It was a normal day on Living Island. Every resident was doing their own thing, without Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo around to ruin their day. Things were going good. Inside the cave of the island's mayor, H.R. Pufnstuf, Pufnstuf was busy making lunch. 12-year-old Jimmy, was reading a book while his golden flute, Freddy, was playing music. The Rescue Racer Crew, Cling and Clang, were playing with each other as usual. And 10-year-old Julie Anna Jellybean, was in her bed taking a little nap.
"Jimmy?" Freddy said to his owner.
"Yes Freddy?" said Jimmy.
"How long has Julie been asleep already?" asked Freddy. "She's taking kind of a long nap."
"I don't know, Freddy," said Jimmy. "But I don't think I should wake her up. She gets kind of cranky when I do that…"
"Well, she'll have to wake up soon," said Freddy. "It's almost lunchtime."
Jimmy nodded. Just then, Cling and Clang went over to Jimmy and Freddy as they waved to them.
"Hi Cling and Clang," Jimmy said to the two. "What's going on?"
Cling and Clang wanted to know where Julie was since she isn't playing with them.
"Julie's taking a nap," said Jimmy.
Cling and Clang wondered why.
"I don't know," said Jimmy, with a small shrug. "She's probably just tired."
Cling and Clang start to run over to Julie since they wanted to wake her up so she can play with them.
"No Cling and Clang!" Jimmy cried, going after them. "Come back here!"
Cling and Clang got to Julie and placed their hands on her as they both started to shake her. This causes the little girl to wake up.
"Huh?! What?!" said Julie, as she is shot awake.
Julie looks to her side to see both Cling and Clang standing right next to her.
"Cling! Clang!" said Julie, all annoyed. "How many times have I told you not to wake me up when I'm napping?!"
Cling and Clang figured that it's been over a hundred times.
"Can I ever sleep in peace...?" Julie asked, as she sits up.
The boys covered their faces and lowered their heads in shame. To which Julie just sighed. She then sees the two all sad.
"Cling and Clang...Hey...Come here..." said Julie, putting her arms out to them.
Cling and Clang go closer to Julie as she hugs them both.
"I still love you both," said Julie. "You know that, don't you?"
Cling and Clang both nod.
"Good," Julie said with a smile. "I promise I'll play with you before the day is over. How's that sound?"
Cling and Clang clap their hands.
"Great, I knew you'd like that," said Julie.
"Lunchtime!" Pufnstuf said from the kitchen, as he was ringing a triangle.
"Oh!" said Julie, then saying to Cling and Clang, "Come on, boys. It's lunchtime!"
Everyone in the cave goes into the kitchen as they all sit at the table and begin to have their lunch.
"Well, look who's woken up," Jimmy said, seeing Julie.
"Yes," said Julie, nodding her head. "I sure am, Jimmy."
She looks at Cling and Clang and said, "Thanks to these little ones here..."
Cling and Clang covered their mouths trying not to giggle.
"I tried to stop them from waking you up like that," said Jimmy, feeling bad. "But I couldn't in time. Sorry Julie..."
"Oh that's okay, Jimmy," said Julie, then paused and said, "Just wish I was awakened a little softer and more gently..."
She looks at Cling and Clang again and said to them, "Boooooooooys..."
Cling and Clang look at her.
"Can you explain your roughness?" Julie asked. "I've got a rude awakening!"
The boys shook their heads.
"Never mind, you two," said Julie, with a small sigh. "You don't have to tell me. You can just tell me that you love me so much and that's all."
"And that you're Julie's biggest fans," said Jimmy.
"Biggest fans?" said Julie, a bit confused. "I suddenly have a fan club? Since when?"
"What Jimmy means is that Cling and Clang are very fond of you, Julie," said Pufnstuf. "They adore you! Adooooooooore yooooooou!"
"I know, I know…" said Julie.
"You know that, don't you?" asked Pufnstuf.
"I get it, Pufnstuf!" said Julie, annoyed. "I get it!"
"Julie, calm down," said Jimmy.
"Sorry Jimmy…" said Julie, calming herself down.
"Just eat your lunch before it gets cold," said Jimmy.
"Okay Jimmy," said Julie, starting to eat her food.
After lunch, Jimmy was helping Pufnstuf clean up the table, while Julie was finally able to play with Cling and Clang.
"Okay boys," Julie said to the boys. "What would you like to play?"
Cling and Clang jump at Julie and start tickling the child as she began to laugh.
"Hehehe!" Julie said, while laughing. "Cling! Clang! Stop it! It tickles! Hehehehehe!"
Just then, someone knocked on the front door.
"I'll get it!" said Pufnstuf.
Pufnstuf goes to the front door and opens it. It was Living Island's doctor and inventor, Dr. Blinky.
"Good afternoon, Dr. Blinky," Pufnstuf said to his owl friend. "Glad you're here. There's been a little bug problem in the cave since yesterday."
"Ahh yes," Dr. Blinky said to the mayor. "I've got your phone call last night. And today, I am here to help and solve your bug problem."
"Great!" said Pufnstuf.
Dr. Blinky comes into the cave.
"Hello Dr. Blinky," Jimmy said to the owl doctor. "Great to see you."
"Hello there, Jimmy," Dr. Blinky replied. "Nice to see you as well."
Cling and Clang both carry Julie to the scene.
"Boys, I can walk by myself, thank you…" Julie said, rolling her eyes. "Besides, aren't I too heavy for the both of you…?"
Cling and Clang nod as they were both struggling to hold her up.
"Yeah, I thought so," said Julie, then noticing the boys struggling and saying to them, "You can put me down now..."
Cling and Clang place Julie back on her feet.
"Thank you, boys," said Julie, then saying to Dr. Blinky, "Hi Dr. Blinky. Sorry for the weird entrance of mine. These boys adore me. Really adore me..."
"Oh that is quite alright, little one," said Dr. Blinky. "Indeed they do adore you."
"Yes they do," said Julie. "So what brings you here, Dr. Blinky?"
"Our fine mayor gave me a phone call last night to report a tiny bug problem in the cave," said Dr. Blinky. "So I am here to fix that problem."
"Bugs?" said Julie. "I don't see any-"
The child sees a few ants coming and jumps a bit as she screams, "Aaah!"
She holds onto Jimmy and says, "Save me, Jimmy! The ants are marching towards us!"
"Don't worry, Julie," said Jimmy, holding onto her. "I won't let those ants crawl onto you."
"Not to worry, friends," said Dr. Blinky. "My newest invention can take care of it."
"A new invention?" said Jimmy. "What is it?"
"Yes," said Julie. "What is it, Dr. Blinky?"
"Hoo hoo!" said Dr. Blinky. "It's a spray!"
"Bug spray?" said Julie and Jimmy.
"Sort of," said Dr. Blinky. "It's used to get rid of bugs, yes. But..."
He takes out his invention and says as he shows it off, "This does what I believe is a better option. Now watch..."
Everyone watches and pays attention.
"First..." said Dr. Blinky, spraying the chemical mixture on the ants. "You spray the solution on the bugs."
The tiny bugs start to literally shrink.
"Then it shrinks them, and poof!" said Dr. Blinky, as the little ants vanish into thin air. "The bugs disappear into nonexistence!"
"Woooooooow..." said Julie, amazed.
"Dr. Blinky, that's terrific!" said Jimmy, amazed as well.
"Yeah, I'll say!" said Freddy.
"Dr. Blinky, you're a genius!" said Pufnstuf.
"Why thank you, Mayor Pufnstuf," said Dr. Blinky, feeling proud. "I'm always here to help! Now let's put out the rest of the little critters and-"
Dr. Blinky gets interrupted by Cling and Clang trying to grab the spray bottle.
"Cling and Clang no!" Pufnstuf shouted. "That's not a toy! Boys! Don't-"
Cling and Clang started to tug the invention back and forth. Then the spout accidentally comes off and starts to release the solution just like as if hair spray was spraying out of control, causing Cling and Clang to get spooked and drop the bottle as a quick reaction. And since Julie was right in front of the invention, the little girl gets sprayed directly with its chemical contents as a result.
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" Julie screamed, covering her eyes to avoid the chemicals.
"Watch out!" said Pufnstuf.
"Oh my goodness!" said Dr. Blinky.
"Julie!" said Jimmy. "Julie!"
Julie starts to have a coughing fit while still having her eyes closed.
Jimmy kicks the spray bottle out of the way as he says to Julie, "Julie, are you alright?!"
Julie was breathing heavily. Then after a few seconds, she stopped as she slowed down her breathing to remain calm.
"You alright, Julie?" Jimmy asked again.
"I...I think so..." Julie replied, as she coughs a bit. "Can I have some water…?"
"Yes definitely," said Jimmy.
"Want me to go get it, Jimmy?" Pufnstuf offered.
"How about I get the water for her, Pufnstuf?" Jimmy suggested. "I think you need to speak to Cling and Clang for causing a ruckus with the spray."
"Sure Jimmy," Pufnstuf said, as he nodded. "I need to have a word with the boys anyway."
While Jimmy goes to get water for Julie, with Dr. Blinky apologizing that his new spray went out of control and sprayed her a lot, Pufnstuf went to Cling and Clang to talk to the Rescue Racer Crew about what just happened and that they kind of caused it to go wrong.
"Cling and Clang!" Pufnstuf said to his Rescue Racer Crew, unhappily. "That was very irresponsible on what you did!"
Cling and Clang tried to blame each other by pointing at the other.
"Don't play dumb!" Pufnstuf said, not fooled. "I saw the both of you do it!"
He then said, angrily, "You boys should be ashamed of yourselves!"
Cling and Clang each placed a big paper bag on their own heads to show that they are in fact ashamed on what they just did.
"What am I going to do with you two...?" Pufnstuf said, with a quiet sigh as he shook his head.
In the kitchen, Julie was drinking her water that Jimmy gave her.
"Thanks Jimmy," said Julie, as she finishes the glass. "I needed this..."
"You're welcome, Julie," said Jimmy, taking the empty glass from her. "Now why don't you go into the bathroom and take a bath? Try to get those chemicals off your skin. And I'll wash your clothes for you."
"Okay," Julie said, as she gets up and goes into the bathroom.
While Julie was taking her bath, Jimmy walks back to the group while holding Julie's dress and tights. Just from the sight of Julie's clothes, Cling and Clang freaked out since they thought the chemicals made the child disappear. And especially after spraying her by mistake, it gave them guilt.
"What's wrong?" Jimmy asked.
Cling and Clang point to Julie's clothes that Jimmy was holding.
"Oh don't worry, boys," said Jimmy. "Julie's fine. She's just taking a bath right now. She'll be done soon."
He turned to Dr. Blinky and said to him, "Dr. Blinky?"
"Yes Jimmy?" said Dr. Blinky.
"Your new bug shrinking solution won't shrink Julie, will it?" said Jimmy. "It sprayed her directly…"
"I should hope not," said Dr. Blinky.
"You SHOULD hope not?" Pufnstuf said, a little suspicious.
"Well...I meant to say no," said Dr. Blinky. "No it won't shrink Julie. This liquid solution affects bugs and ONLY bugs. So no need to worry my friends. Julie will be alright. She's safe."
"Oh thank goodness," said Pufnstuf, relieved.
"Yes," said Jimmy. "I don't know what we would do if Julie grows smaller..."
That night, very close to midnight, Julie was trying to sleep. But she couldn't. The chemically solution from the bug shrinking spray was starting to affect Julie. It first appears that the child seems to start feeling ill.
"Ooooooh..." she said, feeling unwell.
The sound of Julie's sickly moaning wakes Jimmy up.
"Julie?" said Jimmy, getting out of bed. "Julie...? You alright...?"
He walks over to her and asked her, "Julie, what's wrong?"
Jimmy sees that Julie appears to be sick. The girl was sweating as she continues to moan.
"Are you sick?" Jimmy asked.
"I feel like I'm getting sick..." said Julie. "I don't feel good, Jimmy...I really do not feel good..."
She sheds a few tears as she said, "I feel horrible!"
"Oh dear, I'd better get Puf!" gasped Jimmy.
Jimmy runs over to Pufnstuf and starts shaking him to wake him up.
"Pufnstuf!" Jimmy cried. "Pufnstuf, wake up! Wake up!"
Pufnstuf turns the other way while still asleep.
"H.R. PUFNSTUF!" Jimmy shouted.
"Huh?!" Pufnstuf said, as he woke up. "What is it, Jimmy?!"
"It's Julie!" said Jimmy, freaking out. "Her face is red and she's sweating like crazy! I think she's getting sick!"
"What?!" gasped Pufnstuf. "Sick?!"
"At least she and I think so!" said Jimmy.
"My! Oh my, oh my, oh my!" said Pufnstuf, quickly getting out of bed. "We've got to do something about this!"
He goes to Julie and said to her. "Julie? Julie, you feeling alright?"
"No Pufnstuf..." said Julie, all sickly as she continues to sweat. "I feel like I'm a steaming teapot. I feel so wet and yucky!"
Awakened from the noise, Cling and Clang went down the slide and run over to Julie's bed, having no idea about what is happening.
"Great!" said Julie, upset at herself. "I woke up the entire cave!"
"Julie, what's going on?" asked Freddy.
Julie was having short breaths while sweating.
"She's burning up, Pufnstuf!" Jimmy cried, all nervous. "What'll we do?!"
"Call the firemen!" said Freddy.
"I say we just give her some medicine," said Pufnstuf. "Maybe that will slow down her symptoms."
"I'll take anything!" said Julie. "Just give it to me, please! I'm begging you!"
"Okay Julie," said Pufnstuf, then saying to Jimmy, "Jimmy, you stay with her until I get back."
"Sure Puf," said Jimmy.
While Pufnstuf goes to get some medicine for Julie, Jimmy as well as Cling and Clang, stayed by Julie's side with the child still in her bed.
"Jimmy...?" Julie said to Jimmy, as tears fell down her face. "Please help me...Save me..."
"Hang in there, Julie," said Jimmy, putting his hand on her. "Help is on the way."
"Okay…" said Julie, with a sniff.
Pufnstuf then comes back with the medicine. And after Julie takes it and swallows it, she thanks Pufnstuf.
"You're very welcome, Julie," said Pufnstuf. "Hope it will help."
"I hope so, too…" said Julie, not feeling good.
"Julie?" Jimmy said, seeing Julie all sweaty. "I think you might want to get out of those pajamas and take another bath."
"In the middle of the night?" said Julie.
"Yes," said Jimmy. "And also, you should change into a new nightgown. The one you're wearing right now must be a wet, sweaty mess."
"Okay..." Julie said, with a sigh. "Will do..."
Julie gets out of bed and goes into the bathroom to take a bath. Jimmy looks at the girl's bed sheets to notice how wet it was from the child's sweat.
"Wow, she really sweat up a storm!" Jimmy said to himself, then frowning and said, "But I know it's not her fault she's all sick..."
Jimmy removes Julie's bed sheets from her bed in order for them to be washed, then putting new sheets on afterwards. And once Julie took her bath, she put on a clean nightgown and crawled back into bed, falling asleep in just a few minutes.
When morning rose, Julie is the first to wake up. She noticed that she felt a bit better. The child was no longer sweating, but her face was still a bit red from the reaction. Despite those two things, Julie felt alright. Though she knew that sickness doesn't go away overnight. Yet she was grateful that the medicine Pufnstuf gave her helped a lot.
"Thank goodness I'm not sweating anymore," said Julie. "It made me feel awful. And gross...Yuck! Oh well, time to get ready to start another day on Living Island."
Julie went to the bathroom to get herself dressed and make her hair neat. But while she put on her outfit, she noticed that the clothes didn't quite fit her perfectly anymore. They seemed a bit baggy in a way, but were thankfully still able to cover her body. But since the feeling of wearing clothes that don't fit was bothering Julie, she started to wonder why that is.
"Hmm..." said Julie. "Why are my clothes so big?"
She looks at herself in the mirror and said, "I better get Jimmy for this, see if he can explain what's happening to my clothes."
She then calls out, "Jimmy?!"
"Yes Julie?!" answered Jimmy.
"Come here!" said Julie.
Jimmy jumps out of bed and runs over to Julie.
"What is it, Julie?" Jimmy said to her.
"Look at my clothes!" Julie said, holding her clothes so they wouldn't slip. "They don't fit me anymore..."
"They don't?" said Jimmy, then noticing right away. "Oh you're right…"
He pauses and thinks for a second.
"Are you losing weight, Julie?" Jimmy asked, looking at Julie.
"Huh...Maybe," said Julie. "That would make sense."
"Yeah, I'd think so," said Jimmy.
He paused again and said, "Wait a minute..."
He looked over Julie and said to her, "Weren't you taller yesterday?"
"Was I...?" said Julie, all confused.
"Or am I just dreaming?" said Jimmy.
"I don't really know, Jimmy," said Julie, with a shrug. "I do not feel any different..."
"You don't?" said Jimmy.
"Well, despite feeling super ill last night," said Julie, "I feel the same."
She then said, "Though lately, my tummy has been rumbling at times. Even when I'm not hungry."
"Is that so?" said Jimmy.
"Yes," said Julie, starting to think. "I wonder why...Hmmm..."
"Morning Jimmy. Morning Julie," said Pufnstuf, walking over to the two kids. "Everything alright over here?"
"Pufnstuf?" Jimmy said, as he puts his hand towards Julie. "Does Julie look shorter to you or is it just me?"
"Nope," said Pufnstuf, shaking his head. "She looks the same to me. Why?"
"Huh…" said Jimmy. "I must be seeing things…"
"That's probably it," said Pufnstuf, then saying to Julie, "How are you feeling today, Julie? You were really sick last night."
"Oh, I feel fine, Pufnstuf," said Julie. "Except that my face is still a little red from the sweating. But overall, I feel better than yesterday."
"Thank goodness you're feeling better," said Pufnstuf. "We were all worried about you, little one."
He sees Cling and Clang coming into the scene.
"Morning boys," Pufnstuf said to his Rescue Racer Crew. "How was your sleep?"
Cling and Clang tell their boss that they didn't sleep well. They were constantly worrying about Julie when the child was very sick during the previous night.
"Oh...I'm sorry, boys," Pufnstuf said, with a frown. "That's too bad..."
"Guys, I couldn't help it..." said Julie, feeling a bit sad.
"Oh Julie, I knew you couldn't help being sick," said Jimmy, putting his hand on Julie's shoulder. "And I know you would never fake an illness. We believe you."
"Thanks Jimmy," said Julie.
She looks down at her clothes and said, "Now can we get back to my clothing problem...?"
"What's wrong with them?" said Pufnstuf, then quickly noticing the clothes and said, "Willikers! Your clothes! They're baggy!"
He paused and said, "Have you lost weight?"
"Jimmy and I think so," said Julie. "But what are we going to do about this? I can't leave the cave with clothes that don't fit me. I'll look silly, like I'm playing dress-up!"
"I have an idea," said Jimmy.
He takes out some safety pins and pulls back the outfit Julie was currently wearing.
"Jimmy, what are you doing?" said Julie, feeling Jimmy's hands.
"Making your clothes fit you for now," said Jimmy.
"Be careful and don't ruin this outfit," said Julie, seeing the safety pins. "This is one of my favorite dresses."
"Yes Julie," said Jimmy. "I know you love this dress so much."
"Then don't damage it!" she demanded.
"Calm yourself, Julie," said Jimmy. "Settle down. I'm only trying to help..."
"I'm sorry, Jimmy…" said Julie. "Do what you've got to do."
So Jimmy tightened Julie's dress and placed the safety pins in them to secure it on the child.
"Thank you, Jimmy," said Julie. "Hope I don't trip in this..."
"I'm sure you won't, Julie," said Jimmy. "Just be careful when you walk or run and you'll be okay."
"Speaking of that..." said Julie. "Should I get new clothes?"
"Maybe," said Jimmy, then saying to Pufnstuf, "What do you think, Pufnstuf? Should Julie get new clothes for herself?"
"It's probably for the best, Jimmy," said Pufnstuf. "Julie can't go walking around in clothes that don't fit her all the time. She should have clothes that fit her so we wouldn't have to worry about them slipping off or anything like that."
"You have a point," said Jimmy. "And you're right."
"So I say we go get Julie some new clothes," said Pufnstuf.
