Growing Apart

Growing Apart

Ninny poked Petrach awake and begged him not to go to work.

"If you didn't want me to go," said Petrach rubbing the curve of
Ninny's fingerprint from his side, "then why did you wake me up?"

"Our baby's shrinking," said Ninny. "I couldn't sleep."

"I don't trust those doctors," said Petrach. "It's probably just a
clerical error."

"Then how do you explain this," said Ninny. "Those earmuffs I knitted
him fell off during the night. They were tight as a bell when I put him
to bed."

"Our baby's not shrinking," said Petrach and he went to work.

At work Petrach threw himself into dismantling the anti-collision
beacon on a Bell 47G-3B1 helicopter. By the time he got home he had
nearly forgotten that morning's argument. So when he found Ninny in the
living-room with a tape in one hand and little Psigor in the other he
was more than a little surprised.

"What are you doing, Ninny?" he said. "And where's my dinner?"

"Oh Petrach," said Ninny, holding up the tape so Petrach could see,
"little Psigor is now 94 metres tall."

"Oh Ninny," said Petrach, taking the tape from his wife with one hand
and little Psigor with the other, "you've got the tape the wrong way
round. Now go and make me some dinner."

Petrach waited until Ninny was out of the room and then he fixed the
correct end of the tape to top of Psigor's head. He wanted to make sure
for himself.