“Excuse me, ladies…” Kyle started…

Height, it always seems to be the big deal for Kyle. Could it be because he´s an inch short from being 6´? Could the fact that he stands at 5´11”, bother him that much? Let´s face it, being too close, but still not there, is as bad as being second to winning. To some, it means you´re the very first looser.

But that´s just a way of thinking, not for everyone though. However, maybe for Kyle, things are that way. Maybe, just maybe, it´s worse that things are that way, being so close, and still, one inch short.

It´s not like losing by a lot, but losing by a little.

Now, the real deal is, six-feet-tall. That, according to him, it´s like an unspoken rule. The six-foot-mark sets the difference between tall men and short men. When thinking of it, he knows that, as soon as he says he´s 5´11”, women will immediately bring him down all the way to 5´.

As if they didn´t hear anything after he says five-feet. But it´s not five-feet-nothing, it´s five-feet-ELEVEN. Which is just an inch short from the six-foot-mark. Which has always been a big deal. Mostly to him.

Now, he walked towards those ladies. With a friendly smile on his face, and about to make a big deal out of nothing.  Not an awfully big deal, just to make things matter more than they should.

Jim followed Kyle, just to make sure he was close enough to apologize if things got too awkward. As in “We´re sorry to bother, please pretend nothing happened.” As if saying, my friend´s a bit weird about this stuff, but he´s harmless.

“Hello, ladies.” Kyle said as he stood right in front of them. Not too close, just enough.

“Hi.” Both of them said, one wondering what was he about to say, and the other lady thought he was kind of cute.

Jim stopped right behind him. Making sure he didn´t get too awkward. And also wondering, what´s the point he´s trying to make? Only he cares about this kind of stuff, but still, he always seems to find the way to make it not only his issue, but everyone´s issue.

To bother people with his nonsense…

“So, my friend an I,” Kyle pointed at Jim, knowing he was right behind him, “we were just talking and, heh, well we don´t seem to find a commitment. So, we were wondering…” Jim rolled his eyes, as in saying there´s no “we”, more like “HE”, this is KYLE´S issue. “Do you ladies, like men who are taller or… not?”

Kyle was polite, the correct body language. Nice posture, moving his hands as if he was explaining something important. Eye-contact so that they know he´s not leering at them.

One of them, the one who thought he was cute, wondered if this was the beginning of a pick-up move, and the other lady just rose her eyebrow. But both of them stood there, not saying a word for a moment.

“You don´t really have to answer the question, that´s fine.” Interrupted Jim.

“Oh, don´t worry.” Said the lady who found Kyle cute. “I guess it´s… a fair question…” she said.

“Well, it´s kind of odd, to be honest. At least when it comes out of nowhere.” The other lady added.

Kyle smiled, he knows it´s a bit weird to ask, but he´ll find the way to get out of this, but with his answer. “I´m sorry, I know this question came out of nowhere. But we were just wondering. That´s all. If women prefer a taller man, or a shorter man.”

Still, it doesn´t make it any less odd, but he smiled and looked at both with a look, a charming one.

The first one to speak up was the lady who found him cute.

“Well, it´s not precisely the height. But, if that´s your only question. I guess I prefer men who are taller than me.” She said, with a smooth, sexy tone. Looking at him with some tender eyes.

“Same. Tall men.” The other lady replied, hoping they will both leave.

“So, taller it is.” Kyle said. Turning back at Jim with a look that said: “Told you.” But just when he thought he had won, the sweet lady added.

“But, like I said, height´s not all. For example… I think you´re cuter than your friend.” She said. Pointing out the clear fact that Jim was taller.

Kyle turned back, still smiling. It hit him, stung him almost. Her comment, it wasn´t something he wanted to hear. She was kind, and her point, the main one, was that he was cute. However… Kyle doesn´t always take this things as normal as someone else would.

“S-sure! Like… he might be like… a fraction of an inch taller, but that´s not the main deal, right?” Kyle said.

“A fraction? He looks like… two-inches taller.” The other lady said.

Jim was sure this was like fueling more his fire, and they had no idea they shouldn´t do so. Else, he might make this awkward conversation much longer.

There´s just an inch in height between them. Kyle´s 5´11”, and Jim´s 6´. But the gap may look wider since Jim´s hair´s a bit longer, and his hair´s a bit curly. Giving him a bit of a boost. But, the main boost comes from his shoes. Jim´s shoes have a higher heel, while Kyle´s are almost flat.

Which is something strange to wear for a man who´s intending to seem taller.

“Two? Haha. No, ma´am. It´s just ONE inch. You see, my friend´s six-foot-even. And I´m five-eleven. Which, by making some basic math, simple arithmetic’s, you´ll see, it´s just an inch.” He was trying to be persuasive, but the lady just wouldn´t give.

“I do think he´s six-feet-tall. But you… I´d say you seem more like a 5´10” guy…” it stung him, the comment. But, not like usual.

This time, Kyle felt different. As if her words had actually have an effect on him. A real one.