"Alright Puf," said Jimmy, then saying to Julie, "Julie? Pufnstuf and I are going to get you some new clothes to wear. Can you stay here in the cave with Cling and Clang until we get back?"
He hands her Freddy and added, "And Freddy, too?"
"I can't come with you?" said Julie, accepting the flute.
"I'm scared that the witch will capture you again along with Freddy..." said Jimmy. "And besides, Pufnstuf's cave is the only place on Living Island where Witchiepoo's magic has no effect. So both you and Freddy will be safer inside here."
"Ooookaaaay..." said Julie.
"It's for you and Freddy's own good, Julie," said Jimmy. "Trust me..."
"I trust you, Jimmy..." said Julie.
"And watch over Cling and Clang if you will, please Julie," said Pufnstuf. "Make sure they don't get into any trouble while Jimmy and I are away."
"Will do, Pufnstuf," said Julie.
"Good," said Pufnstuf. "See you in a bit."
As Jimmy and Pufnstuf go to get Julie new clothes, Julie sat with Freddy as she began to talk with him.
"Freddy?" Julie said to the golden flute, facing him towards her. "Do you suppose I am losing some weight? Pufnstuf and Jimmy think so."
"I don't know, Julie," said Freddy, looking a bit. "I cannot tell for sure."
"Oh you can't?" said Julie. "Hmmm…"
Cling and Clang come over to Julie and Freddy.
"Oh hi boys," said Julie. "I need to ask you both something. It's important."
Julie brings Cling and Clang close to her as she says to them, "Look at myself. Do you believe that I have lost some weight here?"
The boys both shrug since they don't know. They noticed Julie didn't quite fit into her clothes perfectly, yet they weren't sure if Julie had indeed lost a few pounds.
"You two don't know either?" Julie said, a bit surprised. "But Pufnstuf and Jimmy think so."
She turns around and said, "I have to safety pin my clothes to myself now!"
Cling and Clang thought about it again, but still shrug since they were both continuing to feel unsure.
"Oooh forget it..." Julie said, a little frustrated. "You're no help..."
The girl looks down at her feet and said, "Oops, I forgot to put my shoes on. I better go get-"
Julie sees that Cling was holding one of the child's pairs of shoes in his hands. It was a pair of black Mary Janes.
"Oh," Julie said, as she accepts the shoes. "Thank you, Cling. That's very nice of you to bring me my shoes."
She places one of her shoes near her foot and said, "Now let's get these Mary Janes on my feet and-"
Suddenly, without warning, Julie quickly shrunk two inches. Nobody noticed that Julie shrunk a little bit, but the child herself did feel something odd in her own body.
"Oh!" cried Julie.
"What happened, Julie?" asked Freddy. "Are you alright?"
"I don't know..." said Julie, unsure. "I felt strange for a moment...But...Never mind that. Let's get my shoes on and-"
But when Julie tried to put on her shoes, she sees that she cannot fit into them.
"That's funny..." said Julie, looking at her feet. "My shoes don't fit me...Well, at least there's an extra hole in the straps to make them tighter on my feet."
She tightens the strap and puts on the shoes as she says, "There...That's better."
"Good," said Freddy. "Let's go."
"Where?" asked Julie. "Jimmy told me to stay in the cave until he and Pufnstuf get back."
"Oh, you're right, Julie," said Freddy. "Guess we're stuck in here for now."
"So what do I do until then?" Julie asked.
"Just sit in the cave and relax, I guess..." said Freddy.
"By myself...?" said Julie, frowning.
"I'm here," said Freddy. "And so are Cling and Clang."
"Oh right!" said Julie, then looking at Cling and Clang and saying to them, "Thank goodness I have you two boys around. To keep me company whenever I need it..."
Cling and Clang hug Julie as a sweet gesture, to which Julie hugged them in return.
"As long as you two are with me, I'm happy," Julie said, as she smiled.
She then said, "So…When Jimmy and Pufnstuf get back, I'll get my new clothes. And things will be good again. Everything's going to be just fine..."
That night, while everyone was asleep, Julie woke up since she was thirsty.
"Oh dear..." she said, with her hand on her mouth. "My mouth is so dry I feel like I've been roaming in the desert for days. I need some water..."
Julie crawled out of bed to go get herself a glass of water from the fridge. She put on her slippers before doing so. But when she was walking to the kitchen, she felt that her slippers were near slipping off her feet. Julie looks down and sees that her slippers were a lot larger than her feet, which explains the dragging of them.
"Huh…?" Julie said, somewhat shocked at what she saw. "My slippers...? How come they're bigger than my feet? This shouldn't be happening. Or maybe I need new shoes as well."
She paused and said to herself, "Wait...That can't be right. Hmmm..."
Julie tries to think on why she couldn't fit into her slippers anymore, but couldn't come up with an answer. Though she knew that something was up.
"Something weird is going on around here..." said Julie. "But what...? I wonder..."
A few days later, in the morning when the sun was just starting to come up, Julie is once again the first one in the cave to wake up.
"Morning already...?" said Julie, yawning and rubbing her eyes. "Ohhh wow...Guess it's time to get up."
But when Julie climbed out of her bed, she fell down a bit. Though she wasn't hurt. Yet the little girl wondered why she fell out of her bed. Shaking it off, she went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. But when the child tried to reach for her toothbrush and look into the mirror, she only saw half of her reflection from the neck up. She didn't know it, but she was now just under 3 feet in height.
"Huh…?" said Julie, only seeing half her face in the mirror. "What the…?"
Julie lifts herself up to see herself fully, but fell back down.
"Oh!" said Julie.
She got back up and stood on her tippy toes.
"That's weird…" Julie said to herself. "Normally I'm able to see my entire face. What's going on?"
The child looks down and sees that her pajamas were very baggy on her.
"Why do my clothes keep being too big for me?" she wondered. "Is something happening to them? Or…Is something happening to ME...?"
Julie tries to grab her toothbrush again, but couldn't. So she grabbed a stool that Cling and Clang use and steps onto it. Once she saw her upper body, she placed her hand above herself to check if she were the same height. The child started to realize that she was shorter than before. A lot shorter.
"JUMPING JELLYBEANS!" Julie said, all horrified. "IT'S NOT MY CLOTHES, IT'S ME! THEY'RE NOT GETTING BIGGER, I'M GETTING SMALLER!"
She gasped hard as she said, "I'M SHRINKING!"
Julie turned towards the door as she shouted, "JIMMY!"
Julie didn't hear an answer.
"JIMMY, ARE YOU AWAKE?!" she continued to shout. "HELP! HELP! HEEEEEELP!"
The little girl still didn't hear Jimmy respond. The boy was still asleep in his bed.
"I don't think he can hear me," said Julie, with a sad sigh. "He's still asleep..."
She starts to think as she comes up with something.
"I know," she said to herself. "I'll go to Cling and Clang first. They're easy to wake up. And they probably can help me here."
Julie walks over to the stairs that leads to Cling and Clang's bedroom. The stairs seemed bigger to the 10-year-old since she is now the size of a toddler.
"Oh dear…" Julie said, looking up. "The stairs are really big…"
Julie paused and said to herself, "Am I…actually…shrinking…?"
She then said with a sigh, "I might be…Yeah, I probably am…Well…I have to climb these stairs so I can get to the boys. Here I go…"
Julie lifted her nightgown slightly so she wouldn't trip on it as she started to climb up the stairs.
"Oh my…!" Julie said to herself, as she was slowly climbing the stairs. "This is such a long flight of stairs! Never knew it would be like this…"
When she got to the top of the stairs, Julie opened the door and walked into Cling and Clang's bedroom. The little girl sees that the Rescue Racer Crew were still asleep in their separate beds. So Julie went over to Cling first to wake him up.
"Cling?" said Julie, tapping him. "Wakie wakie, Clingy pal."
Cling wakes up as he rubs his eyes.
"Good morning, Cling," said Julie.
Cling signed "Good morning" back to Julie. He then sees Julie's new size, to which he gasps and jumps a bit.
"What's the matter, Cling?" Julie asked him. "Did I scare you?"
Cling shook his head.
"Oh," said Julie. "Then what's wrong?"
Cling tells the child that nothing was bothering him.
"Are you sure?" Julie said.
Cling nodded.
"But Cling..." said Julie. "My nightgown doesn't fit me at all."
She shows Cling the nightgown she was currently wearing as she said, "Look at it! It's so big!"
Cling placed his hands on his face in shock. Then he signs the word "Wow!"
"Wow?" said Julie, unhappy. "That's all you can say at this moment? Wow?!"
Julie bursts into tears as she said, "Cling, I can't walk in this thing! I almost tripped on it!"
Cling suggests that they should go get Pufnstuf and tell him about the situation.
"What is he going to do?" Julie asked. "Our mayor can only do so much..."
Cling tells Julie that he isn't sure what Pufnstuf can do, but it doesn't hurt to ask. So Cling takes out his whistle, in which he and Clang use in case of an emergency since the two cannot talk, and blew into it. Clang was awoken by the whistle as he falls out of bed. He then gets up, walks over to Cling, and hits him as a reaction. Cling rubs his arms as he apologizes to his working partner for the noise.
Downstairs, Pufnstuf heard the whistle as he was shot awake.
"Huh?! What?!" said Pufnstuf, looking around. "Where's the fire?!"
"Pufnstuf!" Julie called. "Up here!"
"Julie?!" cried Pufnstuf, getting out of bed. "Everything alright?!"
The dragon climbs upstairs and goes into Cling and Clang's bedroom as he says, "Julie? Boys, what's going on?"
Cling points to Julie, but points lower since Julie is under 3 feet high.
"Jumping Jehoshaphat!" Pufnstuf cried, gasping hard. "What the heck happened to you, Julie?!"
"I...I-I don't know, Pufnstuf!" said Julie. "I just woke up like normal and saw that my pajamas were baggier than ever! This is so weird!"
"Hey, hey what's all the screaming, everybody?!" Jimmy said, entering the scene while holding Freddy.
"Why is everyone so frantic?!" asked Freddy.
Jimmy sees Julie. And as he notices the child's new size, Jimmy gasps in horror as he freaks out.
"Julie!" Jimmy said, as he goes on his knees to reach Julie's new height. "Look at you! You've got smaller!"
"I have..." Julie said, with a frown. "Just look at me...I can't fit into my nightgown...!"
"We've gotta get Dr. Blinky," said Pufnstuf.
"Dr. Blinky?" said Jimmy. "What would he do about this?"
He paused for a moment and then said, "Or maybe we should try to figure out ourselves on what's causing Julie to shrink before we even think about calling him. Can we at least do that first, Pufnstuf? Then we'll call him if we come up with nothing?"
"Good idea, Jimmy," said Pufnstuf. "It's worth a try."
"What's happening to me, Jimmy...?" Julie asked, all in tears.
"We don't know, Julie," said Jimmy, with his hands on the girl's shoulders. "But we're gonna find out."
"Okay..." said Julie, with a sad sigh. "I just hope I don't-"
The child trips on her nightgown and falls onto the floor with a loud, "Oww...!"
"You alright, Julie?" Jimmy asked, helping her back up.
"Yes..." said Julie. "I've been trying to not trip in this the entire time before I came up here."
"You should get out of that nightgown then," said Jimmy, "since it's not walking with you."
"Then what am I going to wear?" Julie asked, a little worried. "None of my clothes or pjs fit me!"
Cling taps Julie's shoulder.
"Huh?" said Julie, turning to him. "What Cling?"
Cling puts his hand out to Clang, with Clang showing Julie one of his many pairs of his green outfit since Julie is now very close to his height.
"You're letting me wear one of your outfits?" Julie said to Clang, starting to smile. "Awww, thank you, Clang. You're so sweet..."
Clang hands Julie the clothes, to which Julie accepts them.
"Will I look alright in green?" Julie said, looking at the clothes.
"I think you'll be fine, Julie," said Jimmy. "Why?"
"I don't really ever wear dark colors," said Julie. "But I'll give it a try. Well, time to get out of this gown before I trip again."
Julie goes to a corner in Cling and Clang's bedroom to change as everyone waits for her.
"Is Julie going to be alright, Jimmy?" asked Freddy. "She's almost at Clang's size!"
"I only hope so, Freddy," said Jimmy, with a sigh. "I only hope so…"
"Poor Julie..." Freddy said, with a frown. "She sounded very upset. Seems like she doesn't like being smaller now..."
"And I thought she was losing weight," said Jimmy, then getting upset at himself, "Oh, how can I be so stupid?!"
"Don't beat yourself up, Jimmy boy," said Pufnstuf, patting the boy's back. "You didn't know."
"Sorry Puf," said Jimmy. "I just never thought this would happen to her. Why is Julie shrinking...?"
"We're going to look for clues and figure out why Julie is getting smaller," said Pufnstuf. "Remember?"
"Yes..." said Jimmy, with a small nod. "I know..."
Julie comes back out wearing Clang's outfit he provided for her. As well as the matching white gloves on her hands.
"How do I look, guys?" Julie asked, showing off.
"Adorable!" said Jimmy.
"I am?" said Julie, blushing as she giggles a bit. "Why thank you, Jimmy."
She paused and said as she touched her hair, "Though my hair is still a mess and hasn't been done up yet…"
"I can see that," said Jimmy.
"But will my hands still be able to hold my hairbrush and comb?" said Julie, wondering. "Not sure since I'm smaller now..."
"If you want, I can help you do your hair," suggested Jimmy.
"Will you?" said Julie, liking the offer as she smiles. "Oh thank you, Jimmy. That would be wonderful!"
"Let's go back downstairs so we can start our day," said Pufnstuf.
"Okay Pufnstuf," said Jimmy, then noticing Julie looking a bit nervous, "Something wrong, Julie?"
"The slide…" Julie said, looking at the slide Cling and Clang use to leave their room. "It looks a bit bigger than before..."
"Huh?" said Jimmy, then saying with a chuckle, "Oh Julie, it just seems bigger to you because of your new size. The slide never changed, it's still the same."
"Well, I'm not going down it," said Julie. "At least not by myself..."
"Want me to help you?" Jimmy said.
"Please…?" Julie said.
"Sure thing," said Jimmy. "I'll go down with you."
Jimmy picks Julie up as he sits down on the top of the slide and sets Julie on his lap.
"Ready Julie?" Jimmy said to her.
"Ready Jimmy," Julie answered back.
The two kids then go down the slide.
"Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!" cried Julie, as she laughed.
She and Jimmy reach the ground.
"Okay, let go," said Jimmy.
Julie gets off of Jimmy's lap and places her feet on the floor as she walks a few steps. Then the rest go down the slide as well.
"Hehehehe!" said Julie, with a giggle. "That was fun!"
"Sure was!" said Jimmy. "Now what?"
"I have to go make breakfast," said Pufnstuf. "We haven't eaten yet and it's the morning."
"Okay," said Jimmy and Julie.
Pufnstuf goes into the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone. And while he was doing that, Jimmy went to fix Julie's hair.
"Jimmy?" Julie said to Jimmy.
"Yes Julie?" said Jimmy.
"Will my hair bows still look good in my hair?" Julie asked. "Will I look pretty in them?"
"Of course you will," Jimmy said. "You always look good in hair bows, Julie. Why you ask?"
"Cause my head is a bit smaller thanks to my new size," said Julie. "So my hair accessories might look bigger because of that."
"So?" said Jimmy.
"Would they be TOO big?" Julie asked.
"Don't be silly, Julie," said Jimmy. "You'll look cute as you always do. Can I fix your hair now?"
"Sure Jimmy," said Julie, then saying a bit worried, "I hope you don't mess this up..."
"Julie, don't worry..." said Jimmy. "Your hair will look nice, I promise."
"Alright…" said Julie, with a small sigh.
Jimmy started to do Julie's hair for her. First, he was brushing it down to make sure there are no tangles or knots in the girl's hair. Since Julie almost never wears her hair down, Jimmy thought she looked pretty and even beautiful that way despite her hairdo not being finished yet.
"Julie?" Jimmy said, looking at Julie's hair.
"Yeah Jimmy?" said Julie.
"How come you never wear your hair down?" Jimmy asked. "It looks so pretty!"
"Uhhh…" said Julie. "Well I-"
"Well, I think you should wear your hair down more often," said Jimmy, smiling at her. "I like it..."
"Really?" said Julie, looking at Jimmy. "You like my hair down, Jimmy?"
"Uh huh," said Jimmy, then grabbing Julie's hair and saying, "Here, I'll make you look cute."
Jimmy has Julie's hair brushed and combed down as he places a big green bow in her hair to match one of Clang's outfits she was wearing.
"Oh?" said Julie, noticing the green hair bow. "A green one? To match Clang's clothes I'm wearing?"
"Yep!" said Jimmy, doing the finishing touches. "And with your hair down."
He puts Julie in front of the mirror and said to her in a happy voice, "Who looks adorable and pretty? You do!"
"Aww Jimmy..." Julie said, while starting to blush.
"Hi! I'm Julie!" Jimmy said, moving Julie's arms around gently as he speaks for his female friend. "And I'm the cutest girl in the world!"
"Oh Jimmy..." said Julie, with a tiny giggle.
Jimmy just laughed.
Just then, Cling and Clang came over to Jimmy and Julie.
"Hello there, boys," said Julie. "What brings you two here?"
Cling and Clang waved to her. Then they saw that Julie had her hair down with a green bow in the back. The boys thought that the child looked very cute in her hair style and one of Clang's clothes as the two were both happily jumpy.
"I know you're happy to see me, Cling and Clang," said Julie. "I'm happy to see you, too."
She then said, reading the two's body language, "You think I look so cute in my outfit and hairdo?"
Cling and Clang nodded.
"You're very kind, boys," said Julie, smiling at the Rescue Racer Crew. "Thank you..."
Cling then puts his arms out to Julie since he wanted to pick her up and possibly hold the little girl.
"You want to hold me, Cling?" Julie said to her little friend.
Cling nodded and signed "Yes."
"You think you're able to handle it this time, Cling?" Jimmy asked him. "Julie's almost as short as Clang."
Cling believes that he indeed can hold Julie without struggling.
"Well...Alright," said Jimmy, gently giving Julie to Cling. "Be careful, she's still her usual self."
Cling accepts Julie from Jimmy as the little guy in red began to hold Julie. And since Julie was the size of a toddler, she was also lighter in weight. Seeing that he wasn't struggling while holding onto Julie, Cling was very surprised as his eyes widen in joy.
"What's going on, Cling?" said Jimmy, noticing Cling's wide eyes. "Everything alright?"
Clang explained to Jimmy that Cling was surprised, yet happy that he's holding Julie without struggling.
"Wow, that's great!" said Jimmy, with a smile.
"Bet you're also happy that I'm lighter in weight, huh Cling?" Julie said to Cling, while in his arms.
Cling nodded.
"I knew it," said Julie, giggling.
Jimmy then started to notice the shoes Julie was wearing.
"Where did you get those shoes, Julie?" Jimmy asked her.
"Oh, from Cling and Clang," said Julie. "These shoes are theirs, that's why they fit me. Since I'm nearly Clang's height now…"
Julie starts to have sad tears as she said, "Wish I knew why I'm shrinking…"
"Oh Julie…" said Jimmy, with a frown.
"Can you please find out…?" Julie asked, all teary. "I don't like this…"
"We're gonna figure this out, Julie," said Jimmy, rubbing her head. "Don't worry…"
Jimmy sees that Julie is still being carried by Cling.
"Why don't you play with Cling and Clang right now?" Jimmy suggested. "I'm sure that'll cheer you up."
"Okay Jimmy…" said Julie.
While Jimmy went to Pufnstuf to check on breakfast, Julie was still with Cling and Clang.
"So…What do you want to do, boys?" Julie asked Cling and Clang.
Cling and Clang shrugged their shoulders.
"You don't know?" said Julie. "But there has to be something we can do together. Especially now that I'm smaller."
Cling then came up with an idea. He held Julie from under her arms and started to twirl himself and spin Julie around.
"W-What are you doing?" Julie asked, feeling herself being spun around. "Cling?"
Cling continues to spin her around.
"Hehe! This is kind of fun!" said Julie, starting to giggle. "Weeeeeeeehehehehe!"
