| Wishful Thinking Page 3 |
| �Stop it, we broke our cousin,� Ashley order her sisters. She leaned in close to the women, now seven inches high. �YOU OKAY?� she shouted, unaware of the effect of her loud voice. �STOP IGNORING US!�
�Please stop,� Melody pleaded, jumping up and down and waving her arms. She finally got their attention and shouted for all she was worth. �Your voices are very loud and they hurt my tiny ears.� �LOUD LOUD LOUD LOUD!� Susie shouted while the other two laughed until Melody screamed in pain. �I�m begging you to stop,� she said, falling onto her knees, her hands clasped in a gesture of supplication. �You�re hurting me.� �What should we do?� Ashley asked her sisters. �How about you get my cell phone?� Melody suggested with a smile she hoped they could see. �Yeah, she got games on it,� Vanessa added. �No,� she sighed as they ran to kitchen and grabbed the phone. She could hear them playing the bowling game and laughing. She�d have to rely on herself now to get help. Melody set out for the linoleum floor of the kitchen and soon realized how much farther away things now were. The miniaturized women made a dash for it and skidded when she saw the enormous feet pounding her way. She slid into what she guessed were Ashley�s toes kicking out and hit the floor as the foot swooped over her and missed squashing her by inches. �Here, have your phone,� Vanessa said, dropping it from her hands as she ran. �Careful!� she shrieked too late. The phone slammed down, missing her by less than Ashley�s sock foot. Melody didn�t think it could�ve killed her, but she didn�t want to find out how badly it could injure her. She crawled onto the phone, mercifully left open, and started pushing against the buttons. She noted that she hadn�t gotten any smaller since reaching what she figured to be around seven inches in size. She heard the 911 operator pick up. �Help me,� she called into the phone. �I�m watching my little cousins and I�ve been shrunk. I need someone to get me out of here.� �Excuse me ma�am, this is for emergencies,� the operator said in a clipped tone. �Get off the line and don�t make any more prank calls.� �It�s not, I�m the Incredible Shrinking Model.� The operator then hung up. �Dammit,� she muttered. She couldn�t call back, they�d never believe her. A few attempts might lead them to trace the call and send an officer, but she didn�t to take the chance that the person in question wouldn�t be watching their step. Her next bet was a friend. �Pick up, Barb, come on,� she said impatiently. �Hey, Melody, you calling to ditch us again?� �No, I need your help,� she pleaded. �What�s wrong, want us to baby-sit instead? And what�s up with your voice?� �Nothing, I�ve been-� �Ashley, give your phone back to your cousin now.� �It�s not Ashley, it�s me, Melody.� She had a new strategy. �The party�s at my place.� �Whatever, Ashley. I�m hanging up in ten seconds.� �No, it�s really me. You got to-� She never had the chance to finish the sentence. The phone cut out and she read the giant display at her feet. The phone�s battery was almost out of power. She shook her head in disbelief. The phone had just finished charging before she�d ended up with the assignment from hell. It had a full charge, unless... She jumped up and down, swung her arms, and cursed. The drop had damaged the battery. She vowed she�d kill Vanessa the moment she was normal again. The thought in her mind was how it was all Vanessa�s fault. Inspiration struck, a lightning crack in her mind. �Vanessa,� she cried out, running into the den to find her three cousins. All three looked down at her and laughed at her puny size. �Listen, knock it off for right now. You can laugh when this is all over and everyone�s safe. Vanessa, I need you to make me big again.� The three redoubled their laughing. �How can I make you big?� �I don�t know, but you made me small. I didn�t start shrinking until after you said you hated me and wished me to play dollies with you three. Do you remember that?� �No,� Vanessa answered and started laughing. At least they were using softer voices. �This isn�t a game, I could get hurt like this. I need to be big again and be safe.� �Big people aren�t safe. Your mommy and daddy went away and they were big,� Vanessa countered. �Dollies can�t get hurt.� She made her point by grabbing her favorite doll and whacking its head against the floor. �But I�m not a real doll, I�m still a person.� �Nuh-uh,� Susie grunted back. �Persons aren�t small like dollies only dollies small like dollies.� �That makes you a dolly,� Ashley finished the line of logic her sister was working under. �Please, let�s just play a game, Vanessa. Just wish that I was big again. Can you play that game? I�ll give you something cool if you do.� She scrunched up her face in thought. �Okaaaay. I wish Meldy was big again.� Nothing happened. �Call me Mel-Oh-Dee,� she enunciated. �No, I want my cool thing now.� �You can play with my lipstick. If you play my second game you�ll get whatever you want. Try to picture me when you make your wish and remember what I looked like big.� �Fine. I wish Mel-Oh-Dee was big again.� Nothing happened that time either. �This time, I want my Meldy doll,� she announced, grabbing her minuscule cousin in her chubby hands. �No,� she screamed as she was lifted into the air faster than she�d ever traveled before. �You can�t have me. I�m a person and people can�t own other people.� �You said anything,� Ashley shot back. �And we jus� said you ain�t a person, you�re a dolly. Now you�re Vanessa�s dolly. And no more lying about wishes.� �Just try to wish for something else,� Melody insisted. She needed these girls to believe her, anyone to believe her. Hell, she needed to know she wasn�t wrong about her shrinkage. |
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