A hospital is rarely thought of as a calming place, but for Adam, walking down the hard white hallway, the ambient sounds of people rushing here and there, constant talking, constant sounds of machines, it was exactly that. He had been working in the hospital’s HR department for almost half a year and had acclimated well to the setting. Some days were hard, and he had to stay late a bit more than he would have liked, but his coworkers were sweet and friendly, and that can matter more than anything else.

“Hey Sally,” he said, swinging into the office where he worked, finding the girl standing near the coffee maker. “How's it going?”

“Not bad,” she answered, brushing a loose strand of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail back behind her ear. Sally was the type of girl that everyone liked. A bit quiet, reserved, but funny once she came out of her shell. It had taken a bit, but eventually he had worn her down. “Just got back from lunch. I need to find a better place than the cafeteria. I’ve never eaten chicken could be so… utterly flavorless. Know anything close?”

Adam shrugged. “Got a couple fast food places around the corner.” He looked at her again, making note of her slim waist, long legs, shapely torso. There was no way a girl like her would be interested in some grease joint. “There might be a Panera around somewhere. I think.”

“Maybe. Where’d you just come back from?”

“Cafeteria,” he admitted.

“Oh, I didn’t see you. Hey, next time you leave tell me. We can suffer together.”

“Sure thing,” he said with a smile, continuing on his way.

He moved to the back of the office, peeping into his boss’ little area. Mrs. Brooks hadn’t come back from her break yet. That wasn’t unusual. She always tried to cram a hefty workout in right after lunch. So Adam just shrugged, slipping into his chair by his desk, powering on the computer, and opening whatever paperwork he needed to get done.

It was only ten minutes before Mrs. Brooks popped into the office. “Oh man,” she announced to anyone who would listen, lightly panting in the office doorway. “My glutes are killing me. James, I see you in the corner. Don’t believe me? Want to feel?”

“No thanks, mam,” James, one of the new interns, said awkwardly.

“No? Adam?”

“I’m fine,” he said with a smile.

“Your loss.” She started walking to her office, her strides long and confidant, her presence powerful. That was the type of lady Mrs. Brooks was. Tall, dominant, the type of person everyone looked up to and followed without question. Though that wasn’t to say she was mean or nasty. The opposite, if anything. Confidence. It was the quality that Adam admired the most.

Of course she was also beautiful. Working out every day will do that.

As she walked by Adam caught the faintest whiff of something, a scent that he knew and recognized. It wasn’t as extreme as it sometimes was, but unmistakable. After every workout Mrs. Brooks would return to the office, her gym clothes, her gym sneakers, in her bag. Everyday, when that scent wafted over him, Adam was taken to a realm of his fantasies, a world where her shoes were his entire being. Often he fantasized about sniffing those puppies, rubbing up against them, maybe even a bit more if he was feeling daring. But those were only fantasies.

Mrs. Brooks dropped her bag onto a chair in her office, looked around for a moment then came back out. “Adam, did anyone call while I was out?”

“I don’t think so,” he said, looking at the phone. Nothing was logged. “Oh, but I did get an email from the guys upstairs. Your meeting got pushed up.”

“To when?”

“Let me check.” He quickly popped on his email, opening the message. “Now.”

“Oh god damn it,” Mrs. Brooks said, exasperated. “Those guys don’t care about anything. Fine. Adam, would you mind watching my stuff? Just make sure nothing happens to it. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

“No problem,” he answered, but she was already out the door.

He looked around again, finding that office suddenly quiet. Everyone else seemed to have moved on, either to their own cubicles, or just away. Quiet, with only that hospital ambiance.

And that scent wafting through the open door. Usually Mrs. Brooks was careful to put away her gym clothes, but now they were just sitting there, out in the open. Suddenly Adam found himself unable to think of anything other than the fact that the thin fabric of her bag was the only thing separating him from her gym shoes.

Maybe no one would notice if….

No, he couldn’t do that. He should just stay at his desk.

But no one was around.

And that smell was so strong.

Was it getting stronger?

No, he needed to work.

Or did he?

Just a quick sniff couldn’t hurt.

He could close the door.

No one would ever know.

Before he even realized what he was doing he was up, walking into Mrs. Brooks’ office, locking her door behind him. His heart was beating fast, his excitement building. With a snide grin he turned back to the gym bag sitting on her chair, just waiting for him to play with.

“This is going to be great,” he whispered, unable to contain himself as he moved over to the bag, crouching down and opening it. There they were, sitting comfortably inside. Her Asics were a bit worn, but they still had that shiny brilliance to them. The fabric was white, cut with hard lines of bright pink and deep blue, accentuating the shape. Still, when he looked close he could make out the spots of wear. The small areas where the fabric had almost been worn away, where her sweat had practically soaked through. But the sight was nothing compared to the aroma that enveloped him.

He reached down, picking up the shoe and turning it over. The sole was speckled with shades of gray and black. It still had most of the complex pattern of treads it had been made with, but the section near the balls of her feet was starting to wear down. And there were so many tiny particles wedged inside. Little bits of dirt and rock that she had carelessly trampled.

Just one good sniff, that's all he needed, then he’d leave. Flipping the shoe back over he looking down into the dark hole, the entrance to the magical world of her feet. The pink sole had been ground down to the point it was almost gray, with the asics logo barely even visible inside. Just one sniff. He bent down, letting his nose find the inside of her shoe, the rim gently pressing on his cheek.

The fragrance was overwhelming. It was so strong, so powerful, more than he had ever experienced with the subtle passing. So intense was it that he started to lose his balance, his feelings started to grow numb. He was in a different world, a new reality. He was falling, he was sniffing, he was in euphoria, he was encapsulated by the smell.

So encapsulated that he didn’t even notice the world changing around him.

“Oh god damn!” Adam gagged, covering his nose, eyes shut tight against the burning fumes that surrounded him. He had awoken to an unfamiliar sight. Walls surrounded him, high, and with a texture that looked like something out of an alien design. The floor was wet and spongy, a bright pink that he could barely look at. And then he took his first breath, and the smell ripped him apart.

            “Hell,” he spat, calming down, the initial shock of the scent dissipating. He couldn’t place it immediately, though it did have a familiar quality. He could only imagine something had happened in the office; maybe a pipe exploded. A sewer pipe, probably.

He pushed himself into a sitting position, looking around. This wasn’t normal. There was light above, some great white source of it so far away it might as well have been the sun. It reflected harshly off the bright pink floor and walls, the glare making it hard to make out details. Whatever he was sitting on looked meshed, woven over and under itself. The walls were the same, like it had been made of giant fibers. To his left the room continued, a high ceiling casting the rest in a long, dark shadow.

It all looked so familiar, yet so massively horrifying. So impossible. Where did he know this from? A movie? A Book?

He pushed himself up, taking a few steps towards one of the walls. It was only when he stumbled that he realized the floor was not all one material. When he looked down he found faded black marks, huge, looping around and back to each other. He struggled to read them, even jumping to see.

Odd, it almost looked like the letter “a.” And then, slowly, the pieces started to fall into place. The floor underfoot, the meshed walls, the great cave, the writing below. The smell. Oh god, how could he have not recognized the smell?

Mrs. Brook’s shoe. He had fallen in, shrunken, no bigger than a bug.

In astonishment, amazement, “Fuck.”

“Erin?” Mrs. Sledge called, fear slowly creeping into her voice as she looked around the immense stretch of flat earth. She was still in the hallway between her office and her assistant’s desk, that much was clear from the portrait hanging on the wall thousands of feet above. That image of the former president of the hospital, that smug grin, that mocking look. When she had taken over the position she had wanted it thrown out. Now she was almost glad she hadn’t. It was the only way she could accept the reality of things.

“Erin!” the middle-aged woman screamed. She had been walking for hours and still she had made no progress. That stupid painting still towered over her, only now it was slightly off center. Maybe in all this time she had moved a full foot. God, she must be tiny.

She was about to scream again when she saw movement in the distance; a shadow rose up from behind a low wall. Quickly, unimaginably quickly, the being moved around the corner, steadily coming closer to the shrunken woman.

“...Erin.” Was all that Mrs. Sledge was able to say as the image of her assistant came into focus. The young girl was acting the way she always did. Happy, smiling, unconcerned with whatever stresses the day had been throwing her. Her steps were light and quick, her ponytail bobbing behind her rhythmically, her strides long. Normally Mrs. Sledge thought she was a cute little thing, a good employee. Now, she was a titan.

The president could do nothing but watch as the girl lifted her foot, the sole of her flat hovering over her former boss. Her shoe was new, cleaned to the point where there was barely even a hint of discoloration. Even the sole was well cared for, a solid piece of unforgiving material that only had a few traces of lint, a curl of hair, a speck of dust, adhered to it.

And then her foot crashed down to the earth, slamming onto the hardwood floor, crunching and crushing the nearly microscopic creature so unlucky as to have been under it. And then, simply as that, there was a tiny smear of red to blemish the otherwise flawless underside.

Adam groaned as he dragged himself over the lip of Mrs. Brook’s shoe. He wasn’t sure how long he had been climbing the walls, but at least it had been easy going. The woven fabric had provided him ample hand and foot holds, and his muscles almost seemed stronger at this size.

Even when he jumped off her shoe he landed without injury. A fall comparable to that of a large building onto unforgiving tile, and he barely even felt jarred. Perhaps this wasn’t as bad as he thought.

He started walking towards the door to Mrs. Brooks office. So far he didn’t have a plan, didn’t know what he was going to do about things. How would he get big again? Should he try and find help? Should he even bother?

The more time he spent at this size the more he enjoyed it. The world was huge, filled with interesting things that he had never even dreamed! Mrs. Brook’s shoe was like a temple, her office bigger than the largest buildings in the world. Why couldn’t he enjoy himself a little?

By the time he made it halfway into the larger room outside that initial feeling of adventure had diminished. Every so often he could see the shadow of a creature moving just out of sight, or feel a tremor under his feet so powerful it made him want to collapse. Quickly he was reminded of what could happen at this size. He could explore Mrs. Brook’s shoe for as long as he liked, but he could also be trapped in it, suffocated and crushed once the woman put it back on.

The thought almost made him freeze.

Crushed to death under her sole… or worse. Maybe he wouldn’t die when she first slipped them on. Maybe he’d be trapped under her flesh, forced to breath in the toxic fumes that emanated from her sweat soaked sole for hours and hours as she grinded him into a paste. Running on the treadmill, yoga, weights… he’d be under her for every second of her workout. Drowning in her foot sweat. Crushed under her weight. Suffocated by the fumes. Smeared into a bloody stain, like the bug he was.

“Hey!” A call came, drawing Adam’s attention. Hurriedly he looked to the source, desperate for any form of interaction that could allow him to escape this nightmare. But as he looked he could only see more of the giant landscape, the open floor of the office before him. It stretched on and on, nothing to hide under, nothing to use as protection. Just an endless desert of agoraphobic hell.

But as he continued to look, squinting into the hazy void, a figure appeared. Tiny, like him, but alive. “Hey!” the voice called again as the small man came close enough for Adam to realize who it was. A fellow employee of the office, an intern named James. Adam’s face lit up as a small glimmer of hope sparked to life. At least he wasn’t alone.

“James!” he called, rushing into the open, crossing the few inches as quickly as his miniscule body would allow him. When the two finally reached each other they were panting, exhausted, but enthusiastic. “You shrank too?”

“Is that what happened?” James answered, stunned. “No way, that’s… that’s…” he glanced around again, looking at the towering objects with a new mindset. “Oh fuck.”

“Yeah, it's not good. I woke up trapped in… well, I woke up a while ago and I’ve been trying to get back. But I have no idea how.”

“I didn’t even realize we shrank! I thought this was a laboratory or something. Like, you know, with a…” He trailed off, a sound from the front of the office drawing his attention. When the two looked they found the door opening, two figures moving into the office, their steps huge, their forms dominating. “Oh god! The… the…. Fuck!”

A distance that seemed nearly impossible to cross for the two tinys was nothing for the gods that walked into their world. It took only ten steps for their feet to come into view, the girl’s boots trampling the floor with abandon. Now Adam recognized their figures. They were two of the young interns who worked for Mrs. Beth, Amy and Chloe. Usually they were the nicest people on earth, always bubbly and willing to help out with whatever you asked of them. Now they seemed far more likely to crush Adam to death than make coffee. Amy was wearing Ugg boots, with soft furry covering that looked delicate to the touch, and a hard sole that crushed the life out of anything so unlucky as to be under it. Chloe had on a pair of converse shoes, well worn and broken in, with a nearly black sole that had been crushed into the earth an unthinkable amount of time.

Amy took another step, her boot close enough that Adam could see the disgusting underside for a moment before she slammed it down again. The dirt wedged into her thick treads, the wear marks near the toe section that had been flattened, the tiny stains of some exploded creature that Adam didn’t even want to think about.

“We can’t stay here!” he shouted, grabbing the stunned James by the arm and dragging him back, forcing him to run. Both men went into a frantic sprint as they tried to escape the giants, each knowing that there was no real hope. These gods, these teenage interns, were completely untouchable. Adam and James were just insects scuttling around their boots, trying not to be crushed. Amy and Chloe didn’t care about them, didn’t bother looking down when they walked, don't concern themselves with the plights of insects. So they just kept walking, their boots crunching against the hardwood, steadily drawing closer to the boys.

“This isn’t happening,” Doctor Gray said, a dread filling him as he crouched against the hard tile of the hospital hallway. His entire body was trembling, whether that was from his own fear or the continuous vibrations caused by the hundreds of giants still walking around the hospital was unknown. Already he had been witness to nurses and patients as they simply walked past, their shoes threatening to squish him at every step. So far he had survived, but he knew that wouldn’t last long. He needed help.

A feeling of absolute dread fell upon him as a new group turned the nearby corner, chatting amongst themselves as they walked through the hall. They were a group of young nurses, some of them even interns still in their college years. He recognized most of them, having mentored the girls as they studied at the hospital. Well, mentored is probably a strong word. He had used them to do all the small annoying jobs that he didn’t have time for. Mostly dealing with patients, telling them the bad news. Why should he be the one who has to suffer to their stupid crying, right?

Well, now the girls were going to get revenge, and they wouldn’t even know it. “Hey!” Doctor Gray shouted as the first few came within a few steps of him, their shoes sending quakes through the earth. “Look down!” he shouted. “I’m your boss, you need to…” his boasts faded into nothing as the first girl lifted up her foot in answer, showing the doctor the waffled sole of her running shoe for an instant before bringing it down. “NO!” he screamed as blackness encased him.

The impact was deafening, the treads of the girl’s Nike slamming into the floor, trapping him between the mighty rubber walls. But not all of Dr. Gray managed to squeeze into the safety of the dirt filled crevasse. He screamed, a pain like he had never felt shooting through his arm as it disintegrated under the unimaginable weight. Then the girl continued moving forward, lifting her foot, letting her boss see the results of her step. From his elbow up, Dr. Gray’s arm was completely shattered, flattened, popped like a grape, blood painting the floor under it, with bone shards jutting out from the punctured skin. “No, no, no, no…” he mumbled in shock, not even realizing that another shadow had already fallen over him.

The second nurse was wearing as similar style shoe to the first, except hers had been worn long, with more dirt wedged into the few safe places, and the treads worn down considerably. When Dr. Gray was slammed into the earth he felt a pressure upon his entire body, the thinner treads barely giving him enough space to survive the crushing impact. This time he felt his foot crunching. His lounges were so compressed he couldn’t even scream.

And the girl walked off, and another girl came to take her place. The newest tortures in the doctor’s life was a young woman in her mid-twenties, long blond hair tied in a ponytail that fell almost to her waist. The flats that she wore didn’t offer the luxury of threads to be mashed into. When they fell on the doctors legs their desolation was total and complete. Dr Gray could do nothing but open his mouth in a silent scream, tears rolling down his face as he desperately tried to drag himself away with the one remaining limb he still had. His face slid over the tile, now wet with his own blood.

He looked upwards, realizing that there was no hope anymore, seeing the final girl in the group lift her foot over his head. Fitting it would be her… a new girl that had only come to the hospital a month ago, with a small form and overly giggly nature. A button nose, the lightest dusting of freckles, and the slightest tinge of red in her hair, and smart too… Dr. Gray had actually come to like her. And now, possibly the one nurse in this entire office he actually respected, was about to deliver the final blow to end his suffering.

He almost wished he could remember her name.

Without thought, without feeling, without remorse or even a glance down, the girl pressed her flat into the earth, popping the doctor below her like any other insect so foolish to be caught under a giantess’ foot. She continued on her way, giggling at every joke, never really noticing that there was a mangled corpse glued to the bottom of her sole.

Run.

A single thought encapsulated Adam’s life, his entire existence compressed into a single action that would be the difference between prolonging his miserable little life or being crushed under a giantess’ boot. He and James sprinted as fast as they could, neither looking back, the fear of what they might see preventing even the thought.

But they could still feel the thundering impact of every step. They came rhythmically, the girls stepping at the same time, Amy’s boots thudding with an almighty impact, the sole of Chloe’s sneaker rolling as it fell to the floor, squishing anything underneath. And each step was louder than the last, each tremor greater in magnitude. Adam could feel his legs shake when the wave came, his knees bending, threatening to send him tumbling onto the floor where he was sure death would find him. Already he was shaking, the physical exertion draining him almost as much as the pure guttural fear.

Thud

Thud

Thud

“Keep going!” Adam shouted, almost more for himself than for his friend. James was silent, his mind set to its one task. They were already panting, but the steps were coming closer. They had almost reached their limit, but this was just a casual walk for the giants. They were about to die, but to the gods it was just another step.

A shadow descended upon the two tinies, their lives enveloped by the darkness cast from Amy’s boot as she lifted it above their heads. “Run,” Adam kept saying, over and over again. “Run, run, run…”

The earth erupted around him as Amy drove the hard heel of her boot into the tile, only an inch away from the two boys. The impact was startling, the tremor in the earth enough to send them sprawling, the massive wind gust that resulted from the volume of air being crushed under her step sweeping them up and throwing them wildly.

They tumbled, rolling, the world spinning around them until finally they came to a stop. Somewhere. Adam pushed himself up as quickly as his messed up sense of balance would allow him, screaming, “James! James, where are-”

He barely had time to speak the words before the sight of the underside of Chloe’s shoe eclipsed the world above him. The boy was left wordless as the giant girl simply moved, her sole hovering overhead, like the deadly weapon of a god about to pass final judgment. He still didn’t know where James was, but in that moment it didn’t matter. Nothing seemed to matter except the underside of this high school girl’s sneaker.