Julie was enjoying herself while Cling was spinning her around. But after almost a minute, Cling fell backwards with Julie on top of him.
"Heh heh…You okay, Clingy pal?" Julie asked Cling.
Cling nodded.
"Thank goodness," Julie said, as she smiled. "That sure was fun, huh?!"
"Breakfast is ready!" Pufnstuf called from the kitchen, while ringing the bell. "Come and get it!"
"Oh!" said Julie. "Breakfast time!"
Julie gets off Cling and runs to the table. But when she climbed onto her chair and sat down, she couldn't reach the table since she was toddler-sized.
"Oh no…" said Julie. "I'm too short to reach the kitchen table!"
She tugged Jimmy's shirt sleeve as she said to him, "Jimmy?"
"Yes Julie?" said Jimmy, turning to her.
"I can't reach the table anymore," said Julie, starting to frown. "I'm too small…"
"Uh oh..." said Jimmy, noticing. "That's not good…"
"I'm hungry…" said Julie, as she goes into tears. "I want to eat!"
"It's okay, Julie," said Jimmy, wiping Julie's tears away. "Maybe I can help."
He grabs Julie and lifts her.
"Jimmy, what are you doing?" Julie said, then saying in a surprised voice, "You're holding me!"
"Cling and Clang?" Jimmy said to Cling and Clang. "Can you grab me a book or two? And make sure they're thick ones."
Cling and Clang got two very thick books and placed them on Julie's chair as Jimmy sets her down on them in order for the little girl to reach the kitchen table.
"There you go, Julie," said Jimmy. "Is that better?"
"I think so," said Julie. "Thanks."
Pufnstuf then serves everyone their breakfast. There were bacon, eggs, toast, and sausages.
"Thank you, Pufnstuf," said Julie, as she looks at her food. "Yaaaay, it's eating time!"
She grabs her fork and starts to eat her breakfast. And while everyone was eating their morning meal, Julie shifted herself a little bit to the side. But the slightest movement caused the books to collapse, as well as the chair tipping over, and the child fell onto the floor.
"Oww!" Julie cried.
"Julie!" said Pufnstuf.
"Julie, are you alright?!" Jimmy asked.
"Where am I…?" said Julie, lying on the floor all dizzy.
"Looks like the books didn't work," said Pufnstuf.
"Yeah, I'd say so, Pufnstuf…" said Jimmy, with a sad sigh.
Jimmy gently sits Julie up on the floor.
"You alright, Julie?" he asked her.
"I…I think so," said Julie, then starting to frown as she said, "Now I have no way to eat my food…"
"Sure you will, Julie," said Jimmy. "Cause I have just the thing to help you."
"What is it?" Julie asked.
"This," Jimmy said, picking Julie up again.
Jimmy sits back in his chair at the kitchen table and places Julie on his lap.
"How's this, Julie?" asked Jimmy. "Will this work for you?"
Julie sees that she was sitting on Jimmy's lap as her new short height.
"Yes…" Julie answered, starting to blush a bit.
"Good," said Jimmy, then pulls Julie's plate towards her as he says, "Here you are."
"Thank you, Jimmy," said Julie, as she starts to eat her food again.
When everyone went back to eating their breakfast, Cling purposely flicked one of his fried eggs as it landed on Julie's face.
"Oh!" said Julie.
Julie removes the flat egg from her face.
"Cling!" Julie said, starting to giggle. "Hehehehehe!"
"You find that funny, Julie?" Jimmy said to Julie.
"Yes! I do!" said Julie, continuing to giggle and laugh.
"Why?" Jimmy asked.
"Because Jimmy, it feels funny to have food on your face," said Julie, still laughing. "And besides, I love Cling and Clang so much. So that makes it extra fun! Hehehe, I love to have fun!"
"I know you do, Julie," said Jimmy, with a smile. "I do, too."
Cling then threw one of his strips of bacon at Julie as it landed in Julie's mouth since it was open.
"Mmmm…" said Julie, tasting the bacon. "Bacony!"
"Cling…" said Jimmy, looking at Cling. "You're so silly!"
Cling just giggles.
"Cling, stop playing with your food and eat it," Pufnstuf said.
"Why does Pufnstuf always have to ruin the fun…?" Julie said, mumbling under her breath.
"Well, he does want us to eat our food," said Jimmy. "So we should do what he says."
"Ooooh alright," said Julie, with a small sigh.
She looked up at Cling and said to him, "Sorry Cling, the fun is over…"
Cling frowns.
"Now all of you eat your breakfast before it gets cold," said Pufnstuf.
"Yes sir," said Julie.
After breakfast, once the table and the dishes and utensils were cleaned, Pufnstuf and Jimmy began their investigation to figure out why Julie is slowly, yet rapidly shrinking in height.
"Puf?" said Jimmy.
"Yes Jimmy?" said Pufnstuf.
"Do you think maybe we should talk to Dr. Blinky about this?" Jimmy suggested.
"Only when we can't figure this out ourselves," said Pufnstuf. "Remember you said that this morning?"
"Oh yeah, I did say that," said Jimmy, remembering his own words from earlier.
"So let's try to look for clues right now," said Pufnstuf. "And if nothing comes up within some time, THEN we'll go see Dr. Blinky. Alright?"
"Alright," said Jimmy.
"Good boy," said Pufnstuf.
Just then, in the middle of the searching, they run into Judy Frog.
"Oh hello there, Judy Frog!" Pufnstuf.
"Hi Judy!" said Jimmy.
"Hello Jimmy! Good day, Mayor Pufnstuf!" said Judy. "What's going on?"
"Oh just taking a walk on this lovely day," said Jimmy. "How about you?"
"Well, I've been wanting to ask you something," said Judy. "It's been on my mind for the past few days."
"What is it?" Jimmy said.
"Where's Julie?" Judy asked. "I haven't seen her in a while. Is she alright?"
Jimmy was nervous to tell Judy that Julie was literally shrinking.
"Something wrong, Jimmy?" said Judy.
"Uhhh…" said Jimmy, as he hid the truth. "Julie hasn't been feeling her best lately."
"What happened?" asked Judy.
"Well…Let's just say she's not doing well mood wise," said Jimmy. "She doesn't want to be bothered…"
"Oh?" said Judy.
"Yeah," said Jimmy. "But I'm sure she'll be in a better mood in a couple of days. Don't you worry, Judy. Julie will always be the cute, sweet little girl we all know and love."
"Okay Jimmy," said Judy.
After talking for a little bit more, Pufnstuf and Jimmy said goodbye to Judy as the two go back to their searching for answers on why Julie is shrinking. But right when they continued, Pufnstuf wanted to talk to Jimmy about the lie he just told Judy.
"Jimmy?" said Pufnstuf. "Can I have a word with you?"
"Something the matter, Puf?" Jimmy asked.
"You lied to Judy!" said Pufnstuf. "Why would you do that?! You know it's not good to lie!"
"But I can't tell her what happened to Julie!" said Jimmy.
"Why not?" asked Pufnstuf.
"I don't want to embarrass her…" said Jimmy.
"Why would Julie be embarrassed about her height?" Pufnstuf wondered.
"Pufnstuf, Julie is very close to Clang's height now," said Jimmy. "And she doesn't like it."
He paused for a moment and said, "Right before we left, she said to me to not tell anyone that she is literally shrinking. She's scared that everyone will stare at her and judge her…Just the way she reacted this morning…Julie is very upset about this! She doesn't seem to like being so small…"
"Tell the truth, Jimmy," said Pufnstuf.
"Really Pufnstuf, Julie told me not to tell anyone about her shrinking," said Jimmy. "Don't you remember how upset she was this morning?"
"Yes, I do remember," said Pufnstuf. "She was very unhappy."
"She was certainly unhappy," said Jimmy, feeling bad for Julie. "But I couldn't tell Judy about this. I just couldn't! I took Julie's word, I don't want to upset her more!"
"Jimmy…" said Pufnstuf. "Lying will make it worse. Tell Judy Frog the truth."
"Why?" said Jimmy.
"Because Jimmy, you know better," said Pufnstuf. "It's never good to tell a lie."
"Believe me, Pufnstuf," said Jimmy. "I hate telling lies. I know what I just said is not true, but I can't let my friend down...Julie's already feeling down about this whole thing..."
"She really is..." said Pufnstuf, nodding his head sadly. "Poor Julie Jellybean..."
"I know...The poor thing..." said Jimmy, with a sad sigh. "Can I tell Judy about this later? I'm already starting to feel stressed out..."
"Alright Jimmy," said Pufnstuf. "But the next time you have a full conversation with Judy, you tell her the truth. Understand?"
"Yes Pufnstuf…" said Jimmy.
He then says to himself, "I hope Julie's gonna be okay. I'm worried about her..."
Back inside Pufnstuf's cave, Julie was on the floor singing to herself since she was bored out of her mind. Cling and Clang walked over to her and as they could tell by her facial expression and voice tone, the child didn't have anything to do.
"Oh hello, boys," said Julie, seeing the boys. "What's going on?"
Cling and Clang tell Julie that they see that she is bored and has nothing to do.
"Yeah...I'm very bored," said Julie, with a bored sigh. "What is there to do with just the three of us?"
Cling and Clang suggest that they should all go outside and get some fresh air. They also remind Julie that she has been indoors and hasn't left the cave for the past few days since her rapid shrinking began.
"Yeah, that is true," said Julie. "Okay, let's go outside and enjoy the weather. It's a nice day today."
As the three left the cave and went outside, Cling and Clang then tell Julie that it would be best to stay right in front of the cave or around it in order to avoid possibly getting kidnapped again by Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo and her gang. Of course, this made Julie very nervous all thanks to being kidnapped by the witch numerous times for the same reason ever since the child first arrived on Living Island after running away from the real world.
"Yeah…" she said, nervously. "Let's stay in this spot…I don't want the witch to come and take me away again..."
Cling and Clang tell Julie to not think about Witchiepoo and try to enjoy herself outdoors.
"But what can we do out here?" Julie asked. "We can't really do much since we're going to stay in this area until Pufnstuf and Jimmy get back."
Cling and Clang started to think. They turned their heads and notice that near the fruit and vegetable garden was a big pile of dirt. And since it was right underneath the hose, they thought that they could maybe make the dirt wet to create mud.
"That sounds like fun," said Julie, getting interested.
Cling and Clang ask Julie if she wants to make mud near the garden.
"Sure, let's do it," said Julie, with a nod.
Cling, Clang, and Julie walk over to the dirt pile next to the fruit and vegetable garden.
"Okay, who wants to hold the hose?" Julie asked the boys.
Cling raised his hand.
"And who wants to turn on the water?" Julie asked.
Clang raised his hand.
"Yeah, I knew you two would want to turn on the hose and hold onto it," said Julie, with a small giggle. "You are the Rescue Racer Crew after all, little firefighters."
Cling and Clang nodded their heads as they smiled and did small chuckles. Then Cling picked up the hose, while Clang went to the little wheel that turns on and off the water.
"Alright boys," said Julie. "Let 'er rip!"
Cling and Clang do a salute. Then Clang turns on the hose and water comes out of it as Cling was holding onto the thing.
"Here it comes!" Julie cried, as she saw the water spraying out of the hose.
Cling was controlling the hose as the water starts to hit the dirt, making it just wet enough to turn the dirt into a big pile of mud. And after Clang turned off the hose, all three looked at the mud puddle.
"Now what?" Julie asked.
Cling and Clang bring Julie right in front of the mud puddle.
"Boys, what are you doing…?" asked Julie.
Clang pretended to spot something and pointed upwards.
"Huh?!" said Julie, looking up. "Where?!"
While Julie was distracted, Cling pushed her as the little girl fell into the mud with her shouting, "Aah!"
Cling started to laugh at her.
"Cling, you meanie!" said Julie, looking all over herself. "Now I'm all dirty!"
She grabs Cling's arm as she said, "Get in here, you!"
Julie pulls Cling as he too falls in the mud. Then Julie laughs at him, to which Cling gave her a dirty look.
"What? You pushed me first!" said Julie.
Cling thought that was fair enough for Julie to pull him into the mud after pushing her into the puddle. Then Clang walked over to the two and asked them if he can join them in the mud as well.
"Of course, Clang," said Julie. "Come on!"
So Clang jumped in as he, Cling, and Julie started to play in the mud together.
"Hehehe!" said Julie, enjoying herself. "This is fun!"
Cling and Clang nodded and giggled.
15 minutes later, Pufnstuf and Jimmy returned after their failed investigation.
"Well, that was a huge waste of time," Jimmy said, all frustrated. "We didn't find a single clue to Julie's shrinkage!"
"Calm down, Jimmy," said Pufnstuf, putting his hand on Jimmy's shoulder. "We'll try again tomorrow. We just got started."
"I'm sorry, Puf…" said Jimmy, taking a deep breath. "It's just-"
Pufnstuf and Jimmy then saw Cling, Clang, and Julie as they noticed the three were playing in the big mud puddle in front of the cave near the fruit and vegetable garden.
"Cling and Clang!" Pufnstuf said. "What are you doing?!"
"Julie, what do you think you're doing?!" Jimmy said.
Cling and Clang noticed Pufnstuf and Jimmy as the Rescue Racer Crew gasped hard, while Julie did a small scream.
"Uhhh…" Julie said, a little nervously. "Hello Mayor Pufnstuf...Hi Jimmy..."
"Just what in the world are you three doing?!" Pufnstuf asked.
"Playing in the mud...?" Julie said, sweating a bit. "Heh heh heh...Heh heh...Heh..."
Jimmy just shook his head as Pufnstuf put his hand on his face in disbelief.
"Oh Julie…" said Jimmy.
"What…?" said Julie, getting out of the mud.
Jimmy pushed her back into the mud puddle.
"Hey!" said Julie. "Jimmy!"
"Ha ha!" Jimmy laughed.
"Hey Jimmy, wanna join me?" Julie asked him.
"No thanks, Julie," said Jimmy. "I don't want to get dirty today."
"Okay, that's fine," said Julie. "Maybe next time."
"Alright Julie, you had your fun," said Pufnstuf, as he pulls Julie out of the mud puddle. "You and the boys need a bath right away."
"Awww, do I have to take a bath, Pufnstuf…?" Julie said, with a small frown.
"Yes Julie, you have to," said Pufnstuf. "Look at yourself. You're all dirty!"
"Yes, I am very dirty…" Julie said, with a giggle. "I like it!"
"But you need to get cleaned up, Julie dear," said Pufnstuf. "You can't stay dirty forever."
He then said to Julie, "You'll take your bath first and then Cling and Clang will have their turn."
Cling and Clang shook their heads since they didn't want to take a bath and wanted to continue playing in the mud.
"Boys," said Pufnstuf. "Don't get out of this."
"Okay Pufnstuf," said Julie. "I'll take a bath."
"Good girl, Julie," said Pufnstuf, then saying to Cling and Clang, "Cling and Clang? You can play in the mud for a little longer. But after Julie gets clean, you're both going to take a bath. Okay boys?"
Cling and Clang nodded.
"Good boys," said Pufnstuf, then saying to Julie, "Okay Julie. Into the cave you go."
"Yes Pufnstuf," Julie said.
She waved to Cling and Clang as she said to them, "Bye bye, boys. Thanks for the fun."
Cling and Clang signed "You're welcome."
Julie walked back into the cave to take her bath. And after the child was all clean and dressed, it was Cling and Clang's turn to take a bath. But the boys weren't bathing yet because they kept running away from Pufnstuf since they wanted to mess with him a little bit. And because of this, Pufnstuf was chasing the two boys.
"Cling and Clang, get back here!" said Pufnstuf, chasing after the Rescue Racer Crew.
Cling and Clang kept running from their boss.
"Boys, you need to take your baths!" Pufnstuf said. "You can't go around all dirty!"
He then catches up to Cling and Clang and grabs the boys by their hands.
"Gotcha!" said Pufnstuf. "Now let's get you boys cleaned up, shall we?"
Cling and Clang give up and agree to take a bath. So Pufnstuf walked back into the cave with Cling and Clang as he started to give the boys both a bath. And while that was going on, Julie was waiting for the boys to be finished. So in the meantime, Julie grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and placed it on the cave's desk. And since the chair was tall enough, she was able to reach the desk. But she had a hard time just climbing into the chair thanks to her toddler height.
"Oooh, I can't get onto this chair!" Julie said to herself, struggling to reach the seat.
Just then, Jimmy came into the cave and noticed Julie in front of him.
"What's wrong, Julie?" he asked.
"I can't reach the seat of this chair," said Julie. "I'm too small…"
"Need some help?" Jimmy said.
"Please Jimmy?" Julie said, looking at him.
"Of course," said Jimmy.
Jimmy lifts Julie as he sits the child on the seat.
"Thank you, Jimmy," said Julie. "Now I can get to writing."
Julie puts the paper down on the desk, picks up her pencil, and starts writing on it.
"What are you writing?" asked Jimmy.
"My memoir," said Julie.
"Memoir?" Jimmy said, a bit confused.
"You know, just in case something happens to me," said Julie.
"What?" said Jimmy. "Really? Why?"
"Jimmy, I'm shrinking," said Julie. "So I feel like I have to write my life story on paper. I don't see myself stopping reducing anytime soon…"
"Oh I see," said Jimmy.
"Speaking of that…" Julie said. "Did you and Puf figure out the cause of my shrinking?"
"We haven't yet…" said Jimmy. "But don't worry, he and I are going to try again tomorrow. Oh, I ran into Judy while on the search today."
"Oh?" said Julie. "How is she?"
"She's been very worried about you," said Jimmy. "She hasn't seen you in days and wanted to know if you're doing alright."
"Did you tell her I'm literally shrinking…?" Julie wondered.
"No," said Jimmy, shaking his head. "You told me not to. So I didn't tell her."
"Oh good," said Julie, all relieved.
"How come you don't want our friends to know about this, Julie?" Jimmy asked Julie.
"I don't want them to stare at me," said Julie, a little nervous. "Just because I'm so short now…"
She looks Jimmy in the eyes as she said all sad, "What am I going to do, Jimmy...?"
"I don't know, Julie," said Jimmy, shrugging his shoulders. "I really don't know…"
Julie just frowned and looked down.
"Julie, don't let it distract you," said Jimmy. "Try to focus on your memoir."
"Okay Jimmy..." Julie sighed.
She picks up her pencil again and speaks quietly to herself, "Why is this happening to me...? I wish I knew now...Why me…?"
A few days later, Julie was still toddler sized. And since Pufnstuf and Jimmy couldn't figure out why Julie was shrinking, they finally decided to take Julie to Dr. Blinky for help.
"Jimmy?" Julie said to Jimmy. "Where are we going?"
"To Dr. Blinky's house," said Jimmy, putting Freddy in his front shirt pocket.
"Why?" Julie asked.
"We still can't figure out the cause of your shrinking," said Jimmy. "And it's really bothering and concerning me…"
"Yes," said Pufnstuf. "Jimmy and I tried very hard to help you, Julie. But we can't find the answer to this problem."
Julie frowns.
"Don't be sad, Julie," said Jimmy. "I'm sure Dr. Blinky can help us with this. Now come on…"
Jimmy lifts Julie as he holds onto her.
"Wow!" Jimmy said, all surprised. "You're lighter!"
"Yeah," said Julie. "Cling and Clang think so, too."
Cling tries to grab Julie, but Jimmy pulls her back.
"Sorry Cling," said Jimmy. "I don't think you should carry her and walk at the same time. It might be tiring for you and Clang."
Cling felt a bit offended since he and Clang are very short in height.
"I'm not making fun of your size," said Jimmy. "I just don't want you both to struggle on the way."
Cling rolled his eyes, while Clang just stomped his foot.
"Cling and Clang, behave yourselves!" Pufnstuf said to Cling and Clang. "You can have fun with Julie later. Now let's get to Dr. Blinky's house so he can help us with Julie. Get the Rescue Racer, please."
Cling and Clang just look at their boss.
"Move it!" ordered Pufnstuf.
Cling and Clang jumped a bit as they went to get the Rescue Racer from outside.
"Sometimes those boys don't take things seriously," Pufnstuf said, shaking his head. "It drives me bananas!"
"I know what you mean, Puf," said Jimmy, agreeing. "They think everything's all fun and games."
"Uh huh," said Julie. "Cling and Clang believe it's always playtime around here."
