“Hi. I’m… Michelle Brown.”

*Ahem.*

“…Hi! I’m Michelle Brown! Wait… why am I giving her my last name? Is that too formal?”

The young woman apparently known as Michelle Brown stood outside the door of her single-story flat, seemingly rehearsing lines for an upcoming occasion. Waiting for her, just inside of her flat… was a date. After all, today was February 14th; none other than Valentine’s Day!

Michelle pulled out her phone and flipped its camera towards her, reviewing her appearance before she stepped through the door in front of her. After all, had spent almost thirty minutes making sure she looked presentable before she departed from work to her flat—she wouldn’t let all of that work go to waste at the last second. Fortunately, after her one last inspection, she felt pretty proud of the face that she was looking at.

Michelle Brown was a young Japanese-American woman of 20 years of age. She had light brown skin, characteristic of someone of such descent. However, this skin was notably pale, perhaps due to a lack of quality time outdoors. Her almond eyes were of a dark brown color, and they were framed by rather noticeable bags underneath. Her face shape was slightly angular, having a sharp and formed jaw while still managing to maintain the face of a young woman.

This face of Michelle’s was framed by rather long, black hair. This hair was styled into what could be considered a “Hime cut,” with blunt bangs that fell down to right above her eyes. These bangs largely obscured her eyebrows, making it difficult for others to tell how she is feeling in any given scenario. Her blunt sidelocks fell down to her chin, and in the back, her lengthy hair fell all the way down to her rear. It was clear that her hair was extremely healthy, and was very rarely cut down.

As for her current outfit, she had certainly made the effort to look classy for her big occasion. Well, as classy as one can be when they’re informed that they have a date less than two hours beforehand. Taking off from work as soon as she heard the news, Michelle headed straight to her local clothing store to purchase her current outfit. This consisted of a white shirt button-up shirt, overlayed by black suspenders. These suspenders reached down to a black skirt that stopped below her mid-thigh, coupled with black leggings that stopped before her ankles. These leggings gave way to brown boots around her shin. To top it all off, she was currently carrying with her a small, brown purse.

Completely unknown to Michelle, her choice of clothing didn’t serve to draw attention away from her chest. Her chest wasn’t too exaggerated; one breast was no bigger than her head, at least. However, she was certainly well endowed in that area, and it was easy to notice due to her attire. There were two large mounds visible on her thin white shirt, which stretched the shirt in between them and to the sides. Her black suspenders were directly on top of the hills, being stretched out even more than the shirt. To top off her unconventional body, Michelle stood at a whopping 5’11”—extremely tall for her phenotype.

However, this was of course all lost on Michelle, who was not only remarkably unaware of her own body, but was also too mentally occupied with the event at hand.

“Michelle Brown… Wait, no, don’t forget to greet her first.”

“Hello! Michelle Brown here! No, that’s way too enthusiastic. And why am I keeping the last name?”

Michelle stared blankly into her phone’s camera, until she finally settled on a greeting that she was content with:

“Hey, I’m Michelle! How are you?”

Drop the last name. Nice and simple.

With this, she dropped her phone into her purse, and opened the door to her flat, where her date was supposedly waiting. It was already 6:34 PM, and she was told that her date would arrive at 6:30. She would hate to keep her a moment longer.

…

Clara was hyperventilating. Badly.

It had been a normal day before this moment—no, not even that. It was looking to be a pretty great Valentine’s Day. A Valentine’s Day that was too good to be true… now that she thought about it.

For much of her day Clara, she wasn’t in a good mood at all. People coming in and out of the convenience store to purchase gifts for their significant other, sitting at the tables outside, slurping the same milkshake from separate straws. It all made her sick to her stomach… and though she would never admit this, it was all due to the simple fact that she did not have a lover of her own.

The 20-year-old Clara Chung was the daughter of an immigrant Chinese couple. Her parents started a convenience store to support themselves and their child while in the States, and rather than encourage their daughter to pursue her own career goals, they pressured her to work there. In all of her years of living, helping around the store was one of the few jobs she ever held.

As a result of such a menial yet demanding job, Clara had never formed close relationships with other people. Her parents kept her out of school just so she could man the register, and after all of these years, her family still had nowhere near enough money to put her through college. So, how could she have made any relationships? There were no possible outlets for her to do so. Even the people who routinely visited her convenience store rarely made the effort to connect with her, electing to forgo any meaningful conversation as they made her scan their groceries. Even if she tried to initiate conversation herself, her customers tended to nervously chuckle or half-heartedly respond. Indeed, it seemed as if Clara couldn’t even make friends with the people who relied on her almost daily.

This especially pained her when it came to one, specific customer of hers.

Over the past year, Clara had memorized the name and schedule of this particular customer. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, a woman named Michelle Brown entered her store from 4:00 to 4:10 PM. From there, she would shop around for five to ten minutes, and after paying, would be on her way. What Michelle bought would vary from day to day, but the time at which she entered and left remained consistent.

Once Clara became aware of Michelle’s extremely rigid schedule, she insisted to her parents that she man the register from 3:00 to 5:00. She wanted to catch a good look of Michelle whenever she could. Staring at this woman from behind the counter was more than enough for her, given that the two of them could never, well…

Clara was very confident in her identity as a lesbian. From the men that she saw around her store to the ones that she saw on the street and the internet, she had never found a single one of them attractive. However, it was a different story for women entirely. Ever since she was a teen, she found herself attracted to women of all kinds, whether they be through her computer screen or in her store.

And throughout her many years of living, no woman had elicited such a reaction as Michelle. Her distinct facial structure, healthy hair, soft eyes, and the fact that they were both Asian and around the same age—this woman who suddenly started appearing in her store seemed like a dream come to life. And that was to speak nothing of her body—Michelle had a pretty impressive chest for both of their phenotypes.

However, Clara was rather confident in her appearances too. She believed that they could be quite the power couple if circumstances were different. Clara’s skin was decently darker than Michelle’s rather pale complexion, evoking the tone of a warm frappé. She wore her black hair in a neat bun, with her hair tie visible around it. Two prominent bangs fell on either side of her face, down to her chin. However, her forehead was largely exposed. As opposed to Michelle’s angular face, she had a rounded face. Notably, she did have a slightly strong chin. Upon this face of Clara’s sat two hazel-colored eyes.

Her body was average for her phenotype—if not a little more on the fit side due to a career of carrying and lifting things around the store whenever she wasn’t working the register. However, she was nowhere near as curvy as Michelle, nor was she as tall, as she stood at a mere 5”7”.. Still, she believed that she could have pulled her—or any other woman for that matter—if it weren’t for one simple reason…

Unfortunately, Clara’s parents were vehemently homophobic, which she discovered from an extremely young age. During one particular instance in her youth, her parents had kicked a lesbian couple out of their store. From that point onwards, her parents would go on anti-gay and anti-lesbian rants from time to time.

