The Incredible Shrinking Man Page #2

when you were so exposed?

Do you remember that day

I told you about the truck?

Yes, about two months ago.

I was on my way to the store

through an alley.

As I was walking a truck turned in.

It was spraying trees.

- Is that what's causing me to...

- No, that was only the beginning.

You see, something happened to that

insecticide after it was in your system.

Something fantastic and unprecedented.

Something which, in layman's terms,

so affected the insecticide

that from a mildly virulent germ spray

it created deadly chemical

reversal of the growth process.

Have you been exposed to any

radioactivity in the past six months?

Oh, no, of course not. I don't come in

contact with anything like that. I...

Scott, wait a minute.

That day we were on the boat.

- The boat?

- Charlie's boat. Remember?

Well, yes, I remember.

The mist.

That mist!

You want me to drive, honey?

No, I'm all right.

Louise...

I want you to start thinking about us.

Our marriage.

Some awful things might happen.

There's a limit to your obligation.

Oh now, wait a minute.

Look, I love you. Don't you know that?

You love Scott Carey. He has a size

and a shape and a way of thinking.

- All that's changing now.

- Not a darn thing's changed.

When I married you I meant what I said.

And as long as you've got

this wedding ring on, you've got me.

Come on now, let's go home.

The truth is,

I just lost the Bannister account.

You know how big that account was.

Probably 40 per cent of my income.

It's gone now and I just can't afford to

send you your pay cheques any more.

You've done everything

that a brother possibly could do.

Look, I don't like to say this but...

There have been reporters

over at the plant.

Looks like somebody at the

medical centre talked about you.

I told them there was nothing in it,

but one of the reporters stayed behind.

He was from the

American Press Syndicate.

He said they might pay for the story.

If it's true.

Scott, the story's going to

break anyway eventually.

So whether you make them pay or not,

they're going to make the most of it.

- So make them pay.

- No, Charlie.

Well, think about it.

All right. I'll think about it.

But really, was there any choice?

We owed a great deal of money

and I had nojob.

There was no choice. None at all.

And so I became famous.

And still Robert Scott Carey,

known to a nation as The Incredible

Shrinking Man, keeps getting smaller.

How long will this phenomenon continue?

I want to apply for

an unlisted line please.

This is a special case.

My name is Louise Carey, my hus...

Carey. C-A-R-E-Y.

Now look, we've got to have an unlisted

line. That's all there is to it.

I... I talked to you yesterday.

- Has he come out yet?

- How big is he now?

- Have you seen him?

- He's got to come out sometime.

What's the television truck doing here?

We return you now to Magic Melody.

Yes, thank you very much.

Scott? Scott, I've...

- I've cancelled our phone.

- What?

I said, I've cancelled our phone.

They're gonna try to get us

an unlisted line sometime next week.

- What do you mean, they're gonna try?

- They're just gonna try.

A lot of people are

waiting for unlisted lines.

Didn't you tell them who you're married

to? Scott Carey, the shrinking freak?

- Don't.

- Use your influence.

- I'm a big man! I'm famous!

- Please don't.

Those reporters out there.

Why don't you tell them about it?

Give 'em a new angle for their...

for their papers!

Or will I save it for my book?

Yeah, that's what I'll do.

A whole chapter devoted to telephones

and one more joke

for the worid to laugh at!

Scott, people know. They realise.

They're not laughing at you.

- They're not?

- No.

Why not? It's funny, isn't it?

But it is. See how funny I am?

The child that looks like a man.

Go on, laugh, Louise.

Be like everyone else. It's all right.

Well, why can't you look at me?

Look at me!

Don't, Scott.

Will they just let us alone?

Will they just let us alone?

Lou, honey, I'm sorry. I must be losing

my mind, talking to you like this.

No, honey. I'm all right.

- I know what you must be suffering.

- Do you?

Yes, I guess it's been

a nightmare for you too.

Maybe we've forgotten how to hope.

But, Scott, there's so much to hope for.

Any day now the doctors

say they may find the antitoxin.

Sure. Lou, let's get out of this place

before we both go crazy.

Somewhere where nobody can find us.

All right, Scott. I'll...

I'll look for something.

And try... Try not to worry.

No, I'll let the doctors worry.

I'm two days behind on my book.

October 17th.

Height:
36-and-a-half inches.

Weight:
52 pounds.

We haven't been able to find a new house

and there still is no privacy,

no relief,

and no word from the medical centre.

- I fear that what life remains to me...

Hello? Yes, this is Carey.

- Louise!

- Yes, Scott?

The antitoxin, they found it.

Oh, Scott. Are you sure?

Dr Silver wants us down there.

Right away!

There's something you both

must understand.

We're working with unknown factors.

Nothing is guaranteed.

We're 50 per cent sure

this will be effective.

The other 50 per cent,

we'll just have to pray.

How long before we'll know?

Mr Carey will remain here

under observation for a week.

We should have the answer by then.

- Are you ready?

- Ready.

Weight:
52 pounds.

Height:
36-and-a-half inches.

What was last week's reading?

Weight:
52 pounds. Height:

It's all over, Scott.

You're gonna be all right.

How long will it take, Dr Silver?

To be normal again?

Put on your robe now.

That'll be all, Miss Maltby.

Mr Carey, we seem to have checked the

degenerative process of your disease.

We've won that much.

At this moment the growth capacity of

your body is as limited as any adult's.

Whether or not you grow again

is another question.

To help you,

we face a whole new set of problems.

Then I'll spend the rest of my life...

like this?

Mr Carey, I assure you,

we'll go on working.

Every day we'll push

our knowledge further

until one day we might

have the whole answer.

Thank you, Doctor.

My relationships with the worid

had ceased with everyone...

...except my wife.

And I knew I was driving Lou from me.

But burning inside, adding its own

hideous pressure to everything else,

was my desperate need for her.

- You want the paper, Scott?

- No. No thank you.

Well I think I'll turn in. Come on.

- Coming to bed?

- Yeah, soon.

- Well, good night then.

- Good night, Louise.

I felt puny and absurd.

A ludicrous midget.

Easy enough to talk of

soul and spirit and essential worth.

But not when you're three feet tall.

I loathed myself. Our home, the

caricature my life with Lou had become.

I had to get out. I had to get away.

For the first time since it happened,

I ran into the night. Alone.

Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Here it is,

folks! The greatest show in the Midwest!

Come on in and see all

the freaks and curiosities!

See Dolly Dumpling, the fat lady!

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