Kayla had been dealt a great hand at life and yet somehow she found herself in troubled waters thanks to her terrible choices. She grew up rich, got a great education, and even briefly got a job at a top technology company, ZeroCorp. But Kayla had a rude awakening when, at age 18, she became pregnant. The father was long gone, and the petite girl found herself with very few options, she had to quit her job as the baby was soon to be born. Now, a stay at home mother funded mostly by her own parents generosity, Kayla was worried and deeply frustrated with her predicament. 

Would she be able to take care of her child? Would people take advantage of her baby? Who would protect it? Kayla had a backup plan. When she was working at ZeroCorp she received access to some preliminary technology. It was designed to reduce the weight of aid shipments during transport, but the technology could technically work on anything if the FDA would remove the regulations against that sort of thing. Kayla didn’t particularly worry herself with that when she stole one such device on her last day.

It was a bulky box that looked more like a fat cassette player than a cutting edge piece of technology, but Kayla knew this was her best shot of providing for her child. She could probably sell it on the underground market for a decent sum of money, but with money will rolling in from her parents, the 18 year old had another idea: use it to protect her child. To spare them from the risks of the world and to make sure everything went as she wanted it. Of course, she thought to herself, she would only use it in emergencies and not on people unless needed. Happy with herself, she gave birth days before turning 19 to a healthy baby girl – Sophia.

Sophia was a very active baby, her energy was contagious as she crawled around the room at only months old. Kayla was content but still very defensive – she didn’t feel ready at all. Despite making friends and enrolling Sophia in a day-care, she still couldn’t shake the fear of losing her child. At this point Sophia was all she really had now that her career was doomed. She would sip wine and watch the baby crawl more and more around, her butt in the air. The shrinking device remained in a drawer, tucked away from the world safely out of reach for Sophia.

Kayla had time to think about herself. She could still have SOME sort of career, right? She spoke with her father to obtain an internship at a smaller firm, and of course a nanny for Sophia. A month later she was off to work while the nanny Becca, a young girl only 15, watched over Sophia. At the start it worked well – Kayla got some of her career back and got to be a young mom sometimes as well. This was until the incident.

One afternoon after a particularly long day of work where Kayla found herself scolded by her boss for screwing up, she returned to Becca scolding Sophia for chewing on one of her toys. Kayla felt a rage build within her, her baby didn’t deserve this. This is exactly what she feared for Sophia, the baby began to burst into salty tears as Becca looked up in frustration.

“Can you help me out here?” She asked Kayla. This was the final straw for her, watching this was enough but the sass set her off.

“Of course” Kayla said calmly, she didn’t want to give away her intentions. Inside, she was livid. This was an emergency, exactly why she took the device. She strode into the kitchen and opened the drawer containing the device. Another three steps and she was within range of her young nanny. The machine made a sharp buzz and then confirmed it was ready. Kayla looked down at the small screen, where she was provided the option to choose a size.

>>1 INCH

She typed. Upon hitting confirm the device once again made a loud sound, this time shooting a flash toward Becca, who was about to ask what she was holding. In a moment Becca was gone, not a trace of the girl remained where she stood. Kayla walked over and inspected the ground. Sure enough, far, far below her, the young woman stood, knee deep in the shallow carpet. Kayla squatted over the girl, enjoying the moment as the rage of what happened coursed through her.

Becca just wanted a little extra money. The kid was a brat, changing her was enough trouble and now she stood looking up at the giant girl who squatted down above her. She didn’t know what was happening, there was a flash and how she found herself surrounded by giant everything. The kid was still crying halfway across the room, which was basically a quarter of a mile away to her. The sound was deafening and Becca just wanted it to end. Perfume washed over her as the girl stared down at her in rage, Becca realized that this probably wasn’t going to end well by the look of the giant eyes glaring through her. From above she heard the giantess announce.

“Guess I found a new toy”

Becca got goosebumps as Kayla reached for her. She began instinctively screaming and running away as the fingers yanked her backward. The giant fingerpads pressed into her sides, cracking her ribs sharply. If Becca could scream she would, but instead her lungs wouldn’t budge. She felt wild blow by her face as she was carried toward the demon child that was still wailing. The rumbling voice announced again:

“Here sweetie”

Becca was thrust into the tiny, pudgy hand of the almost-one year old. The baby, tears still descending, stopped crying momentarily to see what was placed in her hand. Becca, surrounded in the smell of baby powder, felt a paralyzing fear overtake her. The baby was giant, completely surrounding her. The thought briefly crossed her mind of jumping off the hand, but the pain in her ribs objected. The empty stare of the child gazed down, a single strand of saliva descended, crashing on the front of the child’s shirt.

Suddenly, the hand shifted beneath Becca, hosting her towards the billboard of a face. She knew where she was heading. With a yelp she found herself thrust into the giant mouth. The smell of the baby food she had recently fed the kid smothered her as she kicked her legs which were now dangling from the mouth. She screamed as the massive tongue prodded her face and licked her thoroughly. In an instant it pinned the young girl to the top of the mouth and sucked her in. Becca felt like she was in a sticky, smelly, violent washing machine. She was tossed, rotated, flipped, and attacked by the baby girl. She felt bones break as she was trashed against her gums and tongue. Screaming was of no use, she found, as the girl did not care for the distant yells in her mouth. Finally, she was tossed to the back of her throat and it brought her to her final resting place in the baby’s stomach. She cried softly as the acid slowly burned her skin, eventually she would be absorbed into the growing young girl she was sent to nanny.

Kayla grinned with satisfaction. She’d done her job, Sophia was safe! She watched her girl innocently sucking on the nanny and the satisfying gulp as she swallowed. Kayla happily picked Sophia up and rocked her in her arms. For a moment she could almost hear the cries of the young girl being dissolved in her stomach. Anything, Kayla thought, to keep her little girl safe.

