If Jake knew how his day would turn out, he would have probably stayed at home.

At the time he worked at the physics lab of the Matheson's Science Institute, the most prestigious research centre in the City (and, some would say, the entire state). He was a thin man of an average height in his late twenties, his hair dark and cut short, his eyes blue and narrow. Those who knew him personally would say he was passionate about his work, and quote his frequent assurances about him being "at a breakthrough of transportations, logistics and, basically, everything" . Those who worked with him would call him impatient and zealous in regards to the experiments he and his team conducted. Some would go as far as to call him a jerk because of it. But that was only scratching the surface; Jake simply wanted everything to go according to his design, from the timetable of the experiments to when and how their results would be studied. The very thought of an irregularity in his daily schedule or a lack of necessary equipment at hand would irritate him. And, unfortunately for him, that day both of these things happened to him at once. The experiment he planned to conduct was missing one essential component - Nathan, his assistant, who was absent that day and whose presence and expertise were necessary for the experiment. Lacking that, Jake thought of using Nathan's notes but they too were nowhere to be found. The logical conclusion was to visit him at home and obtain either him or his papers. And so, cursing himself for relying on people rather than himself, Jake got into his car and drove towards Nathan's place.

Before he knew it, he was right at his apartment complex, having driven faster than usual. He felt himself irked again and took a few deep breaths before getting out of the car. He was always trying to be a careful driver and not go over the limit, at least in the city. He promised himself to drive slower on his way back. Before he entered the building, he looked himself over in the car's window, checking his white shirt and brown tweed trousers for any stains he might have gotten from the lab. Not finding any, he quickly made his way inside and took a lift to the sixth floor, then checked the address in a notebook he carried on him at all times ("better safe than sorry") before knocking on the door. Then he waited. Then he waited some more. Then he took a few deep breaths again as he felt yet another wave of irritation wash over him and only then did he knock again. He heard footsteps coming from the other side and then the door opened. To his surprise, it wasn't Nathan he was looking at but a very tall, very sleepy girl (for he estimated she was a few years younger than him) who was rubbing one eye and squinting at him with the other.

"Sorry, didn't hear you. You should've rang the bell" she said, and soon after covered her mouth as she yawned. Jake looked to the side, noticing the bell. How could he have missed it? "You need something?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Is Nathan home?"

"Nathan?" she asked, as if hearing the name for the first time in her life. "No, he's at his parents place, in the country. He said his dad was sick or something and he had to spend some time at home... You guys are friends?"

"We work together. When did he leave?"

"What day's today?"

Jake blinked, surprised. "It's Thursday".

"Oh yeah, then he left on Monday. Yeah. He didn't tell you?"

Jake wasn't aware of any absence notice from Nathan. Which, seeing how confused he seemed to be today, could mean there was one and he either ignored it or forgot about it. "I... guess I didn't know. But never mind that, I don't need him, I-"

"That's kinda cold" the girl said, looking down at him through her drowsy, grey eyes.  

"What is?"

"Saying you don't need him. I mean, he's your friend, so."

Jake's lips curled up in a polite smile, as he tried to hold his irritation in. He was slowly running out of time and patience. "What I mean is, I don't specifically need him, but his notes. For work. Did he leave something for me?"

"And you are?"

Of course, he thought, I forgot to introduce myself. "I'm Jake. And you must be Nathan's..."

"Roomie. I'm Sam." She took a step back. "Come in, we'll go find your notes."

He entered the apartment and closed the door behind him. He was aware Nathan was living with a roommate, he thought he remembered the name Sam being dropped at one conversation, but he never realized "Sam" was a girl. She was already moving ahead of him, walking slowly in her sleepy state and Jake finally took a closer look at her. She was one head taller than him, which put her well over six feet in height. Her arms, legs, even her neck were long and thin, befitting someone as tall as her. Her choice of attire seemed to raise a few questions with Jake. She was wearing a pair of black leggings, torn in so many places he couldn't decide whether it was fashion or neglect, revealing fair skin beneath them. Over the leggings she wore dark grey shorts and a sleeveless, short tank top in the same colour, her midriff being bare, her flat stomach visible. And then, the hair. Dyed light blue, as if she poured the sky, or at least a cheap energy drink over her head, barely reaching her shoulders, messy. It was clear to Jake she's only just woken up, as if it wasn't the moment he laid eyes on her. He glanced at her bare feet. Large, even larger than his. Suddenly, not knowing why, Jake felt small next to her. He never felt like this before, neither has he been self-conscious about his height. Then again, he never met a girl Sam's height, he concluded. He tried to shake this feeling off as she led him to Nathan's room.

