Ugh, I thought as I slowly came back to the world, my head light, my vision filled with fog. My body felt sore and weak, my eyes were tired. What the hell happened? I silently asked as I tried to move my hand to my head.

            I couldn’t. Though I tried my arm simply would not move. My muscles didn’t tense, my fingers did not flex. Now panic started to find its way into my mind. My entire body seemed to be deaf to my wishes. The only thing I could feel working was my breathing, coming in and out slowly, rhythmically, as if I was asleep.

            My panic only grew as the surrounding area came into focus. It was impossible, yet it was there. A mountain of wood stood above me. To my right was a porcelain toilet that looked to be thousands of times my size. The tiles I lay on were many feet across, the lights on the ceiling… miles away.

            Shit, I said to myself as I tried to move, again to no success. Come on, come on! Nothing.

            So there I was, stranded, trapped within my own body, shrunken down to an amazingly small size. What a way to start the day. Time ticked by slowly and my panic died down quite a bit. Perhaps this wouldn’t be the horrible situation I thought it would be. I mean, I was shrunken! That had been one of my fantasies since… well, ever.

            As I relaxed some of my smaller muscles started to respond. First my eyes started to move. This led to the next of my horrifying realizations. When I looked down at my own body I saw that it was changed, and not in a good way.

            Six! I practically shouted to myself as I counted my arms and legs. Six different appendages sticking out of the center of my brown, shell like body. I then glanced up noticing the two antennae hovering above me. Oh great, I thought. I’m a damned bug.

            I noticed my surroundings more after that. The high brown wall was actually my counter. The sink was undoubtedly on top of it, though it was out of sight. I was just glad no one was using it.

            That’s when I noticed two other bugs lying motionless on the ground. Somehow this made me feel a little better about the situation. At least I wasn’t alone in this.

            That’s when I heard the door open. Instantly I moved my eyes to see what it was. My heart jumped into my throat at the sight of it. Standing hundreds of feet tall, his shaggy brown hair hanging loosely around his head, his dark eyes not even glancing down, was my thirteen year old younger brother, Tommy.

            Hey! I shouted, but nothing came out. Tommy, I’m down here! The boy didn’t here my internal screams. He simply turned, shutting the door behind him. I felt each of his footsteps as he came closer, his shoes stamping on the ground. If he stepped on me now… I didn’t want tot think about it. Tommy! I shouted again.

            I cringed as his foot smashed into the ground only a few feet to my left. His other one then came down to my right. My breathing was faster now, fueled by the fear of being crushed by my own little brother.

            For a moment I simply sat silently, starring up at his giant form. He was moving about a bit, reaching for something on the counter. Thankfully his feet stayed in place. He was wearing his favorite pair of Nike basketball shoes. Why did he have to be wearing those? There wasn’t any safe spot under them. If he were wearing running shoes I would at least have a chance to fit in between one of the grooves.

            He started fidgeting a bit then, moving his feet around slightly. He slid his left one slightly, moving it closer to me, then back away, then closer again. It was torturous, watching as he absentmindedly shuffled about. Only a few inches to either side and he’d crush me. Come on Tommy, I practically shouted inside my skull. Don’t crush me. Please don’t crush me.

            My stomach dropped as a shadow fell over me. I looked up just in time to see his sole pass overhead. It continued to move though, leaving me behind as it crashed into the ground some feet away. He was simply walking a bit to his left.

            The relief I felt obviously wasn’t the same in the other ants. The one to my left seemed to be taking things well, but the one to my right, the one that was now trapped between my brother’s two feet, was on the verge of hysteria. Even from where I was I could tell that it was panicking.

            My brother continued to move about, his feet sliding as he did whatever he was doing above us. I heard the water turn on once or twice throughout the time. My attention was drawn back to my brother’s shoes as I heard what could only be described as a small yelp. Had the other ant spoken?

            Even if the answer wasn’t apparent, the cause of the shriek was. Tommy’s foot was so close to him now. Only an inch to the side and the bug would be crushed flat. Nothing more than a little speck on the ground, lifeless just like the rest of the little particles of dirt. Then I saw Tommy’s foot lift again, moving away from the bug, taking a step to his left once again.

