The ride to Celeste’s house was rather dull. Celeste had fallen asleep with her head against the window; you had to shake her awake when you arrived at her house. Have you gotten shorter? Her voice echoed in your head. You had brushed it off, but after she mentioned it, you started to notice it yourself. The sleeve of your jacket was now drooping well passed your palm and only your fingers were sticking out the end. You thought back to the text alert from the CDC you had received earlier that day but tried to push it to the back of your mind. You rolled your sleeves up hoping Celeste wouldn’t notice as she unlocked the front door. You followed Celeste into her house and made your way into the kitchen, which smelled of cooking food. Celeste’s mother, Iris, gave you a warm smile as you entered.

“You two are done with school already? I’m making myself lunch right now if either of ya wanted me to whip you something up!” Iris said cheerfully as she whirled back around to focus on the pan in front of her. Your eyes wandered to the tall glass of wine in her hand and then to the clock. It wasn’t even noon. Iris bounced her leg impatiently as she cooked, the back of her heel was exposed. With each bounce, her slipper smacked against her heel, making it impossible for you to look away. You came out of your trance when Celeste stepped forward and hugged her mother from behind.

“We got into an accident,” Celeste said shakily. Iris nearly dropped her spatula as she spun around to face her daughter.

“Are you okay? Why didn’t you just let me drive you this morning! Does your head hurt? Can you see, okay?” Iris asked frantically examining the cut on Celeste’s forehead. “What about you, dear, are you okay? Oh my god you two must be so shaken up!”

“We’re ok. He’s more beat up than I am,” Celeste gestured in your direction. “Only because I protected you from impact,” you said playfully. Celeste only rolled her eyes in return, but she couldn’t hide her bashful simper. Iris wrapped her arms around Celeste and squeezed her tight before rushing over to do the same to you. You could feel her pillow-like breasts press against your face as she embraced you; her fluffy robe was tied so loosely that her bosom was nearly exposed. “I’m so glad you two are alright, I couldn’t imagine anything happening to my baby!” Iris finally let go and took a step back, giving you another once-over. “Have you lost weight, dear?”

“Ms. Devine, I think whatever your cooking is burning,” you deflected, pointing toward the pan that was still sitting on the burner. Black smoke wafted into the air and the smoke alarm began beeping loudly. Iris ran back over to the oven in a panic, removing the pan from the burner and waving a dish towel in the air to disperse the smoke. Celeste grabbed your hand and pulled you away from the kitchen. Her hand felt strangely large compared to yours, but, again, you pushed the thought to the back of your mind. Celeste led you up the stairs and down the corridor to her bedroom. She flopped onto her bed and heaved a sigh. You closed the door behind you and took a seat next to her.

Celeste took out her phone and stared intently at the screen for a couple seconds. “It’s a good thing we didn’t go to school today,” she exclaimed, “I just got an email from Professor Sato. She said she’s cancelling class because of that virus that’s going around. I guess it’s not a joke after all. Apparently, they’re also closing the campus until further notice, so it’s a good thing we’re graduating after this. I wouldn’t want to go back to remote learning like we had to our freshman year. Speaking of the virus. You better be careful. From what the CDC says it only affects men. I would hate to accidently step on you because I mistake you for a bug. Who would I tease if my very best friend was nothing but a smear on my foot?” Celeste laughed, clearly amused by the uncomfortable expression on your face. You felt your heart ache when she mentioned you were just her friend. “Chill out, I’m only messing with you. I wouldn’t crush you if you were tiny, I’d just turn you into my tiny little bug sized slave.” She burst into more laughter.

The mention of the virus was a reminder that you didn’t feel right, you felt your cheeks burn with embarrassment and anxiety. Celeste tugged on your sleeve, “Hey, I’m only joking. Stop being so serious. It’s not that big of a deal.” You nodded but you still couldn’t shake the thought of the virus out of your head. Celeste must have noticed, “Alright fine, I’m sorry. Look, I’ll run downstairs and grab some snacks and you can pick out what we watch on Netflix while I’m gone. I promise I’ll stop teasing.” You sighed and decided to confide in her.

“I know this whole virus thing isn’t a big deal to you but if you haven’t noticed I’m a dude. There’s a chance I can be bug sized at any moment.”

Celeste raised her hand and said, “I won’t joke about it anymore. Scouts honor!” Feeling better, you relaxed and laid back into the bed as Celeste got up to go get snacks.

