“...Two hundred years ago, the last ever war with the then-named ‘Gargantuans’ ended. Since then, humanity and the giantesses have come to various agreements which kept the world in relative peace…”

Jack’s head began nodding off. It was always hard to keep awake in Mr. Mannel’s history lessons, and not two sentences in did Jack begin to doze off already.

Just as he was about to slump down completely on his desk, a sharp prick gouged into the nape of Jack’s neck. It was Christie, trusty ballpoint pen in hand, who poked him from the seat behind him.

Christie was a pretty blonde with long, thin curls falling from either side of her head, with a red spectacles frame before some striking almond eyes; eyes which stared with irritation at Jack’s lack of interest.

“Don't fall asleep!” Christie whispered harshly, “We're just getting to the good part, and you know what happens if Mr. Mannel catches you dozing!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jack said with a small yawn.

Christie was a bit of a geek with modern history; specifically, she was enraptured by the idea that humanity could one day reclaim itself and break ties with their giantess mistresses. At present, the world was pretty much run by giantess, and the human race was dedicated to their service. Even a human sized school like this one was a rarity these days, with most people heading straight to a vocational school to quickly secure a place where they'd better serve their giantess benefactor.

“...Though human civilization then was in shambles, it turns out that the resources of our giantess counterparts were much more vast than we realized. In a bid to save what remained of humanity, they began to buy everything they could from us: land, technology, businesses; eventually, we had nothing left to give but our rights, so it came to be that we started selling ourselves…”

Jack’s eyes began to flutter. This was all ancient history to him, like a broken gramophone playing the same vinyl over and over again. He'd heard it so many times before that having to hear it all again was quickly becoming a chore. His vision got blurry, and just as he was about to return to dreamland, a second stab punctured his neck again.

“What did I just say?!” Christie hissed.

Jack flinched and turned around. The girl was still bright eyed and attentive, like she was able to absorb everything Mr. Mannel said. Jack only gave Christie an incredulous stare, “I can’t believe you actually find this interesting.”

“Of course I do!” Christie replied enthusiastically, “Learning the basis of the events which led us to our present condition is vital to overturning it!”

“It sounds to me,” Jack said, “like the giantesses did us a favor by saving us from poverty. Humanity wouldn’t have survived if they hadn’t basically bought us over, right?”

Christie seemed to beam at those words. “So you have been listening to class!” She squealed.

Jack sighed, shaking his head before turning back to the front, “I only remember because I’ve heard it for the millionth time…”

“...Our old cities were refurbished to accommodate the giantesses, and eventually, what remained of any trace that we were once there are the subterranean infrastructure beneath the now enlarged streets and buildings. Human colonies downsized into nothing more than residential blocks, and overcrowding became the next big problem…”

This time, Jack didn't even get to doze off. A third pinprick told him that Christie had inserted her pen into his neck once more.

“Don't you think that we're being too lenient on the giantesses?” Christie quipped, “They practically took everything from our civilization, and we're left with only their handouts to survive. Wouldn't you want a world where humanity was free from them?”

Jack turned around and gave Christie an incredulous stare, “Isn't your benefactor Ms. Susan? The welfare officer for our city?”

“Yeah,” Christie replied.

Jack looked forward again and saw that Mr. Mannel was still reading from his book, never raising his head. He took the opportunity to turn back around and point to Christie’s bag.

“You get, like, $20 a day for lunch money,” Jack said, “Plus Ms. Susan doesn't make your household do anything extraordinary other than the usual weekly maintenance. She lets you come to school, for crying out loud. Why on earth would you think you're being treated unfairly?”

“Not me,” Christie corrected, “But the world on the whole. Knowing that most of humanity don't have a Ms. Susan taking care of them doesn't sit well with me, but if we all had the power to decide our lives for ourselves, then nobody needs to be afraid of who they get!”

“That's just-” Jack began, but was interrupted by the sound of somebody clearing his throat behind him. Unfortunately for Jack, that someone was Mr. Mannel.

“You seem awfully chatty today, Mister Benick,” Mr. Mannel said in a deep huffy voice, “Why don't we put that voice to good use and read section seven-A to the class.”

Jack’s face went red as snickers rang out across the class. He didn't care to look at Christie’s expression, so he swiveled back forward and picked up his textbook. Section seven-A was written there, titled ‘Domestication’.