            I could feel the relief of the small ant. It was only for a second though. Tommy’s other foot lifted as well. The shadow fell over the poor bug. The next moment his life was crushed out of him as the shoe came down. I could here the slam, feel the ground vibrate under me, and even the tiny yell as the creature’s life was ended.

            My eyes quickly went up to Tommy, desperately searching for any sort of a reaction. There wasn’t any. He had just crushed an innocent bug to death under his foot and he didn’t even know. He didn’t look down, he didn’t even lift his eyebrow. No, we were just too small for him. Too small to see, too small to feel, too small to matter. Tommy, I said again, my mouth moving the smallest, tiniest bit. Please look down. Please don’t squish me.

            He took a step back, his foot coming off of the tiny bug, now crushed flat against the tiles. It wasn’t a pleasant sight. The poor thing was completely flat, save for some parts that had been molded to the light grooves of his shoe. I saw a leg almost hovering in the air. It was probably the only part of the insect that hadn’t been completely destroyed.

            I heard the boom again as my brother stepped over to me, his feet coming dangerously close to my tiny form. His right foot slammed down only a little bit to my right. Suddenly I was overcome with thoughts of being crushed myself. Trampled, mercilessly, under my own brother. The worst part was that he wouldn’t even know. He would go the rest of his life wondering what had happened to his older brother. I’d be trapped, smashed, squished, and most likely stuck to the underside of his shoe. How could this be happening? This was my own brother!

            Again he took another step, his foot once again hovering over me only to crash down at my side. My heart was beating astoundingly fast now. My breathing was quicker than it had been. Was the tile heating up, or was that just my nerves? I don’t know.

            I couldn’t help starring at his foot as he fidgeted around, moving it bit by bit. A little closer to me, then a little farther away. A little closer, and then right back to its original position. This was worse than just being stepped on. It was like he was toying with me. Making me watch as his feet came so close to crushing my entire being, then simply pulling them away. Why couldn’t he just leave, or crush me now and be done with it?

The water was running again, though it didn’t seem to matter much. My brother was still standing directly above me, his grey sweatpants covering most of my vision. To my right was his foot; so huge he could crush me without even a thought. To my left, another one, just as deadly as the first.

            He looked so cute in this light; his shaggy brown hair tossing to and fro as he constantly shifted his weight. He had a cute button nose and freckles surrounding it. I always loved his freckles. No one else in the family had them. Not my sister Samantha, nor my mother, nor me. I always wondered where they came from.

            Ah! I shouted as his foot moved back. It didn’t come any closer, but at this point my nerves were making me jump at even the slightest movement. Any tiny action, even just sliding over an inch, could kill me. Something like that does a number to your nerves. Now he was leaning forward on the counter, his left foot resting on his toes. That was it. Just resting, rocking slightly to the side.

            Come on, please leave. Please. Please. I tried to slow my breathing but it wasn’t helping. Whenever I became even a little bit calm the mental picture of my giant brothers foot coming down on that other ant brought me back to reality. That bug had been smashed completely. Only a tiny leg was left un-crushed. He didn’t even think about it either. Just a little accident. Just a small little movement and that bug’s life was reduced to nothing. I didn’t want to go out like that bug. I didn’t want my little brother to squish me under his foot. 

            I didn’t have a choice in the matter though. If his foot did come over me, if he unconsciously choose to step on my tiny form, that was it. I’d be killed, mashed against his gigantic sole. That would be it.

            He was still fidgeting a bit, his left foot rocking back and forth on his toes. What was he doing? What was even taking him so long? The more important question, however, was how did this happen to me? I was a normal person! I didn’t do anything that was far from ordinary. I went to school, I did my chores, I tried not to piss anyone off, and this is what happens. I get turned into a bug, a small ant, and left on my bathroom to be crushed by my adorable little brother. Where’s the justice in that?

            Then I started to wonder about the other two ants. Did something happen to them as well? Were they always ants, or were they people? My heart stopped as a possibility hit me. What if they were my mother and sister?

            I glanced back over to the mangled corpse of that first ant. Had that been my mom? Had my brother, my sweet, loving brother, crushed her? No, that couldn’t be right. Nothing like that was true. Nothing like that was possible. This wasn’t possible!

            Again he moved his foot. My breathing stopped as he brought his left foot back up to me, slamming it down so close to my body that if I just reached out I could have touched it. I was so close to death. I didn’t want to die though. I really didn’t want to die.