She entered the room first and immediately approached the desk by the window. "Give me a minute, he left some papers here. You want something to drink? Coffee, maybe?"

"No, thank you." Jake looked around the room, impressed by how tidy and organized it was. Even though its occupant was gone for a few days now, he couldn't spot a single grain of dust on the furniture or bookshelves. "I won't be long," he added, turning his attention to Sam, who was standing with her back to him. Even leaning over the desk she looked unnervingly tall to him.

"I'm a poor host, aren't I? Sorry about that, I'm not very awake early in the morning."

"It's one in the afternoon."

"Yeah, early. Oh? Found it!"

She turned with a glee, holding a stack of papers in her hands. As Jake approached her to take them, something grabbed his attention. There in the middle of the desk stood a curious, metallic object, a rod roughly a foot in length, with a coil at its tip. At the bottom was a small console with a dark green touch screen. He knew what it was - they had several such devices at the lab. But what was it doing here?

"What, this?" Sam asked, following his gaze. "Funny thing, isn't it? Nathan called it... Well, I forgot what he called it. Something to do with moles and cooling, I think?"

"Molecules," Jake corrected her, speaking slowly. At this point he was no longer irritated, he was furious and doing his best to not let it show. "It's a molecule regulator."

"What's it do?"

"It..." he started and stopped himself. He couldn't tell her what it did, as it would be a severe breach of security. The technology was experimental and secret and no one outside the lab knew about it. Or rather no one should know. Just the fact that he was staring at it outside the laboratory environment was trouble. For him, for the project, hell - for the whole institute. Then there was the question of how much Sam knew about it. Not much, he hoped, if she couldn't even remember the name right. But he had to check. "Honestly? I don't really know," he turned to her, putting on a fake and (he hoped) convincing enough smile to coax her into talking. "What do you think it does?"

"Oh, I don't know either. But I like the interface," she said and reached out towards the console. Jake froze as he watched her click around, pressing commands she couldn't possibly understand with her long, thin fingers, so fast he couldn't even see what exactly she was clicking on. "Makes me feel like I'm in a sci-fi movie. Like Star Trek. Yeah, they had things like this on Star Trek, remember?"

"Never seen it," Jake admitted, his eyes still glued to the console.

"I used to watch it when I was little."

"You were?"

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You sure you don't want some coffee? You seem kinda tense."

Yes. Buy some time. "Sure, why not? Please." Another fake smile. He watched her leave the room and turned his gaze back to the device as soon as she was gone. It couldn't stay here, this much was obvious. And if Sam was ignorant about its purpose, all the better. He could take it back to the lab, stash it in the back with the rest, no one would ever know. No one would ever notice it was gone. For a moment Jake forgot about the notes, about Nathan, about any experiment he had scheduled for today or anything else for that matter, the only thing occupying his mind was to safely take the regulator back to its intended place. As he was about to grab it he realized he was hearing something, a low humming coming from the device and he froze once more, his hands in the air. And then he blinked and the world slipped away.

He was somewhere else and yet he wasn't. It took him a moment to realize where, what happened, whether out of shock or disbelief. But eventually it all became evident. He was staring at the desk from the floor, except the former looked several hundred feet tall and the latter seemed to stretch for miles behind him. He didn't know whether to laugh or to scream. He shrank. How could it be possible? Of course, technically it was - he was currently a proof of that. The scariest thing of it all was the scale, the fact how utterly minuscule he was right now. He wasn't a foot tall, he wasn't four inches tall, he wasn't even one inch tall. Judging by his surroundings Jake realized he was no bigger than half an inch in height - and barely. And then came the tremors, without warning, without a time to prepare. A series of low, booming noises coming from afar, getting closer and louder until he finally saw Sam's silhouette in the doorway. Nothing could prepare him for the sight unfolding before him. She was huge, colossal, mind-bogglingly enormous and as she entered the room the floor under Jake shook with each step her giant feet made as she walked. And even though he could clearly see she was moving towards him, he was paralyzed, unable to even budge. Fortunately for him the giantess eventually stopped, just an inch or two from where he was standing. By then it became even more apparent just how tiny he had become: her feet were the size of islands, her big toe was taller than him, even the smallest of her toes seemed to dwarf him now. Compared to Sam, he was an insect.

