Katie gulped. "Oh no..." She recognized the book all too well. It was one of her favorites, a fantasy novel she had read over and over more than a dozen times. She carried it everywhere. Unfortunately for her, as fate would have it, she had landed face first on an illustrated page.
"What is it?" asked Tiff with a hint of worry in her voice. "What do you see?"
Katie pulled her face out of the book and sat up. With a look of dread, she finally brought herself to speak. "I saw... a faerie..."
Tiff could see Katie was shaken. "Oh... well... please, don't worry about it TOO much, Katie... remember, we still don't know if this game is real or not, right? Chances are it's probably n--" But Tiff trailed off. Something definitely was happening.
Katie noticed it at the same time. Her shirt and pants seemed much baggier. It felt to her as if they were growing. Inside, though, she knew the truth, and panic beset her. Her clothes weren't getting bigger-- she was shrinking.
"Tiff... Tiff! Help!" she cried out. "It IS real! Tiff... I like faeries... but... I never wanted to BE one!" She tried to shuffle toward her friend, but her clothing was too big for her and she only stumbled onto all fours. Looking up, she noticed that everything, including Tiff, seemed to be getting bigger too. That was the last clear thing she saw, though-- her glasses dropped right off her face just then, and all she could make out after that were fuzzy shapes.
"Katie..." Tiff stared in awe. "Your ears..." Katie felt her ears. Tiff was right-- they HAD changed. They were longer, and pointed.
Katie struggled to move. As she shrank down to one foot, she found herself leaving her pants and underwear behind, draped in her shirt. "Tiff... help me..." And then, in the blink of an eye, she disappeared, consumed by the pile of clothing.
It was Tiff who was panicking now. "Oh my God! Katie! Are you there? Please, speak to me!" There was movement inside the shirt, and then, finally, Katie popped her head out through the collar. She couldn't have been any taller than 4 inches... and now she had a set of delicate papery butterfly wings growing out of her back. Still, she seemed otherwise unharmed, so Tiff was relieved. Katie looked up, covering herself in her shirt as best she could. "Tiff?"
"Yes, Katie?"
"Could you please get me a handkerchief, or a bandana or something?"
Tiff nodded. "Sure thing. Stay right there." And with that, she left her friend huddled in her oversized clothing to go look in her room.