            Luckily his left foot, the one only a few inches from me, was staying relatively still. His right foot, however, was shuffling about uncontrollably. It swayed to the side slightly, moving over the floor and the tiny dirt particles that covered it, then back again. Side to side, crushing the dirt pebbles then shifting off of them yet again. I kept looking at those tiny little specks, knowing that to him, this giant, I was nothing more. I was just another tiny speck of dirt on the ground. One to be ignored, to be stepped on, or to be pushed aside at will. I was nothing to him.

            I tried shouting again. This time a tiny little whisper came out. That was it. That was all I was capable of. Barely even a breath. He couldn’t hear it. Hell, I could barely even hear it! But at least I was starting to move. In a few hours, if I lived a few hours, I might gain control over my body.

            But what then? Live out the rest of my life as an ant? I could see it now, scurrying around the floor quickly, trying to avoid getting squashed by my giant family, assuming they were still alive. Maybe Tommy would feel merciful and drop a few crumbs of food down to the ground so I could greedily gobble them down.

            His foot moved, passing over my small, insignificant body. Every time it did I saw the grooves of his sole. All it did was reaffirm my suspicion that there weren’t any safe spots. If his foot came down on me, no matter where I was, that was it.

            The bug to my left managed to move two of its legs, weakly, as the giant’s feet came to rest on either side of it. I knew how the bug was feeling. It was horrible.

            Tommy fumbled around above us, reaching for something, finding it, doing whatever he was doing. I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted to move. I just wanted to be free. I just wanted things to go back to normal. Why couldn’t Tommy just be my small, little brother again?

            In real life – I’m still holding out hope that this is just a dream – he barely even comes up to my waist. He play’s video games, he eats junk food, he runs around like a lunatic outside. He isn’t some insane murderer. He’s just my brother.

            I saw him shift his footing a little bit, coming up onto his toes as he reached for something on one of the higher shelves. The other ant was flailing wildly, his legs apparently responding to him. Still, it wasn’t enough for any actual movement. He was still trapped, the same as me. 

            Tommy came down again, his shoe cutting off my line of sight to the other bug. Secretly I hoped my brother stayed where he was. I wished that he wouldn’t return to me, even if he did end up crushing that other ant. I didn’t want Tommy to crush me. I didn’t want to become a stain on the bottom of his foot.

            The boy started rocking again, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. I wondered what the other bug was thinking. Was it terrified? Was it on the verge of passing out? Or, somehow, was it optimistic about the situation. Maybe we would escape this mess. There was still hope. I tried to move my arm again. This time the very tip of it bobbed a little. That was something.

            Again my heart sank as I saw Tommy’s foot moving towards me. I felt the ground shaking underneath his weight. He was so huge now. I still couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of it.

            Another stomp as his shoe came down only a few inches away from me. This was my little brother. The same kid I had played with after school. I used to build little Lego models with him. I used to push him on the swing set, or play tag, or catch. I protected him whenever things were scary. This was the same little boy who would crawl into bed with me whenever there was a thunderstorm. Now he could kill me without even noticing.

            His left foot passed over me again, slamming onto the ground just to my right. For the first time I noticed a little leaf that was still glued to the underside of his shoe. How long had it been there? Only a few minutes? Hours? Days? Had that small little plant been trapped on the underside of his shoe, trampled with each step, for days? Was that going to be my fate as well?

            His feet continued to move around me, stomping on the tiles, the simple, thoughtless motion sending my tiny body rocking as if caught in an earthquake. Still, his shoes didn’t land on me. At least not yet.

            I started wondering how many bugs he had actually killed in his life. We had played outside so often. Sometimes we would run around pretending to be superheroes, sometimes we would simply be tossing a baseball back and forth. How many times had he been running and simply squashed an insect under his feet? How many lives had he crushed?

            Again the shadow passed over me. That was all it did though, simply pass over. My eyes were drawn to his movements as he went back over to the other bug, his shoes crashing into the ground next to it. He finally planted his feet next to the ant, both of them on its left side. At least it wasn’t squished.

