Tina hung in limbo. Specifically, she hung upside down with her numbed legs pinched possessively between the gymnastic toes of the one and only Serene Terran. But it was hard to tell these days.

            The young Olympic star had been making even greater strides than usual, hitting PR after PR, and the girl attributed these gains to the changes in her workout recovery: specifically, the addition of her half-inch shrinkie. That first flexible cooldown session was just the beginning. Apparently her coaches had argued for giving her even more of them, perhaps one for every toe, but Serene was insistent: her “little woman” would do the job alone.

            Which meant Tina was on duty 24/7. Just like her young owner had explained during that first meeting, while there was a little wiggle room for adjusting to the situation, there wasn’t much, and there were unholy expectations of Tina. Too scared of what this leviathan gymnast could do to her if she was displeased, Tina had at last given in: massages using her whole body as the tool, plus infinite kisses and tongue baths.

            “Today was god-danged spectacular! Near-perfect form, the coach said, but she’s always tough. Not that I blame her,” Serene prattled as she reclined on her bed, with Tina dangling from her chalk-dusted digits. As if it wasn’t enough insult-to-injury that she forced the half-incher to worship her tired feet, she had to ramble throughout the heinous act. “But really, you saw me! I was off that bar like an egg off the roof of a henhouse. Haha! My grandpa used to say that when he meant he was going somewhere fast. I don’t know why. Hey, are you listening still?”

            Serene’s toes pinched. The meaty walls caved in on Tina’s ribs, threatening to bruise them, but stopped short of doing so. That good-natured Southern belle-effected voice haunted the shrunken woman’s dreams; of course, something far more powerful haunted her days.

            “Yes,” Tina peeped. Shaken back to partial cogency, she resumed rubbing the nearest punching bag-sized toe upon the petite athlete. She tried to lick it as well, but couldn’t reach far enough. The haze of balmy sweat-fog was evidently impeding her depth perception.

            “What’s up with you today, little lady? I know I’ve been talkin’ your ear off, probably, but this is what I do when things are going well, you know? And they are going well. At this rate, we’ll be taking home at least three golds. Yeah, you heard me!” Serene explained. “So what’s the deal? What do ya want from me?”

            Tina sighed as the monstrous toes “hugged” her again, squeezing out another drop of sweat into her hair, then responded too quietly to be heard: “All I wanted was your autograph. That’s all.”

***

For the first time in my tenure here, a chapter didn't meet the length requirements, which is fun. Hey, I did say this collection of stories would vary in the size of its chapters as well as its athletic participants. Sometimes you gotta leave them wanting more, and sometimes you have to stall to fulfill the word count requirement, like I'm doing at this exact moment.

Next bit will have a little more meat on the bones. Stay tuned!