The police had been very kind, who wouldn’t be to a single mother? 15-year-old girls went missing on occasion, and not usually because of single mothers. This was procedure, though, so they interviewed the mom asking basic information about Becca.

“She left here as soon as I got home” Kayla said through crocodile tears, “I don’t know where she went”

The officers felt bad, what a horrible position for this young woman to be in. After asking the basic questions, they determined there was nothing left to discuss here and stepped towards the door. One of the officers bent down and played with the baby.

“She’s adorable” He said aloud as he played with the baby “Whew, and stinky!” The officer proceeded to thank Kayla and stepped out. Kayla scooped Sophia up, knowing that the ‘stinky’ was likely all that remained of Becca. “Time for a change!”

One year later

Kayla enjoyed watching Sophia grow and grow. Now, hardly 18 months old, the little girl could walk and say a small collection of words. The toddler was quite social at the day-care and during playdates, making many friends of a similar age. Kayla had her own breaks as well, getting a full-time job from her internship and actually developing a young career. She didn’t think about Becca or the device all that much. It sat in the drawer unused, with the exception of that one time.

That wasn’t on her mind now, however. Sophia had a playdate with one of her friends: Trenton. Kayla considered Trenton a bad child. He stole Sophia’s toys, made her cry, and was generally unlikeable. Kayla tolerated it because they also seemed to have fun with one another, which made her happy. Kayla was excited this time, because Trenton’s father Brian was coming as well. Brian was some high up businessman, Kayla didn’t really know the details, but if he raised Trenton, she wanted a word with him.

DING DONG

The doorbell rang out. Kayla approached the door and opened it, Brian was standing with Trenton hugging his ankles.

“Hi, come on in”

Kayla and Brian sat down in the kitchen while Trenton joined Sophia in the living room.

“We need to talk about Trenton’s behavior” Kayla announced. 

“You mean the fighting?” Brian laughed, “Look kids are gonna be kids, Sophia isn’t exactly an angel either”

Kayla felt an oddly familiar rage fill her. Trenton was bullying her daughter! And his father would do nothing. He was a bad parent, he didn’t deserve to be around Trenton, and Trenton didn’t deserve to be around Sophia. Kayla reached into the familiar drawer and pulled out the device.

“What is that?” Brian asked, suddenly quite confused.

Kayla set the option:

>>12 INCHES

The loud flash consumed Brian and in an instant he completely disappeared into a much smaller form. Kayla stepped over to him and scooped him up, holding his torso in her fist, she smiled down at him. 

Brian was extremely confused. He had gone from asking about a strange device to looking up at a surreal environment, a giant foot stomped in front of him and a young hand picked up him and held him tightly in it’s fist. The giant face of Kayla looked back at him, smiling. Brian would yell at her but her hand pressed into him so tightly that he gasped for breath. He felt a strong wind pass by his head as he tried to look around and gather a perspective on the world around him. He guessed he was maybe the size of a Barbie doll judging by the world around him. What had Kayla done? Why was he like this?

In an instant, he felt the hand let go. He finally took a deep breath as he tumbled awkwardly down to the carpet below. Brian found himself on his hands and knees, breathing as much as he could. A shadow was suddenly cast over him. He looked up in horror: It was Sophia. The 18-month-old gazed down at him from more than twice his height. As he stood in preparation to run away, he found himself at eye level with her cartoon covered diaper. Her hand began reaching for him as he began to run.

At first, he actually ran away pretty quickly. The giant baby awkwardly tottled behind him as he screamed. The last thing he wanted to be was another toy for Sophia. He looked behind him at the giantess he once thought was cute and now threatened to kill him. Just as he turned his head back around he hit his face on a large pillow and once again found himself on the ground. Looking up at the pillow he read the letters across it

T – R – E – N – T – O – N

In that instant Brian realized that it wasn’t a pillow, it was the diaper attached to his 2-year-old son, now three times his height. Trenton looked down upon him and smiled. Not again. Brian turned and began to run but found himself between Sophia and Trenton, both looking down upon him. Sophia scooped him up, hugging him against her drool covered shirt.

“My toy!” He heard his son announce.

“NO!” Sophia declared back.

Brian watched his sons pudgy hand reach for him and grasp his legs while Sophia’s hands grasped his shoulders and head. Brian screamed as the toddlers began to tug on him viciously. Even at their miniscule strength, Brian felt himself begin to bruise and felt some cracking somewhere in his body. Pain shot up his legs as Trenton tugged harder, desperately wanting the cool talking toy. Brian’s pleading went unanswered as they tugged on for what felt like hours. Brian felt as if he was going to be torn into two parts by his son and Sophia.

Finally, his son won. But Brian writhed in pain as his sons tight grip once again gave him massive pain. He helped and pleaded as his son played with him, the toddler tossing his father around violently and giggling throughout. For a few moments, Trenton even sucked on his father, subjecting him to the violent pressure that made his ears pop and his body fill with more pain than he could imagine. 

After half an hour of ‘playing’ Brian watched Kayla return. She plucked Brian from Trenton’s hand and lifted him to her face.

“K-Kayla I’m so sorry, I can fix this I promise, please!” Brian begged.

Kayla Smiled as she tossed him in her bag. Brian couldn’t move at all, the pain was far too great. He needed a doctor. The dizziness overwhelmed him as he passed out.

He awoke to a noise outside, actually, a lot of noises. Kids? Where were they? A bright light shined from above and the familiar hand of Kayla reached in and pulled him out. Brian once again yelped with pain as the hand pulled him skyward. After the hand stopped Brian looked around. There were drawings on the wall, a small bookshelf, a colored rug. The Day-care? Why were they at—

“Who wants the new toy” Kayla announced from above.

