. Paul and Vera sat together on the couch, Jerry and Sherri sharing the last cushion. Andy sat on the other chair as Carla stretched out on the floor, being joined by Marie who was eager to share Carla’s ample body heat under the cover.

They ended up watching two movies lasting well into the night, and when it was all over Sherri bid them all farewell and headed off towards the compound. Slowly the rest of the group funneled off to bed. Paul retired, wanting as usual to get an early start on the day. Vera and Jerry each went off to bed, and Dale and Hailey once again snuck away to their shared room.

Marie stretched her arm out in a yawn. Looking up at Carla, who was nearby, she said, “I know this is weird but—can you tuck me in?”

Carla smiled. She was really taking a liking to the little girl, and she was so cute now that she was small.

“Alright.” Carla said, reaching down to pick Marie up. When Carla had her Marie slumped over on Carla’s shoulder, putting her hands around Carla’s neck. Carla rubbed Marie’s back gently as she carried her to her bedroom to tuck her in. She passed Andy on her way to the bedroom, and Andy just couldn’t help but stare at the sleepy Marie, wishing it could be him.