Quest: Become your
mother’s toe jam
Reward: Make your mother happy
As the words flashed in front of Bill’s eyes, he felt his
gut drop. A shadow came over him. He turned, craning his neck he saw his mother
staring down at him, her lips pressed into a thin line, she brushed her black
hair over her shoulder.
“Sorry Bill but this is just for the best.”
Without permission his eyes left her face and fell on her
giant bare feet, her black polished nails seemed to catch the light before she
lifted her foot and began to move it over his head. Bill turned to run but his
eyes remained on her monolithic foot.
He’d barely made it a few inches. His heart was in his
throat. Her foot was above him. He ran faster, forcing his eyes to look
forward.
He was above, looking down. He watched as her foot touched
the floor crushing the insect below it. His mother twisted her ankle for good
measure and when she lifted it, all that was left was a small red splodge on
the floor.
Bill’s eyes snapped open and he bolted upright, his body
coated in sweat, his heart hammering in his chest. He looked around but his
mother was nowhere in sight. He was alone in his bed. He was safe. He rubbed his
eyes, wiping more than sleep from them. He hated that nightmare but at least
this time he didn’t wake up as she stomped on him, he’d fallen out of his bed
then and couldn’t stop the shaking.
The ground began to shake. Bill gripped the sheets of his
bed, head whipping around to face the left side of his room. His heart somehow
found a way to speed up even more.
“Bill are you awake?” the question was followed by the
thunderous sound of his sister tapping on his bedroom wall, she waited a second
before the wall was peeled away and Bill found himself looking out into what
had used to be his room from the dollhouse, he now resided in.
Claire was Bill’s older sister, her blonde hair hung free
framing her face, and she was wearing a pink shirt and matching yoga pants.
“Mom said…Bill, are you ok?” Claire asked, leaning forward,
her face coming into shocking clarity as she came closer, her now vivid green
eyes locked on him.
“Yeah…just a nightmare…” Bill shifted, sitting fully upright
in an attempt to collect himself.
“Must have been a bad one, do you want to talk about it?” Claire
pulled back and pulled out Bill’s old desk chair, resting her face in her hands
as she sat down, giving Bill her full attention. He knew that it was a gesture
to show he had her full attention but Bill couldn’t help but feel like he was
some oddity like a bug in a jar. It didn’t help that Claire could be very…clinical.
Bill thought a moment.
“Not really…”
Claire’s warm smile fell into a disappointed frown.
“Okay but if you ever need an ear, mine is always free.”
“Thanks,” his tone wasn’t too enthusiastic but he hoped it
would keep her from prying, he knew what she’d say anyway. Mom would never step
on him. At least not bring him back afterwards.
“Anyway, mom said breakfast is ready,” Claire lifted her
hand to the floor he was on.
“Err just a second,” Bill slid from his bed, his cheeks
tinging with embarrassment as he crossed the room in his damp boxers to the
tiny set of drawers that contained his clothes and retrieved a pair of thin
pyjama bottoms and quickly pulled them on. His sister had seen him in his
boxers plenty of times but he wanted to maintain at least some dignity. He made
his way to his sister’s hand and stepped onto her palm.
Claire was careful when moving to stand upright and began to
head to the kitchen, Bill wrapped an arm around her outstretched thumb to help
his balance. Claire smiled when she felt his tiny arm cling to her.
His mother was standing at the counter with her back to them
when they entered the kitchen, she was wearing her black robe, the scent of
pancakes filling the air, there were three regular plates on the table, two
already housing a stack of pancakes, and tiny wooden table with a matching
chair on the empty side of the actual table.
Claire sat down and lowered her hand until it was level with
the table allowing her brother to step onto it unhindered.
“Thanks,” Bill said before making his way to his designated chair,
it actually meant a lot to him that Claire did things like that, she let him do
things for himself. His mom would have put him down right next to his table, if
she could there was no doubt in his mind, she’d put him on his chair and move
him into position like a doll.
“Morning dears and how is my strong boy today?” Anna asked
as she turned from the hob, pan in hand, and began to dish her pancakes onto
her plate.
“He had-“
“I’m fine.” Bill cut her off, then again sometimes Claire
worried too much.
Anna glanced between the two and began to cut a small piece
off her pancake.
