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Felix didn’t get any sleep last night. He laid in the dirt filled cage playing with the dust scattered under his fingers. Every once in a while, he would ram his head against the plastic. He didn’t understand why, but part of him liked the pain he felt afterwards. If he could focus on that, he wouldn’t have to focus on the mental pain. He also entertained the thought that one might kill him. 


Only Elias was able to get any shut eye, with his knees dug into his chest and his hands over his ears. Tomorrow was Friday, meaning there would only be one more week until the end of the month. That’s when Katie would bring him, Connie, and possibly Sofia into her school to be sold. Seven more days of anguish and torment. He hoped he’d get a nice girl, or if she had to be cruel like Katie that she’d be a cheerleader. Katie sells tinies for only ten dollars, that’s how little she thinks they're worth. 


Andrew didn’t see what Katie had done. Even though she had forced him out of the cage, she didn’t force him to watch like she did the others. Andrew thinks that’s her way of being nice, or maybe her way of appeasing him. Even though he was being punished, it would end sooner or later. She wouldn’t want him resentful of her, just obedient. He wasn’t like the other tinies in the cage.


Connie and Sofia tried their hardest to get their minds off Mia and Emma. They talked about their old lives and what they would’ve been doing at that moment. It worked for a while, but each of their stories would somehow work it’s way back to Mia or Emma. Around 2, they sat in silence. 


And of course, Katie slept soundly in her bed above. A few times during the night the tinies could hear her shift her position in bed, reminding everyone of the monster that laid just above them. 


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Katie didn’t acknowledge her tinies for the majority of the morning. She rarely ever did. Once in a while, she liked to take one or two with her to the bathroom, but even that was only on weekends. She wasn’t a morning person, and didn’t like anyone seeing her until she was fully dressed— even those she didn’t consider fully human.


When the lights in the room turned on, Connie, Sofia and Elias all approached the front of the cage and sat down. They told Felix that this was the way Katie preferred it. She wouldn’t always like it, but it’s what was least likely to make her mad. Felix followed their lead.


It took Katie an hour to wash up and eat her breakfast. During that time, Felix was able to ask plenty of questions to his fellow captives.


His first question was about food. Sofia told him that Katie only ever feeds them actual food after she eats dinner. She also mentioned that Katie almost never gives them water, but they drink when they can—whatever that means.


He found out that Katie also knew all of their names, but didn’t often use them. She didn’t think unowned tinies deserve names, but there were circumstances where using them were unavoidable. Elias thought Katie would give Felix a name herself when she thought he was ready for one.


Felix tried not to ask too many questions about what the other’s been told to do by Katie, as to not bring up any unpleasant memories, but he thought he should be prepared for what's to come. So he reworded his question a bit. “What might Katie ask me to do?”


“Napkins. Toothpicks. Table weights. Insoles. Toothbrush. Nail clippers. Wipes. Toilet paper.” Connie said, staring blankly at the bars. “Think of any common object, that's what we are now. You saw how she used us as shoe and floor cleaners yesterday. I’m sure you’ll see some other things today.”


“I used to think that was the worst part.” Sofia picked up. “It’s so humiliating, I hated being reduced to something so worthless. But it’s the torture that’s the worst part. Because there's no purpose behind it. It’s just Katie being bored. Mia was crushed like nothing under a marble yesterday for no reason at all. At least when she’s using us to clean the food left on her face, or shortening her fingernails, we have a purpose. But she still treats us like we’re nothing.”


Felix sat on that. Before he could ask another question, Katie came back in, and Felix wiped the terrified look off his face.


Unlike last time, Katie pulled the cage out from under her bed with ease and caution. She undid the latch at the top of the cage and opened it up. 


Felix forgot how pretty she was. He spent the entire night reflecting on how much of a monster she acted. How could someone so beautiful be so cruel? 


