Michelle wasn't sure what the big deal was. All she knew was that Ally and Jenna had been blowing up her phone all day telling her to come over and play with the new 'magic boxes'. Whatever that mean, she really wasn't sure. Knowing her friends, she imagined it had to be something silly.

That wasn't so far from the truth. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Jenna came rushing to the door when Michelle pulled into the driveway. The three of them had met working at a cafe by campus, and though the service days were behind all three of them, they had stayed quite close. Michelle had just moved to a house on the other side of the city to be closer to work. Even so she usually saw her friends once a week, sometimes more.

"You'll never believe what we've been doing!" said Jenna. "Ally got these magic boxes, and they are just the coolest things ever!"

"So I've heard. You left, what, five messages?"

"Well, I couldn't wait for you to get here, so I can try more stuff! Ally got … sidetracked."

"Where is she anyway?"

"Ummm…" Jenna bit her lip. "Why don't I just show you."

Michelle followed Jenna into the living room. They had moved the coffee table out from the center of the room, and in its place were an assortment of wooden boxes, some of them blue, others green. The boxes were stacked haphazardly, and were of many different sizes.

"So these are magic boxes?" asked Michelle. Her tone was somewhere between sarcasm and outright skepticism.

"Yep!"

"Is Ally hiding in one of them?"

"No, she's right here."

Jenna pointed to the empty couch. It took Michelle a moment to notice what was there.

Ally's feet. Just her feet. Sitting neatly side by side. They still had the chipping blue nail polish Ally had put on last thursday.

"That's her?"

"Well, what's left of her anyways." Jenna poked one of Ally's feet. Her toes wiggled in response.

"You mean, she's alive, but she's just a pair of feet?"

Jenna nodded. "Check it out," she said. She picked up the left foot and handed it to Michelle.

"How long has she been like this?" Michelle scrutinized the disembodied foot, noting that the cut through the ankle was covered in something smooth and seeming artificial — not quite plastic, but not quite skin.

"Um… I don't know, like an hour? That's why I kept calling you."

"Can we bring her back?"

"We can… I don't think she wants us to."

"And why is that?"

"Well, we were playing around with the boxes, and just as a joke, I made everything vanish but her feet. And then I brought the rest of her back a few minutes later, and she said she wanted to spend the rest of the evening like that. I don't know what she likes about it, but she made me re-vanish the rest of her."

"Can we bring her back anyway? I want to make sure she's okay before I take part in any of this. It's just a little … out there, you know?"

"Sure, why not. She's had long enough I think."

"What is this stuff anyway," asked Michelle, rubbing the 'covering'.

"I don't know, but it feels really weird doesn't it? It's even stranger for her."

"Why? What's it feel like?"

"I'll show you. But first —"

Jenna took Ally's feet and went over to a long box, about the size to hold a person. It was made of a dark wood and inlayed with bronze, set between four brass rails. The body of the box was made of an set of panels that seemed to slide against one another.

"So what does this box do anyway? It makes someone into only feet?"

"This one is called the reducer. It… reduces."

"Okay. Does it un-reduce."

"Yep," said Jenna. "Watch this."

She opened the box and placed Ally's feet at one end. Then she closed the box. She opened it again.

"Ta-Da!"

Inside were Ally's feet. Her toes wiggled.

"Woah," said Michelle. "You totally brought her back."

"Oops. Oh right, I forgot. Okay, so we have to reduce the box first, then we can expand her again."

"What does that even mean," said Michelle.

"I'll show you. Here."

Jenna closed the box again, and this time went to the opposite end. She pulled a catch that released something, and started to push on her end of the box. The paneling was apparently more intricate that it seemed, as the box folded in on itself. Jenna kept pushing and the box got smaller — smaller than it seemed like it should be able to. Eventually, it was about the size of a shoebox.

Jenna opened the lid again for a peak. Ally's feet were still inside.

"Did you actually check to make sure she's still in there?" asked Michelle.

"Well, you never know with these things."

"You inspire such confidence."

"Don't worry, Ally knows more than I do."

"But it seems like you don't know anything!"

"Quiet! It's gonna work, okay? I already did this before."

"Okay, let's do it then."

Jenna closed the box again and started to pull it back out, expanding it until it was once again the original size. She opened the lid with a little hesitation. There was Ally, laying with her arms folded. She blinked groggily, as if she had been asleep.

"Ally!" said Michelle excitedly. She hugged her friend as she got up out of the box.

"Hey there," said Ally. "Nice of you to stop by."

"You were just a pair of feet!"

"It was nice too. So… relaxing."

