Jeremy slowly walked into the open, careful to watch out for Kaylie. He had been hiding under her couch for an hour since he last heard her footsteps echo through the house.  She had gone upstairs, he assumed to take a nap. It should be safe for me explore a bit, he thought. This almost reminded him of when they used play hide and seek in the school yard when they were younger.  She’d always wait for him to get bored so she could catch him when he moved from his hiding spot. However, this was a lot more terrifying. He was hiding, but she wasn't exactly looking for him. In fact, Jeremy didn't even think she knew he was there. Being an inch tall makes one hard to notice.

Yet there Jeremy was, one inch tall in his best friend’s house. He didn’t want to be accidentally crushed like a bug on the floor like earlier. No, definitely not going to make that mistake again. He had to try to get higher, then maybe she would recognize him.  It was very difficult to make his way through the thick carpet of the darkened living room. Why did she have to turn off the lights? Jeremy could see the kitchen in the distance, illuminated by the evening sun shining through the patio doors.  That’s where he needed to go.

It had taken him nearly 15 minutes to travel the mere ten feet to the tiled kitchen floor. For another hour or so he walked around the edge of the room trying to find a way to get to a more noticeable position. Finally he spied one: Kaylie’s cell phone was charging atop the island in the middle of the kitchen. The charger was plugged into the side of the twenty-story structure, its cable hanging low enough to just touch the floor. All he needed to do was make his way over the plush kitchen mat between him and the cord so he could climb up.

Jeremy heard Kaylie start moving around in her bedroom above him. The sounds made him cringe, thinking how close he came to being under her foot earlier. Shit! She’s awake! He realized he needed to make his move quickly. As he ran toward the charging cord, he heard the echoes getting closer and felt tremors under his feet. She’s downstairs! Suddenly, just as he reached the rug, Jeremy heard a deafening sound, almost like lighting striking right next to him. He turned to see Kaylie had taken a step into the kitchen.

Kaylie yawned as she entered the kitchen, still not quite awake. She ran her fingers through her hair to work out the tangles from her pillow. As her bare foot touched the tile floor, she flinched. “eek! That’s cold!” Still upset that her friend Jeremy didn’t show up, she decided it was time for dinner.  At least I didn’t have to get ready to go out. She walked past the island to see what she had in the fridge.

Although he had been nearly knocked over by the impact, Jeremy couldn’t help but laugh at Kaylie’s squeal as she stepped on the cold floor. He gazed up at his 400’ friend, with her wrinkled t-shirt and tangled hair. He’d never tell her, but this is when she is the cutest. He thought back to all the times he’d wanted to ask her out, but didn’t want to risk their friendship. Sure sometimes they met up for dinner, but just to hang out. He had kept his feelings hidden.

Jeremy was quickly shaken from his thoughts as Kaylie took another thunderous step toward him, knocking him onto his back. As she started to take another step, Jeremy screamed, “Kaylie!! Stop! Please!” Her foot was right above him, and she still didn’t seem to realize he was there. The events of the last few hours flashed through his head as her foot landed on the carpeted mat…

Jeremy turned left onto Mason, admiring the colorful leaves dancing along the country road. It was a cool autumn morning when he got a call earlier from Kaylie asking if he wanted to hang out today. He always enjoyed time with her and had nothing else planned, so of course he was shortly on his way over. As he pulled into her driveway around noon, he could smell the fresh-cut grass. Kaylie had apparently just mowed the lawn. He parked beside the house and walked around to the front door. I wonder what she has planned today.

Jeremy assumed the door was unlocked as usual, but still knocked, not wanting to startle Kayle. “Come on in! Just getting in the shower! I’ll be down in a minute!” So, he turned the knob and stepped into her living room. He heard her shower still running upstairs, so he headed to the couch. He remembered all the times they sat there together eating popcorn while watching movies or cheering for their colleges’ football teams. Sometimes she’d fall asleep with her head on his shoulder before a movie was over. He’d smile seeing her there, wishing he could tell her how he felt. He turned as he heard the shower upstairs turn off. Suddenly Jeremy started feeling strange. It felt like the room was spinning, and he passed out near the base of the stairs.

