quote:
[Jessica] shakes her head. "Sorry. I've had problems with harassment in the past. Strangers sexting me just for being a gymnast. And now I've got superpowers."
Alison cringed at Jessica's recollection of her past experience and her own imagination as to what it must have been like.
"That's just... terrible," she said, having difficulty finding the right words to describe the disgust at that kind of behavior.
"Please at least tell me that you weren't still a teenager at the time." Although Alison was aware of college gymnastics, the primary image that the media promoted were often the younger athletes.
"I dabbled in gymnastics when I was a kid," the tiny woman recalled with fondness after giving Jessica a chance to respond. "I was only 'okay' at it. I guess that I kind of knew that I wasn't going to be the next superstar. I gave it up after getting totally run over by the 'puberty truck'," Alison joked.
"It wasn't long before I was closer to being six feet tall than being closer to five feet tall."
"Who's the 'Petite Princess' now, Daphne?" she said, twirling around as if to emphasize her new miniature size to a former rival.
"Sorry. That was a girl that I trained with back then. She was always giving me a hard time. She was better than all of us and wanted to make sure that I knew it. Maybe she was one of those ultra-competitive types, but it always seemed to me like she was just being mean."
"We obviously didn't keep in touch after I quit so I don't know how far she made it in the sport. For all I know, she might have been one of your teammates or might even be a friend of yours. That was such a long time ago. She might have changed since then."
So have I, Alison realized. She was no stranger to being the recipient of unwanted attention either and had sympathy for what Jessica had experienced as well as the countless number of women that had similar stories.
Men could be such jerks! The doctor's warning was starting to sink in along with a greater appreciation for the reality of her situation and the jeopardy that she would now face by not being able to defend herself. With her reduced size and weight, she was completely vulnerable and could easily be overpowered by men, women, and even children. Common house pets were also going to be a threat -- she might not have owned any, but she was going to have to be aware of them and protected from them if she ever ventured out from the safety of her home.
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[Jessica] sighs. "Anyway, I'm sure we can do something with a doctor's note... Actually, it wouldn't even be lying or unethical - It's not safe for you to be in the office right now, right? A novel physical condition that does not appear infectious, but interferes with normal activities? We recommend you stay at home while we study your condition?
"That wasn't so hard, was it?"
"No," Alison acknowledged as a look of relief crossed her face.
"Thank you for offering to do that."
"Let's hope that it will only have to be a short leave of absence."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:22, Thu 30 Sept 2021.