So why, exactly, is it that whenever I awoke at the break of dawn I was locked within a cage atop the dresser of my best friend? The walls of the cage surrounded me entirely, the grilles just tight enough to prevent escape. To my left was a small bowl of dried oats (yuck) and another bowl of water. On the bed outside of the cage was the sleeping figure of Jade Ngo, her chest rising up and down to the beat of her breath. The room was dim, painfully dim, but just bright enough for me to see my general surroundings. Behind me was the window, shrouded with a blue curtain, preventing the light from entering. So, why was I here then?

No answer, really. The fan above me roared away, spinning quite quickly. After eyeing my surroundings for a while, I heard the sound of a dream catcher drifting gently by the cord of the fan. The television was turned on, playing a documentary, but the volume was nearly muted. I couldn't conceive why I had awoken where I was, so the first thing I did was run to the wall and attempt to worm my way out of it. Unfortunately, it was too tight a squeeze, so there was no real way out through there. The door to the cage, however, was unlocked for me to open.

Running to the exit, I tripped on the wood shavings scattered across the ground. My face was sanded against them, until I finally came to a stop. It took a minute or two for me to come to my senses, but I was too disoriented to stand. My brain was racing with panicked thoughts, as I was completely lost. Practically out of my mind, my senses inhabiting an area outside of my body. Soon enough, I was capable of standing up, albeit with a sore ankle and a killer headache. I began to hobble my way over to the door, limping on my bad leg, with my hands rubbing at my temples.

Why I was here made no sense whatsoever, but I still continued anyway. Eventually I reached the door and I put my two hands out, away from my head, and pulled desperately at it. It didn't budge even a little bit. I glanced over to the hinges and saw that I actually needed to push at it. I guess that I was thinking from the perspective of outside of the cage. I had never been inside of one.

I posted my feet into the floor, and pushed the absolute hardest I could against the cage. There was no movement whatsoever, even as I began to break a sweat and groan. Eventually I gave up, and sat down to think. I didn't understand what had happened, and soon I decided that whatever it was, it had to be a dream. A weird dream, definitely, but a dream nonetheless. My first reaction was, of course, to pinch myself. When that didn't work I pinched harder, eventually producing a deeply purple bruise along my arm. Moaning in discontent, I picked up a wood shaving and stabbed my leg with it, not able to pierce my jeans or the skin, but it hurt like hell anyway. That was when I realized that I now had two bad legs. Stupid.

Instead of standing up, I crawled slowly over to the water bowl, now at the opposite side of the cage. My two legs dragged beneath me, not actually hurting too much for me to stand, but I just felt too exhausted to walk all the way there. Now, I was completely drenched in my own sweat, totally drained from my stint at the door. It took a good couple of minutes to reach the bowl, but when I got there, I took my shirt off and submerged my torso in the water. It was lukewarm, but the feeling of refreshment was there regardless. Before I got out of the bowl, I took a couple gulps. There was a pleasant feeling to drinking so much.

I violently ripped myself away from the water, now a bit upset with my current standings. Water scattered from my being to the floor all around me. I watched the wood chips absorb the water, turning them a deep brown. I didn't know what to do. A part of me was really scared, scared that I was unable to wake myself up, or scared that this could be entirely real. No one's ever been this lost. My two hands fingered at the wooden ground, and eventually I picked up a wood chip and snapped it in two about my leg. I don't know why I kept subjecting myself to this abuse.

My best bet was to probably eat a little bit and get back to sleep. There was no sense in bruising myself black and blue until I fell unconscious. I stood up, partially unstable, and with a hunched back I worked my way over to the oats. Each one was as big as my chest, so all I really needed was to eat one. The enormous disk was sandy in my hands, each grain on it now big enough to rub my hands raw. I took a big bite, but it was so dry that I had to dip it in the water, making the water a bit floury, but the oat went down much easier now. I sat back down, munching away, thinking about what was happening. I was either captured within a strange dream, or my life had been turned upside down. I don't know where I am anymore.

It took a while, but I ate the entire oat. My stomach was bulging, completely stuffed really, but I felt better. I weakly smiled, and looked over to the television. It showed a group of meerkats moving around frantically, some receding into holes on the ground. Every now and then the camera would switch to a night vision of the interior of said holes, showing their movement within them. I figured the documentary was on the behavior of meerkats, and although it interested me, I couldn't make out the dialogue enough to learn anything.

My hands still bore two bright red bars across them, from where I had pushed on the door earlier. I rubbed them together, and eventually licked them clean of the flour from the oat. I laid back onto the floor and closed my eyes, trying to sleep. Nothing came to me. All I could do was think about where I was, why I was here, what was happening. I turned to my side, and my stomach began to convulse. As I sat up, I vomited all across my chest and the floor. The puddle was just the oats and water. Looking at it for a while, I began to gag again, and I vomited again into the puddle. I kept vomiting that way until my stomach felt entirely empty. Acid burned at my throat, and my teeth were sore. I closed my eyes and began to cry.

I picked up my shirt from next to the water bowl, my eyes still watering, and wiped my chest clean. I took off my pants, also soaked with vomit, and I left them both on the ground. I walked over to a corner of the cage and sat down gently. My butt hurt really bad from sitting on the uneven floor for so long, and now my stomach was groaning at me for more food. I looked at the oats, but I shook my head and laid back down again. I really needed to sleep.

With my two eyes closed for so long, I could barely observe the light from the window intensifying, until the darkness was turned into a pale blue against my eyelids. I still tried to sleep, because I felt the painful sting of tiredness in my eyes. I was still crying like a child, snot coming from my nose. Soon my headache had gotten even worse from all of my weeping, and that only made me more frustrated. Where was I, why was I here? I just wanted to go home, I didn't know why I woke up here. The only comforting thing was the sound of Jade's gentle snores. I opened my eyes and sat up, looking over to her. I could see her face, completely blissful in her sleep.

Finally I stood back up, and I again worked my way back to the door. I pushed harder than ever at it, until I heard my wrists pop from the straining and I feel back to the ground, cringing in pain. I moved my hands around on my wrists, working out the cramp I'd developed. I looked up at the door, angrily, and walked over to the side of the cage opposite to it. As fast as I possibly could, I ran at the door, carefully stepping around the wood shavings under me, until I made full contact, suddenly opening the door and sending me flying out, across the floor of the dresser, my entire body screaming in pain.

I laid there for a long time, crying in pain but relieved at my escape. I opened my eyes and watched the spinning of the fan, and the drifting of the dream catcher. It was sad that it couldn't have caught this nightmare.

When I finally managed to sit back up, I smiled to myself again. I could now see Jade in bed, completely unobscured, and I laughed at myself. It felt a lot better to be outside, I could feel the wind of the fan much better now, and although my stomach still growled at me, I felt a lot more energetic. I tried to stand back up on my feet, but my knees buckled under me. Something in my ankle had produced an unimaginable, sharp pain. When I screamed out, I could see Jade's face contort slightly, but it returned to its natural state within a couple of seconds. I swore to myself several times, grinding my teeth together.

I looked at my ankle and saw that it had turned completely yellow and black. It throbbed in pain, and when I reached over to touch it, it immediately recoiled in pain again and screamed, a little more quietly. I tried to stand once more, this time with no pressure on my bad ankle, and I hoisted myself up with the wall of the cage. Finally I could see everything in the room. Strewn across the floor were towels, underwear, and socks. It was kind of gross, but nothing compared to the mess of my own room. I limped around the dresser, still with one hand posted onto the cage, making my way toward a tall stack of clothing that was laid across it.

Making my way there was extremely painful, but when I did I let myself fall into the soft embrace of the shirt. My entire body had been twinged with pain at the joints, my head still ached, and I felt vast amounts of nausea. An all consuming nausea, a feeling beyond just the reaches of my stomach and head but like a full body experience, I felt literally absorbed into a mass of nauseous pain that worked its way deep into my skin, muscle and bones. Eventually I began to dry heave again, only able to leave a layer of saliva atop the place I was laying in the shirt. My eyes began to water.

I can't keep moving around like this just to find myself where I started. I felt like I was moving in molasses, going to opposite directions. My bra and panties were now completely soaked with sweat. I wanted to remove them, at first, but I resisted.

Whatever was going on here didn't feel entirely organic to me. I still felt like I was drifting around in a dream state, encumbered by the weight of my own unconsciousness. When I sat up, there was the strangest feeling of coldness. A chill down my spine. I felt at my forehead, wiping off a thick layer of sweat, and rubbed my hand against the shirt to get it off of me. My ankle was still in grievous pain, but it was feeling a bit better now that I hadn't put any pressure on it.

Now mostly satisfied with my findings, I made my way back to the door of the cage and got back inside. I was incapable of closing the door again, but I was able to make my way over to the pile of clothes I had left near the water bowl. After taking a few more drinks of water, I organized my less vomit-covered pants over the shirt and used it as a pillow for my head. I propped my bad ankle up on the water bowl, and the cold steel was a good feeling against the bruise. I closed my eyes again and finally felt myself falling asleep.

When I had awoken, the sun was completely shining into my face. The curtains had been opened, directing the sunlight into my cage. I quickly sat up, swinging my leg around my body and turning in the direction of the bed. Jade was no longer laying where she had been earlier, instead there was simply a big mess of blankets and sheets and pillows in the shape of a human body. Although her door was closed, I could hear sound outside of the room, and the television's volume was turned up, now showing an early morning cartoon. Again I looked to the dream catcher, and sighed deeply. Why was I here?

"So she's cheating on you but you're going to just ignore it and stay with her?"

"Yes."

"Why would you do that to yourself? You know that she isn't going to be good to you."

"I don't know, I don't know. I just want someone to be with me. I don't want to have to lay around with no one with me anymore. I hate how it feels to have no one there for me."

"Do you really think that no one is there for you? Do you think that I am not right here, being there for you right now?"

"You don't understand, it's not like that, I don't mean there for me like that."

"So what do you mean then, what is being there like that supposed to mean?"