Katie reached her hand down and plucked each person out one by one. Felix thought he was going to have a panic attack when it was his turn. Katie used the same fingers to pick him up that she used to crush Emma. Visions of Katie smearing Emma’s blood on his face filled his vision. As he was carried out, a terrifying thought came to him— he hadn’t had a bath or water or anything since he shrunk, was Emma’s blood still on his face?


She dropped the five of them on her bed. After scratching her chin for a moment, she picked the sneezer boy back up and brought him over to her book shelf. “While I’m at school, you can work on getting over your allergies.” Standing on her tiptoes, she dropped the tiny boy on the top of the shelf. Felix didn’t think a girl like Katie would read a lot of books. The shelves were probably littered in dust. A loud sneeze confirmed his suspicions. 


“And you,” She said, walking back to the bed and picking up Elias. “You’re going to help me cheat on my history exam Monday.” She dropped him on top of a notebook sitting on her nightstand. “So memorize all of those notes I borrowed from Lina by the time I get back.” Elias nodded and got to work on lifting the heavy front cover of the notebook. 


Connie and Sofia were so stiff, standing on either side of Felix. They didn’t show an ounce of emotion or take their eyes off Katie for a second. Felix wondered if he still looked afraid. He felt it, fear like you wouldn’t believe. He was still trying to wrap his head around being only an inch tall, let alone being as weak and powerless as a bug on top of it. 


Katie bent down and pulled two shoes out from under her bed. They were sadie shoes, probably the ones she wore to school. They had a white toe and heel, with a navy blue color in the middle by the laces and a brown sole bottom. 


“I think we’ll go a little easy on you today.” She said picking up Connie. “I’ll put you in the left one.” With that, she dropped Connie into her left shoe.


Felix jumped back and screamed. Sofia turned to him. She looked terrified. “Shut up.” She barked, sounding scarier with that demand than Katie ever did with one of hers. Felix paid her no mind. Katie just dropped Connie into her shoe. He’s going to die in there. Was she killing all of them? Felix looked around for any way of escape. 


Katie’s hand reached for Sofia and picked her up. Felix wasn’t even able to scream again before her hand was upon him, squishing him in her grip next to Sofia. “And you two get the right one. Girlie, make sure my new pet doesn’t die in there. You’re in charge of him.” And then she dropped them in her right shoe. 


Felix landed on the leather sole with a thud. A slight tilt of Katie’s hand sent Felix hurderling into darkness as he plummeted to the toe section. The smell was putrid. The odor smelled like something had corroded and rottened inside. Knowing Katie, it could either be that or her natural foot smell. Felix’s body slid into the tight tip. His heart rate intensified. 


Thoughts of dying painfully under her toes cluttered his mind. With the faint light peering in from the entrance, he could make out Sofia’s body next to him. Katie told her to keep him safe, she wouldn’t let him die would she? Would she even have the power to save him if she wanted to. “Brace yourself.” She said.


“What?” Felix panicked. He felt his soul leave his body. Katie had dropped the shoe, sending Felix into a world of dysfunction and disorientation. He hated rides for this very reason. He screamed in fear as the shoes clanked against the floor and sent knives of pain through his body. He took in deep breaths, relieved he was alive. 


He looked forwards towards the exit. If he could get there before Katie slid her foot in, he might be able to climb out and escape. He made a run for it. 


Within seconds, Sofia was on top of him. She grabbed his arm and sweeped her leg under his, forcing him down on the sole. 


“What are you doing?” He yelled, trying to get out of her grip. He was going to die. He was really going to die and Sofia was trying to kill him. 


“You’re going to kill yourself, you idiot.” She heaved. “The toe section is the safest place to be.”


“Are you nuts?” Felix freaked out. “That’s the furthest away from the exit. How are we going to escape?”


“Don’t be dumb. You need to give up on escaping and do what makes Katie happy. How else will you live?”


The shoe rumbled. Katie was slipping her foot in. Felix could make out the outline of each toe through the thick navy socks. 


“Get up!” Sofia yelled, letting go of him and running for the far corner of the shoe. Felix flipped on his back. He crawled backwards towards the edge of the shoe, trying to escape the impending foot. Felix reached the end. He was screwed. 