He woke up to the sound of thunder. As he opened his eyes, everything was still blurry. The last thing he remembered was being at Kaylie’s house. What happened to me? Where am I?  The thunder was getting louder, so he looked up to the…sky? It was completely tan. That isn’t right. As he looked around him he noticed he was surrounded by grey-blue bushes. “What the hell is going on!,” he screamed. But there was no reply except for the sound of the approaching thunder. Suddenly a gigantic pink object crashed to the ground a few feet from where he stood, the impact hurling him away. His ears ringing, he turned back toward it and could not believe what he was seeing. It was a gargantuan foot, over fifty feet long.  Jeremy nearly passed out again as he saw another foot pass over him and impact the ground with the same thunder he had heard earlier. As whatever this was walked away, his eyes traced up its legs. Then he realized  it was Kaylie… in her bathrobe!

“Jeremy? Are you here?” Kaylie could have sworn she heard him knock on the door. She checked out the other rooms but didn’t see him anywhere else.  Oh well, I must be hearing things. He should be here soon though. She had hoped to tease him a bit being just in her robe. Kaylie turned on her television to see the weather report on the news as she stood there drying her hair. ~”… Highs in the low 60s today with winds out of the southwest at around 15 MPH.  Back to you, Nate.  Thanks Max. Reports have been coming in about people randomly disappearing…”~  Kaylie finished drying her hair and headed back upstairs, no longer paying attention to the TV, to get dressed before Jeremy arrived.

Jeremy could do nothing but stare as she moved around the room, each thunderous step causing tremors beneath him. He thought he heard her call his name, but he was too awestruck to even attempt a reply. Likely she wouldn’t have heard him anyway. As she stood drying her hair, he couldn’t help but smile. She looked amazing. He’d been around her before looking like that. She was comfortable enough with him that she didn’t mind him seeing her wrapped only in a robe. When she turned toward the steps, it hit him again that she was 400’ tall and could crush him without even knowing. As she started walking in his direction again, he noticed Kaylie had loosened her robe, no longer concerned that anyone was around. Quickly, he turned away, even at this size he didn’t want to betray the trust she had in him. He felt her feet impacting the floor near him again as she stepped past him and up the stairs.

After the shock of his best friend nearly crushing him wore off, Jeremy turned his attention to the news broadcast, catching the end of a story regarding some local disappearances. Sounds like a kidnapper or something. I hope they find them. Deciding to find a safer spot, he headed toward the coffee table in front of Kaylie’s couch. Making his way there was difficult, due to what he now realized were carpet fibers surrounding him. As he approached the table he couldn’t believe how immense everything looked from his new perspective. Underneath the couch, he spotted a quarter Kaylie must have dropped some time ago. It looked to be almost as wide across as he was tall. Even that dropping on him would like kill him. “News at 11, man crushed by coin. Ha!” Jeremy joked aloud, forcing himself to laugh to keep from panicking.

Just as soon as he had begun to relax under the table, Jeremy heard the thunder again as Kaylie ran down the stairs in a t-shirt and shorts. She headed straight to the door, looking to see if his car was in sight. As she turned back around and headed to the couch, Jeremy couldn’t help but notice her pouting slightly. She almost looks disappointed. She walked over and sat down on the couch. He had almost gotten used to her footsteps, but the sound of her heels hitting the table as Kaylie propped up her feet caused his ears to ring. He bolted out from under the table and saw her legs stretching above him, her calves flexing as she rocked her feet up on the table.

Kaylie turned off the TV and picked up her phone.  She tried to give Jeremy a call but it went straight to voicemail. “Hey, I was wondering if everything was okay. I figured you’d be here by now. Well, the door’s open. See you soon.”  After she left the message, she noticed that the battery in her phone was almost dead. She swung her legs down off the table and got up to go put her phone on charger in the kitchen. I might as well go take a nap while I wait.

Jeremy panicked as he saw Kaylie’s feet slide off the table and head straight toward him. He covered his ears and screamed, hoping by some miracle he would survive. Her heels crashed to the ground on either side of him. The wind was knocked out of him as if a bomb had gone off where he stood. He fell to the ground and scurried under the couch, trying to catch his breath. He sat there motionless for nearly an hour as he heard her go back upstairs.

Jeremy watched Kaylie take a step toward him as if it were in slow motion. Her heel slowly rose as her toes slid forward through the carpet. They lifted and flew toward him, seemingly stopping just short as he heard her heel once again make contact with the floor. He watched in terror, unable to move as her toes lowered to meet him. Everything darkened as he was covered by their shadow. Jeremy screamed but his voice was quickly muffled as her toe covered his face, feeling its ridges against his cheeks. He started to panic as the pressure increased, forcing him deep into the carpet. Memories flooded into his mind as he was sure he would die under the immense weight of her toe. Her toe! Not something to fear, something to tickle and tease. Now it would be his end. He started to fade as the air was forced from his lungs. Just before he passed out, he felt himself being slid forward and then the pressure lessened. Light returned as he saw her toe retreating from him. He gasped for air but barely moved, still in shock... "I'm alive!!!"