Clara relied completely on her parents for food, shelter, and financial support. And what’s more, they were extremely strict. There was no doubt in her mind that her parents would strip all of this away from her and kick her out if they found out she was dating another woman—just like that couple all those years ago.

And so, she never made her move on the love of her life.

This is why Valentine’s Day left such a sour taste in her mouth. It served as a reminder of something she could never have. However, this all seemed to change after a customer she had never seen before entered her store, hours ago.

…

“Hey, you work the register during the afternoon on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, right?”

“Yes, ma’am. What of it?” Clara responded as she looked at the young woman in front of her. This woman was Asian just like her. In fact, she looked a little bit like…

“Great! Then you must know my little sister, Michelle Brown. Am I right?”

Clara’s eyes widened as she became far more interested in what this woman had to say. So she wasn’t a random customer, after all.

“Yes!” Clara uttered a bit too enthusiastically. “I mean… yeah, sure I do. Why?”

“Oh, she just talks about you a lot! And I mean, a lot. So I just wanted to come by to see what you’re like!” Michelle’s older sister took a moment to look Clara up and down, and then made eye contact once more. “You know… I think she has a crush on—”

Clara practically leapt over the counter in front of her, and ushered herself and this woman out through the store’s door. This wasn’t a conversation she could have inside, where her parents may hear.

Clara had to take a few seconds to gather herself once they were outside. Was she hearing this woman correctly?! “W-Wait… your sister has a…”

“From what I’ve heard, yeah! She says you’re super nice to her, and that she would love to spend more time with you. Honestly, I came here to see if you were any good…”

Clara’s eyes went wide as she realized exactly what this was. Shit, she was being evaluated by her crush’s sister. What if she didn’t earn her blessing?! I mean. she did practically just push her out of her store.

However, the sister continued speaking. “…And I can now say that without a doubt that you seem lovely! So, how would you like to go on a little date with my sister later today?”

Clara’s heart fluttered in her chest upon receiving the sister’s blessing. For a moment, she completely forgot about the situation with her parents, and believed that she had a shot of entering a relationship with the girl of her dreams. The fact that her crush was apparently a lesbian—or bisexual—was just too fortunate of an occurrence to fully dismiss. The possibility that Michelle was straight had always lingered in the back of Clara’s mind.

However, after about five seconds of her internal celebration, Clara’s mind did turn to a brand new subject.

“I-I’d love to!” Clara responded first and foremost. “But… why didn’t she ask me herself? I mean…” Clara realized that she might be blowing her shot with this question. But, she just had to know.

“Well… she’s actually really shy. And awkward. If I had left it up to her, she never would have asked you out.” The sister chuckled sheepishly as she looked off to her side.

That was the case, huh? Customers already don’t talk much while in her store, so Clara never realized that her crush may have been on the awkward side. Oh well. It’s not like that would diminish her desire to be with her.

“Oh! Well, that’s fine! I’m sure I can bring her out of her shell.” Clara announced confidently now that her doubts had been cleared. “Where would we be meeting?”

“Well, she was thinking of meeting you at her apartment, and then driving you out to some fancy restaurant. Here, I’ll give you her address. And, oh, my name is Aleena!”

Clara and the woman apparently named Aleena exchanged contact information, so that Aleena could send her Michelle's address, as well as the time they would meet. Afterwards, Aleena bid Clara farewell, and walked off.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Clara bolted back into her parent’s store. However, rather than returning to the register, she rushed upstairs, which was where she and her parents lived. She entered her room, and began sorting through her favorite clothes. She would look exceptional for the occasion.

Sure, her parents would still kill her if she found out. But this opportunity was practically given to her. She could forget her position in this world for just one night.

…

Aleena had told Clara that Michelle wanted to meet at 6:00, and Clara had arrived at her flat right on the dot. 

However, once Clara knocked on the door, Michelle wasn’t the one who opened it for her. Instead, it was… Aleena herself.

“Hey! Welcome in, Clara!” The sister smiled brightly as she stepped aside to allow Clara in.

“O-Oh… I didn’t think you were…” Of course Clara was rejected. She expected some alone time with Michelle; she didn’t plan on her sister breathing down her neck the entire time. Was she really that protective? No, surely she would leave eventually.

“What, you didn’t think I’d be here? Well, Michelle isn’t back yet… so I figured I’d keep you company until she is!”

Perfect. This woman fortunately had enough self-awareness to not burden the two lovebirds with her presence during their date. Clara supposed that she was here just so she wouldn’t feel awkward all alone in a flat that wasn’t hers.

The two women walked into the flat, which looked pretty normal all things considered. From Clara’s position at the door, there was a couch to her right, a coffee table right in front of her, and a single chair behind that table. To her left was a kitchen area, and on the other side of both the table and chair was another door. This must have led to her bedroom. Underneath this all was a simple, wooden floor. Clara supposed that she expected her long-time crush’s place of residence to look more distinct, but if this was how Michelle liked her space, then Clara liked it as well.

Clara took a seat on Michelle’s couch and began fiddling with her clothing. Similarly to Michelle, she made the effort to look presentable—if not a bit more eye-catching than she usually dressed. She was currently wearing a black, sleeveless top that was turtlenecked. This top served not only to expose her arms, but it displayed quite a bit of midriff as well. For bottoms, she wore tight, black leather pants. These pants hugged her rear and legs rather tightly. These bottoms finally gave way to black, high-heeled boots that rose up to her knees.

This was certainly far more risqué than Clara tended to dress—she recalled that she had only worn this outfit twice in her entire life. But she had to dress to impress her date, right? Even if it was likely a one-time endeavor…

“So, when do you think she’ll be getting here?” Clara spoke to Aleena, who had for some reason walked behind the sofa she was currently sitting on.

Clara started to shift her head to face her crush’s sister, but before she could fully turn around… she felt a cool surface connect with the back of her head.

“Don’t move.” Aleena demanded in a far less cheerful tone than she had spoken with earlier.

Clara immediately froze up and began to sweat. That object behind her head… it was small and circular. Wait, was it the barrel of a gun?! Was Aleena truly not okay with Clara dating her sister after all? And did that warrant her holding her up with a firearm?!

Before Clara could ask any questions, she heard Aleena press down the trigger behind her. However, instead of immediately dying… she felt a cool sensation run throughout her body, from head to toe. Her vision became hazy before she passed out, mere seconds after the trigger was pulled.

…

This brings us back to our present time. At 6:34 PM, Clara was still hyperventilating from the events that occurred over half an hour ago. She was aware of the fact that she had lost consciousness right after Aleena unleashed fire on her. She could also grapple with the fact that she was lying on the wooden floor when she woke up, rather than on the couch. Indeed, her main problem was the state she found herself in once she woke up.