The foot grew closer, and the musky scent grew stronger. Katie’s big toe collided with him, shoving him deeper into the shoe end. Her toe rubbed up and down his body, and he could faintly feel her sharp nail poking at him. At first, he thought she was petting him, but he soon realized what she was actually doing.


With each rub, Katie was trying to drag Felix’s body under her toe. Felix screamed and tried to fight it, but the toe was too strong. He was forced under her toe. He tried wiggling his way out, but Katie lifted up her toe and slammed it back down on him. She did this several times, slamming her toe against his body until he got the message that she didn’t like his squirming. “You’re an insole.” She said, slamming her toe down on him again. She pressed on him. “Insoles don’t move. I’ll give you permission to lick and kiss if you want to show me how grateful you are, but don’t move from that position.” That was the last thing she planned on saying to him until after school.


Felix finally got the message as the pressure lifted up. He caught his breath. How long would he be in there? Katie wasn’t serious about using him as an insole was she? 


As if to answer his question, Katie tightened the laces on her shoes. She stood up straight and pulled her bookbag off her chair. Katie took a step towards her bedroom door. The toes crushing Felix became weightless. It allowed him the time needed to catch his breath. His body ached. He had only been under her big toe for a few seconds, he knew he wouldn’t survive a whole day.


At the peak of her step, Felix felt his whole world stop. Everything began to shatter once her foot started to descend. Felix’s head spun, and Katie’s toe slammed into his body as her foot hit the floor. The process repeated several times. It was especially excruciating for Felix. His body would feel like it was on the worst ride of his life, then his head would bang against the bottom of her insole, and at the same time the putrid toe would crash down on him. 


He felt like he was going to pop. How was a young girl’s toe doing this to him? Tears flowed down his eyes from the pain. Every step caused him to scream, but every scream was muffled by the thick cotton sock. Then came the stairs—the worst experience Felix had gone through in his entire life. It was a rapid succession of Katie’s foot being raised and slammed down on top of him. His mind went numb, letting his body be assaulted by the onslaught Katie’s toe brought.


She landed on the floor with a stomp. This forced Felix’s mind back to what was happening to his body. He was sweating profusely, or maybe it was Katie’s foot sweat that was drenching him. It was so hot in the shoe. What was going to kill him first? Would he die of a stroke? Would he be crushed to dust under Katie’s toe? Or would he end up drowning in sweat?


Felix didn’t want to think of the idea that Katie might have gym class. Part of him wished that she didn’t, that he would have an easy day as she sat in a chair for 8 periods. Another part of him wished for a quick death. No, a large part of him did. The only reason he didn’t want to die was because of how degrading his death would be, but even that part of him was smaller.


His throat started to hurt from the screaming, as did his head from the trampling and crying. What would his parents think? What about his sister? He didn’t want them to ever know about this. He wanted to be crushed by Katie’s toe and flattened beyond recognition. He hated himself for where he was. He finally understood how worthless he was, why Katie thought she could push them around the way she did. He was nothing.


Katie’s foot continued to rise and slam down. Was she putting any thought into her movements? Felix never once thought about the strides he took. Katie was taking each step without thinking even a little bit about how much pressure she put down or considering the tinies inside. 


Felix wondered how Connie and Sofia were doing. Despite being right next to him, Felix didn’t have the strength to move his body to check on Sofia. She was supposed to keep him safe, but how could anyone save him from this? His body continued to be beaten and bruised by Katie’s toe, and she wasn’t even trying to hurt him. 


Things got really heavy for a second. All of Katie’s weight was being supported by her one foot. The pressure was relieved for a moment, but Katie soon returned to her normal walking style. After a few more steps, Felix again felt himself suspended in the air. Except this time her foot didn’t go back down all the way.


Felix heard the sound of an engine, and then felt a little nauseous. Was Katie on a bus? She really was on her way to school with Felix shrunk and in her shoe. 