Now he could make out the graphic details that made up every inch of her sole. It was a dark brown rubber, one that he knew well. More often than he would like to admit, he had looked at Chloe’s shoes, taking note of the way they bent as she walked, observing what happened to the creatures that were trodden upon. His mind was suddenly ripped back to an experience a few weeks ago when a small beetle had found its way into the office. He had watched it with mild fascination, his heart racing whenever he saw one of the girls walk over to it. But they were all just a few inches off. Then Chloe came, smiling at Adam as she walked past, not even realizing that she crushed the life out of a creature as she did so. When Adam looked at the bug’s corpse there was almost nothing left. A flattened pile of mush.

He wouldn’t have smiled if he had realized he was looking into his own future.

The shoe came down, Chloe’s thick treads slamming into the hard tile of the office floor with abandon, the impact shaking Adam’s entire body, the air pressure nearly bursting his eardrums… but he wasn’t dead.

Less than an inch. Her sole touched the floor less than an inch away from his body. But it almost didn’t matter, for he was in no better position. Directly above him was the toe section of the goddess’ shoe, the slight flare to the end momentarily saving his life, and allowing him a perfect final view of the dust and grime that had become trapped in the small treads.

And then there was nothing to do but wait. Wait for her to continue her step, to jam her toe into the ground, to crush his body without a thought, without even the need of a full step. Just a shift of her weight.

And he watched her foot start to move, the ceiling fall upon him.

And he almost felt relieved. If it was going to end, at least it would be quick.

“Oh, girls!” a voice boomed above him, enough to jolt him back to reality, enough to divert the girls’ attention. High above him Chloe and Amy turned back to the front entrance, smiling happily at the sight of Mrs. Brooks strolling inside. “How was lunch?” she asked.

“It was good, Mrs. Brooks,” Amy answered. “We just needed to drop these off.” She handed her superior a stack of papers.

Adam, still on the ground, was left in stunned silence. As Chloe turned she had moved her foot, lifting it up, gently placing it down away from him. He still couldn’t believe that he wasn’t dead. For the moment he just sat there, amazed, horrified… alive.

“Hey, have you seen any of the boys around?” Mrs. Brooks asked. “I tried finding James before, but the kid vanished.”

“I don't know,” Chloe answered. “Actually, now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve seem Mark or Nick around either. Oh, and Adam’s supposed to be working now, right?”

“Yeah, good point,” Mrs. Brooks said, glancing at Adams desk and frowning. “It's not like him to wander off.” She thought for a moment, then eventually just shrugged. “Eh, I’ll beat his butt when he gets back. Give him a good spanking. Is there anything else you two needed?”

“Nope, we’re good,” Amy said happily.

Below, Adam’s ears were still ringing from the explosive impact of the girl’s shoe, his vision filled with only the vague shape of the giants, blurred by the sheer distance between them. He saw his the two tormentors moving back towards the door, their footsteps thundering in much the same way, except now they faded, soon growing quiet.

Only to be replaced by the crash of Mrs. Brooks flat. He was ripped back to reality, his feeble state becoming all too apparent. He needed to get out of there before anything…

A small shape caught his vision. He looked to his right, finding a small creature struggling against the world, holding his head, looking down at the floor. James still hadn’t recovered, still didn’t realize what had happened…

Didn’t realize Mrs. Brook’s shoe was directly overhead.

“James!”

A monumental blast of sound.

A deep reverberation in the ground.

A moment of horrified silence as Adam watched Mrs. Brook’s shoe come down. His eyes were open, starring at her sole, at the flat edge where her slip on met the hard tile, looking for the blood, a hand, anything that would confirm what he hoped wouldn’t be true. “Come on,” he whispered to himself, trying to rationalize what he had just seen. Mrs. Brook’s would never have done something like that, she was too nice. Someone like James couldn’t have been crushed so randomly, so accidently, for no reason… he was a person.

But that wasn’t the world he was living in anymore. James wasn’t a person, he was a speck of dust on the ground. A piece of dirt to be wedged between a girl’s shoe treads, a glob of gum to stick on the underside of someone’s sole, a bug to be crushed. And Adam was no better off.

So as he looked on the scene with more than a hope that his friend was alive. Adam was in no better position, no less vulnerable to the whims of these gods. If James had died, if this was the end, his might not be far off.

“Please,” he repeated, watching as Mrs. Brooks moved, as she shifted her weight, as her toned leg flexed and pushed off the ground, as she finally took another step.

He couldn’t see blood. He couldn’t see guts, or a mangled corpse, or anything like that. All he saw was a cowering little bug with its hands over its head, shaking.

“James!” Adam shouted, the stranglehold on his stomach lessoning. “James! Yes!” He pushed himself up, running to the small form of the bug. When he finally reached him James had partially recovered, no longer in a fetal position, but no less shaken.

“I… I almost…”

“But you didn’t,” Adam was quick to say, extending his hand out to his friend. “But come on, we can’t stay here.”

“But… Adam, I was almost…”

“Don’t think about it,” the boy answered. “We just need to move.”

“Yeah…” James said, shaking, sweating despite the near frigid temperatures at their shrunken size, breathing fast and light. He grabbed Adam’s hand and let him pull him to his feet. “Let’s go.”

“Alright.” Adam started walking, making sure that his friend was keeping pace. But now his mind had switched to a different task. What were they going to do?

It had become disturbingly clear that this wasn’t going some fun romp through a tiny world. They needed to find a way to turn back to normal, or at least have someone notice them. Or else they would…

No, he couldn’t think about that.

He looked around the office, trying to find anything that would help, that would give them their lives back. It was only when his glance found the massive door to his boss’s office that he realized what they his only option.

Mrs. Brook’s shoes were still on the ground.

And they ran, and they ran, and they ran, not a word passing between the two tiny little boys as they sprinted towards the wall of the room and the relative safety it held, then towards the massive office. At some point James recovered enough from his near squishing to ask, “What are we doing?”

“Trying to get to Mrs. Brook’s office,” he answered, already panting and out of breath despite that they had only been running for a few minutes. When he got big again he was going to ask Mrs. Brooks if he could join her at the gym.

“Then what?” James shouted.

“Well…” he said back. His plan was half formed, at best. “I know her sneakers are still on the ground. If we can…” he paused to breath. “If we can get to those she might see us when she goes to put them away.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“Then we aren’t any worse off than we are now.”

“What if she steps on us!?”

“Well let’s just hope she doesn't.”

James seemed less than reassured, but he kept pace. The little guy probably realized he didn’t have any better options. At least this way he had a buddy to work with. The last thing he wanted was to be caught alone in the hell.

They continued on, eventually coming to the doorway that lead to the office, the boy’s dropping to their bellies as they crawled under the narrow opening. Adam was the first out, pushing himself from under the door and squinting against the bright lights of his boss’s office.

“What do you see?” James asked as he came up behind.

“I see…” Adam started, his words taken from him as he caught sight of the Titaness herself, sitting behind her desk, not ten paces away She didn’t even look phased at the fact she had nearly killed them, didn’t look like she cared about anything other than the computer in front of her. Like the goddess she was.

And on the other side of the room, across a barren waist land of death and crushing fear, was the gym bag containing their only hope for survival. Their one chance at life. Their singular escape from this torture.

Across the ground lay Mrs. Brooks’ beautiful gym shoes.

“Hey Ashley,” Gregg said, walking into the girl’s room with the customary food tray. “Lunch time.”

“Ooo, what is it?” the girl said playfully, smiling at the nurse as he pulled out the table next to her bed, placing the tray down.

“Don’t get excited. It's just hospital food. Chicken soup, an apple, and…” he glanced around hesitantly before returning to her. “I managed to steel you a pudding cup.”

“Nice,” the girl smiled. “You’re way too nice to me.”

“I’m a nurse, it’s my job.”

Gregg had only met Ashley earlier that day, but he already found himself going out of his way for her. The girl was, in a word, beautiful. If angels came down from the heavens to present him with the perfect girl, this was it. Blond hair, the brightest blue eyes he had ever seen, a silly smile and upbeat attitude, she was definitely more fun than the cranky old woman two doors down.

The girl shifted in her hospital bed, twisting a bit as she tried to bring her good hand around the grasp the spoon. She had been admitted earlier that day after an accident on her bike left her left arm a bit messed up. Probably nothing serious, a hairline fracture from the X-rays, but the doctors thought there might be a complication with a pre-existing condition and wanted to keep her overnight, just in case.

She loosely gripped the spoon, picking up a small amount of soup before accidently dropping it into the bowl, warm brown sludge spilling over the lip. “Oh jeez,” she said. “This is annoying.”

“Here, let me help,” he said, taking the spoon and filling it.

“No way,” Ashly answered when he lifted it up. “I’ll let you steel a pudding cup, but you’re not going to spoon feed me.”

“You’re in a hospital,” he answered. “It’s my job.”

The girl rolled her eyes. “That is the worst excuse I’ve ever heard.”

“Well?”

She shook her head, defeated. “Fine. But don’t spill any. Wouldn’t want to ruin this cute gown.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He brought the spoon up to her mouth, the patient delicately moving her mouth over it, her full lips wiping the spoon clean as he pulled it out.

He continued for a little while, feeding Ashely and talking to her a little bit between spoons. It was a slow day, so it wasn’t like he needed to be anywhere else. Except perhaps to give a sponge bath to the old lady two doors down, but that could wait.

It turned out they had a lot in common. Both were almost the same age, had grown up only a few towns away from each other, and apparently had an affinity towards doing stupid things that resulted in them being hurt. Ashely had asked how many times he had been in the hospital. He just said it was lucky he got a discount since he worked there. She asked if that was a real thing. He shrugged since he didn’t really know.

They had finished the soup and were about to move on to the dessert when his pager started to buzz. “Ah crap,” he said, placing the opened pudding back on the tray. “Yeah, they need me. Hey, listen, I got to go, but I’ll be back in a couple hours. Stay alive until then, alright?”

“Fine. But only because you said so.”

She leaned back against her pillows, letting her eyes wander to the television on the opposite corner of the room. Some stupid news thing. Apparently some super bug had been spreading across the country causing… she didn’t really care.

Gregg turned to leave, stopping himself before his first step, a sudden wave of pain shooting through his body. He stepped back, his vision blurred, the room spinning, the earth rotating about until he was falling, falling through the air, tumbling into an endless pit and screaming the whole way down until…

Splat

He landed in something thick and sticky, the sudden shock snapping him out of his daze. For a moment he didn’t know which way was up, only that he was surrounded by a goop that he couldn’t see through, let alone breath in. he struggled against the substance that held him, thicker than mud, until finally he was able to claw his way back to the surface and take steal a breath of air.

Panting, Gregg looked around, trying to understand what the hell just happened. He could see the sealing far away, the lights imbedded in it blaring. There were high walls surrounding him, but they looked thin and almost transparent. And what was he in? Mud? No, it felt like mud, almost, but it was white. What mud was white?

It almost looked like…

It couldn’t be…

Movement at the corner of his vision forced him to look upwards, the sight forcing his stomach down into his guts, ripping the breath out of him, flooding his body with a cold like he had never felt before.

Ashely was leaning over her pudding cup, a titanic spoon held loosely in her hand.    

“Ashley!” Gregg screamed, looking up at the giant girl as she absentmindedly started prodding the air with her spoon, missing a few times, her attention momentarily caught by the headline of a news story. The great white instrument of death continued to bob in the air above Gregg’s head, missing the pudding cup, sometimes dipping just outside of the great opaque walls that contained him, until finally she tapped the rim with her spoon. “No, no, no, no!” he screamed.

The spoon came down, plunging silently into the thick goop that was the girl’s pudding cup, sinking countless leagues into the pile of mush until it was buried to the edge. Gregg didn’t have time to act before the giant girl bent the spoon, bringing it up, a huge bubble of pudding lifting out from the cup. The little microbe was caught in the bubble, his body slowly lifted into the air as the plastic under him started to rise. He tried to swim away, but it was nothing. He was microscopic, barely able to even break the surface tension of the pudding. There was no way he could fight against the pull of the flow.

But then the bubble broke, and he was swept over the side of the spoon, back into the gooey depths of the creamy death.

It wasn’t the same feeling as going below water. When you’re under the waves, in the ocean, in a pool, a lake or a river, there is something natural to it. A primal feeling that things were fine, that there was a way out. That you were still in control.

That feeling was gone. It didn’t feel like he was in water, it felt like he was trapped in sand. Buried alive under a gelatinous mountain that wanted to consume his very being, that wanted to digest him in the endless expanse of a stomach, that wanted him to slowly, agonizingly suffocate under its crushing pressure. He moved his arms and legs, but it was a fight for every movement. When he swam upwards he wasn’t even sure he was moving. Soon he started flailing upwards, screaming into the silence, the all-consuming silence, as he struggled to the surface.

There was no hope. He opened his mouth for a final breath, his hand breaching the surface the moment he was about to inhale the vile substance. With gasping horror he popped out of the liquid, gulping down air.

No, this couldn’t be happening.

No, this wasn’t real.

“Please, no…” he whimpered, looking up as Ashely moved her spoon again. As it came down the light caught off the reflecting surface, the bright flash cut by the streaks of residue left on the spoon. The rest of the ocean gone… consumed.

He closed his eyes as the spoon plunged into the great mass again. And again. And again. Each time he was swept along with the violent motion of the near liquid, dragged under countless times, clawing his way to the surface, thinking he was about to drown after each spoonful.

How could this be happening? Ashely wasn’t like this, she had been nice to him! They had laughed together, he had made her smile. She was just a nice girl who had grown up close by and… and… now she was going to kill him.

Her spoon slammed into the cup again, scraping against the plastic at the bottom. Somehow Gregg had outlasted the onslaught, his body half submerged in a smile pile of vanilla pudding at the edge of the cup. For a moment he let his mind fill with hopeful delusions. Maybe she was done. Maybe she was finished with him, and this torture would finally end.

But that’s the thing with delusions. Eventually they are broken. He screamed as he saw a shadow wrap around the cup, his entire world lifting upwards. Before the former nurse could even understand what was happening he felt the thing rotate, a new vision taking up the entirety of the sky.

Ashley was looking into the cup. She had lifted it into the air, turning it so she could see inside, and was simply starring at what was left. Gregg starred into her eye as it traced the outline of the cup, that great big ring of blue, that deep black, that beautiful reflection across the perfect whites… even then, starring at what could be his death, knowing that this might be the end, Gregg thought she looked beautiful.

And she smiled, and she started turning the cup. The tranquil image of her pupil faded to one of her crimson red lips. They parted like the gates of hell, the burning red maw of her mouth opening up to him. Her tongue was thick and covered in drool, sitting on the floor of her mouth, eagerly awaiting the last few drops of the sweet dessert. Her teeth were pure white, sparkling in the half light. Her gums moved as she continued to open wider, tiny motes of spit moving between and over them, forming small pools, or dripping down from the roof to create bridges.

But Gregg was more focused on the terrible pit of blackness that rested at the end of the hellish sight. The muscles of her neck flexed slightly at the anticipation of a final snack, the fluids squishing around inside, audible even from his position.

And then he felt a sudden jolt, Ashley’s finger tapping on the back of the cup. “No, please no!” he shouted as the tap came again. And again. And again, until finally his small glob of pudding came loose. He fell, down through the air, down through those terrible gates, passed the crushing white boulders of her teeth, until finally he smacked into her great pulsating tongue. Instantly he could feel the girl’s saliva coating his entire body, sticking him fast to the surface of the mighty organ, her taste buds gently rubbing at his back.

“No, no!” he continued to scream in a panic, fighting to free himself but finding the task impossible. After the torture he had suffered under the surface of her pudding he didn’t even have strength left to break the surface tension of her spit.

An unearthly fear wrapped around his heart as darkness started to fall upon his prison. He threw his head back, watching as her lips slowly closed, as blackness took him.

“No, no, no,” he said blindly, his words almost lost over the sudden cacophony of bodily noises that flooded in. Ashely started moving him around, pressing him to the top of her mouth, letting the sound of her spit moving, compacting under pressure, spraying out of the gaps between her teeth, the sound of her tongue flexing, exerting itself, the sound of her jaw bone creaking with the strain put under it, envelope him.

“No, please!” he shouted, but not even his ears could pick up his screams. Not over the roar of movement as he was gently pushed to the back of her throat. “No, no, no…” Back, back, towards the pure darkness that he would never escape from. Back towards the final terror. Back towards the last hell he would ever experience.

His final scream died before it even left his captors maw, cut short by a small gulp.

Barren. Empty. Open. Deadly. Adam never thought he could characterize his boss’ office with such violent descriptions, but now what was once a small, homey little area had turned into an endless stretch of possibly deadly land. His mind was drawn back to documentaries he used to watch on his days off, of a place called no man’s land, in between the trenches during the war.

Men would run into those great stretches of open air only to be mowed down, shot, killed. Death was an ever present reality, one that each man faced when they stepped onto that dirt, knowing that their last breath could be only a moment away.

“Should we go?” James asked, his interruption causing Adam to jump.

“Yeah,” he said, uneasy. He gulped, then started to move. “Yeah, we should. But hurry.” He started jogging, not something he usually did, but now it seemed almost disgusting not to.

They continued, their strides bringing them minutely closer to their end goal. Agonizingly slowly they crawled over the tiles, crossing over the first and leaping over the slight indent between. Adam was cautious, throwing his glance towards his giant boss after almost every step, his breath held for that instant before he could see. Was she standing? Was she moving towards him?

But she was still. Sitting content at her workspace, unaware of the insects upon her floor.

“Adam…” James said, panting, when they had reached nearly the half way point. Neither of the boys knew how long it had taken them to make that much progress, but they could tell it was significant. The sun seemed to move over the tiles almost as fast as they were. Soon the work day would be over. Adam knew what would happen if they didn’t reach Mrs. Brooks’ shoes by then. “Adam, can we take a break?”

“What?” Adam spat back. “Break? If we don’t keep going she… No, we have to move.”

“I can’t, man.”

“If we don’t go we’re going to get crushed!”

“I don’t care.” He dropped to his knees. “I can’t run another step.”

“Fucking…” Adam gripped his fist, moving over to his friend. “We need to move!”

“I can’t.”