"Gone already?" a thunder boomed far, far above him. Her voice, spoken at a normal tone, was now unnaturally loud to him, even though he was so far away from her lips. "Oh well."

He watched her colossal feet turn before him and carry the rest of her impossibly enormous body with them, her deafening footsteps shaking the ground. And without a second thought Jake started to run after her.

It was like chasing a pair of elephants. Except not really, since Sam's feet were much, much bigger than any elephant (or any trunk animal for that matter) that has ever roamed the earth. And louder. Each step she took was an assault on his ears, as if he found himself next to a line of cannons, each going off in regular intervals, and it was nothing short of miracle that his eardrums didn't end up ruptured. It was also ultimately futile; one step of hers was like a hundred of his and Jake barely made it several inches in when Sam was already out of the room. Why did he even try to catch up with her, he wondered. Obviously he needed her help to reverse his sorry state, even if he doubted her mental faculties. But the perspective of being stuck at this size was enough to push him into action. And to get her help he needed to get her attention first, and to get her attention... He realized he had a long way to do that.

Standing in the middle of a hardboard floor, a pale brown plain stretching in all directions, Jake did the only thing he could at the moment: started to wage his options. Getting to her was hard enough as it was, considering the distances he would have to make and the ever present danger of getting stepped on by her. Then was the question of how exactly should he get her attention and he found himself clueless. He decided to figure something out when he gets to her, as time was of the essence. The sooner she notices him the sooner she would help him (or at least, he hoped, try to). There was no telling whether his current state was fixed for the moment or permanent or, which would be the worst outcome, whether he might get even smaller. Jake shuddered at the thought of becoming even more minuscule, determined to get to Sam as quickly as his tiny legs could allow him to. As he walked on he looked around his surroundings, partly out of necessity and partly out of curiosity. He half-expected the world to look different to him now and was almost disappointed to realize it really didn't; everything looked the same, except bigger. More of the same, yet in much more detail and said detail became apparent to him the moment he glanced at the floor. Here and there he could make out small puddles of some liquid strewn around and as he passed one, he could tell by the smell it was her sweat. He wasn't really surprised by that, as it was a normal thing to expect from a human being, even this big. Or maybe especially this big. But the idea of being able to see literal sweat drops falling off Sam's body perplexed him a little. Deciding to ignore that, he pressed on and a few minutes later he was out of the room as well. He found himself in a short (at least to a normal-sized person) hall and looked around to try and locate Sam's room. He found it quickly by noise alone and he cautiously walked towards it, hugging the wall. It was, he thought, the safest way to keep moving and avoid getting under Sam's foot at the same time.

