Investigations

Investigations

Their son went to the doctor ten times and each time he was smaller,
not a lot, but enough to make a difference.

After the fifth visit the doctor suggested that Ninny and Petrach also
undergo some tests.

"I'm not shrinking," Petrach said, "and I've no intention to
start."

"We're not testing for actual shrinkage," said the doctor, "we just
want to rule out all possible expedients."

So a date was booked.

Ninny passed her tests with flying colours but the final decision
about Petrach was still, as the doctor said, up-in-the-air-a-bit. One
of the tests on Petrach had him crouching naked over a hole in an
easy-chair while a large crab-like instrument was inserted in his
rectum.

That night Petrach went to his map-room and said he didn't want to be
disturbed. He took out his chart of Gloritania from 200 years before
and also his present day one and compared the two.

He could understand how countries could shrink; wars, erosion,
landslides and something he referred to as seepage but he couldn't
understand how a baby could shrink. It wasn't the way the world
worked.

Later that night Petrach got into bed backwards and stared at the
wall.

"He's still our baby," said Ninny.

"You didn't have to crouch over that easy-chair," said Petrach. "It
didn't feel right."

"I expect shrinking doesn't feel right either," said Ninny, "but we
have to get used to it."

"You may have a point," said Petrach, "but where will it end?"