Ty grabbed two Hot Wheels cars and started them on a big chase around his side of the room. He was careful to keep his vocal sound effects of tires screeching and engines revving down to the level of a whisper since he did not want to get caught out of bed by their mother.
On the other side of the room, Mei grabbed an old fashioned looking porcelain doll and set it on a small chair at a small table. She then commenced a little tea party. Ty looked over at her and smirked to see her sitting formally on her small chair, carefully sipping imaginary tea from her tiny plastic cup.
Ty drove his cars over to her and crashed into her foot.
“Ty,” she whispered harshly. “Cut it out. You're ruining my tea party.”
“That's no tea party,” he said. “It's just you and some dumb doll.”
“Nuh, uh,” she said. “This is Princess Wendy. She's from England.”
Ty stifled a laugh. That was so dumb. She was so dumb to believe that.
Mei turned to address Wendy, “I’m so sorry, Your Majesty. My brother can be very rude sometimes.”
Shaking his head, Ty turned back to his cars and started them racing around Mei's little table. He really wanted the red one to win, but the green car was catching up quickly. He heard their tires screech as they rounded a chair. As he excitedly watched the race, it dawned on him that he was acting differently all of the sudden. He stopped the race, stood up, and looked at Mei, who was happily chatting with her new friend, the princess.
“Mei?”
“Yes?” she said and took another imaginary sip from her tea cup.
“We're really acting like real little kids now,” he said with a touch of worry.
Wendy sighed at the sheer idiocy of her brother. “Well, we ARE kids after all.” Then, to Wendy she said, “I apologize again for my brother.” She leaned in close and whispered, “We think he might be a bit slow.”
“AM NOT!” protested Ty, who then, realizing what he had done, immediately dropped his cars and covered his mouth with both hands. That was way too loud. Mom would definitely have heard him. He waited, holding his breath, expecting to hear her footsteps approaching from down the hall, but she didn’t come. He let out a sigh of relief.
Another whisper from Mei: “He’s also a real loud mouth.”
Ty glared at her furiously. “Fine,” he said. “You want to call me a ‘loud mouth?’ Well, you’re just a big meanie. You always were one before. You still are one, even as a little girl. Well, fine then, I don’t want to be your brother anymore.”
“Fine,” she said, defiantly. “Wendy and I will be happy if you just left us alone.”
He glared at Wendy the doll. It was all that stupid doll’s fault that Mei was being so mean to him. “You want to be with Wendy? Fine, I’ll make you two a perfect pair.” Ty closed his eyes and concentrated on Mei. He pictured her transforming in his mind. When he opened his eyes, Mei was shrinking just as he had pictured.
“What?” she said, shocked. “What’s happening to me?” She stared at her hands as they shrank and became more dainty and shiny. Her feet lifted up off the floor as her legs shortened. Her already round face became even rounder and shinier. Her eyes grew big, while retaining their Asian slant, as her mouth shrank to become a tiny baby mouth. All the while, her clothes transformed into a frilly pink dress, much like the one the doll, Wendy wore. A pair of frilly white socks and white leather shoes appeared on her pudgy little feet. Finally, a pink bonnet appeared on her head, completing her look.
Mei’s whole body felt incredibly stiff, but she realized she could still move. She found she could turn her head and move her arms and legs easily. Those joints appeared to be unaffected by her change, but her fingers felt stiff, like they were made of stone… or porcelain.
Which, of course, they were—Mei had become a porcelain doll, just like Wendy.
“There,” said Ty, satisfied. “You and Wendy should be very happy with each other now. I’m sure you’ll make a better doll and than a sister.” Ty stormed off to his bed. He lay down and wrapped his sheet over himself in a huff, turning his back on Mei.
Mei was dumbfounded. She could hardly believe what Ty had just done to her.
Finally, she managed to speak. “Ty?” she said in a chirpy little baby voice. “Ty, come back.” Ty didn’t move. She tried to slide off her chair gently, but her stiff legs hit the floor at a bad angle and she ended up tumbling over onto her side, finally coming to rest on her back with a dull, hollow thud.
The world went dark.
She gasped. “What happened? Where’s the light?” Her stiff hands reached up to touch her face. They found that her eyes were shut. Her eyes had shut themselves, just like a doll’s eyes are supposed to do when it’s laid on its back.
Clumsily, she scrambled to her feet. Standing up, she could see again, and she had a better sense of how small she had become. Everything seemed gigantic to her now. Even the little table at which she had been sitting was now taller than her. That meant that she had to be less than two feet tall. Quite a bit less, actually. So small. In her fantasies, she had imagined that it would be fun to be the same size as Princess Wendy, but now that she was that size, she just felt totally helpless. It was awful.
She toddled over to Ty’s bed, being careful to avoid slipping on his Hot Wheels. When she reached him, she realized that he was now a giant compared to her. Fearfully, she called his name, “Ty?”
He didn’t move, just kept breathing regularly.
“Ty? Are you awake?”
No answer.
Desperately now: “Ty, please. Turn me back. I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry for being mean.”
No answer. He was definitely asleep.
Mei tried to nudge him, but she had trouble reaching him on his bed. Her clumsy body seemed incapable of making the climb up onto his bed to touch him.
“Ty!” she shouted, but he just kept sleeping. She felt so pitiful and alone. A yawn escaped her mouth, and she realized that she was also terribly tired. Giving up on Ty, she turned to her own bed, but, much like with Ty’s bed, she discovered that she could not climb up onto it. After a few tries there, she gave up and headed for her toys, where she now belonged, it seemed. Princess Wendy had her own bed. Tonight, Mei would have to use it. She laid her stiff body down on it, and her eyes rolled shut.
She wanted to cry, but no tears would come. Her eyes were glass and her face was porcelain. There was no liquid left in her body. All she could do was whimper pitifully.
Feeling wretched about her situation, she tried to at least comfort herself with the thought that she might convince Ty to turn her back to normal tomorrow. Finally, after a few miserable minutes, she fell asleep.
The next morning…