“Overpopulation affected humanity severely,” Jack recited, “So much so that many chose to hide in the homes of giantesses, where they stole food and water, and were guaranteed shelter if they weren't caught. But it didn't take long for the giantesses to catch them in their act; many were deported as soon as they were found. The problem only escalated when enough people to fill a town began migrating illegal into their dwellings, living hidden behind cupboards and floorboards.

“This was the beginning of the Domestication Movement. With the giantesses taking the human migration issue seriously, they drafted an agreement that any human who enters a giantess's home comes under her possession without question. That means that the people living with the host giantess are subject to any rules laid down by their host, and must obey them or risk deportation. Conversely, the host must still only make reasonable demands of her human charges, and ensure their well-being is preserved. Humans, without exception, have a right to leave their household of their own accord, and may return to a human suburb or find a new hostess who would take them in.”

Jack was going to read the rest of the section, but was promptly cut off by Mr. Mannel.

“Very good, Mister Benick,” he said with a gruff snort, “Hopefully this will keep you on the same page as the rest of the class.”

Jack heard the rest of the class stifle their laughter. He might have said something if he wasn't just in trouble already, but his chance to was snatched away when he felt a familiar pinprick on the back of his head.

“Haven't you had enough?” Jack whispered back to Christie.

Christie ignored Jack’s comment and dove straight into her question: “Don't you think the term domestication make it sound like the giantesses are making pets out of us? It's a clear violation of our individuality if we've no choice but to be obedient!”

I ignored her statement. Now that Mr. Mannel had taken notice of me, I needed to actually look like I was listening to class. As he continued reading the rest of the passage, I saw that his eyes would occasionally look my way, just to check on me.

I felt a second poke to my neck. Christie continued her crusade against her so-called mistreatment: “Furthermore, not only are we partial to their will, a typical household would only have occupations related to their host, vastly limiting what they are able to do in life. Even with our supposed free will, we are still bound by giantesses and their rule over us. This discrepancy in freedom should be unacceptable in a humane society!”

“Did you even listen to my passage just now?” Jack turned around, finally annoyed with Christie enough to retort, “If you're unhappy with one host, then you're free to find another one.”

Before Christie could reply, the school bell rang and the class clamored to keep their things and leave. Jack stuffed his textbook into his bag and got up as quickly as he could. Christie tried to stop him, but Jack had just about enough of her squabbling. Let her believe that humans were being oppressed; some people were actually happy with the current system.

Jack got out to the school yard, and stopped to take in the view around him. The entirety of the school was located in the headmistress’s garden, who herself was a giantess, and surrounding the school premises were exotic flora and hedges far larger than the building which housed us. Larger still was the house the headmistress stayed in, which practically eclipsed the school in size. It was a veritable mansion, a sure sign of her wealth, and there was no doubt that several schools could fit inside if everything was moved indoors. It was because of that same wealth that it were even possible for her to host a school in the first place.

In front of the school yard, though, another sight beheld Jack. Just outside the school gates, there stood a dozen of them: the so-called tyrannical giantesses who have come to pick up their charges. Each one of them towered over the school at a hundred feet, some standing even taller with their heels on. They were huddled about the gate, watching as the students came before each of them.

Each giantess had a distinct way of rounding up the students. One blonde giantess in jeans and red heels opted simply to scoop up any students who came close enough to her feet and verified verbally that they were from her household. “You one of mine, hon’?” She would say. Those who replied to the affirmative were put into an airy-looking handbag, others were put back down gently to the ground.

Another giantess clad in a dark dress and black flats had her students form up into rows of three. She wasn’t particular about whoever was in line, but simply counted them up until she had the right number of people. When she was satisfied, she bent down and asked them, “Is there anyone else?” When nobody responded, she took the students by the fistful, and tossed them into her tote bag. Her footsteps thundered into the distance as she left the school premises. That giantess looked by far the least comfortable to be handled by.

Jack saw a familiar face amongst the towering women: Miss Susan, Christie’s hostess, was squatting down next to a group of students, her hands extended down to them such that they were able to run about and play amongst her fingers. “Richard,” she would call the students by name, and talk to each and every one of them individually by addressing them directly, “Are Christie and Andrew coming?”

Jack was too far away to hear Richard’s response, but he saw Miss Susan nod and say, “Alright, let's be off, then.” She didn't put them into a bag like the other giantesses, but instead had a box with human-sized seats bolted on which the students sat in. When everyone was inside, Miss Susan lifted the box to her chest level where she and her students were still able to converse, and went on her way.

