Henry could hear the shower running when he woke from his post coital snooze. He thought it would be a good idea to join Alicia in the shower, he needed one as well, being aware of the impending helicopter trip.
Something seemed odd as he opened the shower door. She had not noticed him as she was in the process of washing her hair. But it was the fact that she towered over him that was unsettling. His first thought was the that the floor of the shower was raised.
But it wasn’t. He stepped into the shower and realised he had not stepped up. He also realised that this woman was some sort of Amazon. His eyes only came to her shoulders. It could not be Alicia.
Sensing the shower door opening Alicia washed the shampoo off her face and looked at her husband (who else would be joining her in the shower?) she was momentarily taken aback to see it was a short man in the cubical with her. She screamed!
At the same time Henry seeing the woman’s face saw that the Amazon was indeed his new wife. A noise “Waaa!” came out of his mouth.
“Henry?”
“Alicia?”
”What the fuck has happened to you? You’re short!”
“You’re tall!”
Somehow not believing what she was seeing Alicia put her head back under the water and rinsed the shampoo out. Surely this was some sort of hallucination. Once that was done she looked back at Henry.
Henry had stepped out of the shower and was looking at Alicia at the same time pinching himself. This had to be a dream.
Alicia turned the water off and stepped out of the cubical. She stepped across to her husband and measured herself against him. She was 6 inches taller than he was!
It was disconcerting when this new taller Alicia stepped towards Henry. She towered over him. He flinched back. He had never flinched away from a naked woman before but what the hell was going on? Last night he had 6 inches over Alicia. Now she had 6 inches over him! That meant she had grown a foot overnight. How was that possible?
It was then something clicked in Henry’s brain. She wasn’t necessarily taller. He was shorter! Had he lost a foot in height? The bathroom sink certainly looked higher than normal. Even the toilet looked bigger than it should be. He moaned “I’ve shrunk”
“I’ve grown” Alicia made the connection just a few seconds after Henry. To her the sink was a lot lower than normal.
“What is going on? Are we hallucinating? It must be the drugs from that sugar doll” said Henry
“The magic of the sugar doll” Alicia corrected him “The note said it was magic” she grabbed a towel and began to dry herself. Suddenly she felt embarrassed to be nude in front of Henry. “You have your shower. I’ll find that note” She left the bathroom.
Henry stood still for a few seconds. Magic wasn’t true. He must be hallucinating. The little voice in his head was saying to him ‘Calm down. Think this through rationally’ He stepped into the shower and turned the water back on. Cold! That would wake him out of the dream!
But no, even after the cold shower, the sink and the toilet were oversized. He dried himself wrapped a towel around his waist and went to find Alicia and the note. She was sitting on the bed in a hotel gown.
“The note says: ‘The magic from each sachet will last for 24 hours. Taste a new sachet before midnight or the effects of the previous one will linger until all the doll is consumed. The candy stick is a good one to start with as it will demonstrate how powerful this magic is’” Alicia looked at Henry “I believe it”
“Show me” said Henry. Alicia handed him the note. She had read the second part of the note verbatim. The first part was just instructions on how to make the drink, but there was also another mention of magic. “Was this all? Was there any other information?”
“That’s all I found. I just checked the wrapping paper there was nothing else. Only a card”
‘Card? What card?”
“Here. It doesn’t give much away” Alicia handed Henry a card all it said was ‘To the newlyweds’ but Henry recognised the handwriting.
“It’s Maureen. Where did you find it?”
“Maureen? The bitch??”
“Yes. It’s her handwriting. Where did you find this doll?”
“It was in my handbag. I don’t know how it got there. Maureen must have snuck it in while we were getting married. It wasn’t there before the wedding”
“It can’t have been Maureen I had security guards keeping an eye out for her. ….. But this is definitely her handwriting. She has something to do with it. I’ll have to call her and find out what she has done”