Geof sat, his butt against the wooden floor, his back to the massive pillar that stretched high above him, eventually merging with the rest of the impossibly large table. He had been like this for hours, unable to think of anything else to do. His situation was less than ideal.

The main entrance to the house was to his left, a simple white door that had been the focus of his attention. It was his only hope of returning to normal. Hopefully soon, the others would come back and see him. Then they would help.

Geof didn’t know how any of this started. Only a few hours ago he had been his normal size, saying goodbye to the girls as they left for the mall. He heard the door close, returned to whatever he had been doing, then… black. When he woke up he was on the ground, his head spinning, his world changed.

The shadows in the main hall had been slowly creeping across the ground, making their way over the solid floor, rich with dust and dirt. He had been meaning to clean up recently. Looks like it was too late for that now.

“Shit,” he whispered, and not for the first time. He hadn’t been able to calm himself since the realization that he was shrunken. Whenever he tried, images of his now giant family filled his mind. The idea that a single step could squash him dead was disturbing, even horrifying.

Assuming that nothing had happened, there were three other people who lived in the house. Two were his older sisters, Erin and Emily. Geof shuddered to think what would happen if they found him like this. To normal sized humans, he was nothing more than a bug. Powerless. His sisters had always been a little cruel to him, playing jokes, laughing, making fun. He loved them, and knew that they loved him, but would they really help if they found him like this? He had to hope they would.

The last girl was his girlfriend, Jo. Sweet, lovely, perfect in every way. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that she would help him. But, he still needed a way for her to see him. At his current size, that was a problem he didn’t know how to solve.

Then there is the issue of simply surviving. He hadn’t encountered anything that posed a threat to his life yet, but he couldn’t be that lucky for long. There were bugs that would have him for a snack, massive objects, the massive heights that he could easily fall from, and perhaps most intimidating of all, the three girls.

One step. That's all it would take to kill him.

Geof shook his head, clearing those nasty thoughts from his mind. He needed to stay positive. He was overthinking things. The girl’s would come back, would see him when they took off their shoes, and that would be the end of it. They’d find out how this happened and change him back. Simple.

His stomach was still doing somersaults though. It's hard to just wish anxiety away.

Hours passed before Geof heard the familiar sound of a car pulling into the driveway, of doors soon slamming shut. They were back. This was his chance. The tiny boy took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself as he stood. “I'm alright,” he whispered to himself, heading out towards the center of the hallway, away from the relative safety of the table. Soon he found himself bathed in the light from the windows high overhead, as opposed to the deep shadow of the table.

Giggles, talking, footsteps, Geof could hear them all only a little bit away. Then a key slid into the lock, the knob turned. This was it. This is where he was found. “Come on Geof,” he said one last time. “You can do this.” The door swung open.

Instantly his confidence flooded out of him. To think about the size difference between him and the girl’s was one thing. To actually see them, to be within only a few steps, to have to crane his neck just to look at their faces, was another. But that wasn’t even the worst of it.

Erin, the eldest of his two sisters, came in first. She took a step inside, her Nike high-tops slamming on the ground with an enormous force. Geof had often fantasized about those shoes. Thought about the thick laces, imagined rubbing against the flat treads that made up the sole. He liked to think that the black and blue leather would be soft to the touch and that the well-worn bottoms would be light and malleable from years of use. Those fantasies seemed crushed by his new perspective.

His sister took another step, her foot slamming closer to Geof’s vulnerable body. Now the fabric looked hard and violent, the sole thick and powerful, her laces long and whip like. At his height he barely came up to the highest point of her sole. One badly placed step…

“Erin!” Geof started shouting, jumping up and down frantically, screaming at the top of his little lounges. He knew that he didn’t have much of a chance, that even the idea of giants like these hearing his microscopic please for help was laughable, but he had to try. He couldn’t just stay at this height until he died. “Erin please, look down. Its me!”

He lost his breath as his sister’s foot rose into the air, coming forward just enough to block out the light from the window, her sole hovering above head. Geof suddenly found himself engulfed by shadow, on the verge of being squished to death by his older sister.

Never before had he been able to make out such details of her sole. It was ridged completely, tiny bumps and grooves making up the entire surface. Still though, there wasn’t a single safe place. If it came down, if his body was still under it, he was crushed. He could make out tiny specks of things stuck to the bottom of her shoe. Perhaps just pieces of dirt, possibly mud and flecks of grass. Maybe the old, smashed carcass of one of the thousands of bugs she had squashed over her life. More so, he could see the cracks and folds that crossed her sole, the result of years of use.

Amazing, and awe-inspiring. The reality of the situation was almost too much for the tiny boy to really understand. His sister was about to step on him. This couldn’t have been reality. This was some form of hell, his sister’s turned into giant demons.  

He screamed then, jumping out of the way just in time, his body hitting the hard floor, the giant’s foot slamming only a little bit away. For a moment he was left in amazement, the gravity of things truly setting in. Her foot had hit the ground so hard, with so much force. There was no possibility of surviving something like that, and if he stayed out in the open his chances of being stepped on only grew. But, what other option did he have?

“Erin!” tiny Geof called again, pushing himself back up, trying to think of a way to actually reach the giants all around him. Erin’s foot moved as she walked, leaving his body behind. But it didn’t mean he was safe. Only a moment later, Emily’s foot landed close by, the sudden force making him jump. He hadn’t been looking, hadn’t even realized her foot was even close. If it had just been over a little bit more…

Then a shadow came over him once again. Geof reacted immediately, diving out of the way to avoid his sister’s murderous step. Her shoe came down where he was standing, missing his body by only the tiniest margin.