For a second, he could listen to his heart beat. As if his heart was right on his ears. Both! How could that be? His mouth went dry for a moment. He couldn´t really speak.

What was happening? He wondered if this was real. Was it normal? Should he go see the doctor? Should he be worried?

Next thing he knows, things went blurry. And there´s where his heart actually skipped a beat. He froze, but not for too long.

It all happened very fast. It was all so quickly, and at the same time, it seemed like forever. But as soon as his vision cleared up, he went back to the conversation. Knowing well enough that it was better to continue and go get checked once this is over.

“Everything ok?” Asked the lady who had been looking at him with some interest since he got to them. She was looking at his eyes when he went mute for a second.

“S-sure. No, everything´s fine. I just… zoned out for a sec. Anyways… There´s not that much of a difference between my friend Jim and I. But that´s not the main deal here.” He felt odd, maybe it´ll be a better idea to wrap things up and get out of there. “Now, thank you both for your time. See ya´ later.” And so, he smiled and walked away.

As he turned, Jim just followed him. Thankful that this ended up fast.

Meanwhile, the ladies returned to their regular conversation. But not before one of them said: “He was cute, right?”

“Cute? Well…” The other lady said, shrugging a bit. He wasn´t really her type.

As Kyle and Jim walked away, their conversation went on. And yes, it was still height-oriented.

“See? I told you women prefer taller men.” Kyle said, as if he had won.

“Well, sure. But you can´t be sure just by asking TWO women. You need to make an actual survey. Get more data…” Jim started.

“Nah, man, that´s too complicated. Plus, it would take a ton of time. I´m sure that, with those two ladies, we have more than enough data.” Kyle said.

“Well, if you say so.” Anything to drive this conversation somewhere else.

“But, can you believe what she said?” Kyle asked as they walked down the hall.

“What? That you were cuter than me?” Jim asked, not really caring if they found Kyle cute. Although, it was just one of them.

“What? No. That´s obvious…” he joked, to what Jim just rolled his eyes. “No. What she said, about me being 5´10”. Can you believe that? I´m sure I had like… four-inches on that lady. At least.” That was true, she was the taller of both, and she stood at 5´7”, however, that was before…

Kyle didn´t just froze there for no reason. The feeling he had, the one that only lasted for a second or two, it wasn´t just a feeling.

Not just a creep in his spine. Not just a little chill running down his body. No, it was something else. Something that came here to stay.

He might not notice it yet, but soon, very soon, he´ll come to see the real consequences of it. The true effects it has to be such a way. Being so obsessed with height will really get him in trouble now. The question is, how bad? And, how much of a trouble?

How much of a problem would it be? He´ll be soon to know…

“Well,” Jim started, looking at Kyle, and smiling a bit mischievously, with a funny idea in mind. “I don´t know. Right now, you do seem like 5´10” to me…” he joked.

“Cut it man! I´m 5´11”, I´ve been the same height since we met. I would rather be 6´, but not all of us are that way.” Kyle said, a bit upset. But cool.

“Sure, we´re not all the same height. But, to be honest, there´s no such a difference between 5´11” and 6´, after all, that´s just an inch. Not enough to be noticeable.” However, that lady did notice it.

To her, that inch seemed more than that, that inch, in fact, seemed like TWO inches. Which had a major effect on Kyle…

Kyle was cursed. This fixation he´s got with height, that´s actually going to play some tricks on him. To change him in a few ways. Now, what the lady said, it was true. Not at first, but now, it was true.

If you stopped to look at both, Kyle and Jim, you´d notice Jim´s taller. However, if you were to compare that gap with the gap before. You´ll see there´s a bit of a difference.

The gap before, compared with the current gap, there seems to be a wider gap right now. Not just an inch, plus shoes, and hair. No, leaving that aside, there´s a two-inch gap.

Something had happened to Kyle. Something uncommon. Almost paranormal. Something… magical.

“Haha, sure. You´re right. But there´s no way I´d be mistaken for a 5´10” man.” Kyle added, and Jim just nodded to get over this conversation and move things to a different topic. Sports, maybe. Actually, anything would be better.

However, as they walked back to their cubicles, Kyle heard something. A whisper. But one only he could hear.

Suddenly, he heard a whisper. The whisper of a woman. “Oh, but you´re now 5´10”…” she said.

Kyle heard that and shivered. Then, he turned to the sides, and then back. What was that?

“Everything ok?” Jim asked, as he noticed Kyle seemed to be looking for something.

“Oh, yeah. Everything´s fine. I just… thought I heard something. Never mind, it must´ve been the wind…” Oh, but it wasn´t the wind.

At most, you might hear a word, or two. But Kyle, he heard a full sentence. And a full sentence that made sense. Not just random words. It was something, something real.

Something that creeped him enough to want to check on that…

Later that night. Once Kyle was back at his apartment. He was coming out of the shower. Ready to go sit on the couch and watched something for a while. Although, it´s most likely that he turns on the TV and just leaves it going while he checks some other thing on his phone.