“You know Bill, you can tell me anything,” she deposited a
rather crudely cut piece onto Bill’s tiny plate before setting about cutting
another for him.
“I know, but really I’m fine.”
“Do I need to-“
“No…I just had a nightmare, that’s all, I’m fine.” Bill said
quickly, a touch of panic filling his voice, the last thing he wanted was his
mother casting a truth spell on him. He didn’t need to hear it again. That she
only stepped on him to teach him the danger, so that he would always be
careful.
Anna shot Claire a look, his sister gave a guilty nod
confirming his story.
Before any more could be said the sound of hurried footsteps
filled the air and Bill’s younger sister Tina burst into the room.
“Pancakes!” Tina cheered as she launched herself into the remaining
chair and pulled herself forward, jostling the table and nearly causing Bill
and his table to topple.
“Be careful dear.”
“Sorry Bill,” Tina said, already pouring syrup over her
stack. Tina was an eleven-year-old girl who had inherited their mother’s black
hair, where she got her energy from was anyone’s guess.
“So, mom…I take it you’ve got the day off?” Claire asked as
she indicated at their mother’s choice of attire with her fork, eager to start
a new topic, Ana smiled at her.
“Yes, so I was thinking I’d do some brewing today, we’re
running low on healing potions,” Ana replied, placing one more misshapen pancake
on Bill’s plate, “maybe you can be my little assistant, today sweetie.”
Bill felt dread start to creep in, it was going to be
another day with his overbearing mother, it was days like this he really missed
school.
“Maybe we can even get you to finally learn some skills,” that
made Bill worry.
“Actually…I was wondering…if I could…go with Claire today?”
All eyes were on him now.
“I miss school.” Bill wished he had a drink now, his throat
was starting to feel dry and he’d give anything for something to do with his
hands other than fidget as three giantesses stared down at him.
Anna’s features softened and she let out a small calming
breath. The effect was almost immediate, Bill felt the building tension in his limbs
lessen and the hairs on the back of his neck lie back down.
“It’s too dangerous dear. If you two got separated…” she
trailed off and Bill’s head fell, Anna hesitated a moment, “if you manage to
learn and level some survival skills we can talk about it, that’s if Claire
wants to take you.”
“I’ll look after him,” Claire said quickly, her mother
smiled at her.
“Then it’s up to you Bill, are you going to put the work in?”
It wasn’t like he had a choice, once his mother got an idea
in her head there was no way around it, he supposed he was lucky to have made
it this long. It had been 4 years since he shrunk and apart from the…incident, his
mother hadn’t forced any training on him, maybe she actually felt some
level of guilt for stepping on him.
“I’ll do it.”
“Good boy,” Anna’s smile grew.
Bill didn’t meet her gaze and with a thought brought up his ‘Character
Sheet,’ an illusion only he could see appeared in front of him, hovering in
place.
Name: Bill Tenner
Age: 16
Profession: None
Level: 5
HP 54/54
SP 42/42
MP 20/20
Constitution: 27
Strength: 22
Dexterity: 20
Intelligence: 15
Charisma: 18
Wisdom: 20
Skills (None
Bill was nervously fidgeting as he stood on the kitchen
table as the giant women rushed around the room. The table lurched and Bill
fell to his knees, pain splintering out from his kneecaps when his mother
jostled the table as she went past.
“Tina where’s your P.E. kit?” Anna asked as she looked after
the dark-haired blur as she ran out of the kitchen door.
She didn’t even notice she’d knocked him over. His cheeks
burned as again he was reminded of his pitiful size. Tina’s thundering
footsteps echoed down as she ran up the stairs.
“Found it!” Tina shouted down from her room.
“Claire, have you got your lunch?”
His older sister came to a sudden halt as she reached the
kitchen door handle before turning and rushing past the table, knocking it with
her oversized handbag on her way to the fridge to retrieve her lunch.
“Okay Bill, are you ready for your first task?” Anna asked
as she stepped up the table, her giant shadow eclipsing him, he fell back onto
his rear from his knees and looked up at his giant mother and swallowed.
“Yes,” his heart was hammering in his chest, maybe he
preferred it when she didn’t see him.
Anna lifted one of her black flats. The colour drained from
his face, it was one of her work flats, this was not a good sign. Anna placed
the shoe on the table carefully, he could feel a slight rumble from the heavy
object but it didn’t jostle him this time. She turned the shoe on its side and a
wave of warm damp musk emitted from the flat.