Finally, Jack spotted the one who was waiting for him: a giantess with a bored expression who looked to have just graduated from her teens, with long dark curls for hair and deep tree bark brown eyes highlighted with thin mascara. She wore a fashionable getup consisting of a loose shirt and a short dress adorned with a multitude of clips and straps which pulled the fabric around her shapely figure. A pair of dainty silver sandals held her feet above the ground, just a few feet from where the students under her care were waiting obediently.

This was Shirley, the young hostess of ten families, including Jack’s, all who lived under the same roof, in her apartment. As a hostess, Shirley was pretty lackadaisical, doing only the bare minimum to take care for us. She was more interested in her own affairs, to the point of being negligent, so every now and then she needed some prompting from her charges.

Not to say she was a bad hostess; Shirley was content to leave her humans to their own devices, hardly ever asking them of anything. There was a much greater sense of freedom around her household without having to worry about any demands she might have for them. Jack heard that in other households, their hostess made them do menial tasks like nail care or removing a sock, while more assertive giantesses would do things to belittle her residents, like making them massage her or wearing them around her body like accessories.

Shirley was none of those things, thankfully, but recently she had begun making small demands of Jack’s household. She complained that her lack of motivation in caring for them was because she didn't feel appreciated, so now, whenever they met her, Shirley would play a little game with them.

Jack walked up to Shirley, towards the group of students who were also waiting to be fetched home, mingling in their hostess’s enormous shadow. As Jack approached, Shirley, who was busy scrolling through her car-sized phone, noticed the little figure coming up to her feet. She squinted her eyes and leaned in closer to get a better look, an annoyed expression on her face.

“You’re late, Jack,” Shirley’s voice boomed above.

If there’s one thing Shirley was good at, it was how she was able to put a name to every face she’s met. Even the six or so students who were sitting by her feet were recognizable to her with just a glance; a far cry from most giantesses who couldn’t even remember their own charges without prompting. Her unusual talent didn’t take any effort on her part, but the household was thankful she didn’t think of them as faceless rabble. It left some shred of dignity to be called your name instead of ‘you’ all the time.

“Yeah, sorry!” Jack yelled back up. Standing from ground level, even talking to a giantess right underneath her still meant you were talking to someone whose ears were ten storeys up.

“That makes you the last one to make it here,” Shirley said, lowering herself to the ground so that she was crouched right above me, long, towering legs looming like smooth hanging cliffs, threatening to crash down on Jack at any given notice, “Everybody else has already given me a kiss.”

“Er,” Jack said nervously, “We’re not doing that kissing game again, are we?”

“Of course we are!” Shirley stated, like it was obvious, “It made everybody so motivated to come here after school faster. Everybody has to kiss every part of me, and only one part’s still left unappreciated.”

Jack saw Shirley’s toes wiggle in anticipation. Those behemoth digits raked themselves across the soles of the sandals they were on, like they were hungry for something to feed them. Jack gulped. This could only mean one thing…

“Uh…” Jack said hesitantly, backing away as a growing sense of dread filled him, “You don’t mean I have to-”

“Kiss my foot!” Shirley exclaimed cheerily, “It’s only fair since you’re last, and it’s not your first time doing it either!”

Jack had been the loser of the last game as well. He remembered what it was like: approaching the giant ped and smelling the brew of scented foot cream with light sweat, and then having to taste it as his lips passed the top of Shirley’s foot. It wasn’t something he wanted to experience again.

“L-look, can’t we just-” Jack bargained, but his words were cut short when Shirley’s toes suddenly launched themselves into Jack’s stomach. Falling on his back and gagging at the sudden trauma, Jack clutched at where he had just been kicked, too winded to even noticed as Shirley’s foot rose over him. He first saw a massive shadow eclipsing the noon sun above, then a sudden burst of pain throughout his body as hot, plush flesh slapped itself on top of him, like a ton of mattresses had fallen upon him. Shirley had pinned Jack down with a single step.

“You’re going to kiss my foot, one way or another,” Shirley commanded. Jack felt the foot on top of him slide up his body, drawing the wheel-sized toes up his head. The index toe pushed down mercilessly into Jack’s face, causing him to give muffled yelps of protest as he squirmed in place. The tormentingly familiar tastes and smells flooded in as Jack’s nose picked up Shirley’s foot odor and his tongue accidently brushed against the bottom of her toe. He wanted to wretch, but there was hardly any room as Shirley’s foot continued to entrap him.

