Growing closer
By Paul Bunyan
Amy and Jim are marooned on an alien world- and she's growing!


     The systems failure had been devastating!  The ship had encountered
a rending cosmic storm!  They tried to send a distress signal but
couldn't.  Worse yet, the energy of the storm must have caused some sort
of warping of space because, once the storm had passed, the stars they
saw were not on any of their star charts.  They had only one chance for
survival.  There was a solar system barely within their means to reach
using their emergency reserves of power.  One of the planets, the fourth
from the Sun, was barely habitable for human life according to the final
readings they were able to get before they lost too much power.  They
made it into the atmosphere but couldn't sustain power all the way to
the surface.  Over a hundred miles above the ground, the ship totally
lost power and became a one hundred ton piece of junk falling from the
sky.  Fortunately, the ship had very good defensive measures to protect
passengers in case of a crash.  There was the additional fact that this
planet had only eighty percent of the gravity of Earth so that terminal
velocity was somewhat less.  Unfortunately, the ship had no control over
where it landed!  It skimmed off a mountain and crashed through rough,
rocky terrain, being virtually ripped apart before skidding to a halt!

     Amy and Jim were both passengers aboard the ship.  Amy was
twenty-four years old.  She stood five feet, three inches tall and
weighed one hundred and five pounds.  She had a slim but attractive
figure.  Jim was twenty-six years old.  He stood six feet tall and
weighed one hundred and eighty pounds.  His short black hair contrasted
with Amy's long brown hair.  They both had deep-set brown eyes.  They
both staggered from the ship- and that was when they met each other!
They had not encountered one another during their months aboard the
ship.

     "Are you okay?" Jim asked Amy when he saw her staggering out of the
ship.
"I'm just a little shaken!" she gasped.  "I'll be all right!  Just let
me sit down!  Please see if everyone else is okay!"
"Good idea!" he said.
He started back to the ship.
"Hey!" she called.
He looked back.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
"A little shaky!" he said.  "But I'll get by!"
He ducked into the ship.

     A few minutes later, Jim staggered out of the ship, looking very
pale and truly shaken.  By this time, Amy had begun to recover and, when
she saw his condition, she gasped, "My God!  What's wrong?"
But before he could answer, she already knew.
"They're all dead!" he said.  "Every last one of them is dead!  The crew
and the passengers- everyone is dead!"
They both sat in silence for several minutes, absorbing this
information.  Finally, she said, "What are we going to do?"
"Survive!" he said.  "We are going to survive!"

     Working together, Amy and Jim got everything salvageable out of the
ship that they believed they could possibly use.
"There's no way we can carry all of this stuff!" Jim said.  "We'll have
to take only what we think is essential, mostly preserved foods, water
and basic survival equipment!"
"I'll organize it," Amy said.  "Organization is one of my strong
points!"

     Within a few hours, they were ready to travel.
"Before we leave," Amy said, "we have to say a few words over the dead!
Maybe it's silly but…"
"No!  I agree!" Jim said.
He and Amy turned toward the ship, heads bowed.
"We don't know how much longer we'll be alive ourselves," Amy said, "but
while we are, we will honor your memories in our hearts!"
"We'll honor your memories by surviving!" Jim said.  "We'll get rescued
or find some way to repro- that is, survive- here!"
Amy knew he said this for her sake, nor did she miss the 'Freudian Slip'
about reproducing the human race.  Once they both had spoken, they
looked at one another.  Without another word, they shouldered their
backpacks and began walking.  They moved a hundred yards from the ship
before either of them spoke, as if out of reverance for the dead.
"Where do we go from here?" Amy asked.
Jim pointed to a mountain range far from the bleak plains they currently
inhabited, the very Mountain range the ship had bounced off of on it's
descent.
"There!" he said.  "We may find food and water there, as well as
shelter!"
"If we don't," Amy thought, "we're as dead as everyone else!"

     As they moved across the bleak landscape, they both felt the
depression.  This world had gravity considerably less than Earth's.
They weighed less and the burdens of carried equipment were also less
and the walking easier.  Unfortunately, with a lighter gravity there
tends to be a thinner atmosphere and this world was no exception.  They
both began finding it difficult to breathe just from the exertion of
walking.  Also, with the lesser gravity and atmosphere, the planet's
heat was not so easily retained.  They were both very cold.  The fact
that the planet was very distant from its sun also increased the cold.
Still, they trudged on, striving for the mountains.  They did not reach
them on the first day.  They had to camp on the plains.

     "How'd you happen to be going to Planet 34B?" Jim asked.
The number was the planet's designation in the star charts using a
cross-reference system with numbers down the side and letters across the
top.  The charts included more details that only navigators seemed to
understand, giving precise information.  The designation Jim referred to
was strictly tourist-level comprehension.
"I'm the secretary to Earth's ambassador to that planet- I mean I was
until he was-" she began.
"Oh, man!" he laughed, trying to lighten the mood.  "So the two
survivors are a VIP and a nobody!"
"You're an important person?" she quipped.  "You're obviously on the
outside looking in if you think that I'm of any importance.  Believe me,
I'm not!  I got the job as secretary to the ambassador because my
parents have connections.  Besides, regardless of how I got the job, the
bottom line is that I'm just a secretary.  Besides, there's nobody
that's unimportant!  So, what do you do for a living?"
"Me?  I was in the Custodial Department of the ship.  In other words,
I'm just a janitor, a practitioner of the cleaning arts!"
She looked at him with compassionate eyes and he felt his heart melting.

