"Spell it out"

Psh magic... all smoke and mirrors, that's what I say, anyway.

"Please, can I have a volunteer..." the brunette on stage re-iterated, but the audience was lukewarm. At this point, most of them had shuffled out anyway and her grand finale of a trick involved some kind of box.

My girlfriend sat beside me, giving me a sort of sympathetic stare.

"You should help her..." she sighed.

"What? Me? Why?" I asked.


"I don't know..." she chuckled, giving me a nudge on thigh, "she's the one who invited you here..."

"But you're the one who made me come" I said, trying to keep my voice down but already our small uproar had attracted the attention of some others in the crowd. I also noticed that the glowing white spotlight had focused on my seat in particular.

"Oh no" I said, trying to shake it off. I hated this kind of attention, "No, no, I wasn't..."

"Come on up, Bobby" the girl on stage laughed, making no effort to cover up the fact that we did, in fact, know each other. Before I knew it, a combination of my girlfriend, Amanda, and a group of strangers in the crowd were wisking me up on stage, their laughter and sarcastic applause echoing in my head as I stepped to the stage.

How the hell do I get myself into these messes?

Well, I guess it started the other day...

"Junk. Junk. Bills. Junk bills." I mumbled, going through my mail that morning. I knew noone of interest (or really, anyone) was behind me at the time, but I felt the need to announce every piece of mail as I unearthed it. I then came across an envelope which resembled something I'd get from a relative. Just a run of the mill white envelope with a really lame mailing sticker on the corner.

The mailing sticker was purple with dorky glitter on the edges. I open the letter and notice it wasn't from my relative at all, but my ex-girlfriend Cassandra. What could she want?

"Dear Bobby," it read, "I know we haven't talked in a while, but I've finally reached the senior level at Cromwell Academy and I am to perform a final show of my prowess next week as a final exam. Friends and family are welcome to come, and I'd really like you to come. Of course, you could bring Amanda. I'd really appreciate your support. Please find the address and other pertinent information on the enclosed note card."

I notice a small gray card fall from the envelope. I pick it up and read it. Ugh... not Cromwell Academy for the Magically Gifted... again.

My ex-girlfriend Cassandra was nice, but she had this weird obsession with magic. When I first met her, I didn't mind it so much, it wasn't really an issue. But then she'd start talking about this magic school, as if it were real. As if magic was a real thing. I began to question her handle on reality. Needless to say it was a painful breakup but it had to be done. If I had to hear about CROMWELL again or some weird magic tricks she wanted to perform on me...ugh, I swear. As if I'd get involved in that...

Just then, there was a knock on my door. It was my girlfriend, Amanda.

"Hey," I said, letting her in while still holding the note in my hand.

"Hey," she said, "I was just wondering if you were coming to that magic thing"

"Uh that what?" I chuckled, a bit weird to hear her bring it up as well.

"This" she said, pulling the note out of my hand. "I got one too... from Cassandra, right? Wasn't she your ex?"

"Yeah" I said, "I kinda don't wanna go"

"What? Just because of that?" she chuckled, "I don't care if you go... as long as we go together"

"Heh, I don't think you understand... Cassandra's a little..."

"What?" Amanda said, not approving of my talking in this manner.

"Uh...nothing." I sighed. "I guess we could go. After all, how bad could it be?"

And so, here I was.

In front of these people, my girlfriend, and walking on-stage towards Cassandra, who was dolled up with this ridiculous purple cape and tight black leotard.

"Ok, then... Bobby," she said again, making a point to repeat my name in a sort of sweet way. This whole thing didn't really sit right with me. "...if I could have you step into... the box of mystery!"

Just then a thunderclap echoed through the room as this generic looking purple box slid forward. The box was about 6 feet high, and barely wide enough for me to stand comfortably in. I reluctantly stepped inside.

"So what's going to happen to me?" I chuckled, speaking directly to Cassandra before she could close the door on me.

"You'll see..." she smiled, and shut the door, until I was in complete darkness.

I sighed and leaned on the back of the box, trying to calm myself down. I'm sure it was nothing ... she couldn't do real magic. None of this was real.

"And now..." she said, from the other side of the box, addressing her audience, "I shall perform my final trick of the night, with the box of mystery... watch carefully!"

I then notice the box was leaning backwards, as if it was tilting. Maybe I was leaning on it too hard, but I couldn't stop. It was like the whole box was being shaken on it's own, with no input from me.

I could only hear the faint sound of Cassandra's voice and the various oohs and ah's from the crowd who seemed impressed with whatever she was doing. Just then the box slid again, so that I slid to one side of it. Then it tilted again so that I slid to the other. I began to shout and thrash around inside.

"Cassandra!" I screamed, "Let me out!"

There was no answer.

"Cassandra! Let me out of here!" I shouted.

Finally, I heard her voice.

"What do you think?" she said, calling out to her audience once again, "should I give him what he wants? Should I let him out?"

The audience gave a raucous cheer and I felt the box tilting a final time, so that I slid helplessly towards the bottom, or top, or side, or whatever, I was so confused.

