For as long as she could remember, everyone had called her Lettie.  Her name was Violette, but she was named for her grandma, and her aunts, uncles, great-aunts and great-uncles had taken to calling her Lettie when she was little, since they called her grandma “Vi” or “Violette.”

Lettie kind of hated her name.  The spelling on “Violette” was odd enough that people always were misspelling her full name, and “Lettie “ sounded old-fashioned.  Still, when she was little, her mom had told her kindergarten teacher Lettie was called “Lettie,” so the name stuck, even at school.

Now Lettie was a freshman in high school.  She was tall at 5-foot-9 and slim, but felt her looks were unspectacular.  She didn’t mind.  She preferred the background.

The big fall dance was coming up, and Lettie liked Kurt, a taller boy who was well-built and athletic.  He was on the football team and two years ahead of her, but he had always been nice to her in the halls and classes.  She was trying to work up the nerve to ask him out.

Lettie saw Kurt in the hall.  She swallowed hard and remembered a story her mom had told her about Grandma Violette.

When Vi was little, she had become separated from her parents and was lost for months, Mom had said.  During that time, Vi had helped stop a group of criminals before she was reunited with her parents.  It had really helped Vi develop courage, Mom had said.

Trying to channel her grandma’s courage, Lettie walked up to Kurt.  “Um, hi, Kurt,” she said.

Kurt turned and smiled at her.  “Oh, hi, Lettie,” Kurt said, smiling.

“Um, Kurt,” Lettie said, “um, look, I was wondering, um, if you would go to the dance next week with me?”  She looked up at him hopefully, nervously.

Kurt paused for a couple of seconds, then burst out laughing.  He stopped himself quickly.  “Oh, I’m sorry, Lettie,” he said.  “I didn’t mean to laugh in your face, but I’m dating the head cheerleader.  Why would I go to the dance with a frosh?  You’re nice enough, but --”

Lettie was blushing with embarrassment.  She felt awful, felt like everyone was staring at her.  She wished she could hide.

Then she saw a horrified look on Kurt’s face.  “Lettie, what’s going on?” he said, starting to look genuinely scared.

Then Lettie realized she was looking up further than usual at Kurt, and the gap was widening.  What was happening?

The feeling that everyone was staring at her was even stronger.  She looked around and realized everyone in the hallway really was staring at her.  Now she wished even more that she could hide.

Suddenly Lettie understood why everyone was staring at her, and why Kurt was staring down -- now way down -- at her.  She was shrinking, and shrinking fast.

Worse, she realized her clothes weren’t shrinking with her.  She was pretty sure she was now under three feet tall, and with the clothing situation she wanted to hide even more.  Growing even smaller, she grabbed her top to keep herself covered and ran down the hallway, stepping right out of shoes that were now as long as her legs.

Lettie made her way to her locker.  She could just barely reach the lock with enough strength to manipulate the dial.  She dialed her combination and opened the door, then realized that even more people were staring at her.  Getting even smaller, she climbed into the locker and shut the door behind her.

Now Lettie became so tiny that she couldn’t begin to hold up her tent-sized top.  Crying, she climbed atop her book bag.  With effort, she managed to open the zipper and climb inside the bag.

Lettie was looking for her cell phone.  She found a ruler first.  Morbidly curious, she stretched out on top of it, and realized she was now about six inches tall.  Crying even harder, she dug down until she found the cell.  It was as long as her torso, and probably outweighed her now.

Pushing with all her might, Lettie pushed the buttons to call out.  Then she realized how small her voice would sound and set the volume controls to the max as the call rang in.

Lettie heard the phone pick up and the thunderous voice of her mother come through.  “Hello, Jan Munson.”

“Mom, it’s Lettie,” the six-inch girl shouted, sobbing.  “Something’s happened, something unbelievable.”

“Oh, God,” her mom said.  “Lettie, where are you?”

“In my locker,” the girl answered.

“How tall are you?” Mom asked.

Now Lettie was confused.  “About six inches,” she said.