When he finally made it to her room he was welcomed by a cacophony of high-pitched, electronic sounds. From the entrance he saw Sam's enormous form sitting on the couch in the distance, playing an Xbox, her attention glued to a small tv screen nearby. There was a white rug between her and where Jake was standing and he shook his head upon realizing he'd have to go through it to reach Sam. The alternative was to walk around it, but he decided he had no time to waste. He carefully stepped into the rug and walked on. Fortunately the fibres were shorter than him, so he could look out towards Sam for any movement from her part. The fact that she was sitting perfectly still helped him concentrate just on reaching her. But then another curious thing had him stop in his tracks. He entered a spot where the fibres were bent, lying low, as if something pressed them down. He quickly figured out he was standing in Sam's footprint and realized once again just how utterly tiny he was now, another subtle humiliation of many more to come. Still he pressed on and still he observed the giantess looming up ahead for any signs of her suddenly getting up and stomping her way where he was currently walking. But the remainder of the journey went on undisturbed and eventually Jake found himself exiting the rug onto the floor under the couch, next to Sam's enormous right foot. At first he tried calling out to her, several times, but he did not notice any reaction from her part. He wondered whether she couldn't hear him because of the tv, because of being focused on the game or simply because he was now too small for the giants to register his voice. Since that didn't work, he opted to get closer, approaching her foot in very slow, very cautious steps. One sudden move from her would be the end for him, she would only need to budge her foot two inches to the left to snuff the life out of him. Jake still couldn't come to terms with just how colossal she was now, how her foot alone, hell, how her toes alone dwarfed him. He felt humiliated more than he felt himself in danger, while at the same time knowing he needed her help, forcing himself to get closer and closer until he was standing right next to her little toe. Not so little up close, not to him at least. Now what, he thought. He slowly reached out and put his hand on the toe's surface, wondering if such a minute touch would be enough to be felt. Her skin felt warm under his touch and he could have sworn he also felt the rush of her blood beneath it. But sure enough, it wasn't enough to get noticed. He coiled his hand into a fist and bumped her toe, being gentle at first, then again, harder. And again. And still he felt no reaction from her, as he couldn't see her face past her knees from where he was standing. Jake felt the frustration and humiliation wash over him, getting the hold of him and carrying him past the boiling point. He was furious - at Nathan, at her, at himself for getting into this mess. If it wasn't for Nathan who, for the reasons he had no time to think of, smuggled a very experimental piece of equipment into his home and for his giant, absent-minded bitch of a roommate, he wouldn't be stuck at such a miserable height right now, he wouldn't have to suffer the humiliation of literally crawling at Sam's feet. He hit her toe again, and again, then he kicked it, then he started using both his arms and his legs. And when he finally ran out of breath and he could no longer feel his hands or move his legs, he slowly looked up and noticed what he feared would happen: nothing. His futile attempts at causing Sam harm went completely unnoticed by the giantess. He wasn't an insect, Jake realized, he was even less than that. Resigned, he sat on the floor with his back to Sam's toe. He was finished; she could crush him for all he cared, grind his body to paste just by laying her foot on top of him. He couldn't care less what happens next.

And then he realized how foolish he was acting. He was one of the most brilliant minds of his institute, hell, maybe even his age. He deserved better than to end up crushed like a bug. He would scale the giantess's body, get her attention and then instruct her on how to get him back to his normal height. And he would do all that before sunset, because (as he concluded long ago), setting a deadline was the first step of getting the job done. And he could do deadlines. His energy and will back, he jumped to his feet and glanced over Sam's foot, searching for a good spot to begin his hike. But unfortunately for him he could not start climbing her up right then and there, as reality picked that very moment to hit him - in the form of Sam's foot, the same he was standing right next to. She only budged it, moved it slightly to the right, a movement so small and delicate even she wasn't aware of doing it. But it was more than enough for Jake, and the sudden collision tossed him to the ground, leaving him lying there, gasping for breath. It took a long while for him to finally be able to get up and stand straight. It also served as a reminder of what exactly he was dealing with: one wrong move from his or her part and he's finished. And so, when Jake has finally decided to move, he did so carefully. He walked around her foot, trying to keep a safe distance, despite how improbable it was given the size of her feet, until he decided her big toe was his safest bet. He approached it quickly, yet cautiously, and grabbed onto the ridges on her skin, using them as a sort of step ladder. Jake wasn't an experienced climber, so it was fortunate for him Sam stayed still at that moment, as he would have quickly ended up under the massive lump of her big toe if she didn't. Eventually he made it onto her toenail. He could make out several spots of leftover nail polish on its otherwise natural surface, the same bright-blue colour as her hair. As he pressed on, he almost felt like walking on a frozen lake, then, once he made it onto her big toe proper, like walking on a collapsed sequoia. It felt easier to him to think of his surroundings as, well - surroundings, natural things strewn around the natural world. It was easier to register in his brain than to think of what he was really doing, walking across a human being's foot. But who was really a human being there, he wondered. Sam shifted her foot once again, almost making Jake trip, but he managed to uphold his balance and continue on towards her ankle. The air was hot and thick with sweat and the scent of Sam's skin, all radiating from her body and Jake had to unbutton his shirt a bit as he felt himself suffocating. He made it to her leggings and began his ascent, carefully grabbing onto their surface and climbing up. At least her clothes were easier to climb than her skin, he thought. Still, he had to climb around the holes in the material, knowing full well he couldn't hold on to the smooth skin on her legs and possibly even risk sliding all the way down to the floor. He couldn't help but wonder, as he pressed on, whether the fall would kill him. On one hand sure, he was small and fragile now but on the other he was light. Very light, in fact. Technically, there was a chance jumping down from where he was (and he made it roughly to her knee when he was pondering about it) would not harm him. But he wasn't eager to test his little theory, having more pressing matters on his mind.