Finally, my weight breaks through the bottom of the box, which must've been made of some flimsy plywood. What's more interesting is that I fell a good few feet before making my landing. Maybe she had the box on strings and had just lifted it off the ground somewhat, but the more I became aware of my surroundings, the more I realized that simply wasn't the case.

I was looking out the audience like before, but I wasn't standing on solid ground anymore. I was kneeling and on Cassandra's hand as she held me out for everyone to see.

In pure horror, I observe the box in her other hand, reduced to the size of a matchbox, and if I had been reduced along with it... that would make me... gulp.

"And there you have it!" Cassandra announced, startling me somewhat as the cheering intensified, and the curtain slowly drew close.

"Cassandra!" I gasped out of breath. "What did you do to me?"

"Psh, it was nothing" she smiled, "just some simple size manipulation"

"S-s-size..? You can fix this, right?" I gasped, now gazing up at my giant sized ex.

"I COULD... but I'm not going to" she laughed.

"What? Why?"

"Hey, you told me I had lost touch with reality... and if magic really doesn't exist... then, there's no way you could grow back to normal size" she smiled.

"No, but I... but you..."

"Forget it, Bobby" she said, "you had your chance to date me, and you stepped on my dreams... you should be lucky I don't step on YOU"

"Cassandra... please, you can't..."

"Oh don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you" she said, "I'm much happier to just leave you this way. Imagine going through life like this... I think you're about 5, no, 4 inches tall."

"No!! please!" I squeaked again and then noticed Amanda was coming backstage to get me.

"Bobby!" she said, running up towards Cassandra. Finally! This was my chance to get someone on my side.

"Amanda!" I squealed, "Thank god you're here! Can you believe this bitch wants to keep me this size?"

"BOBBY!" Amanda gasped, "that's no way to talk to one of the greatest magicians of our time"

"What?" I asked, "you gotta be kidding me!"

"No, it's true, noone's ever seen magic like that before, she's gonna be big!" Amanda said.

"I wish I could be big!" I sighed, "she did this to me on purpose, and she's gonna keep me this way!"

"Bobby..." Cassandra sighed and then looked at Amanda, "I'm really sorry, miss. I tried to tell him that I simply haven't learned the re-growth spell."

"The hell you haven't!" I yelled, my feeble voice barely carrying high enough for them to hear.

"Bobby, it's okay" Amanda said, gently removing me from Cassandra's hand. "I can take care of you"

"Take care of me? What do you mean?" I asked, looking up at my girlfriend's giant face and eyes.

"Well, until she learns whatever spell she needs, you're going to be stuck that size" Amanda said.

"But she's NOT gonna learn it!" I screamed, "she's going to keep me like this"

"This spell has the habit of making people a little crazy" Cassandra sighed. "He'll calm down soon, and I promise I'll give you a call as soon as I learn the re-growth spell. I'm really sorry, Bobby"

"No, you're not!" I screamed, but I was tiring out. Amanda began to walk away with me tucked away in her arms.

"I know it's not your fault" Amanda said to Cassandra, "here's my phone number, please call us as soon as you've got the spell"

"Oh you got it" Cassandra smiled, watching with glee as Amanda took me away. I glanced back at my ex and notice she was giving me a sarcastic smile and wink back.

"Amanda..." I sighed, as she held me out in front of her, "how could you let her do this to me?"

"Bobby, please..." she whispered, trying to divert attention away from us, "calm down, little guy"

"No, I'm not a LITTLE guy! I'm a normal guy!" I squeaked, realizing now how silly I looked saying that. Noone besides Amanda was even able to hear my tiny voice.

"It's okay, Bobby" she said, in a warm voice. "I'll keep you safe, I'll take care of you."

"But Amanda..." I sighed.

"No more" she said, very authoritatively, "no offense, but you're not really in a position to be making demands. So for right now, I'm gonna keep you somewhere you'll be quiet."

"Huh?" I asked, raising an eye brow.

She then loosened her top a little bit and dropped me inside, keeping me nestled between her breasts which was now both bigger than I was. I would've been angry, but well... I was a straight guy.

I guess it could be worse...

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Amanda asked, as she laid me out on her dresser, having just removed me from her shirt.

"I guess not..." I sighed. Maybe Cassandra was right about her spell having an effect on temper. I had calmed down considerably since the shrinking. I had also been tucked away in my girlfriend's cleavage for about a half hour.

"Now don't you worry, Bobby" Amanda said, getting herself ready for bed. It had been a long night for all of us. She had left the bedroom to get changed but I could still her voice echoing from the bathroom. There was no point in my even responding. My voice didn't carry so far anymore. "I think I know a way to help you"

"Really what?!" I shouted, standing up from excitement. I knew she probably didn't hear me but I did manage to get her to come out from the bathroom, wearing nothing but her thin nightie.

"Did you say something honey?" she asked, before realizing she was barely dressed. "Oh, hold on"

She left and returned, now splaying herself out on her bed in front of me.

"Yeah..." she continued, speaking softly not to startle me, "I knew a cousin who went to Cromwell magic academy"

"And you're waiting until NOW to tell me this?" I exclaimed.