“Shit, shit,” Geof repeated, hastily pushing himself up once again. Already his arms and legs were bruised from the continuous impacts to the floor, his lungs were burning, his muscles were beginning to grow fatigued. He wondered how much longer he could continue this mad fight for survival.

Emily’s feet were much like her sister’s. Gigantic, probably smelly and dirty. She wore a pair of Jordan high tops, a red and white pattern decorating the sides and sole. As opposed to Erin’s old and worn out ones, Emily’s were practically brand new, barely any strain apparent in the sole or fabric. It was a sad thought to realize that if he was stepped on, his blood stain would actually tarnish them.

“Emily, please,” he began again, knowing that it was pointless. He was looking up at his sister now, his tiny body between her two massive feet, her breasts practically blocking out his view of her face. He hated to say it, but she was attractive. All three of them were gorgeous. Tall, athletic, skinny, in shape, sexy features and flowing hair, they were everything a guy would dream about.

Emily took another step, passing Geof, her footfalls echoing as she walked down the hallway. He was quick enough to turn around before the final giant’s step caught him by surprise. Jo was at the back of the group, lagging behind a bit as she closed the door.

“Jo, it's me! Geof! Please, I need help!” The girl didn’t look down. She didn’t hear his pathetic cries, didn’t think that her boyfriend would ever be in the sorry condition he was in. She simply took a step.

Jo was different from the other two, Geof had to have faith in that fact. She was a kind spirit, the type that felt bad whenever she killed a bug. She was an angel to little Geof. She even looked like it. Long brown hair that dripped down her back, wearing a light, white sweatshirt that loosely hung on her slender shoulders, wrapping around the curvature of her breasts. Blue eyes, a pale face, long eyelashes, and full lips. A delicate appearance to match her lovely personality.

Her DC skater shoe slammed into the ground, the earth rocking from the unimaginable force. Geof almost fell, but knew that doing so could be his end. “Jo, please,” he whimpered. “Don’t do this.”

“Hey guys,” the giant above him said, her words a deafening boom that rang in his ears. “If Geof in the kitchen?” For a moment the tiny bug let his hopes lift. She was looking for him! Maybe, just maybe, she’d actually find him. At least after a while.

“Nope,” came the answer. “Not in here.” Geof turned to see his sister Emily stepping back into the hallway, leaning absentmindedly against the doorway, her tongue sliding up the length of a lollipop. “Maybe he went out?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Jo said. Geof then turned, his spirits lifted, preparing to try one last time to make the girl notice him. What he failed to realize was that her foot was already arcing towards him.

“Jo, look-” His words were cut off as the toe of her shoe slammed into his tiny form. Without even the slightest effort, his girlfriend, the one girl he loved most in his life, smashed her foot into his chest, his body flying through the air.

He landed with a sickening thud a moment later, his limp form bouncing off of the unforgiving floor, traces of blood already spilling from the side of his mouth. His eyes were open, registering the ceiling thousands of miles up as it quickly moved along, the lights far above flickering slightly as he moved under them. Then he felt his head smash into the floor again, his body soon following, then rolling uncontrollably.

By the time he stopped, he found himself lying on something almost soft. His midsection was on fire, a burning sensation creeping from his ribs down to his stomach. Silently he wondered what the damage from such a blow would be. Broken bones? Ruptured organs? Torn muscles? And all of that was because of his girlfriend. Jo had kicked him, and she hadn’t even known.

He really was small. Nothing. Barely even a bug. His hand moved over the surface momentarily, feeling the forgiving, yet prickly fabric. No, he wasn’t even a bug. Bugs had life, they mattered, they had a purpose. Jo wouldn’t have kicked him if he had been a bug. She wasn’t that type of girl.

He must have been the hall carpet, he soon realized. How many other bugs had wandered onto this thing, seeking food or survival? How many others had been brutally kicked, or stepped on?

A shadow fell over the tiny boy then, and he remembered the horrid situation he was in. “Jo,” he said, his girlfriend's head moving forward, blocking out the ceiling light above. She looked beautiful like that. Huge and powerful, yet soft and delicate, the light forming a halo around her features. Simply perfect.

Then her foot arced over his head. “No,” Geof whispered, realizing that he wasn’t going to be able to dodge her shoe. No, this wasn’t something he could survive. The thousands of comparative tones about to crash down on his pathetic body would be too much. Her sole would smash into his face, his entire life turned into a bloody spot on the otherwise black bottom of her shoe. This was it. This was how he died. Stepped on by his giant girlfriend.

Her shoe came down, his screams reverberated off of the rubber surface. Instantly pain radiated through his body, far more intense than that of her kick. He felt his body compressing, his ribcage shrinking in on itself, his arms and legs on the verge of snapping, his face pressing into the hard grooves of her sole.

It was so dirty too. Well worn, mud and dirt jammed between the zigzag pattern of the sole. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. His life was just a darting pain that ran throughout his entire being.

But, worse than anything, was the humiliation. Jo was crushing him. She didn’t care, didn’t even think about his tiny form as it smashed against her sole. To her, he was less than a bug. A worthless creature that didn’t deserve her compassion or mercy.

The pressure was suddenly removed, light flooding back into his world. He could breath, his lungs viciously taking in the fresh air. But, more than anything, he was alive. A tiny smile escaped his dirt-covered lips. Jo didn’t kill him.

It must have been the carpet. It absorbed just enough of the pressure to allow him to live. He started rubbing his beaten hand against the rough fabric. It had saved his life.

“You want to get dinner started?” he heard someone say, her voice far off.

“Yeah, might as well. It’ll still take a while.”

“Should we make some for Geof?”

“Do we have to? He such an idiot.”

“Still, he’s our idiot.”

“Fine. Whatever.”