Darkness. Confusion. That was all Mark thought as his vision slowly came to. Soon after, discomfort set in as his body registered the hard textured it laid on. Mark tried with some effort to get himself up, but his body was still dazed and wasn’t fully responding. Summoning more effort this time, Mark hurled himself upwards so that his torso was vertical. He then slowly got onto his knees, stumbling in the dark while he did, and while still somewhat dazzled, he manages to stand himself up. Looking around his dark surroundings, Mark notices what looks a gleaming ripple of light, about the same size as him, coming from his right side. Thoughts of confusion as to Mark’s situation raise into his head, giving him a slight sense of anxiety as he wonders just where the hell he is and what the hell happened to him. The last thing he remembers is studying for his honors class at his university apartment. This environment was completely alien to Mark, and his anxiety and paranoia only grew.
With no other options Infront of him, Mark decided to go towards the ripple of light. Hastily approaching the ripple, Mark realized it was actually an opening. Although he couldn’t see outside because of the bright light, Mark was still ecstatic that he had found something new, something forward, and he was one step closer to finding out what had just happened to him, and getting back to his old life.
Ashley looked down at her phone and saw the time. 3:30p.m. She made a slight groan in frustration, and laid her head down onto the dining table. “I have to be at tutoring by fourrrrr”, she moaned slightly annoyed. She had taken a much longer time to eat than expected, but Ashley likes to play with her food. Her stomach made a slight gurgle in smartification, now churning her finished meal. Reaching for her sandals with her toes under the table, Ashley gets up and grabs her purse along her empty coke and box. Looking down at her crop top, Ashley thinks on how she’s gained a little bit of weight. Not too much to alter her appearance, but just enough to be noticeable. She has been eating at Vorex very often. “I mean, boys still hit on me so I guess it doesn’t really matter, maybe they like it?” she thinks to herself.
Looking down at her phone, she notices several texts and the like, Ashley makes a mental note to respond later. Even more important, the time! It’s already 3:40. Ashley silently mutters “Shit!” and heads for the door, her legs and bosom jiggling with the sound of her flip flops. Ashley opens the door as fast as she can and heads outside. She scans the parking lot for her white BMW, forgetting where she parked. As Ashley scans the parking lot, she notices a Vorex Box laid on its top, with several small holes and tears along the sides. Somebody doesn’t throw away their trash, she thought to herself, but what she noticed that intrigued her even more was the small peachish speck moving right out of a tear from the box.
Mark stepped into the glowing ripple and out into the other side. As he stepped through, the light completely blinded him. As his vision slowly adjusted, he saw a huge mass of blue, with while shapes in it. Below him was a blackish-grey rocky surface, which radiated immense heat. Mark’s brain took a while to inhabit the vast landscape around him. He paused for a while, until he heard the ground shake, and then it shook again, and again, and again. A resounding pound was coming from the Earth, barely allowing Mark to stand up as he constantly tried to regain his footing. Except, Mark realized the force wasn’t coming from the Earth, but from a direction. Mark turned towards the force and saw something that completely shocked him.
Coming towards him was a giant girl. Auburn-red hair, crop top, daisy dukes, and white sandals. She was attractive to say the least, but Mark was snapped out of his trance by her quick approach. In a matter of seconds, the giantess covered what seemed like a mile or two of distance to Mark. The giant girl standing infront of him, and Mark couldn’t help but feel some sort of primal fear staring at her massive body. The human brain was not designed to process this sense of scale, her toes fidgeted in ther sandals as she looked moved to look down on him. His brain entered a state of flight, but he stood completely still, looking up at the giant girl’s face as she looked down on him, too afraid to move. Suddenly in his confused thoughts, it dawned on Mark. This isn’t some black rock scape, and that isn't a massive blue roof, and this isn’t a giant girl. Mark realizes with tears welling in his eyes that he had been shrunk.
Mark knew what being shrunk meant. Being shrunk meant that you have been deemed unworthy to society, as in you are a bottom feeder, a loser, scum. Typically reserved for criminals or lowlifes, being shrunk means that a government algorithm decided that you are not worth your weight on society. Shrunken people, or “tinies”. Which are legally “small creatures”, and then usually sent to “recycle centers”, or Vorex restaurants. Tinies are seen as a viable alternative to other meats, and are enjoyed by a wide margin of the population. Tinies that aren’t sent to recycle centers or somehow escape recycle centers usually end up getting killed by bugs or small animals, or sometimes the regular sized people that find them. Being a tiny means almost certain dead in almost all cases.
Why had this happened to him? Mark silently wept to himself, he cried and cried, knowing that his life was probably going to end soon. He had been a honors student, he was state champion for his subject, and yet this algorithm said he is worth less than this massive teenage girl right infront of him. Mark wept more but came back to the present situation at hand to deal with something terrifying: the girl was removing her flip flops. Placing her almost tanker ship sized bare feet infront of him, Visions of the girl popping Mark under her foot like a gnat flashed into Mark’s eyes, his body being reduced to a red smear as the girl giggles playfully from above. Mark reached his breaking point, and turned away from the giantess in a sprint.
In one swift motion, Ashley removed her flip flops. She wanted to be ready. If this was some tiny little bug, she didn’t want to waste much time dealing with it. Ashley placed her bare soles right onto the warm, but not uncomfortable, smooth asphalt, her feet right Infront of the peculiar speck. Immediately after this, the speck began to move slowly away from Ashley. Ashley’s feet flexed slightly in anticipation, and she lifted sole right to where the speck was moving. Cutting off the small speck, Ashley placed her foot down. It hadn’t even moved a couple of feet.
“Move again and I’ll crush you”. It seemed to have responded to that, and and it stopped moving dead in it’s tracks. Just what is this little thing?
Mark ran for his life away from the giant girl’s feet. He saw himself again and again getting grinded under her sole. He knew that he wouldn’t last a second under her. Mark ran with all his might to get away, running farther and farther away but the girl just seemed to always be there, looming over him, no matter how far he moved. Suddenly, the girl moved with insane speed, and her foot blocked Mark’s path off, stomping maybe 50 ft where he was going to be. Again, Mark noticed the sheer size of her feet. They were absolutely massive, and they could easily crush him without any effort whatsoever. Again, they fidgeted slightly, causing Mark's anxiety to rise even more. Suddenly a voice boomed
“Move again and I’ll crush you .”. Mark stood exactly where he was instantly. Desperate to not even blink, the girl casually moved over to him again in one step, and placed herself infront of him. Again, her eyes analyzed him, not as a human being, but as a annoyance at worst, and a curiosity at best. Mark’s mind filled with paranoia as he hoped his life would not come to an end
Ashley moved herself over to explain the tiny speck again. Sure, she was wasting time and needed those Algebra lessons, but this has got her interest now. Ashley looked, then fidgeted and flexed her toes slightly, wondering if the speck would fall for the bait and try to run away. Of course, if it did she would just crush it but at least it would bring closure to this little encounter. The speck stayed still, guess it’s smarter than she intially thought. Again, she looked closer and closer until it dawned on her. It was a little tiny! Of course, she was right outside of Vortex but she had never seen a tiny escape before. “Oh, how unfortunate” Ashley thought to herself.