He could see the inside from where he knelt. The dark insole
had sunken, moulding to the shade of her heel, the edges were tattered and
flaking and he could just make out the slight glistening of moisture too. He
swallowed and looked back to his mother, her expression was neutral, lips pressed
into a soft line.
“I want you to climb out of my shoe before we get to
Claire’s school.”
“Wait why does he have to do that?” Claire asked, he looked
over at her so fast his neck cracked. Nervous relief began to build in his
stomach.
“He needs to learn climbing skills and level them up as fast
as possible,” Anna answered without missing a beat.
“Well yeah, but why your shoe? Can’t he try to climb out of
your bag or something? Or climb your hair to your ear? That would be a good
skill!” Claire replied, her tone becoming higher and quicker as she was stuck
with inspiration.
“One of the highest causes of accidental squishing is boys
getting stuck inside shoes from trying to get the attention of girls and women,
when he can climb out of my shoe we can move to more challenging trials,” Anna
explained as if it was the most honest thing in the world.
His stomach dropped and started to fill with dread. He
swallowed and looked back to the turned-over flat before looking back to the
two giantesses.
Claire’s expression fell into one of resignment. She
couldn’t find the fault in her mother’s logic and as a healer, she was more
than experienced with the tragedies that had befallen tinies.
“Can we at least use a…less used shoe?” Claire asked, her
voice had lost its assertion.
“He needs to learn how to climb out of used shoes, it’s less
likely he’ll end up in a new shoe,” Anna justified, her gaze returning to her
tiny son.
“Are you still sure you want to do this?” Anna asked, her
eyebrows raising.
Bill swallowed.
“Yes,” part of him was relieved she asked if he was sure but
he still doubted she would accept a ‘no’ as an answer, after all, he would be
stuck home with her all day. There was no telling what she’d make him do
instead.
“That’s a good boy, now why don’t you get in the shoe and we
can get going,” Anna said, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly. A message
appeared in Bill’s vision inside a transparent grey box.
Quest: Escape Mommy’s Shoe
Objective One: Climb into Anna Tenner’s Shoe
Objective Two: Climb out of Anna Tenner’s Shoe
Reward: Basic Climbing skills & 1 Basic Perk Point
Penalty: Ride home in Anna Tenner’s Shoe
With a shaky breath, Bill took a nervous step towards her
flat. He looked at Claire, she was pointedly looking at the floor and not at
him, he looked to his mother, her eyes were glued on him and there was
something of a gleam in her stern eyes.
“Are we going yet! We’re gonna be late!” Tina asked loudly
as she ran back into the room, her footsteps booming, Bill could almost feel
them through the ground.
“Soon, just as soon as your brother gets in my shoe we can
go,” Anna answered, though her gaze never left her tiny son.
The table shook beneath him as Tina’s hands gripped the
edge, he stretched out his arms, waving them to stabilize himself.
“Hurry up Billy! We’re gonna be late!” Tina pleaded in her
high-pitched voice; Bill’s eyes squeezed shut at the sudden volume. Feeling
much smaller, he continued his way to his mother’s flat.
He stopped at the opening and took a cleansing breath, his
eyes bulged, and the acidic stench of vinegar and his mother’s natural musk
burned his nostrils. Squeezing his eyes shut his body shook with an involuntary
shiver. He pressed his hands against the walls of the opening of her shoe, it
was damp to the touch and squelched as his fingers dug into them and he stepped
onto the shoe’s opening before jumping inside.
Objective One
Completed: Climb into Anna Tenner’s Shoe
The flat suddenly lifted and rotated and Bill fell face-first
against the sole of the shoe, his tiny frame fitting easily in the moist indent
of his mother’s heel.
“Right let’s go,” Anna said as she turned and headed to the
door.
Wind rushed above the opening of the flat, Bill slammed her
palms against either side of his head over his ears, trying to block out the high-pitched
sound when he was suddenly thrown forward by the shoe’s motion. With a grunt he
splatted into the toe section of his mother’s flat, the thick fabric squelching
under him and coating his body in her foot sweat and grime. Goose bumps
scattered over his skin as he involuntarily shivered. He was thrown back again
and while briefly in the air he saw the flat change direction, the back of the
flat slammed into his back sending him sprawling on the moist floor. His mother
was swinging her arms with her stride. The shoe tilted down and he began to
slide back down to the toe section.
