James was only 23 years old when his life completely changed. It was the middle of summer, and the sun was beating down hard, causing temperatures that often went above 80 degrees. James never cared much for the heat though, in fact, he'd really rather be in a cooler climate. But of course, when everything in life costs money, including moving, people have to settle for what they currently have access to.

Now James had a bit of an unusual job for a guy. He worked at a shoe store, one that mainly catered to women's shoes. While it wasn't the first time a male had worked in a shoe store, it was still a rare sight to see. That being said, it certainly did help James out, if he ever wanted to hook up with some beautiful ladies. The store he worked at was very popular, and James knew he was in a good position. Many pretty ladies came in to buy all different sorts of shoes, and since he was not only attractive, but also working with one of women's favorite things, he seemed to be a good choice. However, this being said, relationships with James never lasted longer than a couple of dates, considering he wasn't the type to settle down, and he certainly wasn't ready for a commitment...

On this day, James had to work an all day shift, something that was a bit unusual. The young man was always flexible with his hours, but rarely did they ever schedule him to work from open to close. Of course, who was he to complain. While working the extra hours might mean having less free time, James was much more happy with the prospect of earning extra cash. Besides, for the most part, all he had to do was sit behind the counter. Occasionally, he'd go and restock shoe boxes, but most of the time, he was busy watching the customers from a distance, one eye on the people, the other eye on his phone.

Right now, it was about 2 in the afternoon, and oddly enough, the store was completely dead. In fact, even James' coworker had gone out for a late lunch. He was all alone, which wasn't something he really minded. If anything, it was nice to have a break from dealing with people. Yet, still, something seemed off, and James decided to walk up and down the aisles to make sure nobody was here that he had forgotten about...

As James reached the women's size 10 shoes, a sudden flash of light went off throughout the entire store. James felt a searing pain in his head, and he felt his ears ringing. Everything was blindingly white, and James couldn't seem to gather his bearings...

~~~

About 2 minutes had passed, when James' head pain seemed to subside, and his vision started to become clear again. The terrain in front of him was different, though. On either side, James was flanked by impossibly tall towers, and a less, but still pretty tall tower stood in his field of view. It took the young man a few moments to realize, but it wasn't long before he recognized his surroundings.

James hadn't gone anywhere at all. He was still in that same shoe aisle, the only difference being that now, his height had diminished from the once tall, 5'10", to a mere half an inch, give or take. For the next couple of moments, James began to panic, as he tried to covince himself that everything he was seeing was nothing more than just a dream. Certainly, this couldn't be real. He couldn't really have shrunken to such an impossibly small size. And yet, nothing had appeared to prove him otherwise. As much as he didn't want to believe what he had seen, James had no choice now, but to accept the fact that he had become nothing more than a speck of dust.

Having come to grips with reality, James was about to formulate a plan, when he heard an incredibly loud dinging sound, the sound that indicated a customer had come into the store.

Stomp.

Stomp.

James could hear the loud footsteps, presumably of a girl, starting to head his way. Maybe there were even two girls, he couldn't tell. All he knew right now, was that he needed to hide, if he were going to survive long enough to come up with something.

Stomp.

Stomp.

Sure enough, there were two girls, and they were heading straight for him. Moving surprisingly fast, James ran, narrowly avoiding being squished by the first girl. Still filled with adrenaline, James then began to climb the nearest shoe to him, a pair of slip-on converse.

Before long, James made his way to the top of the shoe, but before he could think of what to do next, another footstep made the ground shake beneath him, and he fell inside of the shoe.

Surprisingly, when James had landed, he had not broken any bones, nor did he feel much pain. It was a rather soft landing, and he couldn't tell if it was because of the insole, or if it was because of whatever had shrunk him. Either way, he began to look upwards, where he could finally get a decent view of the two girls who had entered his store.

The first girl, a blonde that stood at roughly about 5'2", was wearing a plain grey t-shirt, jean shorts, and pink flip flops. She had dazzling blue eyes, and she appeared to have just a little weight to her. She wasn't fat, or even really overweight, but it also didn't look like she starved herself.

The second girl was much different. She had an astounding height difference between herself and her friend. While her friend was short, this girl had to be 6' even, at the very least. She had brunette hair, hazel eyes, and some freckles that flecked her cheeks. She was wearing a green tank top, a pair of black bike shorts, and black flats to match. This girl was also more heavyset. Again, she definitely wasn't obese, but she also had some meat on her bones.

After observing them for a moment, James had heard them beginning to talk with each other. However, the young man had more pressing matters, such as making sure that he wasn't discovered before the appropriate time. In order to do this, James ran towards the toe of the shoe, so he would no longer be visible, if he was even visible beforehand. It's just a shame that he didn't listen in on the conversation happening above.

~~~

Jessica, the blonde, said, "Come on, Maria. You need a new pair of sneakers, and I'm sure you'll find some ones that you love here."

