¨¨¨¨^~\†§&                                          &§†\~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨^~\†§&@                                          @&§†\~^¨¨¨
¨¨^~\†§&@#                                          #@&§†\~^¨¨
¨^~\†§&@##                                          ##@&§†\~^¨
¨¨^~\†§&@#                                          #@&§†\~^¨¨
¨¨¨^~\†§&@ they  tell  me: "we are going to  shrink @&§†\~^¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^~\†§& you."  i don't  quite like  the tone  in &§†\~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~\†§ their  voices, like they are restraining §†\~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~\† themselves. there  is a  hunger in  them †\~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~\ and it  wants  me  to  shrink.  and what \~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~\† really   irks  me  is   that  so  do  i. †\~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~\†§                                          §†\~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^~\†§& they  give  me wristbands  and  anklets, &§†\~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨^~\†§&@ made  of  some   strange  stone.   their @&§†\~^¨¨¨
¨¨^~\†§&@#      surface is swirling, like dark      #@&§†\~^¨¨
¨^~\†§&@##   thunderstorms trapped in glass, like   ##@&§†\~^¨
¨¨^~\†§&@# windows into a  smaller world,  close to #@&§†\~^¨¨
¨¨¨^~\†§&@ my body  so  that  it  can  see  clearly @&§†\~^¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^~\†§&              whats in store.             &§†\~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~\†§                                          §†\~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~\† they  give me food: prawn-like bugs that †\~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~\ make my tongue  curl  with satisfaction. \~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~\† "out of this world", i think, having  no †\~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~\†§ frame of reference. i  eat only two, but §†\~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^~\†§&      the bugs leave me suspiciously      &§†\~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨^~\†§&@                satisfied.                @&§†\~^¨¨¨
¨¨^~\†§&@#                                          #@&§†\~^¨¨
¨^~\†§&@## they measure my  clothes. "you are going ##@&§†\~^¨
¨¨^~\†§&@# to become about half as  big", they tell #@&§†\~^¨¨
¨¨¨^~\†§&@  me, barely controlling themselves with  @&§†\~^¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^~\†§&               anticipation.              &§†\~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~\†§                                          §†\~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~\†                     \                    †\~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~\                   ~~~                    \~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~\†                  ^^^^^                   †\~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~\†§                 ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨                 §†\~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^~\†§&                   ^^^^^                  &§†\~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨^~\†§&@                   ~~~                    @&§†\~^¨¨¨
¨¨^~\†§&@#                     \                    #@&§†\~^¨¨
¨^~\†§&@##                                          ##@&§†\~^¨
¨¨^~\†§&@#                                          #@&§†\~^¨¨
¨¨¨^~\†§&@                                          @&§†\~^¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^~\†§&                                          &§†\~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~\†§                                          §†\~^¨¨¨¨¨