Before Adam even realized what he was doing his open palm impacted James’ cheek. The slap stung his hand as he pulled it away. “You were nearly stepped on before!” Adam shouted back, silencing himself a moment after when a slight creek reminded him of Mrs. Brooks’ presence. “If we stay here we’re going to get stepped on. We can’t. Get it?”

“I…” James rubbed his cheek, the skin glowing red. “Yeah, you’re right.” James picked himself up, looking over at the shoes near the corner of the room, lying in the shadow of a chair. “We should move.”

“Alright, good,” Adam nodded, turning back to the shoes and stepping forward. They continued to run, a bit slower than before, breath coming hard.

That was one of the first times Adam had ever hit someone. As the adrenalin faded from his system and the stinging feeling crept into his palm, as he kept running, as he pushed back the image of Mrs. Brooks’ foot slamming right next to his micro sized friend, he felt nearly proud. This was a new experience, something terrible and traumatic, something that would leave a lesser man catatonic. And here he was, taking charge, commanding, slapping some sense into people. Acting like a real hero.

He continued to run, sweating, panting, wishing to stop but knowing he couldn’t, smiling all the while.

And then he heard a squeak of metal hinges.

And then he heard a great sigh.

And then he felt the ground tremble.

No, they were so close. He could see Mrs. Brooks’ shoes, barely more than a five minute sprint away. If they just had a bit more time he could get to them, climb them, start jumping up and down and shouting and screaming, and finally she would see them and everything would be alright. And they would be rescued, and they would be turned back to normal, and he could keep on-

He nearly fell when Mrs. Brooks’ flat slammed into the tile a few inches in front of him. The impact was jarring, her thin sole compressing even more as she shifted her weight, the white leather that made up the sides bulging around the slender form of her foot as it pressed against the confines. And then, as suddenly as it appeared, it lifted up into the air.

Adam watched its path, seeing it fly over him and his friend, only to slam into the ground a little way behind, the giant continuing out of the room and into the rest of the office.

“Holly crap,” James said, his hand on his chest. “Did you see that coming?”

“Yeah,” Adam lied. “Come on, we need to reach her shoes.” And again they were running.

And running.

And running.

All the while Adam thought he could feel the earth trembling as one of the giants came closer. He braced himself each time, closing his eyes and fully expecting to be mercilessly crushed under the beautiful titans. The threat was always there, eating at the back of his mind, a faint tremble that he could never be sure was real or not. But the stomp didn’t come.

And then they reached her shoes, and everything was fine.

Mrs. Brooks’ sneakers lay before them like an alien megastructure, one sitting properly on the ground, with the toe section of the sole lifted off the tile, giving the tiny boys a view of the pink and white rubber that made up her treads. The other was on its side, the entire length exposed to them, from the meshed cloth near the toe section, to the laces that made up the middle, to the massive black hole near the heal that lead into the deepest cavern of death.

“Come on,” Adam said, motioning towards the toe section of the turned over shoe. “If we climb up that we might get to the top.”

“No way,” James instantly answered. “No, we don’t have time for that! It’ll take hours to climb all that way and… and man, we can’t! I can barely breath, there’s no way I can climb a mountain.”

“Come on man,” Adam tried to reason with the kid. “We need to get up there. What choice do we have?”

James turned slightly, his eyes catching the heel of her shoe. “We could just climb inside them.”

“No, that’s suicide.”

“No, its fine,” James said, walking towards the opening, smiling slightly. Dumbly. Foolishly. “When she looks down she’ll see us. It’ll be fine.”

“James, we can’t!”

But James wasn’t listening anymore. Instead he ran towards Mrs. Brooks’ insole, soon making it to the lip of the heal and climbing up. Adam went to pull him back, to try and reason with him, but he felt something.

A trembling.

A real trembling.

When he looked back he saw a shadow behind the glass of the door. Mrs. Brooks was back, and this was probably going to be it. Their last chance to be found. He turned to James, already halfway up the edge and climbing into the shoe. There was no time.

Without thinking he ran towards the toe section of her shoe.

As he jumped onto the light fabric he could feel tremors.

As he pulled himself higher and higher he could hear her booming laughter, her words crackling light thunder as she called, “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He was almost at her laces when he felt the earth shake. When he looked out into the world he saw Mrs. Brooks clean legs standing less than a step away, her flats lying on the ground, a pair of white fluffy socks wrapped around her feet.

Before he could move a single inch she grabbed her running shoes, her hand casually spinning the one sneaker so that it slammed back into its proper position, spacing them out just enough that she could step in.

“Mrs. Brooks!” Adam started shouting, screaming to the heavens from his position on top of her shoe, realizing then that his plan was just as hopeless as any of the others. There was no way a god like her would look down and see them. No way a god like her would notice the bugs at her feet. No way a god like her would do anything other than crush the very life out of them.

Finally she lifted up her foot, dangling it threateningly over the open heal of the shoe Adam was in. “James…” he whispered, watching as she gently shoved her toes into the sneaker, using her pointer finger to pull the heal of the shoe back a bit. A twist, a little shake, and then…

Her heel slammed into the shoe, Adam’s world trembling, his body shaking, a slight cracking sound coming from the deep recesses of her shoe.

James had been reduced to a deformed blob of guts and bones, trapped deep in the black pits of her shoe, crushed under the full weight of his giantess boss.

And then she started walking.

Adam grabbed onto the shoe laces, digging his fingers into the narrow openings between the very threads of the fabric, knowing what was about to come. With Mrs. Brook’s foot already wedged deep into her shoe, and her attention on anything other than the bug at her feet, there was only one logical thing to happen next. One path to tread upon. One step to take.

With almost no warning Mrs. Brooks’ shoe ripped into the air, the force of the sudden acceleration smushing tiny Adam against the top side of her shoe. His grip barely held as she slammed her foot down, his legs staying in the air for a moment, his fingers barely managing to hold on to her laces as he was dragged back to the earth.

His eardrums erupted as her shoe exploded against the hard tile underfoot, his form slamming into the soft cloth as his motion came to a painful halt. With dazed vision he looked up at the giant, his view taken up by her smooth, sculpted leg as it ran up to her waist. As her opposite foot swung forward, continuing her walk, the woman’s pants pressed tightly against her skin, the outline of underwear visible between her legs. The slight bulge near her front, gently moving down to the two perfectly rounded mounds of her butt cheeks, the slight strain of her pants against her skin, the way her legs swung, her muscles tensed, her body powerful body moved, was almost overwhelming.

And then he was ripped into the air again, a scream filling his lounges before being slammed out of his, a small trickle of blood slipping out of his nose.

But it was a better ride than the other stowaway.

Deep inside the black pit of Mrs. Brooks’ shoe, trapped between the wet bog that was her sweat infused insole and the fresh, soon to be tarnished, cotton of her thin gym sock, wedged below the balls of her foot, was the still living, barely breathing, crumpled form of James.

When her foot had eclipsed the only exit of her shoe the boy had gone catatonic, frozen in place, the weight of what was about to happen dawning on him. It wasn’t until her foot at been crammed into her shoe, until her heel slapped against the back of her sole, until her very first crushing step, that he truly understood his mistake.

He tried to breath, but her spongey flesh surrounded him on all sides, gently morphing around the pebble that was his entire being, squishing into his arms and legs, forcing them to the side, unmoving, pressing into his chest making it impossible to take anything in, smothering his face, making any attempt yield only the fowl taste of her gym sock, already coated in the slightest sheen of her sweat.

The smell was polluted, the taste was inhuman, the pressure was unbearable.

The first step was an eternity of torment. The second an endless assault on all five of his senses. The third was a release, as his bones cracked, as his organs were mashed together, as his brain was forced out of the broken chunks of skull that came apart under the crushing weight of her sock.    

Mrs. Brooks stopped when she came into the main room of the office, seeing her young coworker moving between the rows of computers. “Hey Amy,” the mature woman said, giving the girl a smile.

The conversation lasted only a minute, but it was a minute Adam desperately needed. In those six steps from her office to the outside world Adam had been smashed against her shoes, his fingers nearly ripped from their sockets, his nose dripping blood that stained the white fabric in an imperceptible dot. Six steps were all it took to completely beat him. Six steps from a god that didn’t even realize he was there.

Without thinking about what he was doing, the tiny boy started to crawl under her laces, wedging himself between the soft cotton of the tongue of her shoe and her strings. He struggled through, forcing himself between them, straining every muscle that he still had control over, until finally he was cradled within. Through the breaks in her laces he could still see the world, blurry and alien, huge and unforgiven.

But at least when Mrs. Brooks took her next step he was able to endure the ordeal. His stomach churned, he almost vomited, but he could survive.

For now, he was safe.

The same could not be said for two other specs on the ground.

Mark and Nick had been working in the hospital office for about as long as Adam had. They weren’t particularly impactful, the type of guys who were content to keep their heads low and finish whatever work was assigned to them and smile at anything that was said. They could crack a joke here and there, and sometimes joined Adam for lunch, but were otherwise some of the least threatening kids one would ever happen to meet.

Completely undeserving of the hell they had found themselves in. Already they had nearly been trampled by Amy and Chloe as they carelessly walked through the office, their hard shoes crunching on the ground only inches away from their screaming bodies, almost squished by Mrs. Brooks as she came back from her lunch, almost flattened by the nurses who popped in to check on a few files.

And now their boss was walking towards them again.

“We, we have to move!” Nick shouted to his friend, looking around helplessly for something that would help them avoid the coming giantess.

“I know!” Mark shouted in answer, grabbing the other by his shirt collar and dragging him in the opposite direction of their oncoming doom. They ran then, their tiny feet beating against the tile with as much force as they could provide. But every step was met by a thunder, steadily growing louder and louder behind them. Mark didn’t look back. He couldn’t look back, for if he did he knew that fear would overtake him.

Nick, however, had to glance. And when he did all energy, all semblance of life left his body. For he saw Mrs. Brooks walking towards him, her body a living continent as it moved forward at horrifying speeds, her legs swinging, her feet slamming to the earth. He watched as she lifted her shoe over his head, a few grains of dirt and dust falling off her treads and plummeting to the ground all around him.

Her treads looked beautiful. Not like an art piece hanging in a cathedral, or a woman in the perfect morning light. It was the beauty of faraway mountains stretching off into the distance, of a skyscraper when viewed from the base, as the entire universe of stars and galaxies when looking up at night. The vastness was beautiful. The power was beautiful. The all-encompassing, everlasting, soul crushing hugeness was beautiful.

Even when her foot came down and his body exploded under the rubber of her sole.

Mark kept running, unaware that his friend was gone. His breathing was hard, but he pushed himself. His fear was eating him from the inside, but he kept running.

And running.

And running.

Until Mrs. Brooks took one more step. Her sneaker came down on his body, the treads crushing his hard into the cold tile. He felt his arms break, his legs snap, his middle section flatten into the ground. But not his head. No, that small part of his had escaped, wedged between the gap in her sole.

So he saw light again as she lifted her foot off him. Light, if only for a moment, before he blead out, crushed, mutilated.

Dead.

The doors of the gym parted as Mrs. Brooks pushed against their frosted glass frame. Hot air spilled out of the opening, the scent of sweat and musk wafting through the open space, into her nose, around her being. When she had first started working out regularly that smell had repulsed her. Today it was an invitation into the best part of her day. A workout.

“Hey girls,” Mrs. Brooks said, nodding to a duo by the door, doing a few stretches on pink and green yoga mats. Claire and Bree worked on the lower levels of the hospital, in the research and development office. The exact type of people Mrs. Brooks would never be able to see if it wasn’t for this little hobby.

“Hi!” Claire answered with a bubby smile, almost toppling over from the momentary excitement of a new face. Her blond hair was tied back in a messy ponytail, one that seemed only a single good jolt away from exploding.

“Hey,” Bree answered with a nod. Her hair was short enough that she didn’t need to tie it back, yet long enough that it kept falling into her eyes. She finished the greeting with a quick blow, sending a wayward strand out of her vision.

“We ready to get warmed up?” Mrs. Brooks asked, dropping her gym bag on the floor and walking over to the pair. She wiggled as she walked, limbering up her muscles in anticipation.  

Little Adam, still wedged between the coarse fabric of her shoe tongue and her laces, wasn’t as excited as his boss. He pushed himself deeper against her shoe, trying to find a position that didn’t rattle his entire body with every step of the giantess. He was unsuccessful.

But Adam was not the only tiny boy in the gym that day. Jake looked skywards, squinting against the harsh light of the fluorescent bulbs in the sealing, buzzing gently in the distance, a titanic black mass of metal before him. “Can you see anything?” he shouted up.

“No,” a voice squeaked from high above. “Not really at least. I mean it all just looks like one big blob of giant.” Tanner walked over to the edge of the bench, scanning the ground until he found the tiny dot that was his friend. “You see a way to get down?”

“Man, I don’t plan to move from this spot unless I have to!”

“I’d say we have to!” Tanner shouted down. “I told you, I saw giants out there! If we don’t do something-”

“Yeah, they’ll crush us.” Jake shrugged slightly, an imperceptible eyeroll following. “Just try and find some way to turn things normal.”

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Going crazy.”

“Well I think-” The boy stopped, a sudden jolt in the floor making him distinctly aware of a change in his world. “Did you feel that?” he said, frantically looking for the source.

“Yeah, I-” A second jolt came before Jake could even finish. They looked around, turning, their faces growing more and more concerned as the thumps increased in power, coming closer, shaking the world.

“Jake!” Tanner suddenly shouted, pointing off in the distance. “Get under the bench!”

“What, but the sound is…” His words were stolen from him as a sneaker clad foot smashed into the hard tile beside him. The force of the impact sent him to the ground, the giantess continuing her movement, unware of the bug she had nearly trampled.

“So, girls,” Mrs. Brooks said as she went over to the weight rack. “Upper body day, right?”

“Oh we are going to get so buff!” Claire said, jumping a bit as she grabbed a set of barbells. “Good thing none of the boys are around. You know, to get all ashamed of our muscles and stuff.”

“Please,” Bree said as she picked up her own set. “I notice how you always do certain stretches when you know Tanner’s watching. I’ve never seen someone do downward facing dog so much in my life.”

“I happen to have a bad back.”

“Because your tits are too big.”

“No such thing as too big.”

“Girls,” Mrs. Brooks said, stepping between them. “The workout?”

“Just getting pumped up,” Claire answered.

The trio walked over to the benches, Mrs. Brooks plopped onto the soft cushion first.  

Tanner was left speechless as a moon eclipsed the sky above him, leaving the world in darkness. Mrs. Brook’s ass was wide, well formed, and toned to near perfection after countless squats and wall sits. It was a butt to be proud of, a butt that made all the guys drool, a butt that Tanner wasn’t ashamed to say his vision had lingered on in the past.

Now though, it was a gargantuan mass of destructive force ready to crush him into a singularity. He was speechless as the object swung around before him, as Mrs. Brook’s wiggled slightly, as her legs bent, as she went to sit down.

Such a simple motion normally. It was almost comical to think that his entire life was going to be decided by a woman’s choice of workouts.

Her ass came down, the force shaking the entire bench more than any of her steps possibly could have, sending Tanner flopping to his belly, his face landing on the soft, slightly damp leather. But he was not crushed!

As he looked around in amazement her saw that the massive girl had moved a bit to the side, sitting beside him on the bench. He was spared. He would live another…

A second titanic impact came from his opposite side. When he looked again he saw Bree sitting a good distance away, the iron in her hand already lifting and falling rhythmically. It looked like some ancient structure, a huge force far too large to be moving, yet move it did.

So enraptured by the surreal dream was he that he didn’t even notice the third butt come into his life. Not until Claire was nearly over him, not until her bike shorts loomed over head. He glanced up from his position at the last second, seeing her butt cheeks coming down, pressed snugly inside her nearly skin tight shorts. The way the fabric curved around her supple bottom was serine, a beauty that he had never seen before. Two perfect semicircles pressed together, a dark ridge between them. So plump, so tender, so perfect in every way.

So unforgiving as they came down, popping the boy under their full, uncompromising weight.

“So,” Bree said as she continued lifting. “Think you’re going to ask Tanner out at some point?”

The blond girl thought for a moment, bobbed her head, then bounced in her seat a second. “Probably. But I’m old school. I like for him to act like a big tough guy and ask me out.” Little did she know that he was crushed into a pile of goop under her ass. “What about you? Does Jake have a shot?”

Bree blew a strand of hair from her face, then shrugged. “Guy seems kinda shrimpy. Maybe. What about you Mrs. B? Got a guy?”

“Not yet,” she answered.

“Oh come on,” Claire said, nudging the older woman. “There’s a bunch of eye candy in that office. What was that kid’s name? Jack? James? The one with the nose?”

“Adam.” Mrs. Brooks said.

“Yes! Him! Go out with him!”

“He’s a little young.”

“They’re better when they’re young.”

“He’s kinda silly.”

Bree laughed. “Better than having a stick up his ass.”

Mrs. Brooks shrugged, then looked down at her shoes. “I don’t know. He’s always kind of short.”

Claire just laughed, turning to her friend. “Hey, as long as he isn’t tiny enough to accidently step on, its fine with me.”

Jake held his hands over his head, his breathing hard and fast as he tried to calm himself down, tried in vain to understand the world he had so rudely been thrust into. At Tanner’s calls he had run under the bench, feeling the great vibration in the earth, daring not to look back as he sprinted away. But he saw the shadows on the floor. He saw them stretch and continue, on and on, like some great horror about to transform the ground into a gaping pit to suck him down. He couldn’t stop his mind from imagining what eldritch horrors could have such a presence.

Cowering under the workout bench, the tiny boy had barely worked up the courage to look behind him. When he did, he found three pairs of legs ascending into the sky, coming to the floor in thick shoes that were larger than any living creature he had ever scene. The fact that they were laying where he had been standing not ten minutes ago only worsened his dread.

He could hear them, too. A low reverberation that physically shook him; even their words held power on the level of a god. Yet they sounded lighthearted, like they were just enjoying a regular day. A normal life, in a normal world, where death wasn’t around every single corner, only a step away.

Thoughts crept into little Jake’s mind. Maybe… maybe this wasn’t as bad as he thought. Yeah, they’re huge, but they would notice him if he tried hard enough. All it would take was a glance downward, a single look. That’s all he needed.

But if he was wanted to be found he couldn’t stay under the bench. The boy pulled his eyes from the shadowy floor, looking across the landscape to where the girls’ shoes lay. He would need to go outside.