"Why do you say that you are 'just a janitor' as though it was something
bad?  Is there something wrong with being a janitor?'
"Well, er, no!" he said.
Laughing suddenly, she put her hand on his arm.
"Well then, Mr. Janitor, would you be so kind as to be my friend and
companion?"
She looked up at him with those compassionate and lovely eyes.  For an
endless moment, they held him spellbound.  Then he said, "I certainly
would be honored to be your friend and companion, Miss Secretary!  I
most assuredly would be honored!"

     The next morning, the two of them again set out for the distant
mountains.  During the night, changes had begun to take place in Amy's
body but, on the surface, they were too insignificant to be noticed
yet.  By the end of the second day, Amy was really beginning to
struggle.  She was staggering under the weight of her pack and gasping
for breath.  Even through her insulated clothing, the cold was getting
to her.  Jim was fairing only a little better himself.  He was suffering
from the cold and the lack of air every bit as much as she was but his
greater size and strength combined with the lighter gravity was allowing
him to more easily carry his pack and trudge along although under no
circumstances could this be considered easy.

     On this planet, the difference between day and night was a rather
insignificant one, mostly a somewhat noticeable brightening of the sky
in comparison to the darkness of night.  In the daytime, the sky was
still overcast, but slightly brighter than at night.  When the sky
darkened enough that they could no longer see the distant mountains, Amy
and Jim stopped for the night.  As they sat, eating dried rations and
drinking as little water as possible, Amy said, "I'm not going to make
it, am I?"
This time, it was Jim's turn to give the compassionate look.
"Now, what kind of talk is that?  Of course you're going to make it!
You're doing great!"
She burst into tears.
"Oh no I'm not!" she cried.  "I'm fading by the hour and I'm holding you
back in the process!  You could have gotten a lot further without me!"
"I couldn't get anywhere without you!" he blurted.  "The price would be
too high!"
If he was beginning to experience any feelings for her, feelings couched
within that remark, she was too distraught to notice.
"We're in this together!" he said.
Gently, he put his hands on her shoulders.
"We're in this together and we're going to get out of it together!"
Ever so cautiously, he hugged her, stepping to one side and lightly
putting his arm around her shoulder, so as to not seem too forceful.
She turned and threw her arms around him, crying out her fears.
"It will be all right!" he kept saying.  "It will be all right!  I won't
let anything happen to you!"
Under his gentle holding and reassurance, she finally fell asleep.
Again, changes took place during the night while she slept and, again,
they were still too insignificant to be noticed on the surface!

     They had been trudging along for several hours on the third day
when Jim turned to Amy and said, "Give me your backpack!"
In spite of the fact that she was near to collapsing, she said, "No!  I
can carry it!"
"Maybe for five more minutes!" he said.
He stepped behind her and started taking her pack off.
"You can't carry both of them!" she said.
"Can't I?" he smirked.
The exhaustion was plain on his face.  Carrying both packs would strain
him to the limits and probably beyond.  Yet, with frequent rests, he
made it through the rest of the day carrying both packs in spite of
Amy's regular pleas to let her carry her own.

     That night, Jim lay exhausted while Amy prepared the meager meal.
She noticed that his hands shook slightly as he drank his water.
Kneeling next to him, she said, "Lay down!"
She put her hands on his chest and pushed.  In his weakened condition,
he fell back and found his head resting on her lap.  She stroked his
hair.
"My big strong man!" she almost cooed, looking down at him.  "My
rescuer!  You've done all you can!  Now, just relax and sleep- relax and
sleep!"
Under her gentle caresses and sweet voice, he drifted to sleep within
minutes.  She soon fell asleep herself.  During the night, there were
more changes.

     Jim let Amy start out carrying her own pack the next morning.  But,
after a few hours, he insisted upon carrying it.
"No!" she insisted.  "I can keep going for a while longer!"
At first, he thought she was just saying that, but she really did look
like she was doing okay.  It also looked like there was something
different about her, but he just couldn't place what it was!  Before the
end of the day, he did have to start carrying her pack for her, but she
had carried it for most of the day!

     That night, Jim fell asleep almost instantly.  There was no
conversation.  Amy missed that.  The previous three nights, they had
talked and he had reassured her.  But, by the fourth night, he was just
too weak to stay awake.  She was very tired herself but felt she could
stay awake for just a little while longer.  Besides, she needed some
time to think.  She looked at Jim, sleeping peacefully away.  Of course,
she wondered if they would survive and if they would ever be rescued.
But what if they managed to survive but didn't get rescued?  What would
happen then?  How would they live?  What would their lives be like on a
daily basis?  What would their relationship become?  Would it end up
being romantic?  She didn't exactly look upon Jim in a romantic way.
She already thought of him as a dear friend and now one she was very
grateful to, but she wasn't sure she felt any more than that.  What if
he insisted that it become sexual?  She really didn't think he would do
that!  He had too much of a conscience.  Would she want it to become
sexual and romantic as an alternative to lonliness?  Would she be doing
it for her sake or for his?  All of these questions collided within her
until she finally fell asleep.  Again, changes began taking place as
soon as she began sleeping.

