By the time Rowan reached the center of town, almost twenty minutes had passed and she was starting to feel a bit calmer. There had been no sign of the military and everything seemed more or less as it had been the day before; birds were singing, flowers were in bloom and the community was going about its usual bustle. 

On an ordinary day Rowan would have had no trouble blending in to the crowd; most of the folks around town knew who she was of course, but few ever noticed her unless she made a point of saying hello. It was a blessing as much as a curse on some days, but on those days the young woman typically had nothing to bother her. Today however she was quite on edge. Every subconscious glance in her direction became a glare of suspicion; every unexpected noise was the sound of someone springing out to grab her. 

Trotting briskly along with her shoulders trembling and her head tilted firmly towards the ground, Rowan became uncomfortably aware that she was attracting more attention than usual. Instinctually she ducked into the nearest diner; its walls were glass from floor-to-ceiling, but they had the advantage of being rather grubby this morning. Slinking inside and over to a corner booth, the little lady huddled down behind one of the enormous menus, her raven hair poking over the brim. She glanced furtively at the door while pretending to skim the menu.

“What can I get for you this mornin’ young Rowan?” The pleasantly plump blonde waitress asked in a friendly tone, twirling her pen between two manicured fingers. Rowan’s back stiffened as she forced a smile onto her face.

“Hello! I would like to have a milkshake please. Chocolate.” She blurted out the word as an afterthought, her toothy smile hardening as the waitress cocked an eyebrow.

“Sure thing hun.” The waitress took the menu with a sideways glance at the little lady in the booth. Rowan slid right up into the corner and sank down in the chair, thoughts dancing about in her mind with reckless abandon. Everything from the previous night was a blur; she remembered indistinct details and vague memories, but she wasn’t entirely sure what was real and what was a dream concocted by her brain. 

Cautiously, Rowan peered down at her chest. It seemed unchanged, yet she could vividly recall the sensation of feeling it swell, the sudden increase in weight and mass. She recalled the pressure of constricting clothes digging into her flesh for a few tense moments before they were torn asunder by the pressure, tumbling away in the wind as she grew larger and larger. It couldn’t simply be her imagination; the feeling was like nothing else she had ever experienced… it was indescribable. 

Yet here she was, plain as day and ordinary as ever. 

If indeed she had grown larger, she had also subsequently shrunk back to her normal size. She let the notion swill about in her mind for a while; what if she actually could make herself bigger? What if she had the power to enlarge herself to be as tall as a mighty oak tree, or beyond? Certainly she would never again be picked on for being small, that’s for sure. William would have to pay attention to her if she were that tall! Her cheeks flushed as she closed her eyes and imagined it.

She saw William walking down the road, arm in arm with May or Alice or one of the other pretty girls from around town. She saw them walk around the corner, only to bump directly into one of her knees; towering above the pair of them in her favorite white dress – which obviously would be as big as she was. She would stand there with her hands on her hips, the tallest and by extension the prettiest girl around. A grin spread along Rowan’s face as she imagined the dismayed look of total jealousy on May or Alice’s face as William gaped longingly up at Rowan. 

“Gosh Ro,” he would say, “you’re looking particularly swell today!”

“Why thank you William,” she mouthed quietly, “you’re looking pretty handsome yourself. Would you like to come for a walk with me?” 

Her chin sank into her palms as her elbows rested on the table, a look of serene happiness on her face as she sighed contentedly. Almost imperceptibly, she became conscious of a weight on her chest.

“Here’s your shake hun.”

Rowan snapped back to reality as a cold drop of moisture from the frosty milkshake dripped onto her arm. Jerking back in her seat, Rowan quickly fixed the disappointed expression on her face and thanked the waitress kindly. 

The moment she walked away though, a dejected look crept back into her features. She slipped the straw between her lips and drank slowly, steadily gulping down the sweet liquid as she let the fantasy slip away. After all, not even being a hundred feet tall would make her any more attractive to William she thought; people would probably just think she was a freak. Maybe she’d be better off using those powers to help around town; lifting cars, carrying heavy loads, helping kittens out of trees or that sort of thing. 

Heck, maybe she should just make herself as tall as possible and walk away for good to start a new life in the big city. 