"Shh, relax, baby" she said, "She wasn't nearly as advanced as Cassandra, but I suppose, if she doesn't call us back soon, we could ask her about the growth spell"

"Yes yes! Let's do that!" I exclaimed, sitting up in glee, but it seemed like I was the only one in a hurry to return to normal size.

"Heh, Bobby..." Amanda chuckled, "I know this will take some adjusting from you, but we will get through this"

"What do you mean 'we'?" I asked, "I'M the one who's stuck this size"

"Bobby, you don't know that" Amanda said, gently removing me from her dresser and holding me in front of her eyes. "Cassandra's not out to get you"

"Not out to get me? She already DID!" I shrieked.

"Bobby, please, we'll talk about this in the morning" Amanda said, planting a kiss on my entire body before settig me back down on the dresser. She then turned out the lights,

Yknow if I didn't know any better... I thought to myself as I rolled over in an attempt to get some sleep, I'd say Amanda didn't WANT me to grow back to normal.

That night I didn't find it the easiest to sleep... then again, you try sleeping when you're reduced to doll size. It also wasn't the most comfortable thing ever sleeping on Amanda's dresser.

The next morning, I find myself awaking slightly startled.

"You okay, baby?" I heard Amanda ask. I look up. I had fallen down into her open drawer. It was just a good thing the drawer had been open, otherwise I might have fallen onto the floor and splatted. I try to pull myself up but end up falling on my butt instead. Finally, Amanda grabs me and removes me from the drawer, setting me back down on top of the dresser where I started.

"Heh, thanks" I said, feeling embarassed for needing such help.

"Of course" Amanda said, and began carrying me away from the bedroom. I shot her a curious look back.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To get breakfast, silly" Amanda said, "I'm gonna try to keep your routine as normal as possible, even if you're a little smaller"

"I appreciate that" I said, "but I don't really feel much like eating"

"Non-sense" Amanda said, setting me down on her kitchen counter as she scrounged through her fridge. She then arose, holding out some pancake batter.

"Amanda, I honestly don't feel like I'm in the mood for breakfast" I sighed.

"Okay" she shrugged, "but then you'll miss out on the good news I have for you"

"What good news?" I asked, slowly perking up, watching as Amanda walked away from the kitchen.

"Eh nothing" she shrugged, obviously acting sarcastic nothing, "you dont want any of my breakfast, so... I don't really think it's that big a deal!"

"Oh, please just tell me" I sighed, throwing my arms down in frustration.

"Okay okay!" Amanda sighed, unable to hold herself back from telling me. In fact, so much so that she practically lunged at the counter to make sure I heard her loud and clear, "OKAY, SO GUESS WHAT?"

I fell backwards, afraid she might've crushed me with her hands pressed on the counter but I was placed safely in between them - for the moment.

"Uh what?" I squeaked meagerly.

"I got in touch with my cousin Sterling... from the magic academy" Amanda said.

"That's great!" I said, slightly jumping from joy. "What'd she say?"

"Well, she said she's not an expert... guess she dropped out after a year or so, but she has some spell books and she's willing to at least try it. She even said some friend of hers might be willing to help" Amanda explained.

"That is great news!" I exclaimed, ready for this ridiculous spell to be over with.

Amanda cracked a slight smile, perhaps happy to see me finally cheered up for the first time since being so reduced in size. She proceeded towards the stove and began conducting herself as if everything were still normal, but I still didn't feel like anything had been resolved, so I sheepishly chimed in.

"Hey, uh when are we going to see Sterling?" I asked.

"I don't know" Amanda shrugged, reaching to get the pancake batter before dripping some onto the pan. "I guess as soon as you want, but I don't see what the big deal is, Cassandra's gonna learn the re-growth spell soon, and if she can't, I doubt Sterling can"

"Amanda, please..." I moaned, "this is important to me..."

She walked over towards me and I forced myself to stand up so that I could crane my neck up to see her face from the counter top level.

"Bobby..." she said, "you should know I care a lot about you. I'd never let anything bad happen to you..."

"I know..." I stuttered, but she wasn't finished speaking yet.

"...you trust me, dont you?" she asked.

"Of course I do..." I said, "but..."

"No buts" she said, and gave me a caring smile as she glanced down at me on the counter, then back towards the pancakes, "Now hang tight, little guy. I'm gonna get breakfast for us"

"Do you need to call me that?" I asked, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"What?"

"Y'know little..." I sighed.

"Well I don't mean it as an insult" Amanda explained, nonchalantly preparing the pancakes while she spoke. "But you ARE little. Besides, you're kinda cute like that"

"Cute?" I asked nervously. Something about the word made me uncomfortable in this situation. Amanda drew closer and left a small plate (which was still large enough for me to lay on with plenty of room) in front of me with a small pancake.

"Yeah, y'know..." Amanda said, reaching her hand towards me. I might've been nervous to scurry away but she had already surrounded me with her fingers and began to press them against my body, until she had me wrapped up in her grip. "...you're just... yknow cute"

By now, she had propped me up and had me secured in her grip, being careful not to hold too tightly as she lifted me closer to her curious eyes.

"Amanda, please put me down" I stuttered, taking a nauseating glance at the ground below me.