            Then Tommy started squirming around again, moving his foot side to side, casually rolling over the small little marbles of dirt. I could see the ant trying to crawl away, though he wasn’t making any progress in its position. I felt so bad for it. With each swing Tommy was edging closer and closer to its body. Why couldn’t he just leave? Why couldn’t my brother just look down and recognize us? Take pity on us? Tommy, I began again, but my thoughts were cut off.

            Suddenly the boy moved his left foot, sliding it over so that it was hovering only a fraction of an inch over the other ant’s body. I heard another scream as his foot came down. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see my little brother crush another innocent bug.

            But the scream still continued. When I opened my eyes I saw that things were worse than I imagined them. The lower half of the bug was caught under my brother’s foot, squished.

            If I had any significant control over my body I would have thrown up. My brother simply stood where he was, squishing a poor bug into nothing. No, that would have been better than this. Half trampled. Crushed its lower half but left it alive.

            Damn it, I said to myself, closing my eyes, the screams of the bug still piercing my eardrums. Why couldn’t he have just killed it?

            Again my eyes opened. My gaze drifted up to my brother’s face. He wasn’t concerned at all. He was just looking ahead, his gaze falling on some of the objects high above us. We really weren’t anything to him. He couldn’t hear the screams coming from the poor insect he was torturing. He was just too big, too powerful. And even if he could here them, even if he knew that there was a bug under his shoe, would he even care?

            We are just ants after all. Pathetic, worthless bugs to be trampled without a second thought. Step on us, squish us, burn us with a magnifying glace. He was our superior in every way now. He could do whatever he wanted to us.

              The screaming stopped after a few more moments. I could still see the bug’s legs wobbling in the air though. It wasn’t dead. Just trapped. I felt so terrible, both for the ants that my brother had massacred, and for myself. He had already trampled two of us. How long did I have before my brother squished me?

            He moved again, lifting his foot off of the tiny insect, taking a step back. I could see relief flow across the ants face as his shoe came off. It looked so happy in that moment, as if it had just escaped death. Then my brother moved back into place, his shoe falling hard onto the tiny ant.

            I heard the crunch as the rest of the bug’s exoskeleton was reduced to paste. My breathing was rapid again. Rapid and shallow. I didn’t want to look, but somehow I couldn’t draw my eye away from the sight of my brother’s shoe as he absentmindedly shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He still didn’t know what was happening. He still didn’t realize he was killing us.

            My breathing stopped as he took a step in my direction, his foot coming off of the now dead ant. It hit the ground close to me, the impact shaking my body yet again. I wanted to run away. I wanted to find a safe place to hide. I wanted to be anywhere but here. Anywhere, but at the feet of my giant brother.

My brother’s feet were on either side of me again. I guess this was a lucky spot. He seemed to be moving around the bathroom a lot, yet he still hadn’t crushed me. Does that make me lucky?

            My body tensed as he rose up onto his toes, reaching for something high. Even the slightest movement from him was sending shivers through my tiny body. I kept looking at his feet, silently praying that he wouldn’t move over to me. That he wouldn’t accidently step on me like he had done to the other two. Why was this happening?

            He came down with a boom, the shockwave making me roll a small bit. I could feel my heart racing as I starred up at him. Even though he was on the verge of killing me, even though he had already slaughtered two others, he still looked so cute. So innocent. I guess none of this was really his fault. He didn’t know he was stepping on us. He didn’t know how deadly his feet were.

            Tommy started fidgeting again, moving his feet ever so slightly. Now the movements held more panic than they had before. Every time his shoe came closer I held my breath, hoping that he would move it back. He always did.

            Again and again his shoe came sliding towards me. Side to side, side to side, over and over again in a maddeningly monotonous pace. I wanted to shout up to him. I wanted to beg him to stop. I couldn’t though. I couldn’t do anything to get my brother’s attention. I couldn’t do anything to stop him from crushing me.

            I saw his right leg swing out away from the cabinet as he turned his body towards the door. He paused as his foot hit the tile, one hand at his side, the other still resting on the sink.

            Please, I silently begged. Please leave. Don’t step on me. He seemed to debate the idea, turning from the door back to the sink, then back to the door again. What was he doing? Why couldn’t he just go? He wasn’t going to find me, he wasn’t going to help me, so why couldn’t he just leave me be?

            Finally he dashed my hopes away as he shook his head, lifting his foot, turning back to the sink. I saw his shoe arching towards me, the shadow falling over my body.