"I want someone who can be there for me on a level that's above what you can do. I can't come into my room at night and see you in my bed and just lay there and think with you, you can't do that can you, you can't lay there and think with me like not even touching each other. And I even know that you don't want to do that, when we have these conversations I can tell that—"

"What are you talking about right now, what are you even saying to me?"

"—when you talk to me you don't want to be around me anymore. I wanted for you and I to connect over this summer so I talk to you so much and you seem so impossible to interact with, who are you even, what did I do wrong, I don't understand any—"

"Why didn't you tell me any of this beforehand? You always seem so distant to me, you never seem all there when we talk anymore. If we're not sitting in silence you're telling me about Sofia or something that happened with your family—"

"—more I miss the old you so much. I miss what you and I used to be, you know I've never had better advice than the time that you told me that a relationship isn't about being friends, it's about being lovers, because I feel like that changed Sofia and I so much when I shifted my attitude toward her and—"

"—so what the hell's your major malfunction then?"

"—and, and... I don't know anymore."

"Why didn't you just tell me, then?"

"I don't want you to get tired of me. I'm so scared that you'll get exhausted of me, with us always talking every day and going out to the movies every single weekend, how could you not be drained from that? I never leave you alone."

"If I was drained we wouldn't be speaking right now. I enjoy every moment that I spend with you Jade, I don't want you to think that I'm never not happy when I'm around you. This summer has been one of the best in my life."

"This summer has been too good to me, I don't know what it's going to be like when it ends."

"We can cross that bridge when we get there."

"What's going to happen when you have to move and it's just me and Sofia, when I can't come to you for advice anymore?"

"Have you ever heard of texting or Skype or facetiming, you knew that was a thing right?"

"Yeah, I know all about that, but I'm so much happier when we see each other in person. I feel that we can share a bond that's special compared to what you and I are saying to each other over the phone. What if you're on the toilet while you're texting me?, I wouldn't know that. That just totally ruins the moment for me."

"Oh my God, is that actually what you're going to be stressing out about right now? What if I told you I would never use the bathroom while I text you. Or better yet we can only facetime so you know where I am all the time, does that help?"

"Okay I didn't mean that far, we can text, I'll take your word."

"Really, I promise, I'll help you with Sofia whenever you want."

"That's good."

"But listen, I'm going to really tell you the truth here, and I don't want you to get upset about anything, because you're my best friend and I wouldn't ever hurt you if it wasn't going to help you."

"You want me to break up with her, I know."

"Please, you need to do it, if you let her control you like this then you're never going to be happy, all you'll do it hurt yourself over and over and what happens when you've been hurt so much that you can't feel yourself anymore?"

"What happens when I already can't feel anything. As of lately I've just been so suspended in my own guilt over what I did to Sofia that I don't know if I'll ever feel again."

"Listen to yourself, you seriously think that what you did means you deserve what's happening right now?"

"It's just karma."

"Fuck karma, what the hell, you know that's bullshit right? You don't deserve a single shred of what you've been putting up with. I don't care about what you did to Sofia, no one cares about that, it wasn't her fault either way. You need to reevaluate where you've put yourself if you actually sit down and think you deserve anything bad, ever."

"Don't try to tell me that what I did was okay."

"Sofia pushed you, Jade, how can you not see that? Sometimes your actions aren't on your own behalf, and you'll do something you really regret. But you need to understand that what you did was by no means your own fault in any way."

"Stop saying stupid things."

"What else am I supposed to tell you? I'm not going to tell you that you're right, because right now you're just wrong."

"Whatever."

"I'm sorry."

"..."

"Jade."

"..."

"I just want you to be happy. That sounds really dumb, and it's a cliche thing to say, but I want you to be happy so much that it physically hurts me sometimes. Seeing you like this could actually kill me."

"Well I don't know what you expected when you decided to start saying stupid stuff like that, were you expecting me to just smile and tell you that it makes sense to me and that I would just break up with Sofia?"

"I want you to break up with Sofia, so yes, that's sort of what I was expecting."

"Okay well let me tell you right now, I'm not going to break up with Sofia, and I'm not going to let you talk me into it. Why would you try to push me into that?"

"Do you think you're dependent?"

"..."

"Do you?"

"Probably yeah. I understand that what I'm doing is going to be the wrong decision, but I want her and I to pull through this, I've been with her so long and she's one of the most amazing people I've ever known, I want her and I to pull through this and mend our relationship. I don't want to be alone again."

"You won't be alone, you'll have me, I promise you that I'll be there for you, whenever you want, we can lay down together and think and not even touch each other, we can just lay there and think if that's what you want us to do. Please."

"I'm just so lost."

"I can tell. But I want to help you find yourself."

"I know where I am, I'm here right now, I'm here with you."

"I don't mean like that, I mean I want you to find yourself like... find yourself mentally. Don't make me sound like a big idiot, don't make me explain myself!"

"Alright, okay, you can do whatever you want. You don't have to have me stopping you from doing what you have to do."

"Thank you. Do you think you can do it now?"

"No. I'm sorry, I know that you're trying to help me right now but I don't want to do it, so I'm not going to let you tell me what to do."

"Then I hope that you can maybe sleep on that decision, and think long and hard about what you're choosing to do. Because you heard it from your best friend that you're just going to end up hurt, and upset and sad, and I know that your biggest fear is to be alone, but that's how you're going to be if you continue down this path you're setting up for yourself."

"..."

"..."

"Why would you say that? What's your problem?"

"Remember when I told you that I would never hurt you unless I knew it would help you, and I want to help you and make you stop hurting right now really—"

"Maybe you need to listen to yourself, you're the one who needs to do some listening. If you actually think that saying that would ever help me then your efforts are just so misplaced right now."

"Why are you so mad whenever I tell you the truth to the best of my ability? Any time I manage to muster up some statement that I think will be helpful to you, you react so negatively and you just never are happy are you with what I say to you? You're never going to be satisfied with what I say."

"I'm sorry."

"Well whenever it comes to the point that any single thing I say can and will be used against me in some form or another then it makes conversation really discouraging. Don't turn this into a minefield of bad things I could say that are going to set you—"

"I'm sorry."

"—off. I can't be given the burden of making sure everything I say is sugarcoated and ensured to make you happy, what—"

"I'm sorry, okay! Why don't you just leave me alone already? I'm pretty sure I've made my choice here, I don't want to hear what you're saying to me anymore, okay, why can't we just end this conversation right now?"

"I don't want to end this conversation with you stuck on some dumb idea that you deserve anything bad that happens to you."

"Leave that alone, who cares, who cares if I deserve anything, leave it alone."

"Fine, whatever, what are we going to do today then?"

"I don't think we're going to be doing anything today. I'm going home."

"Wow, are you really going to take it that negatively and go home? Is that seriously what you're going to do right now? Don't act like a child, seriously, please."

"I just want to go home and think. And I want to do it alone, not with someone laying next to me thanks, so let me do that. We've talked for a long time now and I just want to think about it, okay? I'm not mad."

"You're not mad?"

"I'm not mad."

"Okay, fine, if you really promise you aren't angry with me then go home. I promise that I wasn't trying to make you mad at me, I just wanted you to understand where I'm coming from."

"Alright. Thanks for talking to me. Love you."

"I love you too."

Bare trees casted witch fingers across the sky. From the towering ashtray to my left to the roughened wood beneath me, and past the misted green grass, the cries of birds and the gentle lullaby of a cricket. The soaring moans of cicadas, the warmth of early morning heat. A gentle breeze worked its way under my clothes, I crossed my arms and pulled my knees in tight. Puffs of smoke drifted lazily above me, sometimes in the shape of hoops and other times uncharacteristic blobs. The acrid smell of a burning cigarette inhabited my nostrils, I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes. One, two.

It had taken a while, but I now understood that I wasn't dreaming. Everything that I had witnessed up to this point was more or less real, non-hallucinatory. Despite my best efforts to understand why I was here, nothing was really turning up in my favor. All I understood at the moment was that I was on Jade's porch, with her above me nursing on a cigarette, and I was smaller than my regular size. Why I was this small, no clue yet. Jade and I still hadn't exchanged any words. She came into her room, dressed in pajamas fresh from a shower, and took me from her dresser, gave me my clothes and took me to where we are now.

I heard the pops of Jade sucking on her cigarette, and then she brought it down and extinguished it before me, in the grubby ashtray. I saw her enormous fingers working powerfully, twisting in a grinding motion. The sound was loud and vivid, a dense scraping. She stopped and let go of the butt, then turned her head to me. Her gaze was strangely empty. I saw a light smile creep on her lips, and she offered a hand out to me, on the edge of the table I was sitting on. Sighing, I stood to my feet and walked to her palm, lightly stepping onto the uneven flesh. The warmth of her body immediately enveloped me. Before I could reach the center, I stumbled and fell flat on my face. I heard a light chuckle.

As she began moving, the air around me felt like it was moving too. Although I felt fine for a moment, soon motion sickness overtook me as she kept her hand in motion, carrying me almost casually. She opened the front door to her house, a cold gust of air came over us. My eyes stung from the temperature change, lightly watering. After she entered she closed the door and began the walk to her room, immediately left from the door down a hallway, to two doors where she takes the right one. As soon as we entered her room I coughed violently. It smelled like cat piss and weed. I hadn't noticed it earlier because I had grown used to it overnight, but now it was readily obvious that her room seriously stinks. I tried to suppress any further convulsions so I wouldn't offend her.

After a moment we're at her computer desk in the far right corner. To the left of us was her dresser, atop it a stack of clothes and the cage I slept in, slightly obscured. She sat down, the bottom plummeted from my stomach and my nausea increased. In a quick motion she emptied me from her hand, sending me tumbling into a heap on the surface of her desk. As I stood I groan in pain, my body slightly aching. I looked to Jade angrily, but she did not look back. Instead she opened her laptop, to the right of me, and moved around her mouse to bring an image to the screen. I watched as she navigated to her internet browser, but soon the brightness of her screen hurt my eyes and I had to look away. My view moved down to my feet, bare and sore. I pulled them toward myself and looked at the soles, colored black from when I was sitting on dirty table outside. My butt was probably black too.