Climbing on the top of Sam's knee felt more like what Jake would imagine mountain climbing to be like. The surface was hard and harsh and rugged and he did not enjoy it at all. But the climb tired him out and so, seeing the giantess still invested in her game and relatively immobile, he decided this was a good enough spot to rest, if only for a moment. He sat down and looked around the room. The tv was still making loud, irritating noises in the distance, its light a myriad of colours, like a sun that was going through a cosmic mental breakdown. He could see Sam's hands tightly holding a controller, pressing buttons bigger than him with ease, the sound of it echoing even through the noise. Eventually Jake's attention followed elsewhere. From his position he could, straining his neck, see Sam's face all the way above him, high up in the sky. Her grey eyes were still fixed on the screen and her mouth was parted. Suddenly, Jake noticed something hanging in the corner of the latter, something transparent, something that seemed to be-

He barely dodged as the object came crashing right where he was sitting with a loud, slapping noise. His eyes open wide in shock, he realized quickly what it was that just fell from Sam's mouth - a drop of saliva. Far above him the giantess was wiping her mouth with her free hand, while Jake sat there for a moment, laughing at his surreal situation. He was almost crushed to death because this girl was salivating. How would that look on a tombstone? And above him and around him the giantess remained ignorant of the whole ordeal.

As Jake looked around his surroundings from the top of Sam's knee, he realized his options were rather limited. He wouldn't dare try climbing the giantess's bare midriff, knowing full well he'd easily slip and fall before he made any progress. If only she wore something that covered her torso, something to actually grab on to, like he did to her leggings moments before. He couldn't move forward, he couldn't stay in one place too long, he could only wait until the colossus shifted into a more climbable position. And watch for any signs of dangers for him, in the meantime. His mobility, as he quickly became aware, depended on when and how the colossus would stir. It felt infuriating to him, the idea of being restricted by somebody like that. And humiliating too; even being this close, literally sitting in her lap, he could not make her aware of his existence. If he was a few inches tall his task would be easier, but at such a miserable size he couldn't even blame Sam for ignoring him. For all she knew he might have been a piece of lint or a speck of dust stranded on her clothes, or an insect to be flicked off and stepped on, which Jake, being the size of one, feared the most. That is also why he was so determined to eventually reach her eardrums, to ensure she doesn't take him for a bug and treats him as if he were one. But still, he was stuck. Her midriff rose before him and above him like an enormous wall of pale stone, like an impenetrable fortress, like it was mocking him. He sighed and resigned himself to wait some more. Eventually he got his wish, as the giantess put the controller down, finished with her game. He felt his world shift as Sam brought her titanic legs closer, wrapping her long arms around them and pushing her knees up, tucking herself. Such a normal gesture, a shift in position but from tiny Jake's perspective it felt like an awesome spectacle of power magnified to gigantic proportions. Her arms were like bridges, her legs like high towers, her breath (which he could hear now that the tv was no longer playing) a regular, repetitive thunder up there, in the heavens. There was so much of her and so little of him now. So little, in fact, that she would probably not even feel him as he climbed the rest of her up. Which, remembering she could always mistake him for an ant, Jake partially hoped for.

