[Mr. G]

The kids are having visions of the future? Didn't see that happening. Too bad, it seams to be bad news. Enjoying the story so far.

[unknown]

I love how this story is more realistic than most gts stories, not everything is fun at over 10 feet tall.

[crazyfck]

what we have here… another classic! cheers

[alex]

Wow!  Very well written!  Hope to read the rest soon.

[GTSKate]

(( You know, my World of Warcraft guild is going to be pissed I’m missing so much game time to try and finish this…. ah well. Their loss is your gain! ;D Here’s a few more chapters!))

Chapter 27

Nicole rose early and tried to sneak into the kitchen without waking Alex. But as she was coming down the stairs, her elder cousin was already stirring and caught sight of her. “Oh jeez, you’re up already? I’m not used to getting breakfast ready. Dan usually handles the coffee.” Alex quickly threw off the blanket she’d gotten tangled in and made a hurried dash for the kitchen.
“Relax, Alex. I’m just up early. I don’t sleep as much anymore.” Nicole smiled shyly, enjoying being able to share with someone other than her brother. “I thought I’d try to make breakfast.” Alex raised an eyebrow, a laugh on her lips. “And is that something your super-intelligence has taught you to do?”
“Well, no. But I’ve watched Mom do it before.” Nicole tried not to let on that she didn’t really pay attention when her mother cooked. She knew that French toast involved eggs and bread, and a skillet. But Alex winked knowingly and explained, “Everyone has their own take on recipes though. Why don’t I teach you mine instead? It’ll be close to your Mom’s I think. She’s the one who taught me to make it in college.” Nicole’s eyes warmed as Alex launched into a few stories of Carolyn and herself in their dorm days. Scott joined them as the French toast was being plated, having been awakened by the giggles from the kitchen.
“Do we have to go to school today?” He asked plaintively. “I really want to see Mom again. We didn’t get to spend a lot of time with her yesterday and besides! I want to see how much bigger she got!”
Alex’s eyebrows knit for a moment as she laid a second plate in front of Scott. “But you saw her…oh. You guys had visions during the night, didn’t you?” Nicole nodded through her mouthful of breakfast. “Did you get anymore out of it?” Nicole swallowed and licked her lips a moment before she admitted, “We both saw something new. Sort of. It was faster again. Blurred. I think I saw red hair; maybe Jessie? But I couldn’t really make anything out. I don’t know what it means.”

Alex pondered a moment, then disappointed Carolyn’s children slightly. “I don’t think it’s a good idea if you guys miss school. Your Mom would be upset with me if I started letting you off the hook.” She smiled to take some of the sting out. “How about I come get you right after school again, though? You can stay all evening, as long as Jessie says it’s okay.” Scott seemed to brighten a little and Nicole begrudgingly agreed. As breakfast was finished and Alex left the plates in the sink for later, she noticed the kids heading out the door empty-handed. “What, no books?”

Her response was a dry look with a smirk from Nicole’s steely eyes.

Back at the science buildings, Jeff saw the dark circles under Jessie’s eyes even while she slept upon the cot in her office. Sighing, he unplugged her phone and tidied some of her desk’s contents before pausing to watch her sleep a few minutes more. Satisfied that the woman he respected above all others was comfortable, at least, he slipped out the door to manage the things he could without her. Checking on yesterday’s emergency fabric requests, Jeff saw that Carolyn would be clothed by one o’clock, at least. Checking the evening records, he saw that there had been more photon activity that night. Before entering the auditorium, Jeff knew that he would see a larger Carolyn than the previous day. The double doors pushed open softly at his touch, revealing a Carolyn that made her husband lying upon her truly look like a slightly large teddy bear. Momentarily stuck staring at the naked woman taking up so much space on the stage, Jeff at least had the good manners to blush when Jim rolled his head to see another man staring at his naked wife.

“I might be a little jealous, except for two things.” Jim said in jest. “Two things?” Jeff queried? “One: that I know you have probably already looked at Jessie first this morning,” Jeff nodded, smiling with a chuckle. “and two: that it is my fault that my wife is naked to the world.” Looking down, Jim realized he had stolen the blanket that might have covered at least some of Carolyn’s attributes, but was now wrapped and twisted about his own form. Jim tried to get up, but Carolyn’s hand held him firmly in place upon her chest. “And some things never change, blanket hog.” She smiled down upon her husband. “Before you had the excuse of size, but really there’s really no excuse for you now.” She stroked his chest with the index finger of the hand that held him to her. Jim recognized that she was calmer than previous mornings. Carolyn saw the question in his eyes and bent her neck to kiss the top of his head. “I can’t change it, Jim. But I felt better having you with me all night. I guess I’m just resigned to it.” She laughed, shaking her husband all over. “Having you right where you are, I don’t even care that I’m stuck in my birthday suit here.”
Jeff joined in the laughter. “It’s okay. I’m going to be a doctor.” He ducked and headed back out as Jim threw his shirt like a football. “Yeah, a doctor of physics you quack!” Jim wiggled, implying that he needed to get down.