I heard Jade typing on her keyboard, but I didn't feel inclined to look back to the screen and risk burning my retinas. For now I was busy thinking about where I was, and why I was here. Last night I remembered staying up late on Tumblr, but regardless of me staying up late I fell asleep normally. There wasn't any interference or weird sensations, I just drifted asleep like normal. Before that, before I went to sleep my mom had cooked hu tieu and it had tasted fine to me. The only relevant thing that had happened was after school Jade stayed over for a couple of hours and we had argued. I didn't think that it was very serious at the time. Arguing was just a thing her and I did often.

Why did I have to be here anyway, I didn't deserve this. Thinking so much was just making me frustrated and upset. Whenever I don't understand something it makes me unreasonably angry. I felt lost and powerless. Plus it was getting hard to hear my own thoughts over the massive sound of Jade typing. I looked back to her screen and saw that she was making a text post. I tried to make out the letters but the screen was so large and I was at a bad angle, I just couldn't make anything out without extreme amounts of concentration. It didn't seem to be relevant anyway, so I blinked the tears out of my eyes and stood up, and walked to the edge of the table.

Looking down from the table, I thought to myself how easy it would be to just jump. I could have jumped right then, it wouldn't have been hard at all. I would fall and that would be it. But I remembered reading that most people who attempt suicide by jumping and survive say that they regretting it as they were falling, so I backed up. I sat down and dangled my feet off the table and just looked down over my surroundings. The room, once a small and ratty place that stunk majorly, was now like an enormous habitat. I wondered if it was bigger than the Grand Canyon at this scale. Enormous landmarks came to my head, places I've seen like Lake Michigan, or large valleys. Scattered across the blue carpet were articles of clothing, a large majority of the far right side of the computer desk was covered in glass cups, the room was generally a mess. 

My eyes were still burning. And my body still hurt from when Jade tossed me onto the table. What was her problem, why was she just ignoring me, using a laptop, giving me weird smiles and smoking cigarettes and typing so gosh darned loudly? And what was with the smell of her room, why was she fine just living in a pig sty? I realized how cool it would be to spit off the edge of the table, so I did it. The fall was so far that I eventually lost sight of the saliva, but I was expecting that any way. So what was with Jade, what was her major malfunction right now and what was she even blogging about anyway? She knew that I follow her Tumblr and I would see it when I got home anyway, why not just show it to me now? There was a sensation of a rubberband around my forehead, compressing my thoughts and emotions into a small bundle.

I backed away from the edge carefully, stood back up again and walked over to Jade's left elbow, resting on the desk as she typed ridiculously loudly. Her pale flesh bent and pressed each time her hand shifted. I got as close as I could before it seemed like the erratic movement was capable of reaching me. After a second of deliberation I ran up to her anyway and kicked at her as hard as I could. Instantly regret flooded over my body. She was solid as a rock, and the inertia shocked through my body. I fell on my back and moaned, I could feel that my leg was numb now, which only added to the distress of my sore ankle. At the least I saw that Jade had stopped typing, it was pretty obvious since there wasn't constant banging on her keyboard, and she looked over to me. There was a look of concern on her face, but not like concern for a friend. She looked at me like she felt bad for me.

That pissed me off. I rolled over onto my face and curled into a ball. I didn't really like letting anger control me but I guess that's how it was going to have to be. For a second it was very quiet and I was just left alone with my rage but then I felt a strong pressing on my back, and soon it was so overpowering that I uncurled and was just on my belly. I turned my head and looked over my shoulder and saw that she was pushing down on me with her finger, but as soon as I met her eyes she stopped. I turned back over and sat up, and looked back at her. Again she had the same smile on her face, and she did a sarcastic little wave down at me.

"Hey, how are you doing down there?" Finally she said something to me. To tell the truth I didn't know how I was doing down here, especially because I could only just now start thinking again after all of that racket from the keyboard stopped. I took my eyes away from Jade and started thinking again. So what was all of that stupid pressing stuff about now? Not only did I not understand what was happening, I didn't understand what Jade was even trying to do at this point. I didn't even feel like I knew myself, with this new size and all. My hands were shaking. I felt a lightness in my head, and my vision slowly clouded at the edges with haze. My heartbeat felt irregular and fast. I breathed heavily and felt like I was going to cry, but I didn't feel like I needed to, not over something like this. I put my face into my hands.

Soon enough I felt normal again. I took my hands away from my face and looked back up to Jade. I opened my mouth. One, two.

"What the fuck is your problem?"

I was roughly slammed against the soft skin, my body overwhelmed with the reverberations of a rapid heartbeat as two strong fingers forcibly jammed me into the smooth surface, the force pushing me in as the area compressed inward. The moving flesh embracing me yielded as I was enveloped by her warmth. I was roughly smeared about Jade, eventually sliding down the dimpled surface to meet the crest of her nipple. As I rested my face on her areola the mass beneath me hardened and quivered, until it pulled my two legs far apart and I was forced to scramble to my knees. A finger came beneath me and pulled me back up to the center of her collarbones, and then releaseed me into the area between her breasts, where I was swallowed and brought into darkness.

The turf around me was unstable, and I was sent tumbling about in each direction. I could almost feel the fluids in my body rushing to my head as I slid deeper within Jade's bosom. My cheeks were rubbed raw against the walls and my limbs were lashed around against my control. My pirouette continued until I'd nearly reached my limit and I was thinking, oh God, I'm about to vomit, and only then did I finally stop all at once. The sensation of the sudden loss of movement sent a quake through my body, rattling my bones. It felt like my skin was going to continue moving, peeling off of my skeleton.

At first there was peace, and so I started looking around squinting to evaluate my environment and look at my body but the darkness around me is so uncompromising, almost thick and palpable. Slowly I squirm my way into an upright position, wedged carefully between the two walls and I lay my head down. I kept thinking I'm going to be sick, I'm going to be sick, and suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by everything around me shifting, Jade pressed her two breasts into me deeply and I was compressed down into a single column, immobile and in extreme pain.

Before I could readjust myself again the pressure let up and then Jade's breasts pulled further apart, until I had nothing supporting me and I began to slide down the crook between her breasts, the skin rubbing against my back felt like fire. There's really no stopping me until I fly over her navel and I'm in a total freefall, totally unhindered until I roughly crash into her pelvis and I'm brought to a stop. My entire body was losing feeling except for the increasingly intense pain in my sore ankle. I tried to roll over and look up at where I had fallen from, but I was completely unable to bring myself to move. I wanted to open my mouth to say something but all I could do was dully moan and just lay still.

After a minute of me resting my broken body a set of fingers came within the shirt and scooped me up from below, elevating me quickly back to Jade's breast level. I felt her leaning back, laying down as she ran me along her body from her collarbone to her nipple. Once I reached the extrusion she pressed me into it. Again it hardened beneath me, it was a weird experience to feel the tender skin tighten and grow dense against me. My face was pressed directly into the hollow of her nipple, and I felt the rough flesh give in to the pressure and meld around my face. It was only a few seconds before I realized I couldn't breathe anymore.

I began to flail around, pushing myself away from her nipple but in reaction Jade massaged me deeper into the orifice, until I felt like my entire body was about to burst. In desperation I open my mouth and bite as powerfully as I can into the skin, but the salty flesh does not yield. When I tried to spit it back out suddenly I see that I'm unable, because of the pressure pushing it into me. As it fills my mouth I coughed wildly but the air coming out of me simply has nowhere to go. My pain was replaced with extreme frustration, and as I get ready to scream I feel myself pass out.

AGH MY WATER BROKE!

When I came to I was being dragged down to below her breasts. The skin grew softer as I moved, until I reached the crevice between her sternum and breast. Very quickly, she shoved me into the crack. Immediately I was consumed by the warmth, and my body was covered in the sweat that had collected from her excitement. As I opened my mouth to shout again I was subjected to the tastes of salty flesh, and large amounts of sweat ran down my throat, sending me into a coughing fit as I convulsed in the depths of under her breasts. Her fingers continued to probe at me and push me around, rubbing me along her wrinkles. I put my hands out and try to stop myself, but the sweaty fatty tissue around me simply collapses between my fingers, and I am unable to get a grip on anything.

Suspended in this sweaty realm I grew extremely exhausted and frustrated at the same time. I kept reaching out, pushing against the walls and trying to worm my way out of this pocket but the liquids that had now coated me were keeping me from doing anything. My sore ankle was being continuously battered by Jade's playfulness, every single movement was becoming more and more excruciating. I didn't know what to do anymore and I felt like I was going to pass out again, I felt like I could die right here from this pain but before I fell completely limp two fingers pinched around my bad ankle, causing me to scream in pain, scream so loudly that my voice grew hoarse and then I was crying, and I'm pulled back out into the light.

Through my whining I tried to call out to Jade, I looked over to her face and get her to stop but when I looked into her eyes, their pupils opened wide, I saw that she was smiling so wide and it almost seemed like she was completely somewhere else. I was interrupted as I once again smacked into her collarbone and slid down the length of her breast, rocketing off its slope like a ramp and I landed back into her palm. Without even a moment of rest her hand released it death grip from the bedsheet and came to me where it grabbed my left arm, the other hand's fingers were wrapped around my abdomen.

She let go with her right hand and I was now only being held by my arm. The pressure on my shoulder was incredible. I was taken away from the crest of her breasts to her navel where she released me, and I tumbled within the hole, bouncing about the tough skin. I finally came to a rest. The lack of movement seemed almost unfamiliar to me at this point, but before I could even finish that thought I felt her tummy lowering and rising in sync with her breathing. The gentle swaying up and down was almost relaxing to me. In a crumpled heap, I started crying again.

Like a pathetic animal I sobbed, not really because of the pain in my ankle but just because I was confused. Like what was up with this anyway, what was Jade doing, I kept thinking in my head and repeating the phrase I thought we were friends until it was really all I was thinking about anymore. I felt really really sick in my stomach from all this movement, and from this personal exposure to my best friend. Even if nothing was my fault, I felt so unclean from this. These chills and nausea and fever sweat, it couldn't be normal.

