Megan stood up and gently placed her older sister on her bed. Kelly grabbed her midsection again, the sharp returning as she breathed in.
Megan made sure the settings were where she wanted them and then she fired.
Kelly closed her eyes, expecting to return to her original height. But she was surprised when she felt the familiar sinking feeling again. She opened her eyes to see Megan growing before her again. She turned her head from side to side to watch her sister's bed stretch out further and further in all directions.
"Megan!" Kelly yelled up, panicking. "What are you doing?!"
"I'm sorry, sis," Megan replied. "I enjoyed our heart-to-heart. I really did. But if I make you your regular size again, what would stop you from just snatching the gun away from me and then shrinking me down? Or you would probably tell mom what I did and then I would get in trouble. So, I'm sorry, but I can't grow you back just yet."
Kelly watched as her world continued to grow all around her. Soon, she was less than half her previous height of 13 inches ... and still she shrank!
"Um, Megan?" Kelly asked, a little worried. "Just how much smaller are you going to make me?"
"You'll see," Megan responded in a sing-song voice.
Kelly continued to shrink, going from six inches, down to five, four....
Still, it dragged on. Kelly wondered if Megan would ever stop.
Finally, the device shut off and Kelly looked up a her younger sister. She towered above her like a skyscraper. The vantage point Kelly was provided with made Megan look 70 or 80 stories tall.
Kelly had to be no more than an inch tall at this point!
Very carefully Megan's thumb and forefingers descended upon her newly shrunken sister. Kelly started running in the opposite direction, hoping to find someplace to hide. But both girls knew it was fruitless. Almost as soon as she started running, Kelly was grabbed by one of her arms and was hoisted up towards her larger sister's palm.
Kelly was placed very gently on the wide surface, the palm stretching for a couple of football fields. The fingers, off in the distance, looked like giant felled redwood trees.
"I'm really sorry, Kelly," Megan whispered so her older sister's ears wouldn't hurt. "I had to do this. But I promise, I'll take real good care of you. I won't let anybody else harm you. It's just until I can figure out what to do with you. Okay?"
Kelly started crying, knowing her life as she knew it was over.
At least for a while.
Megan placed her shrunken sister back on her nightstand and stood back up.
"Stay right here," she said. "I'll be right back."
Kelly looked around, observing what her life had become now. She was now no bigger than a pea. Her toddler cousin had used her for a squeeze toy - among other things - earlier in the evening! Megan had run off to get god knows what. Her life was officially over at this point.
About that time, Megan returned with what appeared to be their old bird cage. It had been cleaned but it still had rusty bars and the smell of musty bird seed.
"This is your new home!" Megan said, excitedly.
She reached over and gently picked her smaller sister up by the arm again. After sticking her hand into the door of the cage, Megan placed Kelly on the floor of the cage. Megan removed her hand and locked the door afterwards. She peered inside, the enormous face of hers beaming from ear to ear.
"So, how do you like it?" Megan asked.
Kelly looked upwards. The cage stretched like a three-story mansion from her viewpoint. She also noticed the bars were just the right size, if she ever thought about escaping.
Kelly smiled back.
"I love it."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Later that night...
Kelly couldn't sleep, and not just because her new bed consisted of an empty matchbox stuffed with cotton and a blanket from one of Megan's dollhouses. She sat up and saw her younger sister asleep. If she was going to escape, this was her chance.
Kelly weighed her options. If she decided to escape now, she would probably be stuck at her current size for a long time, possibly forever. Of course, she could always get the attention of one of her parents and tell them what happened, given they wouldn't mistake her for a bug.
On the other hand, if she stayed where she was, Kelly would probably be well taken care of. Well-fed, given exercise. I mean, sure, her education would take a severe nosedive; she probably couldn't attend college if Megan chose to keep her this size forever. But it would be a very comfortable life.
Kelly finally decided to ...