"I think it would be really cool if he was a swimmer" Daniel replied to both James and Elspeth's surprise "I love swimming. I'd like to become one when I'm a grown up and race in the Olympics"
"Well, that's a fine ambition to have" Elspeth smiled kindly at the child after a pause "I'm sure James and I can oblige with your request"
James really wasn't keen on what he figured was about to happen but was powerless to stop it as the witch waggled her fingers over his head. Suddenly he felt a chill over his mostly exposed skin and, looking down, he found he was wearing nothing but a pair of uncomfortably tight, black Speedo style trunks. Suddenly feeling very exposed he quickly lost another inch or two from his already slight frame which brought him down from the size of a doll to roughly that of an action figure. Annoyingly, Elspeth seemed to have factored this in and his trunks shrank witb him, remaining as tight and immodest as they had before.
"Woah, that's awesome!" Daniel enthused "I'm going to make him swim for me!"
Daniel brought over a plastic toy paddling pool shaped into the form of a smiling turtle from a nearby table and, before he could protest, James had been picked up and unceremoniously thrown in. He landed between a wind up frog and a rubber duck in cold water that clearly hadn't been intended for a human to swim in.
"Ok, you can race the frog" Daniel instructed James as he began to wind up his competitor.
However, before things could get any worse Daniel was called, somewhat reluctantly, away by his mother. It was probably the first break James had been given all day.
"Well done for being a sport" Elspeth smiled approvingly down on James as he climbed somewhat ungraciously out of the toy pool "Now, it's time for us to go"
"Home?" James asked optimistically. He was shivering a little.
"No, to see my friends" Elspeth dashed the shrunken man's hopes immediately "I'd like you to meet them"
"Like this?" James complained more than asked, gesturing down at his less than formal attire.
"Oh, I'm sure they won't mind" Elspeth reassured James, despite knowing full well that hadn't been his concern.
"Can I at least get dry first? I'm cold and wet?"
"Oh, you'll dry off and warm up quickly enough in my handbag" Elspeth answered as for the second time in the past few minutes James felt himself being picked up and placed somewhere he didn't want to be.
"Now keep quiet in there" Elspeth ordered James as she zipped up his only exit route and he tried to find a comfortable position among the various objects that were prodding into him in the darkness "we can get you on the bus for free again!"