Mindlessly, I fingered at the lint and dust from her navel and rolled around crying. I was really sick, I was really sick of thinking about this, I'm sick of thinking about this. I don't know. Whatever. Forget it.

I remember when Jade and I met, it was the beginning of year ten. Throughout secondary school I had been friends with Sofia and now she had moved. In reality she was only about thirty kilometers out from here but regardless she was going to a different school. So within me was this newfound loneliness, I'd never been very social in the first place, but without my best friend I didn't know what I was to do. For a long time I didn't speak to anyone anymore, I simply drifted from one environment to the other, and inside of me a lot of emotions gathered together that I was unable to release. I don't know why I chose to behave that way, why I refused to make any friends, but it was how I chose to spend my time. After a period like this, I met Jade.

Jade and I had already known of each other at this time. She was Sofia's girlfriend, and Sofia had told me several stories about her. Hearing about their exploits was very interesting to me, maybe because my own life had always lacked romantic drive, and hearing that my best friend was doing well made me feel happier. Despite this small connection between us, we were never properly introduced, and we never reached any point of contingence. It took until she approached me to cause any sort of spark. At this time I had been overwhelmingly lonely for so long that in some part of me I believed that it was always meant to be this way. But now, looking back on it, I was being very melodramatic and childish.

I wasn't uncommon for people to try to talk to me while I walked home. Whenever people see a girl walking home alone, especially one like myself, they seem attracted to her. I don't know. Usually it was men who tried to make a connection, but eventually it was Jade. Although I had intended to quickly go home, I found that I didn't want to stop talking to her, so instead we walked in circles around the streets for the entire day. I don't think I've ever experienced anything like that again. In only one conversation we learned a lot about each other, and we got along as well. It was like I had treated life as a coin, and grown tired of one side of it, and only now did I discover that there was a second side I had never seen before.

This is what I'm remembering now, as Jade and I travel down the aisles of a grocery store, collecting ingredients for lunch. We check out and leave the store, heading back to Jade's house once again.

So we had just left her bedroom and now we were coming into the kitchen. The clock read 5 P.M., well actually it was more than that but I'm just rounding down to say it more easily, so we're in the kitchen which was like partially connected to the loft in a weird way, it's hard to explain. Connected to the loft was also the door to Jade's dad's bedroom and as far as I knew he was still in there since he leaves work at 3. The kitchen was brightly lit, but it looked darker than usual since we had spent so long outside at the market. The floors Jade walked on were sterile and white.

Although Jade hadn't actually like communicated to me what we were doing here, in the kitchen, I could guess that it was lunch time for her. I didn't really mind that at all since I hadn't had an actual non-oat meal today. She moved toward the counter, and then proceeded to slowly place me down onto it. I came in contact with the cold surface and fell to my knees. There was a moment where I didn't want to stand, but eventually I did, placing little pressure on my ankle. Jade immediately went into action, moving toward her pantry where she took down some supplies for food.

Once everything was all sorted nearby, on the counter adjacent to me, she started cooking. First she pounded some chile with garlic and fish sauce. I couldn't see into the bowl but it seemed like she finished that and began to add lime and sugar to flavor. She took occasional tastes until she was done. Afterward she carefully whisked the sauce and then transfered the mixture into another smaller bowl for what I assume will be dipping. Once finished she moved back to the pantry, got some plastic wrap and used it to cover the bowl, then she put it in the refrigerator.

As she was cooking the number of ingredients laid out reduced in number so I started to get more of an idea of what she was doing. She took some turmeric and retrieved a grater from a cabinet. She put the grater onto a plate and began to grate the turmeric into a fine powder. The color was vibrantly orange. Finally she moved away from the plate and went to rinse off the grater, placing it in the sink. She then added corn starch and flour into a bowl, adding the ground turmeric last. From another cabinet she took out a measuring cup and filled it with one fourth of a cup of water, and she poured this into the bowl as well.

First she rinsed off her whisk and then returned to the bowl. As she whisked the batter she sprinkled salt into it. Once she stopped that she took the whisk to the sink and rinsed it again, then placed it next to the grater. She went to the fridge and took out a bulb of scallion, then from one of the cabinets she took out a cutting board. She got a knife from a block in the corner. After clearing some of the ingredients away, she placed the board down and began to slice the scallion very thinly. At the end she disposed of the head of it.

We both sat still for maybe ten minutes, then she finally continued after allowing the batter to sit. She added the sliced scallion to the bowl and mixed it in as well, then she sat the bowl aside. From the same cabinet she got the cutting board from, she took out a pan, then heated a tablespoon of oil into it. As it was heating, she took an onion from the refrigerator and chopped it carefully using the same knife she used on the scallion. She took the cutting board to the pan and scraped about a third of the onions into it, and allowed it to cook without stirring. She took the cutting board to the sink and placed it down next to it.

After a moment she began to pour the batter over the onion, then she took the pan up and guided the batter over the entirety of the pan, coating the bottom. As it cooked she went into the refrigerator and took out a plate of shrimp, covered in plastic wrap on a plate. With the other hand she took out a plastic bag of bean sprouts. On top of the partially cooked crepe she placed three shrimp and a small bit of bean sprouts. Once it seemed arranged well enough, she covered the pan and reduced the heat to medium. After a minute or two she removed the cover, and took an egg from the counter, cracked it, and drizzled the yolk over the crepe. Gently, she lifted the side of the crepe and added small amounts of oil.

Another four or five minutes later she took a spatula from a block and used it to fold the crepe over itself, and then she moved it to a plate. After adding more oil to the pan and allowing it to heat, she cooked another two crepes and put them on the same plate. Once finished, she retrieved the sauce from the refrigerator, uncovered it, and put a teaspoon into the bowl. She set this aside and then took a bunch of shiso leaves and lettuce, garnishing the plate with them. She took some small herbs like basil, dill and mint and added these to the crepes as well. Finally, she took the grater from the sink, almost like she forgot to use it, and used it to grate some carrot onto the crepes. Again she rinsed the grater and set it in the sink.

Now it was time for clean up. She disposed of the plastic bag from the bean sprouts as well as the plastic wraps she used, putting the shrimp plate into the sink after rinsing it. She had to wipe off the counters that were covered slightly in the juices from the vegetables she cut. She threw away the skins from the onions. At the end, she took the knife and rinsed it and placed it into the sink as well. It looked like she was done.

She took me in one hand and the steaming plate in another. We moved to the kitchen table, and she sat down, then put me down onto the plate, on top of the shiso leaves. From where I was, I was elevated above the rest of the meal, and I had an aerial point of view over it. Before I could do anything, she stood up, and returned to the counter. She got some silverware and then returned to the table, sitting down again. Immediately she started to eat. She cut a piece of the crepe, then wrapped it in a lettuce leaf and dipped it into the sauce. She ate this. I watched as she ate all three crepes, with me sitting on top the shiso leaves not eating anything. It didn't take long before she was completely finished with all three, having ate most of the lettuce as well. The leaves I was sitting on were untouched.

"That was good," she said to me. She plucked me off the plate, taking me into her hand again and then she took what she hadn't eaten and scraped it into the garbage can. She took the plate to the sink and rinsed it off, and we began to move to her room.

As we were walking through the loft, her father's door opened. He stepped out. In a panicked manner, she quickly slipped me into her pocket. The motion was explosive, completely overwhelming me instantly. As I tumbled down into the pocket I yelped in pain, grabbing at my head and suddenly my stomach went over itself, flopping around like a fish, and I violently vomited while I was still falling. When I hit the bottom, all of my vomit came falling back onto myself. I moan and roll around in my filth. It takes a while before I could find the energy to sit up and check my ankle again.

The sight wasn't pretty, I don't want to talk about it. I weeped silently as I cradled my ankle in my hands, rocking back and forth. Above me I could hear Jade and her dad arguing.

"Where the fuck have you been all day? I've been sitting in my room calling for you and I don't hear anything, where were you? Are you crazy?"

"I'm fine. I'm here now. What did you need?"

"What did I need? What the hell do you mean, what did I need? You were supposed to pick up your little brother from school at 4 PM, but you were missing in action, I had to pick him up myself."

"I was in my room."

"What? Are you telling me you've been in your room all day? What are you even doing in there?"

"I was on my laptop."

"Oh my God, your laptop, you spend the entire day on that thing? It's always you and that fucking laptop, it's all you're spending your life on."

"Okay."

"I'm taking that shit away, I'm sick of you living your life on your stupid websites, you think I don't know what you're doing in there?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Fuck you, I know what you've been doing behind my back. You're done."

"What the hell, dad! What are you even talking about?"

"Shut up, get out of my way, I'm taking your laptop."

Jade suddenly jolted into action. I could feel her running, running to her room, and when she arrived she took me from her pocket again and threw me onto the bed. I was flying for a second, and then the impact was enough to rip my consciousness from me.

When I was awake again, the light in the room was out. Jade wasn't anywhere near me. I couldn't hear anything at all. I tried to look over to her computer desk, but my entire body shouted out in pain. I was unable to move at all, completely immobile. I wanted to cry again, but I felt like I was totally dried of tears. I looked up and watched the fan above me slowly turn, squeaking on each revolution. My entire body was incredibly tired. I don't know.

I passed out again, but when I'm up I saw that it was night time. Jade still wasn't around. I sighed and finally felt I could sit up again. When I got to my feet, I took the time to examine my environment, and see the mountain of pillows and blankets before me.

As she stared beyond the bluff of the bedside down to the floor far down the girl first reevaluated her position as well as her plan for escape and then immediately looked to her left and saw the gentle slope of red blanket descending from the bottom of the bed to the white carpet below so she moved toward it through the unstable terrain of the mattress, dotted with dust and hair from Jade's body and when she reached the blanket it seemed to rise toward the very apex of her vision but despite this she reached out and rubbed it then immediately began a climb to the top with the intent of sliding down the entire blanket to the floor where she could continue her escape and when she reached it this new vantage point provided one of the single most alienating landscapes she could have set her eyes upon.