Maria responded, "Yeah, Jess, but this place is usually kind of pricey, and I'm not looking to spend a lot of money right now."

Jessica thought for a moment, before saying, "I'll help you pay for the shoes, if you really like them. Now, why don't you try those ones on, down there?"

Maria was unsure, "You don't have to Jess, but I suppose I can try them. I just... I don't have any socks with me, and I'm not wearing my ped socks either."

Jessica simply laughed, "Come on Maria, you mean to tell me that other girls haven't tried them on without socks. And furthermore, you don't think you yourself won't wear them without socks? The only reason you're not wearing your peds, is because you hate socks in the first place. It's going to be fine."

Maria conceded, "I guess you're right Jess." And then, in attempt to convince herself, she said, "Besides, this is the only store nearby that carries size 10 sneakers. Why don't people understand that women can have big feet too?"

Jessica simply said, "Well, I can't really speak, I'm only a size 7, maybe a 7 and a half on a good day."

With that, Maria bent down and picked up the pair of shoes her friend had been eyeballing, and she walked over to a little bench to try them on.

~~~

James' world was turned upside down, as just as he had reached the toe section of the shoe, he felt the floor slip from beneath him. If he hadn't had made it down to the tip before, this would've done it. It seemed as though somebody had picked up the shoe he had hid inside. Of course, they had to choose the single pair I wanted to hide out in. James thought to himself.

Before long, the ground became flat again, as the shoes were rested on the ground. Looking towards the mouth of the shoe, James was taken aback as he saw the biggest foot he had ever seen entering. Five monolithic toes, each painted a bright sky blue, were heading straight towards him, and he didn't have a plan of action.

It's at this time that it should be mentioned, James hates feet. Funny, huh? He works in a shoe store, yet he hates feet. But this is precisely why he hates feet. Having once been neutral towards the appendages, having to look at and sometimes even smell the feet of those who entered the store for two years now, he felt nothing but disgust when even just thinking about them. And yet, here they were, almost about to crash into him.

James braced himself for impact, but instead of being pushed down by one of her toes, he managed to find himself in between two of them instead. Specifically, the big and second toe.

This was arguably a worse fate than being squished, because the smell of sweat and ripe foot odor was magnified by a thousand in this little crevice. Furthermore, it was clear that this girl had issues with toejam, as he could see some built up where the two toes met at the foot.

Gagging, and nearly vomiting, James wasn't prepared for what happened next. As the foot wiggled around, James found himself forced into the previously mentioned toejam, hearing a squelching sound all around him. And then, the foot kept on moving, presumably because the girl was walking in the shoe, to make sure it was comfortable.

~~~

Maria had sat down, and she pulled her foot out of her flat. She could smell it almost immediately, and she warned Jessica, "You might want to stand back. I guess I have a little bit of foot stank right now." This, of course, didn't stop Maria from slipping her foot into the converse shoe. Once she had gotten the first shoe on, she quickly pulled on the second one, before standing up to walk around.

Jessica chimed in, "So, what do you think? Do I have excellent taste, or what?"

Maria smiled, "Oh my gosh, these are so comfortable. There's no question, I'm totally going to get them. Can you find me a cashier?" Having asked her friend to look, she paced back and forth, already sort of breaking in the shoes.

~~~

James was in hell, each step a nightmare. Even if he wanted to pull himself out of his position, the toejam was way too sticky, and when he did break free, a simple step easily knocked him right back in. Alongside the fact that he was stuck in toejam, the smell was horrific, and it didn't seem like it would be getting any better. Since it was so hot out, and the store didn't have air conditioning, the girl's feet began to sweat profusely. If anything good were to come out of that, maybe the sweat could break down the toejam, although James had his doubts.

~~~

Jessica came back with a frown on her face. "That's odd! I can't seem to find anybody to ring us out. I guess maybe we'll have to come back."

Maria, originally having had her reservations, now defended the original plan. "No, we can't just do that. I love these shoes. We have to wait... Or..." She came up with an idea to get around the issue of the unmanned register. "Why don't we just leave the money on the counter, and we can leave a little note?"

Jessica hesitated, before sighing, "I suppose. I don't feel very good about this, so just hurry up, put your flats back on, and let's get this over with. I'll write the note and leave the money."

Maria shook her head, "No, actually, I think I'm going to collect my flats, and just wear theses shoes out. They're really comfortable, and you're supposed to wear new shoes often, just so you break them in."

"Whatever, then just do that instead." Jessica said, finishing her note, and leaving the money behind. "Let's go."

~~~

Things weren't improving much for James. The sweat from the girl's foot had the opposite of the desired effect. Instead of breaking down the bonds of the toejam, it only strengthened them, whilst forcing some really salty liquids into most of James' orifices. In this moment, he wished he could die. But instead, as the girls began to leave the store, James knew he had a long day ahead of him.