"They really do," said Freddy. "Silly Cling and Clang!"
The four then heard the sound of a little car horn and a small bell ringing nearby. Cling and Clang were beeping the horn and ringing the bell on the Rescue Racer to let everyone know that they got the vehicle and are ready to go.
"Coming boys!" Pufnstuf called to them, then saying to the rest, "Come on, guys! Let's get to Dr. Blinky's on the double!"
"Right behind you, Puf!" said Jimmy, while carrying Julie. "Hold onto me, Julie, so you don't fall and hurt yourself."
"Okay Jimmy," said Julie, with her arms gently around Jimmy's neck.
The group got on the Rescue Racer and headed over to Dr. Blinky's house. And when they got there, they were about to walk up to the front of the house when the building sounded like it was about to sneeze.
"A…A…A-A-A!" said the house.
"Uh oh!" said Pufnstuf. "Watch out, everyone!"
"The house is gonna sneeze!" said Freddy.
"Quick!" said Jimmy. "Take cover!"
"Save me, Jimmy!" said Julie.
Everyone went onto the ground and covered themselves as the house was going to sneeze in just a split second.
"AAAAAACHOOOOOOOO!" the house sneezed.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Julie screamed, as she was lifted off the ground.
"JULIE!" gasped Jimmy, seeing his friend in the air.
Jimmy stood up and quickly grabbed Julie as he placed her underneath him while hanging onto her. He was protecting the little girl while waiting for the wind from the sneeze to clear. And once that was over, everyone got up and stood back on their feet.
"You alright, Julie?" Jimmy asked Julie, letting Julie look at him.
"I'm alright, Jimmy," Julie said. "Wow, I guess I'm not heavy as I am normally. I'm small and light enough to fly off the ground!"
"Well, thank goodness you didn't get flown away by the sneeze," said Jimmy. "Who knows where you would've landed?"
"Yeah," said Julie. "Thanks for saving me, Jimmy."
"No problem," said Jimmy. "Now let's go see Dr. Blinky, shall we?"
"Yes," said Julie. "Let's."
Pufnstuf, Jimmy, Julie, Cling, and Clang walked to the front door of the house and rang the doorbell as they waited for Dr. Blinky to come open the door for them.
Meanwhile, inside Dr. Blinky's house, Dr. Blinky was busy cleaning his home since it hadn't been clean in a while.
"My goodness, when was my house last cleaned?" Dr. Blinky said to himself, feather dusting the shelves that hold some of his books and potions. "Well, good thing I finally have the time to give it a good cleaning. Because as they say, a clean house is a happy house. Hoo hoo!"
Just then, he heard a knock on the door.
"Come in!" said Dr. Blinky.
The door opened as Pufnstuf, Jimmy, Cling, and Clang walked into the house.
"Why hello there, mayor!" said Dr. Blinky, spotting the group. "Hi Jimmy! Cling and Clang! Freddy! What brings you boys here today?"
"Dr. Blinky, we've got ourselves a big problem," said Pufnstuf.
"A problem?" said Dr. Blinky. "Oh my, a problem is never a good thing. What seems to be the problem?"
"Not sure if you'll believe this, but…" said Jimmy.
"Did something happen since the last time I saw you all?" asked Dr. Blinky.
"Oh something happened alright," said Jimmy. "And it's not something happened to what, it's to WHO."
"Who?" Dr. Blinky asked. "Show me, Jimmy."
Pufnstuf and Cling and Clang moved to the side to reveal Julie, who was still in Jimmy's arms.
"Oh hello there, Julie," said Dr. Blinky. "Everything okay?
"No Dr. Blinky," Julie said to him. "Everything is not okay. And I will tell you why. Or rather I will show you why."
She looks at Jimmy and said to him, "Can you put me down, Jimmy?"
Jimmy nodded as he placed Julie on the floor as the little girl stood up on her feet. Dr. Blinky notices that Julie seemed a bit low in height. He sees that Julie was now the size of a toddler!
"Oh my goodness gracious!" Dr. Blinky gasped hard, as he jumped in surprise. "Miss Julie Jellybean! You're smaller!"
"Thanks for noticing…" said Julie, with a sigh.
"How did you get so short?!" Dr. Blinky wondered. "Last time I saw you, you were at your normal height! Now you're very close to Clang's height!"
"I don't know why this is happening to me, Dr. Blinky," said Julie, shrugging. "I don't know why…"
"Hmm…" said Dr. Blinky. "Why don't we all sit down and talk about this? Maybe we can all come up with an answer to this problem."
"Good idea, Dr. Blinky," said Pufnstuf. "We need all the help we can get."
Dr. Blinky pulled up a chair in front of everyone specifically for Julie since the child is the one that was having the problem. But when Julie tried to climb onto the chair, she was struggling since the chair was very big and wide to her. So Cling and Clang worked together to push Julie up as the child reached the chair and sat down on the cushion.
"Thanks boys," said Julie.
Then everyone gathered round and sat down in the other seats in the room. And to go with the conversation, the group was having some water or tea to drink. Of course, given her new size, the mug of one of the beverages was a little big for Julie. Yet she manages to hold onto it and have a pretty good grip on it.
"So…" Dr. Blinky said. "Everyone? Let's start at the beginning. Then we'll talk our way through. How does that sound?"
"Good suggestion," said Jimmy.
"May I start?" Pufnstuf asked. "I think we should start off with the other day when Dr. Blinky came over to my cave."
"Sure Pufnstuf," said Dr. Blinky. "Go right ahead. We're all listening."
"Okay," said Pufnstuf, clearing his throat. "Well…It began like this…Hmm…Alright, as we all know, I called Dr. Blinky the other day to come over since the cave was having a little bug problem. Like a not good, yet tiny infestation of ants."
"And they were coming to get me!" said Julie, a bit frightened. "They were marching so fast!"
"Calm down, Julie dear," Pufnstuf said. "There are no ants around here right now."
"Sorry…" said Julie, calming down as she took a sip of her drink.
"As I was saying," Pufnstuf continued, "We fixed the ant problem with Dr. Blinky's special disappearing bug potion."
He turned to Dr. Blinky and said, "Thank you for that, Dr. Blinky."
"No problem, sir," said Dr. Blinky. "Glad I helped solved that problem."
"However," said Pufnstuf, looking straight at Cling and Clang, "Cling and Clang decided that they wanted to cause a ruckus and sprayed the contents on Julie!"
Cling and Clang tried to tell Pufnstuf that it was not their intention to spray Julie with the chemical solution and that what happened was just an accident.
"Cling and Clang are right, Pufnstuf," said Jimmy. "They didn't mean to get Julie covered in the potion's ingredients…"
Cling and Clang covered their heads with paper bags to show shame once again just like before.
"Boys, come on," said Pufnstuf, removing the paper bags from their heads. "Anyway, a few days later, Julie seemed to be a little bit shorter than normal. We couldn't really tell at first since it was very unnoticeable."
"But what was noticeable was my weight," said Julie. "My clothes didn't fit me anymore! I was so upset!"
"And all this time I thought my friend was just having a bit of weight lost," said Jimmy. "And I was beating myself up for it. And now that Julie is so much smaller than before, it's really concerning..."
"Hmmm…" said Dr. Blinky, starting to think.
He then cried, "AHA!"
"What is it, Dr. Blinky?!" Pufnstuf asked.
"You have the answer to Julie's shrinking?!" said Jimmy.
"I think I might know the problem!" said Dr. Blinky. "When Julie was sprayed with the disappearing bug solution, the chemicals must have absorbed into her skin and spread throughout her body! Causing her to shrink just like the bugs!"
Everyone gasped in horror.
"So THAT'S what is making me shrink!" said Julie. "Why didn't I think of that?!"
"How come we're not shrinking as well?" Freddy asked. "I'm sure the mixture moved through the air."
"Freddy, Julie got the direct hit," said Jimmy. "So the chemicals were ALL over her."
"Oh that makes sense," said Freddy.
"I'm surprised Julie's still here," said Pufnstuf. "Wouldn't the potion make her shrink and disappear in a split second?"
"You think it would," said Jimmy. "I don't know why…"
"Did Julie start shrinking right away?" asked Dr. Blinky.
"No," said Jimmy. "Yet that night, Julie looked and sounded like she was getting sick. She was sweating and breathing quickly. I thought she was getting the flu!"
"Oh dear!" said Dr. Blinky.
"But medicine helped me get rid of my symptoms," said Julie. "Cause I felt fine the next morning, despite the red blotches on my face from the constant sweating."
"Uh huh," said Pufnstuf. "She felt better when she woke up."
"Well, that's good to hear," said Dr. Blinky.
"Do you think the flu-like symptoms is her body's way of telling us that the chemicals were spreading inside her and finding a place to stay?" Jimmy wondered.
"That's not a bad thought, Jimmy," said Dr. Blinky. "It could be."
"Maybe…" said Jimmy.
He then started to get worried as he said loudly, "OH NO!"
"What's wrong, Jimmy?!" said Pufnstuf.
"What's the matter, Jimmy?!" said Freddy.
"Since Julie is rapidly shrinking thanks to the disappearing bug solution…" said Jimmy, then gasping hard and shouting, "BLIMEY! She might shrink into nonexistence!"
That made everyone scared.
"Julie?!" said Pufnstuf. "Shrinking into nonexistence?! Oh that sounds terrible!"
"Horrible!" said Freddy. "She'll disappear!"
It was a tragic thought to Cling and Clang since they don't want Julie to be gone off the earth forever. Especially since the little girl is 10 years of age.
"I'm gonna die?!" said Julie, starting to freak out. "Oh no! Oooooooh noooooo!"
She turned to Dr. Blinky and said to him, "Dr. Blinky?! Please tell me that's not true! I won't shrink into nonexistence, will I?!"
"I can't say for sure," said Dr. Blinky, then thinking of something. "Unless I create an antidote to stop that from happening!"
"You can?!" said Julie and Jimmy.
"It's worth a try!" said Dr. Blinky, getting up and going to his book shelf. "Now let's see if I can find the recipe for size changing."
He goes through the books on the book shelf. Then after finding the right book, Dr. Blinky pulls it out and goes to the pages that talk about sizes. He then turns to the page that has a potion recipe for enlarging growth.
"Aha! Here it is!" said Dr. Blinky. "The answer to Julie's shrinking problem!"
He looks at the list of ingredients and said, "Huh…This might take some time to complete it. I don't have everything I need right now…"
"Well, can you find all of the stuff that's needed to make the antidote?" Pufnstuf said to Dr. Blinky. "We have to get Julie back to her normal size sometime."
"I'm sure I can do so," said Dr. Blinky. "I don't want Julie to disappear either."
"I don't want to be gone forever!" said Julie. "I can't-"
Suddenly, without warning, Julie shrunk an inch.
"What?" said Julie, feeling that. "What happened? I feel lower."
Julie then shrunk another inch as she cried, "OH!" And this time, everyone saw it happen.
"Guys, what's happening to me?!" said Julie, getting worried.
"Julie, you're shrinking again!" said Jimmy, getting worried as well.
"Hurry Dr. Blinky!" Pufnstuf said to Dr. Blinky. "You've got to make the antidote before it's too late! Julie shrunk an inch or two just now!"
"On it!" said Dr. Blinky, getting the ingredients that he already has. "I'm on it!"
"Better finish my drink before I-" Julie said to herself.
But when she tried to tip the mug towards her mouth, she did it too fast as the liquid splashed out of the mug and poured all over herself.
"OH GOSH!" said Julie, doing a few coughs.
"You alright there, Julie?" Jimmy asked, wiping Julie's face with a small cloth.
"I'm fine, Jimmy. I'm okay…" said Julie. "I guess me shrinking again just now made my hands too small to hold the mug…"
"Well, at least you were drinking water," said Jimmy. "It'll dry up."
"Thank goodness," said Julie, squeezing the water out of her hair. "Wow…"
A day later in the evening, Pufnstuf was cooking dinner on the stove while everyone else was waiting until the food was ready. Jimmy, Freddy, Cling, and Clang were also talking with Dr. Blinky since Pufnstuf invited him to have dinner with them so they can talk about Julie and her shrinking problem as well as talking about the antidote. And this time, Julie was helping Pufnstuf make the meal. But because she shrunk two inches the previous day, as well as shrinking another two inches this current day, the little girl was provided tall platform shoes so she can reach the counter. Being much shorter than Clang now, the child needed more help reaching things. And because she was helping the mayor cook, she was given a little apron that fit her just right.
"Julie, can you pass me the pasta sauce?" Pufnstuf said to Julie, while cooking some ground meat on the stove.
"Sure Pufnstuf," said Julie, looking around. "Now where is the pasta sauce…?"
She remembered that the unopened sauces were stored in the cabinets along with the spices. So in order to reach it, Julie stepped onto a stool and carefully pushed herself up onto the counter. Then she opened one of the cabinets and searched for the pasta sauce.
"Did you find it, Julie?" Pufnstuf asked.
"Not yet," said Julie, then spotting what she needed as she said, "Oh, here it is."
She grabbed an unopened jar of red pasta sauce and placed it on the counter next to Pufnstuf.
"Thank you, Julie dear," said Pufnstuf.
"You're welcome, Puf," said Julie.
"I wish you would let us help you out, Julie," said Jimmy.
"Jimmy," Julie said, pouring the pasta into a pot of boiling water. "Just because I'm now at two and a half feet tall, doesn't mean I can't do things."
"We just don't want you to hurt yourself, that's all," said Jimmy.
"I swear, I'm getting smaller by the minute…" said Julie, pulling out plates from the cabinet. "And I don't like it. I don't like it one bit!"
"Don't worry, Julie," said Dr. Blinky. "I'm working on the antidote as promised."
"Speaking of the antidote…" said Jimmy, then saying to Dr. Blinky, "Dr. Blinky, do you have an idea on when the antidote will be finished?"
"I do not," said Dr. Blinky. "But it'll be very soon. Just sit tight."
"You better make it fast or else I'm gonna get rough with you…!" Julie said, mumbling under her breath.
"Julie!" said Jimmy, not pleased with Julie's attitude.
"What?" said Julie. "I hate being this small! I'm not supposed to be-"
Pufnstuf pushes the cabinet to close it. Julie sees this and ducks her head as Pufnstuf closes the cabinet.
"Besides getting smaller, I'm also becoming wiser," said Julie.
"How so?" Pufnstuf asked.
"I'm more cautious and aware of my surroundings," said Julie. "I'm seeing things in a different way."
She then gets nervous as she says, "Hope the witch doesn't try to kidnap me at this height…That'll be harder for me to escape the castle!"
"Julie, the witch is not going to get you," said Pufnstuf. "You haven't left the cave since your shrinking began. And of course, yesterday at Dr. Blinky's house."
He then paused and said, "Speaking of which, when are you going to step out of the cave and go see our other friends? I'm sure they all miss you and wonder where you are, Julie."
"Never," said Julie.
"Julie, you have to go outside sometime," said Jimmy. "I can't keep telling lies to everyone about this situation."
"You only lied to Judy Frog…" said Julie.
"Oh right," said Jimmy. "But still, I can't keep this lie in forever. You have to show yourself to everyone. Especially since you might shrink into nonexistence at some point!"
"Jimmy, don't remind me of that!" said Julie. "I'm already scared about my current size!"
"Julie," said Jimmy. "Please? I'm very worried about you…"
"Ooooh fine," said Julie. "I'll go around Living Island and see and talk to the others. But don't come crying to me once it backfires!"
"Julie, calm down and help me serve everyone," said Pufnstuf. "Dinner is just about ready. We'll all talk more while we eat at the table."
"Yes Pufnstuf," said Julie.
Julie carefully and slowly climbed down and stepped off the counter as she touched the floor. Then Julie grabbed the salad bowl and placed it on her head since it was huge to her. And because she was wearing tall shoes, she walked slowly to the kitchen table and managed to place the salad bowl on it without messing up. But when she grabbed the empty plates, she noticed how heavy the plates were. She tried her best to carry them and get them to the table, but she was struggling to hold onto such a heavy stack as she started to wobble.
"Oh dear…" said Julie, trying to not drop the plates. "Ooooh boy! O-OH! AAAH!"
Julie unintentionally bent one of her legs and she tripped with a big scream and fell onto the floor. And since she lost her grip on the plates, the plates landed on the ground as they all broke with the ceramic material shattering into pieces.
"Julie!" said Jimmy, running over to her. "Julie, are you alright?!"
"Guys…?" said Julie, as she rolled over. "I'm sorry, but looks like dinner is cancelled…"
That night, everyone on Living Island was sleeping for the night. But during the middle of the night, Julie woke up. That's because she was thirsty and wanted a drink. So she sat up in her bed and moved her legs towards the edge of the bed. But when Julie tried to get out of bed, since she was now two and a half feet in size, the child fell out and hit the ground hard.
"OUCH!" Julie cried.
Julie's loud shout shot both Cling and Clang awake. The boys wonder what just happened. So the two went down the slide and quickly ran to Julie as they see her on the floor. And to get her attention, Cling and Clang tapped Julie's shoulder.
"Huh?" said Julie, seeing them. "Cling and Clang? What are you doing awake?"
Cling and Clang tell Julie than they woke up when they heard her scream a bit and asked her on why she was lying on the floor.
"I fell out of bed…" said Julie, sitting up.
The boys then asked Julie if she was okay.
"Yeah, I'm fine, boys," said Julie, rubbing her knee. "Gosh, that hurt."
She paused and said, "Do you think my bed is too big for me…?"
Cling and Clang weren't very sure, but they both think that it could be a possibility that Julie doesn't properly fit in her bed anymore thanks to her current two and a half feet size.
"Oh dear…" said Julie. "I think I'm too small to fit in my bed now…So because of that…Where am I going to sleep so I don't get hurt?"
Cling and Clang started to think. Then Clang came up with a solution and asked Julie if she would like to sleep in his bed while the little guy sleeps on the floor.
"That's very kind of you, Clang," said Julie. "But wouldn't you be uncomfortable on the floor, though?"
Clang didn't care where he slept. He wanted Julie to have a nice, warm bed to sleep in.
"Are you sure?" Julie asked.
Clang insisted.
"Awww, thank you so much, Clang," said Julie, with a smile. "You're so sweet."
She gave Clang a hug, while Clang hugged her in return.
"Wow…" said Julie. "And I didn't need to bend or crouch myself to reach you boys' height this time!"
Julie started to get very thirsty. She turned to Cling and Clang and said, "Can I go get my glass of water now? I'm thirsty…I would like to have some water before bed. I don't want to go to sleep with a dry throat…"
Cling and Clang nodded. But instead of Julie getting the water by herself, Cling tells Julie that he will bring the little girl up to their bedroom while Clang will get the glass of water for her.
"Thanks boys," said Julie, then starting to yawn. "Oh, I'm so tired…"
Clang went into the kitchen to get Julie's water. And while he was doing that, Cling picks up Julie and carries her up the stairs and into the boys' bedroom. He then brings Julie to Clang's bed as the little guy in red tucked Julie in bed.
"Thanks Cling," said Julie, getting comfortable. "This bed is quite comfortable."
A minute later, Clang came into the bedroom and gave Julie her glass of water.
"Thank you, Clang," said Julie, starting to drink her water. "Mmmm…Nice, clean water…"
She then started to feel sad. Cling and Clang noticed the child's sad face and wondered what was wrong.
"Oh Cling and Clang…" said Julie, feeling down. "I'm scared…"
Cling and Clang wanted to know why the child was scared.
"I'm still shrinking…" said Julie. "And one of these days…I'm not going to be around anymore. Remember what Dr. Blinky said? Unless he makes the antidote to reverse my shrinkage, I'm going to shrink into nonexistence. Oooooh, I don't want that to happen!"
The Rescue Racer Crew felt Julie's pain and were very worried about the possibility that Julie will no longer exist. They then remembered when they were messing with the disappearing bug potion and sprayed Julie with it. That made them feel very guilty and think this whole thing was their fault as the two were very close to crying.
"Oh no, boys…" said Julie, wiping their faces as a small tear went down their faces. "Please don't cry…You didn't mean to spray me that much. I know you just wanted to play around and have fun."
Cling and Clang felt so bad that they asked themselves on why they didn't shrink themselves. They felt like they deserved the unusual side effect instead of her.
