Size Does Matter

A short story about a belittling love

    "When you're in love, you grow taller." The old woman, speaking to apparently no one, sat alone on a park bench on a cold autumn day. The wind whirled and twirled around seeds that the old lady was feeding to the nearby birds.
    "It's true. Of course the opposite is true too. I once saw a man so heartbroken, he disappeared into thin air. With out love, you wither into nothingness." The women continued to mumble to herself. Or perhaps, she could see something where we saw air.
    "Yes, I have seen this before, much more common than you would expect. No one ever hears about it though; a man heartbroken enough to disappear had no one who cared for him enough to notice he was gone. However, it is possible that it's not too late for you. I shall tell you a story," the old women looked around the park to see if any one was in earshot before continuing her tale.
    "There was once a man, not old in age, but wise in years despite the aforementioned affliction. However, no matter how wise you are, you will never understand love. Unfortunately, you will assume you do understand. This man one day decides to make a cake, with strawberries on top. Upon realizing he had no strawberries he went to the market to find some. While he was there he met eyes with a beautiful girl with hazelnut hair and blue eyes with pale skin, with freckles and a lovely beauty mark, placed very subtly below her lips. He would never forget that day in the produce section. Although he hated to admit it, feeling it diminished their relationship into a product of lust, he had fallen in love with her as soon as he saw her. I swear if we measured him before he walked into the market he'd be 5'11" but upon leaving that issle, he had grown to be 6'5". Strawberries being her favorite fruit, she gladly accepted the invitation to have a piece in his flat. After numerous months and nearly 100 dates, it seemed perhaps, this would be a worth while investment, even more than any amount of years spent for his well-earned degree. They exchanged "I Love You"'s, their "Someday, when we're old and gray"'s, the parent meetings, the awkward times when they talk about or run into their ex-lovers. They assumed the worst had come their way and they were ready to take anything on, as long as it was together."
  "However, eventually, things began to really bug the couple; less laughter, more arguments; new interests, conflicting opinions; less touching, holding, feeling, more issues, raised voices, and cold stares. The man had run into trouble in his life, friends incurably sick, suicidal brother, being let off from work; nothing seemed to be going the way he planned. Although he always loved this girl, he did not always let his love shine through for her. She knew this, but she wasn't quite sure she could handle this much longer. She put up with his unappreciative attitude for more than a year when she had to leave; she knew it'd break both their hearts but this couldn't go on any longer. She packed her bags and left, with out any word of where she was headed. They never spoke again, neither could bear the heart-break, neither would be able to resist the temptations for each other again. Although the girl found a new love, a different love, but not equal to less, and raised a family, and a new life. The man however, did not fare very well."
 The boy never got his life to go quite how he planned it after that. At first, he had visitors. They all mentioned how they swore he used to be larger, at least six feet. They recommended he get help, maybe even see a doctor, as he didn't look very well either. Eventually any one with contact with the man "lost" his information. The girl and him went 20 years with out talking, until finally one day she drove by his house. By than her husband and her had separated, and their children were no longer living with them. She walked to the house and looking into the windows, noticed nothing had changed. A wave of nostalgia hit the girl. It seemed so familiar, she didn't even bother to knock. She walked around the house, which was seemingly deserted, although all the lights were on, and air was running; so why did everything appear as if it hadn't been moved in weeks, as if someone just decided to leave? She walked down to the would-be family room, as the couple once discussed. When she sat upon the couch after noticing the T.V. was on, she was greeted with a strange sight. A man smaller than an army man sat on the couch beside her. Although tiny, she immediately recognized him. After disbelief settled the man explained to her that he had been shrinking for 20 years, however, with no one left in his life at all, he has been shrinking rapidly for the past 6 months. They shared a meal which the woman prepared, the man being much to small to even reach an electrical outlet any more, using the canned food he happened to have left still. She had no intention to test the other foods, having no idea how long they had been inside of that house."
 "Their dinner conversation consisted of many questions. He explained how he lived in such a large house, with such a small body, telling the woman that after he noticed his rapid decrease in size that he began to prepare for the wose. He also explained how he probably wouldn't last too many more days. Soon, he would be gone completly. The woman was determined to stop this phenominon. She promised the next day she would come back with a doctor, he would know how to fix it. Before she left she brought the man up to her face in the palm of her hand. He kissed her lip, a sensation more like a needle prick than an actual kiss. The next morning it was too late; she searched the whole house with a doctor and could not find the man. He had become much too small while the woman was asleep. On top of losing him, the woman was now known as delusional, talking of such nonsense of disappearing men. To the rest of the world, the girls first real love had died months before, or so they assumed when they stopped seeing him. No one knew, but also, no one really cared, for if they did he never would have shrank at all."
 The old lady looked very sad as this story ended. Her bright blue eyes filling with tears. The whole time she told her story she stared at the seemingly empty seat next to her.
  "There is still time left for you. Go and find your love, she will forgive you and you will become whole again. But you must hurry, you can't get any smaller or you won't make it".
  With that, the old lady with her blue eyes, pale skin, and still prominent beauty mark, left her spot on the bench where she told an invisible friend a cautionary tale of holding onto your love. Everyone assumed the old lady was crazy, what with such nonsense of talking about disappearing men so many years ago, and often talking to birds or invisible friends.
  perhaps, these friends are not invisible fables; perhaps they're really shrinking memories.