I found myself  back in a very famaliar place: My girlfriend Maria's left Guess flat.  This shoe had been a place of great pain the night before, both (as Sasha had predicted) mentally and physically.

I sat down on the sole's large letters and pondered my fate.  Sasha had left the room, and I waited nervously for Maria to return home and for Sasha to give the "story" she had concocted. 

Sasha had warned me that, if I didn't support her "Jake dumped you" lie, that she would put me in her own shoe.  I realized, however, that if Maria saw me once, she would get suspicious if I just "dissapeared."   I was going to tell Maria the truth when she saw me.  I just hoped that she wouldn't feel guilty for having inadvertantly walked on me last night, sweaty foot and all.

I thought about the events of the preceding night.  Maria's weight on my body had left me bruised, sore, and suffering from what felt like early-onset arthritis.  I had nearly suffocated several times, and lost consciousness at least once.  On top of that, I had swallowed copious amounts of her foot sweat--and I could that my tiny body had absorbed quite a bit of her foot's odor. 

Despite all of that, I didn't blame Maria.  I loved her--and, I hoped, she still loved me.

I heard the front door open.  I braced for what was to come.

.......

Maria's face said it all.  Her beautiful brown eyes widened, and her mouth opened in total shock.  Her lovely brown skin, her delicate black hair--a true Hispanic giantess--loomed over me as she stood and stared in disbelief.

"Jake..." she said.  She turned to Sasha, who was sitting on the bed.  "Sasha, you really shrunk him! And you say he just came here a few minutes ago?"

Sasha laughed.  "Yeah, to give you the watch back.  He hoped he wouldn't run into you.  But he didn't realize that you're my friend, Maria, and I won't let him get away with dumping you so rudely.  Not after two years of dating."

Sasha had already begun her work.  Maria look back down at me.  Now was my chance!

"Maria!" I shouted, waving my arms.  "Maria, listen to me!  This isn't true!  I love you!" 

"I...I can't hear you, Jake," she said as she lowered herself.  Her lovely face hovered above the shoe.  I shouted again.

"I love you, Maria!  Please listen to me!"  

Maria's eyes lowered, and she raised back up.  "Jake, please...don't make this harder on me.  You intend to dump me one night, then tell me the next day that you love me.  If you really cared for me, you wouldn't hurt me like this."

She didn't understand! If only she would listen to everything I had to say!  But, she remained standing, and looked at me with dissapointment and sadness.  My heart broke for what she was going through.  Despite the fact that Sasha was to blame for all of this, I felt guilty and ashamed.

"Well, Maria...What should we do?"  Sasha asked.  I had never harmed a girl, but Sasha generated a desire in me to throw her out the window.

"This is so hard," Maria said quietly.  "I just don't understand.  Things were going fine.  I didn't know Jake felt this way.  He never said anything."  I didn't feel that way!

Suddenly, Maria's face lit up a bit more.  She began to shake her head.  "I think I know what happened here."  I saw Sasha's face pale.  Had Maria figured it out?  She was a smart girl--I knew she would!

"I think I understand."  Maria turned to Sasha.  "The bachelor party must have frightened Jake.  Maybe the thought of his friend getting married made him ponder our own relationship...and he felt trapped.   I've never pressured marraige on him, but he might have realized that...ending our relationship would keep him from having to make that decision later on."

A look of relief swept over Sasha's face.  Maria had it all wrong!  She looked down on me again.

"Jake, I...I forgive you.  But, in my heart, I know you still love me.  I believe it."

I felt my own surge of relief.  If Maria chose to believe that, I could tell her the truth later on after Sasha returned me to normal.

"What should we do, Maria?" Sasha asked.

"I need Jake to understand that I love him.  We need to reconnect. Jake," she said, leaving back down over me again, "I hope you understand what I'm doing.  I'm doing this because I love you.  I want us to be close again.   And maybe, just a little...I want to punish you for breaking up like that.  You could have told me in person.  You owed me that much."

My relief was replaced by dread.  What was Maria planning?

Standing back up, Maria turned to Sasha: "While he's small like this, I want him to learn a lesson.  What could I do?"

Sasha smiled, that devilish grin again.  "You could...step on him."

Maria gasped.  "Sasha!  I don't want to kill him!"

Sasha stood up.  "You won't, Maria.  Just trust me.  Place your toe on him and press down.  See how 'sturdy' he is.  I bet you could walk on him all day and it wouldn't hurt him...though it might be a bit uncomfortable for him."

I couldn't believe my ears.  Sasha deserved an Acadamy Award for this performance.

"I...well, maybe," Maria said.  My heart raced.  Not again!  I watched as Maria raised her left foot, dangling it in the air uncertianly.  Then, she pointed her big toe at my body, and slowly lowered her foot towards me.  I feel back on the sole, frightened and stunned. I couldn't believe Maria was doing this!  She would never have done this before!  Sasha had done well.

I watched as Maria's giant toe lowered on me, catching a glimpse of her nail and the white tip she had applied to it.  Her soft, brown skin touched my own skin, and electricity shot through my body as I became erect once again.  Slowly, delicately, Maria allowed the pressure of her toe to rest on me, allowing my face to remain free but burying my neck and body under her hot skin.  I was pinned, again, to the sole. 

I realized she hadn't taken a shower since the night before, either.  The smell of her toe surrounded and intoxicated me.

The pressure compressed my body yet again; I was unable to move, and then, as Maria grew more confident that I could "withstand" the torture, she allowed more pressure to build up on me, until the weight of her entire foot and leg sank me deeper into the sole of her Guess shoe. 

For a few moments, I remained cemented into place.  I couldn't see Maria's face for her toe and nail, but I prayed she wasn't enjoying this.  She spoke:

"This feels...weird.  I don't know, Sasha..." she said.

Sasha cheered her on.  "Think about it, Maria.  He dumped you like he didn't care.  Just give him a little taste of your pain."

"But...this isn't right.  I don't want to hurt Jake."

I remained stuck, unable to breathe further. 

Maria removed her toe, and my body decompressed, the air rushing into my lungs.  I remained lying on the shoe, exhausted and hurting.  Maria placed her foot back on the carpet.

"Maria..." I struggled.  I couldn't speak.

Maria had a sad look on her face.  Then, as if some inner determination was swelling up, she regained a look of confidence.  "I love you, Jake.  And you love me.  We can get through this together.  I want you to spend one day under my foot...and perhaps, after it's over, we'll have discovered more about ourselves.  It's my hope that we will always be together."

I was shocked.  Maria!

"This is for your own good, Jake."  I watched in horror as Maria raised her foot again.

"Are you sure this won't hurt him, Sasha?" she asked.  Sasha nodded her head.

Maria took a deep breath.  "Okay, then."  Maria then dipped her foot back into the shoe, all the way, until her Latina sole covered my entire body.  She then placed the weight of her body upon me, and the pain shot through my bones and muscles like a lightening bolt.  She had no idea it was this painful; Sasha had convinced her of that much. 

Once again, I found myself losing consciousness, but not before I barely heard Maria say one more thing to Sasha:

"I bet he's never experienced anything like this before in his whole life."

If only she knew! I was becoming an expert!

To be concluded...