Through the darkness the girl could see Jade's discarded clothes and other debris upon the floor. The blanket she would slide upon would take her to the foot of the dresser which was one in the direct center of the room meaning it would be a long walk to the door, where a line of light erupted from the space between it and the carpet. She would have to walk around the clothing and trash to reach the door. She began her slide down the blanket and reached the bottom quickly. After moving away from the blanket the smell of the sweat and filth collected across the room hit the girl. It was sour and thick. The girl looked past the tears in her eyes and moved toward a wall of fabric to her left, the direction of the door. She met it and immediately retracted at the scent. They were a massive pair of gym shorts with a pair of dirty panties still lining the interior. She walked on past the clothes to escape the powerful stench but as she moved deeper into the labyrinth of clothing the smells only mixed and blended into one homogeneous horror.

She walked on further through the bedroom. As the light of the window receded from her vision she was consumed by darkness. Avoiding walking into the embrace of discarded clothes became impossible. She tripped over the lines of panties, face planting into the soiled crotches. She walked on. Occasionally the tendrils of hairs left buried in the carpets lashed and wrapped around her limbs leaving her tethered to the floor until she could untangle herself from its grasp. The light had completely left her vision and she stood starkly abandoned of her senses other than the thick and overwhelming smells around her. When she walked circles around the obstacles she was turned in every direction, becoming only further entwined in the massive maze of filth. She walked on until she came in contact with a discarded sock. She tripped into its depths and was immediately overcome with the sickening smell. On her body she felt the grime of a foot knead into her. Coughing and spasming, she pulled out of the sock and fell onto her butt. Eyes watering, she stood and walked on. Eventually she came to one article of clothing, a bra unbeknownst to her, and as she crashed into and slid into its interior she felt she would have to give up or take a break.

Above her was the squeaking of the fan. She listened to it carefully and with each squeal from its joints she felt more hopeless until there was a breakthrough in her mind. Using the sound of the fan she could estimate her position from the bed and move closer to the door. This thought sent her climbing and grasping at the walls of the cup of the bra to exit but she found it was nearly impossible. Only now did she come to realize the nature of her prison and she felt very aware. In one motion she ran and slammed into the wall and the cup tilted and emptied her out onto the floor. She tumbled in a ball and her body gradually unraveled until she was flat on her back. After her dizziness subsided she stood and began moving away from the sounds of the fan. She walked on. She felt herself growing closer to the door as the sound of the fan moved away and with this she felt hopeful.

It did not take long for her to walk into a wall. As her foot slammed against it her head flew forward and brought her nose directly in contact with the wall and although there wasn't a crack she gasped and reached to her nose as she fell onto her butt. She shouted loudly until the pain was gone and she stood again. She had been turned around and had moved away from the fan in the direction opposite of the door. This put her as far away from her escape as she could possibly be. She turned around and walked on. Her head spiraled in dizziness and when she put her hand up to feel at her nose there was warm blood spilling from it. In reaction she moved her head backward and let the blood fall into her throat. She sat down and waited for it to stop and sometimes moved her head forward with her hand under her nose to see if it was still bleeding. By the time it stopped she noticed she could see the window again and now there was light coming from it. She had been stuck in the room all night.

Now capable of seeing her surroundings, she walked on. It did not take long for her to find the door and squeeze under it, arriving in the hallway, free from the choking smell of the bedroom. She moved from the door to the main area of the hallway and walked on. The light above her quietly buzzed. At the exit of the hallway she had come into the loft. The room was decorated with sparse furniture and the walls were painted turquoise with small frames containing art hanging along them. On the ceiling hung another fan that spun gently. At the furthest end of the loft near the entrance to the kitchen was a window where early morning light came into the room. The lack of light gave the entire room a blue tint. There was still the scent of the banh xeo cooked yesterday coming from the kitchen.

The girl walked on to the center of the loft where there was a table surrounded by couches. She walked on beneath the table into the darkness where dust had collected as well as several small toys that the girl supposed Jade's little sister played with. When it came time for her to walk back into the light of the loft the door to Jade's dad's room opened and the man himself stepped out. The girl froze in fear and stood completely silent despite the dust drifting into her eyes and nose. He walked from the door to the kitchen and the girl could no longer see him. She moved to the posterior of the table and went into the loft at the foot of a couch and she could see into the kitchen from there. Jade's dad stood at their coffee maker preparing coffee for the morning. The girl watched until he seemed done and walked back into the loft and in reaction she ran back under the table quickly and she tripped and fell into a dust bunny. She could no longer open her eyes and watch Jade's dad but soon she heard the sound of his door opening and closing and immediately she began to spit dust from her mouth and pull herself away from the dust bunny, opening her eyes and coughing. She angrily kicked at the dust bunny and her foot became tangled in it and she pulled it out and brushed the dust from her foot.

She walked on from under the table and toward the door to exit the house. She reached it on foot and was exhausted with walking by the end. The door stood massively and towered over her. Unlike the door from Jade's bedroom there was a rubber blocker keeping things from entering or exiting the house from under the door. The girl pulled and tugged at this blocker in an effort to move under it but it would not budge. She shouted in frustration and moved away from the door to a corner near it. She brushed away the webs and dust and sat down with the intent to wait until the door opened and she could leave. A clock toward the center of the living room read 8.45. The girl waited.

The girl slept for a while until the sound of the door woke her up. It was opening and in entered Jade. The girl ignored this and ran to the exit but she had not anticipated the danger of the feet of the person entering and she ran back to the corner when it appeared too dangerous. Jade closed the door and walked away toward her room. The girl was left alone again.

She stood groggily and walked on to the center of the loft again. While she explored Jade's dad came from his room again and got a cup of coffee from the kitchen then left for work. The girl had missed another opportunity. She moved to the rightmost couch and walked under it. She explored more and walked on. After exiting from the back of the couch back into the loft she saw Jade walk from the hallway and into the loft and Jade called out, "I know you're in here, come on, come out to me."

There I was, still seated within the darkness of the couch, watching Jade's footsteps soar overhead as she called out my name. Whatever I did, I couldn't let myself be found. That's all that I was thinking, it's all I could hear in my head. I saw Jade grow nearer to the couch, and as she approached me my entire world was overwhelmed with her immensity. From my position I was unable to see anything other than her feet up to her ankles, but I could feel her mass and weight from her steps reverberated all throughout my body.

When she began to draw close, I turned on my heel and ran frantically back toward the table in the center of the living room. The light blinded me as I emerged from the bottom of the couch, and I tripped, sending me tumbling to my destination. Before even a moment passed I got back to my feet and looked out to where I had been. For a moment I could see a sliver of Jade's feet through the couch, but they disappeared as she moved closer to my position. I heard her calling out my name again, "Come on out, whatever you're trying to do isn't cute, it's kinda rude!" She laughed nervously and began creeping closer. I ran to the posterior of the table and hid behind one of its legs.

When I peeked over to the couch again, I saw that Jade was right next to me, bent over and looking under the couch I had just been under. Panic flooded over my body and my throat suddenly felt as though there was a mass within it. As Jade turned to look under the table, I fled behind the leg again and swallowed hard, closing my eyes and weeping silently. I could hear her inhaling and exhaling, and the sounds of her crawling all around to look for me, her knees and hands pounding into the carpet. Soon I heard her joints cracking and flexing as she stood up. She called out to me again.

I exhaled loudly and suddenly in relief, and regret immediately came over me. Jade stopped mid-sentence as she called out to me, and began to crouch down again, having heard me. A burst of energy overcame me as I ran beneath the central couch, as far as I could, until I ran into the wall hands first and looked behind me back to where I had been. In this darkness it was impossible that she could see me if she looked under the couch. Jade reached out and pawed at the leg that I had been hiding behind. I saw her face contort in worry. She said to me, "Listen, I know you're probably really confused, and I felt bad about yesterday, so I wanted to just talk to you, I wanna talk this out. Please just come listen to me." I completely pressed my back against the wall and sniffed some snot back into my nose.

Still searching for me, she turned her head around and looked under the couch. Her eyes scanned along the horizon of the carpet, looking for my figure. She passed over me for a moment, but before she reached the end of the couch her eyes shot back at me. On her face was a look of confusion, and then her mouth curved into a gentle smile, that same smile. Again the ground shook horribly as she crawled toward me, and before she was even near me I started crying loudly and intensely, Jade certainly knew I was here now.

Her hand entered the crevice between the ground and the couch, and then her full arm extended to try and reach me. Past the writhing mass I could see Jade, with her face pressed against the couch, her eyes intensely trying to evaluate my position. The hand stopped just before me, and the fingers extended as far as they could, right before my face. They wiggled and bent to reach me. I felt sick to my stomach, and I curled into a tiny ball on the floor with my eyes only barely peeking out to watch the hand waving around me. It seemed that Jade couldn't reach me from here.

As she sighed in disappointment she said, "Please come out, I can't reach you, stop making me have to force you to come. I'm trying to ask nicely that you come out here, okay? Just come on, please." I didn't move an inch. I could still barely see her face through my fingers, and her eyes were directly on me. Eventually she stood up, and I could see her feet again. She stepped away, and soon she had walked so far that I couldn't see her at all, or even hear her footsteps. A wave of relief came over me.

It was shattered almost instantly. The sounds of her body returned, now to the left of me. I looked over and saw that Jade was coming to the side of the couch to move it and obtain me. In fear, I stood to my feet again, but my knees shook so intensely that they immediately buckled and I fell onto my face. My ankle screamed out in pain for the first time in hours. My hands grasped at the ankle to evaluate what was wrong, but I had to start crawling away as I heard the roar of the couch moving to the side. Jade was loudly moaning in exhaustion as she pushed it away.

I was breathing heavily, and only now did I realize how tired I was. I had been crying for so long now, I had never felt so scared in my life. As I was crawling or hobbling away my mind was racing with thoughts. I didn't want to be Jade's play toy anymore, I didn't want to be violated again. The memories of the smell of her bedroom returned to me and I gagged. Finally I emerged out the other side of the couch, and I stood to my feet in the light. Behind me Jade was moving through the area behind the couch and me. I started to limp away as fast as I possibly could.