"Cling and Clang, don't think that way…" said Julie, with a frown. "What happened to me was just a freak accident. This is not going to happen to either one of you, I promise. Dr. Blinky said he's going to fix the problem. He's going to help me get me back to my normal size. Dr. Blinky always knows what to do. So please don't be upset, okay?"
Cling and Clang calmed themselves down and nodded.
"Good boys," said Julie, laying back down in Clang's bed. "Now let's go to sleep. We'll talk more tomorrow. And we'll have fun together, that usually cheers me up."
Cling and Clang agreed. Then Cling went into his own bed, while Clang went into a sleeping bag on the floor. Then they signed "Goodnight" to Julie as they turned off the light.
"Goodnight boys," said Julie. "See you both in the morning."
Cling and Clang went back to sleep as the cave was now completely quiet.
"Maybe being smaller isn't so bad," Julie said in her head. "I don't know, we'll see what happens after tonight."
She then relaxes herself as the child goes into a deep sleep.
For the next few days, since Julie was still two and a half feet in size, Pufnstuf and Jimmy decided to help Julie out with some things. For instance, because she was so small, and that she can no longer fit into Clang's clothes, Julie had to get entirely new clothes to fit her. Some of the clothes came from Ludicrous Lion's wagon stand, while some were handmade by Grandmother Clock from the clock house. And during this weird time, Julie tried her best to be distracted with good things while Dr. Blinky continues to work on the antidote. For the most part, Julie played with Cling and Clang since she and the boys love to have fun and do things together. Especially at such a short height, Cling and Clang really were enjoying Julie's new size!
Then came a day where Jimmy and Pufnstuf finally convinced Julie to leave the cave and go outside. But Julie only agreed to go outside once she was finished writing her memoir, knowing she could shrink into nonexistence at any moment. Luckily, she was able to complete her memoir before that can even happen. And when Julie went outside for the first time in several days, Jimmy decided to go with her so the little girl wouldn't have to be afraid of being by herself. Especially at such a tiny height. So Jimmy and Julie went outside and started to go on a walk around Living Island, while Jimmy was carrying Julie in his arms.
"How are you doing, Julie?" Jimmy asked Julie, looking at her.
"Just okay," said Julie, looking around, "Whoa…Living Island sure looks different. Everything's bigger."
"That's because you're smaller," said Jimmy.
Julie gives Jimmy a look.
"Was it something I said…?" Jimmy said.
"Never mind, Jimmy…" said Julie. "Just as long as nobody notices me, I'll be just fine."
Right when she said that, Jimmy somehow ran into Judy again.
"Oh!" said Jimmy. "Excuse me, Judy."
"That's alright, Jimmy," said Judy. "How have you been? It's very nice to see you again."
"Nice to see you, too, Judy," said Jimmy. "I've been alright. How about you?"
"Oh, still thinking about Julie," said Judy. "Where has she gone?"
Judy then noticed that Jimmy's arms were full, but didn't realize it was Julie yet.
"What are you holding, Jimmy?" said Judy. "Looks like you need a hand."
Jimmy thought that now was a good time to come clean and tell the truth to Judy since he lied to her the last time they saw each other.
"Judy?" said Jimmy. "I have to tell you something…"
"Oh?" said Judy. "What is it, Jimmy?"
"I must confess…" said Jimmy.
"Confess?" said Judy. "Is something wrong?"
"Kind of," said Jimmy. "Remember when I said that Julie wasn't in her best mood? Well, that's partially true. But…"
"Did she get worse?" Judy asked, worried for the little girl. "Jimmy, what happened to Julie?"
Jimmy tightened his face as he shows Julie to Judy.
"Hi Judy," said Julie, shyly. "Nice day today, isn't it…?"
"Julie?!" said Judy, as she gasped in surprise. "Is that you?!"
"Yes Judy, it's me, Julie Anna Jellybean," said Julie.
"You got very short!" said Judy. "How did this happen?!"
"Well, it's a long story, Judy…" said Julie, with a small sweat. "I-"
"Hey everybody!" Judy called loudly. "Come here! It's Julie! She's okay!"
"Wait Judy!" said Jimmy. "Don't get the other islanders! Julie doesn't want to be-"
All of the other residents of Living Island came to the scene as they saw Julie in Jimmy's arms, at two and a half feet.
"It's Julie!" said one of the crustaceans.
"There's the little darling," said the Society Tree. "Thank goodness!"
"So THAT's why you and Pufnstuf bought tiny girl's clothes, huh Jimmy!" said Ludicrous.
"It was urgent!" said Jimmy. "I can't have Julie running around the island without any clothes on!"
"Jimmy?" said Julie, trying to hide her face. "Take me back to the cave. I don't want to be here…"
"It's okay, Julie," said Jimmy, putting his hand on her head. "Just ignore them."
"I'd say we do something about this," said Grandfather Clock. "It's very unusual to see someone change their size like that."
"Yeah!" said Pop Lolly. "Very unusual!"
"But interesting!" said another one of the crustaceans.
"I wonder how Julie is doing that," said Grandmother Clock. "Cause I made a lot of little clothes for her since she can't fit in her regular clothes any longer."
"This seems to be a bit different," said the Hippie Tree, "but I think it's grooooooooovy!"
"I'll spread the word!" said the Alarm Clock. "Breaking news! Breaking news! Julie Anna Jellybean is shrinking! She's shrinking! She's shrinking! We must know how she's doing it!"
"Jimmy, get me out of here!" said Julie, holding onto Jimmy while hiding her face on Jimmy's shoulder. "Please!"
"I knew this was a bad idea…" said Jimmy, regretting making Julie go outside. "Let's go!"
Jimmy held onto Julie as he ran away from the group of islanders and went back to the cave as he slammed the door and locked it shut.
"Jimmy, what happened?!" said Pufnstuf, noticing how Jimmy entered the cave. "Are you and Julie alright?!"
"Do we look alright to you?!" Jimmy asked, looking straight at Pufnstuf.
"Doesn't look like it…" Pufnstuf said, reading the two children's facial expressions. "What's the problem?"
"Well, first off…" said Jimmy, "I ran into Judy Frog just now."
"Did you tell her the truth about Julie?" said Pufnstuf. "You promised you would do so after lying to her."
"Yes Pufnstuf, I finally told the truth," said Jimmy. "But I guess that made things worse…"
"How so?" asked Pufnstuf.
"Well, when I showed Julie to her," said Jimmy, "Judy got surprised and told everyone on Living Island about Julie shrinking!"
"What's wrong with that?" Pufnstuf wondered.
"They all won't leave me alone!" said Julie, all upset. "Everyone kept looking at me and asking me why am I shrinking and how am I doing it!"
"Did you tell them the answers?" Freddy asked.
"No!" said Julie, as she continues to hide her face. "Guys, they were staring at me! It's like they never saw a tiny person before!"
"Oh they have seen a small person," said Pufnstuf. "They see a small person every day. Well, make that two."
He looks at Cling and Clang, who just waved to him.
"So why is everyone reacting to me differently?" Julie wondered. "I'm still Julie…"
"Julie, we're all used to seeing you at your regular height," said Jimmy. "You're really just a tiny bit shorter than me. We just all can't believe that you are literally shrinking to such an unusual size, that's all."
He then felt bad and said, "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to get you out of the cave. Sorry Julie…"
"I know you were only trying to help, Jimmy," said Julie. "I really appreciate that. But I think it is best that I stay inside until Dr. Blinky brings me back to normal with that antidote he promised."
"Whatever you say, Julie," said Jimmy.
Cling and Clang then reached their arms out to Julie.
"You want to play with her, boys?" Jimmy said to them. "Alright, here she is."
Jimmy gives Julie to Cling as the little guy holds onto Julie. Clang saw this and wanted to hold Julie since she was a lot smaller than he is now. And that Cling held Julie a lot since she started shrinking. Cling agreed that Clang needed a turn. So Cling gently gives Julie to Clang as Clang began to hold her. Holding Julie like a doll, Clang started to get excited. He got so excited that he was jumpy and started to move Julie around while holding onto her hands. Forgetting for a moment that Julie was still a real human, Clang got a little bit too rough from his major excitement as he was moving Julie very fast from shaking her to tossing her in the air.
"Clang!" Julie said, nervously. "Wait! Stop! I'm not a toy! CLANG! CLAAAAAAAAAANG!"
All of a sudden, while in the air, Julie shrunk an inch. She felt that as she screamed, "OH NO!"
Clang heard Julie freak out as he catches her and stops moving her around. He wanted to know what just happened.
"I think I just shrunk another inch!" said Julie.
Right when she said that, Julie then shrunk another inch on the spot.
"Not again!" said Julie, all upset. "Oh why me?! Whyyyyyyyyyyyy?!"
She began to cry as she placed her face on Clang's shoulder.
During the night a week later, Julie was still sleeping in Clang's bed. But while fast asleep, she shrunk not one, not two, but three more inches. And by the time the child awoke the next morning, she was only one foot tall. Julie was about the size of Freddy Flute! When she noticed how very small she was now, thanks to Clang's bed sheets completely covering herself, she started to freak out.
"OH NO!" she gasped, while under the covers. "I'M SHRINKING AGAIN!"
Since the floor was very far down to her, she tried to get Cling and Clang's attention to help her.
"CLING! CLANG!" said Julie, all scared. "BOYS!"
Cling and Clang woke up and quickly ran over to Clang's bed. But the two couldn't see Julie since the girl was under the bed sheets. Being only the height of a ruler, she was having a hard time getting at least her head out.
"Cling and Clang, I'm in here!" said Julie, as she saw the boys' shadows through the bed sheets. "I'm under the covers!"
Cling and Clang lifted the bed sheets as they saw Julie in Clang's bed. They both gasped in horror since Julie was very little now.
"Oh thank goodness you heard me, boys!" said Julie. "I thought I would be too quiet!"
"JULIE?!" said Jimmy, looking for Julie after hearing her scream. "JULIE, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
"UP HERE, JIMMY!" Julie called out to him. "IN CLING AND CLANG'S ROOM!"
Jimmy grabbed Freddy and ran upstairs to Cling and Clang's bedroom as he saw the boys.
"Where's Julie, boys?" Jimmy asked them.
Cling and Clang point to Clang's bed. Jimmy walked over to Clang's bed as he saw Julie sitting on it at her new much smaller size.
"Julie…?" said Jimmy, not believing his eyes. "Are you shrinking again…?"
"Yes!" said Julie, all upset. "Yes I am! Ooooh Jimmy, please help me! Please!"
Julie looks down and sees that her clothes don't fit her anymore since she shrunk down to only a foot in size. She tried her best to cover herself with them despite not completely covering her body.
"Don't worry, I got clothes that'll fit your size now," said Jimmy, pulling out an outfit that can fit a foot high doll. "I came prepared."
"Oh Jimmy, you're a lifesaver!" said Julie, all relieved.
"Let me measure you first," said Jimmy. "You're a lot smaller than yesterday."
Jimmy picked up Julie. But Julie had the feeling that she was going to fall down and get hurt due to her tiny size.
"Jimmy, put me down!" said Julie, a bit scared. "Please put me down!"
"Julie, I have to see how tall you are now," said Jimmy. "Or rather…How short you are now…"
Julie gave him a dirty look.
"Sorry…" said Jimmy.
Jimmy sets Julie on the nightstand between Cling and Clang's separate beds, grabbed a ruler, and placed it right behind Julie to see how short she was now. He then sees that Julie was only one foot high.
"Blimey!" cried Jimmy, very shocked. "Julie, you're exactly the same size as this ruler! You're literally one foot high!"
"What?!" said Julie, shocked as well. "This can't be happening!"
Jimmy grabbed Freddy, placed the flute next to Julie, and said, "You're almost the same size as Freddy!"
"Jimmy, what is going on?!" Freddy said, waking up after feeling Jimmy holding him.
"Look Freddy!" said Jimmy, facing Freddy's face towards Julie. "Julie shrunk again! She's now pretty much the same size as you!"
"Oh my!" said Freddy. "She's still shrinking!"
"I think I shrunk more while sleeping last night!" said Julie. "Ooooh, this is bad! I'm gonna shrink into nonexistence faster than I thought!"
"Julie, don't say that!" said Jimmy. "I'm not going to let that happen to you! Trust me!"
"You mean trust Dr. Blinky!" said Julie. "He's still making the antidote, is he not?!"
Jimmy paused for a minute and said, "I better call him and let him know about this. I'm scared you're going to disappear at any moment!"
Jimmy lied Freddy down on the nightstand next to Julie, ran back downstairs, runs over to the telephone, and quickly dials Dr. Blinky's phone number and waited for the owl to pick up.
"Hello?" Dr. Blinky answered on the other end. "Dr. Blinky's ready to help from toes to pinkies!"
"Dr. Blinky, it's Jimmy," Jimmy said. "How's the antidote coming along?"
"Oh, it's becoming harder than I originally thought," said Dr. Blinky. "I still don't have half the ingredients I need. Why?"
"It's about Julie," said Jimmy, all worried. "Of course…"
"She's still at two and a half feet high, right?" said Dr. Blinky.
"No Dr. Blinky, she's not two and a half feet anymore!" said Jimmy, freaking out a bit. "She's a lot shorter now! JULIE IS EXACTLY ONE FOOT HIGH! SHE IS ALMOST AS SHORT AS FREDDY!"
"OH MY GOODNESS!" said Dr. Blinky, all surprised. "THAT'S NOT GOOD!"
"Jimmy! Jimmy!" Pufnstuf said, running over to Jimmy. "What's wrong?! What happened?!"
"Hold on, Dr. Blinky," Jimmy said to Dr. Blinky.
Jimmy then covered the end of the phone where you speak into it and said to Pufnstuf, "What do you want, Pufnstuf?"
"What's with the screaming?" Pufnstuf asked.
"Julie shrunk again!" said Jimmy.
"She did?!" Pufnstuf said. "How short is she now?!"
"Exactly one foot high!" said Jimmy. "I just measured her with my ruler! She's now almost Freddy's height!"
"Jumping Jehoshaphat!" Pufnstuf gasped in horror. "Jimmy, we have to take extra precautions for now on!"
"I agree," said Jimmy. "I don't want any of us to step on or sit on her…."
"Me neither…" said Pufnstuf. "By the way, who are you talking to?"
"Dr. Blinky," said Jimmy. "Wanna talk to him?"
"No, you keep talking with him," said Pufnstuf. "I better go check on Julie to see if she's okay. Only…Where is she?"
"She's with Cling and Clang in their bedroom," said Jimmy.
"Thanks," said Pufnstuf.
As Jimmy went back to talking with Dr. Blinky over the phone, Pufnstuf went up to Cling and Clang's bedroom as they saw Cling and Clang just sitting around.
"Cling and Clang?" Pufnstuf said to them. "Have you seen Julie?"
Cling and Clang tell their boss that Julie was in a corner changing into the doll-sized clothes Jimmy provided her. And the two were waiting for her to be finished.
"Oh I see," said Pufnstuf. "Guess her clothes don't fit her once again…Oh dear…"
A minute later, Julie came walking back to Cling and Clang, where she saw Pufnstuf in the room.
"Morning Pufnstuf," said Julie, waving to him. "Can you see me?"
"Yes Julie, I can see you perfectly clear," said Pufnstuf. "How are you feeling?"
"Very nervous," said Julie, while sweating.
"Why, what's wrong?" asked Pufnstuf.
"Pufnstuf, look at me!" said Julie, a little upset. "I'm a lot smaller than yesterday! In fact, I'm Freddy's size!"
"She is!" Freddy said, while lying on the nightstand. "Julie's as tall as me!"
"Yeah!" said Julie. "I'll show you!"
Julie tried to climb onto the nightstand, but she slipped right off one of its legs and landed back on the floor.
"Oooooh…" said Julie, frustrated. "This is so hard!"
Cling picked Julie up and placed her on top of the nightstand next to Freddy. Julie then stood up as Cling placed Freddy right next to Julie to show Pufnstuf the similarities of Freddy's real height and Julie's new little height.
"Myyyyyyy oh my, ooooooh my!" Pufnstuf said, all surprised. "You're right! Julie and Freddy are almost the same exact height!"
"I'm not supposed to be this tiny, Pufnstuf!" said Julie. "I'm supposed to be the size of a little human girl! Don't forget I'm still 10 years old!"
"I know you are your current age, Julie," said Pufnstuf. "We haven't forgot that about you."
"Good," said Julie.
She then looked down and said nervously, "Oooooh dear…It's a long way down…"
"Want me to help you get down, Julie?" Pufnstuf offered.
"No no, I am determined to do things all by myself," said Julie.
She tries to climb down the nightstand, but slips and grabbed onto its drawers' knob as she was hanging on for dear life since the floor was farther down to her.
"Uhhh…Help!" said Julie, dangling from the knob. "Somebody!"
"I got you, Julie," said Pufnstuf, grabbing Julie and placing her gently on the floor. "There you go."
"Thanks Pufnstuf," said Julie. "Seems like I'm not capable of doing things anymore…"
"Oh Julie, you can do lots of things," said Pufnstuf. "Just…Maybe not at Freddy's height…"
"Pufnstuf…" said Julie, with a frown.
"Julie, I really don't want you to end up hurting yourself," said Pufnstuf. "The world is different for you right now, that you may not be aware of what's around you and what could happen if you try to do something."
"Pufnstuf, remember what I said the other day when Dr. Blinky was having dinner with us?" Julie reminded the mayor. "I said this…Besides getting smaller, I'm also becoming wiser. I'm more cautious and aware of my surroundings. I'm seeing things in a different way. You really don't remember me saying that to you and the rest?"
"I remember you did say that, Julie," said Pufnstuf. "That I do remember."
"And I meant it," said Julie. "I don't want everyone on Living Island to have to help me with things all the time. I do not want to be treated any differently than anybody else just because of my size."
She then said, "I may be small, but I'm still the same Julie Anna Jellybean you know."
"That was very well said, Julie," said Pufnstuf.
"I'll say," said Freddy.
"You are right," Pufnstuf said to Julie. "You still have your rights. You will always have your rights as a human."
"Thank you," said Julie. "You're finally listening to me."
She then said to Cling and Clang, "And before you ask, boys…No. I don't want you treating me like a doll. And I certainly do not want you using me as an action figure!"
Clang reached his hand out towards Julie.
"Don't think about it, Clang!" Julie said, not having it. "You heard what I just said! I AM NOT A TOY!"
Clang frowned and said that he just wanted to hold her.
"Oh…" said Julie. "Sure, you can still hold me. Just be careful…I'm still my real human self."
Clang picked up Julie and began to hold her. And this time, he was very gentle with her.
"That's more like it," said Julie.
She then paused and said, "Uh oh…"
"Something wrong, Julie?" Pufnstuf said.
"Yeah, I have another problem besides getting smaller," said Julie. "Should I sleep somewhere else tonight? I no longer can fit in Clang's bed…"
"Is that true?" Pufnstuf said.
Clang tells Pufnstuf that Julie in fact can't fit in his bed anymore. Since the child found herself completely covered by the bed sheets and not being able to get out of them on her own, Clang thinks that if Julie continued to sleep in his bed at only a foot high, she would have trouble breathing or even suffocate while under the covers.
"You have a point, Clang," said Pufnstuf. "Hmmm…"
Pufnstuf turns to his side as he spots a big dollhouse near the beds. The dollhouse belonged to Cling and Clang. The boys have had that dollhouse since they were very little children and would play with it to this day every once in a while.
"Julie?" said Pufnstuf.
"Yes Pufnstuf?" Julie said.
"How about you can sleep inside Cling and Clang's dollhouse right here?" Pufnstuf suggested, showing the child the dollhouse.
"In the dollhouse?!" said Julie, feeling embarrassed. "Pufnstuf no! I'm not a doll! You know that!"
"Julie, you're Freddy's size now," said Pufnstuf. "You no longer fit properly in Clang's bed or your own bed. So the dollhouse will be perfect for you. You will fit in the beds inside there just fine."
"But Pufnstuf…" said Julie, all unhappy.
"It's for your own safety, Julie," said Pufnstuf.