14 excited toddlers and kids rushed over and reaching up towards Brian. He screamed as loud as he could as the hand dangled him over the grubby hands that reached towards him.

“Hey, it’s just kids being kids” Kayla said with a smile. She dropped him.

Brian tumbled awkwardly for half a second before the mountain of hands got ahold of him and began tugging. In moments he was torn apart, his body being shared as a toy for the children.

Kayla later told the parents and staff that the kids had gotten into her red paint. She made sure to clean up the recognizable parts. For their own sake, the kids seemed to enjoy it. Kayla was particularly impressed with the creativity with which some of them played with Brians remains.

Kayla looked at Trenton. Regardless of how he bullied Sophia, he would also be without a dad. Good, she thought to herself. He never really deserved one. And plus, Sophia was once again safe from harm.

The staff at the daycare cleaned the chunky red paint off of the children. Kayla, who began volunteering to help out as soon as she started dropping Sophia off, played along as she apologized for leaving the paint open. The other daycare workers noted the paints unusual smell and consistency, but they ignored it and trusted Kayla’s apologies.

Once Brian was cleaned up and tossed in the trash, Kayla returned home with Sophia. The bubbly toddler laughed and laughed, having no idea where Brian had gone. Once again, the police questioned Kayla, who once again appeared very solemn and distraught. Fortunately for her it was an entirely different set of officers and no one was making any connections to Becca, who went missing only a year previous.

Kayla returned living happily with her daughter, safe once again.

One year later

Sophia had grown to be 2 ½ years old by this point. She was walking and speaking individual words successfully. Kayla loved returning home to see her happy little girl toddle up to greet her. She would spend her days at work thinking about, and often worrying about, her daughter. Sophia would spend most of her days at the daycare, playing with friends and napping without a care in the world.

The staff at the daycare, Todd, Kelsi, and Sara, knew Kayla quite well. On their own, they jokingly called Kalya “The Helicopter” after how many questions she asked about Sophia’s care. On her end, Kayla always had a suspicion that they mistreated her daughter and didn’t do enough for her. The staff always laughed this off, just another crazy mom too worried about her kid.

One morning Kayla arrived with Sophia in her arms, ready to drop her off as usual. Sara walked up to greet her with “Hi Kayla, aww look at the little one.”

Kayla smiled as she responded with her own “hello” and signed her daughter in for the day, she was just about to turn and leave when Sara interrupted:

“You might want to begin potty training, Sophia’s getting a little old for diapers.”

Kayla felt a familiar frustration fill her. She loudly proclaimed: “She’s my daughter Sara, not yours” and stormed out. Sara and the other staff laughed it off and got to work.

Kayla fumed at work. Who do they think she was? A bad mom? They really did have it out for Sophia. She wallowed at how she should’ve trusted her instinct and pulled her from the daycare. It was too late for that, she agreed to herself, but maybe she could pick something up at home to solve this problem.

In late afternoon they were caring for just a few children, including Sophia. The toddler danced around in her pink overalls, seemingly just happy to be alive. Todd and Kelsi finished up cleaning the toys left by the children while Sara manned the front table. Kayla strode in. “Hi Sara!” She said.

“Hi Kayla” Sara responded. She immediately questioned to herself why Kayla seemed to happy, she always seemed to be annoyed, why was she so excited? Sara tamped those feelings down. She didn’t want to question it and piss her off again.

Kayla paused to assess the room, there were three of them, all somewhat apart, all focused on their work. Good. She pulled out the device, punching in the smallest height yet: 

>>1/2 INCHES

She fired the device three times in quick succession, the blinding light filling the daycares main room.

The last thing Kelsi remembered was standing behind the table, questioning what kind of awkwardly large phone Kayla was holding. Now she stood on a brightly colored plain, unusual pink grass stretched for what seemed like miles. A series of bright square suns shined down from above. Kelsi felt disoriented and confused. What was happening? Where was sh-

A giant sneaker smashed down in front of her, almost crushing her and tossing her to the ground with the vibration. Sara looked up at the building sized child, only around one year old, as he passed her by. She was stunned at the sheer size of the boy, she was only the size of one of the characters printed on the front of the boys diaper. Her heart raced as she began to understand her predicament, there were several lumbering children in the room with her, each more the capable of crushing her, eating her, or playing with her violently. Kelsi began running towards the main door, and we she did a massive shadow cast over her. For a moment of pure fear, she thought one of the children had eyed her, but instead the long fingers that plucked her up belonged to someone much worse: Kayla.

Kelsi was brought to the giant young face of a smiling Kayla, who cupped her and tossed her down onto a small table. As she rolled to a painful stop, her entire body sore from the landing, Kelsi saw that Todd and Sara were already sitting in pain themselves. They looked at one another without exchanging words, trying to understand the situation they found themselves in. Kayla looked over them, seemingly high on power as she smirked and declared:

“I finally figured out how I’m going to potty train Sophia” She wagged her hips around in her skin-tight pants, teasing them with her sheer size over them. “I think I’ll have you all show her.”

In an instant her two hands grabbed the trio of daycare employees, gripping them tightly in her grasp. They tumbled around in the warm darkness the hand provided them. After a moment, the hand reopened to a harsh light. The trio once again looked up at Kayla standing over them, like a crane her fingers plucked Kelsi and lifted her high into the air. From this new perspective, Kelsi could see her destination. Several hundred feet below, a curious Sophia looked up at her mother and the strange bug her mother was holding. Kelsi yelped as the hand lowered her down suddenly. In just a moment she was being dangled face-to-face with the giant toddlers belly button. The giant womans other hand flew by like a jet gripping the puffy elastic of Sophias diaper and slowly stretching it outward. Kelsi closed her eyes and screamed.

