"Ethan..."
His name dangled on the tip of her tongue before slipping off into deafening silence. She stood with her mouth ajar, digging her nails into the palms of her hands while her knuckles turned white.
"Gwen... earth to Gwen..." Ethan said, snapping his finger in Gwen's face, his voice tinged with amusement.
"Oh great, now he thinks I'm insane..." Gwen thought to herself, "But then again he seems to go for the whacko girls lately. Come on Gwen, snap out of it. Come on... form words.. say *something*..."
"Ethan..." she found herself repeating.
"Yes, I believe we established that already. Gwen, are you alright? You look pale ..."
Ethan stood casually with his hands in the pockets of his rumpled khakis, his sandy blond hair toussled, his mouth spread in a wide grin. Gwen noted that he had rather large teeth, just like Theresa. They had a matching set, no wonder...
A sudden squeal fom her purse made Gwen jump in surprise. "What was that?" Ethan said, panic overtaking his features.
"That's...well its... you see..." Gwen faltered, trying to come up with a plausible explanation for why her bag suddenly gained vocal chords. At that opportune moment, the bag began to rustle and squeak again.
"Gwen, I know exactly what you were going to say..."
"No Ethan! I am quite positive you have no idea in *hell* what I was about to say" she snapped.
Ethan stood aghast at Gwen's sudden outburst. Gwen cleared her throat and tried her best to smile sweetly.
"What I was about to say was... I bought a hamster."
Ethan looked at her like she had just told him she had all five Backstreet Boys stashed in her handbag. "A hamster... in your purse."
"Yes! Yes... I was... lonely and I wanted something to take care of, something to keep me company" she said sheepishly, "so I bought a pet. Then I realized it was silly to keep a hamster in my purse. So, I came back to get a cage..." she gestured towards the display case.
"Ah well that makes perfect sense!" Ethan declared, his playful smile returning. Gwen was amazed he bought such an outlandish lie. "Can I see it?" he then asked.
Gwen backed away and placed a hand over her purse protectively. "Its... umm.. shy and...ugly... and it might bite you..." she pleaded.
Around the corner, two familiar figures took in the scene.
"Ahh yes Timmy, I knew it was a good idea to come and have front row seats to all the action. All we need is popcorn" Tabitha trilled, winking at her companion.
"What's going to happen now princess?"
"With any luck, Theresa will become roadkill..." Tabitha snorted in fiendish delight. "Her and her loverboy..."
"And her loverboy.. what does Tabby mean? What is Tabby going to do?"
"You'll see TimTim, all in good time..." Tabitha chuckled darkly, "The final act of our little scene is drawing near, and by the time curtain falls nothing will ever be the same..."
Timmy scrunched his stuffed forehead in confusion and turned his attention back to Ethan and Gwen. He noticed Ethan was holding something in his hand... a coffee cup from the Book Cafe.
"Princess no, not again!" Timmy cried, but it was too late, and the flash of blinding pink light returned.
"I noticed Ethan coming over this way, so I slipped him a little something. It seemed a shame to waste the remnants of a perfectly good potion..." Tabitha laughed. "Ken and Barbie together again. Come on Timmy, there is another pitcher of Martimmies at home waiting for us..."
Gwen couldn't believe her eyes. Not again, it couldn't be. Not *again*. She looked down in horror at Ethan standing on the sidewalk, his spilt coffee spreading out around him. She bit her lip nervously, then without hesitation she snatched him up in her palm and scurried around the corner into an allyway.
"Oh Ethan, I am so sorry..." she sighed patting Ethan on the head. Ethan looked around dumbfounded, then stared directly at Gwen and screamed. Gwen placed her finger across her lips as she tried to calm him down.
"Why do these things *always* happen to me?" she grunted.
To her surprise, Theresa's raven haired head peaked out from the top of her bag.
"Oh Ethan, it must be fate! You were destined to become small so we could be together! I knew nothing could tear us apart!" she screeched climbing out of the bag and leaping into Ethan's outstreched arms. The force of impact caused both of them to fall backwards off Gwen's hand and onto the concrete. Despite their heavy fall, their lips seemed to be uninjured as they proceeded to lay kisses all over each other. Gwen groaned clutching her stomach, urging the bile in her throat to retreat. It was like watching two rodents go at it on the Discovery Channel. Disgusted, Gwen plucked them apart and placed them opposite each other on each of her palms.
"Now you two, I don't know what the hell happened, but there has to be a way to fix th-"
She halted, noticing the two weren't even paying attention. Instead, they were making faces and what seemed like animal noises at each other.
