It had been a bad year for Michelle. After a tough breakup with her long term boyfriend, she had let herself go. Now that she was working from home, she would rarely leave her house and would not easily meet even her closer friends. Everything and everyone reminded her of her ex. She casually met Tiffany at the supermarket one morning. They had been classmates in high school and hadn't met in years. Tiffany was still as exhuberant as she remembered her, and when she invited her on a night out, Michelle gladly accepted. She needed the company of somebody other than her cat.
They talked all night long about the recent events of their lives, and Tiffany ended up suggesting Michelle to go with her on a trip to a small mediterranean island. She'd already booked her ticket and was planning to go by herself, but what the hell, it could help Michelle keep her mind off her breakup for a while. Probably due to the alcohol she'd had, or maybe since she hadn't left her country in months, Michelle booked the flight on the spot. It was a bit more expensive than usual since she was bound to leave in a week, but she worked hard and thought she deserved a relaxing vacation.
When she woke up the next day, Michelle thought she'd regret her hasty decision. Instead, she felt more energic than ever. She called her office to book her paid holiday, and prepared mentally for her trip. It was mid summer, so she wouldn't need to pack any heavy clothes. She took some time to choose her shoes, but in general it was an easy suitcase to pack. She decided to check the place she was about to visit, since she barely knew its name. "Ew" she said out loud when she wrote the name on Google. Literally the first result was about the "Tiny people laws" of the country. It was one of those small countries where laws involving tiny people were different from her home, and tourists would visit mainly to enjoy torturing and using shrunken people with impunity. She had a few shrunken people in her office. They were fun to look at, and she was annoyed by the fact that she had to be extra careful when she walked in the hallways so she woulnd't accidentally step on one of them. But they were treated with all the respect due to an unlucky victim of a serious illness. The pictures she saw on the freaking tourist promotion website were deeply unsettling. First of all, tiny people seemed not to be allowed any clothes. Those who weren't chained like dogs were roaming the streets like animals, or servicing normal sized people. A warning in broken english was issued on the front page of the website. It warned people suffering from the shrinking disease not to travel to the country, since they would lose any human right once on the island. It also strongly advised people to have their genetic map tested before entering the island, in case a dormant gene would activate while there.
Michelle was horrified. She was vaccinated, so she was definitely out of danger. But was this the reason why Tiffany wanted to visit the island? Could her old friend be one of those perverts who enjoyed the services of tiny people? She even thought to call the trip off, but the costly ticked was not refundable. She decided she would go anyway, but she would definitely confront Tiffany about this. Reading further into the website she found out that the usage of tinies wasn't only tolerated, it was a major selling point of the island. She also found out that the whole country wasn't very english friendly, so she took the rest of the time before her trip to prepare to be around people. She downloaded a language app to learn a few basic sentences, and prepared a map of the most beautiful beaches to visit. She was determined not to let that stupid law ruin her holiday.
She didn't meet Tiffany until the day of departure. The woman was way less meticulous than her, and she'd brought more baggage than necessary. Michelle decided to confront her as soon as possible. "Do you know about the tiny people laws of the island?" she asked her friend while on their way to the airport. "Well... Sort of" Was the embarassed response. It was an obvious lie. "Come on, Tiff! You are dragging me there just so you can push a tiny around without consequences, aren't you?" Michelle sounded angry. "Look" Tiffany changed her expression. "I didn't force you to come. If that bothers you that much, we can still split once we get there. I mean, there's still plenty of stuff to do around". Michelle loosened up. She was right. Whatever she wanted to do on the island, it was her business. She'd enjoy the warm summer wheather with or without her.
The tension between the two girls fell off pretty quickly. They were both excited to board on the plane, although for different reasons. Michelle noticed that one of the hostesses was a tiny person. She reckoned that if she stood as tall as she could, she wouldn't get past her knee. "Aren't you afraid of going to Elpaguassis?" She asked the brown haired girl. "Yes madam" the tiny answered. "But that's exactly the reason why i won't leave the plane for even one second" the hostess said with a polite smile.
Of course, all of the people on board were normal sized. There were a few families, but most people seemed to be travelling alone. Michelle shivered at the thought, and forced herself not to think that Tiffany was one of those disgusting tourists. The flight was long and boring, but she managed to sleep through it. They landed after dark, and the airport, although small, didn't look much different than any other airport she'd already seen. Michelle noticed the absence of the tiny hostess. She was probably hidden in safety somewhere around the airplane.
The first thing Michelle noticed once she disembarked the plane was the absence of tiny people around the place. Her country was pretty inclusive, so it wasn't weird to see people of different sizes scurrying around busy places like those. She silently hoped it would be the same in the city, but she was extremely wrong. When they approached the city centre and their cab stopped at a red light, Michelle saw her first human pet. A naked, blonde woman who was about as tall as the hostess she'd seen, was sitting by the legs of a younger local girl who was enjoying a drink at a bar. Her neck was constricted in a dog leash, and she looked the opposite of happy. How could something so cruel be legal in a civilised country? Their gazes met for a second, and the tiny seemed to read her mind. Michelle thought that she would have screamed for help if she could. But there was nothing she could do to help even one person. Freeing her would be considered stealing for the local laws. The car started before she could even say something to Tiffany.
"Hotel" the cab driver said, sounding mildly annoyed. He unloaded their bags, gladly took their money and left. "I can't wait to lie on the bed. My feet hurt" Michelle complained. Without saying a word, Tiffany smiled and pointed at a shop behind her. When Michelle turned her head, she saw what she meant. All over the sign, it said MASSAGE in all caps. It featured a stylized drawing of a shrunken person next to a giant. It was horridly made, but it conveyed the message pretty well. Judging by the fact that it was open at that time of the day, and it was basically impossible to look inside, Michelle realized it was nothing more than a tourist trap and it was probably something way different than a massage parlor. She just said "whatever" to an amused Tiffany, and walked to the hotel.