"Aw c'mon" Amanda smiled and laid another kiss on me with her massive lips. She finally set me down on the counter and I took a moment to marvel at her collosal size compared to mine. "You gotta take chances once in a while, and how often will you have a chance to be like THIS?"

"Who said I wanted to be like this?" I asked, finding myself walking towards the plate of pancakes. I reluctantly tore off a piece that was the size of my head and took a bite. "Hey, this isn't bad"

"Damn straight" Amanda smiled.

"So if we're not gonna see Sterling soon, what ARE we going to do?" I asked, in between bites of the giant pancakes.

"Hmm, I'm not sure" Amanda said, "I suppose we could go to the mall"

"The mall? What for?" I asked.

"To go shopping for your new dollhouse" she chuckled. I shot her a nasty glare back. "I'm kidding, relax. But seriously, we should go"

"I don't know..." I sighed.

"It's not like I'm really giving you a choice, Bobby" Amanda smiled, "normally you're reluctant to come shopping with me but I'm certainly not going to leave you like this alone. You could get hurt"

"I don't need to be taken care of" I said, "it's okay if you want to go out for a while, I can hold my own"

"Non-sense" Amanda said, effortlessly lifting me from the table with her hand, keeping a firm grip on me as she carried me into her room again. "I insist"

"Heh, you're not gonna make this easy, are you?" I asked.

"Nope" she grinned and kissed me again before putting me down into her open purse.

"You're not gonna let me ride in your shirt again?" I asked.

"You're pushing your luck" she laughed, and zipped the purse, shutting me out. Now I was simply alone in the confined chamber along with the collection of paraphanelia that included her lipstick, cell phone, a small wallet and keys. All of them appeared to be set pieces on a movie to me. I leaned myself up against the lipstick and sighed.

Guess this magic stuff is more complicated than I thought...

"How much longer do we have to be here?" I sighed, finding myself kicking the side of the purse in frustration.

"Relax, hon" Amanda said, still trying on clothes from Express as I remained on the floor with her cell phone, make up and various stuff within her purse.

On the bright side, I at least got to see her model the outfits for me after she tried them on, but still.

"I'm just trying to get your mind off it, Bobby" Amanda said, "staying in the house would've only made you depressed"

"And this doesn't?" I sighed. "It's dark in here"

"Is this better?" Amanda said, and I heard the grinding sound of her purse unzipping, briefly revealing her, about half dressed in the fitting room. I took a curious glance up before I was again covered by a tank top that she threw over the top of the purse. By the time I could see again, she was fully clothed. I couldn't catch any breaks today.

"So Amanda, have you decided on anything yet?" I asked, impatiently tapping my foot. Suddenly, I felt the ground rising under me and tripped, falling backwards.

"Yeah, I'm done, Mr. Impatient" Amanda chuckled, having lifted the purse without warning and thrusting it (and me) along with her out of the fitting room.

She had in her arms a small collection of clothes, which she then draped over the front counter and proceeded to buy.

"Oh, I love that purse" the cashier tsked, and Amanda chuckled, throwing the purse up on the counter for her to see.

Unfortunately, she had completely neglected to re-zip the purse, leaving me perfectly exposed in front of the blonde teenaged "Express" employee who let out a loud gasp.

"Oh my..." she said, in a very ditzy voice "is that a little man in your purse?"

I nervously backed away, trying desperately to hide in the darkness, but it was too late. I had been spotted.

"Heh yeah" Amanda sighed, sounding as embatassed as I was, yet not seeming to have any trouble with finding me and lifting me from her purse for 'Natalie' (I read her name tag) to see. "This is my boyfriend"

"Wow..." Natalie sighed, mesmerized as if looking into a crystal ball of sorts. I gave her a sort of confused stare back. If she hadn't been such a ditz, I might've been more afraid for my life, but somehow I was actually more embarassed for HER.

"Yeah" Amanda said.

"He's so little..." she said, repeating the obvious, "can I hold him?"

I nervously looked up at Amanda, who drew her hand back so Natalie was unable to seize me.

"Uh...no, I'm sorry" Amanda chuckled, "he's kinda had a rough day as it is... y'know... 4 inches tall and all"

"Oh?" Natalie said, sounding dissapointed at frst but then changing her demeanor somewhat, having thought of a plan. "If you let me hold him for like, 2 seconds, I'll give you a 90% off discount"

I chuckled nervously and looked up at Amanda. There's no way she'd go for that -- I mean, right?

"You promise you'd be careful with him?" Amanda asked.

WHAT?!

"Amanda what are you doing?" I squeaked, gazing forward at the smiling blonde behind the counter.

"Oh Bobby... please?" she asked, "there's some cute tops in here, and I promise I'll spend the money on something YOU want instead... please?"

I sighed.

"Okay..." I sighed, and let out a solemn gulp. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to think before I had already been turned over to Natalie, who let out a childish giggle,

"Well aren't you just a tiny little fella?" she chuckled and lunged her finger at me in an attempt to poke me. I stumbled back and landed on her palm.

"Hey, be careful with him!" Amanda exclaimed.

"Right, right, I'm sorry, miss" Natalie said. "Hell, yknow what? I'll just give you these clothes for free... not every day I see someone like him. How'd this happen?"