"Excuse me!" she snapped, "I suppose your brains shrunk with your bodies,not that they were very functional to begin with! In case you two didn't notice, let me make it clear for you. You... are... shrunk!" Gwen sighed heavily, once again it felt like she was scolding children.
Theresa jutted her chin in the air, a huge grin plastered across her face. "As long as we are together, nothing else matters..." She glanced at Ethan lovingly, like a puppy looking obediantly at it's master waiting for his next command.
"Theresa's right, nothing can get in the way of our love..." Ethan replied with an equally sappy expression.
Gwen simply couldn't believe the idiocy of their logic. Not just from Theresa, she expected warped logic from her. But from Ethan... This is who she fought for, longed for... The urge to smash her hands together, *really* making two become one was almost to hard to resist.
She suddenly retained an air of eery calm. Her face was serene and it seemed as if her glow came from a brilliant lightbulb that had suddenly appeared above her head. She had an idea.
"Ethan, Theresa... I have a fabulous idea that will allow you two to *definetly* be together forever, and also takes advantage of you current vertical impairment."
Both lovebirds smiled at each other, neither one noting the sinister tone in Gwen's voice. She wandered down the allyway, rummaging through some stray boxes, and retrieved a worn shoebox. She tossed the two inside and plucked a pen from her purse to poke in air holes. She hoisted the box and whispered "Don't make a noise you two, we are going to fix things and make things right. Don't talk until I tell you to..."
With that she set off with the shoebox tucked neatly under her arm. While obeying her orders not to talk, Gwen could still detect sucking noises coming from the box. She finally came upon her destination. She stood in front of a small, colonial home. An elderly lady sat behind a table on the porch, a small doll perched beside her. Light ash blonde curls framed her slightly creased face and she gave Gwen a kindly smile. Gwen slid the box on the table and the woman nodded in approval.
"Thank you Miss Hotchkiss. I am sure the children of India will be very happy to receive your donation" the woman said.
"Oh no problem Mrs. Baker. I always have considered myself a rather generous person" Gwen replied, the radiant smile not leaving her face. She turned on her heel and left, taking a moment to look at the large white banner hanging from the roof that read "Used Toy Collection".
"Nice girl that Gwen Hotchkiss, " Mrs. Baker sighed placing the shoebox along side all the other toys in a large cardboard box.
His name dangled on the tip of her tongue before slipping off into deafening silence. She stood with her mouth ajar, digging her nails into the palms of her hands while her knuckles turned white.
"Gwen... earth to Gwen..." Ethan said, snapping his finger in Gwen's face, his voice tinged with amusement.
"Oh great, now he thinks I'm insane..." Gwen thought to herself, "But then again he seems to go for the whacko girls lately. Come on Gwen, snap out of it. Come on... form words.. say *something*..."
"Ethan..." she found herself repeating.
"Yes, I believe we established that already. Gwen, are you alright? You look pale ..."
Ethan stood casually with his hands in the pockets of his rumpled khakis, his sandy blond hair toussled, his mouth spread in a wide grin. Gwen noted that he had rather large teeth, just like Theresa. They had a matching set, no wonder...
A sudden squeal fom her purse made Gwen jump in surprise. "What was that?" Ethan said, panic overtaking his features.
"That's...well its... you see..." Gwen faltered, trying to come up with a plausible explanation for why her bag suddenly gained vocal chords. At that opportune moment, the bag began to rustle and squeak again.
"Gwen, I know exactly what you were going to say..."
"No Ethan! I am quite positive you have no idea in *hell* what I was about to say" she snapped.
Ethan stood aghast at Gwen's sudden outburst. Gwen cleared her throat and tried her best to smile sweetly.
"What I was about to say was... I bought a hamster."
Ethan looked at her like she had just told him she had all five Backstreet Boys stashed in her handbag. "A hamster... in your purse."
"Yes! Yes... I was... lonely and I wanted something to take care of, something to keep me company" she said sheepishly, "so I bought a pet. Then I realized it was silly to keep a hamster in my purse. So, I came back to get a cage..." she gestured towards the display case.
"Ah well that makes perfect sense!" Ethan declared, his playful smile returning. Gwen was amazed he bought such an outlandish lie. "Can I see it?" he then asked.
Gwen backed away and placed a hand over her purse protectively. "Its... umm.. shy and...ugly... and it might bite you..." she pleaded.
Around the corner, two familiar figures took in the scene.
"Ahh yes Timmy, I knew it was a good idea to come and have front row seats to all the action. All we need is popcorn" Tabitha trilled, winking at her companion.
"What's going to happen now princess?"
