As Jessica got to the table, breathing heavily from her run down the stairs and through the house. Lisa and Megan, the eldest sister, both looked at her with confused expressions. Her parents were too focused on putting the food on their plates to notice anything about her.
Lisa turned to Megan. “Does she look bigger to you?” Lisa asked her older sister.
“You know, I was just thinking the same thing! I could swear she looks as tall as us now!” Megan said.
Lisa got out of her chair and walked over to Jessica. Her jaw dropped as she realized that Jessica was an inch taller than she was! Jessica looked exactly the same; she was just… bigger!
Jessica was just as surprised as Lisa. This must be why things had felt off when she got out of bed! This was why she felt like she was standing on stilts when she first stood up! How had this happened?!?
She thought back. She had been her normal small self when Lisa was picking on her when she got home. Then, she had read the story about the girl who grew. Then, she had fallen asleep.
Wait! She had read a story about a girl who grew!!! That had to be it! Reading that story had made her grow. She needed to read another one! She could be as big as that tall, sexy cheerleader, Amanda! Then she remembered. The stories in the book had disappeared. Had she used it up? Would the stories reappear at some point? She wasn’t sure. But she was sure going to find out!
Lisa could tell by looking at Jessica that her younger sister had some idea of what was going on. The realization had been written all over Jessica’s face, as clearly as her initial shock had been.
“Girls, sit down and eat!” their mother said, oblivious to the changes, eyes affixed to the salad bowl that she was scooping from. Lisa and Jessica did as they were told.
Lisa, however, was plotting all through dinner. She needed to find out what Jessica knew. She needed to know how she had grown so much! She was NOT going to be the shortest of the three sisters!
When the family finished eating, and their mother and father began to clean up the table, Lisa followed Jessica up the stairs. Lisa tried to follow Jessica into her room, but Jessica shoved her away and quickly closed and locked her door. Jessica stumbled back, unaccustomed to her formerly tiny little sister being able to do that to her!
“You can’t push me around anymore, Lisa! I’m not a dwarfling any more. I’m bigger than you, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me!” Jessica said mockingly from the safety of her locked room.
Lisa growled and, fuming, went to her own room.
Jessica opened the book again. Every page was still blank. No more stories. Then, she heard a knock at her door.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Megan, Jess. Do you have a minute to talk?”
Jessica unlocked her door and opened it, allowing Megan inside. Worried that Lisa would force her way in, Jessica quickly closed and locked it again.
“Jess, how on earth did you grow seven inches in one afternoon!”
“I don’t know!” Jessica protested. She considered whether to tell Megan about her suspicions, finally deciding that she needed to tell someone. Megan had always been her nicer sister, so Jessica decided to confide her thoughts in her. “But I think it has something to do with this book.”
Jessica walked over to her dresser, grabbed the book, and handed it to Megan. Megan’s face scrunched in curiosity, then she opened it. She leafed through the pages, seeing dozens of short stories within the pages.
Jessica noticed that her sister seemed to be seeing something on the pages, so she walked around to the same side as her sister, so that she could see what her sister saw… Jessica still saw blank pages.
“The book had stories in it when I first bought it. I read one of them, then fell asleep. When I woke up, it was blank, and I was bigger!” Jessica explained.
“But then the stories came back? I mean, they’re here now.” Megan said.
“What?” Jessica said in confusion. “No they’re not. The pages are still blank. Can’t you see them?”
“I do see them. And they are not blank!” Megan said.
“You see the stories?” Jessica asked in disbelief.
“Yeah! You don’t… even right now?” Megan asked, astounded.
“No!” Jessica said.
Megan thought for a moment. “You know, I think you’re right. There is definitely something about this book...”
Megan stared at the book a moment more. “Jess, do you mind if I read one of the stories in here, and see if what happened to you happens to me?”
Jessica, still looking at what appeared to her to be blank pages, said, “Sure! I can’t seem to use it again for now, at least. If you grow too, we’ll know that the book was really what caused it!”
Megan took the book back to her room, and began to flip through the stories. What did she want to read…
Then, she found it. The story was called:
Belinda and the Burgeoning Bustline
Megan read for fifteen minutes to the end of the story. She walked over to the mirror, trying to gauge her height. She didn’t think that she was any taller. Maybe it took a minute. Then she felt something in her chest. She looked in the mirror.
“Oh. My. God.” Megan said aloud in a soft voice, as her breasts began to expand.