     On the morning of the fifth day, Amy felt positively energetic.
She insisted upon carrying her own pack.  Jim kept looking at her as if
something was wrong but he said nothing.  As they walked, he estimated
that they would reach the mountains by the next day.  Amy was beginning
to outdistance him even carrying her own pack.  He was having trouble
breathing and was cold even through his insulated suit.  The dust or
some sort of contaminants in the atmosphere were affecting him because
he was coughing intermittently.

     When they finally stopped for the night, Amy looked like she could
have kept going for a while longer.  She took off her backpack and then
helped Jim off with his.
"You don't look so good!" she said.  "Just lay down and rest.  I'll set
up the camp!"
Jim lay coughing occasionally while she did that.  Then she walked over
with the water canteen.  She knelt down, cradling his head and holding
the canteen for him to drink.
"Thanks!" he said.  "I don't know what's wrong!  It must be contaminents
in the air that I don't have a tolerance to!"
Amy began spoon-feeding him his rations.
"Aren't you going to eat and drink?" he asked.
"You know, that's funny!" she said.  "I drank some water early this
morning and I just now seem to be feeling thirsty.  I'll have a drink
before going to sleep.  As for eating, I'm not the least bit hungry!
Oh, well!  More for you!"
She stayed up later that night than she had the night before.  When she
finally slept, changes again took place.

     When Jim awoke the next morning, Amy was packed and ready to go.
She wasn't even wearing her insulated suit.
"My God!" Jim said.  "You're going to freeze!"
"No!  I don't think so!" she said exuberantly.  "I don't feel the least
bit cold!"
Now that she wasn't wearing her bulky insulated suit, he saw clearly for
the first time what had been making him suspicious.  Amy was almost as
tall as he was!
"My God!" he gasped.  "This is impossible!"
"What are you talking about?" she said
It was obvious she had been dreading this moment, but he said, "You know
what I'm talking about!  Look how big you've gotten!  You're nearly as
tall as I am!"
"You must be crazy!" she said.  "I'm not any taller!"
"Do you really believe that?" he said.  "Do I look the same size
compared to you as I did when we met?  Do you're surroundidngs look the
same size?  In fact, your suit has seemed smaller and tighter every day,
hasn't it?"
"Yes!" she yelled.  "I can barely fit into it anymore!  But I really
don't need it!  There have been other changes too!"
"Your size and the fact that you aren't feeling the cold anymore!  What
else?"
"I'm not having much trouble breathing this thin air."
"These contaminents don't seem to be affecting you either, Amy!"
"I'm afraid!" she said.  "Granted, all of these changes seem to be
positive.  I barely need to eat or drink anymore and I don't seem to
need as much sleep.  But I don't know what's happening.  I'm scared out
of my mind!"
He held her close.
"I'm sorry!" he said.  "I know you're scared!  But these changes really
do seem to be for the better!"

     Jim had miscalculated slightly.  They almost made it to the
mountains that day, but they would have had to travel at night to
complete the journey.  Instead, they set up camp.  They had walked in
silence for most of the day.  Amy was afraid to start a conversation for
fear that Jim would maneuver it around to talking about what was
happening to her.  Likewise, Jim had kept silent for fear that he would
do that very thing.  As they prepared to go to sleep, Jim said, "Well,
tomorrow, we'll reach the mountains and then, maybe, there will be
hope!"
"To hope!" Amy said as Jim drifted off to sleep.
She stayed awake a little while longer before drifting off to sleep.

     Amy and Jim reached the foot of the mountains within a couple of
hours.  If they thought traveling had been difficult before, at least it
had been on even ground.  Now, they had to climb.  There was no breath
to be spared for talking.  It wasn't a sheer cliff that required any
special climbing equipment, but the grade was steep enough that it was
very rough going.  Coughing as he was, Jim was truly beginning to
struggle.  Although Amy was faring better, she was still exhausted at
the end of a day's climb.  By the end of the third day of climbing, Jim
estimated that it would take two more days to reach the top.  As they
stood looking at one another before making camp, they both realized that
they were at eye level with one another.  Jim no longer had to look
down.  Amy was six feet tall and proportionately large.
Her eyes said, "Please don't say anything!"
He only said, "We'd better start setting up camp!"
They worked in silence, ate in silence and soon, Jim fell asleep.  Amy
stayed awake for about the same length of time that she had done the
night before.