"Some damn magician" I sighed.

"Magician? You mean like the chick signing books today?" Natalie asked.

"What chick?" I asked.

"I don't know, Cassandra something" she said, "some magician from the local area who did this fantastic trick... if you ask me, the whole thing's a hoax!"

"No it's not! I'M THE TRICK!" I exclaimed, "she shrunk me ... using magic"

"Really?" Natalie asked.

I slapped my head in disgust.

"Amanda, please" I said, staring back at my girlfriend, "help me out here"

"I thought you didn't need help" she teased. "You're such a big boy, remember?"

"Please just help me!" I moaned, sounding like an idiot, but I didn't care at this point. Finally Amanda helped me out of Natalie's hand and exited the store.

"Bobby, I hope you're not mad..." Amanda said.

"Actually, no, because she might've just helped us out" I said, "we need to find Cassandra and get her to undo this"

"You think she learned the spell already?" Amanda asked.

"Damn it, Amanda, she's not gonna learn the spell!" I snapped.

"Hey, don't talk to me like that!" Amanda frowned, setting me down in her purse again.

"I'm sorry" I sighed, "It's just... I... ugh..."

"Whatever. I'll take you to Cassandra, because I know how much it means to you" Amanda said, now walking towards the massive crowd of people that had gathered at the mall.

I struggled to see the calamitous scene before us but I heard incoherent yelling and screaming from all directions. I couldn't believe my freakin bitch of an ex girlfriend had become a star because of ME! Now here I was stuck in this purse for all eternity unless we did something about it - but what?

"Amanda!" I shouted, "you gotta get to the front of the line"

"I'm trying!" she sighed, "but it's tough"

In the process of pushing and jostling her way through rabid "fans", I was jerked and tossed all over the place.

"Cassandra!" Amanda shouted, but her voice was devoured by the crowd of people, many of which who were shouting the same thing. "Cassandra!! Bobby wants to talk to you"

Still, there was no reaction from the crowd or Cassandra. I bit my lip and sighed. There was only one way to get their attenton for sure.

"Amanda..." I sighed, "hold me up for them to see"

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes... please" I sighed, and nervously awaited my fate. Amanda gently removed me from the purse and shouted again, now holding me out for all to see.

"Cassandra!"

The crowd turned and gasped to see little me sitting in her hand and Cassandra let out a small laugh but she didn't sound upset at all.

"Hey is that my friend Bobby?" Cassandra laughed, and then had her security men (2 men in black coats) come usher Amanda to the front of the line. "Bobby, hey. Put him here, Amanda"

Amanda sat me on the table in front of my giant ex-girlfriend, who had a stack of books to her left. She leaned forward so she'd be able to hear me speak.

"Bobby, is that you?" she asked.

"Of course it's me!!" I screamed, walking towards her in anger, "who else have you SHRUNK lately?"

"Whoa whoa, please..." Cassandra said, and then announced out to the crowd, "everyone give my friend Bobby such a round of applause for letting me shrink him!"

The crowd cheered uproariously, as many flash bulbs went off to commemorate this "sappy" moment. That's just great. My tiny picture would soon be plastered everywhere.

"Actually, Bobby I'm glad you're here" Cassandra smiled, but it was an uncomfortable smile - for me at least. "I wanted to ask you 2 something"

"Uh what?" Amanda asked.

"Well here's the thing" Cassandra tsked, "I'm a bit embarassed to say that I haven't yet learned how to unshrink you..."

"Big shock there" I said, crossing my arms in front of her. I was fairly confident she wouldn't squish me in front of all these people.

"Wait, if you're such a great magician..." Amanda asked, "why wouldn't you know how to unshrink him?"

"Well that's the embarassing part" she said, "it turns out, they only taught me shrinking spells my senior year and yes, I'm a good magician but not so good that I can just invent a spell and have it work... reliably anyway"

"Now look here..." I screamed, running at her massive face. Before I even got close she lifted me off the table, dangling me from the back of the shirt.

"I thought you'd be upset Bobby" she said, gently setting me back in Amanda's hand, "so I've decided to make you an offer"

"What kind of offer?" I asked.

"How'd you like to go on tour with me?" she asked, "now that I have some fame in this area, I'm going to be going on a magic tour, performing shows all over the country"

"Why would I want a part of that?" I asked.

"Ohh c'mon, it could be fun" she said, "you'd be my little assistant"

"Little assistant?" I asked, taking offense to that.

"Yeah, y'know... for certain tricks, you could help me out... the little ones anyway..." she chuckled, "I could hide you under a cup and have the audience guess which one? Or I could pull you out of a hat!"

"Look here!" I squeaked, "I won't be treated like some kind of show dog for you!"

"But Bobby, you're going to be that size anyway" Cassandra jeered, causing me to back off for the moment, "may as well make some use of it, and besides, while I'm touring, maybe I'll learn something from the senior magicians - learn how to re-size you"

"I don't know about this..." Amanda said, and our eyes met briefly enough to acknowledge the fact that we both sensed something was wrong with this.

"Oh c'mon..." Cassandra said, "this could benefit you too, Amanda. Of course I'd let you travel with us and you'd get a considerable share of the profits"

"You can't just BUY me!" I gasped.