Feeling the pain consume him in the same way the toe did, Felix couldn’t help but resume his crying. He surprisingly clung onto the toe, pressing his face into it. It was so humid and damp. He felt a gentle hand grasp at his shoulder. He turned and swatted at it, thinking it was another thing out to hurt him. 


It was Sofia. “Are you done crying yet?” Despite being in the same situation Felix was in, she didn’t look battered or scared at all. While Felix’s face was red and soaked in tears and sweat, hers was dry and pale. 


“Kill me…” Felix begged, weeping to himself. He shut his eyes and laid his head on the well-worn insole below. 


“Emma made me promise something to her once.” Sofia said. Katie’s foot twitched, and she scrunched her toes to feel where her tinies were. “When I was first brought here, I told her that next time Katie picked us up and put us on her desk or drawer, I was going jump off and kill myself.” Her voice was so calm and soothing. You’d never know she was almost crushed to death beneath Katie’s pinkie toe. “Do you want to know what she told me?”


Felix forced snot back up his nose. He nodded, staring up at the girl. She couldn’t be older than he was, she actually looked a little younger than Katie.


“She told me that no matter what we did, no matter how well trained or behaved we were, that we were all going to die here. None of us were making it out of here, not alive.”


Katie flexed her toes, trying to find where her one slave had gone. Sofia made sure to stay out of its way. Felix shook his head. “Is that supposed to cheer me up?” He clenched his fist. “I don’t want to spend another second here. I don’t care if I’ll die eventually, I want to die now.” The two could feel Katie place her foot back on the bus floor.


“You idiot.” Sofia said in the driest tone imaginable. “This isn’t about your death. It’s about Emma’s. She was right, she died. And if I don’t go back under Katie’s toe, I’ll die too.”


Out of nowhere, Katie brought her weight down on Felix, pressing her toe into him with great force. He screamed, but Sofia’s face didn’t change.


“Do you know what’s happening? Katie is squishing you to threaten me to get back under her toes. She really will kill you, and then I’ll probably be killed for making her do that. I’m willing to let her kill the two of us if you want, and I’ll let you die. I don’t mind, because I want to die too.”


Felix felt like his head was going to burst. Sofia’s arm slid under the toe, and she pulled Felix’s hand out with hers. She had no hope of pulling him out, but she wasn’t trying to. 


“But if I die, who will remember Emma? Or Mia, or Moritz or Charlotte? Who will remember Elias and Connie after they’re gone?”


Felix spit up blood. It splattered on his stretched out arm and sole below. “Please, h—” He coughed up more. The toe’s pressure was only getting harder.


“Make me a promise.” Sofia smiled. “Promise me that you’ll keep living. Not for yourself, but for the rest of us. So someone can remember what we had to do to keep those before us alive. If you want to die I’ll let you, and I can forget about you too. But one day, someone might escape from this hell. Until then, won’t you fight with us to stay alive?”

Katie wriggled her toe on top of Felix. Half his face sunk into her sock, leaving only the other half visible to Sofia. He couldn’t speak. His throat was torn to shreds from the screaming, and he couldn’t capture enough breath to form any words. But he squeezed Sofia’s hand in his. 


“Okay.” Sofia’s hand slid out of his, leaving it to fall to the floor. She inched her way to the other side of the shoe and slid under Katie’s pinkie toe. Sofia planted a kiss on the fabric of Katie’s sock. Instantly, all the weight on Felix was lifted and transferred to Sofia. She screamed, having Katie’s pinkie toe drilled into her ribcage. 


Felix couldn’t watch. The bus ride to school would be over soon, although he didn’t know how long. All he could do was lay there and wait and listen to Sofia scream. He had a long day ahead of him.

 


Chapter End Notes:

Usually, Katie would only have one person in each shoe, but since Felix is new he had him ride with Sofia so she could help train him. Elias was choosen to stay behind because he was there the longest and has already completed his insole training. Katie doesn't have a lot more to teach him, but I wonder if he'll be able to measure up to her standards in the end.

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