Fortunately for him now he had something to hold on to, what with her knees touching the material of her short, sleeveless top. Jake wasted no time in running for it, grabbing onto the material and carefully making his way up. He quickly found himself climbing up her very breasts. While Sam wasn't particularly developed in that area, they still looked massive to the tiny scientist turned climber, two massive mounds of flesh, the size of hills. They rose and fell with each breath, which Jake could no longer only hear but also feel, gusts of warm air blowing all over his body, further complicating his journey. Still he pressed on until he was standing on the top of Sam's right shoulder. Before him rose a giant dome of her head, covered in a thick forest of alien, light blue trees her hair now was, so bright he almost felt disoriented looking at it. Somewhere hidden underneath that thicket was her ear and Jake knew he had one more way to go and once again upwards. He was so close now, closer than ever before. Soon he would make contact with Sam and she would help him regain his normal height and they would laugh this whole mess off in no time. Or at least she would, as Jake was still not amused by what has happened to him. But before he could approach her hair and begin the climb the giantess moved once again, her massive body shifting so quickly and unexpectedly Jake lost his balance and fell to his knees. He could see one humongous limb reach out to the side, pull some giant plastic bag closer and open it. The inside of the bag, now directly beneath where Jake was standing, was bright red, like a volcano. The giantess leaned forward, another sudden motion sending her tiny passenger flying off her shoulder. Jake screamed as he fell, his tiny voice remaining unregistered by the giant woman's ears, and he only stopped when he was deep inside the chasm. Upon impact, he realized the force of the fall made him chip a tooth, and he spit out a tiny chunk of bone as he tried to get his bearings. A sharp, irritating smell hit his nostrils. He stood up and realized he was covered from head to toe in bright red dust, caking his clothes and hands and face. He screamed again, in frustration, as it became clear to him he was now trapped in a bag of Cheetos. But his anger was soon replaced by fear, as massive sequoias of Sam's fingers made their way inside, grabbing onto the chips and lifting them into the air, and Jake had to run to avoid being snatched and dropped into her mouth with the rest of a Cheeto. Which, of course, eventually happened to him; in his panicked state, trying to outrun Sam's fingers, he tripped on the very chip the giantess picked up. He was sent flying up with the bright orange rock he was currently lying on and tossed without warning into the gaping chasm of Sam's mouth, leaping off the Cheeto just in time as her massive teeth obliterated it with loud, crashing noises. Trapped within, Jake tried his desperate best to avoid being swallowed or trapped between her molars, all the while choking on the brine of her saliva mixed with Cheeto dust, coughing it up as it filled his lungs. And in the meantime the giantess would not stop chewing, her jaw working around him like a set of massive cogs of some hellish machine. The sensation of it all was unbearable for Jake's tiny body and mind, the noise deafening to his tiny ears and the air inside damp and hot and toxic. By the time he nestled himself somewhat safely behind her lower canine, he was as exhausted as he was terrified. And still the worst was yet to come.

He felt her move, her entire, titanic body standing up. The massive pillars of her legs, now seemingly so far below, carrying her away with thundering steps he could hear even from his fleshy prison. Then he felt her stop and stay still for a moment, then take a singular step, then she was still again. There was a noise coming from the outside, a continuous rumble driving him mad. Her lips parted and the light poured in, reflecting off her teeth, blinding him. The noise, he realized, was that of a rushing water - she was in the shower. And then a massive object made its way into the cavern of her mouth, something long and thin and ending in white, thick mass. Jake screamed as he saw it coming right for him, then again as he realized what it was. He was once again choking and spitting, his entire being covered in toothpaste as his tiny body was being jerked around Sam's lower teeth. Before long he was flowing out of her mouth, still embroiled in the spit and the paste, rolling down her chin. Another fall, onto her breast, and another set of rolling down until he managed to grab onto something dark, something covered in bumps - her nipple. It was bigger than him, as everything on Sam's body was, but Jake had no time to contemplate the humiliation of being smaller than a woman's nipple. Soon the waters came; the massive, steely, implacable dome of the showerhead pouring the rain down on him and washing him away. Jake lost his grip and felt himself falling again, landing on the vast plain of her thigh, then being carried away by the water even more. Down her knee, down her shin, onto the island of her foot and he would not stop, despite his desperate attempts at grabbing onto something, anything, but Sam's skin was too wet, too slippery to hold on to. In his mind he begged her and God to save him, but his pleas fell on deaf ears of either of the two, and so he fell into the sea that has formed at Sam's feet, of water and soap foam, and the flow carried him all the way to the drain.

