Timothy enjoyed the sight of Leanne’s tongue in a more detached way, as he didn’t have the emotional investment of years to incorporate, as he did when he thought about Mrs Long. Then Leanne announced him, and he told of his many struggles and efforts to live for nearly two years at tiny size. He had spent most of the time reading or watching television, glad that his electricity bills and water rates had continued to be automatically deducted from his savings account electronically, and that his wealth earned more in interest than the cost of the bills. It was a struggle to manipulate the TV remote control at tiny size after climbing up to where he’d originally left it on the couch, but well worth it to watch enough programs to keep him entertained and occupied for years.

The fact that he watched a lot of television did not preclude him from sufficient exercise. Obtaining food from his pantry and kitchen, washing and drying and hanging out things to dry themselves, and other things all took considerable exercise at that size. Climbing relatively gigantic furniture was a daily necessity for him in that period.

“I’m very proud of you, and I think the others all enjoyed it too,” said Leanne at the end of the night, “I didn’t want you to tell this to the others, until we’ve had a chance to follow it up, but I’ve got some great news for you.”

Leanne took out a society magazine which had event listings of authors, and showed Timothy an item which took his breath away:

Notification of the wedding of

Jay Long (son of magazine author Christine Long)

and

Krystal Hume (daughter of Clive and Edith Hume)

…

“Wow! If only we could go,” said Timothy.

“We can,” said Leanne, “I sent the magazine publishers a signed copy of my book to be passed on to Christine, asking her to contact me. She read it and invited me to the wedding and the reception, and said I can bring a date. I haven’t told her about you, but Tarquin understands your situation and is happy for me to take you.”

“Boy will she be surprised to learn what happened to me since she ate me all up!” said Timothy.

“I thought you’d like to surprise her,” said Leanne.

“I don’t know what to say,” said Timothy.

“That’s what the group’s here for,” said Leanne, “Or one of the reasons it’s here anyway. I’m glad we’ve been able to organise this reunion for you and Christine.”

“What if she has a boyfriend there?” asked Timothy.

“I’ve only spoken to her on the telephone so far, but I managed to slip that into conversation. She had been dating someone for years by the time she ate you, but it broke up since then. She’s not spoken for in any way at the moment. Most of the guests there are friends of Jay and Krystal. Jay’s 24 and Krystal’s 22. Their friends are around that age too. Christine’s 47. Besides that, who would she possibly prefer to the returning young man she ate nearly three years ago?”

“I guess so,” said Timothy.

“Just trust your heart and go for it,” said Leanne.

“I think I’ll still be nervous.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be there to steer you along,” said Leanne, “And as far as Christine’s concerned, the caterers at that wedding won’t have anything to compete with you.”

The wedding day came, and Timothy and Leanne attended. They sat up the back, so that Mrs Long would not notice Timothy until the reception. Then Leanne snuck out the back with Timothy, before the service ended, and drove to the reception venue. They talked in the car until Mrs Long arrived. Then Leanne led Timothy into the large mansion, and they began to eat and talk.

Timothy watched Mrs Long deliver her speech, and then the slow dancing began.

“It might be a good moment to introduce yourself,” said Leanne.

“What would I say?” asked Timothy.

“Ask her to dance. She’s the only one here without a partner.”

“She’ll think that I’m your boyfriend,” said Timothy.

“No. I explained that I was just bringing a friend who had no romantic attachments to me, when I arranged for us to come,” said Leanne, “The field is clear for you. Make the most of it.”

“I guess it’s why we’re here,” said Timothy.

“Best wishes,” said Leanne.

Timothy walked over to the table just in time to see Mrs Long pick up a prawn and place it into her wide open mouth. As it touched her tongue, he was exhilarated, remembering the way that she had eaten him nearly three years earlier.

“Mrs Long?” he said.

“Hello … Timothy Scribener?”

“Yes,” he said.

“I can see how you look like an older version of the boy I once taught and dreamt about, and a full sized version of the boy I ate three years ago, but I really thought I’d gobbled you down for good that day. I guess my theories were right after all.”

“What theories?” asked Timothy.

“You recall that we perceived all our earlier experiences as dreams. Leanne, the lady you came with today, explained to me that they were real, in an unexplained unproven way. Each time we encountered each other, you really shrank, or I really ended up in a giant place somewhere. How it happened is something we don’t know, but it did. It always ended just as you slid down my throat. I worked out why.”

“Of course! You were a science teacher long before your brief stint as an author. I read your story about me and enjoyed it very much by the way. You’d be able to work out the closest thing to a scientific explanation of our situations, which the others couldn’t, being authors or other non-scientific members of our special community.”

“What happened to you, by the way?”

“I found myself back in the nature gardens at full size. Soon after that I shrank to tiny size in my own house and spent almost two years like that. I guess I was trying to bring about another encounter, but you weren’t.”

“Maybe that’s why we had all the ones we did,” said Mrs Long, “Was the timing of the incidents in my story concurrent with your experiences in each case?”

“To the day,” said Timothy.

“Were you thinking about me at all around the time you started to shrink?”

“Every time, now that I recall it, or dreaming at least,” said Timothy, “Or thinking about you the night before.”

“And I was thinking of you in each case, but not when you shrank two or three years ago. That has to be it. You only shrink when both of us are thinking about each other at the same time,” said Mrs Long.

“Boy are the other members of G.O.O.D. going to be pleased to learn that!”

“Well now think what could cause you to restore your size?”

“I don’t know. It usually just happens when I’m about to reach you tummy.”

“We both mistook the situations for dreams. They felt very like them, and had similar properties,” said Mrs Long, “Have you ever had frightening dreams, when you could see no way out, and some how you willed yourself to wake up as the only escape from the situations in the dreams?”

“Yes. They were all like nightmares: being assaulted, threatened with death, losing something important, being in some other terrible trouble.”

“Exactly. It’s no wonder people always awake from nightmares at the worst time, before they’re over. It’s a safety buffer built into our subconscious, I’ve speculated,” said Mrs Long, “And since our gobbling encounters were like dreams, you willed yourself back to full size and out of my throat when there was no other alternative.”

“Of course. And in the case of my long shrinking stint at home, I became so desperate and fearful that I’d spend the rest of my life shrunken alone at home and never meet you again, that I willed myself back to full size.”

“That’s the secret,” said Mrs Long, “I couldn’t end the encounter. Neither could Leanne or your other friends, because I wasn’t worried about gobbling you down. I was enjoying it. Only the imminent anxiety of the tiny boy can do it.”