"With any luck, Theresa will become roadkill..." Tabitha snorted in fiendish delight. "Her and her loverboy..."
"And her loverboy.. what does Tabby mean? What is Tabby going to do?"
"You'll see TimTim, all in good time..." Tabitha chuckled darkly, "The final act of our little scene is drawing near, and by the time curtain falls nothing will ever be the same..."
Timmy scrunched his stuffed forehead in confusion and turned his attention back to Ethan and Gwen. He noticed Ethan was holding something in his hand... a coffee cup from the Book Cafe.
"Princess no, not again!" Timmy cried, but it was too late, and the flash of blinding pink light returned.
"I noticed Ethan coming over this way, so I slipped him a little something. It seemed a shame to waste the remnants of a perfectly good potion..." Tabitha laughed. "Ken and Barbie together again. Come on Timmy, there is another pitcher of Martimmies at home waiting for us..."
Gwen couldn't believe her eyes. Not again, it couldn't be. Not *again*. She looked down in horror at Ethan standing on the sidewalk, his spilt coffee spreading out around him. She bit her lip nervously, then without hesitation she snatched him up in her palm and scurried around the corner into an allyway.
"Oh Ethan, I am so sorry..." she sighed patting Ethan on the head. Ethan looked around dumbfounded, then stared directly at Gwen and screamed. Gwen placed her finger across her lips as she tried to calm him down.
"Why do these things *always* happen to me?" she grunted.
To her surprise, Theresa's raven haired head peaked out from the top of her bag.
"Oh Ethan, it must be fate! You were destined to become small so we could be together! I knew nothing could tear us apart!" she screeched climbing out of the bag and leaping into Ethan's outstreched arms. The force of impact caused both of them to fall backwards off Gwen's hand and onto the concrete. Despite their heavy fall, their lips seemed to be uninjured as they proceeded to lay kisses all over each other. Gwen groaned clutching her stomach, urging the bile in her throat to retreat. It was like watching two rodents go at it on the Discovery Channel. Disgusted, Gwen plucked them apart and placed them opposite each other on each of her palms.
"Now you two, I don't know what the hell happened, but there has to be a way to fix th-"
She halted, noticing the two weren't even paying attention. Instead, they were making faces and what seemed like animal noises at each other.
"Excuse me!" she snapped, "I suppose your brains shrunk with your bodies,not that they were very functional to begin with! In case you two didn't notice, let me make it clear for you. You... are... shrunk!" Gwen sighed heavily, once again it felt like she was scolding children.
Theresa jutted her chin in the air, a huge grin plastered across her face. "As long as we are together, nothing else matters..." She glanced at Ethan lovingly, like a puppy looking obediantly at it's master waiting for his next command.
"Theresa's right, nothing can get in the way of our love..." Ethan replied with an equally sappy expression.
Gwen simply couldn't believe the idiocy of their logic. Not just from Theresa, she expected warped logic from her. But from Ethan... This is who she fought for, longed for... The urge to smash her hands together, *really* making two become one was almost to hard to resist.
She suddenly retained an air of eery calm. Her face was serene and it seemed as if her glow came from a brilliant lightbulb that had suddenly appeared above her head. She had an idea.
"Ethan, Theresa... I have a fabulous idea that will allow you two to *definetly* be together forever, and also takes advantage of you current vertical impairment."
Both lovebirds smiled at each other, neither one noting the sinister tone in Gwen's voice. She wandered down the allyway, rummaging through some stray boxes, and retrieved a worn shoebox. She tossed the two inside and plucked a pen from her purse to poke in air holes. She hoisted the box and whispered "Don't make a noise you two, we are going to fix things and make things right. Don't talk until I tell you to..."
With that she set off with the shoebox tucked neatly under her arm. While obeying her orders not to talk, Gwen could still detect sucking noises coming from the box. She finally came upon her destination. She stood in front of a small, colonial home. An elderly lady sat behind a table on the porch, a small doll perched beside her. Light ash blonde curls framed her slightly creased face and she gave Gwen a kindly smile. Gwen slid the box on the table and the woman nodded in approval.
"Thank you Miss Hotchkiss. I am sure the children of India will be very happy to receive your donation" the woman said.
"Oh no problem Mrs. Baker. I always have considered myself a rather generous person" Gwen replied, the radiant smile not leaving her face. She turned on her heel and left, taking a moment to look at the large white banner hanging from the roof that read "Used Toy Collection".
"Nice girl that Gwen Hotchkiss, " Mrs. Baker sighed placing the shoebox along side all the other toys in a large cardboard box.