And then he stopped. He was no longer moving anywhere as, he realized, he was tangled. The drain was clogged with light blue hair that had fallen from Sam's head, some fresh and strong like brand new ropes, some brittle and already rotting. Either way, the writhing mass saved him from being washed away into the sewers and it would later help him crawl out. He stayed still for a moment, catching his breath and trying (and failing) to calm his nerves, as the giantess stomped the shower base above him with her terrifying, gigantic feet, the terrible sound they made echoing through the cement. As long as she was inside, he would not risk getting out and into the area where she could be taking a step. The entire ordeal traumatized him and left him feeling powerless, utterly humiliated. Not so long ago, barely hours, he was a full-sized, independent man in charge of his fate. Now he was a piece of dirt trapped between strands of discarded hair of a woman thousands of times his size. A woman who, despite his efforts, was still unaware of his existence. He was so close, up there on her shoulder, and it all went to ruin in just a few, quick movements. His motivation was in ruin as well, and so were his clothes - his shirt and trousers torn apart from being shoved around by her toothbrush, now loosely hanging from his shrunken body. He was barefoot too, his shoes having slipped sometime in the middle of this whole mess. Resigned and demoralized, he waited in the darkness of the drain until the coast was clear, until the giantess stepped out of the shower and left the bathroom. Then he crawled out, the hair surrounding him helping him to climb, until he finally found himself on the blinding-white plateau of the shower base. He began walking around its edges, the walls taller than he was, looking for a spot where he could grab onto the cement and climb out of his prison. Eventually he found one and managed to get out, with some difficulty. As he got down to the cold, tiled floor of the bathroom and discarded his ruined clothes, tossing the scraps aside. He was shivering, still wet and on top of that naked now, too. To keep himself warm, he began to walk in the only direction there was, towards the door. He had no plan, no idea what to do next. Even the thought of somehow getting Sam's attention wasn't in the centre of his mind, his only concern being to walk until he felt warm or until an idea appeared in his head. The massive door up ahead was closed, but even from the distance Jake could tell he could easily crawl under it. On his way he could still see the wet imprints Sam's feet left on the floor, massive puddles dwarfing him a hundred times over. No matter where he went, he was always walking in her footsteps, as if his entire world dwindled with him, narrowed to her feet. He pressed on, marching between the humid spots on the endless floor, towards the horizon, the dark space beneath the bathroom door.

The world was a rather cold place for Jake now. No matter how long he walked he couldn't stop shivering, the cold bathroom tiles under his feet only intensifying the chill he was feeling. All the while he was worried Sam could go back to the bathroom and crush him underfoot, now that he was out in the open. Fortunately for him she did not, and Jake felt a relief when he finally reached the door without further complications. As he suspected, the gap under the door was tall enough for him to crawl through. There was quite some dust gathered in the space and by the time he was on the other side he was coughing and shaking the grime off his body. He looked around the enormous hall and noticed how quiet the place seemed to be. For a moment he thought Sam might have went out, but as he walked he noticed a pair of dark-grey sneakers by the opposite wall. He could tell in an instant they belonged to Sam by their size alone. One of the shoes was lying on its side, its opening reaching the floor. Jake, still shivering, pondered about taking shelter inside, even though he was fully aware of just how bad of an idea it was. But he was cold and desperate and so he crossed the hall, looking both sides for any sign of Sam walking by, and crawled into her shoe. He felt instantly warmer as he nestled himself within, the warmth almost making him ignore the smell of Sam's skin and sweat permeating the air. A bit to the side he could see the shoe's number, already fading from use, with only the digit 1 still being visible. He lied down, waiting for the rest of the chillness to evaporate and he did so knowing he couldn't stay there for too long. But for once he was feeling good, actually good, since he shrank and Jake wanted to enjoy this brief moment. The fact he was literally in another person's shoe, like a lost ant, didn't even bother him and he was surprised at himself for how quickly he was getting used to his new size. He didn't like that thought at all; his plan was still to get Sam's attention and have her help him get back to his normal size, even if what he went through moments ago made him lose the motivation to do so. Even if he had any, he was still exhausted from fighting for survival, every single muscle in his body aching. For the moment he wanted nothing more than to rest, to close his eyes and doze off, if only for a moment, which he did. And before he knew it he was sound asleep, still inside Sam's enormous shoe.