“Just give me a kiss from there, and we’ll call it quits, hmm?” Shirley qooed, obviously enjoying herself as she continued to feel Jack’s struggles beneath her foot, “Just thrust your head into my toe as hard as you can, and I’ll know you’ve done it.”

Jack was still reeling from being stepped on, but composed himself just enough to not be entirely freaked out by the flesh enveloping him. He tried to yank his hands from beneath Shirley’s sole, but his strength couldn’t match the gigantic pressure pushing him down. As if Shirley had felt this, her foot lifted off of him just enough that his arms could reposition themselves. With his hands free, Jack put them on either side of the toe above his face, and pulled himself up as hard as he can, pressing his face into the soft nub. He didn’t even have to pretend that his lips were puckered up into a kiss: the action alone seemed to satisfy Shirley, and the massive foot retreated back to its sandal, leaving Jack to lie in the dirt, gulping large volumes of fresh air back into his system.

“Hmm, good work, Jack,” Shirley called from above, “Looks like we’re finally ready to go back. Everybody, let’s go!”

Shirley’s hands descended to the ground, cupped so her palms were joined together to form a wide platform for us to get on. There were seven students, including Jack, all from Shirley’s household, although none talked to each other. They just happened to live in the same place, that’s all. Wordlessly, they all got on, huddled closely together in a circle, except for Jack, who stilled smelled like the bottom of Shirley’s foot. The other students gave him a wide breadth, pinching their noses as if he were something repulsive.

Without warning, the world fell away from the ground, and they were lifted up into the air. Shirley began walking, and strong rush of wind swept through the students. Giantesses moved at incredible speeds, even at a walking pace, but the effects were only felt by the humans who rode along with her.

Jack looked around. The other kids consisted of four girls and two other guys. Jack recognized them all, but whenever he tried to talk to them, all they’d say was: “What’s the point of coming to school?” and “Why even come here if we’re just going to end up some giantess’s pet anyway?” Their conversation topics were dour and depressing, but it was the truth. Even going to school, few ever make it to college, much less a relevant occupation. There was simply little demand for thinking humans, only for more hands to serve the giantess’s needs.

Without so much as a cough between them, the group had arrived at Shirley’s home. An apartment room on the first floor, just convenient enough that anybody who wanted to run away didn’t have to worry about traversing giantess scaled stairs. Shirley lowered her tiny humans down, then unceremoniously dropped them a few feet above the hard wooden floor, unconcerned about whether it would hurt. She simply got back up and keyed the lock, opening the door just long enough for everyone to get inside.

Once inside, Shirley closed the door shut and locked it behind her, walking across the small hallway and further into the apartment, abandoning her charges at the entrance. ‘Fetching you back home is all I’ll do,” she once said, and she had followed her words to the letter, washing off all responsibility of them once they were back inside.

Jack sighed. The trek back to where his family lived would’ve taken a few seconds if Shirley took him along further into the house, but would now take more than a few minutes on legs of his size. Jack’s family lived in Shirley’s room in a corner where a giantess-sized shoe box resided, with a single hole for an exit and a cardboard partition separating the living quarters from the bedroom.

As Jack drew closer to his house, the ground rumbled as Shirley came down the corridor into her room. Jack was walking along the wall, where he'd least be likely to get stepped on, but stopped anyway to watch her pass by. As Shirley swung into the room, Jack saw that she was wrapped in a bath towel, still dripping wet. In the time he took to walk back home, Shirley had already finished taking a shower. It made Jack somewhat angry, thinking about it.

Shirley walked in. Naked soles fell just a few feet from Jack, and the force of Shirley’s footsteps sent a light spray of water from her body onto Jack. The miniscule droplets were nothing but a fraction of an ounce to Shirley, but was more than enough to get Jack’s clothes wet. Just his luck.  

As Shirley continued deeper into her room, Jack was left to wade through the newly formed puddles in the wake of the giantess. It felt like an impossible amount of water for just the excess off her skin; Jack wondered if Shirley had deliberately rained down upon him out of some devilish mischief. Probably not. Even now, Shirley’s attention was directed towards drying herself with her bath towel, unperturbed by the fact that anyone could see her completely undressed. As far as Shirley was concerned, humans weren't important enough to put a dent in her dignity. It was like stripping in a forest, with only the trees and undergrowth watching.