“…I must another way,
to fetch a ladder, by which [my] love
must climb a bird’s nest when it is dark.

But come what sorrow can,
It cannot countervail the exchange of joy
That one short minute gives me in her sight.”

Carolyn chuckled and gave her husband a gentle squeeze. “You need a ladder to reach your love at this rate. I wish you didn’t, but I’m glad you’re still sticking to it.” Her fingers continued to stroke Jim’s back as he fidgeted under her hand. “Angel, really; I’m glad you’re enjoying this, and believe me, I hate to break the moment, but I need to …well…it’s morning, sweetheart.” Sitting up, Carolyn put on a pouting face which seemed more innocent when she was near five foot, but at her current size of over sixteen feet carried with it a distinct undertone of sexy. She lifted Jim to the ground and then lay back, reclining on her elbows. “Do what you have to. But I suggest you hurry back. I might get a little cold here without you.” She gave her shoulders a little wiggle, knowing it would set her assets jiggling. “I might need a little …reassuring …this morning.”
Jim fled for the nearest bathroom, wondering where he’d left his pants when he got undressed. Then he realized it didn’t really matter. Carolyn was hardly going to let him put them back on for a while. The grin on his face got a little wider.

Chapter 28

Alex had returned to the house after playing bus-driver to clean up the morning’s dishes and tidy up a bit. Grabbing the dish soap from under the sink and testing the hot water, Alex returned the morning dishes to a state of cleanliness and into the cabinets. Heading for the living room, she was going to fold up the blankets she’d used last night when her attention was drawn to some black lines on the wall. Frowning, she thought, “Damn. What are those kids doing to …” Her own thoughts silenced as she realized that these lines were the ones Jim started making as Carolyn grew. Looking forlornly at the bottommost mark, knowing that her dearest friend had once been even shorter than that smear upon the wall, Alex put her hand against it and remembered looking down at Carolyn. “I guess those days are long behind us, huh Car?” Her hand trailed slowly up the uneven marks until they stopped just under her own head. Carolyn had disappeared from her home into the science lab just after that. “I don’t know how pal, but you’ve just got to come home again.” Pulling herself away from the reminder of things-used-to-be, Alex finished folding up the blankets against the sofa and sat down with the phone. Calling Carolyn’s number at the lab, she was a bit surprised when Jeff Connor answered. “Jeff? It’s Alex. I was calling for Carolyn. Isn’t she up yet?”
“Er…ah, well, yeah, she’s up. She and Jim are up. Um…you should probably call back later though.” Jeff seemed distinctly uncomfortable and Alex knit her brows in concern. “Is she okay? What happened last night?” She worried.
“She’s fine. In fact, er…I’d say she’s kinda frisky, if you know what I mean.” Alex could practically hear him blushing.
“Ah.” She understood. “Well, that’s good news, I guess. At least she’s doing something normal.” Alex let loose the breath that would have helped steel her against bad news. “I’m sure she’s not doing it normally, but just the act is good.” Alex stifled her laughter, knowing that Jeff would be blushing even harder at the conversation’s blunt nature. “Actually, I’m kind of curious how she IS managing…”
Jeff interrupted hurriedly. “Look, I think you should call back in an hour or so, Alex.” She thought she heard him turn away from the phone at the sound of distant laughter before finishing. “Maybe two…”
Unable to control her laughter anymore, she tried to speak through her giggles. “Wait! Wait, I’m sorry Jeff. I just…heh..well, never mind. Look, I just want to make sure it’s okay if I bring Nic and Scott back after school.” Alex calmed her chuckles, trying to smooth things over.
“Yeah. Sure. I don’t think we’ve got any tests planned today.” It was Jeff’s turn to smile as he had an idea. “Hey, why don’t you make a picnic of it? Carolyn can get outside the building for a couple hours as long as you guys stay on the back lawn of the place, and she can spend time with the family. You bring the dishes and stuff, and I’ll get some catering in here. Subway still does those ten foot long subs, right? Yeah…yeah, I’ll handle that. You just bring the kids. That’s a great idea, Alex! Right…okay….” And he hung up, already throwing things into motion.

Alex smiled and hung up on her end of the already-completed conversation. Jeff’s heart was in the right place; and maybe it would be good for Carolyn to see the outdoors for an afternoon. It couldn’t be good for her psyche to be trapped inside all the time. But as the receiver clicked upon its holding spot, Alex couldn’t help but remember Nicole’s vision of Carolyn bursting through the roof of the auditorium.