“Right, everyone in the car,” Anna said as she unlocked the
dark blue Nissan Qashqai and slid into the driver seat before dropping the flat
containing her son into the cup holder, angled so that the heel was pointed
upwards. Her lips nipped together as she tried not to laugh at the mental image
of her tiny son trying to climb up her stinky work flat, she had been wearing
them for years, she’d almost broken them down with her foot sweat and prolonged
use.
She heard Tina jump in the seat behind her and close the
door, the crinkle of the barrier bag containing her P.E. kit falling into the
footwell. The passenger door opened and Claire hopped into the car, lowering
her handbag into the footwell before getting belted in. Anna reversed the car
out of the driveway and put her foot down on the accelerator, they had to make
up for time or her daughters really were going to be late for school.
“Mom isn’t that a bit mean?” Claire said as she pointed at
her upturned flat, Anna nipped the inside of her lower lip.
“It’s best for him to build skills the hard way so that
when-if anything happened, he has a better chance of getting out of it in one
piece,” Anna lied, difficulty rarely had any impact on skills at the low levels.
“Okaaay…” Claire said quietly before turning to look out the
window.
Within her stinky flat Bill was cradling his pounding head
in his palms, to say that landing was rocky would be a colossal understatement
and now that the car was moving the cavernous flat was vibrating so hard his
teeth were chattering. His eyes were starting to water from the stench.
“Come on Bill you can do this,
let’s get out of here,” he muttered to himself, barely able to hear it over the
car engine. He leaned forward, his feet sinking into the toe of the flat and
his knees pressing against the indent of his mother’s toes. He pressed his
hands into the wall, and he quivered as his hands sunk into the damp
fabric, he tried to curl his fingers and grip it but the insole didn’t have
much give,
Swallowing again he tried to
climb, pressing his knees hard against the insole and slamming his palms into
the wall he propelled himself forward, before he could make a second stride, he
slid back down the wet vibrating wall and was crammed back into the toe
section, his body curled into a ball. His body vibrated with the wet walls; it
was like his bones were been shaken out of his body. His headache was getting
worse.
Bill forced himself to his feet,
bracing himself against the sweaty wall, his legs were starting to ache. He
noticed the tattered fabric lining the insole his mother had worn away.
Shuffling to one side of the shoe he grabbed the rubbery tears and crammed his
foot in the crevice between the insole and inner wall.
Gritting his chattering, burning
teeth, he pulled himself as close to the crevice as he good, his nose crinkling
as the stench grew stronger from the trapped sweat. Bill bent his arms and
pulled himself up, he crammed his other foot into the crevice. He stayed in
place. His heart lifted with elation and he grabbed the next closest torn piece
of fabric and pulled himself up before pulling his lower foot out of the
crevice and cramming it back in higher. It felt like the vibrating would crush
his toes in the tight space but he was making progress.
Inch by minuscule inch
he climbed up the crevice of his mother’s foot. By the time he was level with
the rise of the insole from her instep, he was drenched in a mixture of her and
his sweat. He slowed and took several deep breaths, his muscles were burning
and he was out of breath, his fingers burning as he gripped the fabric so hard
her knuckles were white.
The vibrating suddenly dulled.
Anna parked up outside a large
building with bright red metal fences around it with a big sign that read ‘Victoria
Primary School’ in a font that made it look like the children had painted
it on with small hand prints acting as a border for it.
“Bye, mom!” Tina shouted as she
leapt out of the car, barely remembering to grab her P.E. kit.
“Have a good day sweetie,” Anna
called after her but Tina was already through the gates and deep inside the
school – and she had forgotten to close the car door again.
With an irritated sigh, she got
out of the car and slammed the back door shut before getting back in and
slamming her own door shut and squealing away from the curb and in the
direction of Claire’s school, unaware that the sudden motion had caused little
Bill to lose his grip and fall back down to the toe section of her work flat.
“Ahh!” Bill cried out as he fell
back from the seam, falling headfirst back into the toe section and landing
with a warm squelch. He shivered as he felt his pyjama top press into his back,
his mother’s sweat seeping through the thin fabric. It was starting to get
difficult to breathe, the warm humid air weighing heavy on his chest.