I ran to my right and found that I had entered the kitchen. The first thing I did was slip on the smooth ground, but I was able to get off of my butt and work my way under a space between a cabinet and the floor. However, I was sent coughing and sputtering as I inhaled the dust. I coughed violently and heavily and began to move from under the cabinet, but I saw Jade enter the kitchen and I receded.

Her feet moved all around the kitchen, and I watched her as she walked in circles and periodically bent down to look under things. Repressing further coughs, I lightly breathed as I slowly moved further into furthest corner of under the cabinet, toward the leg.

In my peripheral vision, to the right, I noticed the subtle movement of a black mass. I was immediately frozen with horror. Tears welling in my eyes again, either from fear or all of the dust around me, I slowly turned my head and saw the ant. At my size, it was about the size of a large dog. I stood rigid as a plank, watching as it skittered from left to right, faster than I could ever move. Its strange, angular head shifted left and right, looking around. It was trying to find the source of all the noise that was made earlier.

Soon its eyes came upon me. It stood still for a second, and then burst into action. I started to run, ignoring the fire in my ankle, and emerged from under the cabinet and screamed out for Jade. She turned her head from the fridge she was searching under and saw me, then her eyes moved over to the ant that was running at me. She stood and walked toward me.

It didn't take long until I could feel her massiveness, her raw power. She came close, and her leg soared over my head. Both of her legs came around me, and quickly she bent down to squash the ant with her finger and grab me. I turned to the ant, and watched as it stopped just before me then turned around, running, until Jade's finger came down and killed it. Her finger stood before me, solid and completely huge, twisting left and right. Her entire hand then started moving toward me, the air around it creating loud sound, aiming to grab me. I realized my mistake and began to move away again.

Jade's hand followed me as far as it could, until Jade had reached so far toward me that she lost her balance. Her enormous form wobbled and shook and then she began to fall. I could hear the wind from her sudden movement, and as I looked behind me to watch, eventually coming to a complete halt, her whole body seemed to move in slow motion. I looked up to see her hand, still outstretched toward me, falling down to my position, coming closer and closer. I backed up and lost my balance as well, falling onto my butt, and just before the hand landed I rolled away with my eyes closed, screaming.

The impact was catastrophic. It felt like the world had come up beneath me and was trying to grab me. I kept my eyes shut and reached to plug my ears, but the sound exploded all at once before I could do anything, and my body was overtaken by its scale. I felt my eardrums shout out and then I could hear nothing beyond all of the ringing. Jade's hand came in contact with the ground last, almost producing an aftershock under me. I laid there prone, hands fumbling over my ears until there were no more vibrations, no more shaking.

When I opened my eyes, Jade still wasn't moving. She was laying on her side, her black hair matted over her face, and her breathing had suddenly become dangerously quiet. I stood there, watching her for a time, before I slowly began to approach her. I called out to her as she had called out to me earlier, "Jade, are you okay? Jade, do you hear me?"

As soon as I had came within her reach, her hand darted toward me and wrapped all around my body. Her other arm moved to brush her hair out of her eyes, and when she could see me she smiled. "I knew that would get you."

She stood and began to walk toward her room, and I fell into silence, scared of what was going to happen next.

We were both sitting on her bed. There was a long period of painful silence, Jade was staring at me as if she didn't know what she was to say. I couldn't meet her eyes anymore, I just looked at my feet and then at my ankle and winced. There was a long time before she finally began to speak to me.

"Listen, I know what you're thinking, what you're thinking about me, and I just want to say that I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you what was going on or what I'm doing. I'm sorry for that."

I looked up at her and finally I stared dead at her into her eyes. I tried to make what I thought would be a face of contempt, but she just smiled at me. She continued, "Do you remember that conversation we had, the day before yesterday?" I didn't respond to her. I guess I just didn't care enough at the time. "I thought a lot that night, I thought so hard about what you told me and really all at once I came to a conclusion to do this. I know that there's nothing you and I can do, to like, have a relationship here without Sofia noticing. Are you knowing what I mean?"

"Jade, what are you talking about? What kind of relationship have we ever had beyond being friends?"

She winced and then frowned. Her eyes moved away from me for a moment and then returned. "Listen, I'm sorry..."

"What the hell, Jade? You didn't think to ask me or tell me what you were thinking about? You didn't try sorting your feelings out with me before you decided to shrink me, or whatever?"

"I didn't know."

"You didn't know, you didn't know? Do you have a problem within yourself? Is something wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever, Jade, just turn me back, I don't want to be here anymore and you know that. Turn me back and maybe we can talk more about this in like, a week, once I've thought long and hard about our 'friendship.'"

"Alright, fine. Let me—" The doorbell to Jade's house rang. She stopped speaking and turned to look through her door into the hallway. Jade looked to me, frowning, before she stood up and went into the hallway, toward the living room. She left her door open. I waited patiently, listening as carefully as I could to Jade. All I could hear was a low muttering that started quiet and eventually grew louder and louder, as Jade and the person came closer to the room, through the hallway, until they were emptied into the room as a tangled mess of limbs, violently kissing each other and moaning in desire. It was Sofia. 

I watched the two in fascination, admiring their passion. Jade took her hands and placed them onto Sofia's cheeks, as if she could pull her in any closer. Sofia's hands moved behind Jade's back and to her butt and began lifting up her shirt, and Jade began to worm out of it. Soon she was in her bra, and Sofia removed her shirt as well. Sofia placed her hands on Jade's breasts as they kissed, then she removed her own bra as well as Jade's. 

After they began kissing again, they moved together as one toward the bed. The edge of the bed came in contact with the back of Jade's knees and she bent over and began to fall onto the mattress. I sat unperturbed as their two massive forms collapsed, each grasping each other feeling for their flesh in handfuls. It wasn't long until they both had pulled off their panties as well and thrown them onto the floor, now completely wrapped up in their booming display of love. I blinked and yawned.

Sofia moved to Jade's ear and through her gasping she whispered to her how sorry she was. She told her she couldn't possibly be any more sorry than she was right now, and Jade smiled then pushed into Jade's chest and rolled her over. At first I didn't care to move, still observing their love making, until just a moment too late I saw the sweat covered rear of Sofia coming toward me from above, and when I stood it immediately landed upon me and I was buried.

It seemed like I was suspended in another state of being, wrapped in darkness and heavy flesh until the light returned when Sofia rolled over again. The sweat coming from her bottom had left me stuck to her like an insect in fly paper, and when she began to roll over onto her back again from the opposite direction, I began to slide and eventually roll into the crevice of her long ass crack.

When I reached the deepest slope I was flung through the air until I impacted with the opposite wall, and then I began to tumble deeper into the depths. As the two walls met each other I was wedged between them and at last it felt like I had stopped all movement. For a time I didn't feel like bothering to move from my position, but I soon noticed the sweat from her ass was dripping further into the canyon I was trapped in, trickling down onto my face. It seemed like I couldn't avoid all of the sweat, so I began to struggle for my freedom.

Writhing, I was stuck in that position drowning until Sofia's butt cheeks parted around me and I fell further in, onto the rough skin of her asshole. Above me I saw Jade's face, eyes closed, moving closer with its tongue out until it impacted me. With determination she pushed me into the orifice, lubricating it enough that occasionally one or two of my limbs slipped into the hole before I removed them. I was completely incapable of breathing.

When the tongue finally receded, I was stuck to it. In exhaustion, I laid my head back and felt it stick. I ignored this and admired my surroundings. In my position I could see her front two teeth without having to turn my head. When I did manage to pull my head away, I looked to her left molars where I could see the hollowed in surface, coated with plaque. After a while of this, I noticed that the slippery surface had been guiding me from the center of her tongue toward the corner of her mouth.

I pushed away from the bumpy surface until I rolled from the pink mass toward the light beyond her lips, and I slipped out with a long string of drool. My surroundings smelled strongly of shit. I descended down the rope against my will until I fell onto Sofia's inner thigh as Jade passed it by. The huge amount of spit left me plastered to it, but I managed to pull away and reach the top of her leg. Sofia had rolled to her back again.

As Jade moved toward Sofia's head, her tummy rubbed against the thigh and it looked like the huge monolith would overwhelm me and crush me. I turned and ran along the stretch of Sofia's leg, shouting in pain at my ankle, until it became such an impossible collection of pain that I tripped and fell onto my face, then rolled to my back grasping at my ankle in time to see the tummy coming to rub me out.

It impacted me and I was smothered along the rest of Sofia's leg, but the sweat seemed to lubricate the flesh enough to keep the pain from being explosive. My ankle still cried out, but I could not touch it. I felt the bones on Sofia's body under my back, bending me into its surface patterns. Jade finally raised her tummy and again I was stuck. Her body at an angle, I slowly slid down the length of her body, past her navel, over her groin and to the side of her vagina.

The steaming beast before me pulsed and shook to the beat of Jade's wiggling movements. I was sickened to look at it. In disgust I turned my head away and coughed onto Jade's inner thigh. I closed my eyes and breathed heavily, beginning to cry, before the thigh slammed into me and I was pushed toward the maw of the vagina. As I drew close, the thick lubricant dripping from it coated and filled me. I opened my eyes and spat out the heavy fluid, only to be blinded at it covered my face. I was so distracted that I only barely noticed how near I was to Jade's vagina.

When I rubbed my eyes and shrieked in pain, I impacted the right lip and stuck to it. It subtly shook as Jade continued shaking and moaning on her bed, enough to slowly move me from the top of it to the middle, where I fought hardest to stop the descent, until I reached the bottom. I could now pull myself away, but the fluid left me plastered to Jade's taint. All of the bobbing had left me incredibly sick, but before I could vomit for the third time, I suddenly was dislodged from the taint, and I fell onto Sofia's foot below her.

I landed on top of her big toe then tumbled down into the area between it and the second toe. The lubricant coating me caused me to stick to it like I had with the taint. Groaning, I pried myself clean of it and stood to my feet. The toes around me were bending and quivering in pleasure, so much so that I slipped forward and slammed my face into the webbing then slid down the length of her sole. The grime accumulated upon it rubbed into my body and were picked up as I completed my slimy descent. At her heel, I laid and silently prayed that this would be over soon. I was exhausted and sick of all of this movement.