She didn’t know her exact size for sure, but Clara Chung was now 0.225 centimeters tall. This was less than a tenth of an inch.

How in the hell did this happen?! That gun that Aleena had put against her temple must have not been a gun at all. There was no way that shrink ways existed in the real world… but well, what else could have caused this?

Clara’s first instinct upon waking up was to call for help, but she quickly realized that her phone was gone from her pockets. Luckily, this meant that her clothes had shrunken along with her. However, her keys, wallet, and practically all of her loose belongings… they had disappeared. She knew that she had them on her beforehand, so what happened to them?!

It was when Clara noticed that her belongings were that she truly realized that there was an antagonistic force at play. Aleena… she had intentionally shrunken her down, and then confiscated all of her forms of communication and identification. But, why?! The two women really did seem to hit it off when they first met, and Clara didn’t believe that she was lying when she told her that Michelle was interested in her. Was this truly the woman’s sick, twisted way of protecting her younger sister? Or was there another reason behind her doing this?

The Chinese-American young woman was all on her own for more than thirty minutes after she had shrunken, pacing around on her own as she tried to plan out her course of action. Working at the convenience store for years had made her rather resourceful, but this was unlike any matter that she had ever dealt with. She… she supposed that she could still find her way to her parent’s store at this size, right? They would know what to do, right? She would just have to be careful on her way there, right?

Clara began making her way to the massive door before her. It was truly a mere two feet away from her, but to her, it seemed like a mile. Her first mission was to simply open this door, and then she could go from there…

However, after her first few steps, the door suddenly swung open, causing her to stagger backwards. Once the gust of displaced wind subsided, Clara turned her head upwards to view who was entering the room.

There, towering seemingly hundreds of feet above her, was Michelle Brown, the object of her affections.

Michelle Brown was already rather tall for someone of her race, not to mention her gender. This was just one of the many factors that set her apart from the other women Clara eyed in her little convenience store.

However, when you’re a tenth of an inch, a tall woman looks even taller. To a concerning degree.

From Clara’s point of view, Michelle was 4,600 feet and 10 inches tall. Clara wasn’t even sure how to comprehend her at this size. In her panicked state, she of course hadn’t worked out the exact math to calculate Michelle’s relative height. However, she could tell that she was now the largest… thing she had ever seen. Far taller than any living being, manmade structure, natural formation, anything. She was bigger than any object she had come across during her short 20 years of life. Of course, this would have been true for any human being on earth who wasn’t an alpinist.

Clara would have much preferred if Michelle stayed completely still, in order to give her time to comprehend her incomprehensible size. But, of course, she wasn’t that lucky. Just a few seconds after she swung the door open, Michelle took her first step into her apartment.

Clara was launched about five feet into the air as Michelle’s boot touched down onto her wooden floor. She simply didn’t expect Michelle’s foot to approach as quickly as it did. In just a split second, Michelle’s boot traveled the distance of about 1,164 feet—at least, to Clara it did. In reality, Michelle had an average walking stride for someone her height.

It was this shocking speed that made it unable for Clara to brace herself. She found it impossible to brace herself for the subsequent footsteps, as well. In just four steps, Michelle reached the couch in the center of her apartment. The fourth and final step was the closest one to Clara, knocking her away from the site of impact and about ten feet into the air. It took Clara about a minute to recover from the mild pain that shot through her body as she skid across the floor.

However, as soon as Clara stood back up and dusted herself off, the somewhat dulled and muffled sound of an explosion filled the air. Once she looked upwards, she realized that Michelle taking a seat on her couch was the source of this sound. Clara was currently 1,000 feet away from Michelle's left foot from her point of view, which placed her safely out of the range of her legs while she was seated. Clara figured it would be a pretty good idea to stay within this range, so she wouldn’t be crushed to death by an errant movement of Michelle’s boots.

However… looking back on it, Clara didn’t fear for her life too much when Michelle was literally stepping over her. It was as if she didn’t care about the trajectory of the massive pieces of footwear at all.

Clara was snapped back to reality as Michelle suddenly began to speak. Even though Michelle’s boot rising directly over her head wasn’t enough to make the tiny woman’s heart drop, the words that came out of Michelle’s mouth certainly were.

“...Where is she?”

Clara’s mouth hung open as Michelle inquired about her whereabouts. Amidst the internal turmoil that was brought about by her shrinkage, Clara almost forgot.

She had a date set up with Michelle. And right now, she thought that she had bailed out on her.

But, could Clara blame her? Did Michelle have a reason to think otherwise? Assuming that your date was nowhere to be found because they were shrunk down by your sister wasn’t very logical. But, the fact of the matter was that this is exactly what happened.

And Clara couldn’t have her longtime crush believe that she stood her up for no good reason.

“H-Hey! Michelle!” Clara cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted from the top of her lungs—an experienced yeller from her time as a convenience store clerk.

But… no response. Michelle didn’t so much as tilt her head in Clara’s direction. Her crush not so much as looking at her—ouch. This pained Clara, but she couldn’t linger on it for now. She just had to try again.

“Michelle!!” Clara shouted even louder, causing her to reel back and cough afterward. Once she leaned back up, she saw that she once again elicited no response from Michelle. In fact, Michelle was turning to her side in order to pull her phone out of her purse.

Of course, anyone thinking with a shred of logical reasoning would be able to deduce that Clara was far too small for Michelle to hear. Truly, how could she hear someone less than 83 times her size? The very edge of her brown boots rose a mere two inches above the ground. And yet, Clara, standing at less than a tenth of an inch, didn’t come close to measuring up to the tip of this footwear. This wasn’t even to mention the comparative distance between the two women.

Indeed, there was no logical reason for Michelle to ever be able to hear Clara at her newfound size. But Clara wasn’t thinking logically right now. The tiny woman nearly doubled over and clutched her chest as she realized that her crush was paying her no mind. Perhaps she hadn’t realized it herself, but she could be quite the dramatic romantic.

She was here! If only she could explain this all to Michelle; explain to her that her sister shrunk her down in order to keep them from dating. That makes for a pretty good star-crossed lovers story, huh? Not to mention her homophobic mother and father. After she explained what happened, Michelle could find a way to grow Clara back to her original size, and Clara could drive them off into the sunset, away from overbearing sisters and unaccepting parents. From there, they could buy a cot together in the middle of nowhere, and decorate it exactly how they want. Clara imagined the two of them snuggling together in a large bed after a long day of organizing furniture and painting walls. Clara places her hand on Michelle’s cheek as they face each other, and Michelle pulls Clara closer to her body using her longer and stronger arms. There they lay, gazing into each other’s eyes, finally enjoying each other’s company after the turmoil it took them to get here. Of course, Clara soon breaks the silence with some snarky joke, eliciting a small giggle from her typically quiet girlfriend. These are the moments that Clara lives for.