“Although,” she muttered out loud, “it wouldn’t exactly be the ‘big’ city with me around.”

Pausing in mid drink to give her throat a rest, Rowan’s focus snapped suddenly to the weight she’d felt on her bust. Peering down at her shirt, she narrowed her eyes as she tried to work out if the unusual way her shirt was sitting on her bosom was just her imagination, or if it was an honest to goodness change.

She let the idea stew in her mind for a few minutes as she gradually consumed the milkshake, the comforting feeling of a full belly calming her considerably as she carefully watched her chest. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind now; by the time the last dregs of froth were being hoovered up from the bottom of the cup, her breasts had visibly increased in size. She didn’t know if it was the drink itself or the result of some outside influence, but the change was undeniable. In a moment of alarm, she realized that there was no possible way she could explain this if someone started asking questions.

Rising from her seat in the booth, she reached into the pockets of her dress only to realize with a lurch of dismay that she had quite neglected to pick up any money during her exodus from her house. Her heart promptly started racing again, eyes darting around to see if anyone she knew happened to be seated nearby. 

One or two familiar faces stood out amongst the patrons, but nobody that Rowan would classify as a close friend or anything. The waitress was busy delivering a drink to one of the far tables and nobody behind the counter was looking in the young lady’s direction. Adrenaline surged in her veins as she took a stiff step towards the door. Then another, and another until she was moving at a brisk trot in the direction of the exit, her arms clasped firmly over her breasts to stop them bouncing around and popping open her shirt. At the far end of the diner, the blonde waitress turned her head slightly towards the raven haired young woman. 

“Hey hun, you gonna pay for that shake?” 

Blushing with a mixture of fear and embarrassment, Rowan leaned forward and seized the doorknob, dragging the glass pane open. 

“HEY! COME BACK HERE!” 

The waitress gave chase after Rowan, but before the young thing could take even a single stride out the door she found herself colliding with a tall, broad chested figure blocking her path. A firm, strong hand clamped down gently on Rowan’s shoulder and her eyes went wide as she recognized the military insignia on the man’s chest. Her eyes crept upwards over the torso of the behemoth, taking in the perfectly pressed uniform of the officer, his impressively thick frame and the look of calm authority on his features. 

He was a man on the far side of middle-aged, clean shaven with more than his fair share of grey in his hair. Though his face was nothing to write home about, he wasn’t what Rowan would call an unpleasant looking man; stern features but the spitting image of totally average. In spite of all that, his very demeanor conveyed an aura of strength and confidence that punched right through to the young woman’s soul and froze her in place. Her first subconscious impulse was a desire to be taller, to challenge his overbearing physical stature. But the thought melted away the moment he started talking.

“Good morning; Rowan isn’t it?” He said in a gravelly rumble. His gaze turned to the waitress as she stumbled up beside them. “Ma’am. Apologies for the young lady; she was coming to find me as she had forgotten that she left her purse at home. How much does she owe you?”

“One quarter, sir.” The waitress replied in a slightly less ruffled tone. Without hesitation the officer produced a full dollar from his pocket and placed it on the blonde woman’s serving tray. That satisfied her and she sauntered away, leaving Rowan and the mystery man standing in the doorway.

“Would you care to come for a walk with me Rowan? I’d like to ask you a few questions.” Removing his hand from her shoulder, the man stepped aside to allow the young lady out the door into the street. Although Rowan’s already unsettled state was in no way helped by the sudden appearance of the colossus, he didn’t appear to be directly threatening her; there was no hint of malice in his voice and he wasn’t attempting to arrest her. She felt her bust recede mildly, dwindling back to its original state. It was safe to say she’d never felt anything like it in her entire life, and for a brief moment she struggled to focus on the military man.

“Sorry sir,” she replied as she shuffled past, keeping an eye on the towering man, “my father says I’m not supposed to speak to strangers, even from the army.”

“Sensible advice; Damien is a good man. Rest assured I mean you no harm and I shan’t ask you to do anything against your will. Our walk will be strictly in public for your security and,” he removed the peaked cap from his head and bowed respectfully, “my name is Colonel Blanchard, commander of the Roswell Army Air Field. I’d like to speak to you about a flying disc.”