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Story Notes:
This short story is based on a daydream I had last week while in NYC.  I was sitting in Central Park watching all of the women walk by, and thought about what it would be like if each and every one had a tiny man under her foot.  Depending upon the woman, this was either exciting or horrible!

            As scientific knowledge has progressed, attributions to the “supernatural” have steadily disappeared, with one exception.  It has now become a proven fact that all around us are thousands, or perhaps millions, of dimensions consisting of alternative realities.  Many of these dimensions mirror our own with only perhaps a few minor exceptions.  As scientists have perfected their abilities to view and study these alternative universes, however, it has become clear that some of them are fantastically different from our own.  This is the story of one such alternative universe.

            The technology allowing scientists to observe other dimensions was developed towards the end of the twenty-first century.  Confirmation of the existence of these dimensions explained a great many of the phenomenon that had confounded humans for eons, from UFO sightings to the existence of ghosts.  It was not generally accepted that sometimes images or even entities could somehow manifest themselves in our own reality, even if only briefly.  By finally perfecting a mechanism to peer into these alternative realities, however, scientists were often astounded by what they saw. 

            One of the most disturbing of all, however, was the universe unofficially dubbed “Male Brobdingnag” by the few astounded scientists that had observed it.  At first glance, it appeared to be another universe almost exactly like our own.  The cities appeared exactly the same, the style of dress was almost identical, and even the technology seemed only slightly behind our own.  There appeared to be roughly an equal number of men and women in this universe, as well, until the shocking truth was discovered.  For in this universe, it turned that males actually outnumbered females two-to-one.  Half of all males born appeared completely normal, no discernable difference to our own earth.  These male children grew normally and lived a productive life.  But the other half of the males born, however, were literally a fraction of the size of a normal-sized human, reaching a maximum of two inches in height at adulthood, but often considerably smaller, oftentimes so small they were barely visible.  The likelihood that a male child would be born normal or tiny appeared to be completely random.

            These tiny males had many other fascinating attributes that their society had come to understand and accommodate.  Each tiny male was raised by his mother as well as possible until the age of 18, although they appeared to be viewed more as pets than as children.  Perhaps it was a coping mechanism on the part of the mother, as she knew what was to come.  At the age of 18, however, the tiny male was then randomly assigned to a female of the same age somewhere in the world, never to see their actual mother again. 

            At the time of this assignment, a remarkable transformation took place in the tiny male.  He somehow immediately bonded with his assigned female in such a way that he practically became a part of her body.  As long as he had contact with her skin, he absorbed all needed nutrients, thus he never had any need to eat.  He also became completely indestructible and immune from harm, and his lifeforce became solely reliant upon his assigned female host.  In other words, in every single case, the tiny male lived as long as his assigned female, and died only when she died. 

            Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the entire society, at least from our perspective, was how completely casual the existence of these tiny male had become.  Because of their indestructible nature and their need to stay attached to the female’s skin, the vast majority of women elected to keep their assigned man under their feet.  Depending on their size, they were sometimes attached to the bottom of a toe by a toering, or sometimes even to some portion of the female’s sole with a band-aid (particularly if she planned on walking around barefoot).  In fact, it was fairly easy to discern a female’s personality simply by the way she dressed.  Many of the kinder ones would wear flat sandals to give their man plenty of fresh air, while others would appear to be completely oblivious to the suffering of their assigned male.  They would wear hot enclosed shoes, or crushing high heels.  It was utterly astounding for earth’s scientists to watch what appeared to be a completely normal world, while knowing that a tiny man was suffering ceaselessly and practically secretly under the feet of each and every woman in the world.

            One of the most horrible parts of this existence was the completely random nature of the assignment.  A man could be assigned to a woman all the way around the world, of any race, language and culture.  They were just as likely to be assigned to a horrible fat woman that never cared for her feet as to a beautiful woman that received weekly pedicures.  They could be relegated to living in a culture where the women commonly went barefoot, meaning their feet were constantly covered in layers of filth, to a cold climate where the women wore layers of socks and thick boots year-round. 

            For the most part, the world forgot these tiny men.  They were rarely acknowledged.  Normal size men--perhaps out of relief--never had any interaction with their tiny brethren.  The women went on to live completely normal lives, working, dating, playing sports, marrying, having their own children, all the while simply tolerating the existence of the tiny male parasite on the bottom of their foot.  And since the male always lived as long as his host, it was hard to accept that even old, elderly women still had their tiny man living under the bottom of their crusty old feet. 

            As earth’s scientists slowly came to terms with the horrors that must be facing the unfortunate tiny men of this world, they discovered with growing horror that simply being walked on was not the worst suffering that many of these men were forced to endure.  Sometimes a woman’s profession or activity made keeping their assigned man on the bottom of their foot impossible.  Many athletes, such as swimmers or gymnasts, for example, could not afford to risk losing their footing due to their tiny foot passenger.  In order to take maintain the constant skin contact needed while still enjoying completely freedom of movement, these women would often take their tiny man and shove them far up their ass for as long as necessary.  Indeed, some women actually preferred this as their most common form of transportation and accommodation.

            And then, finally, there was that very small percentage of women who could only be classified as “evil.”  They were the only ones that really seemed to take note of the existence of their tiny men, but then simply because they truly enjoyed making life as miserable for them as possible.  Some of the actions they took were so incredibly horrible and depraved that it defied imagination.  But in “Male Brobdingnag,” there was no justice for these poor unfortunate tiny men. 

            Every earth scientist that observed this universe came away shaken to the core, and transformed by the experience.  Imagine simply looking out your window, and imagining a tiny man suffering under the foot or between the toes of each and every woman that walks by.  Look at each style of shoe and imagine the fate of each tiny passenger.  Life would never be the same.

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