"How was that relaxing?"

"You'll just have to try it. It's hard to describe."

"Okay," said Michelle. "But I don't want to just be feet to start. Maybe something else."

"I've got an idea," said Jenna.

"What is it?"

"It's a surprise!"

"Well, okay, as long as you put me back again."

"We can … probably do that," said Jenna.

"Usually," said Ally.

Jenna rummaged through some of the other boxes until she found a panel with a hole in it, with two sliding pieces. She removed the top panel of the box that Ally had just been restored in — the 'reducer' — and set the new piece in its place.

"Lie down with your head out the top," said Jenna.

Ally had a grin that seemed to understand where this was going.

With a bit of hesitance, Michelle lay down in the box. Ally slid the bottom of the box up to touch Michelle's feet.

"I have butterflies in my stomach," said Michelle.

"We'll fix that," said Jenna. She closed the box. "Help me get her upright."

Ally and Jenna both tilted the box onto one end, with Michelle's head still sticking out the top.

"Can you move?"

"Not very much," said Michelle.

"Good," said Jenna. She took hold of two brass knobs at the top of the box, and slid them inwards. Michelle felt the opening around her neck tighten.

Jenna then began to push down on the box. Michelle heard the wood panels sliding against themselves, and even from her limited viewpoint, she could tell she was getting lower. Jenna continued to push down, until Michelle's head was about waist level.

"That should do it," said Jenna.

"Wait, I'm like … half your size now," said Michelle.

"Let her out!" said Ally.

Jenna opened the front panel of the box, and removed the piece holding Michelle's head in place. Michelle took a hesitant step out of the box, and looked down at herself.

Well, from the waist down she was still normal. The waist up? Well, that wasn't really there anymore. She was only a head on top of a pair of legs.

"This is … awesome!" said Michelle, bouncing on her toes. "I feel so light! Like I want to go on a run!"

"I thought you'd like this one," said Jenna. "Being into that stuff."

"Where'd you get these anyway?" asked Michelle.

"Remember I used to work for Mister Hewett?" said Ally.

"The old curmudgeoney guy? The one who made you use the old typewriter?"

"Yea, well I never told you, because it was just kinda weird… and I also signed a NDA saying that I wouldn't tell anyone what he did as long as he was alive. Anyway, he died a couple months ago! So I can talk about it now. He was a retired magician. And I got these at his estate sale."

"You said you hated working for him right?"

"No, I just hated him. Working for him was cool. Cause he had all kinds of stuff like this. But yea, it kinda sucked. And he made me take letters on that clunky old typewriter. If I made any typos he'd 'punish' me by making my head disappear."

"Tough work environment," said Jenna.

"Well, what he didn't know was I liked having no head, especially around him, because then I didn't have to say anything. Sometimes I made typos on purpose actually."

"So," said Michelle, "What do the other boxes do?"

"Hmm… I haven't had time to play with them all. But there's the reducer. We're all familiar with that one. There's the swapper. There's the vanisher. This one is the extender or enlarger. And this one… I don't actually remember."

Ally picked up a green painted box with a pair of levers on the top.

"I think we should try it out," said Jenna.

"Why yes, indeed we should!" said Ally. "And since you've just volunteered…"

"Well, then what are we waiting for?"

Jenna sat down on the sofa. Ally placed the box over Jenna's head, and turned a crank on the bottom of it. The box seemed to hold fast.

"Okay, ready?"

Jenna gave a thumbs up.

Ally pushed one of the levers on the top of the box. They could hear a indescribable sound. Like air rushing, but more … more like something from a cartoon.

"Anything?" asked Ally.

"I don't know, it's dark."

Ally lifted up the box and then almost dropped it laughing. Michelle also burst into unstoppable giggling.

Jenna's head had shrank to about half its original size.

"What?" she said.

"It's the shrinker! Now I remember!"

Jenna got up and went to look in the mirror at the other end of the room. She herself then burst into unstoppable laughter.

"Ally's turn is next," said Jenna.

"But I get to pick! I haven't picked yet!" said Michelle.

"You might need some help without any arms," said Ally.

"And you need to tell me what the other boxes do. Swapper, vanisher, extender, reducer, and shrinker. What about those two?"

"I remember this one is the 'transmuter'. It can turn someone into other materials."

"Like what?"

"Like one day I got turned into a statue because I was 'lazy.'"

"Hmm.. What about the other one."

With her foot, Michelle pointed to the final box. I was made from red cedar, and just about four feet high.

"I don't think he ever showed it to me."

"Sounds like that's our candidate."