It's raining harder outside. Under cover of the shop awning, you transfer all of the bags to your left hand while you take your umbrella out of a pocket in your trenchcoat. Before you can open it, your left arm starts to strain under the heft of the combined bags, and you realize that you can't make it home like this. You grumble, putting the umbrella back in your coat and taking a few of the bags in your right hand.
Now you have something else to add to your list of growing concerns. You should have been able to carry all of these things in one hand without much of a problem. You don't need to see your arms under the coat to tell that they're thinner. Weaker. Your coat itself feels large on you. The sleeves completely cover your hands, and the bottom is much to close to your shoes. First your pants were too loose, then they were too long, and now your trenchcoat seems to have grown. None of this can be a coincidence. You're getting smaller. That's the only explanation. But why? How?
You trudge through the rain, feeling your hair grow damp and heavy. Somehow the bags even start to feel heavier. Maybe they're filling up with rainwater. Maybe you're still getting weaker.
You suddenly realize that you've been trembling. How long have you been trembling? It's not from the weight of the bags, or the cold rain, it's from fear. You have no idea what's happening to you, and you're afraid it's getting worse. How worse?
The answer comes once you're back in your apartment, staring into the bathroom mirror. Your hair's grown again. Now it's halfway down your back. Your long bangs don't show any signs of growth, though, which is puzzling. Shouldn't all of your hair be growing at the same rate? Faster growth...uneven growth...nothing is adding up.
To make matters worse, you actually look thinner. Your face and limbs have changed significantly. You're forced to use the final notch on your belt, and still your pants don't stay at your waist. Instead they hang on your hips. It might be thanks to the hair, but you think the way they hang unevenly is also feminine.
You towel your hair as best you can, given its new length. It's still a bit damp, but you decide to deal with it for the moment, at least until you put the groceries away.
Halfway through that task, the phone rings. It's Lee, calling about the haircut.
"I'll be over in about twenty minutes," she says. You tell her okay, and hang up. You wonder if Cole had mentioned the rapid growth. You hope not. You didn't need her thinking you were any more weird, what with already having girlish hair.
You go back to putting the groceries away and then try to dry your hair some more. Soon, you hear a buzz for the intercom and Lee's voice on the speaker. You press the button to let her in and wait anxiously.