The others watched from the hand in disbelief as their coworker screamed and begged below. Kayla seemed to enjoy it, she smiled as her fingers drifted apart and in an instant the bug sized woman tumbled through the air and disappeared into the padded prison strapped to Sophia.

“I was in charge of changing Sophia” Todd commented “That’s a death sentence”

Kelsi collided with the soft padding that lined her prison, sliding further and further down until she reached the bottom of the slope. She lookup upward one last time as the distant face of Kayla continued to smile down at her from above, in an instant, the gap closed and she was pinned to the baby in complete darkness. She tried to move around but the strength of the giant elastic held her firmly in place, she silently wept as the toddler repositioned herself around her.

Todd, realizing his fate, jumped from the hand to end his existence with as little pain as possible, but Kaylas other hand snatched him out of the air.

“Not so fast little one” she said with a snarl, clearly taking an angry delight in what she was doing. She dumped Todd back onto her hand and walked behind Sophia, now dangling the two employees over an alternative fate: Sophia’s behind. Once again she outstretched the padded prison slowly and dramatically and dropped the two in. They both rolled down, finally settling as the padding forced them against the girl.

“Alright sweetie, time to play!” Kayla announced, padding the back of the diaper as the two employees felt the deep rumbling inside. 

The enormous toddler began moving and playing with her friends. The shifting weight and toddling made all of the prisons inhabitants feel ill. The deep and distant rumbling reminded them exactly where they were and Todd knew his fate well. On one past occasion Sophia had hidden a toy in her diaper and the aftermath was so bad he had to throw it away. Each lumbering step brought violent shakes that made them scream at the pain of being ground between padding and skin.

Sophia was having a delightful time toddling around, playing with toys and dancing to her own rhythm. She felt a little distant tickling but ignored it as she ran around with friends. Becoming tired, Sophia bent over and sat down with a thump. She felt a little wetness under her, but ignored it as she played.

Sara had been tossed in with Todd initially, but the constant movement had dragged her a little lower than him. She struggled and screamed with every step Sophia took. Finally, there was a momentary pause. But almost as soon as it happened she felt the padding press against her like never before, she could no longer breath as she was pressed deeply between the two endless surfaces. In a microsecond the screaming woman was obliterated as Sophia’s bottom thundered into the ground, most of her was instantly absorbed into the material as intended.

Todd was slightly luckier, he also was constricted, but being slightly higher, the impact spared his life. He remained forced against the material. He heard the gory pop a moment before and knew Sara’s fate. He wanted to struggle upward, but the grip was too strong and he remained where he was. 

Kelsi also heard the distant popping sound and knew what it meant. But in the front, she actually found herself with some breathing room when the giantess sat down. She rolled further down and found herself flanked by giant pudgy legs, she didn’t want to think about exactly where she was, but it gave her an idea. She stood up and stumbled to where the leg punched through the diaper material. In a deep sweat, she began trying to push the elastic. After a moment she got her arm through. Hey, she thought, this might actually work. 

Sophia continued to play absentmindedly, but she felt a movement within her. Her cheeks flushed as she announced to her happy mother – “poopie!”

Todd could feel a shift inside his prison, a shift inside of the toddler coming his way. He knew his luck had just about run out. The pressure built and built until in an instant a thick sludge burst into his space, he tried to scream but the pressure overwhelmed him, within a second he was sealed entirely in the monsoon that had flooded the back of the diaper. The pressure imploding upon Todd and mixing his remains with the burst dam of material being contained in the diaper.

Kelsi heard this as well and redoubled her efforts, she could smell what was coming and it made her gag. Just as it reached her she forced herself through the hole and tumbled out in front of Sophia. The diaper sagged immediately with the intense smell of following quickly. Kelsi ran as fast as she could away from the towering toddler, who was not aware of her at all. But she quickly felt two familiar fingers pluck her off the ground.

“Got away now did we?” Kayla said with a smile, “don’t worry, we can fix that”

Kayla laid Sophia down and detached the diaper with ease. It unfurled to show the horror inside. Kelsi couldn’t even recognize any part of Todd or Sara, it was all mixed into the swamp the remained. Kayla removed the diaper, attaching a new one adorned with princesses on it to Sophia and sending her off to play once again. She happily dumped a pleading Kelsi into the used diaper, savoring the idea of condemning the girl to her doom in such a day. One of Kelsi’s last memories was looking upward in desperation as the walls closed in around her. Kayla balled up the diaper, making sure not to crush the girl, and deposited it in the bit. After 2 days trapped in a rancid and confined space, Kelsi was finally crushed by the additional diapers tossed in the bin on top of her own.

Kayla picked up her daughter and walked out to her car with a smile. Happy once more.

Officer Donnelly sat back in his police cruiser, visibly frustrated. Another three missing, this time at a day-care. No evidence of the disappearance, no evidence of struggle, no nothing. Just like the other disappearances. The problem was the lack of evidence and the lack of motive: who would even want these people to disappear? The only link seemed to be the Kayla girl, but still no evidence of any way she could have done this, plus she seemed like a normal mom. His boss had suggested bringing the FBI in to help, but he had insisted on keeping this local. “Where did these people go and why?” He spoke to himself as he started the engine of his car, “I have to solve this if it’s the last thing I do.”