Or rather, that she will live for. She just had to get Michelle’s attention first.

Clara was snapped out of her fantasy as Michelle began quietly speaking to herself again. Apparently, amid Clara’s fantasy, Michelle started to look at her phone.

“Aw man, she said she’d be here at 7:00… Did I get stood up?” Michelle uttered as she let out a sigh soon after, and leaned back on her couch.

No, she didn’t! Clara had been here since 6:00! It was then that Clara realized that Aleena had told her to arrive an hour before Michelle did, to ensure that she had enough time to shrink her. But that wasn’t her most pressing concern right now.

Clara began making a mad dash towards Michelle. If she couldn’t hear her from this distance, then she’d just have to close in on her! About 1,000 feet between the two women from Clara’s perspective… the average runner would be able to traverse this distance in about 8 minutes, but Clara was sprinting like there was no tomorrow. She would probably reach the tip of Michelle’s left boot in five minutes. Of course, she was truly sprinting across a distance of about 15 inches. Nonetheless, from there, she could try getting Michelle’s attention again.

However, as she passed the 7-inch mark after about three minutes of running, a wrench was thrown into Clara’s simple plan. She shouldn’t have expected Michelle to remain completely still as she ran towards her.

Clara froze as she craned her neck far, far upwards. By now, she was so close to Michelle that it was hard to see the top of her head. However, her head wasn’t the source of any danger to Clara. Michelle leaned down from her position on her couch, and began tugging at the top of her boots. It didn’t take long for her to realize… Michelle was taking off her boots.

Clara was initially dismayed by this fact due to the fact that it meant that Michelle was giving up on her. If Michelle was starting to relax herself to the point that she was taking off her footwear, that meant that she was completely letting go of any hope that Clara would eventually arrive. And that realization sent a painful shot straight through Clara’s heart.

However, a much more tangible threat to Clara was Michelle’s boot.

Of course, Michelle was completely unaware of the presence of a 0.09-inch woman in her house; and one that was in such close proximity to her, no less. As such, there was absolutely no reason for her to care about where her boots fell after she slid them off of her feet.

Michelle started with her left foot first. Slightly raising her digit above the ground, she unzipped the boot from the top down and then slid the top of the boot down and then completely off of her foot. Now that it was off, Michelle held the boot beside her leg for a brief second, before she dropped it down to the floor. To her, the collision it made with her wooden floor was nothing of note. However, to Clara, the massive, leather piece of footwear seemed to be nearly 630 feet tall, far taller than any building she had seen in person. The sole of the boot landed some distance away from her, but its descent didn’t end there. The top portion of the boot continued falling to the ground, in the direction of Clara.

Clara simply looked upwards as the massive boot fell towards her. To her, this boot represented something more—that Michelle believed that Clara was the type of person to stand her up. As such, she found it hard to find the will to move out of the way. What a terrible first impression…

Luckily for Clara, she was out of the boot’s site of impact, though just narrowly. As a seemingly massive wall of leather fell just a few feet away from her, it felt like a bomb went off next to her. Clara immediately lost the hearing in her right ear—whether it was permanent or temporary, she didn't know. In her left ear, all she could hear was a loud ringing sound. Of course, just a split second after this occurred, Clara was launched through the air as a result of the boot’s landing. She was tossed to her left about a hundred feet, only lingering in the air for a few seconds, and then skidding across the wooden floor for the rest of her travels. She fortunately wasn’t as injured as she could have been in a worst-case scenario—just a bruise or two on her arms. However, she hardly felt anything physically as she tumbled, her emotional turmoil far more painful.

The impact of Michelle’s left boot knocked Clara in towards the seated woman, but as Michelle took off her right boot, she dropped it safely away from Clara’s body, on the outer side of her right foot. Indeed, as Michelle lowered both of her digits on the ground, Clara’s miniscule body now lay right between her bare feet, mere three inches away from her left foot.

As Clara slowly stood back up, she found herself face-to-face with Michelle’s enormous body for the first time. That is, sure, she had come close to her massive boots. But being this close to Michelle’s bare feet was different. This was actually her body.

To Clara, the two three inches between her and Michelle’s foot seemed to be two hundred feet. This gave her almost a full view of Michelle’s foot as it lay flat on the ground, which was impressive given its sheer size. From Clara’s point of view, the bare foot appeared to be 627’11” in its entirety. Additionally, her now-visible ankle rose 219 feet into the air, from which her foot sloped down. It was right above these ankles of hers and her black leggings stopped. This meant that the foot completely encompassed Clara’s field of view.

Lacking the energy or willpower to turn herself around, Clara’s dejected eyes simply lingered on the inner surface of Michelle’s left foot. As a result… she took in all the details of the foot of her dear crush. First and foremost, the foot was rather proportionally long. This made sense, given that Michelle stood at an abnormal 5’11”. Clara could tell that if the two women placed their feet next to each other at Clara’s normal size, Clara’s foot would only be about 3/4ths the size of Michelle’s. Additionally, the top of Michelle’s foot curved deftly inwards from her ankle to her toes, conveying that there was little fat on its top surface. Speaking of her toes, they were exceptionally slender, reflecting the rest of her foot. Michelle had a Greek foot type, in which her index toe was slightly longer than her big toe, as opposed to a Roman or Egyptian foot type. All of her toes curved down towards the floor, rather than lying completely flat on the ground.

Michelle’s foot was slightly paler than the rest of her body—Clara had remembered the complexion of her crush well, and this was noticeably lighter than what she remembered. So it seems as if the Asian woman did get out enough to become slightly tanned. Indeed, it was evident that Michelle did indeed take care of her body; every inch of it. Her foot was exceptionally clean, and it’s innermost surface was largely devoid of wrinkles. It looked like a foot that was commonly pedicured and looked after; the foot of a princess.

Clara expected nothing less from her crush. Of course every inch of her body was utterly immaculate—even the lowest part of it. In a way, her foot seemed untouchable. Or rather, she didn't want to touch it. Clara felt a nagging thought in her head that told her if she were to make contact with her foot, it would be somehow sullied. Disgraced.

She would maintain this distance. It was enough for her to simply gaze upon the lowest point of Michelle’s being.

As if completely invading Clara’s line of sight wasn't enough, Michelle’s feet quickly affronted her sense of smell. After about five seconds of the digit lying still on the wooden floor, Clara picked up on a scent emitting from it. It wasn't extremely strong, but it was certainly there. Furthermore… the smell wasn’t bad at all. It took Clara a moment to pinpoint what exactly the foot smelled like, she eventually settled on a comparison.

Rain. Her feet faintly smelled of rain.

