Mary blushed a little.
"I will, but I want to ask a favor first, " said Mary.
"Sure, " said the fairy happily. "You are helping me to achieve my dream to grow bigger. I would be happy to help. But I can't grant wishes or anything like that. And that crap about fairy dust helping you fly is just nonsense."
"No, it's not that. It's just..... well, I have always had this weird fantasy, you know. I would never dare tell anyone else, but I just never thought it was possible.. until now, " said Mary.
"Oh, I get it," said the fairy as she slipped off her dress. "Just be gentle. I am still pretty small."
"No, no! It's not like that, " said Mary frantically waving her hands. The fairy looked a little perturbed as she put her clothes back on. "Not that you aren't beautiful, but I had something else in mind."
The fairy sighed. "Well, spit it out then. We are wasting time that I could be using to grow."
Mary blushed even redder.
"Well, I have always loved dolls. Even when the other children outgrew them I still collected and played with them. And I always kind of wondered what it would be like to be a doll. Not inanimate and plastic, just the size of a doll."
"You want to be short?" asked the fairy skeptically.
"Not forever. Just for a little while, so I could play with all these toys. I mean, look at this stuff - the house, the cars....I even have a little yacht. I have always wanted to be small enough to use them, just like my dolls did when I played with them," said Mary.
"Well, what's stopping you? I am sure there must be a shrinking vial in that box. And what does that have to do with me?" asked the fairy.
"Well, to be honest, I am little scared, too. It would be nice to have someone with me, not just to play with but also to help look out for me and make sure nothing goes wrong. And since you have experience being small...."
"Say no more," said the fairy. "Sounds like fun to me. Let's get this party started. But you have to promise to make me human size when we are finished with playtime."
"You got a deal," said Mary happily, as she reached out to shake the fairy's hand. The fairy's tiny hand reached out and gently grabbed one of her fingers, shaking it and completing the deal.
Mary spent quite a bit of time getting ready, arranging all the toys for their playtime. She even filled the bathtub with water for the boat, throwing in a few bath toys as a lark. Then she carefully filled a glass with exactly three and a half does of the 'Shrink' vial. If her theory was correct, it should bring her down from 5 feet tall to just ten inches, exactly the same size as the fairy.
"Here goes nothing, " said Mary, as she held up the glass and gulped down her concoction. The mixture was surprisingly sweet, but she could not place the taste.
Mary stood back and braced herself, waiting for the change. But after several minutes, nothing seemed to be happening.
"What gives?" said the fairy impatiently.
"I don't know, " said a perplexed Mary. "Maybe some of the vials don't work. Or maybe they don't work on humans. I should check on the instructions."
Mary tripped as she walked towards the box of vials on the kitchen table. The fairy roared with laughter, holding onto her sides as she rocked back and forth. Mary shot her a dirty look, but the look turned to shock when she spied the cuffs of her pants. They extended well past her ankles, causing her to trip over them. She had been shrinking, but the change was so gradual she had failed to notice it.
"Of course!" said Mary. "Larger doses must have a longer delay and a slower rate of change. Or maybe if the subject is larger the change is slower. I must write this down."
The fairy now watched with rapt attention. She slowly flew over to the top of the couch to watch Mary shrink. Mary sat down at the kitchen table and jotted some notes in her book, noting the time and dose she had used. The pen felt large in her small hand. Just how small had she gotten? She silently cursed herself for not setting up a camera or at least putting up some kind of tape measure.
She wagged her feet under the chair, noting with some apprehension that she could no longer touch the ground with her feet while sitting down. She hopped off the chair and struggled to stay standing. Her clothes hung loosely on her shrinking frame. The table was now as tall as her head. She was overcome with a strong sense of vertigo. The whole room seemed to be moving around her and it was tough to maintain her balance.
"Whoa!" said the fairy in awe. "You are really moving now!"
The changes were accelerating, occurring a much faster pace. Mary felt a little sick and knelt down on the ground. Her clothes seemed to expand around her, encasing her in a tent of cloth. Finally it was over. Mary slowly fought her way out of the clothes surrounding her. The fairy stood in front of her, a wide smile plastered on her face.
"Welcome to the club, sister," said the fairy.
The fairy reached out a helping hand to Mary. The hand that was once was so small it could only shake her finger, now was large enough to grasp Mary's own tiny hand and pull her whole body up off the ground. When she was standing, Mary noted that she was eye level with the fairy. She looked around the room. Everything seemed huge around her, like some kind of bizarre amusement park. The fairy held up some doll clothes for Mary to wear.
"Well, this is your party, Mary. What would you like to do first?"