Standing on her knees, dressed only in a plain gray dress, with her hair tied back Allison carefully and steadily cleaned her step-brother’s shoes. It wasn’t the first time and it wouldn’t be the last. These were the most expensive of his sneakers; they required an amount of care directly proportional to their price. When he first got home with these in the bag, he immediately called her to show them to her. “See how white the leather is? That’s how they should stay”, he told her then as he stomped all around her in his new shoes. “And the soles too!” - at that point he rose one of the feet on its heel to demonstrate the fine, intricate tread to her. She got the message; after all, were she to protest, parents would quickly intervene and tell her to go along with the demand. 

So here she was - rubbing at the shoe feverishly with an aptly sized rug soaked in water. This water came from her own little drinking station. It was a simple mechanism; inverted bottle with a long nozzle plugged with a steel ball. She had to press the ball and the water came splashing out (as long as her family members didn’t forget to refill it regularly). Inevitably, she’d get all wet any time she dispensed water with that thing. But she didn’t complain. Complaining would only make the things worse. She was a shrinkee, and thus she was supposed to be quiet. Such is the life she’s been living ever since she shrank at age fourteen. 

She diligently continued cleaning Eric’s shoes until she could no longer find another dusty spot, and only then did she allow herself to take a break. Allison sat by the massive shoes, leaning onto them, and caught her breath. The she heard a door slam. That was him; parents never slammed the door. 

She heard voices first, then - someone approaching with heavy thuds; strangely, it sounded like two people were walking. Allison frowned and stood up. A moment later, the door to the room opened, and Eric entered; her massive brother was just his usual, cheerful self. He wasn’t alone, though; he was followed by another young man whom she did not know. Both were dressed in t-shirts, jeans and house slippers. 

“...yeah, so let me just find it, must be somewhere in my drawer...”

“Hi, Eric”, Allison called out. Her step-brother just nodded in her direction and smiled, but his friend stood in his tracks. His eyes focused on the tiny girl. 

“You didn’t tell me you had a tiny girlfriend”, he spoke.

“That’s my sis”, Eric replied, stomping towards his desk. Allison was located next to the bed, her clraning supplies still next to her. 

“Sister? Aren’t you...?”

“Adopted? Yeah”, Eric shrugged as he opened a drawer. “Allison’s their biological daughter. She shrunk, though, as you can see”.

“Allison”, his friend repeated. “I see. So, like, why’s she in your room?”

“She’s been cleaning my shoes”, Eric replied, pulling a book out of his drawer. Allison could see it was some manga. “Found it!”.

His friend seemed disinterested, though.

“Why’s she doing that?”

Allison looked at Eric nervously, but he didn’t even notice.

“She’s kinda like my servant, I guess”, her step-brother replied nonchalantly. “Mom and Dad decided so”.

“Are you serious?”

“Sure am. She’s good at it, too. I think she’s happy she can still do something around the house, you know?”

The other guy smirked. 

“How old is she?”

“Older than me, but I don’t remember for sure”, Eric shrugged as he walked over to the bed. “She’s nice to have around. I’ll probably get to take her for college, too”.

Once upon a time, Allison wished to go to college, too. The shrinking, obviously, got in the way. She looked down as Eric approached her. 

“What else does she do for you?”

“Eh, anything I ask, really”

Eric sat down on the bed and pushed his now clean sneakers aside before resting both of his feet on either side of Allison. He then moved one of them over to her and unceremonously pushed her over on her back with the toe of his slipper. She rolled a bit before bumping into the other foot. Then he swiftly kicked his slippers off and with his now bare toes reached out for her. Allison could only watch helplessly as these toes clasped on her shoulder and dragged her away from the bed before lifting her in the air briefly and throwing her some distance away. As she came to her senses, she saw her step-brother leaning back on the many pillows his bed was adorned with; as he did so, he stretched his legs out, presenting her with his bare, wrinkled, smelly soles. 

“She gives nice footrubs”, she heard Eric declare and got the message. Feeling the burning gaze of the other guy, she crawled over to Eric’s massive feet and went at it - rubbing, kneading, tending to his soles with all the might she could muster. She only refused to do this once in her life, the very first time, and her parents were strict then as they explained to her this was just one of the things she was supposed to do when asked. Since then, she’s given Eric countless footrubs. 

Her hands quickly became covered in sweat and lint as she worked. 

“This is awesome”, she heard the other guy say. “What else does she do?”

“I have her wash my feet occasionally, or, you know, scrub a bit”, Eric mused. “Nothing much else, but sometimes I also like to just step on her, because she feels nice. And I figure she likes it. She’s small, you know, kinda useless, but I like having her around, and, ya know, I think if’s good for her”.

“Dude, that’s so cool”, the friend muttered. “I kinda wish Sarah was this small”.

“Your girlfriend? Aren’t you guys cool?”

“Well, we are, but you know, if she was small and I had her, that’d be even better”

“Huh?”

“Like, it’s fun, right? You can basically make her do anything, can’t you? I wish...”

“Anything? Like what?”

Allison kept rubbing, secretly wishing she could temporarily lose her hearing. The next thing Eric’s friend said made her wince.

“Well, I’d play a game with Sarah where I pretend to smother her. Or I’d put her in my sock and tie it at the top. Or...oh, I’d tell her to lick my feet”.

“Mm...”

“Eric, no”, Allison whimpered, fearing the worst. 

“Allison, lick my feet”, she heard from above, and her heart sank. For a moment, she stared at the flesh she’s been rubbing for the last several minutes. Then, the other foot flexed and playfully bopped her on the head. 

“Come on!”

She leaned forward, sticking her tongue out and taking a peckish lick of her step-brother’s sole. She heard him giggle. She heard his friend giggle too; this man whose name she didn’t even know also sat down, watching her intently. She kept licking, feeling the sole shift slightly from the clearly enjoyable sensation. As she licked, she once again thought of all the things she could probably be if she weren’t shrunken; her parents’ beloved daughter, set to have a wonderful, successful life. Instead, she will follow her step-brother to college as his loyal, obedient servant, whose skillset now includes licking his feet.