However, smell wasn’t the only sensation that emanated from Michelle’s feet. A brief second after the smell of rain invaded Clara’s nose, a wall of heat slammed into her tiny body. Befitting the smell that permeated the air… this heat quickly made Clara’s surroundings humid and muggy. Clara almost immediately felt a bead of sweat form on her head, and then another. Before she knew it, she was fanning herself and pumping her shirt. Clara could tell that this wasn’t the heat that was generated by intense physical activity. After all, Michelle had spent the past few minutes sitting down on her couch, and she presumably drove here rather than walking. No, this type of heat was completely different. This was just natural body heat, pure and simple.

This was a sensation that was generated by Michelle doing absolutely nothing. And yet, it was enough to completely cause a shift in Clara's world.

Clara’s admiration of Michelle’s foot was completely interrupted by the heat that now engulfed her body. What was she even thinking? She didn’t have the time to just stand around—she had gotten this close to Michelle for the sole purpose of getting her attention. Now that she was much closer to her, Clara readied herself to shout upwards at Michelle once more. Surely she would be able to hear her from this distance.

And hopefully, Clara could get her to move her feet away from her.

Clara cleared her throat and tapped her chest. This was all-or-nothing. If Michelle didn't hear her from her, then she would have to change her strategy. Maybe hitting her foot as hard as she could would work. Anything to let Michelle know that she was here. To let her know that she would never stand her up.

“Michelle!!!” Clara cupped her hands around her mouth once more as she arched her back and tilted her head upwards, shouting up at a complete 90° angle. Upon hearing herself yell, Clara realized that the ringing in her left ear had finally dissipated, although she still couldn’t pick up sound from her right ear. Nonetheless, Clara retained this position for almost ten seconds, waiting for a response.

Instead, Michelle remained completely still. Although Clara couldn’t perfectly make out her face, the massive woman seemed to be lost in thought, and certainly not focused on a tiny woman right underneath her.

Suddenly, Clara became remarkably angry. Was this Aleena’s intention? To make her feel invisible? Because that’s what Clara felt like, though she would never admit it. For about a year now, Clara felt like she completely flew under Michelle’s radar, like her crush wasn’t even aware of her feelings towards her. Clara never faulted Michelle for this, but now… the frustrations that have been festering for over a year were now bubbling up. Michelle didn’t acknowledge her feelings whenever they interacted from behind a convenience store counter, and now that they were right next to each other, Michelle didn’t acknowledge her at all.

But she wouldn't let this stand. She wouldn’t let Aleena win. She would make Michelle aware of her presence, one way or another.

With balled fists and newfound determination, Clara decided to walk over to Michelle’s left foot. However, just after she took her first step… the massive foot in front of her began to shift.

Clara froze once more as the pale, pedicured foot started to rise up into the air. The slender figure looked far less dainty now that it was suddenly hovering above her tiny body, shrouding her in shadow.

Clara never believed in the notion that time seems to slow down right before one dies. It almost certainly had to be some made-up scenario used to increase dramatic tension in movies and television shows. I mean, what were the chances that these directors and actors had gotten in right all these years?

A pretty good chance, Clara found out.

As Michelle’s 627’11” foot—a length on par with most of the cargo ships that Clara had seen—descended down upon her, Clara’s world did indeed slow to a crawl. In actuality, it took less than a second for Michelle’s foot to descend once it moved over Clara’s body. But to the shrunken women, it seemed like an eternity. During this eternity, Clara’s life flashed before her eyes…

And there was hardly anything to it. No close friends to recall, no luxurious vacations or gatherings, nothing. Sure, there were a couple of nice moments with her parents, but they were also the reason why there wasn’t much else for her to remember. The majority of her memories were simply standing behind her convenience store’s counter or staring up at the ceiling while lying on her bed.

That was all her life would amount to before she died.

As such, Clara couldn’t even find the energy to move even as Michelle’s left foot was a few inches over her head, relative to her size. She simply closed her eyes as she accepted her fate.

Right when Michelle’s sole connected with the top of Clara’s head, the shrunken woman’s body collapsed and fell right alongside the massive wall of flesh. Indeed, while the sensation of Michelle’s foot looming over Clara felt like an eternity, the sensation of it slamming onto Clara felt like anything but. Her miniscule body fell face-first to the ground as it gave in underneath the foot. In just a millisecond, Clara’s body was flat on the ground, with her stomach on the wooden floor and her back facing upwards. Her head was turned to her right, and her limbs were sprawled every which way.

However, for some reason… Clara was completely fine. Sure, her body was the slightest bit sore from slamming into the ground. But that soreness was all. There was no severe pain in her body that indicated broken bones or dislocated body parts. Just from lying flat on the floor, everything at least seemed to be in check with her body. But, why was that? Such a massive surface crashing down upon her… shouldn’t it have killed her instantly? At least, that’s what she was counting on.

But it was that exact surface that kept her alive.

Clara’s body was currently sandwiched between the wooden floor and Michelle’s sole. Sure, the wooden floor may have been hard, but the foot was extraordinarily soft. As such, it was as if Clara was being gently pushed down onto the floor by a weighted blanket. Clara felt the soft sole flesh meld and warp around her head, limbs, and torso. Again, a weighted blanket was almost the perfect descriptor here.

It was only almost the perfect descriptor due to the fact that weighted blankets didn’t immobilize people.

Even though it felt like Michelle’s foot was gently pressing Clara to the ground, the shrunken woman was completely unable to move a single inch of her body. She was unable to turn her head or move her arms in any direction. She couldn’t twist her torso or stretch out her legs. She couldn’t even twitch her fingers… Again, this made it clear that the foot truly was pressing down on Clara with immense force, but her soft sole was keeping her from harm. It was a softness that saved her life, but was working against her in terms of movement.

As such, Clara lay motionless against the floor for about ten seconds. After all, what else could she do? Her eyes were closed shut lest she receive an eyeful of foot flesh in her right eye, so there wasn’t anything for her to look at. This left her not only  immobilized, but also effectively blind. However, it was after these ten seconds that Clara began to feel something far more suffocating than the flesh above her:

The heat.

It hit her nearly all at once. In almost an instance, Clara was sweating from out her hair, her forehead, her armpits, and other areas underneath her clothes. If she weren't currently squashed underneath a foot, she would have definitely looked like someone who just finished sprinting a 10-km race without breaks. This muggy, humid heat didn’t match the dainty princess’s foot that Clara just beheld moments before. She was sure that if she were normal-sized, she wouldn’t have noticed any heat coming off of the slender foot. But of course, once that foot becomes hundreds of times larger than you, it’s impossible to not feel suffocated from even the slightest amount of body heat emanating from it.

It is this unbearable heat that finally knocked Clara to her senses and gave her the desire to escape from her current position. However, this was absolutely impossible, given that she was sandwiched between the foot and the floor.