Looking around for the remote, you spot it laying on the desk on the opposite side of the room. As soon as you stood, a horrible wave of nausea hit. It felt as though your head was going to split open. Stumbling, you caught the wall to help you regain balance, the room was spinning wildly. Searing pain shot through your arms and legs. Something’s wrong something’s wrong! Were the only words racing through your head as your jacket got heavier. Your sleeves seemed to get longer, flapping uselessly as you clutched at your pounding head. You ripped off your jacket in panic, tripping over your baggy pants which now sagged to the floor, too loose to stay around your thinning waist. Celeste can’t find me like this! Terrified and confused, all you could think to do was hide. You crawled under the bed, dragging your clothes that were barely hanging on to your little body along with you. Ragged breaths surged through you, too fast for you to control. The pain would not let up, it kept getting more excruciating. Certain that you would pass out, it finally stopped.

When you opened your eyes, there was only black. Rolling to get up, you felt soft cotton brushing against your skin. You were surrounded by it. After a short struggle, you found a hole and wiggled free. Outside of the giant cloth, you found yourself in what seemed to be a cave. What looked to be giant cotton balls littered the ground around you, and then you realized the floor was made of huge wood planks. You were still under Celeste’s bed. You stared at your hands in dismay then whirled around and saw that the cloth cocoon you escaped from was just your shirt, you were completely exposed. Your mind began racing. The virus, you thought. There’s no way, I barely interact with anyone aside from Celeste. Then it hit you, what if that bug on my leg earlier was a person? What if the clothes on the bus were the clothes that the driver and other passenger shrank out of? This can’t be happening. You heard someone approaching from down the hall. The door to the room swung open, and Celeste’s footsteps thundered into the room. “Hey, I didn’t know what you wanted so I just grabbed a little bit of every--… Oh I guess he went to the bathroom or something.” Her booming voice rang through the room, and you cowered beneath the bed, less than a foot tall. “Ugh, he didn’t even pick a show or movie yet. I guess I’ll just go ahead and pick something then.” You heard a loud thud and the crinkling of plastic from above as Celeste dumped the snacks on the bed and grabbed the remote from her desk. She walked back to the bed, and you heard it moan in protest under her weight. You heard every creak as Celeste shimmied to get comfortable from where you stood--frozen in shock, unsure of what to do. Suddenly, you remembered the emergency broadcast message. Please contact your local officials for any emergency aid needed.  You ran over to your pants and grabbed at the tangled denim mess trying to find the pocket that your phone was concealed within. Tugging and pulling seemed to do almost nothing. Just minutes ago, you were wearing these pants and now suddenly you could barely lift one pant leg when pulling and pushing with all your might. Finally, you found it. You could see the outline of your phone sealed inside the pocket and reached your hands inside. Pulling on your phone felt as though you were pulling on a heavy mattress wedged between two walls. It barely budged as you pulled on it and it took several heavy tugs before your phone was released from the confines of its denim prison. Finally! Now I just need to unlock my phone and call for help, you thought as you lay on your back panting heavily from the strenuous activity. You leaned the phone up against the jeans and realized it came up to your chest. You tapped on the screen of the phone and to your dismay a big red battery symbol appeared. My… my phone is dead. I swear I charged it last night. This can’t be happening. Please, God, turn on. You pounded on the screen with tiny fists in desperation, but to no avail. Deafening creaks erupted above your head as Celeste fidgeted in the bed. All the while, a sinking feeling began washing over you. The complete reality of your situation was setting in.  

“It’s so hot in here!” You heard Celeste say to herself. “I get its cold outside, but does mom have to keep the heat on full blast?” Two thick wool socks fell off the side of the bed and landed a few feet away from where you were standing with a loud thump. You could feel the heat of Celeste’s foot radiating off them and the musky smell of sweat wafted in your direction. You stared directly at the opening of her sock; despite--or maybe because of--the acute fear, your cock twitched slightly, and you could feel an urge welling up inside you, like an itch you couldn’t scratch. You quickly covered you nose and pushed those thoughts out of your mind. “Oof, I can smell my feet from here,” you heard Celeste mumble, “I hope he doesn’t mind the smell when he gets back from the bathroom.”

Little did she know you were already experiencing her intense foot stink from below her bed. You sat down on the dust covered floor and curled into a ball tucking your head between your knees. You began rocking, and shaking uncontrollably, completely unsure of what to do next. Warm tears streaked down your face. Your breathing grew more sporadic and before long you found it hard to breathe at all. Should I show myself to Celeste and get her help? But what if she doesn’t see me and ends up crushing me or mistaking me for a bug? What If she never finds me, I’ll starve down here!

“What’s taking him so long!” Celeste said impatiently, interrupting your thoughts. Moments later you were pulled from your anxiety-induced thoughts when a loud clatter made you jump. You turned and saw your phone had fallen from its leaning position. “What the…?” The bed springs squealed. You watched in horror as strawberry blonde curls descended from above. Celeste was hanging off the side of the bed staring in your direction with her piercing green eyes. You were petrified. “What do we have here?” she said slowly as a devious smirk spread across her face and a huge hand came into view.