He gulped once, stood up, shook his head violently, ran his fingers through his hair a few times, first messing it up then shaping it back into position, before smiling. “I can do this,” he said, moving. “I can do this.” Step after step he continued to walk forward, looking at anything other than the titans, until he felt light envelope his person.

Suddenly he was out of the bench. He was in the open, a spec upon the ground, his form miniscule between two of the girls’ feet. When he looked to his right he saw what he could only imagine was Mrs. Brooks’ shoe. White and pink, with a thick sole that had probably been well cushioned once, but had long since turned into a slab of hard rubber that would be as unforgiving to him as it would be to a bug. Turning to his left he saw a black running shoe, cut with slight tinges of orange around the sole and the Nike logo. It almost looked new on first sight, but there was dirt and grime smeared into the fabric just like Mrs. Brooks’.

He recognized this sneaker as well. It belonged to the girl he saw at the gym all the time, who he always tried to talk to when they passed in the hall. Bree. But he was no good at talking to her. Every time he tried he’d stumble over himself and start stammering, talking about the weather, or on one poor occasion his rock collection, droning on and on like the world’s most incessant boring machine.

And now she was towering over him, a god.

He shook his head out again, snapping out of his stupor. “Hey, down here!” the boy shouted, jumping up and screaming to the girls. He saw movement above, and for a moment he thought that his plan might have worked. His hopes were shattered as Bree said a few words to her friends, the power of her voice drowning out his tiny chirps completely, the soundwaves almost forcing him down from their sheer strength. “Come on,” he said meekly, trying to wave up to the girl and quickly losing faith.

And then the girl moved a bit, shifting her weight so that she leaned closer to the older of her companions, her breasts, barely held by a tank top, hovered directly over little Jake’s body. They dangled there for a moment, the light reflecting off their glossy surface, made shiny by the loose sheen of sweat that covered her skin.

Jake could do nothing but stare up at the globes, marveling in awe at the sheer size of the girl’s breasts. Bree didn’t have the largest boobs in the world, but Jake had always thought that they had an attractive shape. Rounded, perky, the exact right size to gently press your face against. Now though, they were mountains, literal mountains, that were hanging over his head.

So enraptured was Jake that he didn’t notice the small droplet condensing on the underside of her skin. The moist bubble grew until it could no longer support itself, the sweat bead dripping off the giant girl and falling to the ground, impacting the floor, impacting the tiny boy so unlucky as to be under it, with a tiny squelch.

Suddenly Jake’s world became a spinning chaos as the fluids moved violently around him, carrying his body around the newly formed bead of sweat that had smashed into the ground. His head hit the floor below and he was able to orient himself, bracing against the still turbulent flow.

When he opened his eyes everything seemed blurred, the murky liquid barely allowing any light to pass through. But that didn’t matter, not nearly so much as escaping the bubble. Already Jake’s lounges were beginning to tire. He hadn’t taken a gulp in before the droplet hit; there was no way he could last more than a minute without air.

He swam to the edge of the sweat drop, thinking that he could just push himself out. This delusion was broken when he came to the wall, finding that his hands could not pass through, finding that he wasn’t strong enough to break the surface tension even when he pushed against it with all his might.

His eyes started to bulge as he desperately beat his fist against the inner walls of his crush’s sweat drop, his lunges burning, begging for the escape that was literal millimeters away. This couldn’t be how it ended… not drowned. Not in a sweat bubble. Not in her sweat bubble.  

He looked out, his wide eyes seeing through the haze enough to make out the orange swish of Bree’s sneaker. She could help him if she wanted. It would be simple for her, barely even an action. Just lean over and wipe the sweat away, and he would be free. He didn’t even need to be found, just break the bubble!

Bree, please… he begged silently, for he knew that if he went to scream his mouth would fill with her sweat. Just help me. Please…

She wouldn’t even need to bend over to save him. She could just use her foot. That would be fine, something a bug like him would deserve. If she just lifted her sneaker up, moved it over… just stepped on the bubble. It would explode, the slime moving to fill the space between her treads, but he would live.

If she would only step on him.

As his vision started to go black he found himself pressing up against the walls, starring at her sneaker. Please Bree. I love you, please. Please. Please just… just… step on me.

The pain was too much. He opened his mouth, desperate for a breath of air. Instead he was granted the taste of salt and slime.

It was the last thing he would ever experience.

“Okay, that’s enough of that,” Mrs. Brooks said, setting down her dumbbell. The woman was panting slightly, her body sparkling in the ambient light.

“Yeah, good call,” Claire said.

“What?” Bree answered, almost shocked. “You two are done already?”

Mrs. Brooks smiled. “I’m not as young as-”

Claire cut her off with a, “Yeah! Done with the pre workout at least.”

Bree nodded. There it was.

Claire bounced off of the bench. “How about some squats?”

“You just want your ass to look nice for Tanner,” Bree said.

“Well duh,” the girl replied. “I mean, he is an ass guy. I think.”

“I’m always up for squats,” Mrs. Brooks said, standing, stretching a bit. “And after, we can go for a little jog. You ladies up for that?”

Down below a tiny little bug couldn’t help but feel a pang of horror pass through him. Adam didn’t think jogging was going to be good for his health. But what he thought didn’t really matter in this world. Mrs. Brooks, his goddess, was going to do what she wanted, and there was nothing his feeble little existence could do to stop it.

A few minutes later, Mrs. Brooks stepped on the treadmill, her rubber sole compressing as she put her weight onto the machine. With well-practiced finger movements the older woman typed in her settings and pressed start. The belt started to turn, and she began to walk.

It started off light, the woman walking at a brisk pace that allowed her to keep up her chat with the other two titans. Even this was nearly unbearable for her stowaway though. A single step caused her foot to lift into the air, only to plummet down a second later. Adam’s stomach churned and protested as it was forced into his insides, slammed down into his body with her footstep. His fingers dug into the coarse fabric of her shoe lace, his eyes shut firm against the pain, wanting nothing more than for this rollercoaster to stop.

It felt almost like an amusement park ride. The sudden jolts, the feeling of complete powerlessness as the machine spun you around and around, lifted you high in the air and then sent you rocketing down. The same familiar feel of that initial drop, the same sense of fear as the earth came rushing towards you. But this was more. It was faster, the jerks were more sudden and with far, far less warning. He wasn’t being guided around a track, he was violently torn from one place and thrown into another, only to be spiked back down. His speedy descents were not met with a gentle slope back to the horizontal, they ended with a crushing stop only made survivable by the cushioned fabric of the lip of her shoe.

And it happened again. And again. And again. And again.

As the torture continued Adam could think of nothing but Mrs. Brooks. She must look so happy… he knew how much she enjoyed her workouts. She’d be running along the treadmill, probably talking with her friends, laughing, enjoying the cool air in her lounges and the power of her well maintained body. Sweat glistening off her soft skin, her breasts slightly giggling with each step despite her sports bra. Each step would press her butt against the tight yoga pants she wore, nearly exposing the faint line of the underwear she had underneath, and the perfect shape of her rear end. Her feet would be moving rhythmically, up and down, up and down, compressing on the mat of the treadmill as she flexed her legs.

And he would be inside that shoe, holding on for dear life, nearly crying against the pain.

And then she would start running.   

…

…

…

Everything started to fade in from black. Adam sat up, rubbing his head gently as he blinked against the harsh light. He saw the towering pillars of some object he knew had once been reasonably sized, now gargantuan and far away.

For a moment he thought everything had gone back to normal, that he had finally woken up from his nightmare. But no. This was still real. He was still shrunken. And he was… Adam looked down at the rough floor he sat on, with deep indents in some random texture. It almost looked like rubber.

He pushed himself to his feet when he felt that all too familiar feeling in the ground behind him. When the boy turned back he saw a Titaness walking towards him, her body glistening, her bare feet stomping with abandon as she stepped onto the slightly elevated plane Adam was on. Mrs. Brooks look just as horrifying, just as unspeakably beautiful, as she always did.

The giantess reached forward, her breasts briefly eclipsing the harsh gym lights for a moment as she leaned over him, pressing a few buttons on the machine. A low click reverberated through the ground, and suddenly Adam felt himself moving.

His eyes widened as he understood what was happening. He was on a treadmill, and Mrs. Brooks was going for a run.

“No, no, no!” he repeated in a helpless shout, sprinting away from the Titaness, knowing full well what was to come. He watched in horror as the giant’s body moved steadily towards the back of the machine before she lazily lifted one foot into the air. One bare, glistening, shaped and toned foot, the sweat still adhered to its sides, her toes rounded and plump, her nails manicured to perfection with a clear coat of nail polish to make them sparkle.

For a moment the horrifying object lifted high enough for Adam to see the underside. Slightly red, speckled with lint and dirt that she had so absentmindedly trampled during her workout, the insignificant pieces glued to her flesh by the mere surface tension of her sweat.

With a violent quake she slammed her foot down, her first step, her first movement towards the bug on the ground.

“Mrs. Brooks!” Adam shouted, fear almost taking hold of him as he forced his little legs to move forward. He sprinted with everything he had, forgetting about the time he spent clutching at her shoe, at the pounding in his head, at the sharp pain that came every time he breathed. That didn’t matter. Nothing mattered, except escaping from the giantess’ sweaty foot.

She continued to step forward, a leisurely pace for her, perhaps even the lowest setting on the machine, yet a blistering pace for her captive. Adam sprinted, his heart sinking with every step the goddess took, every reverberation of the impact, growing continuously louder.

“Please, I’m down here!” he begged as her foot slammed down only a few inches behind him. He looked forward again, a faint glimmer ahead catching his eye. He ran silently, trying to make sense of the small spot on the treadmill coming towards him. It was only when it was too late to run out of the way that he realized what it was.

Adam’s bare foot landed in the small droplet of Mrs. Brooks’ sweat, catching momentarily. Desperately he tried to rip his leg out from the droplet, the surface tension sticking him hard until he finally popped out. With a small plopping sound the boy came free, quickly losing his balance, stumbling a step before falling face first into the grimy musk that was the rest of the giantess’ sweaty foot print.

“No, not like this!” he shouted, almost crying as he tried to push himself up, strands of the goddess’ sweat holding him tight and forcing him to stay stuck to the treadmill. As he breathed the scent of her sweat filled his lounges. As he screamed again and again the taste of the liquid filled his mouth.

Until a shadow came over him.

He had only a moment to realize his life was about to end before Mrs. Brooks’ meaty sole crashed down, his body wedged between the balls of her foot. And then the pressure came, gradual at first, almost manageable thanks to the flexible nature of her foot flesh as it contorted around his body, then painful, then unimaginable, then finally fatal.

A slight crunch, and blackness consumed him.

Steam enveloped the boy as he regained consciousness. The smell soon followed, a deep penetrating stench that seemed to be emanating from the very fabric he was entombed in.

In a frantic fit Adam tried to escape from the tight bonds of cloth that he had dug himself into, flailing as he remembered Mrs. Brooks’ foot coming down on him, as he remembered the smell of her sole, the feel of sweat coating his entire body and sticking him hard to her flesh, of his bones popping, of his complete domination.

He pushed her laces away enough to fall out from the lip of her shoe, tumbling a few inches before catching himself again. His breathing was hard and ragged, he was covered in a cold sweat that left him terrified and vulnerable.

But he wasn’t crushed. Still alive, still tiny, Adam found himself sitting stationary on the top of Mrs. Brooks sneaker.

“Fuck,” he cursed, ripping his head around to familiarize himself with the environment. The impacts had been enough to knock him unconscious, and the continued assault, and the smell, and the heat radiating off her foot, must have made him dream that horrible nightmare.

When he looked into the world he saw the familiar haze of objects so massive and far away that he wasn’t able to identify them. Structures that rose into an endless sealing, metal by the look of them, formed the walls. The floor was hard tile, speckled. The ceiling was muddy, but he could make out a few bright lights spaced periodically in the relatively narrow area.

But more than that, he could see three figures moving close by. Three titans, three goddesses that were still unaware of his presence, that still couldn’t care less about his life or how it ended.

Mrs. Brooks stepped closer, her sock clad feet falling to either side of the sneaker. Adam looked up, finding his vision blocked by the stylish, delicate fabric of her white panties. Her legs looked so shapely as they disappeared into the thin garment, the outline of her body fully exposed and barely contained.

She moved slightly as she reached into the gym locker, grabbing a change of clothes, the white glints of illumination sparkling and changing as her sweat soaked body shifted, as the tons of bone and muscle gently jostled above him.

It was a sight too powerful for Adam to resist. This entire day he had been beaten and bruised, nearly trampled by these god like beings of sex and power. Forced to smell the pheromones produced by their skin, forced to look at their gorgeous bodies. He couldn’t contain himself any longer.

Adam leaned back against the shoe, a deep breath reminding him of the scent of Mrs. Brooks’ feet, now a constant in his life, as one hand drifted down his stomach, finally coming to a rest inside his pants. His fingers wrapped around his dick, gripping tightly onto the already hard organ.

He didn’t let his mind wander, for he didn’t need to. The most sexual scene he could think of was happening directly above him. His boss, his perfect, powerful, godly boss, was standing right above him. Only a few moves and she could crush him. A single step and he would be smothered by her foot. Even her pinky toe would be enough to crush him. And if not that, she could just suffocate him inside her toe jam.  

He continued to stroke his cock, breathing steadily, already approaching completion from the sheer ecstasy of the moment. Mrs. Brooks continued to pull out her clothes, chatting with the other two girls in the room, laughing slightly, her breasts giggling high above. He could see her bra as well; the material matching that of her panties. It looked soft to the touch, something he would love to climb, to loose himself in completely. To be crushed by those absolute mountains would be his dream.

On the brink of orgasm, Adam started to lick his lips, staring up at her butt, at her waist, at her entire body. He could barely hold himself any longer, but he wanted to. Wanted this moment to last forever. His goddess above him, nude, sweaty, powerful, and him small and pathetic at her feet.

Then, in a single movement, Mrs. Brooks crouched down to pick up a loose article of clothing from the floor, her waist dropping, her vagina coming within a few inches of her shoe. To Adam, it was like the moon had fallen, so close that he could almost touch it, so overwhelming that there was nothing he could do to stop.

Adam came, speechless, starring at the nearly transparent fabric that separated him from the pussy of a god.

Adam sat, exhausted, on the lip of his goddess’ shoe, his breathing heavy, his eyes half glazed over as they continued to trace the outline of her pussy pressed tightly against the confines of her yoga pants. At that moment all the fear of the last few hours dissipated, all the horrors were erased from his memory.

And then Mrs. Brooks stood back up, and he was reminded that he was a small bug in a world of giants.

“You almost ready?” Clair said, still giddy from the workout. She had her gym bag slipped over her shoulder.

“Just about,” Mrs. Brooks answered. “I just need to get my shoes.” She looked down at her sneaker, her eyes lazily passing over the tiny bug sitting on the lip. She simply reached down and adjusted their positions, then slipped her foot inside.

Adam was caught off guard as his world shifted. What was a few inches to Mrs. Brooks was enough of a jolt to shake him to his very core. When she let the sneaker drop back onto the ground his body bounced up, landing on the soft surface and rolling. Rolling uncontrollably until there was nothing under him but air.

His eyes went wide as he realized what was happening. “No,” he breathed lightly, horror overcoming him as he drifted down… down… down… He could see the dark fabric of her shoe rising up on all sides of him. He could feel the air growing hotter and heavier. He could smell the scent of his master’s feet growing stronger.

And then he hit her sole, the flat of his back aching as he bounced, then came to a stop. Motionless, little Adam just stared up at the entrance to his boss’ shoe, realizing how grave his mistake had been. “No… no…” he continued to mouth, watching as the woman wiggled her leg, slipping on her other shoe. Images of his friend James popped into his mind, of the boy running into this very shoe, desperate to avoid the giantess, desperate not to be crushed under her weight. Now, Adam was going to know what he felt. He was going to experience every pound of Mrs. Brooks’ body as she stood on him.

“Please,” he said, watching as a socked foot eclipsed his view of the outside world. He knew Mrs. Brooks, he talked to her every day. He went on business trips with her, had drinks with her… she wouldn’t do this to him. She would never hurt him, she would never crush him…

But she would crush a bug.

Adam screamed as the woman slipped her foot into the sneaker, gently pressing Adam into the sole of her shoe. But it was only the start. As she leaned on him, as she pressed on him, as she forced her foot into his body, the pressure increased exponentially.

“Alright,” Mrs. Brooks said with a smile. “Take me home, girls.”

“Can do,” Clair said, jiggling her keys.

Any other bug would have been crushed after a single step. Any other creature would have been turned into a pile of guts and blood, a stain on the underside of a god’s sock. But Adam was lucky. His body had been pushed deeper inside her shoe as Mrs. Brooks slipped her foot inside. He was not under her heel, or her toes. He was placed perfectly under her arch. The smell of her sole enveloped him, the heat of her body penetrated him, her sweat coated his entire being, but he wasn’t squished.

And then she started walking, the continuouse stomps pulsing through him like a rhythmic beat.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of being trapped in the confines of his boss’ shoe, he was released. He didn’t know how long it truly was, for every second seemed like an eternity when squished up against a sole so powerful as that. But it was dark, and he couldn’t see anything.

“Where am I?” he muttered, only half conscious as he peeled his body off of the sweat soaked sole. He wandered back over to the heel, where faint beams of light came trickling in to his chamber.

Cool air suddenly enveloped him when he stepped into the light. He looked up, out of Mrs. Brooks’ shoe, seeing a faraway ceiling, perhaps the top half of a shelf, maybe the frame of a bed. And then he understood. He was in Mrs. Brooks’ bedroom.

His suspicions were confirmed when he felt the ground shaking. A few moments later and the goddess appeared before him, laying some article of clothing down on the bed and looking at it. Her hair was down, flowing loosely around her shoulders. She was wearing only a loose t-shirt and pajama bottoms. It was almost a comforting sight, seeing her in such a state. It was hard to imagine that it had been her foot he had been trapped against these last few hours.

She continued to go about her night time routine, stepping into and out of Adam’s view as she went. The tiny boy knew that he couldn’t climb out of her sneaker, so he didn’t bother trying. He was content just to watch the giant, smiling when he saw her laugh at her phone, relaxing when she climbed into bed and pulled up the covers.