This sheer extent of claustrophobia would be an extremely harrowing situation for anyone, but given that Clara was already on edge after being shrunk to a hundredth of her size, this served as a breaking point for her.

Having come to terms with the fact that her body simply could not move, Clara resorted to the only thing she could do. She opened her mouth in order to scream in pure distress, but before she could get even a single sound out… Michelle’s foot completely filled her mouth. Clara’s head was facing her right—not even angled towards Michelle’s foot. But due to the nature in which the foot effortlessly molded around her minuscule body, of course it found away into a brand new orifice as soon as Clara gave it the opportunity to do so.

Every single inch of Clara’s mouth from her lips to her backmost teeth was invaded by Michelle’s exceptionally soft foot flesh. And it’s not like Clara had any chance of pushing it out and shutting her mouth closed, either. Clara pressed up against the flesh with her tongue, but the massive wall wouldn’t bulge at all. She attempted to chomp down on the flesh, but her teeth were completely incapable of movement, her jaw being stretched to its limit by the invasive foot. As seconds passed that felt like hours, the only things that changed about Clara’s situation were the unpleasant sensations that seeped into her mouth.

As Clara’s tongue was forced to rest upon the fall of Michelle’s flesh after its tiresome attempts… Clara began to actually taste the foot. It tasted of flesh rain, similarly to how it smelled. However, while the mere smell of it was somewhat pleasant, the same couldn’t be said for the actual taste of it. A far more pungent aftertaste was mixed into the rainy taste—though Clara was unaware of it, this second taste was sweat. Whilst the minuscule amount of sweat on Michelle’s well-maintained foot was unnoticeable at a normal size, it was enough to produce an overwhelming taste for the shrunken Clara. However, it wasn’t just her giant assailant’s fluids that Clara was forced to ingest. Clara’s own copious amounts of sweat—seeping from her hair and head—were mixing in with Michelle’s. It was trickling down Michelle’s foot along with her own fluids, and entering her mouth through her open jaw.

If Clara were in the state to give it any thought, this mixing of bodily fluids might have seemed like quite a romantic gesture.

However, the only emotion in her heart right now was pure dread. What’s done was done—there was nothing she could do to dislodge Michelle’s foot from her mouth. While immobilized, she wasn’t even given the simple pleasure of being able to breathe properly. Right now, Michelle was the only one who could possibly change the situation she was in.

And Michelle didn’t even know that she existed.

Clara lay there for what seemed like several more hours. There was no way for her to check how much time had passed, nor was there any way to pass time. After she completely gave up on pushing the foot flesh from her mouth, all she could do was lie there and wait. Luckily, she hadn’t made the same mistake of opening her eyes as she had done with her mouth. Though they were already shut closed, Clara clasped her eyelids even closer together to prevent herself from crying. All she wanted to do right now was cry, and yet, she knew that if she did, there would be yet another unpleasant fluid surrounding her face that would make her current experience that much worse. This was yet another simple pleasure that Clara was deprived of, even though she was nearly ready to burst anyways…

But right before the first tear could breach her eyelids, something finally changed.

After seemingly hours of her body, mouth, and mind being subjected to the immense pressure of Michelle’s foot, that pressure suddenly relented. Attentiveness ran through Clara’s body as she felt the weighted flesh above her body relent, and then in an instant, her body was pulled into the open air. Clara’s eyes shot wide open as her head was snapped forward, and her mouth was freed from the flesh that had once filled it. She could now speak, yell, whatever! And what’s more, she could once again see! This all gave her a glimpse of hope, but just for a split second. Indeed, now that she could finally look at her surroundings, she could see that the wooden floor of Michelle’s flat was rapidly retreating from her. Or rather, she was retreating from it.

Her face may have been freed, but her body wasn’t at all. But why? She didn’t feel that suffocating pressure anymore, and the heat surrounding her had relented as well. However, one quick glance at her side was all she needed to discern what was happening to her. On either side of her remained Michelle’s foot, with pale flesh that seemed to stretch on for an eternity.

Whether it be due to how long she was pressed against her foot, or just due to how tiny she was in comparison to it, Clara was now undeniably stuck to Michelle’s sole.

However, she couldn’t quite ponder the exact reason as to why this was in the moment. It was now clear that Clara was moving upwards because Michelle was raising her foot upwards, and she was simply along for the ride. And though it may have been an extremely mundane action for Michelle, it was starting to make Clara feel sick. The height that Clara had risen since the start of Michelle’s movement already exceeded 600”, more than 200” taller than the world’s tallest roller coaster. If it was a natural reaction to puke on such amusement park rides, then Clara’s reaction to her sudden movement was more than warranted.

After Clara emptied out her guts—a tiny mess that would likely never be discovered on Michelle’s floor—she noticed that her ascent had somewhat slowed down. Rather than merely rising upwards, her tiny body was moving sideways along with Michelle’s foot. It was when the massive woman’s legging-clad knee came into view that Clara realized what was happening.

Michelle was simply in the process of resting her leg on her knee, unaware of the fact that she just made the tiny woman attached to her sole experience the worst motion sickness of her life.

Clara’s body was turned to face the walls of Michelle’s flat as her calf pivoted to its side, in order to rest horizontally against her knee. Once her movements finally concluded, Michelle’s ankle lay upon her right knee, with her foot hanging off of its side and her sole facing right.

Clara could tilt her head to her left and right, but that’s all she could do. Even while exposed to the open air, Clara’s body was intended into Michelle’s thick sole, giving her arms, legs, and torso no hope of escape. This meant that she couldn’t pivot her body at all in order to get a look at a single portion of Michelle’s body—other than her sole.

Now that she wasn’t pressed against the wooden floor, Clara’s mental state had remarkably improved. However, this was now working against her. Now that she could think properly, the fact that she couldn’t even see Michelle’s face only widened the immense gulf between them.

Clara was snapped out of her gloomy thoughts by further movements in Michelle’s body. Unbeknownst to her, the enormous woman was leaning over slightly in order to retrieve her smartphone from her purse. Clara realized what was happening once she heard a dull buzz emanating from Michelle’s direction. She was receiving a phone call, wasn’t she?

She figured that there was no harm in listening in, given that she can’t move a single inch of her body.

The phone stopped ringing once Michelle seemingly picked up the call.

“…Hello?” Michelle’s voice was exceptionally flat and emotionless. However, she started off with a hint of hesitation, almost as if she didn’t necessarily want to answer the phone.

“Hey, ‘sup?”

Seemingly alone in the comfort of her own home, Michelle had all the reason to put her call on speakerphone. As a result, Clara’s eyes shot wide open as she immediately recognized the voice that came from the other side of the line. Speaking cheerfully, as if she had done nothing wrong in the world, was Aleena.