He rolled over onto his side and
pushed himself up onto his knees when he was suddenly thrown off the ground
as his mother went over a speed bump a touch too quickly. His tiny body flew
all the way up to the rise of the instep, he threw out his hands, bending his
fingers into claw-like shapes, and Bill slapped against the instep.
He stretched his arms as high as
he could and tried to grip hold of the moist hill, small droplets of sweat oozing
out between his fingers as they pressed into the insole and he began to slide
back down.
“No! No! No!” Bill shouted, his
voice muted by the car’s rumbling engine, his bare feet landed back in the toe
section with a familiar squelch. He didn’t waste a second and began shuffling
back to the edge of the shoe to climb the seam again, cramming his foot back
into the crevice and pulling himself back up.
New
Skill Unlocked: Determination, you have shown yourself
to be a determined individual, when you fail at an objective you get back up
and try again, you now gain +1% to all attempts made to previously failed
objectives.
Bill flinched, nearly falling
back down when the small transparent box appeared in his vision, mentally
dismissing the notification he refocused on his task. Gritting his chattering
teeth, his skull trembling in his head, he pulled himself up another inch,
his mouth filling with the taste of sweat and blood.
“You can do this. You can do
this. You can do this!” he muttered through clattering teeth and pulled himself
up another step.
He passed the hill of his
mother’s instep and could see the circle of light from the opening of the flat.
“I’m going to do it!” He shouted,
stretching his arm as far as he could reach and pulling himself half his body
length up, nearly slipping when he tried to cram his foot into the crevice but
he managed to maintain his position.
His chest was starting to ache.
“Almost there, just a few more
inches,” he pulled himself up, arms trembling.
He was suddenly flying back again
as his mother flew over another speed bump. The sweaty cavern around him began
to move, flipping over.
“Fuck!” Bill shouted as his back
slammed into the leather top of the shoe, the back of his head bouncing off the
surface. Before he could even sit up, he was suddenly slammed back into the toe
section as his mother slammed on the brakes sending him and his shoe slamming
against the interior of the car.
“Thanks, mum,” Claire called as
she jumped out of the car.
His heart sunk into his gut. A daunting
notification appearing his vision.
Objective
Two: Climb out of Anna Tenner’s Shoe: Failed
You have failed the Quest: Escape From Mommy’s Shoe
Penalty: Ride back home in Anna Tenner’s Shoe
“Have a good day sweetie!” Anna
called out after her daughter in a rush, barely getting it out before the door
slammed shut behind the teen.
The matriarch turned her
attention to the upturned shoe, she picked it up turning it back round and
looking in the cupholder, she saw no sign of her speck of a ton. Anna turned
her gaze to the opening of her work flat and peered in, yep there he was,
curled up in the toe section.
“Looks like you failed sweetie,”
Anna sighed, “I would have thought you’d have definitely got out when the shoe
upturned, if I didn’t know how much my feet stink after work, I’d think you
liked it in there,” she giggled, he looked just like his dad used to.
“Sorry, mum…I nearly did it but-“
“No buts, if this had happened
when you were in school with Claire you’d be squished,” Anna cut him off, her
tone turning from amusement to parental firmness.
Bill looked away from the
opening, staring down at her giant toeprints.
“Maybe this penalty will give you
some more motivation to climb out when we get home,” Anna reached down with her
free hand and slipped off one of her sandals before lowering the flat, angling
it to make sure her son stayed in the toe section, she didn’t want to squish
him on the drive home.
“No!” Bill shouted as five giant
bare toes slid into the opening, banishing all traces of lights as they crawled
towards him, searching for him.
The flat grew hot and even more
humid, he could taste the salt in the air. He could barely make out the shape
of her toes and her massive toenails.
Bill pushed his feet against the
insole trying to push his way back but the shoe had no give and his bare feet
slid impotently in her toeprint. He dived to the side barely dodging her big
toe and was pinned by her second and third toes, his legs pinned beneath her
warm meaty flesh. They scrunched, pulling him under them, the top of her second
toe lightly tapping against his face before resting on top of him. He turned
his head taking a deep breath of her toe stench.