     This time, Jim was right.  It took two more days to reach the top.
By the morning of the day they got there, Jim was looking up at Amy.
"Well, now the journey gets easier!" Jim said.  "We travel down the
mountain and hope we find food and water!"
The obvious question at this time was, "What if we don't?"
The answer to that question was obvious and Amy refrained from asking
it.  They both knew how serious the situation was and saying it out loud
would only damage their morale.  Still, as they began working their way
down the mountain, their spirits lightened with the easier traveling.
It took three days to reach the bottom of the mountain and, when they
did, they found a small river there!  The only means they had of testing
the water was drinking it.  They did so and it tasted perfectly good!
Before they even thought about what they were doing, their relief at
this discovery overwhelmed them and they were splashing each other with
water and chasing each other, laughing and yelling.  Finally, they
hugged each other in relief.  Along the banks of the river, they saw
plants growing.
"We're saved!" Jim laughed.  "This world has water and it has plant life
at the very least!  There's a very good chance that we can survive
here!"

     Amy, who now stood about six and a half feet tall, looked down at
Jim and said, "Jim, with it looking like we can survive here, the
immediate danger has passed and we can relax a little bit.  I suppose
that now would be a good time to face what's been happening to me!  I
mean, the cold isn’t bothering me at all anymore and I'm having no
trouble breathing.  Whatever these contaminents are, they don't seem to
be affecting me.  I feel healthier and more energetic with each passing
day!  I feel a little less need to sleep with each passing night!  I
feel stronger than I've ever been in my life!  I'll bet that I'm
actually a little bit stronger than you are now!  No offense!  You're
quite strong.  Being stronger than you is quite an accomplishment!"
"Amy!" he said.  "I don't even begin to understand what's happening to
you, let alone why!  But, so far, it seems to be totally advantageous!
It's allowing you to adapt perfectly to the conditions of this planet.
I'm not entirely sure where this business of growing bigger fits into it
except maybe that you're becoming healthier and physically superior all
around.  I suppose the real question is: why is it happening to you and
not to me?  I mean, we've both been on this planet for the same length
of time, been exposed to the same environment and so on.  Yet, this is
happening to you and not to me!  Why?"
"Strictly speaking," Amy said, "we don't know that the planet has
anything to do with it!  Maybe it was that cosmic storm?"
"You know, you're absolutely right!" Jim said.  "I never thought of
that!  Of course, it still goes back to the same question: why you and
not me?"
"But," Amy said, "it might at least begin to explain one of the most
obvious impossibilities about what's happening to me!"
"Where all of this mass is coming from!" Jim said.
"Exactly!" Amy said.  "There's no way I've consumed enough food in the
last few days to even begin to explain putting on what I'd estimate to
be about sixty or more pounds as I've grown larger!"
"Maybe you absorbed some kind of energy from that storm," Jim said,
"energy we can't detect that's slowly converting to mass!"
"Oh, this is sheer speculation of the worst kind!" Amy laughed.  "The
bottom line is that we don't know how or why this is happening or what
the end results will be- and that's the part that truly scares me!"
Jim didn't know what to say.  So he took her hand and held it.  She
smiled and gave his hand a light squeeze.
"Come on!" she said.  "Let's go face this world together!"

     While they had been on top of the mountain, Amy and Jim had seen a
valley about forty miles distant.  From that vantage, it seemed to have
a good covering of trees.  Under their current circumstances, it took
four more days of slow traveling to reach the valley.  During that time,
Amy's pullover shirt became a tanktop; her pants were unbuttoned and
unzipped and Jim had to slice open the outsides of the leggings with a
knife for her to wear them at all.  She had discarded her shoes and,
instead, wore two pairs of socks to give her feet some padding while she
walked.  She was getting close to the seven-foot range.

     They reached the upper edge of the valley and saw, far below, a
seemingly endless forest of trees.  They stretched out, along with the
valley, for over a hundred square miles.  Even from up here, they could
vaguely hear the sounds of wildlife.
"This makes sense!" Jim said as they hurried down into the valley.  "In
a valley like that, the vegetation would produce oxygen and that thick,
roof-like covering of trees creates an almost enclosed environment to
maintain the atmosphere.  I'll bet we'll find that the air is a bit
thicker down there and that it's a bit warmer!"

     It was on the second day of their descent that they reached the
tops of the highest trees.  They spent hours just walking down past the
level of foliage and, once they did get past it, they were shocked.
The long, thin treetrunks descended down into the mists.
"It must be the lighter gravity!" Amy said.  "For the trees to have such
long trunks that are a long way apart and yet to have such widespread
interlocking foliage at the top- only the lighter gravity could account
for it!"

     It took them three more days to reach the bottom.  By the time they
did, Amy stood well over seven feet tall and probably weighed over three
hundred pounds or would have under Earth's gravity.  But she wasn't the
least bit overweight and her proportions were exactly right for her
height.  Of neccesity, she finally discarded the last of her clothing.
Jim tried to act nonchalant about the fact that his only companion was a
towering, gorgeous naked woman.  He tried not to stare but, inside, he
was feeling desire.  He could have endured that but he was also finding
a whirlwind of emotions flooding his heart.
"I'm sorry!" he finally said when the look on her face told him that she
had caught him staring and there was no denying it.  "I didn't mean to
stare!  It's just that, well, you're very beautiful!"
"Don't worry!" she laughed.  "Under the circumstances, it would be
ridiculous for me to expect you not to look!"
What she refrained from saying was that she wasn't worried about it for
a number of reasons.  The first was that she genuinely didn't think he
was the type that would ever try to do anything by force, even under
these circumstances.  The second reason was that she was sure that she
was considerably stronger than he was by now.

