‘Shit! Fuck!’

Casey ran across the marble floor, her sun hat held in place with her spare hand. Her other dragged an emerald green carry case behind her, the rumble and clack of its wheels accompanying the slap slap of her sandals as she raced to the departure gate.

The attendant was preparing to close the barrier. ‘No, I’m here, wait!’

She fell against the desk; cheeks pink with exertion, her dark copper curls sticking to sweat dampened skin. ‘I’m here,’ she repeated, dragging her luggage forwards.

The attendant gave her a blank look. ‘Passport?’

Casey produced it from her clutch, watching as it was scrutinised.

The document was handed back, ‘bag ticket?’

She reached down to her case and paused. Ten seconds ago, the green and white bag ticket was wrapped around the handle. Now it was bare. ‘Shit’ she cursed under her breath.

‘Bag ticket?’ the attendant repeated.

‘Yeah, I know,’ she held up a hand while she searched all over her bag, ‘it’s here somewhere I know it is. Just a second.’

‘Miss, you’re already late.’

‘Yes, I know, Jesus! I don’t know, it must have come off, I don’t know where it is.’

The attendant looked at her blankly.

‘Sorry, I was rushing and it must be back there somewhere. Can I get on without it, it’s already been checked.’

‘No miss, a bag ticket is required for boarding.’

Casey bristled, her pink cheeks growing darker with frustration. ‘I know but I just had it, can’t you just-‘

‘No miss,’ the attendant replied flatly, ‘a bag ticket is required for boarding.’

She groaned, ‘Ok, so I don’t have one, what can I do?’

The attendant stared at her for a moment, ‘Bag tickets are obtained at check in. If you have not got a bag ticket you will need to check in again at the check in desk.’

‘But I’ll miss my flight! It leaves in what, fifteen minutes? How can I get back there in time?’

‘I can’t say miss, a bag ticket is required for boarding.’

‘I know!’ Casey snapped, throwing her hands up. She leaned on the desk, aware that everyone in the terminal was watching the scene. ‘You keep fucking saying that!’

‘Miss, please do not curse at me. I am just doing my job. A bag ticket is required for boarding. Shall I call security?’

She exhaled slowly, drumming her slender fingers on the desk. Steeling herself, she forced the sweetest of smiles across her lips.

‘No, I’m sorry. It’s just, look, I’m desperate here. Is there anything that you can do?’

The attendant paused to consider her question.

‘Additional passes can be purchased if necessary for a small fee of $69.99 per item. Would you like to purchase an additional pass?’

Piece of shit. Casey fought to keep the smile on her face.

‘I don’t really have that kind of cash on me, is there anything else you can do? Please, I really need to catch this flight.’

‘We accept card.’

Piece of Shit!

She gritted her teeth as she withdrew her card and paid the fee. ‘Ok, great, can I go?’

‘Please place your case on the pad here.’ The attendant gestured to the left.

Grunting, Casey hauled it onto the flat surface. ‘OK?’

The attendant ignored her, looking at the screen that sat on the desk between them.

‘Apologies miss, this bag is overweight and cannot be permitted on board with a standard baggage ticket.’

‘For fuck’s sake!’ Casey exploded, turning on the attendant. She was taller by two inches and made every use of it, ‘How can it be over-fucking-weight if they gave me the correct baggage ticket when I checked in? I haven’t even bought anything. This is bullshit, I want to see your supervisor. Get them down here now!’

‘Miss, please do not curse at me. I am just doing my job. A valid baggage ticket is required for boarding. Your case is 1lb overweight. Shall I call security?’

‘Call your fucking supervisor.’

‘Of course miss, a supervisor will be available in thirty minutes. Would you like to take a seat and wait?’

‘Thirty minutes? This is bullshit! My plane is leaving in,’ Casey turned to check her departure time on the huge screen at the end of the hall, ‘Eleven minutes! I’m getting on this plane, I’m not missing out on my time at the beach because of this red tape bullshit. You’re gonna let me on this plane right fucking now.’

The attendant was unmoved.

‘Oversized baggage passes can be purchased if necessary for a small fee of $129.99 per item. Would you like to purchase an oversized baggage pass?’

The whole terminal watched Casey’s meltdown.