In the middle of my train of thought, Sofia's foot flung into the air then came back down, crushing me under it weight. I screamed in pain. Immediately I pushed myself from the ground, trying to move the foot off of me, but I only developed a headache. There was no way I was capable of moving from my position until Sofia was done with me.

I felt so confused. Jade had just got done apologizing to me, I didn't understand why she would immediately rescind all she had said in favor of having sex on top of me. I spat into the mattress. Again I tried to push the heel off of me, and as if on command, the foot pivoted on its joint, roughly dragging me from below it to in the crook between the stair step of the heel and the mattress. I was free.

It felt like my ankle had finally broken for a full minute, but the fire subsided and I could stand up. The stair step above me was not moving, so I ran to the side and moved toward the edge of the bed. The blanket I had used to get off the bed earlier had been pushed away and now was completely on the floor. The only way I could get off this bed was by stopping the two, and I knew that Jade wasn't going to do anything. I had to talk to Sofia.

When I turned I was met with the reason why Sofia had stopped moving. Jade was performing cunnilingus on her. While the two were still I began to run to the top of the bed where Sofia's head was resting. For a half second I went from a stand still to the fastest I had ever moved in my life, but I tripped again from the pain in my ankle. It seemed like I just couldn't learn that my ankle was injured. Tearfully, I stood back to my feet and began limping toward the top of the bed.

The walk felt endless. The mattress under me shook and creaked with the movement of the two and occasionally I would fall onto my butt or my face. About half way through the journey I fell so violently that when I pulled my face from the ground, I saw that a large blood clot had fallen from my nose, and again my nose was bleeding. Groaning, I stood to my feet and walked on as I held my head back with my nose pinched.

As I was approaching the top of Jade's bed, by Sofia's head, the dead silence that I had grown used to evolved into Sofia's moans, which started quiet and nervous but soon became boisterous and overwhelming, each one louder than the last. Before I was close enough to speak to her, I turned around and looked at the path I had come down. For several feet there was a trail of blood, and I used that to gauge how much time I had taken. It seemed like the walk must have been five or six minutes, but the two were still having sex. Why was I here?

I don't know. I had begun to reach Sofia's ears when she suddenly erupted into a powerful orgasm, screaming out loudly and lifting her head in exasperation and all at once the back of the head fell onto me, and I was trapped within the tangle of hair. I very nearly blacked out immediately, but I refrained. I couldn't breathe.

Everything was painful. All I could feel on my body was a single endless lick of flame moving around me from limb to limb, and finally I had cried so much in these two days that my headache developed into my a migraine. I felt myself succumbing to this impossible pain, and as I lost my consciousness I heard Sofia's relaxed, post-coital whisper say, "I think I'm laying on something hard, one second..."

"I hate it when people try to act like they understand me, like they're feeling what I'm feeling."

"Yeah, I feel that."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"What? Of course I'm listening to you, what's up? Did I say something wrong?"

"Whatever, look, I think that it's about time that I left. See you later."

"Hey, no, don't go, you only just got here. Look, I'm sorry. Why don't you tell me what happened to your ankle?"

"Are you serious? I just told you that like five minutes ago. It was Jade."

"Oh yeah, Jade, the crazy girl. I remember now. Sorry, I'm just really consumed in in this game right now."

"Alright, well, anyway. My ankle's going to be in this cast for a month. I'm not enjoying it at all."

"That sucks. I remember when I was like, eight maybe, my sister and I were riding on a golf cart and I tried to get off of it before it stopped moving. My foot hit the ground and my ankle got twisted pretty badly, turned out to be a sprain and I had to wear a cast thing too. But that cast was like, removable, it was made out of some plastic thing."

"Yeah."

"How did you mess up your ankle? Like, what caused it? I know that it happened while you were with Jade."

"She had me in this cage thing, and I was trying to open the door, so I got a running start to slam it open, but I tripped and twisted my ankle."

"Ouch, you twisted it so badly that it sprained?"

"No, it's just that I ended up having to be on the foot nonstop for the next day and a half, so the ankle just received constant abuse."

"Damn."

"Yeah."

"..."

"Alright, I think I'm gonna go, I don't want to interrupt you while you're playing your game."

"No, hey, okay, fine. I'll turn the game off. Look, there, it's off. I'm giving you my full attention. What happened after you got out of the cage?"

"I just looked around and went back into it. I was too exhausted by that point to really do anything other than fall asleep again."

"And Jade woke up and found you? Was she angry that you had gotten out of the cage?"

"I guess she was only just waking up so she didn't really notice that the cage was open, she just opened it up, gave me a fresh pair of clothes and took me outside. We sat there for a while before we went back in."

"Is that all you two did? You just walked around the house doing nothing all day?"

"Uh, no, clearly I eventually had to start walking around and moving a lot if my ankle was injured this badly."

"Oh, yeah."

"We went back inside and she took me to her bed and she put my down her shirt and started playing with me."

"With her boobs? She started playing with you with her boobs?"

"Yeah, keep it down, geez louise."

"Sorry, that just sounds ridiculous, she played with you with her boobs. What was that like?"

"She just squeezed me between them and shoved me against her nipple a lot. That's all there really was to it."

"Damn, that's intense. What did her nipples feel like?"

"Why does that matter? I'm going to continue with the story."

"..."

"So once she's done with that she tells me that it's probably about time she had breakfast. We went into the kitchen and she cooked some banh xeo."

"What's banh xeo?"

"Just look it up once we're done talking. So she cooks that and eats it, she doesn't even share any of it with me, and then we start walking back to her room—"

"Siri, what's banh xeo?"

"—and then we're, wait, what the fuck? Why are you asking siri what banh xeo is? Can't you just wait for me to finish my story?"

"I'm curious!"

"Whatever, so we're walking back to Jade's room and suddenly her dad comes out of her room and starts freaking out about her doing something, I don't know what, but Jade flips shit and throws me into her pocket. I vomited while I was falling and it all landed on top of me."

"Vietnamese omelette..."

"Jade ran to her room, took me from her pocket and threw me onto her bed, then just totally got the fuck out of there. Booked it. I passed out from the impact and didn't wake up until it was night."

"This looks cool, you should make me one of these some time."

"No. I woke up at night and Jade still wasn't there so I figured it was finally time for me to get out of there. I slid down a blanket off of her bed and had to go through her stinky room, around all of her dirty clothes, with no light at all."

"Whoa, for real? How long did that take you?"

"Like thirty minutes, I don't know, it wasn't that hard. I got out of the room and was in the loft, and by now it was morning—"

"How was it morning? You were only in the room for thirty minutes."

"I woke up just before sunrise. So I walked around the loft for a while until Jade comes home and Jade's dad leaves. I couldn't get out of the house, even though I tried pretty hard. So I was still stuck in the loft while Jade was home, back at square one pretty much."

"Damn."

"Jade eventually comes back into the loft and starts looking for me. I hid pretty well for the better part of an hour, but eventually she managed to get me with some bullshit trick. So she starts to—"

"What was the trick?"

"She pretended to fall and played dead so I would see if she was okay, then she grabbed me when I got close."

"Oh my gosh, that's hilarious."

"Stop laughing, shut up, I was just trying to be a decent friend."

"Okay, okay, okay, continue with the story."

"We were walking back to her room and... why are you laughing again?"

"I was just thinking about the trick. I told you to continue, just ignore me."

"Okay, we're walking back to her room and when we get there she tries to explain why she shrunk me in the first place. Apparently she thought that I had a crush on her, and she wanted to shrink me so we could have a relationship without Sofia noticing? I don't know."

"Sofia?"

"Yeah, Jade's girlfriend, my ex-best friend. We're still friends."

"Sorry, I don't know her."

"Well, duh. Anyway, before she can turn me back, Sofia is all of the sudden there, in the house—"

"Sofia?"

"What?"

"Who's Sofia?"

"I just told you, what the hell?"

"Oh, yeah. Continue."

"Sofia is there, and her and Jade literally come rolling into the room kissing each other, and they both end up naked, on the bed that I'm sitting on, and they start fucking."

"While you were on the bed?"

"Yes."

"Whoa, what was that like?"

"Well, I ended up getting really close to a lot of their body parts, and it was really gross. Eventually I got away from them and started my way back up to Sofia's head so I could get her attention. The nosebleed I got while I was getting out of Jade's room came back, a big blob of blood came out of my nose and suddenly I was just bleeding everywhere—"

"When did you get a nosebleed in Jade's room? You didn't mention that."

"Oh, yeah, uh. I tripped when I was almost out of the room and got a nosebleed. It sucked."

"Alright."

"Eventually I get to Sofia's head and I shit you not, she suddenly has the biggest orgasm I could ever imagine anyone ever, and she lifts her head up then slams it down on me."

"Damn."

"Yeah, well, she felt me of course, and she found me and picked me up. That pretty much ruined whatever moment her and Jade were having. She flipped out at Jade when I told her what happened, and Jade just had a total fucking breakdown. She started throwing everything everywhere, including my cage, so wood chippings got all over the place, and she punched a hole in the wall, it just wasn't something you would want to have to watch."

"Shit, dude."

"It was pretty bad. Eventually Sofia got sick of it and she left, she took me of course, and when we got to her place she changed me back."

"How did she know how to do that?"

"Apparently Jade had wanted to shrink Sofia before this, and had shown her all the science behind it, but she wasn't really interested. But it's good that she knew it, so she could change me back."

"Yeah."

"It was awkward when Sofia realized what had happened, and that I had gotten stuck to her asshole—"

"You got stuck to her what?"

"I told you I got close to their body parts. Regardless, Sofia was pretty much fine with it and we hugged it out. It was a good moment for me. She drove me to the hospital to get my leg checked out."

"Aw..."

"Yeah. My dad had to pick me up and I told him everything that happened, he was pretty pissed. He said he was going to talk to Jade's dad and probably pursue some legal stuff, but I don't really care enough to keep track of it. I don't know."

"..."

"..."

"So..."

"Yeah."

"Well, shit, what happened with Jade?"

"I don't know, I didn't ask Sofia or anything."

"Well, have you seen her around anywhere since then?"

