Outside in the back garden the mood was lighter as three girls laughed and giggled as they chased each other around the yard. Play being the true equalizer, their differences in ages and size had no dominion, save for Becky and Cathleen’s inability to wiggle as easily as Tabitha through the tunnels on the playset.

The girls moved from game to game before finally settling on the swing set. Cathleen and Tabitha swung while Becky alternated pushing them. Seeing there was an open swing Tabitha told Becky to come swing too.

Becky looked wistfully at the empty swing. The little girl wanted to but the adult could see the swing was already bowing under the weight of a child and an adult. It couldn’t stand the additional weight of a child in an adults body

“I can't Tabatha”, she sighed sadly. “I’m too big. I don’t wanna bust it “

Cathleen seeing her sisters sadness immediately jumped off the swing and offered Becky a turn which she happily accepted

With their batteries recharged after swinging, another round of tag ensued as giggles and squeals once again reigned supreme

Outside the Stephens house stood Gladys Kravitz with an empty measuring cup in hand and an overabundance of curiosity after watching Jenna and her two strange friends go inside. She knew those freaks were up to no good and she wasn’t a bit surprised they were visiting that strange Mrs Stephens.

As she headed toward the door she was hopeful that this would be the time she might get the proof she needed to finally show her husband Abner and the rest of the world that her neighbor was anything but a normal young housewife

She was about to knock on the door under the guise of needing a cup of sugar when voices from the back garden drew her attention. She immediately recognized Tabitha the young Stephens girl but the other two sounded more adult like than child which raised her curiosity.

Quietly slipping along the side of the house, she continued until she found a small peep hole in the privacy fence about head high. Closing one eye she used the other to satisfy her curiosity.

The girls had just finished a spirited game of hopscotch and were contemplating on whether to go in and get a drink and a snack or to stay and play.

Tabitha stood between her two friends and gazed up at them. “You two sure are tall kids.”

Cathleen and Becky looked at each other and sighed sadly. “We know.”

Tabitha then grinned, “But you’re really not that big at all are you?”

Immediately the pair of frowns turned upside down as the innocent child could see clearly what most adults were blind to.

Cathleen and Becky knelt down to Tabitha level and gave her a hug. When it broke, Tabitha asked them the next very logical question for a five year old. “Do you like being tall?”

Cathleen looked at Becky who answered for both of them. “No…not very much. We wish we could be the same size as you more than anything in the whole world, but we can't …so do you wanna play some more?”

Tabitha smiled and nodded as her blue eyes sparkled and two little fingers twitched her nose.

Samantha jumped up and ran to the window when she heard the familiar scream. Sure enough it was Mrs Kravitz running across her yard and heading home screaming “Abner!”, at the top of her lungs.

She rolled her eyes and thought, “What now and did she really want to know?” Honestly…she didn’t, so she returned to Endora and Jenna and the conversation they were having, figuring sooner or later she’d be seeing Mrs Kravitz again.