When she had finished the attendant repeated the question, paused then added, ‘Alternatively you can remove 1lb of weight from your oversized baggage in order to make it compliant. Would you like to remove 1lb of weight from your oversized baggage in order to make it compliant? You have eight minutes. If required, there is a waste receptacle around the corner.’

Casey had never felt so helpless, why was this happening to her? What had she done to deserve this?

The attendant watched as she dragged her case off of the platform and hurried around the corner. The rows of chairs were empty, the flight already boarded. Only a grey table, a trash can and a rubber plant remained.

Her fingers flew to the zip, dragging it open. A rainbow of colours assaulted her, her meticulously planned outfits laid out in a hundred shades. For each evening she had a pair of heels, each one costing a small fortune. She had arranged these around the outside of the case. On the left her makeup and toiletries bag took up a quarter of the space and no doubt half the weight. To the right was her underwear, three summer dresses as light as air and a sealed grey box.

Casey looked at the clock, seven minutes until the gate would close for good. Shit, shit, shit!

She tugged half-heartedly on the makeup bag, kidding herself that there was something in there she could lose. Everything was an essential, everything was designer. She couldn’t leave anything in there behind. She lifted a shoe, feeling the weight in her hand. Was it more than 1lb? She tried to imagine the weight of a bag of sugar. Even if it was, there was no way these heels were going to end up in the trash.

A trickle of sweat ran between her shoulder blades. She couldn’t miss this flight. There had to be something she could leave behind, there just had to be.

Her eyes fell upon the grey container. Could she spare it? She tapped her fingers nervously. Could she really get rid of it? The container was in her hand before she knew it. Was it heavy enough? She tried to pretend it wasn’t but it clearly met the requirements.

Casey placed the container on the table and poured through her belongings once more. There must be 1lb worth of items she could lose, there had to be. Surely there was something she had that wasn’t designer, wasn’t expensive and vital for her summer look?

There was one thing. Something she had owned since junior high, something that hadn’t cost her anything and that could easily be replaced.

She bit her lip as she turned the container over in her hands. This day was always going to come sooner or later.

‘Six minutes remaining miss,’ the attendant called, unhelpful as ever.

‘Fuck it!’ she whispered to herself, unclasping the lid.

Mouse shielded her eyes as the light poured into her cabin. Her arms and legs ached from where she had been jostled against the hard plastic sides. She had expected some turbulence during the flight but nothing like she had just experienced.

She rubbed her shoulder as she looked up at her owned. ‘Are we there yet?’

‘No,’ Casey replied, her voice devoid of the laughter she was used to, ‘somethings come up, there’s a delay.’

‘Shoot,’ Mouse grumbled, ‘what bad luck, how long are we delayed for? Do you want me to come out?’

Casey tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. The wide brim of her sun hat framed her face, her eyes hidden beneath a pair of red framed sunglasses with heart shaped lenses.

‘Yeah, so, yeah, sort of,’ without hesitation Casey reached down and snatched the tiny woman up in her hand. At just over two inches she barely weight a thing. It wasn’t Mouse’s weight that was the problem.

Shrinkys were not allowed to fly. There was a concern they would escape and get into the mechanisms. Most people would leave theirs at home when they went on vacation, they were just smart enough to ration their food until their owners returned.

Casey had wanted to take Mouse with her. Since her best friend shrank ten years ago, they hadn’t been apart for more than a couple of days tops. Ahead of the trip she had purchased a carry case, the plastic container that would keep her pet safe in her case. These were allowed as they locked from the outside, there was no risk of the Shrinky getting out and causing problems.

The case would survive a drop as well as high and low temperatures meaning the Shrinky would remain safe throughout the journey. Unfortunately it weighed just over 1lb.

Casey sank heavily into one of the black chairs. The warm plastic stuck to the top of her thighs. Her midriff was bare, her waist enclosed in a pair of denim shorts. She wore a flowing gown, tied at the chest above a small strappy top. Mouse, as always, was naked; her body wearing nothing but bruises.

She held the tiny woman in her hand as she explained the situation with the attendant and the cost of getting the bag upgraded.

Mouse listened, her eyes wide with fear as Casey’s intentions became clear.

‘Please,’ she squeaked, ‘you can’t, this is crazy!’

‘I know babe, how can 1lb be worth $130? Still there’s no getting by it. I’m sorry, this is where it’s going to end for you I’m afraid.’