     Once they reached the bottom, they only had to journey for a few
hours before they reached a lake.  The water was fresh but they had
barely begun drinking when they heard a guttural roar and the sound of
something heavy crashing through the woods.  They quickly hid behind a
tree and waited.  Within moments, a powerful creature emerged from the
woods and stood at the lake.  It stood on two legs and was probably over
seven feet tall, possibly even taller than Amy.  It had a massive
musculature and was undoubtedly far stronger than she was.  It vaguely
resembled an ape with a glint of rudimentary intelligence in its eyes.
It had blue skin, hardened to the point of becoming natural armor and
claws emerged from its fingers.  A blue fur covered parts of its
anatomy.  It was looking around as if aware that something was there.
It hesitated for a few seconds, then drank its fill of water and
retreated.

     Amy and Jim moved away from the lake.
"I think our first priority is to build a shelter up off the ground so
that large animals can't reach us!" Jim said.
"Assuming those things can't climb!" Amy said.
Jim didn't look too comfortable with that thought.  But they began to
discover the advantages of Amy's newfound size.  She was tall enough to
reach the lowest branches of the trees and swing herself up into them.
She could just manage to reach down, hanging by her shins, and grab
Jim's outstretched hands.  Then, she was able to pull him up to the
branch with her.  From there, the branches were close enough together
that they could climb further.

     Fortunately, they managed to avoid any direct encounters with these
creatures for over two weeks.  By the time they were walking through the
forest and found themselves confronting one of the creatures face to
face, Amy was over eight feet tall.  If there was any doubt of the
demeanor of these creatures, it was immediately dispelled.  The creature
bellowed and charged.  She knew that she was still no match for this
thing.  They ran for the nearest tree.  Amy grabbed Jim by the shirt
collar and by the belt and hoisted him up onto the highest treebranch
she could reach.  She was as amazed as Jim was at this display of
strength.  She had lifted him almost easily.  She slung him over a
branch and saw that he was secure, having grabbed another branch to hold
on to.  She saw a blur of motion coming at her and leaped to one side.
The creature took a moment to stop, then turned and charged again.  Amy
started sprinting for all she was worth.  At first, the creature was
right behind her, so close she could hear it's guttural breathing.  But
with her long legs and graceful strides, she soon began outdistancing
it.  She heard occasional sounds in the woods ahead of her and caught
glimpses of other creatures like the one that was chasing her.  She
dodged left and right through the woods, avoiding them.  Finally, she
circled back to where she had left Jim.  He was still sitting up in the
tree.
"We'll," he said, "we know now that they can't climb!  A couple of them
showed up and stared at me for a while, but they eventually gave up!"

     Amy reached up and took Jim under the arms.  She easily brought him
to the ground.  "Wo!" he laughed, coughing slightly.  "I'm beginning to
feel like a child in your arms!"
"So you should!" she quipped.
She saw the forced smile on his face and said, "Sorry!  That was out of
line!"
"It was just a joke!" he said.
"We've really got to discover what's happening to me!" Amy said.  "I
mean, I'm already taller than any woman whose ever lived and soon, I'll
be taller than anyone whose ever lived, man or woman!  Yet, I have none
of the negative side effects of such size!  I'm clearly not suffering
from a malfunction of the pituitary gland!  My growth is of proper
proportions in all body parts with no disfigurements.  I'm not even
suffering from my own weight.  That can partially be accounted for by
the gravity, but it's still eighty-percent of Earth's gravity.  That
can't account for all of this!  I'm moving as easily and gracefully as I
did before I started to grow.  It all seems to my advantage.  The only
thing worrying me is that it shows no signs of stopping!"

     "Amy, I-" Jim started to say.
He was startled when she reached down and caressed his face.
"You've protected me from the start!" she said.
"Well, you're protecting me now!" he said.
"But I would have died within the first two days if you hadn't saved
me!"
"No!" Jim said.  "At the time, you thought you were going to die!  But
at the rate you were adapting, you would have survived!"
She knelt down.  Even on her knees, her face was slightly higher than
his was.  But her face was hovering so close, tantalizing inches from
his face.
"You are so honest!" she said.  "Even when it's not to your advantage!"
As she spoke, her lips were drawing so very close to his.
"Can- Can I kiss you?" he stammered.
"Yes!" she whispered.
Then, she bent over and they kissed, softly at first.  She put her hands
on his face.  In spite of her size, her hands were still long and
graceful.  His hands moved to her arms.  The kisses became more rapid
and more passionate.  He caught himself and stepped back for a moment,
his eyes seeking out her's.  He saw that she was looking in his eyes to
find the answer to the same question he was seeking in her eyes.  Seeing
the answer, he paused only long enough to ask one question.
"Why?" he said.  "And why right now?"
"I don't know!" she said.  "Except that I need you.  I need not to be
alone with this anymore!"
She kissed him tenderly on the lips.
"You were never alone!" he said, tears forming in his eyes as he said
it.
The sight of Jim on the verge of tears brought her own tears streaming
down her face.  She fumbled with his shirt, unbuttoning it with her
large fingers.  He took her large hands into his smaller ones and said,
"You don't have to do this!  As much as I want you, this isn't a
requirement for me to care about you!  You are not alone!"
"I know that about you!" she said.  "That's one of the reasons I want to
do it!"