Anna sighed, it had been a long
time since she’d had a tiny in her shoe, she could feel herself getting wet as
she pulled him under her toes and tapped his tiny face. Maybe she would make
this his regular penalty when he failed her tasks. And it was about time he did
something to help around the house, Claire helped with the cooking and Tina
helped with the dusting, he may be small but he can help by giving his tired
mommy foot rubs at the end of the day. The thought made her grin, she checked
her rear-view mirror and after indicating pulled off and set off home. And
turned on the heater before setting on the blower to blow on her feet.
Beneath her hot toes, Billy was
taking shuddering breaths the vibrating wasn’t as potent now but still very
noticeable. All he knew was his mother’s toes. He was completely blind and
aside from the trembling from the car all he could feel was her hot moist foot
flesh. He could feel the grime against his face.
“I was so close,” Bill coughed,
tears welling in his eyes.
A shimmering grey box appeared in
his vision, it was like someone was projecting a slide on the side of his
mother’s big sweaty toe, making just enough light for him to dimly make
her toes out.
New
Profession Unlocked: Mommy’s Foot Boy, you have earned the job role of Anna
Tenner’s ‘Foot Boy’ and are to rub her feet after Anna Tenner finishes work and
perform all other foot related duties designated.
“Wait…what?!” Bill shouted as he
gaped at the notification.
It started to get noticeably
warmer.
…
Anna had a spring in her step
when she stepped out of the car, absentmindedly grabbing her sandal before
locking the door. She would look rather odd if anyone noticed her and her
mismatched shoes but she didn’t mind, it was worth it to feel that lovely
feeling she got whenever she had a tiny under her foot.
She scrunched her toes, forcing
her son between her second and third toes and unlocked the front door.
“I guess I better let you climb
out, hadn’t I?” Anna sighed, looking down at her flat, squeezing her toes
together and taking a moment to enjoy the little squirming. Pressing the
underside of her sandal clumsily to the heel of her flat she slipped her heel
free and slid her foot out, smirking when she saw Bill wriggling between her
toes, she parted her toes and let him fall back into her shoe.
Anna picked up the flat and
placed it on the counter, peering in she saw him curled up in the imprint from
her heel. He looked so cute.
“Okay time to get out of my shoe
dear,” Anna said, opening the junk drawer and fishing out a wheel of white
thread, and snipping off a long piece, she pinned one end under the heel and
dropped the other end in the flat.
“Once you’re out I have another
task for you and then you can take a break,” Anna said as she turned her
attention to the cupboards and began pulling out numerous jars and bottles
containing the ingredients needed for healing potions. “Hmm, looks like I’ll
need to get some more powdered deer antlers,” she murmured to herself.
Within the hot flat, Bill
staggered to his feet, breathing heavily, and filling his lungs with his
mother’s foot stench and stumbled his way towards the white thread. In the
light from the opening of the shoe, it was like a divine rope sent by the gods
to save him.
Quest: Escape Mommy’s Shoe
Objective: Use the thread provided to climb out of Anna Tenner’s Shoe
Reward: Basic Climbing Skills & 1 Basic Perk Point
Penalty: Spend the rest of the day in Anna Tenner’s Shoe
He grabbed the rope and
tugged it; the white thread went taught. Taking another deep stinky breath, he
leaned back and braced one foot against the wall of his mother’s heel and
pulled himself up, kicking out his other leg to step up the damp wall.
Immediately he felt the thread digging into his little hands and grit his
teeth.
“Come on! You’re not staying in
this shoe anymore,” he growled at himself and pulled harder, forcing himself to
take another step, his aching legs trembling. There was no way in hell he’d let
himself be stuck in his mother’s work flat all day.
He reached higher and pulled, the
white thread turning pink where he had been previously holding it as he took
another step. His eyes stung with pained tears.
His heart leapt when he neared
the top of the flat, he threw out his arm, his left foot slipping he barely
caught the tip of the heel. Panic briefly seized him and was replaced with
relief when he realized he’d actually caught the shoe. Growling he heaved
himself up and threw himself over the edge and with one final push fell from
the opening and crashed onto the counter. He lay there breathing heavily, his
cheek pressed into the cold, clean, marble surface.
Objective
Completed: Use the provided thread to climb out of Anna Tenner’s Shoe
Quest: Escape Mommy’s Shoe - Complete
Reward: Basic Climbing Skills & 1 Basic Perk Point
New Skill Unlocked: Basic Climbing LV1: You have
learned how to climb basic surfaces; basic surfaces are now 1% easier to climb
Anna glanced over at him.
