Almost two hours had passed since Mary had drawn herself a scale on the wall. In that time she had tried typing a report on the computer (but stopped when she realized her fingers were too large to type properly), tried to read a romance novel (but stopped when she got a headache from squinting to see the tiny words), and tried to watch television (which worked out quite nicely). After the latest program had ended, she tried standing up and found that her head no longer reached the ceiling. She hurried to her scale and measured herself around six feet, six inches.
"Finally," she muttered. She searched through her wardrobe for her baggiest clothes. She couldn't wait any longer to get out of the house and get something for dinner. She put on a skirt that normally ended close to her ankles. Now it was just a few inches higher. Her cream-colored top looked fine if she just rolled up her sleeves. It wasn't supposed to expose her belly button like it did, but she figured people would assume it was intentional. Her shoes were the biggest problem. They felt very cramped, but she knew it wouldn't be a problem after a little while.
She got into her car with a bit of trouble. For one thing, she banged her head on the doorway, and then no matter how she sat, she was forced to lean over the steering wheel. "The next car I get is going to be a convertible," she said to herself.
At the supermarket, she filled her cart with enough food to last two weeks. This wasn't just because she was hungry; if she had to endure another prolonged shut-in, she wanted to be prepared. At least her shoes had started to feel like they fit her again, and her belly wasn't quite so exposed anymore.
She was so caught up in pondering about her situation that she didn't hear her friend calling her until she was right in her face.
"Mary! Are you okay?"
"Oh, hi Jess. I'm sorry, I was spacing out for a minute."
Jess was usually an inch taller than Mary, but now it seemed she was that much shorter instead. Jess noticed this too. She looked down at Mary's shoes. "Are you wearing platforms?"
"Just high heels. I must be having a tall day," Mary blurted out. What a "tall day" was supposed to mean, she wasn't sure. She just hoped Jess would change the subject.