            I thought I was prepared for it, but the shock of the moment was too much. I closed my eyes, letting out a tiny scream as his foot slammed into the ground. Instantly a pain shot through one of my six arms.

            When I opened my eyes again I couldn’t believe the sight. The toe of his shoe was hovering just above me. One of my arms was trapped under the rest of his shoe. Tommy, I tried to say, though nothing came out.

            I tried pulling at my trapped arm but it didn’t do any good. At this point I was just thankful he hadn’t crushed me. To think that I was saved by the simple fact that his shoe curled up a little at the toe. Still, that fact wouldn’t save me if he decided to lean forward. That was all it would take to kill me.

            There was so much dirt stuck to his sole. Tiny pebbles were lodged in between the grooves of it, pressing into the sides, packed into their tiny space by his immense weight. Then there were patches of gunk that looked to be mud. Perhaps they were. Perhaps they were the remains of some other bug that had been in the same situation I was.

            The pain was growing steadily in my arm. He wasn’t doing this on purpose though. He wouldn’t hurt me on purpose. Not Tommy. We were brothers. We had been together for the greater part of my life. I helped him through his difficult times. He wouldn’t step on me.

            Suddenly a memory came back to me. One where we were outside, running around, pretending we were superheroes or something similar. We had found a little anthill near our driveway, the small workers quickly scurrying about. He had seemed so fascinated by them. He didn’t want to hurt them, he didn’t want to step on them or flood their hill. He just thought they were cool to look at.

Why couldn’t he just look down at me? Why couldn’t he just see a helpless ant on the ground and try to help? I know he would help me, even if I were just an bug. He was too nice, too sweet to let me suffer on the floor. If he would just look down, if he would just find me, all this could be over.

Light came back to me as he stepped off of my arm. His foot came down behind him. I was breathing hard again, my heart beating wildly. This was the scariest moment of my life.

I cringed as I saw something coming towards me, my eyes closing on reflex. There was a boom as it hit the ground next to me, bouncing up, then finally finding a place on the floor. When I summoned the courage to look I saw that it was the cap to the toothpaste. I let out a slight sigh of relief.

My heart leapt as I saw movement above me. Tommy was looking down quizzically, trying to find what had fallen. Trying to find the cap that was right next to me. For the first time since I had woken up, I actually felt hope. I wasn’t going to die here. Tommy, my caring, compassionate brother, would find me. He’d think I was just an ant, but at least he’d get me away from danger. He wasn’t going to step on me. I wasn’t going to be squished by my little brother!

He knelt down, placing his weight onto one knee, his face eclipsing almost my entire vision. His hand came down next, reaching for the cap. For a moment I thought he wasn’t going to see me. Then those deep eyes turned, finding my tiny form.

I was almost bursting with joy. This was it. He had seen me.

He looked concerned, like the loving brother I knew he would be. I tried moving again, tried to call out to him, but my voice was still far too weak. My legs managed to twitch slightly, but nothing more. Still, it didn’t matter. Soon I would be out of harms way, then I could recover. Then, hopefully, I would get his attention. Maybe I could write a message to him somehow.

“Oh,” he said, sounding saddened by the sight. “Are you alright little ant?” I tried to answer, tried to shout to him, but my lunges were too weak. He continued looking at me for a few moments more, clearly not sure as to what to do. “Did I step on you?” he eventually asked.

No, I tried to answer. I tried to do everything I could to make him realize I was still alive, that I was still all right.

“Sorry,” he said as he stood back up, his deep eyes still trained on the tiny speck on the ground that was my body. I saw him move his leg then. For a moment I starred up at him, confused. Then I saw his shoe come over my head, blocking out the light.

No! Please Tommy, it’s me! I tried to shout, but it wasn’t working. I couldn’t do anything but watch as my little brother moved his foot into position. It’s me! Please Tommy, please! I couldn’t believe this. I couldn’t believe he was about to step on me. This wasn’t happening. This wasn’t possible!

“Sorry,” he said again as his shoe came down. I heard the boom as it hit the ground. I felt his immense weight as it crashed down on me, squishing my very being. My exoskeleton popped, my organs seeped out onto the tile. In an instant I was reduced to just another spot on the underside of my little brother’s shoe.

Fin