"No, but if I did I would have killed her."

She had shrunken to spy on her neighbor. The plan was simple, use the shrink ray she had recently ordered to reduce herself in size at the woman's doorstep and then enter the house whenever she arrived at her house from work and follow her for the day and whenever the woman left the next morning so would Julia. So now she was standing at the doorstep five minutes before her neighbor was due to arrive and the heat of the day was so intense that she was sweating and nearly delirious.

Her neighbor arrived right on time and exited her car then came to the door. Julia stood to her feet excitedly and watched as her neighbor came closer. Her massive form shook Julia's world as if it were a dominating force. She opened the door and entered her house, and Julia was ready to run in as quickly as possible and enter with her. As the sandaled feet of her neighbor soared overhead Julia dashed through the doorway and immediately slipped on the floor beneath her. Before the door closed she rolled away to the corner of the entrance of the house.

As soon as her neighbor had entered she removed her sandals and left them by the door. She walked onto the carpet and left to enter her kitchen. Julia was still sitting by the door.

So Julia walked all of the way to the kitchen and looked around herself. It was square in shape and integrated with the living room with a column at the corner from which two lengths of cabinets came from. In the other corner were the cupboards that hung from the roof and below that was a table and the sink along the wall that a window was onto. Her neighbor stood in the corner of the tables that contained the sink drinking water from a glass.

Although her real intention was to experience a large portion of her neighbors body at once Julia surmised that now would be the best time to interact with her feet as she had just come home from work on a hot day and so they were likely tired and weak from use. She ran from the entrance toward her neighbor's feet and stopped once she had reached the front of them.

She didn't want to touch them, only observe them, as contact could result in her being caught and Julia was worried of what would happen then. She looked at them closely and observed their dampness, and for a moment she was highly interested. However against her expectations her neighbor began to walk exactly in her direction which is something Julia had not planned for. As she was within the reach of a footstep she was immediately buried under her neighbors foot. The enormous mass of flesh pinned her to the floor and left her spitting the sweat from her mouth.

Her neighbor felt this. She lifted her foot up and looked onto the bottom of it, and Julia was stuck to the fleshy area of it. At first she thought her a bug but Julia's red shirt and blue jeans as well as her continued movement seemed to set her off so she peeled it from her foot and brought it to her face and looked at it. She was appalled to see that it was her neighbor Julia so she spoke to it.

"Julia, is that you? Oh my God, I can tell that it's you, what happened? Did you shrink yourself?"

Wearily, Julia lifted her head to meet her neighbors eyes but she had nothing to say. For a second she attempted to formulate a story and her neighbor asked if she was alive and then Julia said, "I'm okay, I'm fine, someone came into my house and shrunk me so I came to find you for help."

"Look, I'm going to call an ambulance and get you to the hospital so they can make you big again, just wait here on my counter."

Her neighbor set her down and took her phone that hung on the wall off of its hook and called for help. Julia sat and felt good that she had been spared of her neighbors anger and figured that she could attempt this same plan with another person. She knew of a coworker that seemed fine.

Eventually her neighbor beckoned for Julia to climb back into her hand so she did and then she brought Julia into her room and laid on her bed and put Julia on the peak of her left breast and looked at her and began to speak.

"Julia, I'm so sorry that I stepped on you, were you trying to climb me or something? And you could have died, oh my God, I'm so glad that you're okay. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I'm just happy that you found me and... and I'm going to get help, yeah?"

Her neighbor smiled and said that she was going to pick Julia up again and when she did she plucked at the back of Julia's shirt and accidentally the shirt ripped off and from its front pocket came the shrink ray Julia had used to shrink herself and it tumbled into the canyon between her neighbor's breasts and settled in the area between her collar bones. She apologized and picked it up to give it back to Julia but first she noticed what it was.

"This... this is a shrink ray? Why didn't you just use this to make yourself big again?"

"Oh, uh, I... I..."

"You weren't shrunk randomly were you? That story wasn't true, was it?"

"Look, Kim, let me explain myself..."

"Forget it, whatever, just shut up."

Her neighbor stood up from her bed in silence and walked back to her kitchen and placed Julia onto the tile floor without a word. She looked down at Julia and Julia looked back up to her in fear. Eventually it appeared that her neighbor had come to a conclusion and she bit the inside of her cheek and then spoke again.

"I think I should do what I was supposed to do earlier."

And so she lifted her foot and before Julia could run she placed it onto her and after providing enough pressure Julia's body collapsed and popped into a mess beneath her foot. She took a tissue from a box within one of her cabinets and wiped her foot clean and wrapped the sludge that Julia's body had become within it and disposed of it then used a sterile wipe to clean her floor. Whenever the ambulance arrived she explained that a friend had gotten the phone from her and called as a prank and she had kicked them out in response.

I don't understand what I did to Vanessa, but it was a mistake. Every day for two weeks she's consistently picked on me and slighted me every chance she gets. It seems like I did something to offend her, at first even I thought some of the things she was doing were funny, but eventually it became mean spirited and cruel. I finally cracked and yelled at her after she spilled hot coffee on me, apparently by accident. That didn't go very well.

So now I was packing up everything from my office at the end of the day, fired for my outburst. Most of everyone else had left, but there were still some. Behind me the people were whispering to each other about me. One of my good friends had come to me and told me that he didn't think we should speak anymore. I don't understand, I don't know what I did wrong, but there was nothing to stop it. So I was finishing the last of my packing and getting ready to leave.

Before I could exit the building, someone tapped me on the shoulder. When I turned around it was Vanessa, with tears in her eyes. She told me that she needed me to come with her. I wasn't willing, and I turned around to leave but she grabbed me by the hand with surprising strength and started dragging me with her. I didn't want to hurt her and get anyone mad at me again, so I didn't pull away. I let her take me.

Whenever we came to the door of the womans' restroom, I was less willing to follow her. I weakly tried to make her let go of me, but she seemed determined to drag me into the room. Soon enough she had wrestled me through the door, and she slammed it behind her. It was only us two in the restroom. She looked at me and smiled. The tears in her eyes were already gone.

"Alright, runt, you know I'm not done with you right?"

"Look, Vanessa, I'm sorry for what I did, I just want to go and leave amicably, I don't really want to talk anymore."

"Shut up—Hey, look at me! Look at me."

She grabbed me by the face and forced me to look into her eyes. She smiled again, and squeezed her fingers into my face. As she ran them down the length of it her fingernails cut into my skin. I grabbed her wrist and forced her away from me, then pushed her to the wall.

"Vanessa, I don't know what the fuck is wrong with you. I don't know what I did, but I guess I'm sorry, is that what you wanted to hear? Now fuck off."

I walked to the door and started to push it open, but a sudden feeling of coldness ran down my spine, and then down through my legs, as if something had overtaken me. I couldn't move for a moment, and when I regained control there was a change. My clothes were looser around my body and I stood shorter. I turned to Vanessa and saw that she was now a couple of inches taller than me.

"You're not going to get away from me, you know that right?"

And now she pushed me against the wall and kneed me in my crotch. I recoiled and winced, closing my eyes. I breathed heavily and opened them then pushed her away again, until she was turned around and against the wall. I put my finger in her face and yelled, "What the hell did you do to me? What's going on?"

She spat in my face and took my hands off of her. She said, "You don't wanna keep fucking with me, or else you won't ever get those inches back, or these inches either."

I backed away and the chill returned to me, and then Vanessa was a full head taller than I was. Vanessa walked up to me and pushed me to my butt and kicked me. She laughed and told me, "I think I like you more when you're that size! But maybe you could do with being a big smaller..."

Now I was even smaller. I stood back to my feet slowly and saw that I only barely reached her navel. She bent over and put her hand on my head and smiled at me. If I kept resisting I might have lost the chance to regain my size.

She took off my glasses and broke them in half. I could still see okay, but it wasn't pleasant regardless. She stood back up and told me to sit on the floor again, and I complied. She laughed and told me to open my mouth and close my eyes, so I did. Within a couple of seconds I felt a wet blob fall into my mouth, and when I opened my eyes I saw her over me with her lips pursed and a string of saliva coming from it. She had spat into my mouth.

She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me kicking and yelling to a stall She grabbed me by the hair and put my head in the toilet. I kept trying to lift my head and resist her, but she punched me in the neck so that I was in pain, and then submerged my head. She flushed the toilet and held me there, unable to breathe, until it had completely refilled.

She took my head out of the toilet and dragged me back into the main restroom, and as we moved she shrunk me again. Sitting down, I only reached one fourth of her leg, but if I stood I would be at her knees.

While I was still gasping for air she picked me up and cradled me like a toddler, then dropped me back onto the floor. While I rolled in pain, she took the heel of her shoe and drove it into my crotch. I yelled again, asking for help, but she took her other foot and put it onto my mouth and shoved the front of her shoe into it, so she was completely standing on me.

I felt like I would be crushed, and I began to cry. I tried my hardest to push her feet away from me, and she stumbled and fell off of me, but her shoes dragged across my body and burned me.

As I stood up Vanessa looked down at me and then kicked me in the stomach lightly, and I fell back onto my butt. She said, "You know what, maybe I won't make you big again, how about I just make you really, really, really itty-bitty."

"Vanessa, please, just stop this, I don't know what I did, please let me go, I'll do anything."

"You know, I was just about to do that after I got done standing on you, but you decided to push me off of you! So too bad, so sad, you blew your chance. I'm gonna finish this now."

I yelled again for help but Vanessa laughed and then pointed to me and I started to shrink again, until I was the size of a bug, and I only reached a third of the way past the top of her shoe. Its point raised and I could see the rubber sole, spotted with dust. My clothes were now below me in a heap. 

"Well, you're just a bug now, Long, so how about I do what a brave girl does and crush you? And if you want to know why this happened, maybe you shouldn't have drank the last of the coffee when you already had two cups, asshole."

My first reaction was to turn and run, but Vanessa knocked me over with the point of her shoe. I turned to see the bottom of the heel of her shoe coming down at me, a long column of dark leather, until it impacted me. I felt my entire body being crushed, popping and contorting as she twisted the heel into me, until...