“Hi. I’m just kinda…” Michelle responded with none of Aleena’s enthusiasm.

“Oh, wait—I’m so sorry! Don’t tell me I’m interrupting your…”

Clara’s eyes narrowed and brows furrowed as she noticed Aleena’s change in tone. Aleena sounded extremely apologetic and saccharine as she apologized for intruding on her sister’s date by calling. But she sounded too apologetic. Absolutely any average person could tell that Aleena was putting on an act—she didn’t seem to be very sorry at all. However, it seemed as if Michelle didn’t notice this at all.

“No, you’re fine. The person you set me up with… she, uh—”

“No way, don’t tell me. She stood you up?!” Aleena once again sounded far too shocked to be serious, her voice exaggerated in every single way. Clara wouldn’t be surprised if on the other side of the line, Aleena was sitting completely motionless with a blank stare on her face. That’s how fake her performance was.

And of course she would be faking it! Aleena was the only person on Earth who actually knew what had happened to Clara. She knew well that she had actually shown up at the location for their date! This solidified in Clara’s mind that Aleena shrunk her down because she didn’t want her dating her sister. Clara would have felt hurt that her crush’s sister didn’t like her for some reason, if only she weren’t absolutely livid at the moment.

“Yeah, she never sho—”

“Well, I guess this girl was never all that worth it if she couldn’t even bother to make it out to you. Right?” Once again, Aleena interrupted Michelle before she could finish her statement. In an instant, her apologetic voice had been replaced with her more enthusiastic tone. It wasn’t as if she was comforting her sister who had been stood up—it was more like she was trying to convince her of something.

“Yeah, I guess… but what if she just—”

“I mean, this is what, the third time this has happened, right?” There was that interruption again—to Clara, it seemed like Aleena didn’t care what Michelle had to say at all. “Someone says they’re interested in you, they ask me to set up a date, and they bail at the last second! And it was a girl this time, too… I thought that she would be different.”

Michelle sat quietly as she waited for her sister to finish, having learned from the previous times Aleena sharply cut her off. What Aleena was saying was true, though. In the past three months, Michelle had been notified on two separate occasions that a man was interested in going on a date with her. Michelle was more than happy to entertain these suitors—she had never been in a relationship in her life, so she looked forward to such new experiences. She knew that most people could perceive her as… strange. She was aware of the fact that she perceived the world around her differently than most, and that she had trouble outwardly expressing her emotions. She had largely given up on approaching others due to this, and as such, the prospect that men were willing to court her themselves filled her with immense joy. She could even look past the fact that both men felt that they had to go through Aleena first. Maybe she wasn’t that weird after all, and maybe, just maybe, a single blind date could result in a fulfilling relationship for both parties.

However, this obviously didn’t pan out, as she was stood up by both men. She was completely unaware of the fact that they had been disposed of by Aleena in a similar fashion to Clara. Just like Clara, both of these men had shown interest in Michelle for quite some time, and were then approached by Aleena, who proposed to set them up on a date. The rest is history for these two suitors.

When Michelle initially heard that the next person who wished to go on a date with her was a woman, she was rather excited. Of course, there was the fact that Michelle was interested in both men and women—a fact that Aleena was apparently aware of. But beyond that, Michelle believed that a fellow woman wouldn’t be so cruel as to stand her up, as opposed to the men who had done exactly that.

But it seems as if that wasn’t the case at all.

“Well, it seems to me that you just can’t trust anyone. Right?” Aleena continued. Michelle remained unresponsive. After a few seconds of silence passed, Aleena repeated herself.

“Right?” Aleena said in a slightly more forceful tone.

“…Yeah. Right.” Michelle finally responded. However, down from her foot, Clara picked up on the first hint of emotion she had ever heard in Michelle’s voice. It wasn’t hard to discern what this emotion was, either. Michelle sounded discouraged. Defeated. 

“Well, except for me, of course. You can always trust me.” Aleena spoke in an exact opposite tone as Michelle—the older sister was more chipper than ever. “And you know what I think, Michelle.”

“…What?”

“I think you just need to give up on dating. It’s clearly not something you’re cut out for. Got that?”

The room was completely silent. Clara could have sworn that she heard a sniffle break up that silence, but she couldn’t tell for sure. Aleena’s voice interrupted whatever noise she thought she heard.

“Got that, Michelle?”

“Yeah, got it.” Michelle's deadpan voice had suddenly returned, all traces of emotion stripped from it.

“Ah, great! I’m so glad you agree, too.” This time, Aleena’s enthusiasm seemed completely genuine. “We’ll talk about this more later, alright? Have a good night! See ya!”

With this, Aleena hung up. The heavy silence returned to Michelle’s flat as she sat there, motionless. It seemed like she needed some time to process what exactly just happened.

But Clara already had.

Rage boiled within Clara as she started fiercely squirming against Michelle’s tough sole once more. That Aleena was plain evil. She had really done this all before?! Systematically causing your very own sister to lose all hope in ever finding love… and not even to mention those two other men who had been shrunken down by her. Did they ever recover? Were they dead by now?!

Clara wouldn’t let Aleena get away with it. She would get Michelle’s attention now. No matter what any disparity in size or controlling sister had to say about. She wouldn’t give up until she let Michelle know that she was here. Not until she gave the woman her hope back.

However, Clara was still rendered almost completely immobile. Calling her actions “squirming” was generous. In the couple of minutes that Michelle was speaking to her sister on the phone, the indentation that Clara’s body made on Michelle’s bulbous toe had become slightly less deep. This granted her the ability to move her arms… about a relative inch in either direction. However, her torso and legs were still almost completely sunken into Michelle’s foot flesh.

But, there was hope! Her arms being freed even the slightest bit was progress. With just a bit more work, she could use her arms to work the rest of her body free as well. Sure, it was quite a bit of a fall if she were to accidentally fall, but it wouldn’t come to that. Clara would work herself free gradually enough so that she could turn herself around and climb upwards Michelle’s sole. The stickiness of the sole due to the sweat and heat surrounding it would work in her favor. Climbing it up to Michelle’s big toe would be a breeze. From there, she would beat on her skin until she felt something and grabbed her attention.

Surely she would feel something.

About two minutes had passed after Michelle stopped talking with her sister. This seemed like a much, much longer time to the shrunken Clara—despite her newfound determination, being stuck to Michelle’s foot still wasn’t a pleasurable experience. The smell of rain and sweat still invaded her nose, with no hope of escape. And she was still working on spitting up every bit of Michelle’s sweat from her mouth—she figured it would take her the entire night to do so. And that wasn’t even to mention the sweat—both hers and Michelle’s—that was still stuck in her hair, her ears, and on her clothes. The moment when she finally freed herself from Michelle’s sole so she could thoroughly clean herself from these fluids couldn't come soon enough.