When he finally woke up he noticed his surroundings had shifted. The light was shining on him from the shoe's opening, which was now high above him. Jake's heart sank as he realized he was now trapped inside Sam's shoe. He had to get out, and quickly. But before he could find something to grab to and climb out the light was snuffed and something huge, something white was making its way inside. Acting on instinct and without second thoughts, Jake started to run deep within the shoe in his attempt to outrun the massive object, but it quickly gained on him, pressing his tiny body against the toe section. It didn't take him a long time to guess this was Sam's foot, clad in a white sock. The giantess stayed still for a moment, allowing Jake to grab the sock's fibres and hold on to them tightly. Before long his world shifted once more - the giantess was on the move, the booming sounds of her steps reaching his ears even from the outside, deafening him, the quick motions of her feet making him feel a vertigo. He held on with all his strength but he knew this was only a temporary solution at best. It was only a matter of time before he ran out of strength or his hand slipped, either way causing him to fall beneath her foot. He decided to bid his time until he could try and get higher, on a more stable ground of the top of her foot. At least she wasn't barefoot, Jake thought, knowing his task would be harder if that was the case. As he waited, he started to feel nauseated due to the regular rocking of his prison and the thick, suffocating smell inside it. The warmth emanating from the giantess's body did not help either, and Jake was soon drowning in his own sweat, unable to even wipe it off his face. Far above him, Sam continued doing shopping in a local supermarket, completely oblivious to the tiny figurine suffering inside her sneaker, as she took her time strolling around the shelves, finding new things to put into the cart. She noticed a discount on chips and stopped, looking for those of the flavour she liked, a moment Jake was anxiously waiting for. He quickly scaled the surface of her big toe as he climbed up, soon emerging on the top and running for the centre of her foot, hoping he would be the safest there, or at least less prone to rolling down and falling off. As he did, he found a tear in the material, a tiny hole in the sock barely a few millimetres long but enough for him to get into to keep himself stable. He slid his legs inside, feeling the soft, warm skin of Sam under his own, then the rest of his body, leaving only his hands and his head free, as if covering himself in the world's biggest blanket. He let out a sigh of relief; once again he was safe, even if only relatively. But at least he didn't have to worry about getting under Sam's foot for a while. He lied down, trying to ignore the heat and the smell, waiting patiently until the giantess comes home and he can breathe again. He wished he ended up even a bit bigger, even an inch would do. Something visible, audible, something that could be noticed. Maybe now he wouldn't have to go through this conga line of humiliation. He wondered about his chances of being discovered, trying and failing to convince himself she would, ultimately, see him and help him get back to normal. But being as he was then, tiny, fatigued, trapped inside her shoe, he wasn't so sure anymore and resigned himself to figuring things out as he went - not that he had much choice in the matter.

She took her time shopping and it was already dark when she made it back to her apartment. Then she took her shoes and socks off, leaving the latter tucked in the former, and went to the kitchen to make a late dinner. While she ate Jake was busy trying to get out of her crumpled sock, a task which took a lot of time and effort from his part. When he finally made it down to the floor he was dehydrated, dizzy and even more exhausted than he's ever been before. To make matters worse his hearing appeared to have been damaged as well; not only were his ears ringing, but when he brought a hand close to one he discovered it was bleeding, the time spent within Sam's shoe having taken a heavy toll on his body. He sat on the floor to cool down and catch his breath, as well as regain whatever was left of his strength. His mind was telling him to take it easy, to try getting Sam's attention when he had rested enough. But Jake clearly wasn't listening to himself anymore, as he was soon back on his feet, marching into the distance to catch a glimpse of Sam and head towards her, as he spent the entire day doing. At that point there was no thought behind his actions, no plan other than getting to Sam, as if she was drawing him in herself, making him gravitate towards her. Which was unfortunate for little Jake, as in his disoriented state he neither heard nor noticed the giantess strolling down the hall, and by the time he realized how close she was her foot had already fallen on top of his minuscule body.

But he did not die there. He was stuck in the narrow space between her second and third toes, wedged between two massive digits in a sudden, overwhelming motion. He screamed the whole way to Sam's room as the giantess carried him with her, reduced to a role of dirt stuck between her toes. She lied down on the couch and started to check her phone, as always perfectly unaware of the little man's plight. Even though she could see her feet clearly Jake was simply too small to be noticed across the length of her body. A moment into browsing through messages and notifications Sam shifted her position in such a way that the leg Jake was an unwilling passenger of was dangling from the couch. The shrunken scientist found himself hanging above the floor which to him was now hundreds of feet down, clinging to the edge of her toenail and screaming as loud as he still could, towards Sam. But he was too small, too quiet and ultimately too weak as well, and he eventually lost his grip. He screamed all the way down, he screamed even more when the impact broke both his legs, he wouldn't stop screaming until he finally passed out from the pain. Which was a mercy for him in on itself; mere moments after Jake lost his consciousness Sam, being thirsty, got up from the couch and went to grab a drink, stepping right where he was lying down. This time her gigantic foot collapsed on him properly, the full weight of the young woman pressing down and obliterating his fragile body without notice or care. She would remain oblivious to the tiny, red spot on her foot and what was left of Jake would later disappear with the next vacuum cleaning. His disappearance would later become the talk of the institute, but ultimately the young scientist was never heard from again.