     Amy's hands caressed Jim's chest.  Jim caressed her arms, then his
hands slowly moved up to her neck and then to her jawline.  From there,
they slowly descended to her breasts.  By this time, her breasts, having
grown equally in proportion to the rest of her body size, were huge.
Jim's fingers traced circles around her aureolas and then, slowly, his
lips descended to her right nipple and he began sucking.  She gasped,
throwing her head back in pleasure, tossing her long hair out of the way
behind her as he sucked and licked one nipple and then the other.  She
then stood up.  By this time, the top of Jim's head was barely above her
navel when they were both standing.  He bent only slightly and began
lightly nuzzling and licking her vagina.  Again, she gasped at the
sensations she was experiencing.  Grabbing his hair, she pressed his
face into her crotch and he found himself almost smothering as he lapped
away at a vagina that was almost as large as his face.  He reached
between her legs and began caressing her buttocks as he continued
licking her to orgasm.  Finally, she began to moan even louder than she
already was.  Pressing him to her bosom, she writhed and gasped.  He
felt her orgasm explode into and around his mouth.  She continued to
hold him to her vagina for long seconds, experiencing every last vestige
of her release.  When she finally calmed down and stepped back, she
couldn't help but laugh.  There was Jim, looking way up at her, his
erection standing almost straight up.  She giggled.
"Should I let you have sex with me now?" she teased.
"Yes!  Please!" he begged.
"Hmm!  I'm not sure I should!" she teased.  "Suppose I just say 'No!'
What could you do about it?"
"Oh, please, Amy, please!"
She laughed and squatted just above his groin.
"I have so much control over this- I love it!" she said.  "But I love
you more!"
Then she threw her arms around his neck and slowly lowered herself.
"I love you!" he groaned as he slowly began to penetrate her.
He babbled that he loved her several times over as he began to thrust.
In a part of her mind, she was thinking, "Men are so easy!  They fall in
love so quickly and easily!"
But she knew she wouldn't want it any other way.  She seemed to have
taken the falling in love step herself, but she still wasn't completely
sure that it wasn't the need to escape lonliness more than romantic
love.  In one respect, she felt she wasn't being completely honest.  She
was expressing emotions that might or might not be exactly what she
really felt.  She loved him, but she still wasn't sure how she would
feel if not for their unique circumstances.

     Amy pressed Jim's face to her breasts and, holding him to herself,
slowly lowered herself to her back on the ground with him on top.  Jim's
face was at about the level of her breasts as he continued thrusting.
He was also licking and sucking at her breasts while she enfolded him
with her arms and legs, holding him tightly to herself.  He had never
experienced anything like this before.  He was simultaneously the man,
on top and thrusting away at the woman and he was also the little boy,
held safe and warm in the arms of his giant protectress.  He knew there
was no way he could break her grip, not that he wanted to.  He knew he
was on top only because she allowed it.  She was bigger and stronger
than he was- immensely so- and it was mindboggling!  It was the most
erotic experience of his life!  On the one hand, he wanted to thrust
faster and faster, to achieve the ejaculation he'd been desiring for
days.  On the other hand, he wanted this to last forever.  The only
thing marring this perfect joining was that he was feeling
extraordinarily exhausted by his efforts and he kept having an almost
unbearable need to start coughing.

     Amy looked at the man held tightly to her bosom.  She was
experiencing a mixture of power and erotic pleasure and she couldn't
possibly separate them or decide which she was feeling more of.  It
would be more accurate to say that each feeling was feeding the other in
an endless cycle.  They were both being taken to unprecedented levels in
a perfect mixture.  She found the sensation of Jim licking and kissing
her breasts to be highly erotic, the moreso because she could easily
adjust where he was licking by putting her hands on his face.  The same
was true for his passionate gyrations.  At will, she could stop his
impending ejaculations.  She could control his positioning so that his
passionate thrusting met her needs exactly as she desired.  Most
important was the simple fact that she was in control.  However, as with
any good sex, sometimes the best part for each partner occurs when he or
she realizes that the other has taken control beyond your will to fight
it.  She had already delayed his ejaculation several times but now she
was beginning to lose control as her own orgasm approached.  A look of
concern also crossed her face.  He was sweating like he was in a sauna
and gasping for breath, way to desperately to be accounted for merely
because he was having sex.  Her eyes met his.  His pleaded with her to
let him end it before he collapsed unsatisfied.  A sensual thrill like
nothing she'd experienced before went through her as she experienced the
inevitable approach of an intense orgasm.  Jim screamed as he felt the
ejaculation that had been building for so long building and about to
experience release.  He was now grateful that Amy had the power to
control exactly when it would end.  He wasn't so sure about that along
the way, but now he sensed the impending release of sexual pleasure
beyond any he'd ever experienced before.  The fact that she totally
controlled their lovemaking made his release more pleasurable than ever
before.  Then all capacity for rational thought deserted him.  He threw
his head back with such force that it actually moved her arms and
screamed like an animal.  He was thrusting faster than ever, desperately
releasing his desires while continuing to kiss her breasts.  Twice, his
gyrations subsided, only to be renewed as he went into a new bout of
spasmodic thrusting.  Finally, he collapsed, gasping so desperately that
it scared her.

