Matt realized that the plot was thickening -- he had to come up with some reason for all this shrinking all of a sudden. Mr. DeSoto was already out the door and needed to have something to find.
Summoning the wand to his hand, Matt said, "I wish Mr. DeSoto would find..." his mind trailed off for a moment. It should be something that would give a good explanation for this current shrinking, but if he was going to wish for something he realized it might as well give him shrinking for years to come. A magic item? Unrecognizeable. A chemical? Too hard to clean up. A plant? Yes! He started again. "I wish Mr. DeSoto would find a big patch of shrinkweed." Matt paused for a moment, and then added, "And I wish it would make hairy men into horny homos when they get into it." With a smile, Matt dismissed the wand and stepped outside after his big neighbor.
Stepping around the corner, Matt found that Mr. DeSoto had set Brett on the pavement, and he was kneeling down over by where the basket ball had come to rest. Matt came over to find Mr. DeSoto running his big hands through what looked like a field of clover. Getting closer, he could see that the leaves were wrong. He came up close to Mr. DeSoto. "What is it?"
"I don't know," Mr. DeSoto answered slowly. He pulled up a stalk of the weed and squeezed it in his fingers. A clear, oily substance ran out over his fingers. He brought his fingers up to his mouth and sniffed them. Gingerly, he touched his tongue to his finger. "Some kind of mint," he said. Reaching out, he rolled the ball. The lower side had a clear coating of the same substance. He leaned forward to pick up the ball, but lost his balance. Breaking his fall with one arm, he backed away, his arm smeared with broken plant fragments. "Aw," Mr. DeSoto stopped himself before anything bad came out. "I'd better take another shower. There's no telling if this plant is involved or not, but let's not take any risks. Let's go in the front so we don't run into Bryan."
Gathering Brett, Mr. DeSoto strode off to the front of the house. Matt followed his man quickly, anxious to see what the effects of shrinkweed would be. Matt struggled as Mr. DeSoto bounded up the stairs two at a time. Entering his bedroom, Mr. DeSoto put Brett on the bed and yanked his shirt off, stepping into the adjoining bathroom. Matt caught a glimpse of his man just as he closed the bathroom door.