The lights were off, the world was silent, and the scent of Mrs. Brooks’ feet surrounded him. Adam was beaten, probably had injuries that he didn’t even know about, and was still tiny as a bug with no real hope of turning back to normal. And yet, as he lied down on her sole, as he rested his head on his arm, as he closed his eyes, he felt happy knowing that he was just sleeping in the same room as someone he cared for so deeply.

Sleep came quickly for little Adam.

He was awoken by the sudden shifting of the world as Mrs. Brooks picked up her sneaker, his happy dreams of being back to normal, of talking to his boss as a friend, of being her equal, broken. Desperately he dug his fingers into the hard fabric, trying to keep himself in one place. It was futile, and soon he was falling once again, impacting with the toe end of her shoe.

“Alright,” he heard Mrs. Brooks say from outside his prison. “Got my keys, wallet, gym bag and shoes… yep, I think that's it.”

The shoe started to bob up and down, bouncing as the giant walked, her gym bag swinging by her side. The night had been a happy respite from the normal hell that had become his life. Now, it was back to normal. Mrs. Brooks was going back to work, and she was taking Adam with her.

Mrs. Brooks’ little stowaway wasn’t sure what happened after that. Her bag was shifted so many times, his body tossed into the air only to come crashing down to her sweat soaked sole. Sometimes he was upside down, sometimes he was in the toe end, sometimes he was at her heel, able to see the light coming in through the microscopic holes in her gym bag. But never was he given an opportunity to escape.

As they continued the drive to work his mind started to function again, snapping out of his submissive state and reminding him that he had a life to live. That he was better than a bug, that he could be--that he deserved to be--more than his boss’ insole. He just needed an opportunity before the goddess went for her afternoon workout.

Mrs. Brooks walked into the office as she always did. With a swagger in her step and a sway of the hips, smiling at anyone who noticed. “How’s it going, Trish?” she said to one of the nurses. The woman answered, and soon parted ways.

The doors to the office were thrown open as the confidant woman strode in, proclaiming to anyone that could hear, “Good morning!” The entire office, or at least those who were still at their posts, answered with friendly hellos. “Don’t you just feel great today?” she asked to no one in particular.

Then she caught sight of the exact person she was hoping to run into. “Sally, my girl, did you ever get those forms from the guys in the lab?”

“No, I didn’t. Not yet anyway,” the girl answered. “I was actually looking for Adam to ask about that.”

“Huh,” Mrs. Brooks said, looking over to the boy’s desk and noticing he wasn’t there. “Odd. He’s usually right on time.” She shrugged, then placed her gym bag down on the desk beside her. “Actually, I don’t think I saw much of him yesterday either.”

“So he’s missing too,” Sally said, a bit of worry in her tone.

“What do you mean?” Mrs. Brooks asked.

The girl shrugged. “Rumor is that a bunch of people kind of disappeared last night. Everyone’s a bit concerned.”

“Oh,” Mrs. Brooks said. “Well I wouldn’t worry about it. Adam’s a smart guy. I’m sure nothing too bad could have happened.”

Sally smiled. “You’re probably right. Anyway, I’ll try and go down to the lab soon, see if I can just get the forms from them.”

“Good idea. Call me when you find them.”

“Sure.”

Mrs. Brooks picked up her bag and started walking back to her office. She didn’t notice that it was just the slightest bit lighter than before.

When she had placed the gym bag down her shoe had tumbled onto its side, finally giving Adam the chance he needed to escape. With the light of freedom before him, and the threat of the crushing weight and humiliation of his boss’ feet looming overhead, Adam did everything possible to escape. He sprinted to the opening, jumping out of the shoe. Wasting no time, the boy went to the fabric of her gym bag, pressing himself against the strings, ripping and pulling at the thick fibers until he had a hole just big enough to slip through.

“Yes!” he called, happiness overcoming him as he poked his head out of the hole, breathing fresh air for what seemed like the first time in years. All that was left was to force the rest of his body free.

He slipped his arm out, then his other, pushing with his legs as his midsection became caught. “Come on,” he said, wiggling and twisting, inching his way out from the nearly microscopic hole he had created, knowing that freedom was only a few inches away.

Then Mrs. Brooks reached down and grabbed her bag, ripping it into the sky. The sudden acceleration was just what Adam needed though. His body was ripped from the bag, thrown into the outside world, free once again.

He tumbled through the air, falling for seemingly miles until coming to a stop on the tiled floor below. When his head stopped spinning he stood up, dusting himself off, smiling like an idiot.

Until he felt the earth tremble under him again. No, he wasn’t safe just yet.

“Fuck,” Adam said, turning around, seeing the sole of a converse sneaker directly in front of him. He looked upwards, his eyes running over the girl’s jeans, passed her narrow hips, up to her full chest, all the way to the far away heights of her cutely rounded face.

His breath was stolen from him when he saw those eyes… the eyes of a god, staring right at him.

“Oh, hello,” Sally said, looking down at a curious thing between her feet. “You’re a cute little bug, aren’t you?”

“Ah crap,” Mrs. Brooks said, glancing down at the paper on her desk. Not the thing she wanted to see first thing in the morning, a memo labeled, Potentially Hazardous Situation. Call me IMMEDIATELY! The woman picked up the sheet, looking at it more thoroughly. She had been hoping for a nice, easy day before the weekend. Looks like that wasn’t going to happen.

Outside her office, Sally was too busy looking at the odd little insect between her shoes to notice her boss’ panic. “What type of creature are you?” the girl hummed to herself, almost absentmindedly, looking at the curious thing.

“Sally, It’s me!” Adam shouted, on the verge of tears from being so close to safety, being so close to a creature that could help him, that could be his escape from this hell. “Please, I’m not a bug. It’s me, Adam!” He screamed again and again, jumping from his place on the floor, waving his arms, doing everything he could think of to make her realize.

“Hm…” The girl’s eyes continued to sparkle as they looked down, her imagination drifting off as she remembered some creatures she would read about in fantasy books. Elves and fairies, little creatures that would fit around the human world and sprinkle magic wherever they went. Not bugs, not humans. Special little things. This bug almost reminded her of what she pictured a fairy would look like. But a lot smaller, and a lot less charming.

The girl giggled as she realized what she was thinking about. “You don’t have wings, either,” she whispered.

“Wings?” Adam repeated, looking up at the titan towering above him. The girl was absolutely gargantuan, her face so far away her could barely make out the features he knew so well. Those great blue eyes that took up so much of her face, that cute button nose that he just wanted to bop, the faint freckles on her cheeks. Now it was like looking into space, staring at a far away moon. “Come on Sally, you know me! We talk every day, please!”

“Well,” the girl said, remembering that there was more to life than silly fantasies. “Guess I’ll take you outside. Okay little guy?” She started reaching down, her knees bending, her imposing form lowering as she came at him.

Adam was left stunned, the sight of the giantess moving for him, the sight of her hand eclipsing the sky, the world, as it became the only thing he could see. It didn’t feel like his savior was coming to rescue him. It looked like a demon about to wipe him from existence.

“Sally!” A voice came, a moment before impact. Mrs. Brooks stood at her door, her normal bold and bouncy expression replaced with a serious one. “I need to talk to you. Now.”

“Right away Mrs. Brooks,” the girl answered, taking her hand away from the bug.

“W… What?” Adam repeated, seeing his only hope leaving him. “No, Sally! No, please, no!” But the girl was no longer thinking about something so pathetic as the bug at her feet. She was a human, and the life of a bug was not something she needed to worry about. She took a step forward, her sneaker sailing over Adam’s body to crash into the tile beyond, her long strides taking her into Mrs. Brooks’ office, where the door was closed.

Adam was left alone.

Small and tiny.

Forgotten.

“Right, I understand,” Mrs. Brooks said over the telephone. Sally stood at her side, awkwardly playing with her fingers, unsure of what to do with herself. This was the first time she had been in a crisis situation. “I’ll get the team together. Yes. Yes I have a team. I’ll get this figured out. Okay, goodbye.” She hung up, gave a sigh, then turned to the girl. “We got a problem.”

“Yeah?” Sally said, concerned at the way her boss was acting.

“Turns out all the scientists down in the basement went missing. All of them. The guys up top are on me to figure this out and get all the paperwork together. I think we need to call everyone in.” Sally nodded, her heart pounding a little at the idea. She had never been part of something so big before. “Can you call everyone? Tell them to meet in the conference room immediately?”

“I’m on it!” the girl said, a little too excited.

Adam hadn’t bothered to move from his spot on the floor. After all that had happened, he realized it didn't really matter what he tried to do. He could run for hours, literal hours, and not even make it under the closest desk. No, the only way his life would change was through the involvement of the gods that walked above him. Weather they knew it or not, his life was completely, totally, in their hands.

So when the door to the office opened, when he felt a blast of hot air from the hallway gust over him, when he saw another giantess walking towards him, Adam almost felt relieved. He was scared, terrified, that fear of death the same as the first time he had seen one of these creatures, but he knew it was what he needed.

And he still had hope to be found.

He remembered the girl, remembered her soft features and pale complexion, remembered her blouse with little peacocks on it, though now they just looked like blue and green smudges, blurred by the immeasurable distance. She was Mrs. Sledge’s assistant, a bookish girl who was a little quiet and reserved, but so damn cute it was almost painful.

Her flat came down, the earth shaking under Adam’s feet. He readied himself, trying to pinpoint where her foot would come down so he could at least try to avoid it. She was walking quickly, her massive shoe lifting and falling, lifting and falling, until Adam was given a view of her sole.

He jumped, trying everything to avoid the crushing step of the giantess. Though he couldn’t help but notice one detail on the underside of her foot. Amongst the few particles of dirt that littered her sole, the loose strands of hair and lint, there was a splotch of dark red and black.

The crushed corpse of some poor soul.

SLAM! Her foot made impact with the earth, missing Adam by only a fraction of an inch, the wind gust of the step catching the small boy’s body in the air and throwing it forward, sending Adam tumbling on the ground, only to eventually come to a stop on his back, looking up at the ceiling far, far away.

He could barely breathe anymore. This was too much, being thrown around like a bug, being smashed into people’s shoes, being stuffed in their socks… he couldn’t live like this anymore.

But he wasn’t given an opportunity for rest. Only moments after he opened his eyes he saw another sole looming into view.

Adam lay speechless as the girl’s Ugg boot lifted into the air, a small clump of dirt dislodging from between her thick treads, slamming into the tile only a little bit away from Adam. And there was more still attached, so much more. The tiny bug could barely see a spot on her sole that wasn’t covered by dirt or grime, with tiny leaves crushed in between, held fast by the solidifying mud.

He knew whose shoe this was. He had looked down at her boot so many times, wishing to rub the soft fabric. And he had almost been crushed by it too. Amy… the cute girl who worked for Mrs. Beth, the silly girl who would never hurt a fly.

But this was it. Adam was right under the balls of her foot. Nowhere to run, no way to escape the path of her crushing blow. After all that time, after all that running, and screaming, and panting, and shouting, after watching his friend turn into mush, after everything, this was how he was going to die.

Amy’s boot came down, her treads crushing into the nano-sized bug beneath her.  

Adam’s scream was caught in his mouth, the jolt of the horrendous impact nearly paralyzing him. He tried to breath in, tried to shout, tried to move, but his entire body was being pressed upon, was being squeezed from every possible angle. What was this? Why wasn’t he dead?

It was only when the girl took a step, when she peeled her boot off the hard tile that Adam realized the truth. His miniscule frame had survived only by being crammed between her treads, shoved into the thick mud that had been wedged deep inside. And in that instant, when all the girl’s body weight was upon him, his limbs were mashed into the dirt, his face shoved into the mud, his body melded with the refuse.

He was stuck to the underside of her boot.

BOOM! Again her foot came down, and again his body felt like it was on the verge of being squished into nothing. He couldn’t even scream, for his mouth was sealed shut by the mud.

It was only when she lifted her foot again, when he pried his own face from the mud between her treads, that he was able to take a breath in. Whatever oxygen he took in was compressed out the second her shoe landed.

Again and again, the girl simply walked, unaware of the true hell she was putting her former coworker through. Step after step, crushing impact after crushing impact. Adam couldn’t breath, he couldn’t call out, he couldn’t even understand where he was anymore.

He blacked out, came back from the sudden pain. He felt like he suffocated, only to have his face shoved into the mud the second he started to breath.

Why? Was the only question that went through his mind. Why am I like this? Why is this happening.

Why am I a bug?

Please stop, Adam thought, the strength to speak having been pummeled out of him by the girl’s boots, his moral smeared into the dirt stuck between her treads. He had been beaten today, had almost been crushed, had seen some of his friends squished under the absolute might of these demons, but this, being stomped on, being trampled, stuck to the very treads he used to look at and admire, was the worst.

Amy’s boot came down again, the hard tile floor doing nothing to lessen the jarring impact. And again, the girl walked, her gate slow and measured, he steps peppy and happy as she went into the meeting room.

She was one of the first people in, with Mrs. Brooks sitting already sitting at the table, fiddling with the projector. The room was small for a conference area, but it did the trick in a pinch. In the center of the room was a large, oval desk that took up the majority of the space. Around it had been placed desk chairs, mostly black, with the cushions long since worn out. On the opposite side of the room was a row of windows, letting in the daytime light.

Amy went to step inside when she realized something. She had gone to lunch earlier with Chloe and had walked through the park. Which always meant one thing. Hesitantly she looked behind her, a path of dirt confirming her suspicions. Yep, her treads were covered in mud.

But luckily there was a small mat at the door, placed specifically so no one would track dirt inside. Sometimes she really appreciated the thought her supervisors put into this office. They really made it feel welcoming.

With glee the girl stepped onto the mat, dragging her boots along the bristly surface.

Adam almost screamed when he saw a thick plane of sharp spikes coming up at him. Where was this? Where in a hospital was there a huge sheet of needles? He cringed, closing his eyes, bracing for the worst.

When Amy’s shoe came down the bristles dug into the underside of her boot, more than a few jabbing into Adam’s tiny body, the course fibers pressing him deeper into the muck. The tiny boy gagged, a direct result of one of the bristles jamming him in the chest, and tried to move them out of the way.

The fibers were all around him, some by his head, others by his legs and feet. If he had any chance of escaping the girl’s treads before, these damn needles took that all away.

But what are they? He nearly screamed the question to himself, eyes straining to make out the details of the fibers in the half-light under his coworker’s shoe. He wouldn’t find out, for before he could even focus his vision Amy started to drag her foot back.

The bristles around his body bent, their springy nature forcing them to compress as they were dragged under the thick sole, taking large chunks of mud with them. Adam was shaken, the sound of a thousand strong fibers snapping and bending echoing through the tiny chamber he was caught in, until finally Amy’s boot came up again.

Only to slam down on the carpet once more. The girl continued to clean her feet, wiping them on the thick mat, watching as more and more dirt came out from between her treads. She never understood how so much grime managed to wedge itself into her sole. But that was just one of the effects of going out to lunch.

Eventually a bristle found its way next to Adam, Amy’s step pushing it up next to him, then forcing it to dig into the dirt he was encased in. When she pulled her boot back, when the bristle was dragged under, it broke the mud patch holding the tiny boy. With a scream he came loose, falling into the dense field of course fibers below, rolling a bit as the side of the girl’s sole smacked into him.

Then one of the bristles caught him, and he was forced to stop, her sole rolling over his body, pressing him into the mat. But then, as soon as it happened, it was over. The sun came out again, and Adam was in the light. He was free.

The bug didn’t have long to appreciate his newfound life. As soon as Amy’s drag was completed she lifted up her boot, hovering it over her former captive. Adam looked up at the sight, at her mud stained sole, marveling both at its scale, and the implication of it hanging overhead. All around him tiny chunks of dirt plummeted to the ground, erupting on impact like tiny meteors. Most of them were bigger than he was.

And then her boot came down. The fibers all around him bent, taking most of her weight, but they didn’t save him completely. He was still pressed down, still squished into the hard ground. She dragged her foot backwards again, the mud and grime dislodging itself, falling all around the tiny bug below.

Again and again and again, the girl wiped her boot, until finally she was satisfied. When Amy took a step she left Adam behind, on the mat, half buried in her leftover dirt.

Adam groaned, the ordeal leaving him barely alive, the mud of Amy’s boot encasing him. But, for the moment, he was free. He was able to breath. He was able to see the light of day and not have to worry about being trampled by a being more powerful than he could ever imagine. He didn’t have to worry about one of his friends crushing him into a tiny blood stain.

Or so he would have liked to think.

“Hi guys,” Clair said, smiling to the three people already inside.

“Hello Clair, Bree,” Mrs. Brooks said, nodding to the two researchers she had invited.

Clair smiled back, taking a step into the office, her foot falling onto the entrance mat.

“No wait!” Adam screamed, watching as the giant’s shoe rose above him. She was wearing running shoes, almost completely black, save for the pink Nike check mark near the center of her sole.

As her foot started to come down only a single thought entered Adam’s ant-like mind. At least it isn’t dirty.

Clair walked forward, her shoe coming down, crushing into the cushy mat below, her full weight pressed down onto little Adam. The boy had managed to fit into the slight space between two of the squares that covered the majority of her sole, the thick rubber coming down on either side of him. The impact was tremendous, the sheer force behind it staggering. But the bristles of the mat, and his positioning, was enough to keep him alive.

When she stepped away she took a little of the mud Adam had been trapped in with her.

But the moment of relief truly was only a moment, for Bree’s shoe came to fill the roll. If Bree had known there was a bug where she was stepping she might have tried to avoid it. Perhaps, if she was in a good mood, and others were watching, she would swing her foot out of the way and let the pathetic creature carry on its miserable life. But that was only if she felt compassion towards the creature under her. And only if she actually knew it existed.

Bree’s sneaker came down, crushing Adam into the mat, the bristles barely keeping the pressure from crushing him completely. But this time it was different. The bristles were there to keep the pressure from crushing little Adam completely, but they did nothing to stop the disgusting, discolored glob of used gum from contorting around his frame.

“No, no, no!” Adam screamed, fighting against the sticky substance as it contorted around, knowing that he was already stuck. He didn’t want to be trapped on another girl’s sole. He didn’t want to be squished like this.

Why is this happening? Just make it stop!

Bree walked forward. As her foot lifted Adam tried to grab on the mat, his desperate fingers clawing at the bristles, his feeble attempts proving useless. Once again he was ripped into the air, stuck to a giant girl’s shoe.

