To Shrink or Not To Shrink - Chapter 4

"Bringle Brand of Jingleland"

            Looking at the darkened crevice in the wall, we saw the little yellow mouse emerge into the light.  He was standing upright and was still rubbing his chest, which must have been pretty bruised from his earlier encounter with the mousetrap.

            The most curious thing about him was the fact that he was indeed fully dressed—just as I thought he had been.  He was wearing a little blue hat that flopped to one side near the top and had a gold bell on the tip of it.  His blue suit matched the ruffled decorations of the hat and had golden buttons on the front of it.  Both his hat and suit seemed to be made of silk.  He also wore little shoes with curled up toes.  The overall appearance was very elfin.

            “A talking mouse?” asked Lisa.

            “Three inch people?” responded the little mouse with a calm smile.

            “Who are you?” asked Cindy.

            “Allow me to introduce myself” he replied, removing his hat and bowing low, “I am Bringle Brand of Jingleland.”

            When he finished his bow, he added, “Or should I say, the ‘micey’ version of my former self.”  There was a certain sadness in this comment.

            “But before I forget,” he continued, “I must thank you for saving my life earlier.”

            “What’s he talking about?” asked Lisa.

            “I’ll fill you in later,” I smiled to her.  “You’re very welcome, Mr. Brand, but I think I should be thanking you.  If you hadn’t pushed me out of the way, I’d have been the one nearly killed by the mousetrap.”

            “Killed?!  What are you talking about?” urged Melissa.

            “Later,” I said, “the important thing now is that we’ve all got to get back to our normal sizes¾or former selves as the case may be¾before that old Green Devil returns.”

            “I don’t know what was in that dropper you squeezed on his foot,” started Melissa, “but he didn’t leave here in very happy mood.”

            “First thing we need is a couple drops of Restoring Factor X,” stated Bringle.

            “What’s that?” asked Lisa.

            “You see,” he explained, “Lived Neerg’s magic is not a very powerful one.  A drop or two of any number of recognized restorative agents will undo most of his spells.”

            “Do you have any this Restoring Factor X?” asked Cindy.

            “I wish I did; I would not have stayed a little mouse for as long as I have.”

            “Will it also work on us?” I asked.

            “Easily.  One drop for each spell he has cast.  I would require two drops: one to un-mouse me and one to un-shrink me,” he explained, “one drop to un-shrink each of you will be more than sufficient.”

            “Oh, I wish we had this stuff,” exclaimed Cindy excitedly, “I’m so tired of being so small.”

            “I know it’s around here somewhere, for I saw Lived Neerg use it once or twice in the past.  He always has to resort to his chemicals and liquids for his magic.  He could not use the Spell Book if his life depended upon it.”

            “Spell Book!” I stated, “What spell book?”

            “That very large book up there,” began Bringle, pointing up to the rickety podium, “is the one and only Spell Book of Androganine.  Lived Neerg stole it from Living Land a while ago and I was sent here to retrieve it.”

            “Living Land?” questioned Melissa.

            “Oh, I’m sorry,” backpedaled Bringle, shaking his little mouse head, “I cannot say anymore about this, but when I return, I need to take that book with me.”

            “We can fly up to it,” I suggested, “but turning the pages is another story.”

            “What about Rupert?” asked Cindy.

            “There’s his power pack over there on the floor,” added Melissa.

            “I don’t know, that eyedropper was pretty heavy,” I hesitated, “I don’t see how I can fly up with the power pack and then have enough force to re-insert it.”

            “Let me put it this way,” began a grumpy Lisa, “without the book and without Rupert and without that X stuff, we don’t get to un-shrink ourselves.  And I, for one, am done with this three inch act.”

            “I must use the book,” stated a determined Bringle.

            “How can the spell book help if we can’t open it?” asked Lisa.

            “Oh you’d be surprised.  The book can do a great many things,” he smiled.

            “Then why haven’t you used it before to un-shrink yourself?” asked Melissa.

            “I am unable to use the book until the Grotog is cast upon me,” he stated.

            “Ohhhh, I just knew there was a catch,” sighed Cindy, “everything is here is always so complicated.”

            “What’s the Grotog?” continued Melissa.

            “It’s the magical incantation that allows one to use the great Spell Book of Androganine.  Without it, the book is useless—which is why Lived Neerg has never been able to tap into its powers.”

            “So how do we get this Grotog?” I pressed.

            “Actually, I already have it,” explained Bringle.  He reached into his collar and removed a curious looking charm that was attached to a necklace chain.

            “It is contained in this amulet.  As a prince of Living Land, I was given this when I was born.  The Grotog was to be released on my sixteenth birthday.  Unfortunately, it was during that ceremony that Lived Neerg materialized and swiped the book.  He then dimension-napped me; the two of us disappearing in a green flash.”

            “Dimension-napped?” questioned Melissa.

            “Never mind that part,” smiled Bringle sheepishly, “I am not allowed to get into that, either.  Let’s just release the Grotog and get the book.”

            “How do we ‘release’ it?” asked Lisa.

            “One of you will have to rub the amulet and repeat the incantation.  The Grotog will then be released and will bestow itself upon me.”

            “Let’s do it quickly,” urged Cindy, “I have this strange feeling we’re being watched.”

            “It’s probably Lived Neerg,” stated Bringle, “hurry,” he indicated to Melissa, “Touch the amulet and repeat after me...but carefully!  The amulet will only release one Grotog.  Any mistakes and we’re all doomed to remain three inches tall.”

            Melissa clasped the amulet in her hands and slowly repeated the incantation along with Bringle.  (For security reasons, the Grotog¾even if it could be spelled¾cannot be reprinted here).  After the last syllable of the last word had been uttered, the amulet released a bright red aura, which slowly enveloped Bringle.  It then began to swirl around him.

            Immediately after the red swirl began, a bright green flash flooded the laboratory, announcing the arrival of Lived Neerg.  He was munching on an apple and had evidently been eavesdropping—hoping to hear the magical Grotog.

            Realizing that he was just about too late to stop the Grotog from being bestowed upon Bringle, Lived Neerg hurled the half eaten apple in desperation.  It sailed through the air at lightning speed, heading directly for the little yellow Bringle mouse.

            Instinctively, I dove to push Bringle and Melissa out of the way.  As Bringle and Melissa tumbled to the ground, the red aura dissipated.  The impact of apple against the stone wall shattered it into many pieces, showering all of us with a hale storm of sticky pulp.

            “Aarrghh!  I’ll get you yet!” shrieked Lived Neerg, once again furious with us.  He disappeared in the bright, green flash.

            “What just happened?” asked a bewildered Melissa, brushing herself off.

            “We’ve got lunch!” smiled Cindy optimistically, taking a big bite out of one of the apple chunks.

            “Ugh!  Green Devil germs!” moaned Lisa.  Cindy stopped munching, looked at the chunk and then threw it to the floor, spitting out the rest.