Brad had long closed his eyes and was almost fully asleep, so relaxed now that he literally could feel himself drifting away, as if he was floating upwards into dreamland. He could feel the sheets sliding away from him; his whole body sliding downwards into the bed...

…wait, “SLIDING”?!

     Brad opened his eyes with a start, recoiling in fear when he noticed the ceiling moving higher and higher away from him. He scrambled to toss the sheets off him, quickly finding his body being swallowed up by his clothes: they were getting larger! His legs were sliding up into his shorts shorts, and his arms receding into his sleeves…

     Unfortunately, Brad quickly realized that his clothes WEREN’T getting BIGGER, HE was SHRINKING. He was actually SHRINKING!

     He fumbled to roll out of bed as fast as he could, his baggy clothes still clinging to his body, tangling him up in their grasp. He struggled to get free, inadvertently falling off the bed in the process, hitting the floor with a loud THUD.

     Still reeling from his fall, Brad lifted his head, shaking off the impact. It was utterly unbelievable: his whole body was already small enough to fit inside his shirt, and he could only watch helplessly as the hole of its collar was slowly slinking further and further away. He was still getting smaller, and it didn’t appear to be stopping, nor even slowing down.

     Brad was completely freaking out! He desperately tried to stand up, but the fabric above him was weighing him down, already getting too heavy to move. He began frantically crawling towards his shirt collar, his continuous shrinking only making the trek ever longer. As soon as he spotted light, Brad desperately dove out of his clothes pile, rolling across the floor over a thick grass of carpet fibers. He wanted to rest after the ordeal, but his shrinking was still going and he needed to get help quickly before he shrank too small.

     “HELP!” Brad shouted as loud as he could, the squeakiness of his voice coming as quite the shock; it was practically unrecognizable. “HEEELLLLP!”

     Nonetheless, Brad received no response.

     He scrambled to his feet, making a running dash towards the door, but his progress was negligible, his diminishing figure quickly shrinking away with every step, his screams for help only getting squeakier and less audible, until finally, his tiny body disappeared into the carpet…

     Brad was on his back, blankly gazing upwards at his surroundings. He knew he was still his room, just barely able to make out the blurry ceiling miles over his head, but everything was enormous now. He shook off the confusion and slowly climbed to his feet, steadying himself on the trunks of greenish-yellow carpet fibers that now practically rose just above his head. He scrambled to climb up and get his head above the tree-line, hoping to get a better view, all the while cursing how plush his bedroom carpet seemed after years of wear and tear that had unraveled many of its fibers, unnecessarily complicating his task…

      With his head finally above the carpet line, Brad gauged his surroundings: he figured his position to be somewhere about the middle of room. His bed towered off to his left, its bottom edge at least 50 feet up, and he was shocked to find he hadn’t even made it two feet from the makeshift pile of clothes he’d struggled to escape from just moments before.

     Brad was tiny; no more than 1/4 inch tall by his estimate.

    "What the hell happened?!" he squeaked, stepping down from his perch onto the mesh lining that supported the rest of his bedroom carpet. “How’d I get so SMALL?!"

     He began to check himself to make sure he was still intact, and for the first time since his ordeal began, it finally dawned on Brad that he was naked. Obviously, he wasn’t surprised, seeing as he had just escaped from the clothes he’d been wearing, and it really wouldn’t have mattered in the slightest had Brad not felt such a chill, surprised to find his room so cold despite the fact it was summertime. He knew he had to get help…but first, he needed to find some semblance of clothing.

     He immediately climbed back atop his perch and surveyed his surroundings for something that he could cover himself with; that's when he spotted an unused sliver of Kleenex lying atop a few carpet fibers a few feet away. With no other viable options, Brad worked his way over to it, pushing aside the vines of his carpet jungle. Once there, he used all of his strength to tear off a sizable piece, draping around his tiny body like a toga. Brad hurriedly tied the Kleenex around his waste, adjusted it briefly, then slowly began his trek across his bedroom towards the door.