Mouse was crying. She hadn’t cried in a very long time, her owner had forbidden it, but now she couldn’t hold back. After ten years at her former friend’s feet, the humiliation, the games, the torment she had gone through when Casey grew bored; it couldn’t end like this.

‘Please Miss,’ Mouse begged, ‘there’s got to be something you can do? Can’t you just throw away the container and leave me in your case? I promise I will be good, I promise I won’t try to escape.’

Casey chuckled at the idea. ‘I know you won’t babe, you’ve been a good little mouse since your last little jailbreak. There’s no doubting that what I did to you after that attempt worked. Still, what’s going to happen if you get smushed in transit? If we hit turbulence and my bag rolls over that’s it done for you. Think about it, what will I do if I get to the hotel and my clothes are all covered in mouse blood? It’d ruin my vacation.’

Mouse’s heart was beating in her tiny chest, ‘So just fucking pay the charge then! Please, Casey, don’t do this. Please, there’s got to be another way.’

The larger woman laughed this time, ‘A hundred and thirty bucks for a single back? Yeah right, and have nothing left for mojitos? No way hun, I’m not having a dry trip.’ She paused for a split second before her face twisted, ‘And Casey? Check you out getting brave. It’s ok, I’ll let you have that one for free considering what’s about to happen.’

Before Mouse could react, her owner’s massive fingers closed about her body. Casey squeezed her gently within her fist, still amazed after all these years just how light and fragile she was. Mouse choked in her grip, her arms being pressed roughly into her side.

‘Don’t think this is easy for me you know,’ Casey continued, her tone growing bored, ‘I actually did think about maybe smuggling you onto the plane. ‘Y’know, maybe sneak into the bathroom and slide you feet first inside of me? I know you hate it but I genuinely considered leaving you with your little head poking out and just risking it.’

She paused again as if considering the idea afresh, ‘But it’s not worth it. I don’t want to be super horny for three hours then get there to find you all gross and drowned. Plus if you get caught it’s like a $500 fine. Fuck that, y’know. If I’m not paying $130 there’s no way I’m going to shell out $500 for your little ass. No, I’ve thought about it and there’s no other option. Sorry babe.’

Casey started to squeeze harder, aiming to crush the tiny woman in her grip then toss her into the trash along with the defunct carry case.

‘Please,’ Mouse choked, ‘Casey no, not like this, please, not like this.’

Casey only looked down at her in silence, her eyes hidden behind her shades.

Mouse’s heart beat in her ears, her vision blurring as she was compressed tighter and tighter. She choked, blood splashing across her chest and onto the huge fingers that coiled around her.

‘Five minutes Miss, five minutes.’ The attendant called from around the corner.

The voice struck Casey like a slap to the face. Her hand loosened, Mouse sliding across her opening palm.

‘Fuck,’ Casey groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. She spied the blood splatter on her finger. ‘Yeah I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking. Fuck.’

She leaned back in her chair, a playful smirk on her face as she watched the miniscule woman suck down breaths of air from her place in her palm. The size difference between them was really something. So was the difference in power.

‘Y’know, I think I have been too nice with you lately. I had completely forgotten just how much blood you have in that little body of yours.’

‘T-thank you,’ Mouse sobbed, clutching her still burning chest, ‘thank you Miss Hanson.’

‘No need to thank me Mouse,’ Casey smiled widely, ‘I really should be the one to apologise. Don’t you remember what I said to you back in college when we were going through that bad patch? We both knew there’d be a day when you had to go, when for whatever reason I decided you had to die. I always promised you two things, you sure you don’t remember?’

Mouse looked up and began to sob, babbling with fear as Casey leaned forwards and lowered her on to the cold marble.

The ground beneath her trembled beneath Casey’s weight as she placed a foot either side of the weeping woman. Mouse didn’t even try to run, she had learned the very hard way that escape was always impossible.

Looking up through eyes heavy with frantic tears she was helpless as Casey rested her hands on her hips and smirked down from the heavens.

‘I’m positive you remember,’ she continued, the ground rumbling as her foot moved towards her quivering prey, ‘The first thing I promised was that I would make it quick, that I wouldn’t make you suffer. We were friends for a long time and have been more than that for ten years, I owe you that much.’

‘Please,’ Mouse babbled as Casey’s sandal clad foot rose above her, ‘please, please, don’t do this.’