Julie was reluctant, but agreed to sleep in the dollhouse until she gets back to her normal size. And because she might get smaller soon, the child started to realize that sleeping in a place where she will fit better is the best option for her. So as a result, all of Julie's new little clothes were placed inside the dollhouse so she can access them easily. And once that part was done, of course after Jimmy gets off the phone and is told about the plan, he and Pufnstuf worked together to lift the big dollhouse and bring it downstairs to the main area of the cave. They wanted to have the dollhouse in sight so they can keep an eye on Julie and make sure things are okay for her.
Later in the day, Cling and Clang were in their bedroom playing. Julie was there with them. The three were using the boys' dollhouse props, such as a tiny playground kit. And at the moment, they were using the doll-sized seesaw. Julie was sitting on one end of the seesaw, while Cling and Clang both took turns being on the other end. But since the Rescue Racer Crew were their normal size, meaning they were way too big to sit on the tiny seesaw, they placed their fingers on the seat and moved their fingers up and down to make the seesaw move with Julie riding it.
"Weeeeeeehehehehe!" said Julie, enjoying herself. "This is fun!"
After a minute, it was Cling's turn to move the seesaw. And even though Clang just had his turn, he was being stingy since he wanted to continue moving Julie up and down. This resulted in the boys fighting by hitting each other.
"Boys!" said Julie, trying to get their attention. "Cling and Clang, stop fighting! Clang, you had your turn already! It's time for Cling to have his fun with me now!"
She sees that the boys were not paying attention to her and kept on fighting.
"HEY!" said Julie, shouting louder. "BOYS! DON'T MAKE ME-"
Since Clang was not getting his way, he stomped his foot in anger. His foot happened to land on the empty side of the seesaw. And since the stomp was so strong, it moved the seesaw as Julie flung off of it and went airborne.
"WHOOOOOOOOOOA!" said Julie.
She landed on top of the slide as she started to go down it. Being at just one foot in height, this was extra scary for Julie since the ride was long and fast for her.
"OH! OOOOOH!" Julie screamed, all scared as she went fast down the slide. "AAAAHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Julie then reached the bottom of the slide as she landed on the floor in the main room.
"OWW!" she cried. "Oww…"
She slowly got back up and dusted herself off.
"Cling and Clang…" Julie said, with a mad groan. "If I were my right size, I would kick both their butts! Ooooh those boys…! When will they learn that not everything in life is fun and games?! Especially when there are problems like thi-"
"Breaking news! Breaking news!" Alarm Clock said from outside the cave. "Julie Anna Jellybean is continuing to shrink! She's still shrinking! We need to know how she's doing it! We must know the answer right now!"
"Oooooh great!" Julie said, all upset. "They're back!"
Julie quickly runs into the dollhouse and closes the door as she hides herself in order to not be heard or seen by anyone.
"Why can't everyone just leave me alone?!" Julie asked herself. "It's not my fault I'm shrinking!"
Just then, Cling and Clang blew their whistles. Since the sound of the Rescue Racer Crew's whistles usually means that there is an emergency, Julie took it as urgent as she was on high alert.
"Cling and Clang, what is it?!" Julie asked, running to the door of the dollhouse. "What is it, boys?!"
Julie opened the door as she sees Cling and Clang taking pictures of her with their own cameras. And since the flashes were on, Julie freaked out as if she was being stalked.
"CLING AND CLANG, CUT THAT OUT!" Julie said angrily, while trying to cover her face with her arms. "STOP IT!"
She then sees that everyone on Living Island, except Pufnstuf and Jimmy as well as Dr. Blinky, was in the cave taking pictures of Julie as well. She took their actions as an invasion of privacy as she got really mad.
"CLING AND CLANG, GO TO YOUR ROOM!" Julie said, all enraged. "NOW!"
She then turned to everyone else and shouted at them, "YOU ALL GET OUT OF THE CAVE! GET OUT!"
Nobody was listening as they continued to take pictures of Julie.
"EVERYBODY OUT!" Julie ordered.
"Awwww…!" everyone said, all unhappy.
Julie stormed back into the dollhouse and pulled the window shades down so nobody can look inside. Then she crawled into the doll-sized bed and hid under the covers, with of course her head out so she can breathe.
"What in tarnation is going on here?!" said Pufnstuf, entering the scene.
He saw the residents in the room and asked them, "What are you all doing in my cave?! How the heck did you guys get inside?!"
Pufnstuf then notices the residents taking pictures of Julie with their cameras as he said to them, "Hey! Leave poor Julie alone! She's already stressed out about the whole thing! Get out of my cave and stay out!"
Pufnstuf pushed everyone out of the cave and locked the door as a result.
"Julie?" Pufnstuf said. "Julie, you can come out now."
Julie got out of the bed and walked out of the dollhouse as she saw Pufnstuf.
"Thanks for that, Pufnstuf," said Julie. "You showed them!"
"No problem, Julie," said Pufnstuf. "But how did our friends get inside the cave? I didn't let them in."
"I have no idea," said Julie, shrugging her shoulders. "It's like they broke down the door and went right in!"
She paused for a second and said, "Unless…"
Julie turned to Cling and Clang and said to them, "Did you let everyone inside, Cling and Clang…?"
Cling and Clang confessed as they told Julie and Pufnstuf that they have in fact let everyone into the cave.
"CLING AND CLANG!" said Julie, all enraged. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?! YOU KNOW THEY WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE AND ARE CONTINUING TO BOTHER ME! ARE YOU TRYING TO EMBARRASS ME?! HOW DARE YOU!"
Cling and Clang just wanted to have a little fun with taking pictures of Julie. But they also didn't like being yelled at. So without thinking, the boys retaliated by Cling throwing a bouncy ball and Clang throwing a sock right at Julie as the objects hit the child as she shouts and falls to the ground.
"CLING AND CLANG, I CANNOT BELIEVE WHAT I JUST SAW!" said Pufnstuf, getting all mad. "YOU TWO GO TO YOUR ROOM RIGHT NOW! YOU'RE BOTH IN A TIME-OUT!"
Cling and Clang looked down and went up to their bedroom as they both sat down on their separate beds and faced the walls.
"Julie, I am so sorry that just happened!" said Pufnstuf, coming to Julie's aid. "Are you alright?!"
"Are Cling and Clang turning against me…?" Julie wondered, as she stood back up.
"Oh no, no, no," said Pufnstuf, shaking his head. "The boys still love and adore you. They just got upset and thought you were trying to ruin their fun. But I know you were only trying to protect yourself from the chaos."
"Pufnstuf…?" Julie said, with a sad sigh. "Call Dr. Blinky and tell him to call the antidote off. I don't want to be here anymore. I rather shrink into nonexistence so nobody can bother me any longer."
"What?!" said Pufnstuf, not believing what Julie just said. "Julie no! We have to get you back to your normal size! You can't be small forever!"
"Yes I can!" said Julie, getting teary. "Pufnstuf, I'm shrinking almost every day! And it's not stopping! I can't control it!"
Julie started to cry as tons of tears streamed down her face.
"Oh dear…" said Pufnstuf, then calling out to Jimmy, "Jimmy! Jimmy?!"
"What?!" said Jimmy, waking up in his bed. "What?!"
He sees Pufnstuf and said, "Pufnstuf, I'm trying to take a nap!"
"Sorry Jimmy," said Pufnstuf. "But I need your help right now."
"What's going on?" Jimmy asked.
"You should talk to Julie and try to cheer her up," said Pufnstuf. "She's crying…"
"Oh no…" said Jimmy, getting out of bed. "Is she okay?"
"I don't think so," said Pufnstuf, shaking his head. "You go talk to her while I go upstairs and talk to Cling and Clang."
"Why, what did they do?" Jimmy wondered.
"I rather not talk about it right now," said Pufnstuf. "Maybe sometime later I'll bring it up."
"Okay…" said Jimmy.
As Pufnstuf headed upstairs, Jimmy got out of bed and walked over to Julie as he noticed her crying.
"Hi Julie," Jimmy said to Julie.
"Hi Jimmy…" Julie replied, still in tears.
"What's wrong?" Jimmy asked.
"Everyone's bothering me!" said Julie. "They won't leave me alone!"
"Still?!" said Jimmy, all shocked. "Why, what happened?!"
"Just now, everyone was inside the cave taking pictures of me!" said Julie. "Just because I'm smaller than I should be!"
"That's not right!" said Jimmy, getting mad. "Where are they?! I want to give them a piece of my mind!"
"Pufnstuf stepped in to help me and kicked everyone out of the cave," said Julie. "And he locked the door as an extra precaution."
"Thank goodness…" said Jimmy, taking a breath. "That goes to show that Puf wants to keep you safe."
"Yeah," said Julie, then starting to frown again and said, "But…I'm afraid I'm never going to have my privacy again. Not while I am continuing to shrink…"
She sighed sadly and said, "I wish Dr. Blinky can just forget about the antidote. To be honest, I rather be gone than face all this nonsense."
"Julie…?" said Jimmy, with a small gasp. "Are you being serious right now…?"
"Yes Jimmy, I am being serious," said Julie. "Think about it. I have no control of my rapid shrinkage. There is no way I can make that stop."
"But that's why Dr. Blinky is currently making the antidote," said Jimmy. "He wants to help you get back to your normal size, Julie…Can't you at least accept that he's trying?"
"I'm glad he's trying to help me," said Julie. "Dr. Blinky is a good person. Or actually, owl. But Jimmy, I don't feel safe around here…Everyone is out to get me."
"No they're not, Julie…" said Jimmy, with a sigh. "They are just curious on why you are shrinking. You never told them the answer, so they're all just sitting there wondering."
He then said, "Julie, I think you should go back outside and tell everyone on why you are shrinking this fast."
"But Jimmy," said Julie. "You said it was a bad idea to go outside and see everyone. A very bad idea…"
"I know, Julie…" said Jimmy, with a sad nod. "But you need to tell everyone on what's going on. Once you tell them the reason, I promise I won't make you go back outside until you grow back to your normal size."
Julie looks at him.
"Julie, I don't want to force you to do things right now," Jimmy said. "I'm very worried about you and I don't want you to shrink into nonexistence and go away forever…"
Jimmy then starts to cry a bit as he says, "Oh Julie, I don't want anything bad to happen to you…You're one of the best friends I've ever had…!"
"Oh Jimmy…" said Julie, with a frown. "Don't cry…"
Jimmy wipes his tears and said, "Sorry Julie…Seeing what you're going through is making me sad…"
"Jimmy?" said Julie, thinking for a bit. "If it'll make things better for everyone, I'll go outside and tell everyone the truth on why I'm getting smaller. But after that, I'm staying indoors. Alright?"
Jimmy sniffed as he said, "Alright Julie…Whatever works for you…I understand…"
A couple of days later, Julie was now nine inches high since she shrunk three more inches this day. And during that afternoon, Julie went back outside with Jimmy as she finally told everyone on Living Island the reason why she was shrinking. She told everyone from the little ant infestation in the cave, and Dr. Blinky using his disappearing bug potion, to herself getting accidentally sprayed with it, causing her to shrink rapidly. And since Julie gave out the answer at last, everyone understood. And besides that, they also agreed to leave Julie alone and give her her much needed privacy. And once that was over with, Julie and Jimmy went back into the cave as Julie went straight into Cling and Clang's dollhouse since she wanted to be alone. Then when it was time for dinner, Julie was set on top of the kitchen table with one of the tiny tables and chairs from the dollhouse so she can sit properly. Also, she was given very tiny portions of the meal so she can have the right amount of food and drink since she was super small. After taking care of Julie, Pufnstuf, Jimmy, Cling, and Clang sat down at the table to have their dinner.
"Julie?" Pufnstuf said to Julie. "You had a very rough past few days. You feeling any better?"
"A little bit," said Julie. "Now that I told everyone why I'm shrinking."
"You have?" said Pufnstuf.
"She has," said Jimmy. "She wanted everyone to stop bothering her and leave her alone. And her telling the truth seemed to do the trick."
"Wow," said Pufnstuf, then turning to Julie and saying to her, "Julie, I am so proud of you. I knew you would finally have the courage to face everyone."
"Thanks Puf," said Julie, then pausing and saying, "Oh, and sorry about dinner the other night. The plates were way too heavy for me to carry…"
"That's okay, Julie," said Pufnstuf. "At least we had plenty of other plates to use. So dinner was actually saved."
He then said, "And I thank you for helping me make the food. It was a big help."
"Too bad I can't help you now," said Julie, looking down at her feet. "I'm way too small…"
"It's alright, Julie," said Pufnstuf. "I understand."
"Thank you," said Julie.
She then said in her head, "Hopefully, this size changing will stop at some point. I don't think I can live like this anymore…"
When night fell, Julie was getting herself ready for bed. But first, she had to take a bath. And since she was only nine inches tall, she couldn't use the bathtub to bathe since it felt like a swimming pool to her. So the little girl had to bathe in the bathroom sink. It felt weird to Julie to have to take a bath in the sink, but she knew she had to get clean and smelling fresh. And after she was done cleaning herself, she dried herself off with an unused wash cloth and got her pajamas on. And after she brushed her teeth, Julie climbed down the sink and walked back to the dollhouse. The child went inside and closed the door. But before she went to bed, she opened one of the windows as she sees Jimmy sleeping in his bed a few steps away. Julie couldn't help but smile at her friend since she has a big crush on him.
"Oh Jimmy…" said Julie, as she smiled. "You're such a good friend. And such a cute boy…"
She reached her hand out and said, "I love you…"
Julie closed the window as she crawled into bed and fell asleep. But by the time she woke up the very next morning, she noticed that she had shrunk once again. Shrinking another three inches, Julie was now six inches high, meaning the child was only half a foot tall!
"JIMMY! PUFNSTUF!" Julie cried, trying to cover herself with her now baggy nightgown. "HELP! I SHRUNK AGAIN!"
Once she puts on her much smaller clothes to fit her, Julie was placed onto the kitchen counter as she was watching Pufnstuf make breakfast for everyone.
"Pufnstuf, I don't know what to do anymore," Julie said to the mayor. "I'm nearly the size of a pencil! Next thing you know, I'll be smaller than a crayon! Oh Pufnstuf, what am I going to do?!"
"What I want you to do Julie first off is to calm down," said Pufnstuf, putting the food on the plates. "You're getting yourself worked up over nothing."
"Nothing...?" said Julie, not believing what Pufnstuf just said. "Nothing?! Pufnstuf, I'm-"
"Julie please!" said Pufnstuf. "Let's have a nice breakfast and talk later. Okay?"
"Fine," said Julie. "But after that, I'm talking and saying what I have to say!"
After breakfast, everyone placed their empty, dirty plates and cups into the sink.
"Cling and Clang, can you fill the sink up with water and dish soap, please?" Pufnstuf said to Cling and Clang.
The Rescue Racer Crew nodded as they poured the dish soap into the sink and turned on the water so the sink can fill up. And while that was going on, Cling and Clang turned on the cave's little radio as music started to play. And since the music was on, it was harder for Julie to be heard. Especially now that she was only six inches tall.
"Cling and Clang!" said Julie, trying to get their attention. "Turn off the radio! Boys! Hey!"
Cling and Clang couldn't hear Julie as they started to dance to the music on the radio.
"CAN'T ANYBODY HEAR ME?!" Julie said, starting to have a fit. "HELLO?! WATCH THE WATER BEFORE IT OVERFLOWS! SOMEBODY!"
She realizes that nobody can hear her with the music in the background. This was driving her crazy.
"IF YOU DON'T TURN THAT MUSIC OFF, I'M GOING TO SCREAM!" said Julie.
"Cling and Clang, can you turn the music down?" Pufnstuf said to the boys, noticing the volume of the music. "It's a bit too loud."
Cling and Clang turned the music down to a quiet volume so they can hear their boss.
"That's better," said Pufnstuf. "Thank you, boys."
He then said to them, "Now turn off the water before the kitchen sink overflows."
Cling and Clang went to the sink and turned off the water.
"Pufnstuf?!" Julie said, all mad. "H.R. PUFNSTUF!"
"Julie?" said Pufnstuf, walking over to her. "Julie, what's going on?"
"What is going on?!" Julie said. "I'll tell you what's going on! You said I am getting myself worked up over nothing. Well, guess what? I'm getting myself worked up over something! I'M HALF A FOOT TALL NOW! AND IT'S MAKING ME MAD!"
"Julie, I don't see why this is making you so upset," said Jimmy, standing next to Pufnstuf. "Just crying about it isn't going to solve anything."
"I already told you why I'm upset!" said Julie, angrily. "I am at the wrong size! I shouldn't be this small! What did you think I was upset about?! Seriously!"
"Uhhhh…" Pufnstuf and Jimmy said.
"GUYS, THIS IS SERIOUS!" said Julie, losing her mind. "THIS WHOLE THING HAS BEEN VERY UPSETTING FOR ME SINCE IT ALL BEGAN! DON'T YOU GET IT?! HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOU WERE IN MY SHOES RIGHT NOW?! HUH?! YOU TELL ME!"
"Come on, everyone," Pufnstuf said to the rest. "We're leaving."
"DON'T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME, YOU JOLLY GREEN DUMB DUMB!" said Julie, all angry and upset.
"You're starting to sound like the witch," said Jimmy.
"I AM NOT!" said Julie. "I-"
"Julie, you need to calm down," said Pufnstuf. "Now if you're ready to speak nicely to us, call us back to the cave and we'll talk to you again. But until then, take a breather."
"Bye Julie," said Jimmy, then saying to Freddy as he placed the flute in his shirt pocket, "Let's go, Freddy."
Everyone left the cave, leaving Julie behind on the kitchen counter. Seeing that she was all alone in the cave, and having no way to get back down onto the floor, she got worried as she tried to get her friends to come back.
"Guys wait!" said Julie. "Pufnstuf?! Jimmy?! Wait! WAIT! Come back, don't leave!"
She started to climb up the window curtains as she said, "Wait a second! Please! Jimmy?! Pufnstuf?! Anybody?!"
Suddenly, Julie shrunk another inch.
"OH NO!" said Julie, noticing that. "NOT AGAIN!"
Julie then shrunk two more inches, leaving her now at only 3 inches high.
"HELP!" said Julie, trying to hold onto the curtains. "HELP ME! I'M SHRINKING AGAIN! HEY! CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME?!"
Julie slipped and accidentally let go of the curtains as she started to fall down towards the sink.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Julie screamed, covering her eyes.
Julie landed into the sink's soapy water with a tiny "Splash!" She swam up to the surface as she tried to keep her head above the water by moving her arms and legs around to stay afloat.
"HELP!" Julie cried. "SOMEBODY! ANYBODY?!"
Just then, Cling and Clang went back inside the cave since Pufnstuf told them to go wash the dishes since they needed to be cleaned.
"Oh Cling and Clang!" said Julie, feeling relieved. "You're back! Oh thank goodness!"
Cling and Clang didn't hear her thanks to the child being only three inches tall now. And when they went into the kitchen to do that chore, the boys turned the radio back on since they wanted to listen to music while washing the kitchen stuff.
"CLING AND CLANG!" said Julie, realizing that they can't hear her now. "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYS!"
Cling and Clang walked over to the kitchen sink, put on their rubber gloves, and started to work together to wash the dirty plates, bowls, spoons, forks, knives, and cups. And while they were doing the chore, Julie was being pushed and pulled around by the dishes and couldn't escape the water no matter how hard she tried.
"HEY!" Julie shouted. "WATCH IT, BOYS!"
Cling and Clang didn't hear anything even though Julie was screaming to let them know she was in the sink. They couldn't see her either thanks to the soapy suds covering her up.
"WAIT A MINUTE!" Julie shouted. "CLING AND CLANG, BE CAREFUL!"
The whole time, Julie was unheard and unseen for several horrifying minutes.
"BOYS PLEASE!" cried Julie. "STOP! I'M IN HERE!"
After Cling and Clang were done with no more dishes inside the sink, Clang stuck his hand into the water and went to pull the sink stopper.
"NO CLANG!" Julie cried, all worried.
Clang removed the sink stopper from the drain. Then Cling removed the strainer to put the wet scraps in the garbage. And since both the stopper and the strainer were not blocking the drain, the water started to go down it as it created a little whirlpool. And unfortunately, since Julie was tiny enough, she got caught in the whirlpool as the water started to take Julie down with it.