"It's not buying... it's borrowing" Cassandra smiled, "you'll be normal size... someday. And until then, why not have some fun with it? Besides the crowd loves you - AM I RIGHT?"

At that moment, thunderous applause rang out for my tiny self. I gave a meager wave back, like some kind of mini celebrity.

"I won't do anything you're not comfortable with" Amanda said, in a firm tone.

"Good, because I'm backing out of this deal!" I shouted, "I won't be treated like a toy, we'll just have your cousin Sterling help us out"

"Sterling?" Cassandra asked, "I remember her from my sophomore year, yeah she's PRETTY good, but you're silly if you think she'll be able to reverse this spell."

"We'll see about that" I challenged and Amanda stormed out of the crowd with me tucked back into her purse, invoking groans of dissapointment from the crowd.

I let out a heavy sigh, with my head burrowed deep in my knees. Amanda opened the purse somewhat to look at me.

"You okay, hon?" she asked.

"Yeah" I sighed, but I really wasn't. "Amanda... thank you so much for not going along with her"

"Of course" she said, "I'd never do anything to harm you, I told you that. And I certainly wouldn't SELL you! You're my boyfriend"

"Thanks" I sighed and then added, "sure you still want to date someone as small as me? I don't foresee this spell ending any time soon"

"Oh don't talk like that" Amanda said, taking out her phone hastily, "in fact, I'll call Sterling right now, we'll get this straightened out -- and of course I still want to date you"

"You rock" I smile.

"You too, little..." she started, then stopped, "I mean, Bobby"

I smiled back.

Maybe I wasn't too familiar with magic just yet but I was glad to see that bitch Cassandra dissapear - for the moment anyway.

"Spell It Out"

by Sonicfan287

Chapter 5: The dinner date

Amanda and I had pulled over at Fred's, one of our favorite restaurants, as Amanda waited patiently on the phone for her cousin Sterling to pick up. I glanced up at her impatiently, making myself comfortable against the cold pole of the patio umbrella. "One second"

I looked down at the table uneasily as I waited.

"Hey Sterling?" Amanda said, finally able to reach her, "This is Amanda... what's up? I don't suppose you remember going to school with a girl named Cassandra when you were learning magic?"

As I looked up towards Amanda, I eagerly awaited any information. Amanda's face wrinkled into a frown, then an inquisitive look. She had a very expressive face in general and from my vantage point, I was able to recognize every small detail.

"Okay... so... yeah?" Amanda said, hastily taking a napkin out of her purse. She set the tattered napkin down in front of me and started writing on it. "ok... we'll see you there... she shrunk my boyfriend and... oh... okay... we'll be there"

Amanda slid her phone back into the purse, along with the napkin as I stared up at her. She finally composed herself and looked down at me, somewhat sadly. She said, "You were right..."

"Right?" I squeaked, "Right about what?"

Something told me this wasn't something I wanted to be right about.

"Cassandra's bad news..." Amanda sighed, "Sterling knew right away who I meant and while she didn't know her personally, she was expelled from the academy for dabbling in the dark arts"

My heart fell when I heard that. What kind of thing were we dealing with? Afraid to ask, I continued my question, "Dark arts?"

"Yeah... she said Cassandra went through some ordeal when her boyfriend broke up with her and..." Amanda said, suddenly stopping mid-sentence. "and... it was you, wasn't it?"

I sighed.

"You were her boyfriend at the time, right?" Amanda asked.

"...she's been planning this for some time then" I gasped, realizing it was my breaking up with her that drove her to this. "...I... I don't even know what to say, this is my fault"

"No" Amanda said sternly, "C'mon Bobby, this isn't your fault... Cassandra had no right to shrink anyone... especially my boyfriend! In fact if I see that bitch again, I'm likely to punch her in the face!"

Amanda then smashed her fist against her open palm, producing a loud clapping noise. I couldn't help but think it was somewhat hot.

"She said we can meet her at her house in about an hour, so before we do, why don't we just relax? Get a bite to eat? We used to love coming here" Amanda said.

"Well, okay, if you insist" I replied, "but I don't think I'll be able to pay for my meal..."

"Oh my god, hun" Amanda laughed, brushing her thick black hair from her face to get a better look at me, "You are too cute! Of course, I'll pay for you. Now c'mhere please"

Her hand gently wisked me off of the table and she placed me into her purse. I clumsily fell inside, as she dragged me up to the counter, already knowing what to order, from how many times we'd been there before. She walked slowly back to the table to make sure not to spill the food and drink, not to mention myself. Finally I heard her say something but found it difficult to make out from inside the purse. She lifted me from the purse and placed me gently back up on the table, where I saw a long strip of chicken, three times the length of my body. As I approached the massive food, I didn't know whether I was supposed to eat it or climb on it.

"I guess I bought a bit much for you, Bobby..." Amanda said, "considering your size"

"You kidding me?" I laughed, crouching down to get a better look at the giant piece of chicken, "This is awesome!"

I knelt and took a bite but found myself in pain, from scorching my mouth. "I guess I didn't think that one through..."