3 ½ years later 

As Kayla looked in the review mirror she couldn’t help but think: Damn, Sophia grew up fast. Her 6 year old sat snug in her car seat, staring down at her iPad as she played intently. She had just started elementary school the year before and had been struggling. The experience had been increasingly frustrating for Kayla as everyone seemed to share their two cents on what to do. She had been reading Facebook when she realized what it was: That damned iPad. She went on to read all sorts of articles that supported her feelings and the comment sections of them only added to her conviction. By the end of a two hour stretch Kayle knew that her daughter was being deprived of real human interaction when she played with the ipad.

At first she presumed that the best way to move forward was to take it away, but when she did Sophia bawled endlessly, which she couldn’t stand. As she looked for a place to hide it from Sophia, she opened a drawer and saw a dusty old device. Kayla picked it up and had an idea.

She pulled her SUV over on a dusty road next to a large sign. “Welcome to Anchorteeth!” it proclaimed. Kayla pulled out the device and began driving offroad through the short grass doing her best to hold down the calibration button as long as she could. After 15 short minutes, she felt ready. With a smile she punched in a reasonable height:

>> 5 FEET

The device sputtered for a moment, then a light brighter than anything Kayla had ever seen before showered over the grassland and then, silence. Kayla looked in awe at the plot of dirt before her. She stepped down into it and walked across towards the middle of the massive square plot in the grassland. As she approached the center, she found what she was looking for. The town of Anchorteeth, population 86, lay before her the size of a sandbox. If she couldn’t take away the iPad, perhaps she could give Sophia something more interesting to play with that actually promotes human interaction. She carefully picked up the town and loaded it into a box she had prepared for this occasion. Gravel shot up as she floored it for the long drive home.

Jamie was preparing for a nap when she felt everything shift around her. She had presumed it was simply an earthquake, not uncommon in Anchorteeth. Still, something felt different. Despite still being in her room, she felt like she was in a different place entirely somehow. Walking to her living room, she picked up some of the items that had fallen over. As she did, a second earthquake, this one much more massive tossed her around violently. Jamie dived under her couch and curled up into a ball. In an instant, everything went dark. 

After more than hour Jamie emerged to find that her home was entirely in darkness. She lit a candle and stumbled through her ruined home, items smashed about. She could still feel a distinct and consistent rumbling filling her entire home as the earth shook. Jamie stepped outside and found an even more bizarre sight before her: the entire town was in darkness. Many of the neighbors – all of whom Jamie knew in such a small town – meandered about in the dark using candles or phones to light the way. Everyone seemed just about as confused as Jamie was. Once again the rumbling increased, tossing the townspeople around as if a massive earthquake had once again struck. Jamie attempted to call 911 but for some reason her cell failed again and again as she was battered. Finally, for the first time in almost 2 hours, the rumbling ceased. Jamie took a deep breath and stood up again, once again in darkness as she had lost her candle.

In an instant a blinding light enveloped the city, as if multiple suns beamed down from above. The sky was a bright shade of artificial pink that shined down upon the entire town. For the first time Jamie could look around as her eyes adjusted to the light. There was a massive wall at the edges of the town on all sides, there were also distant walls with…posters? What? In her confusion Jamie finally noticed two giantesses staring down at her and the rest of the town. Compared to them, Jamie guessed that they were half a centimeter or less tall. One was much taller than the other, but both looked down at them eagerly.

Kayla lifted the box off of the small town before her and showed Sophia. To her delight her kindergartener seemed intrigued, and who could blame her, she was the only one in the world who got to play with a whole town.

“Sweetie this is all yours to play with! Does that sound fun”

“Yes mommy! Can I play?” Sophia asked eagerly

“Hmm hmm!” Kayla affirmed, she smiled as she left Sophia to her devices.

Sophia gazed over the town, one finger in her mouth as she decided where to begin. One of the many little toys caught her eye, and she began.

Jamie looked up as the now singular figure above her. It appeared to be a young child wearing a t shirt and overalls, staring over the entire town. Her shadow cast itself over Jamie as many townspeople around her began to run around and hide. Jamie was terrified as the giantess’s knee bent and her foot, the size of a house, lifted over the town. It decended quickly, obliterating a large patch of grass. Jamie began to realize their predicament: This was her play area – they were toys.

Sophia stepped in happily, wriggling her toes as she would in her sandbox. She was infinitely curious about these toys, they seemed a lot more fun than her blocks. She took another step towards the center of her play area. She felt a sharp pop under her bare foot, but ignored it as she descended on the buildings she wanted to play with.

Jamie watched the foot come down upon one of her neighbors, he screamed a blood curdling cry as he realized his position. She could see the dirt covered foot hover over him and descend quickly. Jamie made eye contact with the poor man right before it flattened him onto the concrete with a deafening Pop. The giantess above didn’t seem to notice or care about what she had just done, she only continued forward. Strands of blood and gore bridged from the concrete onto a small patch on the bottom of the 6 year old’s foot. Once again, the girls knees bent and the townspeople watched as she squatted down right outside of their town. Her massive curious eyes gazed over the town as she wriggled her toes in excitement.

Like a crane, Sophia’s fingers dangled over a woman she found in the center of the town, the giant finger pads plucked her up in an instant. The woman screamed as she dangled in the air, suspended by a painful pressure caused by the two digits. Sophia looked upon her as she dangled and giggled happily, she noticed that when she squeezed the toy harder it made more noise, so she pressed harder and harder enjoying the sounds. Jamie could only watch as the woman went from begging, to yelling, to screaming, to a horrific gurgling noise that lasted until the giant child’s fingers met one another with a sharp pop. When they separated, her fingers had a great deal of blood and the woman was no more.

Sophia was only beginning as she extended her palm right into the small crowd of terrified residents in her ‘playpen’. Despite attempting to run a handful of people were immediately and brutally crushed under her pudgy hand. The sound echoed across the town and across Sophia’s room, with a giant patch of blood and bone remaining on the ground where they once stood. Sophia was delighted, dragging her fingers around the remains eventually painting a smiling face in the concrete with the remaining residents gazing upward, still horrified.