Bree walked around the conference table, pulling out one of the chairs and sitting in the worn-out cushion. For a moment she wiggled around in it, trying to find some way to get comfortable. No use. Those chairs were simply too old, too worn out to be any type of pleasant.

She rolled her eyes, settling into a position she knew was going to make her back hurt after a couple minutes.

Geeze, she thought, even her inner monolog having an annoyed tone. Why is my life so terrible?

“Oh good, you’re here,” Mrs. Brooks said, the door opening as two more woman strode into the conference room. Sally led the way, a stack of papers in her young, delicate hands. Behind her walked Erin, astutely studying the room. “Erin, have you found Mrs. Sledge?”

“No, I can’t get a hold of her,” Mrs. Sledge’s assistant answered, fixing a loose lock of hair and moving to the desk and taking a seat. “I’ve looked all day too. Called all around the hospital, her home phone, her personal phone… everything.”

Mrs. Brooks nodded. “She must have been one of the people who disappeared. Damn, she would have helped a lot with this type of thing.” The woman then stood up, breathing in, a wave of confidence flowing out of her. It was moments like this she knew to step up, to act like a real leader. “We should start then. We can’t waist any more time. Sally, you have the briefing?”

“Yes mam,” The intern said, passing out a sheet of paper to those at the table. When she was done she sat down, letting her feet slide under the table. Her feet had been killing her all day. This probably wasn’t the best time to try out a new pair of shoes, especially ones that barely even fit her. They were a cute pair of pumps that she had bought just this weekend, with leather straps along the top that were just a bit too tight. As Mrs. Brooks stood up to begin the meeting, Sally slowly wiggled her way out of the shoes, breathing a sigh of relief when her warm toes were exposed to the cool air.

She knew it wasn’t professional, but they were under the table. No one could see, so who would mind? The girl sat back in her chair, finally comfortable, listing to her boss talk about the current state of things. After a little while she started to feel antsy, a tiny ich presenting itself.

The girl discreetly bent down, digging her nails into her foot. First the shoes were too tight, now it looked like she might be allergic to them. That decided it, no matter how cute they were - and they were really cute - she had to take them back.

When the itch was finally settled she kicked her feet back out, turning her attention to the next speaker. Mrs. Brooks concluded her introduction, giving the floor up to one of the other girls.

“Chloe will now tell you about some of the tests that are being performed,” Mrs. Brooks said, pulling out her chair and motioning for the girl to start.

“Thank you, Mrs. Brooks.” Chloe then turned to the projector screen, reading a list of complicated Latin names without any difficulty. Mrs. Brooks tried to listen, but her focus started to drift. Today had been such a long day. First half of her office goes missing, including Adam and James, now they find out the hospital is in a catastrophic disaster, and it’s up to her to sort it all out.

Half of her wanted to just run out of the room and start yelling at people. The other half was just hoping one of the other women had a solution to this entire thing. Whatever happened, it was going to be a mess of paper work. Unconsciously she tapped her foot on the ground, her leg bobbing up and down rhythmically, until Chloe was finally finished.

Clair wasn’t doing much better with all these talks, even though the research department was her field. She was a take action first, ask questions later type of girl, and these meetings were the antifascist of everything she stood for. There was a solution, they just needed to find it. She played with her hair a bit, her eyes drifting down to her feet below the table. That’s when something caught her eye. A dark little form between her shoes.

The researcher smiled, moving her shoe and bopping the creature to the side. It got up slowly, moving around like the bug it was. For the next few minutes she played with the creature, gently stepping on it, then taking her foot away. She’d let it run for a second, then move her foot to block its path at the last second. But it kept trying, the cute little thing.

She was debating how to smush it when she was called up to present. “Oh, of course,” she said, standing, immediately forgetting about the bug.

Amy watched as the beautiful researcher stood up and moved to the projector, thinking about how much she wanted to be in her shoes. Not literally, she liked her Uggs well enough, even if they were a little muddy, but to be a researcher was something she always wanted. To study things, make new drugs, new treatments. To help people and look good doing it. Who wouldn’t want that?

She shifted around a bit, moving her boots closer together, and looking down at them. Maybe she should start wearing more professional shoes. Or, at least something that doesn’t track in so much dirt and grime. Even in the shadow under the table she could see that there was a small puddle already forming.

“Erin,” Mrs. Brooks then said, turning to the young assistant. “Do you have any of Mrs. Sledges plans?”

“No mam. Everything was on her computer, and I don’t know the password.”

“Oh, I think I actually have something like that,” Amy answered, her mind coming back to the task, and forgetting about her dirty boots. She pulled out her phone, going to her email. “Yesterday Mrs. Sledge forwarded me an email about this type of thing. I think it… yes! It had an attachment about emergency protocols. I just sent you it.”

“Wonderful,” Erin said, receiving the email. “Okay, I think I can talk a bit about it then.” Mrs. Brooks motioned for her to go up to the projector. “Thank you,” she said, moving through the small isle.

Amy’s eyes followed the young girl as she walked, noticing how pretty her shoes looked. White flats, immaculately cared for. Yep, way nicer than her boots. That decides it, she was going to pick up some new shoes tomorrow.

But something else caught Amy’s eye. As she followed Erin’s stride she saw a tiny black object on the ground. A small, moving creature, directly in the girl’s path. “Oh, Erin!” she tried to call out, but she had seen it too late.

“What is it?” Erin asked, her flat smashing to the earth, right on top of the little bug.

“Oh, uh, nothing.” Amy figured it would be best to just forget about the entire thing. “Ignore me.”

Erin smiled, then kept walking. Amy glanced down at the carpet near her feet, but the bug wasn’t there.

So she shrugged, her attention going back to the girl as she spoke about emergency plans. Clearly this was more important than a little insect crushed under foot.

Erin continued her discussion for a few minutes, moving through some bullet points and plans, none of them really too helpful. Then she paused, seeing a shadow form on the semi-transparent door to the conference room. Another person was coming.

Everyone turned as they heard footsteps on the stone outside. The door to the office was pushed open, a slight breeze caused by the pressure of the room.

“Sorry I’m late everyone,” a beautiful woman said, looking stunning in the natural light of the windows, her hair blown back by the wind. A figure of power, with a face that radiated class and significance. A woman who had command of any room she entered, who could take control of a conversation with a single word. And, as a director of the hospital, just the person the committee needed most.

“Mrs. Beth,” Mrs. Brooks said with a smile. “You’re right on time.”

Adam groaned, his cries a low whisper reverberating around the sticky confines of the gum he found himself trapped in. For the last few minutes… or hours… or days… he really didn’t know, it all dragged together, he had been entrapped in the used chewing gum Bree had accidently stepped in. Her sneaker was resting on the carpet of the meeting room, flat against the floor. No light managed to travel under her shoe; Adam was encased completely in darkness. When he breathed in he could smell dirt, the grime soaked into the carpet his face was pressed against, and the slightest whisper of something sweet. What the chewing gum must have tasted like back before it had been mashed in someone’s mouth.

He tried to move again, but found that the pressure, and the adhesive forces of the gum, were far greater than anything he could handle. Maybe if he was normal size he could wiggle out from below this girl’s foot. But not as a bug.

He couldn’t stop thinking about how her foot was right on top of him. Only a single layer of hard rubber separated his body from the bare skin of her flesh. He wondered what it would be like, inside her shoe. Hot and sticky, sweat dripping down her perfect skin, collecting on her sole and slowly merging with the fabric. Even the idea was… he struggled to find the right word. Horrible, yes. Terrible, disgusting, abhorrent? Yes, but something more.

Enticing.

Little Adam, stuck to the sole of one of his coworkers, was getting used to being a bug. Maybe this was his place in the universe. A foot slut to a giantess, a little slave boy to be used as a foot toy.

Then Bree shifted her weight a bit, her leg moving so that her shoe was on its side, light coming back to Adam’s world. He breathed in, the pressure released from his body, the air fresh, free from the funk under her sole. All at once he remembered who he was, that he needed to be back to normal, that there was more to his life than being an insect.

He started violently jerking around, throwing his arms and legs out in an attempt to escape from the gum. Eventually he managed to pull his arm free, grabbing onto the girl’s hard sole and pulled the rest of himself off. With a final tug he came loose completely, tumbling to the harsh carpet below.

“Yes!” he called, jumping back up, joy overcoming him. Finally, he wasn’t stuck to some goddess sole. But he didn’t have time to celebrate. He ran, sprinting away from the giantess before another careless shift in position trapped him underfoot again.

Soon he came to a shadowed area under the table, the low voices of the girl’s reverberating all around him. It almost sounded like thunder in the distance, ominous and powerful.

Who did he run too? Who was actually going to help him? Bree and Chloe were nice, but they already showed what they would do to a bug sized Adam. He turned, seeing an Ugg boot, the sole still dripping mud. No, not there either. Again he turned, his eyes widening. There, in front of him, was a girl who had taken her shoes off.

Adam’s heart leapt at the sight. He looked at the girl’s feet. Pale, thin, her veins just barely visible under the white skin. Her toes looked soft and rounded, her toenails cut precisely and glossed over with a single coat of polish. Adorable, completely. Then he looked to her shoes, trying to remember who they belonged to.

Red pumps? He didn’t recognize them at all. But it was the exact thing Sally would wear. Yes, Sally, it had to be her. She was the only person whose feet were so delicate. The other woman in the office had beautiful feet, but nothing so slim and cute.

Sally would help him, he knew that. What happened before, that was just an accident. It had to be. With hope in his heart, Adam started running towards the giantess.

It took him a few minutes to cross the monumental distance, but eventually he reached her. The giant girl, sitting in her chair miles above, her feet resting gently on the carpet, her soles slightly red, slightly moistened from the microscopic beads of sweat.

Adam looked at her foot and wondered what he should do. He was just so small, there wasn’t much chance she would notice if he just went up and punched her. No, his best chance was to somehow get closer to her face. And that meant he had to climb.

Adam moved over to the girl’s right foot, near her arch, the memory of all those tiny people getting stomped flooding through his mind. But he had to push those thoughts away. This was his only chance. He jumped onto the girl’s sole, the heat from it instantly assaulting him. But the tiny beads of sweat, his tiny size, and his nails digging into her skin, was enough to make him stick. Slowly, Adam began to climb.

After only ten minutes he was exhausted. Gravity might have been weaker at this size, but climbing a girl’s sole was never easy. When he looked down his heart dropped. Even after all the effort he had put in, he was barely more than an inch of the ground. Still on her foot, still not even at the top.

But then he felt movement. He screamed as he was pulled into the air, Sally moving her foot upwards. Then a shadow fell over him as the girl’s hand came down. Adam screamed in horror, her nails impacting the soft skin just above him, and digging downwards. He didn’t even have time to react before her finger smashed into his body, sending him flying.

He landed on the carpet and rolled, tumbled until he bumped into something hard. When he finally regained himself enough to look around, he realized what he bumped into. A tall wall of rubber, merging into a monolith of fabric. He recognized these boots. For so long he had been looking at them with fascination, imagining what they would feel like to touch.

Mrs. Brooks’ boots looked even more amazing from this angle. “Mrs. Brooks,” Adam breathed, the sight of the giantess sitting above him bringing back memories from the gym, when she crouched over him, her pussy pressed against her pants.

But his fantasy was cut short. The giantess lifted her heel, the sudden change causing Adam to fall onto his back. His eyes went wide as he looked up at Mrs. Brooks’ sole, nearly spotless, even after a long day of walking around. That was so like his boss. Neat and orderly, completely in control.

Her heel fell, right onto little Adam. For a moment he thought he was dead, that it was all over. But no, he was still alive, and the pressure wasn’t even that painful. Because of the pattern of the goddesses’ treads, and the soft carpet, he survived.

But he was still trapped. The pressure was more than enough to pin him down, his arms pressed to either side, his legs stuck tight. He breathed in, the smell of leather and rubber filling his nose, a scent he was becoming all too familiar with.

For a while he stayed like that. Small and stuck under his bosses’ boot, with nothing to do but wait for her to move. Such a small, inconsequential action for her, everything to him.

And then it happened. Her sole lifted, and Adam thought he was free. With joy he pushed himself off the floor, meaning to make a break for it. But his joy was short lived. Before he was even to his feet her sole came down, pressing him into the carpet again.

And then it was lifted. And then it was slammed back down. Bored, the giantess had decided to start tapping her heal.

“Please-” THUMP, “Mrs. Brooks-” THUMP. “STOP!” Adam begged, but her heel continued to move up and down, pummeling him into the ground without care or remorse. Rhythmically he felt his head smashed against the ground, his body crunched, his limbs forced out.

He didn’t know how many times she stamped on him before she finally shifted positions. He didn’t even think about what had just happened, or what his plan was. He just knew he had to escape. Adam pushed himself to his feet at the first opportunity and started running, trying to head towards the table.

But Mrs. Brooks spun in her chair, the side of her boot smashing into him, sending him tumbling once again. When he finally came to a stop he was in a bright spot of the carpet, the sun coming in through a window. He looked up at it, holding his head, seeing that there was more to the view than he first thought.

His breath was stolen from him as he locked eyes with the blond titan herself, Clair. Fear pulsed through the little boy as he realized she saw him, as he realized her sneakers were on either side of him. As he realized she was smiling.

The giantess grinned and mouthed the words, “Hello buggy,” down to him, carefully sliding her shoe over towards him as she did so. Adam knew what she was planning, and only had one thought. Escape.

He turned and sprinted, trying to escape under the table. His heart leapt as the girl’s shoe suddenly crashed into the ground in front of him, his momentum almost making him bump into her heal. He turned, running towards her, thinking he could escape under her chair. The other shoe soon moved to blocked his path.

And so it went for a few minutes. He tried to run and escape, tried to beg for her to stop, but the giant wasn’t interested in listening. She was having fun playing with the bug at her feet. Finally, when Adam was out of breath, and the fight was taken out of him, he collapsed onto the floor. He knew there was no chance of escape.

Seeing that the bug was finally finished, Clair did what any other goddess would do. She moved her sneaker over the bug, and pressed down. Not hard enough to kill it, but enough to make sure it was pressed into the dirt.

Adam screamed as she started dragging her shoe around the floor, the pressure making him roll under her sole, his body scraping against the coarse fiber of the carpet. Over and over again. Soon it became an unconscious thing for the giant. She probably even forgot there was a bug under there.

But her name was called, and Clair stood up, her shoe jerking back suddenly as she stood up. Adam was caught by the sudden motion, forcing him to roll to the side yet again.

Blackness consumed him immediately. But what happened? One second he was rolling, next he was trapped again. And the pressure was growing, growing. He screamed out before it decreased a little, the giantess’ treads no longer threatening to break his ribs. But who was this? Who was crushing him?

He looked around, trying to see anything that would help. He could feel that the girl’s shoe had deep treads in it, deeper than he would expect a sneaker to have. Definitely more than something formal like a flat or wedge.

Then he felt something hit his face, something wet and slimy. He jerked in response, realizing with sudden horror that everything was covered in the slime. The floor was soaked, the girl’s sole was covered… he was covered.

It must be Amy’s boots. She always wears those things, and they get disgusting after she walks through the park during her break. It was horrifying to think of all the things she must have trampled in these boots, how many bug guts were entombed in the treads, how many dead plants were lost in that mud.

She shifted her weight, pressing him down even more, mushing the mud into his face. For a moment it covered his mouth and he couldn't breathe. When she took the pressure off and he was finally able to breathe again he sucked in some particles of dirt and started to cough.

He just wanted it to end. Just make it stop.

Then, suddenly, Amy moved her foot. But the sticky mud was enough to drag him with it. As she went to cross her legs Adam was ripped through the air at horrendous speeds, coming free from the mud at the highest point of the arc and flying once again.

He landed. He rolled. He came to a stop on the carpet in a location he didn’t recognize. For a moment he looked around. Then he locked eyes with a goddess again.

No, not just any goddess, the same goddess. His heart fell, his body shook. Clair was looking down at him again, her feet ready to make him their personal toy. Anything but that, he wanted anything but to be used like-

SLAM! He didn’t even see it coming. Erin’s flat crushed into his unsuspecting body, forcing him against the hard sole. Then she continued the step, pressing more onto him until finally taking off the pressure in a sudden movement.

Adam was dragged for a few paces, finally coming loose when the giant turned, the speed causing him to fly off and roll into the relative darkness under the table again.

He didn’t bother moving anymore. He just lay there, breathing hard, trying to regain himself. How many woman’s feet had he just been crushed by? How many times had he been manhandled, stomped on, stamped on, smushed?

And how many more times would he get crushed before this was over.

Just as he was feeling his lowest, the door to the office burst open, a woman standing in the entrance. He could only see her feet, but that was enough. He knew the woman instantly, recognized her stance and her presence.

If no one else was willing to help, perhaps his answer was Mrs. Beth.

“Hello everyone,” Mrs. Beth said to the small group sitting around the conference table. In the instant she had entered the room, she had commanded attention, her confidence and wholehearted devotion to her job speaking more than her words. “I’m glad you’re all here, and in one piece. But let's not chit chat and waist time. We have a potentially hazardous situation on our hands, and we need to move quick.”

“Hazardous?” Amy said, concern apparent in her tone. “Is it really that bad?”

“It might be.” Mrs. Beth turned to the senior member of the team. “Mrs. Brooks, what have you already covered.”

“The basics, pretty much,” the other woman answered. “What the possible causes are, how we should handle the paperwork and the organization.”

“That’s good, I won't have to cover any of the basics then.” She turned to the rest of the group. “I just came back from speaking with some of the higher ups, and they think they have isolated what happened. Chloe, do you have the pictures?”

“Of course,” the girl answered, rushing over to the projector to connect her computer. In a few minutes she had her email open, and was scrolling through a group of images. The first few were of the science labs downstairs.

“So, as you know,” Mrs. Beth started. “We have a vast amount of research being conducted in this hospital. That includes experimental treatments that are… well, radicle is the only word for them. Our current theory is that one of these tests produced a harmful gas that was accidently released into the open, which made its way through the ventilation system and eventually into the entire hospital.”

Clair and Bree glanced at each other. They worked down in those labs. If anything had happened, they should’ve been the first to hear about it. “Hey,” Clair whispered to the other girl. “Did you see Brandon today?”

“No,” Bree answered, concern coming over her. “Crap, I actually didn’t see a lot of people!”

“Excuse me,” Erin said. “What type of contaminant was it? A disease? Is it deadly?”

