Yes! I was excited — it was the day when I would find out how much I had grown. I would find out my height. The last time I had been measured, I was 4 feet 7 inches. I hoped that I would have grown very tall.

“Come on Pratistha! I haven’t got all day!” called my mum.

She was in my room with a green pen in her hand. When she took my height, it was shocking. I was 4 feet 5 inches. I had grown shorter.

My mum left and that’s when I started shrinking. When I went for my shower, I couldn’t even reach the shower. I was shrinking very fast.

Oh my god! What was happening? I was now only as tall as my the pencil in my geometry box. I was starting to panick.

It was my time for my walk and as I was leaving, the gate swung open and in came my dad. My dad’s feet were going to crush me. They were coming crashing down upon me. I screamed and shut my eyes.

The next moment I opened my eyes thinking I was in heaven — big and beautiful. But I heard my parents wishing me a happy birthday and my hands were filled with gifts. And then I said, “What a dream!”

I cannot imagine another dream stranger than this.

— Pratistha Rijal, Class VI, Rato Bangala School