Jamie couldn’t make herself move. She was in a state of absolute horror as the giant child played around with what was just this morning half a dozen people. She could see one man injured on the ground near the girl’s ‘art’. He yelled and moaned in pain, Jamie knew it wouldn’t be long until he was noticed. As if the girl could read her mind her giant blue eyes locked onto the man. Just like before, her fingers descended quickly, plucking him up like a cheerio. Predictably, he screamed as he was violently hoisted into the sky. He ended up lying on her outstretched palm, writhing in pain. Just when he thought she would see him humanity and show him mercy, her other hand descended, finger bent against her thumb. On the ground, Jamie knew what came next but couldn’t force herself to stop looking skyward. In a microsecond her finger released, flicking the small man with the force of a freight train. In an instant the man was a fine mist of blood, most of his body flying off beyond the edge of her play area.

The next hour was a series of hiding attempts by residents, with the giant kindergartener taking pleasure in hunting down and eradicating her toys. By the end of the hour homes had been crushed under her feet and blood stained the ground and her soft hands as she enjoyed her toys. Jamie had hid well under some of the rubble, she knew she was one of the last in this town. For a moment, the screams stopped and she held her breath as she had several times in the past hour. In an instant a massive foot crushed the debris next to her, the explosion of wood and air threw her from her hiding place. As she got up to her hands and knees, Jamie looked up and saw the skyscraper sized girl staring right down at her. The blood stained her overalls seemed little more than paint to the girl as she smiled downward.

Jamie didn’t run – she knew there was no point. She’d seem too many die trying. She hoped that at least it would be a quick death under the girl’s foot or in her hand and not a particularly painful one. The pudgy hand reached down, the fingers coated in dry and wet blood of the other residents. Jamie found herself plucked and laying on a palm where many of the other residents had recently found themselves. Any moment she prepared for the fingers to wrap around her and obliterate her – but that didn’t happen. Instead she only got closer to the massive face of her tormenter. In just a moment she was right in front of Sophia, the child’s thick breath washing over her smelling of her snacks earlier that day.

For the briefest of moments, Jamie wondered if the girl had realized what she had in her hand, that she was a real human and that she needed help. That wonder was dashed as the girl barked “I’m hungry toy!” at her and suddenly moved her hand at her mouth. Jamie was tossed violently onto the girl’s tongue where she was tossed violently from side to side. At one point she fell into an area behind some of the girl’s baby molars, where she attempted to hide. The prodding tongue found her in an instant, jabbing violently at her and covering her in dense saliva.  It slid her right out and positioned her awkwardly under her teeth. They came down precisely, obliterating Jamie’s legs and filling the confined area with her blood. Jamies last moments were spent hearing a deep voice declare “YUMMY” as the rest of her body was washed down the throat to be digested and added to Sophia.

The city’s carnage was complete, completely desolated and gone. Kayla returned with pride, she had gotten Sophia off the iPad of course. She happily tossed the remains in the garbage and hugged her daughter with pride. Upon seeing a drop of blood emerge alongside her daughters drool, Kayla announced:

“I think someone made a mess! Let’s go take a bath”

And moments later the last of Anchorteeth was washed away.

“Honey, dinners been ready for 15 minutes!” Officer Donnely’s wife called down to the basement as he stared down at the days newspaper.

“I’ll be up in a minute” he called back, annoyed. His eyes danced around the leading story:

Federal Agents Report Town of Anchorteeth Struck by Meteor, No Survivors.

“What a croc of shit” Donnely mumbled to himself. He picked up his scissors and cut out the story. He carefully and meticulously added it to his cabinet of unsolved stories or stories he didn’t believe the reports of. He was mildly paranoid, but he trusted his judgement. Something about it felt familiar to him, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

4 Years Later

Ron slumped in his chair, after a long day of teaching at the local middle school he was exhausted. Keeping 30 kids contained and focused on algebra was difficult and tiring. As he sipped a beer he wondered if it might be time to switch careers. Perhaps to something that would provide him more growth going forward. As he prepared to listen to music and drown his sorrows in cheap beer, the familiar sound of his doorbell interrupted. Ron couldn’t help but wonder who would be bothering him at this hour. He opened the door to find a woman standing there holding what Ron could only assume was a Gameboy.

“Hello, who are y-“ and at that instant Kayla shot him with the device. Before he could wake she tossed him in a box and placed him inside her car. She quickly began to drive away.

By now, Kayla was used to long drives. Each occasion where she needed another tiny person for Sophia she had another long drive ahead of her. After all, you can’t just go around taking people from around the block. Since she had shrunk Anchorteeth, Kayla had found an easy routine of safely shrinking individual people down and using them as needed. Sometimes they would be used to entertain Sophia, who had developed a habit of playing with and eventually eating some of her toys. Other times she used them to teach Sophia, as was the fate of Ron.

Kayla had also been working on improvements to the device for the first time. Her job was now in developing stasis technology for prison inmates, and she had been working on implementing that into the device. She had yet to test it though.

Kayla pulled into her driveway, picking up the box and jogging inside.

“Sophia, time for homework!”

Ron had awoken in total darkness, being tossed around a room violently. Suddenly the world he was in turned upside down and he toppled onto a giant hard surface. For the first time, he realized his size as he stared dizzily at an enormous pencil sitting in front of him. He was only as tall as the exposed wood at the pencils base.

“How is that even possible?” He mumbled as two other people, a woman and another man, crashed down from the sky. They both looked just as stunned as he was. “Are you okay?” he asked the women.

“I think so” She said as she looked skyward. Ron did the same, completely stunned.