But this time, instead of just heading for the couch, he stopped. Kyle stopped half-way there and decided to go check on something else. His height.

After all, this is always a bit deal to him. Height, to know that number. Set that number. He´s just too fixed into it. And being curious about his own height, that makes this more like an urge.

Kyle rushed, grabbed a pencil, a measuring tape and looked for a place to set the mark.

Why does he have a measuring tape? Well, he thought it would come in handy. Perhaps, he could set some marks on the wall and learn how to tell people´s height from the distance. Which is not so accurate, but he never gave himself the time to do it anyways…

Kyle looked for a spot, a place where he could stand up straight, and somewhere he could make a mark where it wasn´t so obvious, or that he could clean up later. But, at the same time, sort of hidden, just in case he never cleans it up.

Which could be the most possible result…

Kyle stood up, as straight as he could, but without cheating. He wanted this to be as accurate as possible.

He drove the pencil right above his head, put the tip on the wall and drew the line. He never thought he´d do this, not again, but there he is.

Then, he took a step forward, took the tape and checked on the measure.

“Ok, let´s see… 5´… one, two…seven…nine, ten…” And there he stopped. At ten. The mark was right next to the 5´10” mark. Kyle froze for a second.

He had to double check. He made sure the tape was properly stretched, that the tip was right at the floor, that there wasn´t anything obstructing it. But on an empty wall, it´s unlikely anything will come it´s way.

And even if it was like that, wouldn´t it make him taller?

Kyle couldn´t believe it. The mark was right on the 5´10”. So, he did what was more logical, he decided to draw another mark.

He stood a step next to the mark. Drew a new one and remeasured it. The mark seemed to be at the same level, but maybe his eyes lied. He wasn´t sure.

To his dismay, the mark was right on the 5´10” level. This number echoed inside his mind.

“5´10”… 5´10”… 5´10”…” He just couldn´t believe it.

“Maybe… maybe I´ve always been 5´10”? No! No way! I´m 5´11”! Maybe… maybe the tape´s wrong…” he thought. But it wasn´t like that.

“Oh, Kyle, the tape´s not wrong. You´re 5´10” now…” He heard a voice, a voice inside his mind!

Kyle turned everywhere. He freaked out, was someone inside his apartment? It was the voice of a woman, a female voice. Where did it come from?

He was paranoid. Had someone break in? He immediately turned his back against the wall and looked around. This woman sounds as if she was close, very close. Was she in the same room as he was?

“W-who is it?!” He called, defying this intruder to step out of the darkness, to reveal herself. Little does he know, there´s no one there, there´s no one inside his apartment, no one but him…

“Who is this? What? You can´t tell who am I?” The voice whisper, he could hear her as if she was right next to him, but he couldn´t see her.

“No! Now step out so that I can see you!” He yelled, as if there was actually someone there. But the truth is, he´s alone, physically alone, of course.

She would´ve loved to tease him further. To torture him, creep his mind further. But she couldn´t wait any longer.

“I´m Aurora.” Dumb, how come he couldn´t remember? He met her yesterday!

“Aurora? Oh, right. What are you doing at my place?” He complaint, still trying to find her.

“I´m not inside your apartment, dummy. I´m inside your mind.” She declared.

“My… my mind? Cut the crap, there´s no way you can do something like that!” He claimed, now stepping forward and trying to find her.

“No need to look for me, you won´t find me. I´m whispering, directly to your mind. And I don´t need to be at the same place you are to do so. Now, let´s talk about business. You already noticed it worked, didn´t you?” She asked, so eager to know what was on his mind. Was he mad? Upset? She wanted to know.

“Sure, whatever… notice what?” He asked.

“Come on, you know what I´m talking about. I´m speaking of the mark on your wall. The one that says you´re an inch shorter…” So he wasn´t wrong. And neither was the tape.

He lost an inch, how? And how does she know?

“Tell me!” He said, sternly, looking at the front, but unsure where she was. “How do you know that?” He was sure she must be somewhere in his apartment.

“How do I know? I did it. Didn´t I told you I´ll cast a spell on you?” Spell?

So, was it true? Was she actually a witch or something? No way. He cannot be sure about it. What if this was some sort of revenge. A prank! Payback time.

“You don´t believe it, don´t you?” she asked, well aware of his thoughts. “Don´t worry, you´ll trust me soon enough…” she knows that, soon, he´ll believe what she says. Until then, she´ll leave him alone…

Immediately after that, everything went silent. He couldn´t hear her.

“Hello? Aurora? Hello?” He was alone, completely alone now.

Kyle didn´t believe her words, she sure was somewhere at the place. Or, she left a microphone somewhere.

Right now, he´s tired. Too tired to look. Did she force her way in? Did she plant a mic somewhere? Was she inside the vents? He doesn´t know, and doesn´t care. But he should. Because this woman, she wasn´t lying.

Maybe the next time he´ll trust what she says…