Her shoes now on, she wandered back downstairs, stopping only to grab her keys so she didn’t get locked out. The quicker this was over with, the better.

As soon she stepped outside, she regretted her decision. It was warm for this time of year, but it was still pretty chilly, goosebumps prickling up her arms. At least it wasn’t windy – that would probably have been enough to convince her to turn back and grab a jacket. But no, she was now dead set on this line of action, no matter the cost.

She was relieved to make it to the shop, hurriedly pushing her way into the comforting heat. It didn’t take too long to track down the delicious treat she was craving, although it did take her a moment to decide which flavour she wanted. Eventually, she settled on a classic – chocolate brownie. Not particularly adventurous, but pleasantly reliable.

She ended up picking up a few other munchies on her way to counter, the allure of chips and salsa a little too much for her to handle. Whatever. As far as she was concerned, she deserved it. Thankfully, she only had to wait for a short while before the few people in the queue in front of her finished, and she gratefully paid for the haul.

The food packed into a bag, she waltzed over to the door, hesitating for a moment, before heading back out into the cold.

The great pressure that was on top of him released for a moment, giving him just enough room to breathe, before almost immediately being reapplied. Against all odds, he wasn’t dead.

Instead, he was drenched with sweat – mostly not his own – and stuck to the underside of a giant toe. Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate. From what he could tell, he’d managed to avoid being crushed directly underneath one of them, instead having managed to end up slightly to the side of one. Aside from being alive, though, it hardly made much difference.

He’d been able to move around for the first couple of steps, enough to manoeuvre himself into a position where he wouldn’t suffocate to death, but soon his situation had become much stickier. He never thought he’d be able to sympathise with sock fluff, but he really did right now – much like that fluff, he was bound by sweat and friction to the skin of the toe, unable to move. All he could taste right now was foot, his face buried deep into it.

But the worst thing was the constant rising and crashing, as presumably this woman was walking around. It was a struggle to even think about the absurdity of the situation, but the repeated pounding to his head made it impossible to consider anything but the need to survive from second to second.

There was no way to tell how much time was passing, but it hardly mattered. Any time at all here was far too long. But then, after what seemed like forever, things slowed to a stop. There was still the occasional step, but they were far less violent and frequent. His conscious brain had a chance to reboot, taking in what little he could about the environment around him.

The air had somehow become far hotter and even more humid, most likely due to the very active foot he was now sharing this shoe with – he was drenched in sweat, but it was difficult to tell how much of it was his own. But that was nothing compared to the sweltering heat emanating from the skin itself, which seemed to be flooding through him like a never-ending wave. He would’ve liked nothing more than to peel himself off, just to get away from it, but right now, he could do neither this or anything else that didn’t involve being stuck here.

He tried to block this all out, turning his attention to his other senses. It was hard to tell, but he thought he could make out… voices? They sounded far away and muffled, and he certainly couldn’t make out any words, but there was definitely someone out there. Someone who could help him if they just knew he was here.

Despite his previous attempts being futile, he once again tried to pry himself off the clingy skin. Of course, he was met with as little success as before, his limbs being pulled straight back to their place immediately, and his shouts muffled. At this point, he almost hoped that his unwitting captor was secretly aware of his presence, just ignoring him out of some kind of cruel sadism. In a way, that’d be easier to deal with than the idea that he was so insignificant that even the woman who’s skin his face was currently smushed into didn’t care enough to notice him.

It was at this point he heard a familiar sound, one he wasn’t expecting to hear right now – the sound of coins jangling against each other, far above.

Once again, several clues clicked together in his brain, finally being able to work out where he was – or rather, where she was. The long period of walking, the unfamiliar voices that seemed to be totally unrelated to his situation, the sound of money being exchanged. He’d apparently been dragged onto some kind of shopping trip. If this was him, right now, best case scenario, he would—

Right on cue, he felt himself being lifted upwards, before being violently smashed down into the ground. And then up, and down, and up, and down, and up, and down…

Any tears were lost into the new torrent of sweat from his travelling partner.

She sighed as she burst through the door for the second time, this time somewhat more pacified in the knowledge that she definitely wouldn’t have to go out again. The warmth of the heated home had hardly been noticeable before, but she was particularly grateful for it right now, the escape from the chilly outside more than welcome.

She placed the plastic carrier bag onto the coffee table, and began unloading it. Each object was regarded carefully before being put down in their various places, each positioned such that she would be able to reach them all without having to stand back up later. The last item, right at the bottom, was the very thing she’d made the trip for to begin with. Carrying the ice cream with her, she practically skipped into the kitchen to collect a spoon.

There was now nothing stopping her from slumping down permanently into the sofa, which she did so with reckless abandon, more falling than sitting. Once again, she switched on the TV, and was quickly able to relocate the same show she’d intended to watch earlier. Perhaps too eagerly, she popped open the tub, setting down the lid next to her, and rammed the spoon into the dairy dessert.

Everything was perfect – there was no reason she had to leave this spot for the rest of the night. She wriggled around in her seat for a moment, carving out a comfy alcove, before slipping off her flats and resting her feet on the table in front of her.

He wished he was dead. He wished that he’d been squashed under these toes as soon as they’d entered this shoe, and he wished that he didn’t have to live through any of this. He was alive sure, but what kind of life was this? Slathered in sweat that wasn’t his, absolutely no chance of freedom, not even able to see. Was he going to be stuck to this skin forever – nothing more than a speck on a woman’s foot? Or was he going to be trapped inside this shoe until he starved to death? Neither fate seemed worth living for, but it was no longer his choice.

After another eternity, he once again felt the pounding steps slow down, but he wasn’t deceived like he was last time. As expected, the steps continued, less intense and constant, but still continuing nonetheless. It was perhaps slightly less uncomfortable, but it hardly mattered – it wouldn’t help him escape from this prison of flesh, rubber and leather.

He could hear noises outside, not voices this time, just general movement. He paid little attention to it – what was the point of thinking about the outside world anymore? It wasn’t like he was a part of it anymore. For whatever reason, the universe had decided that his fate was far less significant. He was going to be stuck here, until either he died, or she died, or maybe even both. For the first time since this started, he allowed himself to drift slowly out of consciousness, giving into the toxic atmosphere he found himself in.

But the universe had different ideas.

He was awoken by the sensation of yet again being lifted into the air. For a moment, he thought he’d been thrust back into pacing hell, but it quickly became apparent that was different. He was being raised far higher than he had before, blood being sapped away from his head, and more importantly, he could feel cold air washing over him, as if flying. He was still bathed in heat from the skin he was attached to, but that wasn’t what he cared about right now.

His heart pounded as his brain attempted rational thought, allowing him to deduce what was going on. He squirmed around, the sweat that had bound him beginning to evaporate. At first nothing much changed, but soon he was able to break free a singular hand. His fingers pushed down and against the soft flesh, liberating an entirely arm. He wasted no time using it to pull on his own head, finally ripping his face away from the toe.

Exasperated laughter escaped him as he took deep breaths in the relatively fresh air.