After cleaning up the pair of ripped underwear and changing into a fresh T-shirt and loose shorts that showed off his new bulge, Jim wondered what else he could change. He loved the constant growth part, but he wanted to try something else.
As he looked around, his eyes fell on a pretend basketball hoop attached to the door. Jim had always been on the shorter side, so what better way then to be taller? Jim decided to try height!
"Control the rate at which I grow taller per minute" Jim said to the balloon, not sure what to expect. He blew one breath into the balloon, said "release" and then waited. Standing up, Jim felt slightly off balance. Crossing the room to the mirror, Jim could see what was happening. Slowly, Jim's shirt was lifting up. As Jim watched, it actually lifted enough to show a little of his stomach, then a little more, and more as he watched! Jim's shorts were also slowly exposing more and more of his legs. However, because Jim had said height and not size, nothing else was growing in size. His torso and legs were simply lengthening to give him more height. He was going to be one skinny 12 year old.
As the growth continued, Jim realized he didn't have a tape measure. He didn't know how tall he was. The tape measure would be in dad's office, Jim reasoned, I'll put the ruler back and get that instead and be back here quick! Striding across the room and picking up the ruler, he left his bedroom and headed down the stairs.
Heading downstairs, Jim shivered at the cold. His shirt was riding high, exposing several inches of his new longer torso to the cold house air. Still, he pressed on. In the office, he put the ruler back, then sat down next to the toolbox and began searching. "C'mon, where is it" he mumbled, unconciously starting to hunch over as he continued to grow taller.
"Aha!" he exclaimed, holding it up in the air as he found it. Closing the toolbox, Jim then stood up and felt a rush of blood to his head. Even if he had only been sitting down for a few seconds, he'd already gained another inch of height. Jim couldn't stand to wait, he quickly unrolled the tape measure to the ground and stood next to it. "75 inches!? that's 6'3"! Jim stared at the tape in wonder.
Walking out of the office, Jim noticed how his head was much closer to the doorframe than before. Shivering, Jim realized he'd have to duck soon. As he began to climb the stairs, he suddenly heard a small ripping sound. Another step and another rip. Suddenly Jim's shirt ripped down the middle and fell off!
Quickly running, Jim stumbled, not used to his height. He had to duck to re-enter his room! Looking in the mirror, Jim gasped. He had to be the tallest 12 year old out there! He was at least 6'10" but still as skinny as he was at 4'11"!
"Well this is fun, but it's time to stop" Jim said as he looked around for the balloon...