"It's far too dangerous to let you run around loose, Iris," Sara said. "I'll carry you in my purse."
"Let me go!" Iris protested. "Or I'll run away from home!"
"Oh, will you?" Sara lifted Iris to her face. She had about had enough of this attitude. "And where did you plan on going?"
Iris opened her mouth, but said nothing.
"Well, how about this: How did you plan to get there?"
Again, Iris was silent.
Sara sat down, and moved Iris away from her face. "You see, Iris, running away won't make you any bigger. You're three inches tall. Even if you only went next door, you'd be surrounded by giants, who wouldn't notice if they stepped on you until they looked down and found blood and bone fragments on the sole of their shoe. I know: it's happened to some of my test subjects.
"And then there are the animals. There are dogs, cats, and hawks all over this neighborhood; and none of them will see you as a tiny human, but as prey. Like it or not, baby girl, right here is the safest place for you."
"It's just so hard," Iris said, her anger giving way to sadness. "Why can't I... why can't you make me big again?"
Sara took a deep breath. "Do you know how many microbes surround us, at any given time? Millions upon millions. Now imagine what would happen if a virus or bacterium were enlarged. To enlarge you, I would need a sterile facility the size of a football stadium, while I tried to figure out how to prevent my subjects from growing out of control. No, Iris, I'm afraid that you're now stuck at this size. If I could change that, I would; but even I can't turn back the hands of time. About all I could possibly do would be to shrink others, so you won't be lonely."
Iris shook her tiny head. "I can't imagine wishing this on anyone."
"Well, we'll see. Now, I could try to at least give you something to wear. For that, I'll need to bring you upstairs. Shall we try this again?"
Iris went quietly into her mother's cavernous purse.
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