“Not strictly,” the woman answered. “It was a treatment for some muscle diseases. The idea was to shrink the patient to a smaller size so there would be less stress on their bodies. Current theories have it that only small amounts of the population were affected by it, however. Our current guess is that a concentrated form of this treatment was released, and everyone who has gone missing has actually shrunk.”

The entire room looked shocked. Mrs. Brooks was the first to ask, “How small did they get?”

Mrs. Beth shrugged. “Some guys are saying an inch, others guess that they might be microscopic. So far we haven’t found any but…” she was cut off by a knock at the door. “Well, speak of the devil.” She opened the door, a young member of the custodial staff standing there.

“Uh, hello, Mrs. Beth,” the man said sheepishly. At seventeen years old, Josh was far from confidant around a woman as powerful as Mrs. Beth. “I, uh, I think I might have found something.”

“Good,” the woman said, turning to the rest of the group again. “I asked members of the staff to come to me if they saw anything that might be a shrunken person.” She turned back to the janitor. “Show it to me.”

“It's actually close by,” said the man as he moved away. The entire group stood to follow him. They went into the hallway just outside the group of offices. There, by the wall, is where they found it. A tiny little blotch of red against an otherwise white tile.

Mrs. Beth and Mrs. Brooks were the closest. They leaned down to look at the tiny spec. It was hard to make out, but there was clearly a form to it. “Chloe,” Mrs. Beth called.

“Yes?” the young intern answered, walking next to her boss.

“You have good eyes. What does it look like?”

“Um…” the girl peered down at the splotch, squinting to make out its shape. After a moment she knew the answer, but she needed to be sure. “I think it's a tiny person. But he's…” she didn’t need to finish.

“Horrible,” Mrs. Beth said, shaking her head. Mrs. Brooks looked completely distraught, horrified that something so terrible could happen in her place of work. “We will need to start a quarantine. Make sure no one leaves the hospital. And we will need everyone looking. Well, those who aren’t trying to make a cure yet. This is going to take…”

“Wait,” Chloe said, looking down at the blob. “I think I see something else.” She leaned in closer, until she was only a few inches away. “There’s an imprint in its body, I think.”

“An imprint?” Erin said, from the back of the group. “What does it look like?”

“I think it's a word… G… E.... I think that’s an L. GEL?”

The group looked to each other, not understanding what it could mean. Then, suddenly, Amy remembered something. “Mrs. Brooks, you have a pair of sneakers that you wear a lot right? You know, the ones that you always use when you work out?”

“Yes,” the woman answered. “What about them?”

“Don’t they have a small thing on the sole that says GEL in it?” The woman’s face plummeted. For a moment she didn’t believe it was true, couldn’t possibly imagine that something like that could even be the case. Her, crush another living creature? She didn’t even step on bugs! She always tried to find a cup and take them outside. This… this had to be a mistake.

“No, I don’t think so,” she answered. “Look, I have them in my office. We can go look right now.” She stood up and walked away from the grizzly scene. A few of the girls stayed behind to look at the sorry stain, but most followed Mrs. Brooks, eager to know the truth of the matter.

They went into the offices and quickly shuffled into Mrs. Brooks’ room. She grabbed her gym bag hurriedly and opened it, taking out one of her sneakers. It looked the same as it always did. A little worn out and used, with a more pungent aroma than she would have wanted, and old, discolored laces. But that wasn’t what she was looking for. The woman flipped over her shoe, looking down at the sole. Sure enough, right in the center, was a small plastic circle with the word, “GEL” embossed on it.

There was even a slight red stain around the words.

Mrs. Brooks’ face went white, and she lowered the shoe onto her desk. The guilt she felt at that moment was like nothing she had ever experienced. Whether she knew it or not, whether it was an accident or not… she had killed someone.

“How horrible,” Mrs. Beth said in a near whisper.

The rest of the group was quiet, suddenly realizing and appreciating the situation they were in. A hospital full of people, with an untold amount of poor shrunken victims running around, trying to survive. And they, in their normal state, were gods.

Adam watched as Mrs. Beth’s feet walked up to the table, her flat soles stomping down with authority, the carpet under her bending to her will. Though Adam had been surrounded by giants since he first shrunk, Mrs. Beth was different. Every other woman commanded a power over the bugs at their feet, but for them, the power only came from their size. Mrs. Beth knew she was a god, and she acted like it.

A feeling of powerlessness came over Adam. The rest of these girls hadn’t felt him, they hadn’t even noticed his little movements as he crawled about on the floor, or on their shoes, or over their skin. What chance did he have with a creature as strong as Mrs. Beth? But… maybe he was being foolish. She was strong and confidant, yes, but she was also one of the kindest, most intelligent people Adam had ever known. If anyone was going to realize the situation it would be her.

So, in that moment, Adam looked at her feet not as a giant death trap ready to crush him at any second. He saw her feet as a hope of being saved. These other giants might have toyed with him, crushed him, stomped on him, but not Mrs. Beth. With his mind made up, he ran towards the giantess’ feet.

Luckily, he had been kicked close enough to her side of the table that he reached her shoes before she moved away. They were magnificent structures, constructed of dark leather that had been worn and broken in, but well cared for enough that they still looked beautiful. They were low heels, with the back supported by a column of hard material that would show no remorse to any creature that found itself under it. The toe section was pointed, with her sole smooth and clean. Exactly what Adam needed.

He jumped when he reached her shoe sole, grabbing onto the side of it and digging his hands into the thick leather. With all his might, he pulled himself up, climbing as quickly as his diminutive muscles would allow.

When Mrs. Beth finally moved he had almost reached the top of her shoe. He pressed himself into her toes as she took her first step, knowing that this ride would be hell, but also knowing that he would lose any hope he had if he were to fall off now. His ride on Mrs. Brooks’ sneaker was still fresh in his mind.

She didn’t travel far, but it was still a tortuous experience for the tiny stowaway. His face was smashed into the giantess’ sole with every step, and his fingers ached from holding on so tightly. But this was his only option, the only thing he could do.

When she stopped, he was finally given a chance to breathe. They were out in the hallway then, with all the girls looking around at something on the floor. He wasn’t in the right state of mind to wonder what. He just needed to get up higher, and escape her pounding footsteps.

There was only one way to do that. Adam ran up Mrs. Beth’s shoe, the lip of it ending right after the toe section. When he reached it he looked down at the slight fall, only a fraction of an inch, her skin only a little drop away. He paused, a spark in the back of his mind firing, telling him that he shouldn’t. He, as a bug, as a pathetic, insignificant parasite, shouldn’t touch her skin. It wasn’t right. His place was at the bottom of her foot, not on top of it.

He grit his teeth and shook his head, banishing those thoughts away. This was no time to start believing he was a bug. Mrs. Beth wouldn’t see him like that. Mrs. Brooks wouldn’t see him like that. They would all understand and help him, he knew they would. They were good people, he just needed to be found.

He readied himself to jump onto the giant’s foot. But the moment before he could launch himself, Mrs. Beth took a step. Such a simple action, such an insignificant thing. But for Adam, it was life shattering. He wasn’t prepared, and the sudden shift made him lurch, falling onto the smooth material of her shoe and sliding down, until he was finally kicked off the edge.

A scream erupted from his lounges as he plummeted towards the ground. He hit the concrete hard, bouncing off the surface. When he finally stopped he was clutching his ribs, his belly feeling like it had just been ripped out.

There were voices around him. Big, hulking things that made his ears ring. Voices of the girls, he knew. They were all around him, standing over him, looming over him. Adam tried to push himself up, tried to stand so that he could see where he was and at least try to form a plan.

A shadow fell over him before he had the chance. With dread he looked up, seeing Chloe’s face high above, bathed in light from the fluorescents so far in the distance. The rays fogged around her perfect face, creating an effect that was almost like a halo. A golden goddess, a pristine angle, a merciful deity.

And then she moved her shoe over Adam’s head, and his view was replaced by the sight of her dirty treads. She was wearing the same sneakers that she wore most days. A pair of Nikes that had been on her feet ever since the first day he had met her. A white and black sole, with once thick treads that had been worn down after being ground into the dirt so many times, zig-zags and spirals making up the pattern. Adam had always thought they looked cute… but that was before he had looked at them from this perspective.

Her foot came down, Adam bracing himself for the impact. Suddenly he felt a great pressure upon him, but there was more. There was something wet hitting his back, something that gave way when she put weight on him, something that crushed into his body and expanded over it.

But more, there was a smell to it. Like grime, but more powerful and repugnant. When he opened his eyes all he could see was brown, with slight hints of yellow. What was this? What was all around him? But he didn’t have time to wonder as the girl leaned on him more, and the pressure doubled. Once again it felt like he was being crushed, like his ribs would pop and his organs would spill out onto the floor. And all because Chloe had taken a wrong step.

“Please,” he whimpered as the girl leaned even more on him, the gross substance flattening out and spreading into her treads, leaving his chest to take more of the pressure.

Then, without warning, Chloe moved. Her shoe lifted up from the ground, the thick object sticking to the tile, leaving tendrils of goop and slime as a bridge, before the distance caused it to break off. And Adam was in the air, stuck to the gross thing, stuck to the girl’s shoe, dragged as she walked forward.

But at least he knew what he had been trapped in. As the light flooded over him he was able to look around. It was a single spot on her sole that was different from the other mounds of mud. This one was thick, with parts that were still whole, that still had their green and yellow color, or their rounded, bulbous shapes. There were patches of slime, patches of organs… and all around him the goop that had exploded forth when Chloe’s foot came down.

Adam was trapped against her shoe, trapped by the sticky organs of whatever bug she had stepped on before.

He screamed as her foot crushed into him again.

Josh walked down the hallway outside of the row of offices. His life as a janitor wasn’t the most interesting thing in the world, but at least it kept him busy. Not even a full ten minutes after he found that disgusting thing on the floor and he had another incident to deal with.

As he walked to his destination he couldn’t help but thinking about that poor creature. And he couldn’t believe that it was an actual human. A person, just like him, turned into a bug and stepped on. The person that did it probably didn’t even realize.

It was enough to make a man shake. He closed his eyes and tried to think about something else, telling himself that it was just a fluke. A rare thing, that was already done with. The people in this hospital were smart, they knew what they were doing. There was no way they’d let that happen to more than one or two people.

He soon reached the woman’s bathroom, knocking first to make sure it was empty. When no answer came he went in, shutting the door behind him. “Janitor,” he announced, once again receiving only silence.

He was glad no one else was there. It always felt awkward when there was a woman in here and he had to work. It was his job though, so he couldn’t avoid it.

The boy went over to the third stall. The toilet wasn’t in great condition; It could definitely benefit from a good cleaning, especially around the edges where it connected to the wall. Maybe, one day, he would have time to take care of that. For now it just needed more toilet paper.

He reached into his bad and grabbed a roll, meaning to replace it quick and be done with it.

But something happened when he touched the roll. He didn’t feel right.

“I can’t believe this,” Clair said, looking down at the sneaker Mrs. Beth held, and the tiny blood stain near the center of the sole. At one point not long ago that had been a person. A talking, thinking, feeling person like anyone else in the world, and they had been killed by complete accident. “How many others are shrunk?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Mrs. Beth answered with a sorrowed expression. “Even one is too many though. Everyone, from now on you need to be extra careful. Make sure to look where you step, and don’t do anything without thinking it through. Understand?”

The rest of the group nodded, some saying their approval.

At that moment Chloe and Amy returned to the group, one of the giants still unaware of the tiny bug still stuck on the bottom of her foot. She came up to the circle of people and stood tall, curious as to what they were looking at. “What happened?” she asked.

“Look,” Mrs. Beth said, showing her the shoe. “We think Mrs. Brooks accidently stepped on the person outside.”

“Oh my god,” Chloe said, her face dropping. “How could that happen? Why would she do that?”

“I’m sure it was an accident,” Amy said, trying to calm her friend down. “She wouldn’t have done that if she had known.”

Erin said, “No one would have.”

Quiet, they stood in the circle, waiting for something to happen. After a little while Sally felt a jolt run down her spine. “Wait,” she said, the group turning to her. “Hasn’t James and Adam disappeared?”

 Cold water surged around Josh’s body, the hard surface breaking his fall in the worst way possible. He thrashed around in a blind panic, not knowing what had happened, not understand where he was. Only a moment ago he had been in the woman’s bathroom doing his job. But now he was under water.

His equilibrium eventually returned to him, and he kicked his way to the surface, breaking through and taking a deep breath. His entire body was drenched in the cold water, and already he was shivering. But that wasn’t his biggest problem, not by a long shot.

“Oh god,” he said as he saw what was around him. White walls that steadily curved upwards, a lip protruding out from the top some few hundred feet above that water line He could see the ceiling open to him to above that. But the walls weren’t all white. There were stains of yellow in some places, darker stains of brown in others. And high above him was the white ceiling he knew so well.

He was still in the bathroom, just not as a man. “Help!” he screamed, his voice echoing in the bowl of the toilet. He knew no one would hear him. And there was no way to get out. The walls were far too steep to climb, and there wouldn’t be any holes. Except, of course, the one.

The janitor gulped, looking down at the black hole that lead to the sewer. If he went down there he would never see the light of day again. But there had to be some way to escape. Everyone in the hospital had been told what happened, they would be looking for anyone who disappeared. Right?

His heart leapt as the door to the bathroom opened and closed, a giant’s footsteps echoing in the room. The light flickered as the door to his stall swung inward, then closed again, the latch clicking on metal as it slid into place. This was it, someone was out there.

And then the woman stepped over to the toilet, her god like form looming over him like a deity ready to wipe the world clean.

Or cover it in filth.

“I haven’t seen Adam all day,” Erin said, her voice slightly high-pitched betraying her worry. “You don’t think he might have…”

“No,” Mrs. Beth answered. “Not Adam. He’s smarter than to get caught up in all this and shrunk. James though…” she shrugged.

“Mrs. Beth!” Bree said. “How can you say that?”

“I don’t mean anything bad!” the woman answered. “Just, of the two of them, James is less dependable. It doesn't matter though. We have to be careful and help as many of them as we can. If we can find them then at least they won't be running around the floor or anything awful.”

The group echoed her enthusiasm. Then a thought occurred to Clair. She spoke, “Do you think we should check our shoes?”

“What do you mean, dear?” Mrs. Beth asked.

“I mean, just to make sure we haven’t stepped on anyone. By accident.”

The woman nodded. “I’m almost afraid to look, but I think you’re right. Everyone, quickly, check your shoes.”

“Hey, down here!” Josh shouted, thrashing around in the water and trying to create the biggest effect he could manage. But no matter what he tried the woman did not look down. She had one hand on her face, rubbing her eyes like something terrible had just happened.

Mrs. Brooks couldn’t believe that she had crushed someone. She was such a nice person usually. Maybe not an angel or anything, but she helped people. She treated everyone with respect, payed attention to them when they needed something, never went out of her way to hurt people. But now, she was a murderer.

“Oh god,” she whispered, her nerves sending a rush into her stomach. She clutched her middle, feeling something inside. “Oh,” she said in a groan, reaching down to her button. She undid it quickly, sliding down the zipper in the next instant.

The man in the toilet below was forced to watch as the giantess turned around and lowered her pants, her absolutely massive butt cheeks slipping out from her waistband. She bent over, giving the man a brief view of her vagina before her body fell hard onto the toilet seat, the impact shaking the water below, and shadowing the entire scene.

But still, Josh could see the round button of her butthole, directly above him.

“I can’t believe I did that,” Mrs. Brooks said, her stomach muscles clenching, the first part of her waist forced out of her body. She heard it splash in the water below, but gave it no thought. How could she have done that to another person? Was she some kind of a monster?

Her muscles clenched again, and she pushed out another turd. This time, when it was halfway out of her hole, the gas that had built up inside of her came loose, a wet fart spraying the toilet below her in her feces. The smell rose up from between her legs, and she had to cover her nose.

Already her eyes were tearing up, more from the emotional toll of the day than what was happening below her. But she would not let this beat her. She had done an awful, horrible thing, but she could move past it. “I am still a good person,” she whispered. Another wave went through her stomach, and she groaned as a huge stream flooded out of her. “I would never hurt anyone like that. That was just an accident, something that I couldn’t have prevented.” More gas escaped her bottom, thundering in the bowl. “From this moment on, I will do everything to help those people. I will never, ever hurt another tiny person again.” She relaxed her back door, a final wave of sludge pouring out. “I am a good person, and I will never hurt anyone else again.”

Her crap concluded, she reached for the toilet paper, her ears deaf to the agonized cries that still bubbled up from the wasteland she sat upon.

“I don’t see anything, thank god,” Mrs. Beth said as she glanced at the underside of her shoe.

“I don’t either,” said Erin, looking at her flats.

“Nope, nothing,” said Bree. “Guess that’s good. I’d never be able to live that down. What about you, Clair?”

“I think I’m fine,” the other girl answered, letting her sneaker fall back to the ground. “So, no one accidently stepped on a shrunken person then. That’s good. Maybe this isn’t as widespread as we thought.”

“We can only hope,” Mrs. Beth answered.

As the other girls talked, worried about the recent developments with the contagion, Chloe let one of her boots fall back to the ground. She knew that there was a lot of dirt and grime still stuck on it from her walk outside, so she was taking extra care to look between all the ridges of her sole. She couldn’t bear the thought of just glancing over a shrunken man who might still need her help. She then lifted up her other boot, her eyes scanning her treads.

Suddenly Adam was pulled back into the light. For the last few minutes her hand been trapped under Clair’s boot, her heavy treads compressing his body as the giant girl did something so simple as lean on him. Breathing was hard, and when his lungs did expand he could practically taste the grime that surrounded him. Mud and dirt were one thing, but the actual organs of a slug, or snail, or whatever it was that the girl had stepped in was something so much worse. He wanted to vomit whenever he thought about the fact that slime was dripping over his body, running over his bare skin. He had never liked bugs even when he was normal sized. As a microbe, they were even more revolting.

The giant’s foot lifted into the air, with Adam still stuck to the underside. He screamed, though it didn’t really mean anything. Not even he could hear his cry as the air roared around him. Then the movement stopped, and he found himself looking up, the girl’s sole pointed to the sky. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but he could see Chloe again. She was just as powerful and imposing as before, more so now that he was stuck to her foot like some pathetic little speck of dirt.