     Amy's breasts were like two huge, luscious pillows.  He was torn
between kissing them or lying his head on them and falling asleep.  But
neccesity forced him to choose neither option.  He had to roll onto his
back to leave his chest unconstricted as he gasped for air.  Amy propped
herself on one elbow and leaned over him.  If Jim thought he understood
before how big she was, it was now emphasized even more.  He truly
comprehended how physically superior she was.  In a moment of
playfulness, she grabbed his arms and held them down while giving him a
passionate kiss.  A claustrophobic feeling came over him and panic
because he couldn't breathe.  He began to panic, thrashing wildly.  She
immediately let go of his arms and moved back a little ways.
"Sorry!" she said.  "I wouldn't have liked it had you done that to me
and you never would have!"
She waited until he was breathing more easily, a matter of several
minutes.
"I really do love you, Amy!" he said.  "Do you love me?"
She picked up his hand and kissed the palm, her lips almost covering it.

"I love you!" she said.
She didn't give a damn about any qualifiers.  He was going to be loved
and that was it, she decided.  Amy set her back against a tree and held
Jim in her arms as he drifted off to sleep.  She felt little need for
sleep herself and, when she did sleep, it was a light and alert one.
She slept for a couple of hours, but mostly just enjoyed holding Jim and
watching him sleep.  Days and weeks went by like this.  Amy was growing
at a rate of almost an inch a day.  By the time they had been on the
planet for two months, she towered about twice her original height or
over ten feet tall.  At this height, her weight was about eight hundred
pounds or more and she suspected that she was capable of lifting her own
weight.  Jim's head was at about the height of her hip.  The creatures
were no longer a real threat.  Although she still wasn't completely sure
of her ability to fight them, she could run so fast with her long
strides or leap into a tree so easily that they had no chance of
catching her.  Within a couple of more months, she towered twenty feet
tall.  She weighed over three tons or would have under Earth's gravity
and could lift as much.  The creatures were no longer any threat to
her.  She had no desire to harm them and they seemed to have an unspoken
agreement with her.  They left her alone and she left them alone.  Jim
only stood as tall as her knees now.  Unfortunately, the contaminants in
the air were effecting him more all the time.  There were mornings when
he awoke desperately struggling to breathe.  He was also freezing cold
whenever she wasn't holding him.  Her body generated enough heat to keep
him warm when they were under shelter.  As they slept one night, Amy
began to experience dreams that told her that there was only one way she
could save him and, according to the dreams, she would soon develop the
power to do it!

     About a month had gone by and Jim's condition was gradually
worsening.  By this time, Amy towered about forty feet tall.  It was
just before dawn and she had carried Jim to a hiding place very near to
one of the nests where the creatures slept and made their homes.
"From now on, until I'm big enough to do what must be done," she said,
"I'm going to carry you everywhere!"
In a weak voice, Jim protested that this wasn't neccesary.
"You know it is!" she said.  "I know you're being defensive because
you've lost your independence!  I understand that, but there is no other
way to keep you alive!  You'll freeze if I'm not holding you close!  In
a strange way, we're going through this process in reverse!  I'm holding
you like a baby!  But the point is that I can't let you die!  I don't
want to be alone!"

     They lay down behind some foliage and watched the nesting place.
Amy closed her eyes and began concentrating.  She stayed that way for
several minutes, until the creatures began to awaken with the rising of
the sun.  Jim watched her carefully during that time.  Then she opened
her eyes.  Lifting him in one arm, she crawled back and then stood up,
quickly moving away from the area.
"Could you really hear their thoughts?" Jim asked.
"Yes!" she said.  "I could.  They aren't animals.  They're beginning to
evolve intelligence.  One day, many thousands of years from now, they
may be every bit as intelligent as we are, for better and for worse!"
"But you see this as only the beginning of your powers!" Jim said.  "You
said this new telepathic ability you are discovering isn't the end and
it holds the key to saving me?  How?"
"I don't want to say anything yet!" she said.  "Please be patient with
me for just a little bit longer."

     One night, shortly afterwards, Amy was sleeping.  It was one of the
rare nights when she did so anymore.
"From now on, all of your dreams will be waking dreams!" she heard a
voice say.
It was a gentle voice, like the gentle billowing of clouds in the sky or
of a beautiful multi-colored pattern of light against a curtain of black
velvet.
"Soon, your powers will be complete and you will know who you have
become, my child!  Your needs have ended!  You are complete!"