Amanda rolled her eyes and laughed, putting a napkin behind me. "You might want to use this... seeing as you're now covered in grease..."

"Oh geez" I exclaimed, realizing she was right, and a thin layer of grease had pervaded into my clothes. I rub the life-size napkin over my body and hear Amanda sigh, somewhat jokingly.

"Boys will be boys" Amanda laughed, as she took a bite of her chicken salad, the giant plastic fork appearing to me as if it were an alien object. "So, are you okay down there?"

"I'm fine" I smiled, trying to feel more comfortable. Even though the situation wasn't ideal, it was nice to be on a date with Amanda at the place we had spent so much time together in the past. "I'm just getting used to everything"

"I'd imagine" Amanda said. "Look, Bobby, we'll get this straightened out, I promise..."

"I hope so..." I said, sounding somewhat dejected as I took a small bite of my giant chicken. Suddenly, I was unexpectedly tipped into Amanda's hand by one of her giant finger tips. She lifted me to her face and smiled.

"Bobby, I promise..." she said warmly and brought me slowly to her lips, kissing me gently. "Okay? I will have you back to normal as soon as possible... hey, what's the matter?"

"You have garlic breath" I laughed.

"Oh you little jerk!" Amanda chuckled, and laid me back on the plate. "You should be lucky I don't eat YOU!"

"You're joking..." I said, somewhat slyly.

"Am I?" she said, a suggestive smile crossing her face as she lifted the plastic knife off the plate. She jabbed it to the table quickly, careful not to hit me, but then while I was distracted by that event, I neglected to notice the plastic spoon rounding the corner, about to capture me in its cluctches.

"Gotcha!" Amanda said, in a sing songy voice, tipping me into the spoon where I fell on my ass and stayed cradled inside what felt like a large plastic basin. She brought me to her mouth, close to her nose from which I heard massive jets of air overhead as she sniffed me. "Mmmm, you look delicious and you'll go great with my salad"

"Heh heh..." I said, desperately trying to disguise my nerves as I looked at her unwavering smile. "You wouldn't eat me right?"

"I don't know..." Amanda said, in a near whisper, "you tell me"

She brought me closer and closer to her mouth but she was doing it so slowly that I reasoned with myself that she wouldn't possibly eat me. If she had wanted to, she could've done it much faster and been done with it. She opened her mouth slowly until I felt a great bellowing breath of air which was steamy hot and reeked of garlic dressing. I dared not say a word though as she steadied the spoon and brought me closer. I tried standing up in the spoon but it was too uneven. I was destined to fall, and my weight tipped the spoon too much. Amanda appeared startled, not expecting me to try to escape but I was overcome with panic in the moments following her scooping me up.

I fell off the spoon clumsily and fell a few feet until I landed on the curving line of her bust. She chuckled and lifted me off of her shirt. Her breasts were clothed so I had no chance to land in her bra but I had been momentarily clinging to her boobs from the outside of the shirt. She laughed as she held me in front of her face.

"Now, how do you keep ending up in there?" she laughed, giving me a naughty wink. I sighed with relief. "You didn't really think I'd eat you, did you?"

"Heh" I said, unable to answer immediately because I was still in shock. Understandably, this offended her.

"Oh my god, you thought I was going to really eat you" Amanda tsked, putting me down on the table again and taking the fork and spoon off the table.

"What?" I exclaimed, "No, I didn't say that!"

"Yeah but you tried to escape... you pretty much jumped off the spoon!" Amanda said.

"I lost my balance!" I explained

"MMm...hmm..." Amanda said in an unconvincing way. "It's okay, I understand, and I'm sorry if I scared you..."

"I-It's okay" I said.

"But you know you can trust me" Amanda said.

"I know, I know" I said, "it's just been a rough day"

"I understand, but it'll be over before you know it" Amanda said.

As we finished our respective meals, her with the relatively tiny chicken salad and me with the relatively giant chicken strips, I just hoped this would all work out for the best and that Cassandra would end up getting her "just desserts".

Spell It Out

Chapter 6: Uncovering more of the puzzle

I became more and more anxious as I heard Amanda's car slow. We had reached our destination and we were about to meet up with her cousin Sterling. As Amanda gets out of the car, I hear every bump as she manuevers herself onto the sidewalk leading up to the house. I hear everything around me, and finally, after a few moments, I hear a door open and the two girls begin talking. Amanda sets the purse on the floor of her cousin's living room while they talk, seperated by a couch.

"So, Amanda... why haven't I met this boyfriend of yours?" Sterling asked, jokingly. "You guys have been together a while"

"Yeah, true." Amanda replied, "Well you can see him, he's right here"

I grew uneasy as I thought about Amanda pulling me out, but of course I had no choice in the matter. I feel myself get pinched lightly around the waist and within seconds, I'm lifted miles off the ground, sitting helplessly in my girlfriend's palm as she shows me to her cousin. I sheepishly wave hello.

"Wow, he's so little..." Sterling said,and then began to show Amanda towards another room of the house. I sighed with dejection as Amanda carried me into the next room, following her cousin. "I'm wondering how small she made him..."