     Brad’s head was spinning. He was unable to even begin to fathom what had just happened to him, while the realities of his situation kept hitting him like a ton of bricks.

     “What am I gonna do?!” he vented, working his way through the carpet. “I’m…I’m literally the size of a BUG!” 

     Is this going to be PERMANENT?! Brad wondered fearfully. Was he literally going to be this small the rest of his life?! What would parents say? Or his step-sisters? Or even his friends at school?! All the thoughts circled in his mind as he traversed onwards, holding on to what little hope he had of being rescued.

     Despite his massive bedroom door towering endlessly above him from across the room, Brad wandered aimlessly through the sea of carpet fibers. He continuously had to poke his head above their tops just to keep his bearings, but still could hardly see where he was going, and kept having to change course to every time he came to an impassable knot or clump of fibers, or the occasional clump of dirt or dust he’d find, which only served to make his trek even longer. 

     This is utterly ridiculous! he thought, unsure he was even making any real headway. I’m so small it’ll literally take me all day just to get to the damn door! And even when I get there, what am I supposed to do, hope that someone comes along and finds me?! That still doesn’t solve the main problem: how am I supposed to get back to my normal size?!

     Then, Brad felt something: a vibration in his feet. The floor shook slightly...then a little more...with each passing second the shaking became stronger, louder, and more violent, as if a huge beast was approaching, like the T-Rex in Jurassic Park.

     The sound came closer…and closer…and closer…

     …until the source was just outside his door.

     Suddenly, there came three deafening booms! The tiny boy quickly covered his ears, straining to endure the ear-shattering pain.

     “BRAD?!” A booming voice called his name from just outside the door. "YOU UP?”

     He had barely regained his composure when the giant door creaked open, and a giant figure entered the room…

     Debbie was tossing what few clothes she was going to wash into the machine when she suddenly heard a loud thud that practically shook the whole house.

     “AMY?!” she called out.

     “WHAT?!” Amy shouted back from the other side of the house.

     “ARE YOU OK?!”

     “YEAH…WHY?!”

     “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT NOISE?!”

     “I DON’T KNOW!” Amy shouted back defensively. “IT MUST’VE BEEN BRAD!”

     “What the hell’s that boy doin' now?” Debbie sighed frustratedly as she tossed the last of her socks into the washing machine. “He better not be wrecking the house! I don’t care IF dad and his mom aren’t home, they’re still gonna blame me if something gets broken!”

     With the last pair of her lightly-colored underwear in the machine, Debbie saw the washer was only half full; not wanting to waste a load, she decided to go grab Brad's laundry now and throw in what she could; maybe even save herself a whole extra load. Besides, she really needed an excuse to go check on Brad and see what he was up to.

     Debbie grabbed a small, portable laundry basket and headed out of the laundry room and stomped through the kitchen, rounding the corner into the living room, where she found Amy still seated on the floor in front of the couch, glued to the TV.

    "Hey Ames," Debbie called as she entered the living room, stopping just front of the stairs, "still watching Star Trek?”

     “Yup,” Amy chuckled, “it’s actually entertaining.”

     “Brad got ya hooked, huh?” Debbie chortled.

     “Oh yeah,” Amy replied, her eyes widening with understated acknowledgement. “At least it’s something to watch. I’d probably be bored otherwise.”

     “Well, you COULD help me with the housework,” Debbie urged offhandedly.

     “Nah, I’m good,” Amy balked.

     “Anyway,” Debbie sighed in frustration, “I’m doing laundry, so you have any washing you need done while I'm at it?"

     “Sure, I have a few things you can throw in?” Amy replied, getting up off the floor. 

    “Ok,” Debbie responded, “Go ahead and grab what you want washed while I go up and get Brad’s laundry; I’ll throw everything in with my stuff.”

     “Will do,” Amy said, heading down the hall to her bedroom.

     “Oh,” Amy uttered, stopping in her tracks, motioning upstairs with her thumb, “and would you make sure Brad’s ok? Sounded like he might’ve fallen or something.”

