[Silver Spoon]

Chapter 8: Heat wave or blizzard?

The doll-sized Hana explained to her friend a place where she could not only grow back to her original 4?3? stature, but well beyond that. She was referring, of course, to her bedroom, which was always room due to her not opening up any windows and dressing up warmly even in summer.

?I have a hard time sleeping if I?m cold?, Hana explained to her friend, standing on her right shoulder.

?I don?t think it?s weird, Hana-chan?, Chisa replied. ?I don?t like being cold when sleeping, either.?

?I don?t think you understand just how much I bundle up..?

?A warm blanket or two, right??

?I wear waaaaay more blankets than that, actually. Sometimes I place 3 or 4 blankets on top of each other, as well as place a heating fan next to my bed.?

?That?s overdoing it, isn?t it??

?Maybe, but I really don?t like being cold. That?s part of the reason I wasn?t so happy by the news of eating cold foods and drinking cold beverages for the next week.?

Chisa paused for a moment as she stared blankly at her friend, smiling at her pocket-sized companion.

?What are you looking at?!? Hana asked, looking quite annoyed.

?Eek! You sound so cute when you?re angry!? Chisa said, giggling at her friend?s high-pitched yells. The tiny girl, however, simply sighed.


Back at Hana?s home

Chisa hid Hana in her school bag as they left school early that day. Fortunately they had permission to do so by the principal himself, who was quite dumbfounded by Chisa?s explanation. She told him that Hana had come down with a weird cough that made her sick, as well as made her voice high and squeaky. He was skeptical at first as Hana wasn?t there beside Chisa when she tried to get out of class, but she managed to pull it off when she explained that Hana didn?t feel well and was currently resting in the school nurse?s office. When he asked again why Hana?s parents wouldn?t just pick up their daughter, she explained that they personally told her to take their daughter home. Although Chisa wasn?t fond of lying to get the two of them out of school, she knew as well as Hana?s parents that bad things would happen if they stayed in the school. Even if Hana could grow back to her original size at school, her uniform was ripped to shreds as the result of her earlier growth. She might as well go home and get clothed again.

It took Chisa about 20 minutes to get Hana back to her house, hiding her in her school bag most of the time. It became harder and harder to do so, though, as Hana slowly kept growing in the sweaty bag, constantly sucking on ice cubes and eating bits of ice cream her friend bought to cool her body down. Despite this, though, Hana grew nearly thrice her current size before arriving to home; Chisa was forced to wrap her up like a baby in her arms with her tattered school uniform when she got too big for the school bag.

The two then rushed upstairs to Hana?s bedroom, wrapping the tiny girl up in her layers of blankets. She happily sighed as she sat in her comfortable bed with her comfortable pillows and blankets, which felt even more comfortable at her tiny stature. She wasn?t small for long, though, as Hana grew to nearly 7 feet tall in a manner of minutes! The once large blankets looked like baby blankets to her now, and her bed started to creak from her weight. Hana was forced to retreat from her blanket wrappings and proceed outside via her window, standing at nearly 8 feet tall outside her house. However, she was still naked, so Chisa grabbed for her friend the biggest shirt she could find (which barely covered her chest), as well as the biggest shorts she could find (which barely covered her butt cheeks).

?We?re back to where we started!? angrily sighed Hana, annoyed by her large size once more. ?What was the point??

?Well, it was either that, or the whole school would have seen you in your birthday suit?, Chisa pointed out.

?Oh yeah?, said Hana, nodding in agreement. ?Good thing we got out when we did, then.?

?Hana-chan, I?m going to have to squirt you with the hose..?

?Oh no!? yelled Hana, knowing what was coming up next.

?Water fight!!!? a teasing Chisa yelled as she squirted her friend with cold water, shrinking her down to a little more than 4 and a half feet tall.

?Chisa, that was really, really cold!? whined Hana, shivering a little despite the warm weather. ?And I mean that in more ways than one!?

?But at least you?re small again!? a relieved Chisa said to her friend, hugging her. ?I like the small Hana-chan much better than the giantess sized one!?

?I?m sorry, Chisa?, apologized Hana, feeling like a jerk for yelling at her friend so much over the last couple of hours.

?Don?t worry about that, it! I?m your best friend! Of course I?ll help you out in situations like these; that?s what friends are for!?

?Yeah. As long as you can squirt me with water, I?ll be just fine!?

A few hours later, now night time in Hana's room..

Everything was finally looking up for Hana and her growing/shrinking problems until she turned on the news that night;

?There is currently a drought in the county area. Please don?t water any plants with water hoses until the next time it rains. If you must water your gardens or lawns, reserve as much as you can and only do so at night.?

?Damn it!? yelled Chisa at the television, shaking it violently with her hands. ?I KNEW this would happen!?

?Well, there?s still the bath tub?, reminded Hana, who was looking forward to the opportunity of a nice, warm bath once this week was over. ?Still, this is going to be an annoying series of days, isn?t it??

?Indded. At least there's not going to be a blizzard any time soon."

Just then, the news switched over to the weatherman, who then explained;

?Expect extreme weather changes over the next couple of days due to some cold winds rising up from the north.?

?Ugh?, groaned both Hana and Chisa at the same time. This was going to be an annoying week after all, it seemed.

Countdown time: 5 days, 20 hours