Over them, Kayla stared down. She had developed a relatively efficient way of explaining the situation.

“Hello. You have been shrunken by me, you are about half an inch tall and you will now serve my daughter. If you refuse you will be crushed or eaten alive. You will be teaching my daughter pre-algebra. 

“What the hell” Ron said, once again stunned.

The door at the other side of the pink room creaked open, and through stepped a familiar sight for Ron – a middle school aged girl in a simple T-shirt and shorts. It was only as she approached what he had now realized was a desk did her immense size become clear. Her face look far down at the trio of teachers now stranded in their own hell. 

“Sit down. Do your work sweetie.” Kayla ordered, and Sophia plopped down in the chair and casually took out her homework. The three dodged the paper as she carelessly tossed it down on top of them.

“I don’t get this one” she said as her giant pencil landed on one of the questions. Her giant marble eyes fixed on the other man Ron had yet to speak to.

“What’s the answer?” She asked him.

“I’m not doing this shit” he said aloud. The girl squinted and deafeningly yelled:

“I can’t hear you!”

He responded by yelling “I’m not doing this!” once more.

The unthreatening Sophia suddenly snarled and her eyebrows crossed into an angry glare at the man. Ron crouched as in an instant she swung the pencil around and with precision lightly pinned him down with the sharp end. At this point the previously stern man began begging desperately, but Sophia seemed to take pleasure in gently pressing the graphite through him. The gurgling sound was horrific as the pencil finally touched the desk through him. At lightning speed he was hoisted violently and painfully into the air and dangled half limp in front of her giant face. As she spoke her soggy breath covered him.

“You sound funny.” And in an instant she casually picked him off the pencil and tossed him into her mouth, swallowing almost immediately.

“He tasted gross” she said as she pat her belly “so who knows the answer?” she asked again looking now at Ron and the woman. They both yelled a confirming “yes!” as they ran over to see what the question was.

“43, the answer is 43.” The woman said, eyeing the patch of blood which seemed to be all that remained of the other man. Sophia’s gurgling stomach just a foot away was a reminder of that.

From there the duo painstakingly answered all of the questions Sophia had, which was usually just her asking for the answer. So much for tutoring, Ron thought. The stained wood of the pencil was a constant reminder to him that this girl could crush him at any time. Finally, they finished and sat down on the desk, exhausted and shaking.

“CAN WE GO FREE NOW?” The woman yelled up, hoping for a showing of mercy. Sophia bent down, now staring directly down over the two, casting a tall shadow over them.

“No. I need one of you for my test tomorrow.” Her eyes danced between the two “The man looks smarter”

Without a moments wait, her palm extended over the table and slapped the woman off of her desk. She tumbled through the air and landed awkwardly on the carpet floor. The girl laughed at this, enjoying her tutors screech as she writhed in pain on her floor. She swiveled in her chair, now looking down at the small woman curled up between her pink socks.

The woman looked up at the giantess sitting above her. She wanted to beg, but couldn’t do anything other than scream and moan at the intense pain she was feeling. Above, Ron gazed down from the desk, horrified. Sophia looked at Ron.

“Say goodbye to her” She said with a lifeless stare. Ron did as instructed.

“Goodbye.” He said, almost to tears.

Slowly, the middle schooler lifted her socked foot and dropped it onto the woman. Adding pressure as the pressed onto the carpet. The threads cut into the woman’s skin as the pressure began to break her. Sophia could feel the dulled form of the tiny woman under her foot, she enjoyed this thoroughly. With a simple flex there was a sharp pop that she had grown all too familiar with. Her sock finally rested on the ground, with a small wet spot of blood on the bottom. When she lifted her foot, the liquid stain was all that remained for Ron to see.

“You’re gonna stay here tonight” Sophia said as she plucked Ron up and tossed him in an open jar. Within a few minutes, she was asleep.

Ron was shell shocked. He was shaking, scared. He couldn’t believe it, two lives brutally destroyed over pre-algebra homework? Did he drink too much? Was he having a bad dream. That seemed unlikely as he sat in darkness listening to the snores of his giant tormentor. Eventually he drifted off to sleep.

Upon waking, Ron found that Sophia was already mostly ready for school. She was packing her items in her backpack and turned to leave.

“Oh! Almost forgot” she announced as the turned and lifted the jar “I need you.” She plucked Ron out and dumped him lazily into her pocket. He feel deep into the linen surrounding him. Every step she took as she left and walked to school tossed him violently into the air. She didn’t seem to particularly care.

For the next few hours Ron tried to make out what was going on. He heard the familiar sounds of middle schoolers talking and teachers teaching, but other than that he couldn’t make out what was going on. Finally Sophia reached in and pulled him out. She was at a desk in a math classroom surrounded in other giants. A massive woman was handing out papers, which he presumed was the exam she was talking about. Sophia hoisted him up to her ear and, for the first time, gently placed him inside. She didn’t  have to explain his role, he understood. 

Once she got the exam he carefully told her each answer, all the while wondering if he should just jump off and end it all in this classroom. He decided against it and helped her finish the exam successfully. After she wrote the last answer, Sophia proudly looked over ‘her’ work, for a moment forgetting about Ron entirely. She didn’t for long, as she tilted her head and felt the small man tumble out, screaming as he smashed into the hardwood ground. Luckily for Sophia, at his size no one heard. She quickly got up and lifted her foot. Ron couldn’t breathe as he looked up at the giant girl’s sneaker which quickly landed on him and reduced him to the same paste he had seen the night before. This act caught the attention for the teacher, who looked up at Sophia.

“Sorry I saw a bug. I got it.” Sophia announced as she walked up to turn her exam in. She got a perfect score.