Kaylie had woken up from her nap and headed to the kitchen to see if she had missed any calls from Jeremy. I wonder what happened. She loved the feel of the plush rug under toes as she approached the island. Jeremy had given it to her for her last birthday. She had always complained to him about how cold her kitchen floor got some times. When she saw she hadn’t missed any calls, Kaylie decided to call another one of their friends to see if she had heard from Jeremy. “Hey Ella, how are you doing this afternoon?  Me? I just woke up from a nap. You haven’t heard anything from Jeremy today, have you? Oh nothing, I had invited him over today and he never showed up. What?! Will you stop asking me that? I told you he is just coming over to hang out. I don’t think he likes me like that anyway.” Kaylie was leaning back against the island with her heels on the edge of the rug as she talked with Ella. Eager to change the subject, she looked down at her toes and decided to bring up one of Ella’s favorite topics. “So did I tell you about the shoes I saw the other day? Well they were… Ella, I’ve got to go… I’ll call you back later.”

Jeremy slowly got up to his feet, checking himself over to make sure nothing was broken. He thought for sure that he was a goner. Kaylie had just stepped on him. The soft rug must have saved him, he figured. I have never been so glad to have bought someone a gift as right now. He just started walking, still amazed. He was just happy to be alive. He paid no attention to what was going on around him. He barely even noticed stepping off of the soft fibers and onto the hard, white tile.

In fact, Jeremy hadn’t even realized that Kaylie was on the phone until he heard the silence after she stopped. He turned and saw her toes wiggling, most larger than he was, slightly lifted above the tile. His view slowly tracked up her tower-sized legs, past her shorts, lingering slightly on breasts as the pushed out her t-shit a bit. Well, maybe a bit to her, but each one was immense to him, over 300 feet above him. Then he looked up to her face... and she was looking back at him! “Kaylie! Down here! Can you see me? It’s Jeremy!” He jumped, waving his arms. Then he froze as he saw her massive frame bending as she reached for him.

Kaylie saw something moving down past her toes. Something… tiny.  At first she thought it was a bug, but then she noticed it was standing upright. After she got off of the phone, she just stared for a while. It stopped moving… Then she thought she heard it making a sound as it seemed to be jumping up and down. It almost looked like a person, but that was impossible. She needed a better look. She bent down slowly, as to not scare whatever it was away.  As she got closer it got quiet and stopped moving. When she reached down to pick it up, it jumped back, but didn’t run. She decided to just lay her hand down with her palm facing up to see if it would climb on.  After about 20 seconds of her staying still, it pulled itself up. She stood back up, raising her hand to her face. The little thing had fallen over when she lifted it. With a finger from her other hand, she rolled it over, trying to tell exactly what it was… it looked human! She quickly withdrew her finger as it, no… he started to stand and face her. “Jeremy?”

Jeremy stood in the center of the 25’ wide hand, trying to keep his balance. “Kaylie! Thank God you found me. It’s been terrifying. I thought I was going to die.” Jeremy was nearly sobbing. Then he saw the confusion in her face and he tried to calm down. That’s when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a finger approaching him. Before he had a chance to react, it bumped into his stomach and he fell over.

“Are you real…?” Kaylie poked what appeared to be her friend, in miniature. As he sat up in her palm, she brought him closer to her eye. It looked like he was trying to talk. Maybe he’s too small to hear. She lifted him up to her ear to see if that helped.

“YES!  I’M  REAL!!!” Jeremy felt Kaylie flinch and he saw her wince in pain as he yelled into her ear. “Sorry for yelling… You knocked the wind out of me, that’s why I couldn’t talk when you had me in front of your eye. Now please, don’t poke me again.”

As the ringing in her ear stopped, Kaylie brought him back down in front of her face, still in a bit of shock. How could this little 1” man sitting in her palm possibly be the friend she’s known for most of her life?  He was so tiny, helpless. She could have accidently… No, she didn’t want to think about it.  As tears started to form in her eyes, she asked, “Jeremy… how did this happen?”

Jeremy saw the look of concern on her face… her beautiful face, with eyes as wide as he was tall and a mouth that could swallow him whole. Okay, that part was terrifying, but he could see she was worried. He didn’t want to tell her that he almost got stepped on a few times, and actually did get stepped on once, but he thought he owed her and explanation. “Well, after I got your call, I headed over here. I knocked on the door and came in. Then I heard you yell down from the shower and…”