     "How do you know that you've stopped growing?" Jim asked.
"Because," she explained, "last night was the last night I will ever
sleep and I grew while I slept.  But this isn't the end, Jim.  It's only
the beginning.  I can grow still more.  I can grow a hundred feet tall;
a hundred miles tall; as tall as the sky; a thousand feet; a thousand
miles; as big as the planet; as big as the sun!  However, after about
the first hundred feet, I won't be a physical being anymore.  I'll be
energy.  But don't worry.  A hundred feet is all I need to save you.  I
can do it right now!  It will only take a few hours to will the changes
that need to take place within me to save you!  Now I understand why I
was always so hesitant in my love for you, so unsure.  There was never
any doubt of the love, only of the kind of love!"
"Amy!" Jim said.  "Slow down and tell me what's going on!"

     "She's a lifeform, Jim!  The cosmic storm we encountered is a
lifeform!  She didn't intend us any harm!  When she realized that there
were other lifeforms passing through her and that they were being
damaged by it, she did everything in her power to prevent us from being
harmed.  But the damage was already done.  She searched mentally to find
a lifeform that was the most like her.  She found me and transferred
enough of her power into me so that I would survive!  I, in turn,
subconsciously focused upon and helped protect you because you were the
person I felt the strongest bond with!"
"But you didn't even know me then!" Jim said.
"On the contrary," Amy said.  "For that one moment, I knew everybody!
So, without even knowing it, I saved you.  The powers I've been
developing are powers I would have gained sooner or later.  Certain ones
developed sooner to help me survive on this planet!"
"And, how does any of this allow you to save me from what's happening to
me on this planet?" Jim said.

     After she explained it, Jim sat unmoving for long minutes.
"I know it's frightening!" Amy said.  "But you'll be warm and safe and
able to breathe and we'll be in constant telepathic contact and you'll
feel my touch and my love every moment and I'll feel your's!"
"I've said I love you so many times I've lost count!" Jim said.  "I
guess I've never said 'Let me count the ways' but I guess I should
have!  I guess the nature of what I thought our relationship was going
to be has just forever changed!  But, if it means being with you
forever, I wouldn't have it any other way!"

     Within hours, the changes were prepared.  Amy gave Jim one last
lingering kiss on the lips.
"I know you think it's the last time!" she said.  "But you'll quickly
learn that it's not.  We'll make love in ways that neither of us had
ever dreamed of before!"
Before his eyes, she grew and grew until she towered a hundred feet
high.  She held him in her hand, so small he fit easily into her palm.
Then he felt himself levitating, held aloft by the power of her mind
alone.
She lay down on the ground and he found himself moving through the air
to her crotch.  Before his eyes, her vagina was opening wide, as if in
the process of delivering a baby.  But the process was being reversed.
He tried to remember everything she had told him, particularly the fact
that everything would be all right within a few seconds and not to
worry.  He also remembered her greatest advice: he closed his eyes!  He
felt himself touch her vagina and the size scared him but then he heard
a gentle voice in his mind.
"Everything will be all right!" she said.  "Be calm!"
The power of her will overwhelmed him and he began to relax.  He could
feel himself going in.  The warmest, safest feeling he could ever have
imagined washed over him.  No!  Safer than he could have imagined.  Only
in the dim recesses of his earliest and forgotten memories could he find
anything to compare to this!  He felt himself passing through into a
place prepared for him within Amy's body as she had mentally willed the
changes in her body to accommodate him.  For just a moment, he
experienced a choking sensation as he felt a tube going down his throat
but her voice, her overwhelming presence, again washed over him and he
relaxed.  He suddenly realized that he was breathing freely, better than
he had for months, better than he ever had!  And he was warm, truly
warm, for the first time in months, warmer than he'd been quite
literally since he was born!  He knew he was floating in a liquid inside
of her.  But the telepathic contact he was feeling made him truly one
with her.  She had been so right.  He was feeling her every thought and
feeling and she was experiencing his.  There would never be a moment
when either of them felt alone and it felt like they were making love
every moment, a love that consisted of a total union of everything they
were!  He knew too that some of her thoughts were now beyond him, the
equivalent of an adult to an infant, but he was still an adult while her
thoughts had gone beyond those of any human- but not her feelings!  He
knew what she would do!  When she transformed into an energy state, he
would change with her for he was now a part of her.  She would journey
into space at the speed of thought and find the cosmic storm, the Cosmic
Mother!  She would learn from her and then, in time, they would journey
elsewhere.  The driving force of the Cosmic Mother was nurturing and so
was Amy's.  Perhaps they would even return to this planet and help these
creatures along on their journey to sentience.  Whatever a nurturing
mother would do, Amy would do.  But he knew that, of all her 'children',
he would always be the one who was truly a part of her.  Even as he
sensed that they were transforming to energy, he heard Amy in his mind,
singing him to sleep and he knew that, even in his dreams, she would
still be with him always!

THE END
(at least for now!)