great French painter and graphic artist, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, in size. He spent an

inordinate portion of his time conducting research and experimentation with animals. As

might be expected, he was especially interested in growth, development, and nourish-

ment, hoping his findings would be applicable to human beings in the not too distant

future.

Huntington's wife, Maggie, like her husband, held a Ph.D. in Biochemistry.

She loved her husband, but was opposed to any cruel treatment of laboratory animals.

Recently Huntington had successfully compounded a complex drug that showed

great promise. It appeared to have some effect on rate of growth. He was using a

mongrel dog as his lab animal, and had been injecting the dog with the serum daily,

increasing the dosage, ever so gradually. The unfortunate creature grew progressively

smaller, and as it did an intense hatred for the doctor developed. The laboratory animal

would utter forth a menacing growl in the doctor's presence, but the scientist had had the

foresight to shackle and muzzle the creature to prevent any problems the animal might

introduce. As the days passed, the dog grew smaller and smaller, so small, finally, that

the growls became high pitched and barely audible. The lab animal finally became so

minute that shackles and a muzzle could no longer be used. Doctor Wilson was obliged to

imprison the little fellow in a tiny bird cage.

As these stages of the experiment developed, Maggie Wilson tried to learn from her

husband the exact manner in which the animal was being treated experimentally.

She would query her husband as follows: "Is the dog healthy, Huntington?"

And he would respond, "Yes, the basement is well ventilated and the animal gets

fresh food and water every day."

"What are you doing to the dog? Is it cruel and unusual treatment," asked Maggie.

His wife was a lovely woman of Spanish descent and he loved her dearly.

"I can't tell you the details at this point in the research, sweet Maggie, because of

conditions dictated by the funding agency."

"Are you imposing unpleasant conditions on the animal my handsome Huntington?"

"I can't really satisfy you on that question, my dear," and he kissed her and held her,

stroking her shoulders and her back.

She gave in then, melting at his touch, vibrating with desire. She took his hand and

pulled him toward the bedroom. They were in there for two hours. Maggie never felt

better at any time in her life than when Huntington made love to her. He seemed to be a

master of myriad and diverse love-making techniques, even though he was much smaller

than most men and was not particularly athletic. The soft gentle touch and his charisma

were part of his secret. All thoughts of cruelty to animals were pushed from her mind

when Huntington took her in his arms and she soon arrived at the point where she didn't

want him to stop.

Huntington was equally affected by Maggie. Even her sheer presence, together with

the touch from her warm hands, led to a case of trembling loins and all thoughts of his

research flew from his mind.

When Maggie attended high school her best friend was an attractive blonde with a

stunning smile who later became the famous singer and movie actress, Doris Ray. She

and Doris had kept in touch ever since high school and they presently corresponded

mainly by e-mail. When Doris retired from show business, she became involved in

humane treatment of animals. She started off in a small way, fetching cats from along

roadsides. Her involvement grew rapidly, however, and she presently headed up The

Doris Ray Animal League. This organization is a nonprofit , national, citizens, lobby-

ing organization which focuses attention on issues involving the humane treatment of

animals.

Maggie communicated her concern regarding her husband's treatment of the lab

animal to Doris Ray whose reply was: "When did you last see the dog?"

Maggie said, "It has been several months. My husband is rather secretive about his

work in the lab."

Doris said, "Well, you have no strong reason to think that the animal has been mis-

treated, have you? I wouldn't worry about it any longer if I were you. A more important

issue is that you and Huntington are in love with one another." Maggie took Doris's word

for awhile.

From time to time when Doris Ray visited Maggie she would slip down to the lab-

oratory when Maggie was engrossed in computer work. Doris would comfort the dog

and sing to it, although she was upset by its size and imprisonment. "Que sera, sera.

Whatever will be, will be," she sang.

Maggie's curiosity began to gnaw at her again. One night after she and Huntington

had made love she slipped out of bed and located the key to the lab. On entering the lab,

she was shocked to discover that the dog was so small and was held in captivity.

Employing her own scientific training, Maggie analyzed the serum her husband had

concocted and synthesized the components, thereby creating a new serum that would

reverse the growth process. In a sense her creation was the very result the doctor had

sought, since it would enlarge the size of the animal, and might eventually apply to

human subjects. Unfortunately, she underestimated the drug's potency.

By mistake, Huntington had failed to lock the cage door earlier that evening. Soon

after Maggie left the laboratory and climbed the stairs to the house, the dog threw its

almost negligible weight against the cage door and freed itself. Three short leaps and

the dog had scattered chemicals and upset racks of test tubes. The result was a small pool

of bright red liquid, a very strong dosage of the serum which Maggie had created.

When Doctor Wilson entered the laboratory the next morning he became, as was

usually the case, temporarily blinded by the change in light intensity. He unexpectedly

struck his head against some solid object upon passing through the doorway. A deafening

growl shook the laboratory and, as his eyes became adjusted to the light, he saw that the

dog's enormous jaws were holding the limp, lifeless body of the famous singer and

movie star, Doris Ray.

Copyright Richard H. Williams 2003