20 minutes later they were washed and dressed. Henry had re-read the note. “Now I look at it again it seems pretty clear. We should have had a second sachet after 24 hours. Because we didn’t I think I’m going to remain short until we have drunk them all” Henry was deflated. “However, if I interpret this correctly, the good news is this feet swap should be over tomorrow morning so long as we drink another sachet tonight”
“All very well. But what will the next sachet do to us?”
“I have no idea. Clearly this doll has some sort of magical power. It seems the only way I’m going to get back to normal is that we consume the whole doll. I’m going to ring the office and have someone track down the shop that Maureen bought it from. We need to find out if there is another way to reverse the effects”
Alicia just nodded her head. “So what do we do today? Can we still go to the beach?”
“How about you remove this nail polish from my toes and we’ll see what they look like then. The other thing is do you have any shoes that look sort of masculine or at least unisex?”
“Maybe my golf shoes? The next best would be my pink runners. Other than that, all I have is heels and sandals” She sniggered “Maybe you should wear some of my heels. They will give you some of your height back”
“Not funny Alicia”
“What about you? What shoes did you bring?”
“My golf shoes are probably the most unisex pair I have. Those aside, it would be my flip flops”
“I’ll borrow your flip flops and head down to the resort store. They might have something feminine in a large size I could wear” Alicia was not as concerned about the foot swap as Henry was. “If not, I might have to challenge you to another round of golf”
Henry rang Simon while Alicia was out. He asked Simon get someone from the admin team to find a phone number for a store possibly called ‘Margaret’s’ down in Chesterville. Describing it as a general store, Henry told Simon that he needed to speak to the owner about sourcing a special gift for Alicia. “Make this an urgent priority. If needs be, get whoever you choose to take one of the company cars and drive to Chesterville to investigate. Text me as soon as you have a contact number”
Alicia meanwhile was getting more help than she expected. Although the resort store did not sell shoes in Alicia’s current size. The shop assistant knew of a store only 10 minutes’ drive away which specialised in oversized clothing for women. The woman rang to store to confirm it was open then gave Alicia the address.
Alicia returned to the room, told Henry of her plans then caught a taxi to the store but not before providing Henry with some of her nail polish remover and explaining how to use it.
The store was a saviour for Alicia. She not only bought a pair of sandals to wear home, she also purchased a pair of heels she could wear to dinner, a pair of extra-long woman’s jeans and a pair of linen slacks which fit her new legs. She came home very satisfied with her shopping trip.
Left by himself in the room Henry set himself up out on the veranda in a corner where he couldn’t be seen, with the intention of using the nail polish remover as Alicia had shown him. However before he started curiosity had got the better of him. Knowing he was by himself for at least the next half hour. He found the high heels Alicia had worn last night. He couldn’t help himself. He slipped his dainty feet into the shoes. As he expected they fitted perfectly. It was hard to believe these exquisitely feminine feet belonged to his body.
Then he tried to stand up. It was like wearing Ice skates! Holding the walls, he worked his way across and gazed at his reflection in the full-length mirror. To say he looked strange was an understatement. There he was a chubby short man wearing ‘to-die-for’ heels. He carefully made his way back out to the veranda not daring to let go of the walls, wondering how the hell women walked in these things?
There he discarded the shoes and began to remove the red nail polish.