 ‘And the second thing was that I would never let you forget your place. You’ve lived at my feet for so long, now I guess it just makes sense for you to die beneath them too. Bye Mouse, love ya!’

Casey smiled, waving goodbye to the doomed creature. She had killed every other Shrinky she had ever owned, everyone but Mouse. She would keep her word and end it but after ten years she wanted to savour the moment. Her pet’s shrieks of terror rose as her foot slowly lowered to the ground.

In her shadow, Mouse crawled across the stone tiled floor. Above her the black foam treads of her former friend’s sandal lowered towards her. This was crazy, she repeated the words to herself a million times, this couldn’t be happening.

In junior high they had been BFFs, if she hadn’t Shrunk her life would be identical to Casey’s. She would be the one with the bag full of designer shoes, flying away for a week at the beach, drinking mojitos.

Now she was going to die. Crushed like an ant beneath her friend’s foot because of some airport regulation? It couldn’t be real, she must be dreaming.

When she first Shrank, Casey had taken her in. She had always said that it was official, that Mouse’s parents asked her to as they wouldn’t have been able to cope. Mouse had no choice but to believe her, she had never been consulted nor got to say goodbye.

The first week or two went by fine but much as people think Shrinkys lose their brain power when they are reduced, so too does possessing a Shrunken person bring out the worst in people.

It had changed for Mouse when Casey first purchased the cage. Shortly after that was the first time she had been commanded to obey, the first time she had been humiliated. First she lost the right to clothes, then to autonomy as Casey manipulated her body against her will. Eventually Casey took her name, making her Mouse forever.

It was Mouse who became the victim of Casey’s games as they got older, Mouse who would be beaten, burned and tormented. Mouse was the one who would give her mistress pedicures, applying the paint with her bare hands before thanking her owner for giving her a purpose in life.

Mouse was the pet, the property, the slave. When Casey’s fun involved other Shrinkys it had been Mouse who had watched them die, who had amused her mistress by begging for the lives of strangers. It had been Mouse who had to clean up the blood, who would remove their remains from the shoes of her owner.

Eventually it had been Mouse who became an object. Mouse who had been woken with a kick to find her giant former friend standing drunkenly over her in the middle of the night. She was the creature who had been pushed, sobbing, against Casey’s womanhood.

Casey had broken her then; the first time she was fully immersed, the first time she opened her mouth to breathe and took down a lungful of her juices instead. From then on she knew her place, from then on she had crawled between Casey’s thighs willingly when commanded.

Despite it all, against all of the maddening horror her existence had become, for some reason she had always believed that Casey would show mercy. She had always believed one day, if she was good enough and nice enough and fun enough, Casey would release her.

The thud of Casey’s heel on the tile dragged her back into the present. She could feel the weight above her, the pressure as the unstoppable force drew nearer and nearer.

Her pleas became ever more frantic as she was knocked onto her back, this was it, this was the end.

Please, Casey,’ she sobbed between screams, ‘please, please, don’t do this goddess, please!’

The foot stopped, a chuckle dropping down from above.

Light bathed her as Casey drew her foot away, ‘Jeez, Goddess? That’s a blast from the past, I haven’t made you call me that in years! Where did that come from? Did you really want your last words on earth to be calling me your goddess?’

Mouse took her chance, ‘Yes!’ she squealed, darting forwards to kneel before Casey’s foot. ‘Please goddess, spare me, have mercy, I love you, please!’

Her lips found her owner’s skin, kissing her toes and relishing in the taste of salt and lotion. If it meant she survived it was heaven. She would have stayed like that forever if not for the attendant’s call.

‘Miss, two minutes. You need to come now or we are closing the gate!’

‘Yeah, sure, coming.’

Mouse looked up to see her goddess’ face obscured by her phone. The camera flashed once, twice, more.

‘Perfect,’ Casey chuckled, ‘I just wanted to get some more recent pictures of you worshipping me so I can show the next one what’s in store. Bye Mouse!’

Without wasting a second she lifted her foot and slammed it down, completely destroying her stunned victim. She felt nothing as her weight ploughed through the woman, liquefying her instantly.

Twisting her foot in place; she quickly zipped up her luggage, tossed the now useless transport container in the trash and hurried over to the gate. She didn’t look back as the attendant weighed her case, applied the correct label and waved her through.

Casey had a week at the beach ahead of her, it was time to party.