     “Yeah, I don’t know what he’s up to,” Debbie responded, curling her lips. “But I’ll check on him.”

     Debbie heavily stomped up the stairs and rounded the banister at the top, heading down the hall towards Brad’s room, the laundry basket still in tow.

      Sure, HE gets to mess around in his room all day, Debbie grumbled silently to herself, knocking quietly on Brad’s closed bedroom door. Meanwhile, I’VE gotta take care of all the damn housework! 

     When she didn’t get an answer, Debbie knocked again, a little louder this time.

     "Brad?" she called through the closed door, "You up?"

     Hearing nothing, she shifted the laundry basked and grabbed the doorknob, quietly opening the door and stepping into the room…

     Brad gasped in horror, gaping in awe at the sight of the giantess as she stepped into the room…

     Debbie was huge: endlessly tall! Her features at least 100 times their original size. She was still wearing the outfit she had on earlier: a white T-shirt barely concealing the tan bra beneath it, and pink workout shorts loosely covering her massive thighs. Her long, bare legs were massive tree trunks supporting her torso, each one ending in a gargantuan foot, with massive, meaty toes sporting a worn, French-tip manicure, and Brad couldn’t help but stare at in awe and wonder at the sheer size of Debbie’s feet. They were quite big, even when Brad was normal sized; at his current size, however, they were absolutely enormous, with even her toes capable of enveloping his entire, tiny frame.

     "Brad? Are you up here?" Debbie’s booming voice called again as she scanned the room.

     "DEBBIE!” Brad began to yell, having to shield his ears again from her earth-shattering voice, "DEBBIE, DOWN HERE! I-I’M DOWN HERE, ON THE FLOOR! I-I'VE SHRUNK!"

     "Brad, are you OK?" Debbie inquired as she slowly entered the room. "I came up to see if you have any laundry for me to do."

     Brad watched with trepidation, completely frozen in both fear and awe as Debbie’s giant figure moved ominously towards him, her massively plump feet booming across the carpet with each step she took, knocking the poor, tiny teenager to the ground. Brad could hardly maintain his composure, screaming in terror as Debbie took one final step, the impact throwing him backwards several feet (of course, in reality, it was only an inch or so).

     "I could've sworn he was up here." Debbie said quietly in confusion, stopping not far from his bed, thinking that she was alone. “Where could he have gone?”

     Once again, Brad had to quickly shake off the daze from the impact. When he finally regained his bearings, he realized Debbie’s huge frame was towering overhead, the huge toes of her right foot having stopped just a few inches from him.

     "DEBBIE!" he screamed, getting to his feet, waving his arms frantically, “DEBBIE! DOWN HERE! LOOK DOWN HERE!”

     It was useless: Debbie couldn't hear his cries. Brad was too small to be heard, and almost too small too see unless you were looking right at him—just another tiny speck amongst the dust and dirt in the carpet. Of course, how was Debbie to know, or even contemplate, that her tiny, shrunken stepbrother was literally just in front of her plump toes, screaming at her with an almost inaudible voice, desperately trying to get her attention.

     Debbie was about to turn around when her eyes caught some clothes lying on the floor over next to the bed; she quickly recognized them as the clothes dad had been wearing earlier. She stood somewhat perplexed, wondering why he’d take them off. She quickly shrugged off her confusion, thinking that Brad was taking a shower in the upstairs bathroom, and decided to go ahead and throw them in with the rest of his washing.

     Brad was still shouting at his giant stepsister, frustrated she wasn’t looking for him, when her giant foot suddenly lifted off the ground, her massive, wrinkled sole hovering dangerously his overhead, casting an ominous shadow over the floor…

     Brad immediately came to a horrific realization: Debbie could step on him, and a foot of that size could easily crush him like a bug!

     "NO! DEBBIE, WAIT! LOOK OUT!“ Brad screamed.

     He frantically dove out of the way, Debbie's sole narrowly missing him as in impacted the carpet with a powerful BOOM.

     “ACK! DEBBIE! DON’T SQUISH ME!” 

