The sun set over a cold fall day, the leaves were already raked and the people of the small town had resigned themselves to waking up soon and shoveling their sidewalks. Walking alone along main street was Dekker, a fresh faced man of 26 with brown hair and a decent quality suit, quickly moving through town to have dinner with his longtime girlfriend Petunia. As he walked under the trees lining the road Dekker thought to himself how excited he was! He planned to finally propose to her tonight on their four year anniversary and he found the perfect ring for her. He fondled the box in his pocket, afraid that it might disappear if he let go of it for an instant.
Poking his forehead with a branch he realised that he didn’t just feel ten feet tall, and looked around to see if anyone saw his outburst. Staring up to calm himself he saw the branches retreat back to the sky until he was at his normal five foot six. Looking around a moment later he jumped at spotting the grocer watching him. She gave a smile and wave without calling over and Dekker responded with a weaker version of both while speeding up to get to the restaurant.
Getting inside he went right to his table by the window and started to fidget with his phone, the buttons smaller then he was used to using. His heart beat in his chest and he looked out the window to calm down after hearing his chair start to creek. Shakily he had ice water to calm his nerves.
A thin waiter came over and smirked “ So I heard from my Aunt that you got ‘excited’ on the way over, any exciting plans for tonight?” Dekker felt his collar loosen around his neck as he tried to respond. “Well Jeremy…” But the thin man's eyes bulged as he continued, “So it IS true! I remember back in highschool years ago you had to carry all those sizes of clothes for when you got embarrassed and shit, hell did anyone even know you could grow back then? But Jenna at the gas station said the cloths you got now only went up, and I thought there’s no way Dick-Tall Dekker would ever get cloths that didn’t go down with him!” Jeremy snickered as he poured more water into the glass before going on, “Well good luck on your date lover boy, I hope she can find you!” Laughing at his own joke he left still carrying the glass.
His mouth dry Dekker stared at his phone until he felt his collar tighten and breathing deeply. He jumped when the chair across from him stirred as a freckled red haired woman in a long sleeved dress moved it, Petunia shrugged off her jacket “Sorry, is this seat taken?”. Chuckling he got up and he helped her with the jacket and kissed her lightly before sitting down again. As he sat down the chair creaked again and Petunias smile was as wide as her face. “Well if that's what you feel now then I am oh so excited to see what the surprise you’ve been talking about all week is.” Unable to concentrate enough looking at her he closed his eyes and paced his breathing.
Opening his eyes again he saw Petunia and Jeremy staring at him with very different smiles; one was as warm as coffee on christmas morning, the other was as inviting as a loaded .45. Looking at the latter he spoke up “Well before anything else could I get a wat..” Interrupting him Jeremy looked over, “So What’ll it be Peti?” Shaking his head at being ignored Dekker listened as she gave her order and prepared to give his. “So for the gentleman I’ve got a spoonful of pasta and a thimble of wine is that it?” Putting his hand to his forehead in annoyance Dekker spat out “Come on Jeremy this is the only romantic place in town and you do this shit each and every time we’re in here. Just give me what she's getting and a glass of water for god's sake!”
Jeremy and Petunias eyes both went up at his outburst, with Jeremy first to comment on it. “Well alright touchy no need to get upset, hell though I remember the first time I used that line you went down at least a foot! But no more teasing for big strong Dekker, I’ll make sure to spread the word.” As he left Dekker leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead he saw Petunia give him a smile before talking. “So I heard from Father Clancy that you went up to ten feet earlier, was that just from thinking about little ol me?” Batting her eyelashes at him he gave a chuckle “Well more about you and the surprise but basically yes.” Across the table she beamed back at him “Well aren't I just the luckiest then!”
An hour passed, then two, then three as they ate and drank and talked. They talked about their day, their hopes for the local sports teams, and their dual shock at how fast time had flown to already be at an anniversary. The entire time Dekker’s nervousness was kept in check by his excitement, and he never went more than a few inches in either direction. Eventually he felt that it was time to leave so that he could pop the question. Standing up he stumbled a bit before putting his arm out, “So, ready to go find out what the surprise is?” She shrugged her shoulders at him and responded “Well I’m pretty sure I already know what it is, and the answer is yes!”