5 years later

Officer Donnelly approached the door of a midsize home, clipboard in hand. He was in full police garb, although anyone paying significant attention would notice several irregularities.

He rung the doorbell and a young teenager opened the door, noticeably startled.

“Um, hello?” she said looking up at him.

“May I speak with your parents?” he asked, “I work for the police” -- he lied. He had actually retired a few months previous, but he had found a new way to spend his time.

“My mom’s not home, sorry” she replied sheepishly

“That’s ok – when will she be back?”

“I don’t know”

“Ok, tell her to reach out to me as soon as possible” he said as he scribbled his phone number on a piece of paper. As he handed it to her he couldn’t help but feel off about this house. She closed the door as he crossed another name off his list.

He was going to speak to anyone involved in these disappearances – and solve them. 

Sophie strolled through her empty home. She had just started high school and was under a lot of stress about things. More and more she found herself relying on tinies to solve her academic challenges – and as a result her mother had to make further and further trips to find good candidates. After all, no one wants a farmer helping them with algebra. 

Her mom was still protective over the actual device, Sophie didn’t know where it was. That wasn’t of consequence, though, as above the sink in sealed Tupperware about a dozen people of varying sizes sat unconscious. All Sophia had to do was pull one out before her exams, explain the content to it, bring it with her, and dispose of it. Piece of cake.

Today would be different, though. Sophia had started dating a guy she met in homeroom – Evan. Even for freshman in high school, their relationship developed quickly. Now they spent an enormous amount of time with one another and Sophie was already thinking about next steps.

She had never actually kissed a guy, something most girls around her had. Her mom was so protective over her, which frustrated her to no end. Even acquiring a boyfriend turned out to be tough for her, and she had no problem venting to her tinies before she stomped them to oblivion.          

But now she finally had one, and he was on his way over. She had gotten her hopes up when the doorbell rang, but the weird police man had arrived instead. Now she stared at herself in the mirror as she adjusted her shirt and hair mimicking how she would try to kiss him. She had learned as much as she could already. 

Google was a start, Wikihow provided an overview of how to kiss. But Sophia had needed more, the night before her history exam she had asked a particularly talkative tiny how to kiss, and it had explained it to her as best it could on the condition that she let him go after the exam. She of course forgot and crushed him slowly regardless, but at least she remembered the advice as she watched herself in the mirror making kissy faces.

Then, the doorbell rang.

Finally, It was Evan. The two hugged immediately and ran up to Sophies room to enjoy a new Netflix show neither of them particularly cared for. Sophie knew they would kiss at some point – but her heart was racing regardless. She sat worried that he could feel it as they laid together watching. Then she had an idea.

“I’ll be right back” she announced as she darted downstairs.

Roger was in a daze – moments before he had been stopped at a gas station filling his truck and how he found himself stumbling around a futuristic room with a bunch of other dazed people. No one could speak coherently and he could hardly walk without stumbling.

Then the roof seemed to lift itself off into the air and within a second, Roger found himself in the dark. He tumbled around a soft, warm cave for a minute. He felt himself slowly gathering consciousness as the cave slit open and light flooded in.

And was he confused.

Two giant pairs of eyes looked down on him. After a moment his own eyes adjusted to see the young faces they belonged to. After some unintelligible rumbling from their mouths they both smiled in a way that made Roger nervous. Surely these 14 year olds were old enough to find help, right?

“You can’t tell anyone, okay?” Sophie said very seriously

“Okay I promise” Evan replied “What are we supposed to do with it?” he said looking down at the ant sized man

“Let me know you” Sophia said with a smirk. She plucked the tiny man and dangled him over her mouth, Evan was both stunned and very into what she was doing. The tiny screeched as it dangled above the warm cave. To Evans surprise, she teased it aloud: 

“guess what little guyyy” she chirped “my tummy’s feeling a little empty, can you help me with that..?”

In an instant she dropped him through the air, the screeching continuing as Evan watched bemused.

For Roger, this was more or less a living hell. Dangling above some teenagers mouth as she taunted him and while her soggy breath soaked him was enough to make him lose his mind. Moments later he landed with a smack on her bumpy tongue, the organ extending outward as if he was on a cliff. Behind him her eyes looked down at him while in front of him another giant teenager eyed him. What happened next shook him to his core.

The two lurched toward one another, their mouths opening and before Roger could properly scream, he was between them.

Neither of the teenage kissers had much experience – which somehow made it even worse for Roger. He was layered in thick saliva and carelessly tossed around and between the mouthes. His ears popped as they carelessly sucked and slobbered him. He could swear he felt the girl smile as he kicked and yelped.

Sophie was having an excellent time – the kissing was hot and the tiny made it that much hotter. She smiled as she tossed him around, occasionally digging him out from her teeth with her tongue. Evan was still processing the idea of shrunk people, but the kissing was great and he had a major thing for Sophie – he assumed they would discuss later.

Sophie was happy to topple over Evan while they kissed. She pulled back and stared him down as she swished the tiny like mouthwash.

She happily teased him by sticking her tongue out with the tiny holding on to the end for dear life. Then they dived back into it, even more aggressively now. Sophie didn’t particularly care if the tiny was pulled apart or crushed – she was just happy to have this time with Evan. To her surprise though, after half an hour it was still not only alive but intact. She carelessly tossed it aside as she and Evan began watching the show.

After it was done, they kissed briefly and she happily lead him to the door.

“Let’s do that again” she said, on her toes.

“Definitely” he said “and don’t worry – that’s our secret” with that he shut the door.

Sophie went back and found Roger in a heap covered in her own spit. She was careful to place him in a box for safe keeping – because her mom would notice if she kept taking the tinies for this, she’d have to reuse this one again and again. That was fine with her, she thought.