Cole had learned that by curling himself into a ball he could sometimes roll all the way around his spherical home. Usually he ended up falling back to the padded ground of the earring, but sometimes, if he timed his rolls just right, he could go past the top and land safely on the other side. He had spent the past few hours sleeping and rolling, trying to pass the time until he could get out again. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, light shone in through a crack that opened in the sphere.
“Are we there?” he asked excitedly, looking up at the face of his giant friend. She smiled and nodded, placing her hand out to let him step onto. Cole jumped out of the pod and rolled into Edith’s hand. “I’ve been practicing my rolls! Wasn’t that cool?”
“It sure was,” the giantess replied politely, “but don’t you want to see where we are?” She moved him away from her face, as the boy turned to look at the landscape.
“Woah…” he said, “what is this place?”
“This is my grandma’s old house,” Edith explained. “She was a really rich lady, and had to have a really big house built for her to live in. When she moved out, there was no one who wanted to live here, so this happened to it.
This was referring to the overgrowth and ruin that had taken over the house. Thick trees had overtaken what looked like the remains of a kitchen, and exotic, brightly-colored plants had conquered the greenhouse. Where a bathroom used to lie stood a swamp, complete with a large, muddy pond of filth right in the center.
There was plenty more to the house than what could be seen, but for now the sights were enough to leave Cole nearly speechless. “This is so cool. Where are we sleeping?”
The giant girl pointed towards a large boat that was resting a few hundred meters away. “That is where my two maids, Rose and Gilda, are staying. My mother sent them to watch me, and to make sure I don’t get into any trouble.” She paused and turned back towards the house. “That is where we’ll be staying, to get away from them and to look for the jewelry.”
“Wait, you know where the treasure is?” Cole asked. “Aw, that doesn’t sound like much of an adventure.”
Edith chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’ll have plenty for you to do along the way. My grandmother only said she left the jewelry somewhere in her old office, so we’ll have to go down to the basement and find the office, then search the room for it.” Cole continued pouting, but Edith lifted him to her face and smiled. “It’ll be fun, I promised.”
The tiny boy took a second to continue looking pitiful, then looked up at the girl with optimism. “All right, but this’d better be fun.”
***
The two returned to the boat a few minutes later, with Cole gently cupped in Edith’s hand. Both maids were in the front of the boat preparing the night’s meals, allowing the girl to sneak into the sleeping quarters and lock the door.
“I hope you enjoyed your time out, but you have to go back into the earring until tonight.” Edith placed her shrunken friend onto her nightstand as she prepared the earring for him. The boy started to climb in until he was quickly dumped out.
“Ow,” he winced, “what was that for?”
“This is a bad idea,” Edith though aloud, not looking at anything in particular. “Mom probably told them to check the earring while I’m asleep, and I can’t lock them out if they sleep in here.” She pondered for a moment, trying to think of a good solution. “What if I hide you somewhere else?”
“Where else could I go?” Cole asked. “I can’t think of anything more comfy than that.” Edith was about to say something when one of the maids tried to open the door.
“Edith,” she said, “I need to get in there. Why is the door locked?”
“I’m having my private time, Rose!” the teen responded in mock fury. “Give me a few more minutes.” The sound of swift footsteps were heard as Rose left the area with much haste.
“Private time?” questioned the tiny boy nearby, “What’s that?” He could tell Edith was embarrassed by his question, but she responded anyway.
“I’ll tell you later. Right now, I have to put you somewhere.” She struggled to recall where she had previously thought to place him. After a moment of thinking, she pulled off her sock and presented it to him.
“I usually sleep with my socks on, so they’ll have no reason to suspect anything if you hide in these,” she explained. Cole unenthusiastically neared the sock and took a whiff.
“It kinda smells in there,” he wined. “Do I have to?”
“You can stay in this sock during diner, and after my shower I’ll put on new socks. It’ll be fine, I promise.” Still unhappy, Cole climbed inside the hot sock. The smell wasn’t nearly as strong as he expected, but it was faintly present. Without warning, five giant toes made their way into the cavern of the sock. The boy was small enough to avoid having any of the toes touch him, but he could feel the heat radiating off of them. With a soft tremor, the toes impacted on the end of the sock.
“It’s actually not too bad in here,” Cole yelled. His exclamation failed to reach Edith’s ears, though, as the foot shifted and thudded to the ground. Cole quickly scaled his friend’s smallest toes, and was nearly shaken of as she took a step forward.
The foot thudded to the ground several more times, paused at the door, then continued shaking Cole’s world as the giantess that controlled it moved forward once again. Finally, Edith reached a complete stop, and took the pressure off her feet to sit down and eat. With the exception of the occasional roll, Edith’s foot remained relatively still, giving Cole the opportunity to explore. The heat of her foot made the environment quite muggy, but there was a lot more room in there than in the earring to go exploring. Cole slid down the toe and crawled around the floor of the sock. He progressed to beneath the arch of his fiend’s foot and looked up. Pieces of lint and drops of sweat clung to the underside of the massive surface of flesh. Smiling mischievously, Cole reached up to tickle the foot, invoking a light giggle and a massive foot roll from his friend. He was sent flying to the back of the sock, and swiftly promised never to do that again.
After several more minutes of exploring the sock, Cole felt the weight shift again and moved towards the toes. Edith was getting up from the table to shower, and Cole didn’t especially want to feel her full weight on top of him. The giant teen walked them to the bathroom and gently pulled off her sock, tumbling Cole into her hand.
“So, how was it?” she asked with genuine curiosity. “I hope I didn’t hurt you when you tickled me.”
She playfully poked him as he responded. “It was actually pretty fun, but it was really hot and kinda wet in there.” Edith giggled and placed him on the cool sink top. She then found the fresh sock and placed it in front of him.
“Stay in there while I shower, okay?” He obeyed and went inside the neon-green cavern. He heard the sound of her clothes dropping to the floor and the shower door sliding to a close behind her. The sound of running water and heat from the tap filled the room as Cole waited for Edith to finish her shower. Once the water stopped, a few wet footsteps were heard followed by billowy fabric rubbing against a body. Edith finally finished getting dressed and showed Cole the results.
“Ta-da!” she exclaimed, “now I’m all fresh and clean.” She was dressed in a green long-sleeved flannel top with pants to match. She lifted up her shirt to expose what would have been her belly, and instead was a tight-fitting khaki brown tank top. “That way all I have to do is put on some pants and boots before we go.” She looked very excited to be doing this, and gave Cole a smile. “Now to put on my socks and go to bed. Are you ready?”
“Yep!” the tiny boy replied, “make sure to get me out before we leave. I want as much action as possible.” His excited demeanor was contagious, and Edith was nearly bouncing up and down in anticipation.
“Okay. Sleep well, Cole,” she said with a smile, lifting the sock up to her foot. This one was a lot tighter than the previous sock, and Cole was forced into the arch of the foot. But unlike before, Edith’s skin was cool to the touch, and it smelled of light soap. The boy took in his surroundings with each step towards the bed. He felt his friend lie down, and drifted off to sleep soon after.