Kat's darting eyes locked onto a single word on the page as she flipped idly through the book. Taller. It called out to her. It brought to mind memories of always being the shortest girl in her class, of hoping she would grow just a little bit more. She did grow, but others always grew more. Kat was always behind the curve and always looking up. As a little girl she dreamt of puberty when she would grow more and faster than ever and get some curves of her own. It didn't happen. Puberty came sure enough and she was delighted to finally reach 5 feet tall, an adult height at last, but that was all she got. Her ideal height was 5'9", taller than most girls, tall enough that her form would look more slender and elegant but not so tall that guys would hesitate to ask her out.
She knew tall girls had a tougher time finding dates and people always thought a couple looked odd if the girl was taller than the guy. The young Kat reasoned that nobody would notice a 1 inch difference so at 5'9" she could date guys who were 5'8" and above. If she could find a really tall guy, 6' or taller, then she could even wear heels and she wouldn't look like a shrimp standing next to her man. Kat giggled at the memory of some couples she had seen where the guy was well over 6 feet and the girl was closer to 5. She imagined just stealing a kiss must involve either a great deal of bending or possibly some lifting on his part. No risk of that with the perfect 5'9" girl! Which of course, she was not...
...but perhaps with the help of her new favourite book, she could be! Kat pulled a lock of flame red hair before her eyes again and momentarily smiled at its improvement. If the book could do for her height what it was doing for her hair then anything was possible. The hopeful little smile still on her face, she took up the book and began to read.
Tara was told the tale of Tiny Tim by a travelling teller. Tiny Tim was a titchy tot who never grew any taller. Terribly for her, Tiny Tim's tale was Tara's truth. To Tara though, the travelling teller told another tale. To the tippy top of the tallest oak tree must she climb tonight...
The story continued with Tara learning of the full moon's blessing on a single acorn at the very top of the biggest tree in the forest. That acorn was destined to be the tallest tree in the future, but if she plucked it under the full moon then some of it's power would flow into her. Tara found the tree and plucked the acorn and wore it around her neck like a charm. Little by little she grew taller and taller until she was the tallest girl in the village and nobody ever looked down on her again.
Kat closed the Burgeoning Book and laid a hand gently on its cover. She really hoped it would work its magic on her again. Lucky for her she didn't need to go climbing tall trees in the middle of the night, that sounded dangerous! With any luck she could get the same results as Tara just by reading the other girl's story. Knowing she wasn't going to get immediate results though, Kat put the book aside and somehow managed to focus on her homework for the rest of the evening until it was time for bed. Well, mostly focus on her homework. She did idly have one hand on her measuring tape from time to time while she worked. It wouldn't be needed until the morning, but just running her fingers over it was a happy reminder that she might not be the shortest girl in class from now on.
***
Normally, Kat was a slow riser, she pressed the snooze button several times and only really hauled herself out of bed when her Mom came knocking on her door threatening to drag her out if necessary. That morning though, as soon as her foggy mind could comprehend that she was awake her eyes snapped open and she threw off the blankets in a rush. The tape measure was in her hand a she had her back to the wall with a pencil held overhead in the blink of an eye. At that point she slowed right down though so as to be completely accurate and very carefully drew a faint line on the wall behind her. Once she had made her mark, she stepped forward and with shaking hands measured up from the floor.
Technically, the measurement was 5'0" but the brilliant smile broadening slowly on Kat's face told a different story. One eighth of an inch. She was one eighth of an inch taller. You couldn't see it by looking at her and you could barely tell on the tape measure, but Kat had hoped so desperately to be taller that she had measured herself hundreds of times, not wanting to believe that she had stopped growing at only 5 feet. She knew exactly how tall she was down to the smallest fraction and now the smallest fraction had been added. As if to mock the miniscule growth in her height, Kat's lovely locks were another full 3 inches longer and much less frizzy than before but she hardly noticed after the revelation of her newest change.
She spent the entire school day giddy with excitement but refused to tell anyone who asked why she was so happy. 'A magic book is making me taller! You can't tell but it's definitely happening,' were the words of a crazy person and Kat retained enough good sense not to speak them. Even so, she breezed through the day with nothing able to bring her down and measured herself again as soon as she got home. Another eighth of an inch. Two more of those and she'd be half an inch taller. That was when you could round up! She started doing the math and then stopped suddenly, a frown forming for the first time that day.
Kat had done these calculations before. When she was still growing she'd worked out how long it would take to get to 5'9" at her current rate. Then it had stopped and her hopes had been dashed. She wouldn't make that mistake this time. She would measure herself from time to time and be glad of every fraction of an inch but she wouldn't have expectations. All that mattered was that she was growing again and she had the book to thank for it. That brought it to the front of her mind again and seconds later it was out of the drawer and in her hands again. The Burgeoning Book had done so much for her already, but she couldn't help wonder if it would keep blessing her with growth if she just kept reading its stories.
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