"WHOA! WHOOOOOA!" Julie screamed, going around in circles. "AAAAAAAAAAHH!"
Julie's voice disappeared as she went down the drain with the soapy water. And once Cling went back to the sink after dumping the scraps in the trash, he went to put the strainer back when he saw a tiny pair of shoes right next to the drain's opening. He recognized the shoes and was able to tell that those were the shoes Julie was currently wearing. Realizing that Julie went down the sink's drain, Cling gasped in horror as he dropped the strainer, pulled out his whistle, and started to blow hard into it. Clang wanted to know why his work partner was blowing the whistle. When Cling told Clang that Julie went down the drain, Clang freaked out. Cling tells his friend to go outside and blow into his own whistle to alert Pufnstuf and Jimmy about what just happened. So Clang runs to the front door, opens it, steps outside, and starts blowing into his whistle, hoping he will be heard. Cling joined him for some extra loudness.
In the forest, Pufnstuf and Jimmy, as well as Freddy, heard the sound of not one, but two whistles.
"Pufnstuf! Freddy!" said Jimmy, hearing the whistles. "Listen! I hear whistles!"
"Me too!" said Freddy.
"Sounds like Cling and Clang are in trouble!" said Pufnstuf, hearing the whistles as well. "Come on, Jimmy and Freddy! Let's go back to the cave and find the boys!"
"Right!" said Jimmy.
"Chaaaaaaaaarge!" cried Freddy.
Pufnstuf and Jimmy quickly ran back to the cave where they saw Cling and Clang at the front of it outside.
"Cling and Clang!" said Pufnstuf. "We heard your whistles! Where's the fire?!"
Pufnstuf, Jimmy, and Freddy noticed that both Cling and Clang were crying.
"Look!" said Freddy. "Cling and Clang are crying!"
"Did something happen while we were gone, boys?!" Jimmy asked. "Tell us, tell us!"
Cling and Clang, while continuing to cry, explained to their friends that while they were washing the dishes like Pufnstuf told them to, Julie fell into the sink and went down the drain without them ever finding out.
"WHAT?!" said Pufnstuf and Jimmy, all horrified.
Everyone quickly went back into the cave and ran right over to the kitchen sink. Cling and Clang pointed to Julie's shoes that were sitting right next to the drain's opening. Seeing the child's tiny shoes, Pufnstuf and Jimmy realized the horrifying truth. That Julie went entirely unheard and unseen as she went down the drain.
"Oh no…" said Jimmy, picking up the shoes and placing them in his hand. "Oooh nooo…"
Jimmy started to cry as he looked at the little shoes.
"Jimmy…?" Pufnstuf said. "Jimmy, is Julie…dead…?"
"She must've drowned in the water while going down the drain," said Freddy.
"No, this can't be!" said Jimmy, crying hard. "Julie can't be dead! SHE JUST CAN'T!"
He looks down the drain and cried in deep sorrow and fear, "Julie?! JULIE?! JUUUUUUUULIIIIIIIE!"
Inside the drain, Julie was going through the pipe as the water was pushing her forward. The child was so scared thinking that the water is going to drown her.
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Julie screamed, going down the drain. "HEEEEEEEEEELP MEEEEEEEEEEE!"
A few seconds later, Julie shoots out of the pipe and lands in a huge puddle of water outside far away from the cave. The child swam to dry land as she got out of the water puddle and stood back up on her feet.
"Where…Where am I?" Julie said, looking around. "Where did the drain's pipe take me?"
Julie sees that she was still on Living Island. Specifically, she was near the bay.
"I must be down in the bay," said Julie. "So that's where the water leads to. Into the bay's water!"
She saw Pufnstuf's cave from a distance as she said to herself, "I've got to get back into the cave before Pufnstuf and the rest miss me."
So Julie went for the cave's direction as she started to walk towards it, hoping she will reach it in time.
At the center of Living Island, Pufnstuf gathered all of the islanders around for an important meeting, not knowing for sure if Julie was dead or not. Jimmy stayed behind in the cave since he was so stressed out and sad about Julie. It was making him so upset that he might not see his friend ever again.
"My fellow islanders," Pufnstuf said to everyone, as he was speaking into a microphone while holding onto Freddy. "This is your mayor talking. Now just a few minutes ago, we seemed to have lost our little friend, Julie Anna Jellybean."
Everyone gasped in horror.
"You mean she's dead?!" said Judy.
"Oh no, not little Julie!" said one of the crustaceans. "She can't be dead!"
"We do not know for sure if Julie is alive or not," said Pufnstuf. "All we know so far is that Julie is currently missing. She was part of a horrible household accident. Julie has went down the kitchen sink's drain without being noticed."
Everyone couldn't believe it.
"I know, it is very scary," said Pufnstuf. "Very scary indeed. That's why I want to know if she's dead or alive. I gathered all of you here today because I would really like you all to help Freddy, Cling, Clang, and myself locate Julie and hopefully bring her back here safe and sound."
All of the residents of Living Island agreed to help Pufnstuf and the rest look for Julie.
"Thank you," said Pufnstuf. "Now whoever finds Julie first, return her to me. Now let's create a search party and look for our friend and bring her back!"
Everyone separated as they all started to look all around Living Island for Julie.
Where Julie was, Julie had just entered the forest where the good trees lived. She manages to spot the Society Tree, the Hippie Tree, and the Redwood Tree.
"It's the good trees!" said Julie. "Maybe they can bring me back to the cave! That's if I can get their attention…"
So Julie started to shout and tried her best to get the attention of the good trees in order for them to notice her presence.
"Good trees!" Julie cried, calling out to them. "Good trees! It's me, Julie! Hippie Tree, Madame Willow, Chief Redwood! Hey!"
None of the good trees heard the child.
"Oooooh!" said Julie, all frustrated. "My voice is too quiet to them! They can't hear me! Ooooh, what ever will I do?!"
She started walking out of the forest as she said to herself, "I guess I better try to get someone else's attention. Oh, I do hope that…OOF!"
Julie ran into something. Or rather, someone. She looked up and saw that it was Cling and Clang.
"It's Cling and Clang!" Julie said, with a gasp. "Maybe I can get their attention instead!"
She started to shout, "HEY! CLING AND CLANG! BOYS! LOOK! LOOK, IT'S ME!"
Just like the good trees, Cling and Clang couldn't hear the child.
"Guess they can't hear me either…" said Julie, then thinking of something as she said, "Wait…I know how I can get their attention. They must notice me so I can get back to Pufnstuf's cave!"
Julie climbed onto Cling's feet and tugged on his clothes.
"CLING!" Julie said to him. "CLING, LOOK DOWN!"
Cling felt something tugging on his clothes. He looked down and saw Julie standing on his foot. Cling gasped happily as he sees that Julie is alive and okay. Clang noticed this and was happy as well.
"Boys!" said Julie, with a big smile. "Oh Cling and Clang, thank goodness you felt me on your feet! I was scared you would step on me!"
Cling picked up Julie and held her in his hand as he and Clang looked at her.
"I need to get back to the cave," said Julie. "I fell into the kitchen sink and went down the drain and landed in the bay! And I can't reach the cave by myself! Will you take me there?"
Cling and Clang tell Julie that they couldn't bring Julie to the cave. At least not yet.
"Why not?" Julie said. "It'll take me hours to get back on my own!"
Cling and Clang explained to Julie that everyone on Living Island is currently looking for her since they labeled her as missing. And that whoever finds Julie first must bring her back to Pufnstuf since he is the mayor of the island.
"Oh…" said Julie. "Well, take me to Pufnstuf then."
All of a sudden, Julie shrunk yet another inch.
"Oh no, boys!" said Julie. "I'm shrinking again!"
Cling and Clang could no longer hear or see Julie that great anymore since she was now just two inches high. So Clang took out his magnifying glass and placed it over the child to view her better. And since they couldn't hear her clearly, Cling and Clang asked Julie to use sign language so they can understand Julie visually. So Julie started signing to the Rescue Racer Crew as another way to talk to them. She told them through signing that she had a great idea to get everyone's attention. She sees the microphone in front of a table from a distance and asked the boys to take her over to the center of Living Island and place her on the table so she can speak through the microphone and tell everyone that she is okay. Cling and Clang thought that was indeed a great idea and agreed as they started to walk Julie towards the center of the island. But along the way, Julie shrunk another inch as she was now only an inch high.
"Hurry boys!" Julie said. "If I shrink another inch, I'll be gone forever!"
Cling and Clang got to the center of the island while Julie was still here and placed the little girl on the table in front of the microphone. Julie signed "Thank you" to the boys as she tapped the microphone with her hand since just one finger wouldn't do the job right.
"Is this thing on?" Julie asked herself, then hearing that the microphone was in fact turned on and said, "Oh yes! It is!"
Julie placed herself closer towards the microphone and said into it, "EVERYONE! EVERYONE, COME HERE! IT'S ME, JULIE ANNA JELLYBEAN! COME OVER HERE! LOOK! LOOK, IT'S ME!"
Everyone stopped what they were doing the minute they heard Julie's voice. All of the islanders were happy and relieved that Julie was alive and safe.
"It's Julie!" said Judy, happy to hear Julie's voice. "Julie's alive! I knew she was alive!"
"Hooray!" Freddy cried, happily.
"The little darling's okay!" said Grandmother Clock. "Oh thank heavens!"
"Someone go get Jimmy!" said Ludicrous. "He's going to be so happy once he sees that Julie is alive!"
"I'll go get him!" said Polka-Dotted Horse, galloping towards the cave.
"Oh thank goodness Julie has been found!" said Dr. Blinky. "Now I can go get the antidote and get her back to her normal size in no time!"
"You mean the antidote is ready?!" Pufnstuf said, all surprised and excited.
"Sure is!" said Dr. Blinky. "I've got all the ingredients and it's finally finished! Now I must go get it in order to help Julie! Be right back! Hoo Hoo!"
Dr. Blinky ran back to his house to get the antidote in order to get Julie back to her normal size. And while that was happening, everyone gathered round at the table. But since Julie was an inch tall, nobody can really see her. And since Clang's magnifying glass was not big enough for everyone to view Julie, Cling grabbed a bigger magnifying glass and placed it right above Julie. Now everyone on Living Island can see the child perfectly!
"YES!" said Julie, speaking into the microphone. "YES, IT'S ME! I'M OKAY! THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING JULIE HAS MADE IT OUT OF THE DRAIN ALIVE!"
Julie calmed herself down and said, "Now everybody? I want you all to listen to me…Uhhh…Well…"
The little girl took a deep breath as she said, "Listen guys…Everyone, I'm shrinking very fast. I don't have much time left. All this time since this whole weird thing began, I thought the same thing would happen to you, too. To all of you. Thank goodness none of you were affected with the same side effect I got. Believe me, I was very scared once I saw that I was getting smaller and smaller almost each and every day…But now…I no longer feel afraid. In fact, I feel different. And that different feeling is probably a good thing. I have learned to accept my new size and not cry about it anymore. I knew I wasn't going to grow large anytime soon, so I had to learn to live with being tiny. And now that I'm pretty much ant-sized, there is nothing I can do about it."
"But Julie," said Pufnstuf. "Dr. Blinky is going to come back any minute."
"Where is he?" Julie asked.
"He's at his house getting the antidote," said Pufnstuf. "It's finally ready to be used on you."
"Isn't this what you wanted, Julie?" Freddy said. "To grow back to your normal size?"
"It was at first," said Julie. "But to be honest, I'm not worried about my height anymore. I'm learning to live with it as I've said. So I don't need to grow big."
She then said, "Oh I wish Jimmy was here…He must wonder where I am right now ever since I went down the drain…Oh well, better say what I have to say before I leave…"
"Leave?" said Judy. "But Julie, Dr. Blinky is going to help you. You can't just leave us like this."
"Sorry Judy," said Julie. "But I've made my decision. I don't mind if I shrink into nonexistence. It's probably for the better. That way Witchiepoo and her gang won't kidnap me anymore. Cause I'm getting so tired of them doing that to me all the time…"
"Hurry Dr. Blinky!" Pufnstuf said, in his head. "You've got to hurry before it's too late!"
"So I might as well say my goodbyes now while I'm still here," said Julie.
Julie turned to each islander as the child said, "Judy Frog? Thank you for being a friend who likes girly things just like me when I had no one else to talk about that with. Ludicrous Lion? Even though you may not always be helpful to me and everyone else, you are still my friend. Same with Polka-Dotted Horse. Pop Lolly? I always enjoyed buying and eating the candy from your shop. Good trees? Thank you for being so kind and respectful to me. Grandmother Clock? Thank you for making my clothes each time I was getting smaller."
She then said to Freddy, "Freddy Flute? Take care of Jimmy for me. And thank you for being such a great musical partner to me. We had so much fun making music and singing tunes together."
"We sure did, Julie," said Freddy. "We sure did…"
"Cling and Clang?" Julie said to Cling and Clang. "You are like the little brothers that I never had. I really enjoyed playing with you and all the fun we had with just the three of us. Thank you so much for being my wonderful friends. I love you both so much..."
Cling and Clang shed a tear or two from hearing Julie's lovely words about them and thanked her in return.
"Our fine mayor, H.R. Pufnstuf?" Julie said to Pufnstuf. "Thank you for letting me stay inside your cave and protecting me from the witch. I am so grateful for that and I really appreciate your hospitality. You're one of the greatest guys I've ever met in my entire life."
Pufnstuf was speechless, but felt good that Julie appreciated him and was grateful for all the things he's done to help keep her safe.
"And if any of you see Jimmy," Julie said to everyone, "tell him I love him. I love him very much and I will miss him dearly…"
Everyone nodded.
"Thank you," said Julie. "Thank you all so much. You're all wonderful people. I'm now becoming part of everything and everyone…"
Once she finished that sentence, Julie began to shrink again. But very slowly this time and wasn't stopping. She was starting to shrink away from everyone's sight!
"Well, here I go…" said Julie, noticing herself shrinking more than ever. "Goodbye everyone! So long!"
"No Julie, wait!" said Pufnstuf, seeing Dr. Blinky coming back with the antidote. "Dr. Blinky's coming back! Don't start shrinking now!"
"Hey, where's Julie?!" said Jimmy, just coming into the scene. "Julie?! Julie!"
"Oh Jimmy, I never thought I would see you again!" Julie said, seeing Jimmy as she was continuing to shrink more and more. "Don't worry, Jimmy! I'm not afraid anymore! Don't you be either! I love you, Jimmy! I love you so much!"
Jimmy gasped and covered his mouth in shock as he was witnessing Julie shrinking so much right in front of his eyes.
As she was continuing to get smaller and smaller, with her voice getting quieter and quieter, Julie stuck her arms out of the clothes, since the clothes weren't shrinking with her, and waved to everyone as the child sang, "How lucky I am. How lucky I am. To have someone like you. Someone who's always gonna be my friend. From the beginning right to the end. How lucky…lucky…lucky…I am…"
Julie stopped shrinking as she was now microscopic-sized. Since nothing was holding the clothes she was wearing, Julie's clothes quickly went down as they touched the table. Because she was now not visible to anyone, all of the residents thought that Julie shrunk into nonexistence. Believing that Julie was dead for real this time, they all became very heartbroken as they started to get very sad and emotional. By the time Dr. Blinky came back with the antidote, he had no idea that Julie was out of everyone's sight.
"Everyone!" Dr. Blinky cried. "Everyone, great news! I've got the antidote! I got it right here!"
Dr. Blinky sees that everyone was very sad and asked, "What's wrong? Why are you all so sad?"
He looks around and said, "Where did Julie go?"
The owl doctor turns to Jimmy, who just started crying as Pufnstuf hugged him and held the boy in his arms.
"Oh no…" said Dr. Blinky, quickly realizing Julie's fate. "I'm too late…"
He started to cry as he said, "Oooooh, what have I done?! This is all my fault!"
"Dr. Blinky…?" Pufnstuf said, as he hugged Dr. Blinky. "You tried…You tried your best to help little Julie…"
Cling and Clang couldn't believe that Julie was gone. The boys began to cry their eyes out so hard.
"Oh Cling and Clang…" Pufnstuf said, hugging the Rescue Racer Crew. "Oh boys…"
Just then, a gust of wind blew as it lifted Julie's tiny clothes off the table and flew away into the distance. After witnessing that, everyone sadly walked back to their homes on the island. They were very sad that Julie was no longer with them. They all felt helpless. Everyone on Living Island really wanted to help Julie, but help came too late…
Hours later, it was now nighttime. And on the other side of Living Island, inside Witchiepoo's castle, Witchiepoo was looking around the island through the "Witchiepoo Image Machine". The kooky old witch has been looking through the device for several days now since she hasn't seen or heard from Julie for so long and wondered where the 10-year-old girl was and if anything happened to the child.
"Where is she?!" Witchiepoo wondered. "Where is that girl?!"
"What's the matter, Witchiepoo?" Orson Vulture asked, walking over to her. "You sound upset."
"I am upset, Orson!" said Witchiepoo. "I am very upset!"
"What about?" asked Seymour Spider.
"Julie!" said Witchiepoo. "I haven't seen her in weeks! Have you?"
"Nope," said Orson and Seymour.
"No?" said Witchiepoo. "Neither of you have seen Julie?"
"We haven't, my queen," Orson said. "If we have, she would've been outside Pufnstuf's cave."
"That is a good point," said Witchiepoo. "Cause I can't view the cave from here and my magic has no effect inside it. Curses!"
"Did she leave the cave at all these past few weeks?" Seymour wondered.
"She might've not," said Witchiepoo. "Or…She went outside and I didn't spot her in time."
"Do you think Julie finally managed to escape the island?" Orson asked.
"Yeah," said Seymour. "Maybe Julie finally snuck off and went back to the real world."
"Escaped?" said Witchiepoo, as she shook her head. "Impossible! No one has ever left Living Island! Not one! People may have come in, but no one has ever came out."
"That is very true, Witchiepoo," said Orson. "Maybe she's hiding somewhere?"
"Who knows?" said Witchiepoo, with a shrug. "But I do hope that's the case. I hope she's just hiding from me. I can only hope nothing horrible has happened to the cute little girl…"
Witchiepoo paused and said, a bit worried, "Oooooh, where could my little songbird have gone? What could've happened to her?!"
"Witchiepoo, Witchiepoo look!" Seymour cried, while looking through the Image Machine. "I see some clothes in the forest!"
"Which forest?" Witchiepoo asked.
"The evil forest!" said Seymour. "Look! They seem to be girl's clothes!"
"Girl's clothes?!" said Witchiepoo, feeling hopeful. "Let me see, let me see!"
Witchiepoo looked through the Image Machine and viewed the evil forest as she saw a tiny pair of children's clothes that were made for a little girl. Because of how little the clothes were, she at first thought they belonged to a doll of some sort.
"Doll's clothes?!" Witchiepoo said, with a groan. "Seymour, you had me hopeful for a second!"
She whacks Seymour with her wand as she said, "No one would fit into those teeny tiny clothes, you ding-a-ling! Must belong to Cling and Clang's dolls…Or maybe Julie's dolls…?"
"Wait chiefy!" said Seymour. "Something's moving under the clothes! I see movement!"
"It must be a bug…" said Witchiepoo. "I'm not in the mood to be fooled right now…"
"Really, my queen of witchcraft!" Orson cried, looking through the Image Machine. "There's movement!"
"Oooooh fine!" said Witchiepoo. "Let me look again!"
Witchiepoo looked closer and indeed saw movement under the doll clothes.
"What in the world…?" said Witchiepoo. "How am I going to know what is under those clothes?"
She paused and said, "Wait! I'll use the Image Machine's new microscope feature I added a week ago! That'll do the trick!"
So Witchiepoo turned on the new feature on her Image Machine that can view things as if she was using a microscope. She zoomed in on the clothes to get a more detailed look.
"All I'm seeing is material fibers…" said Witchiepoo, then seeing something happening as she said, "Wait, who's that?!"
What she saw was that something was coming out of the clothes. Or at least only a head was peeking out of them. The witch looked closer and saw that the something under the clothes was actually a person. It was Julie!
"Leaping Lucifer!" Witchiepoo gasped, all surprised. "It's Julie! It's Julie Anna Jellybean!"