But what was she doing? Adam watched as her eyes traced the pattern of her sole, the big blue orbs moving over her boot. His hopes suddenly flourished once again, thinking that maybe, just maybe, she was looking for him. Wouldn’t that be amazing? Maybe she had heard that he was missing, and had somehow found out about all the shrinking. A stretch, sure, but it might just be possible.

Her eyes passed close to him and a chill went through his body. Even with her looking, there was still a chance that she wouldn’t be able to pick out his small, dirt and grime covered body from the other crud stuck to her sole. He needed to do everything he could to make her realize what had happened. “Chloe!” he shouted. “I’m stuck to your foot!”

But the giantess couldn’t hear him. He tried to break out of his confines, but he was squished between her boot treads with no way to move out. The mud below him held him tight, and the bug’s organs were sticky and coiled around him. “Chloe, please, I don’t want to get crushed! I’ve been tiny for so long, I just want to be back to normal! I just need you to help me, please!”

Her eyes moved over him again, but still they didn’t see the tiny spec. He began to lose hope, knowing that this was going to be like all the other times he came close to being found. It would just be ripped away from him at the last second. Chloe would just shrug and let her foot drop down, and he would be squished under her boot, until she eventually walked on him enough to squish him, or he would just suffocate. There wasn’t a point in being hopeful.

But then her eyes moved to his body, and stayed there. The girl looked closer, her eyebrows coming together in a look of curiosity and confusion. But he wasn’t about to believe she had seen him. Maybe she had realized she stepped on a bug and felt bad for it, but not for him.

Then her lips parted, and she breathed a whisper down. “Adam?”

His heart practically stopped. She had called his name. She had realized it was him. Finally, after everything that had happened, he was found. A joy passed over him that was indescribable, and he tried to pull out of his confines again. “Yes, it's me!” he screamed. “I’m here, I’m here!” He kept saying.

“Holly shit,” the girl said down.

“What was that, deer?” Mrs. Beth said, noticing that the young girl was doing something.

Chloe looked back at her superior. “I… I think that Adam is stuck on my foot.”

“What?” the rest of the room said in surprise. They all went over to the girl and looked down. Sure enough, struggling towards the toe section of her boot was a tiny creature.

“I’m going to try and help you off, okay?” Chloe said down to Adam. She didn’t know if he nodded, or even understood, but she moved anyway. She brought her hand down to him and tried to press her pointer finger in between her threads in an attempt to push him out. Adam suddenly felt a great pressure as she did so, her finger practically squishing him more into her sole. But after a few attempts she finally broke the sticky substances that held him, and he was free.

Too free. Without the aid of the grime Adam slipped off her sole, gravity pulling him down the slope her shoe made, until he was falling in the air again. He screamed as the hard floor came up to meet him.

“Oh my god!” Chloe said as she realized what happened. “I think I dropped-” she suddenly stopped as she realized she was falling over. She had been standing on one foot for a while, and the shock was enough to make her lose balance.

“No, don’t!” Erin tried to shout as she saw the other girl about to lower her foot. It didn’t matter though, there was no stopping it. Every woman watched as a spec of dirt fell to the floor, and Chloe’s boot smashed down.

Adam screamed as he saw her sole hover above his head for a moment. Now this was the death he was expecting. A complete accident, something that was out of his control. A meaningless movement by the gods that dominated his life. Snuffed out right after he had been found, crushed like the hope he had foolishly let build inside of him. He was a bug, and he needed to remember that for the rest of his life. Even if that was only a fraction of a second.

Mrs. Brooks left the bathroom feeling a little bit better than when she had entered. There would be no easy way around this, and she would live with the guilt of knowing she had killed an innocent person for the rest of her life. But for now, today, she had a job to do. It was up to her to make sure that no other tiny people were needlessly crushed, or eaten by bugs, or swallowed alive by some ignorant normal sized person. She would prevent that from happening. It was the least she could do for the people who put their trust in her.

With confidence the woman walked back to her office, her shoulders back and her head held high. It was a trick she had been taught back in college. In those moments where you feel like garbage the right thing to do is act confidant. Even if it is just an act, soon enough you’ll believe it too.

After only a few steps she felt like herself again. Like a woman of power, a person capable of doing anything. She would find what caused this issue and fix it. She knew that she would.

The only downside was that with her head held high she wasn’t looking at the ground. Though she would never know it, there was another tiny person running for his life in that hallway. A male nurse who had been shrunken only a couple of minutes ago.

With a single step, a single crack of his spine and a pop of his guts, the man was crushed under Mrs. Brooks’ treads, his screams dying under her sole.

“I will save them all,” the woman spoke to herself, building up that confidence she needed to command. “This will not be a tragedy.” When she finished speaking the blood from the crushed man’s body had almost dissipated.

“Oh my god, oh my god!” Chloe couldn’t move. She felt frozen as she looked down at the spot she had saw Adam fall towards, where her boot now rested. She couldn’t believe this. No, this type of thing shouldn’t happen. Slowly, with the whole room not even breathing, she lifted up her boot. She saw her footprint on the tile, streaks of dirt to mark where her heavy treads had fallen. And then she saw a tiny form below. Adam moved slightly, the wind knocked out of him, but otherwise alive. He had fallen between two of the giant girl’s treads, and this time there wasn’t anything to get him stuck.

“I’m so, so, so, soooooo sorry,” Chloe said as she dropped onto her hands and knees looking at the tiny boy on the ground. “Are you hurt?”

Adam pushed himself up and tried to get off some of the dust. It didn’t matter, by this point he was completely covered in the contents of these girls’ shoes. “I’m fine!” he shouted up to the giantess. In all honesty, every inch of his body was beaten, and he probably had a broken bone or two, but it wasn’t like making them worry more would help. Chloe then lowered her hand close to him, letting him climb up.

It still wasn’t easy; the girl’s hand was almost three times as wide as he was tall. But the tiny grooves in her skin were enough of a handhold for him to climb up. When he tumbled onto her palm, the girl stood back up and held him in front of her face. “I can’t believe this.”

“Is it really Adam?” Erin asked, concerned.

“Yeah, definitely,” Chloe responded. “What do we do?” Everyone instinctually turned to the most senior woman in the office. Mrs Beth always knew how to handle these situations.

“Well, we can’t just leave him…” the woman said, almost to herself. “But we can’t just carry him around all day. There is still a lot to do.” She was about to say more, but the door opened before she had a chance, Mrs. Brooks walking in confidently.

“Sorry about that,” the woman said as she joined the circle. “What did I miss?”

Chloe held her hand out to the woman. “We found…” she couldn’t finish the sentence.

“What?” Mrs. Brooks said, leaning down to look at the girl’s hand. Her eyes flashed open. “Wait, is that a person?”

The others nodded. Then Chloe gulped nervously and said, “Actually, its Adam.”

“No,” Mrs. Brooks breathed. As she moved closer to the tiny spec she made out some of its features. She never would have guessed it, but maybe it was. “Adam, is that you?”

For Adam, even these tiny interactions was proving too much for him. Every movement of Chloe’s hand sent him moving at amazing and terrifying speeds, and their voices were so loud he wanted to cover his ears. That had been before Mrs. Brooks came back, and before he had been brought up to her face. It was an astounding sight, one that brought back all the memories of his experience. Having to sprint away from her crushing feet when he was out in the open, talking to a hysterical James and trying to convince him to keep moving, watching as he became a bloodstain on the bottom of this giantess’ sock. He remembered climbing into her shoe laces and being beaten, he remembered his dream of her on the treadmill, he remembered the sight of her giant pussy slowly lowering from above.

Adam fought for words as he looked at the woman’s eyes. They were bigger than his entire body, easily, and were staring down at him. She must think that he’s pathetic. A waste of space, a bug to be trampled. What gave him the right to speak to a god? But, speak he must. “Yes!” he screamed. “Mrs. Brooks, it's me!”

“Oh Adam,” she said, clearly concerned, a wave of pity coming over her. “What happened?” He wished he knew.

Mrs. Beth spoke, “We think someone should take care of him, but we don’t know who.”

Mrs. Brooks didn’t hesitate. “I can take him.”

“Really?” Chloe said, shocked. “But you’re so busy, and you need-”

“Its okay, Chloe,” the woman said. “I’m the administrator here, which means that it's my responsibility to protect everyone in this office. And I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to him. Here, hand him to me.” Chloe moved her hand over to Mrs. Brooks’ and tilted it slightly, making it easier for Adam to move. He hesitated for a moment before leaping into the hand of the other giant, but eventually he did so. When he landed he was surprised at how soft and warm her hand was. It was so comforting, he could fall asleep right then and there. Especially after the day he had.

“I’ll bring you into my office, and you can stay on my desk for now,” she said down in a soft whisper. “When we’re done here, I’ll take you home with me. Okay?”

Adam nodded. Mrs. Brooks looked to the rest of the group then. “I can handle this. You all need to help contain this issue.” They all nodded, knowing that there was a lot more that still needed to be done. Mrs. Beth took lead again and began assigning tasks.

With gentle steps Mrs. Brooks walked with Adam in her hand, trying to make sure she didn’t shake too much as she went. Soon she was in her office, standing at her desk. She lowered her hand, and Adam dutifully jumped off, though a part of him just wanted to stay in her protective grasp. There was something reassuring about being held by Mrs. Brooks. Once he got over the shock of how absolutely massive she was, her protection was the best thing in the world.

“Oh, I have an idea,” Mrs. Brooks said as she reached over Adam. Her hand returned, now holding a toothpick. “I know its a little big for you, but if anything happens you can use this.” She placed the toothpick in front of the tiny boy. “Just stay out of sight for now, and don’t fall off the desk. If anything happens, try and stay close. I’ll look for you if anything happens. Okay?”

Adam nodded, his voice tired.

“I’ll be back to check on you as much as I can, but there is a lot to do. Just sit tight and be safe.” He nodded again. For a little bit she stayed there, looking at his tiny form, her features soft. Eventually she spoke, in an almost whisper. “Adam, I can’t believe this happened to you. It’s my fault, a bit. I should’ve known sooner, I could have found you.”

“No, it isn’t your fault!” he shouted, but he didn’t know if she could hear. “It was an accident.”

“Well, I’m going to make it up to you. I promise. You are always such a good employ… no, your such a good person. Adam, I’ll make sure we get you back to normal.” She stood up and backed away from her desk. “I promise.” The giantess moved away, looking at Adam as much as she could. Still, after only a few paces, he was lost to her vision. She smiled one more time before closing the door.

Adam was left alone once again, but this was different. He wasn’t tiny and lost. Mrs. Brooks knew where he was and had promised to protect him, and there wasn’t anybody in the world he would trust more with that responsibility. Though he could still be crushed by a single footfall, for the first time since the accident he felt safe.

The little boy walked over to the container of pens and pencils Mrs. Brooks had on her desk, dragging his toothpick spear behind him. With nothing left to do but wait, he collapsed against the wire mesh and closed his eyes.

It was almost dark out when Mrs. Brooks came back to her office. She walked over to the desk carefully, looking down at the floor as she went just in case anything had happened in the hours she had been away. Her thunderous footsteps were enough to awaken the sleeping boy on her desk. Adam rose to his feet and moved into the open area. The giantess looked down, scanning the wooden plane until she found her bug sized employee. “Oh, there you are,” she said warmly as he waved. “I know this has taken a while, but we’re getting things under control. Only a little bit left to go, then we’ll be out of crisis situation. But, I haven’t been able to talk to anyone about getting you back to normal. Here, I did get you this.” From her back pocket she pulled out a package of crackers, the type laced with peanut butter. She opened the plastic and put it down on the desk. “I know its a lot, but I figured you’d be hungry. Sorry it isn’t something more nutritional, but this was the best I could get on short notice.”

Adam was already moving towards the gargantuan snack. It was more food than he had seen in his entire life, and he hadn’t eaten for almost two days. “Thank you!” He shouted up, though he knew she wouldn’t be able to hear.

“Well, I need to get back to it. I’ll come get you when the day is over.” Again she nodded, her thunderous footsteps taking her away from the table. Adam was content though, because the first bite into the cracker sent a wave of peanut-butter goodness over his person. Hey, being tiny had some perks after all.

When Mrs. Brooks returned again it was completely dark out, and had been for some hours. Adam had eaten his fill in crackers, stuffing himself to the point where he thought he might burst. Still, if a normal person found the snack they probably wouldn’t even have noticed the dent he had left.

“Hello again,” the giantess said softly as she came over to her chair. Her hair was down, and a little messy, some ends out of place. She looked worn out and flustered, but that was expected from someone who had to work into the late hours of the night. “Well, things are controlled now. The fumes have stopped, we located the source, and we have Bree and Clair working on a cure with some of the other researchers. They say you should be back to normal in a couple of weeks.”

“Weeks?” Adam shouted. That was far longer than he expected. He had only been shrunk for two days and it had been the worst point in his life. Crushed under every girl’s foot in the office, made to eat dirt, had mud smeared in his face. And now he would have to stay like this for weeks more. But, at least it was with Mrs. Brooks.

“Here,” she said, lowering her hand to her desk. “I’m going home now. We can find a place for you in my room.”

Something warm came over Adam. Instantly all those nasty thoughts of being tiny were gone, replaced by the soothing idea that he’d be sleeping in Mrs. Brooks’ bedroom. The little boy nodded, then ran over to the giant hand. Again he climbed up the side, tumbling into her palm. There, he let the warmth of her skin comfort him.

“Okay, you ready little guy?” He lifted his hand and gave a thumbs-up, hoping she would be able to see it. She brought her hand up to her face, her eyes only a few inches away. “Ah, I got it,” she said. “I’ll try not to jostle you around too much.” Carefully she moved to the door, her footsteps shaking her hand. But it wasn’t scary or uncomfortable for her tiny passenger. Instead, Adam felt like he was on a ship sailing in a great sea, watched over by the goddess that was his boss.

A short drive later and the pair walked into Mrs. Brooks’ bedroom. Adam had been inside once before, but he liked the view from her hand far more that the one from inside her shoe. The smell was a lot less repugnant as well. The giantess flipped on the light then looked around for a moment. Then an idea popped into her head, and she placed Adam gently onto her nightstand. “Wait there for a second,” she said as she went around, collecting small scraps of clothing. She arranged an old t-shirt on a shelf just next to her bed, forming something that resembled a nest, one made of pink and blue cotton. “How do you like it?” she asked the speck.

Adam smiled and nodded. It was the best bed he had ever seen. The giantess returned to him and placed her hand down, nodding for him to climb on. He did, and she brought him over to his new home. The boy didn’t hesitate to jump into the warm mess of fabric, the folds cradling him. “Is it good?” she asked, lowering herself so that her eyes were on her level.

“It's great!” Adam shouted. In the quiet of her bedroom, with no other distractions, the giantess managed to pick up his high pitched words.

“Oh, I’m so glad. Well, it's almost midnight already, so I’m going to get some sleep. Some media guys were up my butt all day trying to have me give a statement. That’s not going to be any easier tomorrow. But don’t you worry about any of that. Just focus on recovering and staying safe. Okay?”

He nodded again.

The giant woman stood up and stretched, ready for bed. Instinctively she reached down to her shirt, ready to rip it off. It was only when the bottom folds crossed her belly button that she realized she wasn’t alone. “Oh, Adam,” she said down. “Would you mind turning around for a second?”

A bit disappointed, the boy did as he was asked. He respected his boss too much to look when she didn’t want him to. Though it was a little silly. He had already seen the exact shape of her lips when she had crouched over him. Not like this would be anything new.

When she told him that she was done, the woman was standing in her pajamas. It was odd seeing her like that. Such a powerful and confidant creature taken out of her work apparel. For a moment Adam forgot that she was a god with enough power to completely erase him from all existence.

She walked over to the switch and flicked off the lights. A moment later and Adam felt the world heave violently as the woman gently laid down. She moved around the covers, then spoke softly, “Goodnight, Adam.”

“Goodnight, Mrs. Brooks,” the boy shouted back.

Sleep came easy for him that night. His t-shirt was warm and comfortable, and still had the faint smell of his giant companion. When he dreamed he saw her, still a goddess, still as sexy as the day they first met, but it was not so horrid of an encounter. He smiled through the entire night.

“Hey Erin.” Adam waved to his coworker as she entered the office.

“Hi Adam,” the bubbly girl answered back. She smiled as she came up to his desk. “Feel good to be normal sized again?”

“Fantastic,” he said, stretching. “I’m just glad they got that all figured out. What was it, a month?”

“Five weeks,” she said. “And one or two stumbles along the way. But we got it fixed, and now we have a lot more safety systems in place. No way it's going to happen again. I bet you’re happy about that.”

Adam shrugged. “I mean yeah, but it had its fun moments.”

Erin looked shocked.

“Did I just hear that you enjoyed being tiny?” They both turned to Mrs. Brooks as she approached them from her office.

“I mean,” Adam stammered, trying to find the right way to answer. For the last month he had stayed at Mrs. Brooks’ home, eating meals with her and sharing their lives. He felt closer to her than he ever had in his life, but she was still his boss, and though they were the same size once again, she was still as confident as a god. “It wasn’t all bad.”

The woman smiled. “Maybe I’ll ask Clair for a concentrated dose. Turn you back for a couple hours.” She winked as she walked away. “Now, no more time for small talk. I have a meeting to get to. Adam, make sure that thing with accounting is finished.”

“Got it,” he said, turning back to his computer.

“Well, I’m just glad I never got shrunk,” Erin said as she stood up. “You might have enjoyed it, but I’m not insane.” She went back to her own desk, leaving Adam with his work. He began typing at his computer, his task almost finished when he caught a whiff of something familiar, something that had ingrained itself into his very being.

He looked over to Mrs. Brooks’ office and saw her gym bag sitting on her chair, the top slightly open, the end of her gym shoes poking out. Tantalizing in the afternoon glow of the sun, their soft fabric just begging to be sniffed.

Adam looked around; no one was really there. Mrs. brooks wouldn’t be back for at least an hour. There was no reason he shouldn’t. But there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, one that reminded him of the trouble it caused him last time. Did he want to be turned back into a bug? Trapped on the floor with every girl in the office crushing him under their boots? Did he want to be squished like a piece of dirt? Was all that worth it, just for a sniff at her gym shoes?

The boy stood up, briskly walking to Mrs. Brooks’ office. The entire way he smiled like an idiot, knowing that the next for minutes were going to be heaven.

After all, it's only a few sniffs. What could really happen?  

The End