He was paralyzed.

He should run, he knew he should run but he just couldn’t.

Each of her boots were the size of a football stadium, her footstep could swallow a small town.

The boots were a deep brown giving way to the roll of a grey sock peeking out above the ankle. From there her flesh rose up and up and up, almost beyond what he was capable of seeing.

And then she disappeared.

A dark grey sole, scuffed and scarred, pocked with dirt and small stones the size of cars now moved over him.

There was a weight, a presence to her that caused him to slump, to drop the floor defeated.

In the distance the horizon shrunk as her boot began its descent.

In every direction it stretched for miles, further than he could run.

The air smelt of leather, of soil, of ash from a cigarette she had trodden upon.

Tears streaked down his cheeks, piss dribbled from between his legs as his lips babbled stupidly. She was everywhere, dominating every sense.

An eruption of force punched into him as somewhere in the distance her heel hit the ground. Now the ball of her foot loomed over him, drawing closer by the second. A grinding, crunching sound overcame him, rumbling as the earth struggled to take the weight of this cataclysmic footstep.

The Goddess above him was deliberate in her movements, letting him drink in every second of his doom as her laughter drowned the world.

With a final, world ending boom, her foot settled onto the floor.

‘You still alive or did you get squished?’

He sat blinking in the darkness, her jovial tone the only joyous thing in his grey hell.

The sole of her boot curved up before him, connecting with the ground some fifteen feet away. He sat, crying and piss soaked, beneath the toe of her boot. The slight rise from wear and tear was the only thing that kept him alive.

He was trembling, shaking so badly he couldn’t speak.

He sat, stupid and useless as her boot retreated and the Goddess bent forwards, squinting down at him.

‘Scared ya, huh?’

She smirked, enjoying the absurdity of the situation.

‘Now do you realise just how small and insignificant you are? Now do you get how powerful I am compared to you?’

She let him drink in her words.

‘How many times have you nearly died in the last five minutes? Do you understand yet how stupidly easy it would be for me to end you? I want you to really think about that, it’s important you know your place. It’s important that you know that I’m not going to help you. It’s important you know how fragile your continued existence is going to be.’

Her eyes shone like the sun; her pink lips spread into a dazzling grin.

He could do nothing but look up at her, an insect before a force of cosmic power.

Her voice became honey, golden thunder, ‘Here’s how its going to be. Here’s what’s going to happen to you.’

Her words fell upon him like the laws of gravity, absolute truths that would dictate the remainder of his days.

‘You’re going to die in my apartment. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe a year from now but it will happen. You think I’m going to step on you, hurt you, crush you like the bug you are? No, sorry little guy, you aren’t that important. You’re less than a bug to me, you need to understand that. You aren’t worth the time it would take me to lift my foot and end your life.

You are less than a bug, less than dirt. You think I suddenly care enough about you to ever give you another thought after this? No. Yesterday you were nothing, today you are less than nothing.

I’m not going to kill you, not on purpose. No, I’m actually going to let you live right here with me, isn’t that generous? I figured since you loved watching me so much, you might as well spend the rest of your life watching me. However long that will be.

In a minute or two, I’m going to get ready and head out. This will be the last time we speak, the last time I look for you, the last time I even notice your existence.

If I kill you, and its pretty likely I will, I want you to know that it wont be on purpose and I won’t feel a thing. Hell, maybe you’ll get crushed under these boots when I get back? Maybe you’ll last until the morning and you’ll fall underfoot when I get out of the shower.

Maybe in a week’s time I’ll roll out my yoga matt and you’ll be stuck beneath it when I start my routine. Maybe I’ll take off my underwear and miss the hamper, I bet you aren’t even strong enough to survive under the weight of the cloth.

Do you get it?’ she beamed, ‘is it sinking in?’

She allowed him time to consider her words, to let them undo his reality.

‘So you’re probably wondering how you’re going to survive, if you can even think straight yet. The answer is, I have no idea! You’re trapped in here, trapped in here with me and don’t think that I’m going to start feeding you.

I guess if you want to eat, you’ll need to find something. There’s probably some crumbs around here somewhere, maybe a half a chip under the couch? Whatever, that’s your problem not mine. Hey maybe you’ll get lucky and I’ll step on something in the street? You can always try your luck when I go to bed.’

She paused again, a thoughtful and playful look upon her face.

‘I wonder if you ever thought that one day you’d be licking dirt from my shoe just to survive? Crazy huh? I haven’t really thought what you’ll do for water, guess hope for rain?’

He hadn’t thought of anything, how could he? He cast his eyes about the apartment. The bare tiles stretched out in every direction, a barren desert giving way to a forest of rug fibres in the distance. It was a hour long walk at least.

Behind him was the couch, the table beside him. Both expanded to surreal landscapes the size of small counties.

Before him, above him, she stood almighty and victorious.

He could only watch, frozen with awe as she lifted a finger to her lips and tilted her head back and forth theatrically.

‘Hmm, y’know maybe I am being too harsh. It is a lot to take in after all. I’ll do you two favours ok? The first is I promise to give you an hours head start before I turn on the vacuum cleaner, that’s only fair right? The second, well lets just say I’ll help you get something to drink, just this one time.’

Looking up into the heavens, his eyes widened as she bent forwards pursing her lips.

In the blink of an eye she spat down upon him, loosing a torrent of liquid that descended through the air like a meteor.

He ran, finally he ran, scrambling to his feet as a thousand gallons of viscous liquid crashed around him. Behind him a new lake spread, a rising wall of salvia that ripped after him. He threw himself forwards, crying out as she giggled at his plight.

‘Enjoy,’ she purred before turning her back on him, her fingers billowing in a playful wave.

Her footfalls shook the earth as she moved away, the booming of her boots on the tiles rattling his skull. Eventually they retreated into little more than a hum that pulsed through the floorboards. She had left him alone.

Before him her saliva pooled ever outwards, the sticky liquid already tugging at his feet and calves.

He hugged his knees to him, naked and afraid.

A slight draft whistled across the tiles, chilling him to his bones. The world around him was barren, the deity of this land had abandoned him.

Devoid of rational thought and consumed by despair, he looked out upon the shimmering liquid before him and considered how dry his throat had become.