“Well done,” Anna said, there was
a hint of something between relief and pride in her tone. Her hand slipped into
the pocket of the black robe that draped over her body, briefly causing the
fabric around her cleavage to droop exposing more of the pale line dividing her
breasts, and retrieved her phone and placed it on the counter.
Bill stared at the giant device,
breathing heavily.
“Your next task is an important
one, I want you to send me a text,” she turned to look directly at her tiny son
to get the importance of her next statement through to him. “I want you to text
the words, help me and send them.”
Bill didn’t move for a moment and
Anna slapped her palm against the counter making the marble lightly tremble
beneath him.
“Now!”
Bill flinched and struggled to
his feet, hunched slightly over as he struggled to regain his breath. He looked
at his hands, there were thin red lines that slowly seeped out blood from where
the thread had dug into him.
Anna unlocked the phone and
opened a new text.
“You’ll need to type in my
number, I trust you know it, if you ever get taken, I want you to have a chance
to get back to us,” she said.
Still panting and bent over, Bill
looked up at her, a mixture of emotions inside him. He really didn’t know how
he should feel about his mother and it didn’t help that he could still taste
the cocktail of his and her sweat on his lips.
He turned his attention to the
giant phone and slowly walked towards it. At three inches tall it was nearly
twice his height, at least with it being a touch screen he wouldn’t have to
jump from button to button. The quest notification appeared in his vision.
Quest:
Request for Aid
Objective: Send a text requesting aid to Anna Tenner
Reward: None
Penalty: None
He dismissed the notification and
stepped onto the screen, just above the graphical keyboard, the keyboard pulled
away and out of sight as he had inadvertently unselected the send-to
bar. He looked to his mom to help, she’d turned away and was adding an
assortment of ingredients to the saucepan she used specifically for healing
potions. He stepped off the phone and walked to the top of the device and
stepped on the bar, again the keyboard appeared.
This was going to be more
difficult than he’d thought.
“Okay…so how do I reach the
middle numbers without clicking off the keyboard,” he muttered to himself,
stroking his naked chin like he’d seen so many times on television. He slapped
his forehead after a second, he was a little taller than the phone was wide,
all he had to do was walk around the phone and make sure he didn’t accidentally
hit any of the wrong numbers and it should be a piece of cake.
And so, Bill set about typing in
his mother’s number. He did accidentally catch the wrong number on several
occasions but he was able to delete them and replace it with the correct one,
by the end while his arms were aching and some of the numbers had a faint pink
layer to them, he had typed out her number, now he just needed to type the
words.
At first, he tried kneeling at
the base of the phone and tried to type the phrase but when he tried to reach
for e on the keyboard it was just out of reach and he nearly fell
forward onto the screen but thankfully managed to catch the edge of the phone
with his other hand and stop his fall. After which he went back to his original
more tedious method of doing half laps around the phone to type the phrase and
hit send.
That giant device buzzed almost
instantly as it received its own message.
Objective
Completed: Send a text requesting aid to Anna Tenner
Quest: Request for Aid - Complete
Reward: None
Bill flinched back as Anna’s
giant fingers came into view and she picked up the phone. She looked at his
message and then deleted the conversation.
“Well done, you’re going to do
this again tomorrow and each day after, the quicker you can do this the higher
chance you will have to reach me should anything happen,” Anna said, her voice
was soft but there was a touch of finality to it.
Anna reached up into a cabinet
and pulled out a jar filled with still cockroaches, placing it on the counter
she fished one out and dropped it in front of him.
Bill looked at it, then at her.
“I want you to spend more time on
this one, look over the insect and take it apart and sort the pieces,”
“What!? That’s disgusting!” Bill
objected.
“Insects are another big danger
to boys, it’s better you study dead ones before you meet with a live one,” Anna
said before taking another roach from the jar and pulling it apart over the
pot, it was unnerving to see her take something similar size to him apart so
easily. “And I’d hate to come home and find out my little foot boy was carried
off to an ants’ nest and gobbled up,” she added, a slight grin as she looked at
him.
Bill swallowed and gave a false
laugh. He turned his attention back to the large bug and tried to mentally
prepare himself for the grim task.