Jack sighed. He could see his ‘house’ now, one of the many boxes piled together in an unattended part of Shirley’s room. This was where Shirley kept the most useful of her charges, where we were within her reach if she needed something. (Which was, thankfully, a rare occasion)

Jack looked toward Shirley, who had by now finished dressing and was on her phone talking to someone, most likely a friend. It seemed she wasn't intent on calling for anyone today, either. He shuddered when he remembered the last time she did, where everyone had to scrub the mud off her sandals and feet after stepping in a soft patch of dirt. They moved enough grime to create a mud hut for an entire family to live in, and everyone was covered head to toe in the disgusting sludge.

Finally, after a three minute walk across Shirley’s room, Jack had reached the front of his home. Still soaking wet, he took off his shirt and left it and his shoes outside to dry. The door to the inside was nothing more than the torn part of the shoe box hinged to the side with tape, and a simple latch to keep it closed. Undoing it, Jack stepped through, into his home.

Space was a commodity here, even with the size discrepancy, but any pleas for a larger house fell on Shirley’s deaf ears. The inside was split into only two rooms, the living area and the bedroom, but the inside was still cramped from his family's possessions.  Jack was an only child, so he took the sofa while his parents slept on a single mattress together in the bedroom. The living quarters was stuffed with things from Jack’s parent’s work, so there was hardly any space for him aside from the sofa. Navigating the place was a challenge in and of itself, with the threat of stepping on small pottery or badly stored tools wherever you stepped. Having lived here most of his life though, Jack was able to tiptoe his way without disturbing anything, and grabbed a fresh set of clothes from the makeshift ‘open’ closet consisting of hangers hanging from the ceiling.

All in all, it wasn’t the best of places, but it was home.

The inside was lit up by an array of giantess-sized Christmas lights which ran through all the houses in Shirley’s room. Because of this, light was communal amongst us, meaning if one person turned on the light, everybody was going to get light. Curfews had to be imposed as a result, and Jack was always scrambling to get his homework done before then. Jack sat down lazily on his sofa, looking through the day's worksheet. His parents were still out, so he was finally alone for the day. If he could just finish these problems quickly he would have the rest of the day to himself.

RUMBLE.

It was just the usual quaking as Shirley walked around her room, but today, Jack felt it considerably closer to home. She didn't ever approach the houses unless she needed-

SNAP.

The roof burst open with a crack. Jack gaped as light poured in from above, the flimsy cover of the shoebox removed easily by Shirley as if it were nothing. The clothes line tethered to the roof holding up the clothes hangers fell away, raining laundry down on Jack's face. He flailed as he freed himself from the avalanche of clothes, falling on his back into a pile of books. His eyes uncovered, Jack saw the face of his gigantic host through the nonexistent roof of his house. A fit of panic paralyzed him when Shirley glared intensely in his direction.

A few seconds passed without any exchange of words. Shirley simply continued to stare at Jack, like she was observing him. Finally, after what felt like an eternity to Jack, she let loose a sigh, and spoke.

“You'll do,” Shirley said, just before her massive hand reached into Jack's house to scoop his limp, terrified form. Fingers as thick as tree trunks coiled themselves around his body like hungry pythons, clutching him tightly enough that any resistance against Shirley's grip was met with futility. Jack felt himself rise up to his captor’s waist length, where Shirley forced the diminutive body of Jack into her jeans’ pocket. It was tight, and against the rippling thigh movements as Shirley began to walk, Jack was merely a passenger, something forced to feel the titanic muscles moving the giantess’s frame forward undulating against his skin, pulling and stretching mercilessly as he was taken on a long journey to some unknown place.

Jack suffered a great many abrasions as the rough fabric of Shirley's jeans tortured him, but respite came as Shirley's hand returned to retrieve him, pulling him free of this merciless prison. The fresh, cool air of the outside blew gently across his rashes, relieving Jack of the pain he had to endure.

…Only to find that his tribulations had just begun.

Shirley dropped Jack on top of a marble table, in a room Jack did not recognize. The smooth, cold surface felt welcoming to Jack's raw skin, but his respite was short-lived as he turned around.

Before him, seated just across the table, was a second giantess. She had silky amber hair bound in a tight knot held together by exotic hairpins, with a fair complexion which did not betray her age; a fine beauty were Jack reading a magazine. But her eyes told a different story, their steely gaze showing no hint of friendliness. Those almond irises contained pupils which focused so intensely on Jack that their stares felt like needles, pinning Jack to the ground, making him be unable to move.

“I've brought one, discipline minister,” Shirley said to the other giantess.