....,~^†¤£                                          £¤†^~,....
.....,~^†¤                                          ¤†^~,.....
......,~^†                                          †^~,......
.......,~^                                          ^~,.......
........,~                                          ~,........
........., 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.              #@£¤†^~,..
...,~^†¤£@                                          @£¤†^~,...
....,~^†¤£                    ^                     £¤†^~,....
.....,~^†¤                   ~~~                    ¤†^~,.....
......,~^†                   ,,,,,                  †^~,......
.......,~^                 ........                 ^~,.......
........,~                  ,,,,,                   ~,........
.........,                   ~~~                    ,.........
........,~                    ^                     ~,........
.......,~^                                          ^~,.......
......,~^†                                          †^~,......
.....,~^†¤                                          ¤†^~,.....
....,~^†¤£                                          £¤†^~,....
...,~^†¤£@                                          @£¤†^~,...