"Hhmm, I'd guess about 6 inches" Amanda said, sounding very business-like as she spoke. She hadn't measured me, and in fact nobody had, but it really made no difference to me. I was way too small is all I knew. Amanda craned her head down towards me, feeling inclined to include me in the conversation. She looked my body in the eye and asked, "what do you think, Bobby?"

"I...I don't know, what difference does it make?" I sputtered. Amanda sighed and set me down on a cold black table. On the table were several machines and a sink, almost like a chemistry lab.

Sterling walked up to the table and knelt down, her face and eyes carefully observing my every movement.

"You're probably not going to like this, Bobby" Sterling said, her face forming a giant frown, "but I need to measure you to figure out your exact height"

"What? Why?" I gasped, feeling defensive.

"Whatever Cassandra did to you is formulaic... so i need your original height, and then I need the height you are now" Sterling said, looking sincerely sorry as she looked at me. "I have a scale over there as well... we can measure you right on there...whenever you're ready of course"

I turned flush red, as Amanda and Sterling looked down at my tiny form on her lab table. I was unable to make eye contact with either of the giant girls as they stared at me.

"Bobby, please, just let her help us" Amanda said, maintaining her warm tone. She quickly grabbed me in her hands. I looked up at my giant girlfriend feeling scared, but I somberly nodded my head. Amanda slowly placed me on the cold steel postage scale. I looked out at Sterling (who appeared to be miles away), writing notes studiously in a book as she took down the weight measurement.

"Hold still, Bobby" Sterling said, sounding doctor-like as she slid a large metal height marker near my head. I felt a rush of embarassment as she had to adjust the slider once or twice, accidentally raising it too high a few times. She let the black metal marker stay at the tip of my head, the dash lines in front of me barely touching 5 inches.

"Okay..." Sterling said, looking towards Amanda, "what was his original height?"

"Hmm, about 5 foot 9, right Bobby?" Amanda asked. I nodded without speaking.

"Okay... he's about 4 and 6/8" now" Sterling said, looking down at her notepad and continuing to scribble furiously.

Her words fell hard on my ears and I just remained where I stood. There was no point in climbing down from the scale at that moment. Amanda looked at me and could see how sad I was.

"Don't worry, Bobby..." Amanda said, reaching her hand down for me, "Sterling's going to help you have a growth spurt"

Sterling quickly tapped Amanda on the shoulder, giving her a cautionary look.

"Uh..Um... I never said that, Amanda..." Sterling chuckled nervously. "I mean, I'll try, but I first need to figure out how Cassandra did this, ... and..."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing! We had driven all this way and I had been humiliated on several seperate occasions only to be told we MIGHT have a solution?

"It seems Cassandra used a combination of chemistry and dark magic to alter your boyfriend's body..." Sterling said, "this is strictly theoretical stuff... this kind of magic has been very rarely used and not much is known about it... trying to manipulate it can be tricky..."

"But you can do it, right?" Amanda asked, sounding kind of panicked now. "You were a great sorceress at your school"

"I mean... I mean, yeah... I studied the books and I could pull off a few tricks, but..." Sterling stuttered, "some people just have the right talent for it... I've always tried to be the kind of magician Cassandra was, but I mean... I'll do my best... the problem is, with dark magic, it's very unpredictable. I could help him grow back or..."

"Or...?" Amanda asked.

"...I could accidentally make him even smaller..." Sterling admitted.

"What?!" I snapped, almost at the same time as Amanda.

"I... I don't know that for sure,but it is a possibility..." Sterling cried, "We'd have to test the spell on something, or someone else before we tried it on Bobby... but I'm going to use all the information I have to learn a spell that can change sizes..."

Amanda and I remained in stunned silence for several moments before responding.

"Alright, well what do we need to do to help you?" Amanda asked.

"First, I'm going to need a large crate... a magician's crate" Sterling said, "Cassandra used some kind of spacial compression spell, I'm guessing"

"Meaning?" I asked.

"Bobby, did she have you step into something? Like a large 6 or 8 foot crate?" Sterling asked.

"Yes!" I replied.

"Okay, that's what I thought... that's how she does it" Sterling said, "based on your approximate height and the volume of space you were in, she was able to exponentially reduce the matter within the box you were standing in..."

"In English, please!" I cried, feeling more and more anxious by the moment.

"She shrunk the space around you, therefore, shrinking you" Sterling explained. "We need a similar type of vessel... something with no space in it, something enclosed, it can be a box, or crate... itjust can't have any holes in it or anything"

"And you think if you get me into another box like that, you can somehow make me big again?" I asked.

"Maybe..." Cassandra replied nervously, "I just don't know... if I need a small box to put you in...or a regular size 8 foot box..., if we choose wrong the results could be disastrous..."

"So what do we do?" Amanda asked.

"Regardless, we're going to need some things..." Sterling said, jotting some things down on a notebook, she then turned towards Amanda as she spoke, "a lot of things... I'm going to give you this list. We may also want to use a test subject... it can even be a cat or something"

"I don't want to hurt a cat!" Amanda replied.

"It won't be hurt... well, maybe shrunk" Sterling said, "but we need to be sure this will work..."

Amanda nodded solemnly. We knew what to be done, but could it be possible?