Meanwhile, at Scott’s school, the youngest Prescott could barely wait until the first recess bell rang. All morning he’d felt fidgety, moreso than normal for a young boy. All the frustration of the visions he had, the longing for his mother, all of it trembled beneath the surface of his skin making him unable to sit still for more than a few minutes. When the bell rang, Scott controlled himself just enough not to blaze past the other students out the doors into the playground. But it wasn’t enough to join in the kickball game that started almost the moment the doors open. He felt like the fidgeting was only getting worse, having to hold back how much faster he could have run around the bases, or how much harder he could have pitched the ball. When the bell rang, ending the fifteen minute liberty, Scott knew it wasn’t enough. Hanging back from the pack that was reentering the school all at once, the ten year old hid behind a trash can until the doors closed up again. Then he ran as a blur towards the trees at the far side of the playground. He didn’t know where he would head after that; maybe across town to his Mom. But a car was waiting for him as he emerged through the trees that separated the school grounds from the neighborhood road behind. The passenger side door swung open and Dan motioned towards his younger cousin.

“Get in. We need to go somewhere.”

Scott obeyed, startled that Dan knew exactly what he was going to do and a bit chastised at being caught skipping out on school. Dan’s dark eyes softened a moment as Scott buckled up. “I was once a ten year old too, Scott. And I know how I would feel if I were in your shoes.” Driving out towards the less populated area of Dixboro, Dan gave Scott a chance to expend a little energy in a place no one would be likely to see him. It was enough for the afternoon that Scott could run as fast as he could without fear of being seen, and that he had someone to talk to about everything.

Nicole stared out the window at the blue sky and cool November morning, wishing that there were recess breaks in high school. Most of her teachers had stopped trying to keep her engaged with the rest of the class and were content that she was far ahead of her classmates, but not causing a disturbance. She idly flipped through a few science texts that Ms. Stevenson had brought for her from the undergraduate library on campus. Nicole didn’t try, but the contents of the books were stuck in her memory even when she wasn’t paying complete attention. Her mind was consumed with thoughts of her mother, which is why it took a full two minutes for her brain to pause over something she read five pages ago. Her eyes took on that familiar hard look as she slowly turned the pages backwards to devote her full attention to what she’d already committed to memory. A study of photosynthesis was in front of her. She read:

“Look at the night sky, and you may notice that stars of different colors blaze out from the darkness. The color of a main sequence, or “dwarf” star is determined by its temperature: the hotter O, B, and A stars are shades of blue. The cooler K and M stars run from orange to red. Mid-temperature F and G stars are white or yellow. Our yellow sun, for instance, is a G star.

Despite the principal color of a star, the visible light it emits contains the full rainbow of the color spectrum. Photosynthetic plants on Earth rely on such visible light from our sun to produce food and oxygen. The photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll absorbs every color wavelength to varying degrees.

The most efficient photosynthetic wavelengths are blue wavelengths measuring about 450 nanometers. Photons, or packets of light energy, contain different amounts of energy based on their wavelengths, and shorter wavelengths contain more energy than longer wavelengths. Thus, the shorter blue wavelengths pack more of an energetic punch.”

(Text taken by the way from http://www.astrobio.net/news/article404.html which I recommend you read to make a few connections to Carolyn’s situation)

Although the article had some fascinating theories about discovering life on other planets, something was already making connections in Nicole’s brain. She had her head tilted at the angle that would have been familiar to Jessie and Jeff, but went unnoticed by her classmates. As the bell rang, she automatically arose, following the crowd and making her way to her next class unconsciously, but mumbling to herself. “How? It seems right, but where is the reaction coming from? Stars…main sequence…not a G…maybe K star? Temperature though…is she cooler to the touch now?” Even girls that used to be friends with Nicole gave her a wide berth in the hallways, not wanting to be associated with the “brain and her freaky space-outs”. Nicole should have been lonely, or even upset at the way everyone got out of her way in the hallway, but all she was really feeling was frustration at the one connection that seemed just out of her grasp. She couldn’t wait to go to the lab and see her Mom that afternoon. Looking up to see the hallway empty out with the passing bell, Nicole shrugged her shoulders and headed instead for the doors outside. Why wait when none of her teachers would really miss her in class now?

[Mr. G]

This is proving to be hard on the whole family. Glad your taking the time to write this story.

[Silent One]

It's always nice to see the science angle pursued instead of just "she grew big just because".  As usual your stories have far deeper character development than the norm (which is why I like them so much.)  Keep up the awesome work.

[00tree]

forget WoW we want more chapters  ;). no seriously now I really like this story. I hope your guild isn't to upset. I have a friend that plays and his guild get pissed if someone is late logging in. I don't even want to think of how angry they get when you miss a game.

[AlexG]

Heh, with so many authors of the past posting their classics here, one can only hope that the likes of Hi-Standard, Panther, Crow Magnon and Paul Bunyan will make a showing on Amaz0ns . . .  ;D  8)

Lady Kate, again I can only say ITS SUPERB! 

“I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

[KeithXZ]

This is really good Kate.  I really appreciate you taking time to develop the characters, to develop a plot that is not straight forward, and to build suspense.

I'm very glad you decided to come back to the story to complete it.

I agree this is another classic.

– Keith

[Author]

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