However, Clara’s motions ceased when she felt Michelle herself move far above her.

What was she doing? She was most likely just setting down her phone, right? Clara’s suspicions were proven right as she heard a sound that sounded like an object making contact with the soft cushion of Michelle’s couch—crisis averted.

But she started to move again.

Right after the phone’s thud sounded through the air, Clara continued to feel motion throughout Michelle’s body from the sole of her foot. Her entire world was being shaken through intense vibrations, even though her foot was still completely still. So what exactly was happening that Clara couldn’t see?

Clara’s question was answered as Michelle's enormous right hand entered her field of view.

Wait, seriously?! Finally! She knew she liked Michelle for a reason. Clara had hardly been able to move an inch, and yet, Michelle managed to discern where she was! That was some commendable intuition, Clara had to hand it to her. Or rather, maybe Clara truly had created enough movements for Michelle to notice her? The shrunken woman had to remind herself to give herself a pat on the back for her own efforts. She was pretty great, huh?

Given that Michelle had clearly discerned her location and was rescuing her, Clara expected Michelle’s massive hand to shape itself into a position primed for plucking. You know, with the tips of her thumb and index fingers brough close together. It should be no problem for her to simply pinch Clara by her turtleneck and safely pick her off of her sole. Of course, she wasn’t even thinking about the fact that her slender index finger was 237 feet from her point of view, with her thumb not too far behind.

But as Michelle’s finger neared her own foot, it didn’t take on a “plucking” stance at all. Instead, all four of her longest fingers bent forward, a stance far more suited for scraping.

Or rather, scratching.

No way… did Michelle not find out about Clara after all? Was she just about to scratch her foot? As the massive hands neared closer and closer to Clara, this seemed to be the case.

Clara noticed that each of Michelle’s enormous fingers were exceptionally pale and unblemished. They seemed to be manicured, taken care of in a similar way as her feet. Beyond this, they were slender and long, as befitting of her 5’11” stature. It seemed that her index and middle fingers just slightly surpassed her palm in length.

But what was most of note about these fingers were the nails that they all gave way too. From her thumb to her pinky, pure silky, white nails extended about a fourth of an inch away from her fingers. They were long enough to be noticeable even at a normal size, but of course, to Clara, they seemed to be 25’ from the flesh of her fingertips.

That was the height of a two-story building. A two-story building suddenly slamming into her would most likely mean death.

But that wouldn’t happen, right? There was a lot of space on Michelle’s foot that she could be targeting—what were the chances that she would scratch right on top of a miniscule speck? Clara would have hated to think of herself like that in any other scenario, but she felt like it was an absolutely necessary mindset right now if she wanted to remain sane. Besides, there was the fact that she had survived being mercilessly trampled by Michelle’s sole in the first place. Sure, a fingernail was multiple times harder than foot flesh, especially flesh as maintained and pampered as Michelle’s. But, there was a chance, right?

Michelle’s right hand fell upon her sole like it was a meteor. Her light brown skin effortlessly blocked out any light that Clara was receiving from her current vantage point. Michelle’s four fingers first touched down upon the ball of her foot, above where Clara was suddenly stuck. As the fingers made contact, Clara’s world shattered as shockwaves surrounded her from head to toe. Whilst she had still lost all hearing in her right ear, that familiar ringing returned in her left ear. Her current situation could be described as being buried in the ground during an earthquake.

This sensations only got worse as the source of this metaphorical earthquake drew closer to Clara. Were her fingers scraping downwards? Clara decided that this was happening, but surely her fingers would stop before they reached her tiny body, right?

Clara still found it hard to believe that time slows down right before you die. And yet, it was happening to her for a second time that same night. Clara had no way of seeing the massive nail that was a relative few inches away from her, as she couldn’t angle her head up. But somehow, she could sense it.

Her final thoughts weren’t of her parents at home, the convenience store, or Aleena—the woman who ultimately led to her demise. Surprisingly, her thoughts weren’t off of herself, either. In the couple of minutes that her mind had granted her before her death, she never cursed the fact that she never managed to bag a girlfriend, or even have a fulfilling relationship. Sure, she deeply lamented that her date with Michelle didn’t go according to either of their plans. But she didn’t lament it for her sake at all—it was for Michelle’s.

Despite her best efforts, Clara failed to reach the hopeless romantic.

…

A few minutes after Michelle got off of the phone with her sister, she idly scratched her foot. Little did she know that the motion of her nails immediately turned the miniscule woman attached to her sole into a red paste.

Michelle would never even notice the splotch. She would unintentionally wash it off of her foot later that night in the shower, or it would even come off as she stepped against her wooden floor. No matter how it went, it would be completely cleansed from Michelle’s body in a couple of hours.

Not that the young woman was thinking about the near future at all. After she scratched her foot, she clasped both of her hands and leaned forward. She was thinking intently about her conversation with Aleena. Her older sister had always guided her and helped her through rough patches in her life. Her help was especially appreciated through complicated social situations. As such, she wouldn’t dare argue with her judgements to her face.

But, really? Was her dating life over just like that?

Well, she supposed that she couldn’t deny the facts. She had been stood up by three people now. She guessed she simply wasn’t desirable at all—by neither men nor women. She figured that her personality was the issue, given that these people always back out of a date after they’ve already proposed one. Her appearance probably drew people in, but they ran away after Aleena told them a little bit about her, right? Oh well. Her personality wasn’t something she was really capable of changing, so it truly was over, huh?

It was sad, but she would have to live with it.

Before she moved on, Michelle decided to spare a thought as to who her would-be date was. It was a woman this time around, she knew that. Michelle’s mind wandered to the various restaurants, shops, and stores that she frequented to discern which women she saw often enough for a crush to develop.

Oh, it was Clara Chung, wasn’t it?

Yeah, most likely. Michelle noticed her staring at her whenever she browsed her convenience store. In fact, she liked it. She made a habit of visiting the store every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, even though she certainly didn’t need to buy snacks that often. Michelle had hoped that Clara would make the first move all this time, and she supposed she did. She just didn’t follow through.

But, Clara was always so nice to her. Even though she stared at her, it never felt disrespectful in the slightest. Sure, Michelle was certain that Clara was indeed attracted to her, but it also felt as if she was politely admiring her. It was unlike any stare that Michelle ever received before. And when it was time to actually interact with her, Clara made sure to treat her with a smile on her face as she rang up her items and bagged them for her.

Michelle would have greatly enjoyed the chance to spend more time with her. She always wanted to get to know her better. Probably more than any other person she could think of. She found it hard to believe that such a nice woman would abandon her like that, but that’s exactly what happened anyway.

Michelle silently stood up from her couch and started walking towards her bedroom. She was going to bed early tonight.

She didn’t feel like going to Clara’s convenience store anymore. She would have to find a new place to shop at.