Quest:
Academic: Cockroach
Objective: Take apart and study the cockroach carcass
Reward: An increased understanding of cockroaches and an increase to chances of
survival
The Briarwood Academy
Claire was following the
slow-moving rabble of other students as they filed through the hallways. She
had quickly found her friend and the two were heading to their Literature class
with Miss Blackwood. Amber Li was an Asian girl with an olive complexion and
vibrant blue eyes, she wore a black off-shoulder blouse with a green ivy
pattern snaking up which warped by her large bust, with a black skirt and dark
nylons.
“So how was your dad’s birthday?”
Claire asked.
“It was okay, mum made a big
dinner and we had some family around and I baked some muffins, I don’t think
dad likes being the centre of attention, to be honest,” Amber said, nipping at
her lower lip.
“Bill’s the same, he doesn’t like
it when everyone’s looking at him, though at that size I don’t think I would
either.”
“Yeah.”
Claire pushed open the door to
Miss Blackwood’s class and held it open for Amber before following her in. Miss
Blackwood was a firm but fair teacher, she was sat at her desk in the corner of
the room opposite the door, her brown hair in a professional style, and she
wore a white blouse with a black blazer and black suit pants.
Claire and Amber took their seats
on the second row, their desks pressed together like the rest of the class,
everyone had been paired up in twos.
When Amber sat down, she slipped
her hand down her shirt and fished out something small and carefully placed it
on the table. Claire looked over and her mouth dropped open.
“Is that Akira?!”
Amber glanced over with a light
hum.
“Oh yeah, mom wants him to still
attend school and stuff, she says just because he’s small doesn’t mean he can’t
be educated, apparently dad wasn’t allowed to attend school and now she’s
adamant he will,” she said before going back into her handbag to fish out her
notebook and her copy of The Cement Garden. Claire wasn’t a big fan of
this book; it involved an intimate scene between two of the siblings and it
made her think of her putting Bill…in her intimate area and it made her feel
very weird.
“But why was he in your
cleavage?”
“I don’t have pockets, it was
either there or in my underwear, I think we both prefer my tits,” Amber
laughed, Akira was scratching the back of his head and looked to be blushing a
little, he was taller than Bill, maybe five inches?
“What about your sock?” Claire
asked, thinking back to her brother riding to school in their mother’s work
flat, Amber snorted.
“That would be way too mean, and
I’d feel really awkward about the smell…” now Amber was the one blushing.
“You know, Bill wants to come
back to school too,” Claire said, deciding to change the direction of the
conversation.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, mom said he can if he
learns the necessary skills.”
“That’s fair, mom’s making sure
Akira and dad are always learning skills and levelling up,” Amber said as she
scribbled the numerical date on the top of her notebook.
“Really?” Claire asked, a thought
suddenly coming to her.
“Yep.”
“How did she teach Akira the
climbing skill?”
Amber laughed.
“Akira got that one early when he
was little…err well when he was younger, he was always climbing trees so he
already had that one before he shrunk. Mom just helps him level it, we have a
piece of fabric taped to our table that reaches the floor, at each meal Akira
and dad climb up.”
“Oh? That’s not a bad idea but…I
think Bill needs to gain more experience climbing before he can do anything
like that…”
“Why? How are you guys teaching
Bill?”
Claire hesitated a minute.
“Well…mom had him trying to…climb
out of her shoe,” Claire admitted, feeling her cheeks warming.
“Her shoe? Oof, I feel sorry for
the little guy.”
“Yeah…me too,” Claire said
quietly.
They were quiet for a moment.
“Though is similar to how mom
teaches Akira hand-to-hand combat.”
“Huh?”
“First she had dad teach him the
basic moves then mom started having him use them on her feet, basically he
practises the punches and kicks on her foot, massaging them while levelling up
his combat skills, strength and endurance…and dad does the other one so he can
see how it’s done…”
“I don’t know if that’s smart or
cruel…” Claire said after taking a moment to process what her friend had just
divulged.
“Both, she doesn’t clean up
before and she doesn’t stop during summer…she keeps trying to get me to do it
too but…” Amber drifted off, her cheeks going pink again.
“Right class, mouths shut, eyes
front! You should have all finished Ian McEwan’s The Cement Garden last
night so today we’re going to go over the film.” There was a low rumble of
cheers at the news they would spend the class watching a film.