"You found her?!" Seymour said.
"Yes!" said Witchiepoo, feeling relieved that Julie was okay. "She's microscopic-sized!"
Witchiepoo quickly realized what she said as she cried, "MICROSCOPIC-SIZED?! HOW?!"
"What's wrong, my queen of evil?" asked Orson.
"Look!" said Witchiepoo.
Orson and Seymour looked through the Image Machine and saw Julie's head sticking out of the clothes.
"Witchiepoo, you're right!" said Orson. "Julie IS microscopic-sized!"
"How did she get like that?!" Seymour asked.
"She must have shrunk somehow!" said Witchiepoo. "But I don't know how she did it. Or if someone did that to her. Cause I know I didn't!"
Witchiepoo viewed Julie again and said, "Oh the poor child doesn't have clothes that fit her…Those clothes are too big for her!"
"That's bad!" said Seymour. "She can't go around the island without a proper fitting outfit!"
"Imagine little Miss Julie running around Living Island naked!" said Orson, starting to laugh. "That would be hysterical! Ha haa haaaaaaa!"
"Orson!" said Witchiepoo, kicking the vulture in the leg with her foot. "Knock it off! Julie deserves to be fully clothed! And she should! Ooooh, what am I going to do?! I can't leave Julie in the forest like that! Everyone must be wondering where she is!"
She paused for a moment and said, "Aha! I'll bring her into my castle! Maybe I can help her out!"
"Are you sure you want to do this, my queen of darkness?" Orson said.
"I'm sure, you overgrown chicken!" said Witchiepoo, twisting the vulture's beak. "I'm not gonna leave a little child there to get hurt! At least give Miss Jellybean a bit of hospitality for once!"
Witchiepoo put her magic wand in the air as she said, while waving it around, "Oh razzle dazzle! What a hassle! Bring the child into my castle!"
The magic zaps in the air as Julie was teleported to the witch's castle inside the lair.
"Now I must find a way to get Julie back to her proper size," said Witchiepoo. "Hmmm…I'll use my magic again and we'll see where this goes."
The witch waved her wand around Julie and said, while thinking up words on the spot, "Sun will set…sun will rise…Turn Julie back to her normal size!"
Witchiepoo zapped her magic on Julie as the little girl enlarged and returned to her right size and height. And not only that, but the clothes the child was wearing grew with her as her body was completely covered.
"Ooooh…" said Julie, a bit dizzy from the magic. "What a day…"
Julie looked at herself as she saw that she was back to her normal size.
"Jumping jellybeans!" said Julie, starting to get happy. "I'm back to my normal size! I'm big again, I'm big again!"
She then paused as she said, "But how?"
Julie then says to herself, "Wait…Where am I?"
Julie looks around and saw that she was in Witchiepoo's castle. This made her scared, thinking that the witch kidnapped her again.
"I'm in the witch's castle?!" said Julie, all frightened. "How did I get here?! I better get out of here before something else happens to me!"
But when Julie made a run for it, Witchiepoo stopped her.
"Wait Julie!" said Witchiepoo. "Don't leave yet!"
"What do you want from me, Witchiepoo…?" Julie asked, nervously. "Are you going to hurt me…?"
"No Julie, I'm not going to hurt you," said Witchiepoo. "I just want to talk to you, that's all."
"Are you sure…?" said Julie.
"Yes I'm sure," said Witchiepoo.
"Well…Okay…" said Julie, calming down. "I guess I'll stay for a little bit."
"Good," said Witchiepoo. "Now where have you been for the past several weeks? I couldn't find you!"
"It's a very long story…" Julie said, sweating a bit.
"I don't care how long it is," said Witchiepoo. "Just tell me where you've been."
"I've been in Pufnstuf's cave pretty much the whole time," said Julie.
"I knew it!" said Witchiepoo. "No wonder I didn't spot you outside!"
"But it was for a good reason," said Julie. "You see…Weeks ago, Pufnstuf wanted Dr. Blinky to come over since the mayor was having a small bug infestation. And Dr. Blinky showed up at the cave with a new potion he created that can make bugs literally disappear when sprayed. Then the chemical contents were directly sprayed at me right afterwards."
"What?!" said Witchiepoo. "Who would do that to you?!"
"Cling and Clang…" said Julie. "But it was an accident!"
"I knew it would be those two dimwits to do such a thing," said Witchiepoo. "Always thinking everything is a toy to play with!"
"Uh huh…" said Julie. "Anyway, because of that, the chemicals went into my skin and settled all over the inside of my body. Therefore, causing me to shrink rapidly. So I had to get entirely new clothes the whole time I was shrinking, as well as sleeping in different places when I became too small to sleep in my own bed..."
"That's too bad…" said Witchiepoo, feeling sorry for Julie on what the child has been through.
"And today, Dr. Blinky made an antidote, but he couldn't use it on me in time..." said Julie, starting to frown as she looks out the window. "Now, everyone thinks I'm dead since I shrunk to microscopic size. Or at least I think that they think I shrunk into nonexistence."
Julie looks over Living Island as she said, "I have to go back to them…"
"Want me to take you back to the cave?" Witchiepoo offered.
Julie couldn't believe that Witchiepoo offered to bring her back to Pufnstuf's cave. Nobody was used to the witch being nice and offering to do things for them.
"You…You really would do that for me, Witchiepoo?" said Julie, as her eyes widened.
"Sure I will, Julie," said Witchiepoo. "I don't want you to walk back by yourself. Must be a long way…"
"But how would we get back to the cave?" Julie asked. "Your magic doesn't work inside Pufnstuf's cave."
"I know…" said Witchiepoo, with a sigh. "And I can't use my Vroom Broom either. It's very late at night and everyone is probably asleep."
"How about you use your magic and teleport us somewhere near the cave?" Julie suggested.
"That's a great idea, Julie!" said Witchiepoo, liking the idea. "You're actually very smart for a little girl."
"Did you think I was dumb…?" Julie asked, with a small frown.
"No," said Witchiepoo. "But enough of that! Time for you to surprise everyone and make them happy!"
"Uh huh!" said Julie.
"Now don't let go of me, Julie," said Witchiepoo. "I'm not leaving you behind."
As Julie held onto the witch's arm, Witchiepoo said to Orson and Seymour, "Orson! You're in charge until I get back. I got to take Julie back to Pufnstuf and the rest."
"Yes ma'am!" said Orson.
"Great!" said Witchiepoo, as she waved her wand. "I'll be back in a flash!"
The magic did its job as Witchiepoo and Julie disappeared from the castle.
Meanwhile, inside Pufnstuf's cave, Pufnstuf, Jimmy, Freddy, Cling, and Clang, along with Dr. Blinky, were continuing to feel heartbroken and were still crying over losing Julie after thinking the little girl shrunk into nonexistence.
"Gee Pufnstuf…" said Jimmy, crying so much. "I miss Julie…I really miss her…I miss her so much…!"
"Me too, Jimmy…" said Pufnstuf, as he was sobbing. "She was such a sweet little girl…"
"Me three…" said Freddy, shedding a tear. "I miss her a lot…"
Cling and Clang were missing Julie terribly. They were crying so hard and so much. They looked up to Julie as if she were their older sister. That's how much the Rescue Racer Crew loved the child. The boys signed to the rest how wonderful of a friend she was to everyone on Living Island.
"She sure was a great friend of ours, Cling and Clang…" said Pufnstuf. "A very great friend…"
"If only I could've sprayed her with the antidote in time…" said Dr. Blinky. "But I didn't make it back in time like I should…"
Dr. Blinky burst into tears of sorrow as he said, "I feel like this is all my fault…!"
"No Dr. Blinky," said Jimmy, feeling sorry for his owl friend. "It's not your fault. You tried you're best. You really did…"
Dr. Blinky sniffed and said, "I sure wish Julie can come back…"
"I wish the same thing…" said Jimmy, wiping his tears. "I wish she was alive…I want her to come home...I want Julie back…"
"PUFNSTUF!" someone said in the distance. "JIMMY! FREDDY! CLING AND CLANG!"
Everyone heard the voice, but couldn't tell who was calling to them since they weren't really paying attention to the voice's sound.
"Is someone calling my name?" Jimmy wondered.
"I hear my name as well," said Pufnstuf.
"And mine!" said Freddy.
"Who could it be to call out to us in the middle of the night?" Dr. Blinky asked.
"LET ME IN!" said the voice. "PLEASE LET ME BACK IN! IT'S COLD OUT HERE!"
"Door's open!" Pufnstuf said, calling out to the voice. "Come in!"
The person opened the door and stepped into the cave. Everyone looked to see who it was. And they couldn't believe their eyes. Who they saw was Julie! Alive and back to her true size! The minute Julie saw her friends, she was speechless since she was so happy to see them again as she tried to contain her excitement. All of the tears of sorrow quickly turned into tears of joy.
"JULIE!" cried Jimmy, getting up and running over to Julie. "JULIE, IT'S YOU!"
"JUMPING BUTTERBALLS!" Pufnstuf cried, following from behind. "SHE'S ALIVE!"
"OH MY GOODNESS!" Dr. Blinky cried. "JULIE'S BACK!"
"AND SHE'S BACK TO HER NORMAL SIZE!" cried Freddy. "HOORAY!"
Jimmy hugged Julie tightly and close as he said, happily, "Oh Julie, I'm so happy to see you!"
"I'm so happy to see you, too, Jimmy!" said Julie, hugging Jimmy in return.
Julie saw Freddy in Jimmy's hand and said to him, "Hi Freddy!"
"Hi Julie!" said Freddy.
Cling and Clang ran over to Julie as they hugged her happily.
"Cling and Clang, hello!" said Julie, hugging the boys. "I'm very happy to see you both! I missed you boys so much!"
"Julie, what happened?" Pufnstuf said to Julie. "We thought you shrunk into nonexistence!"
"I thought I would, too," said Julie. "But I didn't. I became microscopic-sized! So you couldn't see me with the naked eye!"
"How did you get back to your normal size, Julie?" asked Dr. Blinky.
"You know, Dr. Blinky…?" Julie said. "I don't know. One moment I was super tiny, then the next moment, I'm at my real height!"
She paused and said, "How did I get back to my normal size…? I couldn't have grown larger for no reason."
"Let me get everyone's attention first," said Pufnstuf.
"But Pufnstuf, it's past midnight," said Jimmy. "Everyone must be sleeping right now."
"This can't wait until morning, Jimmy," said Pufnstuf. "Everyone on Living Island must know about Julie's return!"
"Wait Puf!" said Jimmy. "They might get cranky!"
Pufnstuf went outside, picked up a megaphone, and said into it, "Wake up, everyone! Wake up! This is your mayor talking! As mayor of Living Island, I want you all to come to the cave and stand outside! It's very important!"
Soon, everyone on Living Island awoke and ran down to Pufnstuf's cave as they stood outside of it.
"Mayor Pufnstuf, what is it?!" Judy asked.
"It's two o'clock in the morning!" said one of the crustaceans.
"What is going on here, baaaaaaaby?!" asked the Hippie Tree.
"It's the middle of the night!" said Ludicrous. "People are trying to sleep!"
"I knew waking everyone up will get them cranky…" Jimmy said to himself, with an unhappy sigh.
"Sorry everyone," Pufnstuf said to the islanders. "Now, my fellow islanders…I have some great news to share with all of you!"
"Can't we get the good news in the morning?" asked the Society Tree. "We are all very tired."
"No, this can't wait," said Pufnstuf, shaking his head. "I have to tell you the good news right now. Or actually, show you the good news."
Pufnstuf turned back inside the cave as he said, "Come on out, Julie! Everyone's here!"
"Coming Pufnstuf!" said Julie.
Julie ran outside, saw every resident in front of the cave, and said to them, as she smiled and waved happily, "Hi everybody!"
"JULIE?!" everyone gasped.
"IT'S JULIE!" said Ludicrous, surprised.
"SHE'S BACK!" said Judy, all excited. "SHE'S REALLY BACK!"
"AND SHE'S BACK TO HER NORMAL SIZE!" said Pop Lolly.
"HOORAY!" everyone cried, happily.
"JULIE IS BACK!" said Alarm Clock, ringing his bells. "JULIE IS BACK! SHE'S BACK! SHE'S BACK! JULIE'S BACK TO NORMAL! SHE'S BACK TO NORMAL!"
"Hold it, hold it!" said Jimmy, trying to get everyone's attention.
"What is it, Jimmy?" Pufnstuf asked the boy.
"We still don't know how Julie grew back to her normal size," said Jimmy. "Even Julie herself doesn't know the answer."
"Jimmy is right, everyone," Julie said. "Even I don't know how I got big again."
She paused and said, "Unless…"
She turns to Witchiepoo, who was in the forest, and said to her, "Come on out, Witchiepoo!"
Witchiepoo walked over to the group, to which everyone stood back since they were so used to being terrorized by the woman.
"No wait!" said Julie, trying to calm everyone down. "Don't be scared! And don't worry, she didn't hurt me! Not once!"
Everyone was surprised and looked at Witchiepoo.
"It's true," said Witchiepoo. "I didn't hurt Julie. I only took her into my castle for safe keeping. I found her in my evil forest all alone. That's after I saw her under her clothes that didn't fit her anymore…"
"Wait…" said Pufnstuf. "You found out where Julie was?"
"I have," said Witchiepoo. "But how did she get into the forest?"
"She literally blew away…" said Jimmy, sadly. "Look, it's a long story. So I don't think we should-"
"Don't worry about that, Jimmy," said Witchiepoo. "Julie already told me the whole story."
"You…You have?" Jimmy said to Julie.
"I had to, Jimmy," said Julie. "I wasn't my normal size, so I had to tell the witch why this strange thing happened to me."
Julie then said, "She was worried about me…"
"Since when did you start having nice feelings for Julie, Witchiepoo?" Pufnstuf asked.
"Yeah," said Jimmy. "All you ever think about when it comes to Julie is to take her to your castle and hold her prisoner until she sings for you!"
"I always had good thoughts about Julie," said Witchiepoo. "She's a sweet and beautiful little girl with such a cute singing voice."
"Why do you think everyone on Living Island loves me so much, Jimmy?" Julie asked Jimmy. "I'm cute, I'm sweet, I'm polite, I'm respectful, I'm easy to befriend, and I'm very loving."
She gets red hearts around herself as she says to Jimmy, "Remember that…?"
"Yes…" said Jimmy, seeing Julie all lovey dovey. "Julie, get a hold of yourself. We're in front of our friends…"
"Oh, sorry Jimmy…" said Julie, as the hearts popped and disappeared.
"As I was saying," said Witchiepoo, "I saw Julie through the Image Machine and brought her in. I turned her back to her real, proper size with my magic."
Everyone was shocked and surprised that Witchiepoo was the one that made Julie back to her right size and height.
"W…W-Witchiepoo…?" Julie said, not believing it. "You…You changed me back?"
Witchiepoo nodded. This made Julie very happy as she got extremely happy and hugged the witch.
"Thank you, Witchiepoo!" said Julie, as she was smiling big. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Ooooh, thank you so much!"
"You're very welcome, my child," said Witchiepoo, then feeling Julie hugging her too tightly as she said, "Easy! Eaaaaaaaasy!"
"Oops…" said Julie, letting go of her. "I'm sorry…I'm just very happy! Happy that I'm my normal size and to be back with my friends again!"
"Three cheers for Julie Anna Jellybean!" said Dr. Blinky. "Hip hip!"
"Hooray!" everyone cheered, with their hands up in the air.
"Hip hip!" said Dr. Blinky.
"Hooray!" everyone cheered.
"Hip hip!" said Dr. Blinky.
"Hooray!" everyone cheered.
"And three cheers for the woman who got me back to my normal and proper size and height," said Julie. "Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo!"
"Hip hip hooray!" everyone cried. "Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!"
Witchiepoo didn't know what to say. All she did was just smile. Even though she tends to kidnap Julie a lot, the witch knew she had to help Julie out. It was the right thing to do. And everyone thanked Witchiepoo for making Julie grow back to her normal size. Then after that, everyone went back to their homes for the night.
Inside Pufnstuf's cave, Julie got into her pajamas and crawled into her bed.
"How I missed sleeping in my own bed…" said Julie, all happy. "So glad I get to sleep in it again."
Just then, Cling and Clang came over to Julie.
"Hi boys," said Julie. "You going to bed, too?"
Cling and Clang nodded. But they came to Julie because they wanted to apologize to her for something they did.
"Sorry?" said Julie. "For what?"
The Rescue Racer Crew said they were sorry for throwing things at her out of anger while the child was Freddy's size.
"Oh it's okay, Cling and Clang," said Julie. "You guys just weren't thinking. It just really surprised me since that behavior wasn't like you two at all..."
Cling and Clang also apologized to Julie about spraying her with the disappearing bug potion that Dr. Blinky created.
"It was just an accident," said Julie, patting their shoulders. "I forgive you both."
Julie hugged them as she said, "I love you, Cling and Clang…I love you boys so much…"
Cling and Clang hugged the child in return and signed that they love her as well, just as Jimmy came into the scene.
"Cling and Clang, come on," Jimmy said to the Rescue Racer Crew. "You have to go back to bed. You don't want to make Pufnstuf mad, do you?"
Cling and Clang shook their heads.
"Then go back to bed," said Jimmy. "It's very late…"
Cling and Clang told Jimmy that they will go back to bed. The boys signed "Goodnight" to Julie as the boys went upstairs and into their separate beds as they went back to sleep.
"Hi Julie," said Jimmy, sitting by Julie after tucking her in bed. "You comfortable?"
"Sure am," said Julie, lying down in her bed. "I really missed sleeping in my own bed. I really did…"
"I can imagine," said Jimmy. "I would feel the same as well if I was in your situation."
"You would?" said Julie.
"Course I would," said Jimmy. "It feels a bit strange to sleep in a place you're not used to sleeping in."
"That's how I felt when I slept in Clang's bed and in the boys' dollhouse," said Julie. "It didn't feel normal to me. But I knew I had to so I wouldn't fall out and get hurt."
Julie thought for a moment.
"You know, Jimmy…" Julie said to Jimmy. "It felt different, but interesting to be small. It was fun at times, but other times, it was scary. But…I knew I had to get back to my real height sometime. I couldn't be small forever."
She then said, "And now, I'm back. I'm back to my real, proper size, like I should be."
"You sure are, Julie," said Jimmy. "Tomorrow is going to be a much better day now that everything is back to normal."
"Oh yeah, tomorrow will be a good day," said Julie. "Just as long as the witch doesn't try to kidnap me again…"
"Well, after what she did to you earlier tonight," said Jimmy, "I don't think she's going to mess with you. Hopefully, not for a while."
Jimmy then said, "I'm…I-I-I'm very surprised that Witchiepoo was the one that brought you back to us."
"Me too," said Julie. "But I guess there is something good in her, even if it's not that much…"
"Julie, I'm just glad that you're alive," said Jimmy. "That's really all I wanted. Was to have you back…Have you back safe and sound…"
Jimmy gives Julie a hug as he says, "I'm so happy to have you back, Julie…"
"It's great to be back, too, Jimmy…" Julie said, hugging Jimmy back. "To be back with our friends here on Living Island…"
She smiled at him and said, "And to be back with you…"
Jimmy blushed and smiled back at Julie. Jimmy then gave his female friend a kiss on the cheek to show affection. That made Julie feel very loved and happy. So she kissed the boy in return.
"Goodnight Jimmy…" said Julie.
"Goodnight Julie..." said Jimmy.
Jimmy went back to his separate bed as Julie went to sleep in her own bed. Everyone on Living Island was very happy that Julie was able to turn back into her normal size and height. Julie herself was very happy about that as well. Even without the antidote that Dr. Blinky made, the child was able to be saved. All thanks to Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo, from the witch's rare act of kindness towards the little girl.
Julie liked and disliked being at an unusual height during her days of shrinking. Getting smaller and smaller each time, she learned to make the best of it. And eventually, she knew that being at her proper height was something that had to happen since that's how Julie is as a young 10-year-old girl. Being tiny was an interesting way of seeing things differently for Julie, yet being at her normal size was just as nice. Julie was just glad that everything was back to the way it should be and hopes something that bizarre won't happen to her again. And hopefully, not to every one of her friends on Living Island.
THE END