     (Ironically, if he hadn't been focussed on dodging her foot and trying NOT to get squashed, Brad might've taken a moment to admire the irony in the fact that he was almost stepped on by his stepsister).

     Debbie stepped over and quickly snatched them up the small pile of clothes, tossing them into her laundry basket, then walked over to Brad's dirty clothes hamper to grab the rest of his dirty clothes.

     After dodging her feet, Brad watched helplessly as Debbie effortlessly grabbed the clothes he’d been wearing before he shrank and toss them in her laundry basket. His heart sank, not just from his failure to contact his giant stepsister, but also from remembering how much trouble he’d had escaping those very clothes just minutes beforehand.

     He wasn’t giving up, though. He might have another chance to get her attention when Debbie walked back towards him; currently, however, she was headed toward his laundry hamper. Brad made a mad dash and tried to run over to it as quickly as possible, praying he could make it before Debbie moved again; thankfully, Debbie was currently fumbling with the clothes in the hamper, giving Brad some much-needed extra time to make his way there.

     Debbie set the laundry basket on the floor next to her, then opened and reached into the hamper to gather up the rest of Brad’s clothes, haphazardly tossing handfuls out and onto both the floor and into the basket.

     A huge bundle of clothes fell to the floor, kicking up a rush of wind that knocked Brad off his feet, sending him tumbling backwards. He quickly recovered, approaching his stepsister’s right heel as the unaware giantess fumble with his hamper.

     "DEBBIE, I’M DOWN HERE!” he shouted, despite being tired and out of breath from his sprint across the floor. “I'M DOWN HERE! HELP MEEEE!”

     Brad continued shouting for her, pounding on the giant girl’s heel, but Debbie displayed no signs that she’d heard nor even felt him. The tiny teenager ran the length of her foot, pounding on her flesh with his fist as he ran my, hoping she’d look down. He was thinking that maybe if he could just reach her toes, she might notice him -- heck, he might even have time to climb onto her foot; she'd see him for sure.

     Finally, the tiny Brad made it to the pinky toe on Debbie's right foot; he started pounding and yelling with all his might!

     "DEBBIE…DEBBIE…!"

     Out of frustration, and tired of pounding with his fists, Brad gave her toe a swift kick...

     Debbie, not in that much of a hurry, was sluggishly pulling out the clothes towards the bottom of Brad’s hamper, taking a few articles out of at a time and tossing them into the portable laundry basket near to her, when the side of her foot began to itch. She tried to ignore it at first, but then she felt a tiny sting on the side of her toe.

     Debbie instinctively yanked her foot up, balancing on one foot as she rubbed and scratched the side of her pinky toe…

     The huge toe Brad had kick a split second earlier suddenly lurched up, taking him by surprise. It crashed into him, knocking him up into the air. Brad screamed as he was thrown backwards, landing stunned into the small pile of socks just next to the laundry basket.

     Debbie quickly scanned the floor as she scratched her foot, wondering if she’d just been bitten by a bug. Unable to find anything, she finished her scratching and carefully lowered her foot back to the floor, then collected the last few socks from Brad’s laundry hamper, letting them fall nonchalantly onto the floor.

     Brad didn’t even have time to react; before he could make a sound, he found himself in complete darkness, enveloped by one of his socks. The impact knocked the wind out of him, but he somehow got to his feet, struggling to make his way out of the foul-smelling sock, calling out for help all the while, but the thick fabric made his quest to find the exit difficult, and only muffled his cries for help.

     Debbie closed the lid on Brad’s hamper, and reached down to grab the dirty clothes that had missed the laundry basket, scooping them up into her hands.

     Brad felt his world closing in around him; he was being lifted into the air. He tried screaming for Debbie again, but it was no use.

     A moment later, he was falling, his screams lasting only a second before he landed with a soft, yet audible FLOOF!

     Debbie nonchalantly dropped the clothes into the laundry basket. Then, having put the inquiries about Brad into the back of her mind, Debbie bent over, picked up the laundry basket, then headed out of her stepbrother’s room, closing the door behind her.