“I was afraid of this,” Mom said.  “Wait there, honey.  I’ll get you out.  Meanwhile, try to stay calm and let go of whatever upset you.  It’ll help.”  Then Mom hung up.

Lettie sat there in disbelief.  Her mom knew about this?

The wait in the locker seemed interminable.  Making it worse were her fellow students.   Lettie realized some of them were trying to peek through the locker’s vents to see her, curious about her condition.  The boys seemed to be looking especially hard, apparently hoping to see a tiny, naked girl.

Lettie began to sob, wishing now that she could hide even more.  Then she started shrinking again, plummeting to less than an inch tall. Standing atop the ruler in a corner of the book bag not visible from the vents, Lettie lay down and stretched out.  She calculated that she was only about six-tenths of an inch tall.  Thank God I called Mom before I got this small, she thought.  I could never move the phone buttons now.

There was nothing to do now but hide and wait.  After a few minutes, the class bell rang and the crowd at her locker left.  Lettie relaxed a bit, feeling less pressure.

Then Lettie realized she was changing again, but not like before.  Things around her seemed to be getting smaller.  She was growing, not shrinking.

Still, she didn’t grow much.  She stopped at one inch tall.

Lettie remembered the relaxation techniques her mother had taught her.  She thought of the phone call.  Was this why her mother had taught her those techniques?  Was mom trying to give her a means of coping with this?

Stretching out on some clothes in a secluded spot in the book bag -- an odd description, Lettie realized, but accurate at her current size -- Lettie took a series of deep, cleansing breaths.  After about a minute of this, she opened her eyes and measured herself.  She was up to about four inches tall.

Lettie used another technique.  Starting with her feet and working her way up her body one muscle group at a time, she tensed hard, then relaxed each one, finishing with her face.  She breathed easily.  She could tell she’d grown while this was going on, but she didn’t know how much.  She got down by the ruler.  She was up to 10 inches tall.

Lettie wanted to try to get bigger, but was afaid she might get too big for the locker, or that the other students would get back before her Mom could get there.  She decided it was best to wait for her Mom.

It wasn’t long before Lettie saw a shadow over the locker vents.  “Lettie, it’s Mom,” she said.  “I’ll need to know your combination to get you out, unless you can climb out a vent.”

“I’m not that small any more,” Lettie said.  She shouted the numbers to her mother, then heard the tumblers clanking as Mom dialed the combination.

On seeing her tiny daughter, Mom bit her lower lip.  “Well, at least you’re bigger than you were when you called,” she said.

“Not before I got even smaller first,” Lettie shouted.  She saw her mom was carrying a manila folder.

“Get in the bag,” Mom said.  “Carrying you out in it will be the easiest way to get you out of here with a minimum of attention.”

“What about my clothes and shoes?” Lettie asked.  “I left them in the hallway.”

“Someone turned them in at the office,” Mom said.  “I called the school office right after I got off the phone with you and told them to take no further action until I got here.  That’s probably why they weren’t looking for you, I think.”

Lettie rode in the bag.  She could hear Mom talking to the office staff.  “This is Lettie’s medical file,” Mom said.  “It will explain everything.  I’ve already got Lettie.  I need her clothes.”

“But the principal wants to see --”

“This is a medical emergency!” Mom said.  “Talk can come later, after he’s reviewed the file!  Give me the clothes now, or I’m leaving without them!”

Lettie heard the clothing being handed over.  At her current size, they sounded like giant flags being flapped. 

Once Mom got the bag into the car, she unzipped the bag.  “You OK, honey?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Lettie said.

“Just take it easy for now,” Mom said.  We can worry about getting you bigger when we get you home.  I’ll explain what’s going on with you then, and I apologize now for not doing it sooner.  But you look exhausted.”

Lettie yawned.  “I am, kinda,” she said.

Mom smiled.  “Rest.  If you can, sleep.  It’ll help,” she said.

Lettie didn’t understand it, but the stress of all this and the fact that her adrenaline rush was wearing off combined to make the tiny teen very sleepy.  She simply snuggled into the pile of clothing that was beside the book bag.  She felt Mom positioning objects to help keep the pile stable as she dozed off.