In a heartbeat his head smashed against the ceiling above, and after another he broke through the single story structure. Holding his breath from the ecstatic shock he didn’t realise what was happening until he heard the shouts below him. Taking a step out of the building he saw that the squeaking shouts were from the restaurant manager “You fuckin kid! If I didn’t have insurance for this shit I’d throttle your goddamn throat get the fuck outta here!”
Quickly but gently Dekker plucked Petunia up into his arms as he walked down the mainstreet into the woods outside of town. Feeling the pavement crack under his steps and light poles twist at his touch was a new experience, but he didn’t give either any attention watching the woman the length of his forearm he carried. Her smile was bigger than he could have ever imagined and with every step he took he felt her get smaller and smaller in his arms until he held her fragile body in the palm of his hand.
Soon his footsteps upset trees instead of light poles and tore up grass instead of concrete, but he kept going for the thrill of it. Smiling like a lunatic he felt freedom for the future, freedom to love, freedom to be himself, and freedom finally feel like some sort of success. Sitting down by a large hill he brought his hand up and whispered “I’m sorry if I scared you. But damn if this isn’t exciting!” Feeling his hands about to shake he quickly dropped her onto his shoulder for safety and so they could talk.
Shakily standing up she looked up at him with a half smile on her face she yelled loudly hoping to be heard, not realizing that she was directly next to his ear. “Well if you’re this excited now then the actual event is going to be interesting huh?” He chuckled, fondling tiny the ring box in his pocket and wondering if he should take it out now or save it to put on her finger at the right size. “Well it’s not something that happens every day! And I’m just so excited to tell everyone about it, when do you want to have it? I think spring would be good, even if it is a cliche.” Leaning closer to his ear and speaking normally she responded, “well honestly I would want to do it during the first few weeks of the year, get away from the cold and all that.”
Picking her up again Dekker looked her in the eyes “Would you like to say it together? I’m still so giddy about this I’m not sure if I’ll be able to hold your hand until the sun comes up” She gave a nod to agree, “On three, as in go after the count none of that comedy routine you like to do” she smiled. Smiling a toothy grin he nodded back and began the count.
“Three”
“Two”
“One”
“Go”
“Marriage”
“Vacation?”
His heart dropped with his size and he struggled to keep her on his hand. “What do you mean vacation? The surprise was that I was going to propose to you…” He started to sweat “Well would you like to get married?”
She looked on him with a sorrow filled expression. “No” At her word he shrank down another dozen feet, moving his other hand over to hold her up before she continued talking. “ And I don’t think I ever will with your condition” Dekker gently placed her down on the ground, half surprised by his continued height above her even if it shrank by the minute. With tears streaming down his face he looked at her “Well I think that I need to be alone for a while”. Getting to his feet he saw that he was shorter than her chin as he walked into the woods alone, praying to hear her call out to him but only hearing silence as he wandered deeper into the forest.
Freezing and upset an hour later he kept walking in the direction that he had chosen, not sure where but needing to keep moving to distract himself. He was impressed by the fact that he lowered out at four feet tall, but still was immensely upset over everything. Finally breaking down he fell to his knees and sobbed “She was the one who kept me tall!” he choked out, wiping his sleeve on his face before going on “She was the one who kept me normal”.
Every negative thing in his life came back to him at once, every tease at his variable height, every rejection every failure. Each and every one of them because of him. He sat down for another bout of tears before feeling for an instant the joy of size he felt earlier. The freedom, the sense of self strength, and having an epiphany; each and every negative thing was because of him sure, but as a part of that every positive thing was because of him too! He laughed at himself for the silly attempt at feeling better.
Getting up shakilly he was shocked to his his head on a branch. Moving forward he thought that it was an especially low one before realizing that he was somehow at his regular height. Finally out of tears for the moment he chuckled and thought of the good feelings of being big earlier again before he smacked his head into another branch and noticed that he was even taller. In an instant he felt buoyed by this feeling and continued and continued to grow, remembering each and every positive that he was responsible for.
Breaking above the trees he took a deep breath and wiped the last bits of tears from his face. He didn’t know what would happen tomorrow but he felt confident that he had the strength to face it.