The silence was one of shame for the four boys, mentally coming to terms with what they’d been victim to. Lenny carried the most of it, the stain on his trousers a reminder that, while the triplets, like ordinary people, were repulsed by the treatment they’d received and would do anything to get away from these humid feet, Lenny had cast himself to the opposite of normal. He couldn’t understand what train of thought had gotten him there, and there likely hadn’t been any. It was a carnal tide of instinct washing him with itself, though he couldn’t find any excuse for the fact that he’d reached ejaculation through feet alone.

The toes stirred, giving all the boys a good-morning rub on the face.

Mara cleared her throat, taking a deep breath. “I bet you know your place now, little thieves.” Her toes gripped them, and lurching back on her ass, she dragged them out from under the bed. They were familiar with the humid sweat, but the sudden pools of liquid they swiped through made them shiver in surprise. Thinking this trip out would steadily go on, her feet stopped there, pressing them into the liquid which, Lenny realized with a pang of humiliation, was her cum. She let their clothes absorb it well, the toes rolling them around in it, as if they were a dry piece of dough and these toes the baker’s hands working them. Fortunately for Lenny, the drenching treatment hid his own embarrassing stain on his trousers.

She got them out and stood on them, their heads poking out of her toes. They were further embarrassed at seeing that smug grin, those two jutting teeth and the homely face, knowing she was a nobody.

“That defeated look is so familiar now,” Mara said, fanning her toes out to give them space.

“We… We’re sorry.” Blue croaked the words out, as if just waking from sleep. “We’ll leave. You can’t possibly keep us like this.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. You’re nasty little thieves, but I’ll let you go in an hour or so.”

“An hour?” Red exclaimed.

“It won’t be an hour of what we just did. It’ll be more relaxed.” She put a hand on her flat chest, fluttering her eyebrows. “A girl’s got her limits, you know?”

“Pfft, girl,” Red muttered. “More like an ugly ogre.” He received a slap from the nearest toe.

“Shut up,” Blue said, cheerleading the rebuke from her digit. “Just keep that mouth quiet for once.”

Mara reached over to her bedside table, opening the drawer and fetching out some thread, which to the boys was like rope. She brandished it, smiling.

This couldn’t be good.

***

The boys didn’t find themselves in any new position some time later. Lenny’s head was between the big and second toe of her left foot, Green between the third and fourth, and Blue and Red were on the right one. However, now, their arms and legs were tied together, and their bindings encircled her foot, keeping them pinned there without any effort required from her end.

Mara sat on the porch, a cup of tea and a plate of pastries before her on the small table. She was engrossed in the book she read, her left foot crossed over the right, the boys nothing but forgotten decoration. Sometimes, the toes would rub against them, taking care of an itch or flicking their heads around in general absent-minded movement. It was a stark contrast to the fixed attention she otherwise gave them, hunting them down. From the toes fiercely pinning and grappling and wrestling with them, they went to a quiet neighbor, leaning over for a kiss every now and then. The sound of her teacup clicking on the saucer, the cracks of her teeth biting into a cookie, the turn of the page, they all reminded them of how casual of a time Mara was having while their pride was under constant siege. It took a particular mental resilience to withstand the thoughts forming in their own heads, telling them how they were nothing but sandals.

“Can’t believe we’ve ended up here,” Red muttered. “That shitter Benjamin whot tipped us off about this place, curse him and his mother.”

“I think she said she gives some of them a bit of evernuts in exchange for them spreading the word,” Blue said. “That way she lures people here. Also, a few do succeed in stealing a little bit.”

Green adjusted his position, wriggling where he was tied. “But why lure them here?”

“Dumb ogre can’t find any other way to have fun,” Red said. “Lonely and ugly, she’s got to pass her time somehow. Her mother probably put her here cause she’s an embarrassment to call one’s daughter.”

The toes clenched everyone. “I’m trying to read up here, footboys.”

Red squirmed in retaliation as best he could. “How long are you doing this for?”

“When I finish the next two chapters, I’ll let you go. However…” Mara leaned back into the chair with a bent neck, able to see them past the tableside. “If you kiss my toes, it’ll only be one chapter. And would you know, the second chapter is pretty long.”

Red cackled. “I don’t believe it for one second. Another lie from the big foot-freak.”

“Another?” Mara raised an eyebrow. “When have I lied? I’ve described you for what you are, thieves, and I was very frank about what I would do to you.”

“You’re not getting anything from me,” Red said. “I understand you’re ugly, and no one wants you, and this is the only way anyone will ever kiss you, but sorry, honey. You’ll have to find someone as hideous as yourself.”

“Red, you really need to shut up,” Blue said.

“Just suck it up and we can leave earlier.” Lenny was nervous to even introduce the notion. “Green, don’t you think so?”

“Yeah, I— I just want to leave.”

Blue put his resolve into it. “I’m in.”

Mara smiled, a finger on the side of her lips. “I was thinking of making it so that it doesn’t count if the red boy doesn’t do it, but I think it’s fine with you three. Thinking of how he was to watch you all go against his word would be fun. The three of you are enough.” She snapped her fingers. “Get to it, then.”

Lenny waited to hear someone else begin, and the smacks of Green’s kisses near him made Lenny follow. He did it with the shame of knowing how well he had to hid it behind reasoned intentions, how afraid he was of letting it slip that a single one of his kisses were born of adoration. He pushed his face into the big toe, the pulpy flesh yielding, letting him in, and he placed a deep, sucky kiss. He tried to make them quiet, make them blend in with the rest of the innocent pecks and not the deep kisses they were, slipping in a tiny bit of tongue work he hoped Mara wouldn’t notice. If she did, she would doubtlessly announce it to shame him. She seemed to be that kind of person.

Lenny was fascinated over how detailed the swirly prints on her toes were, rubbing his head against them like a cat against the owner to feel their outlines. He remembered he needed to kiss, navigating in under the second toe and smooching the nub.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but Red interrupted with, “You’re done with the chapter!” He reacted to Mara’s laid-back pose on the chair, watching them happily, her book closed and on the table.

“I am. Just wanted to see how long you’d keep going at it.”

Lenny cursed Red in his head.

The feet lay flat on the porch as Mara got up, all four of them groaning as she squeezed them with her weight. Without much fuss, she started walking, going down the steps and then over the ground, and they were no more than footwear as they saw one another on the opposite foot swinging back and forth, slamming into grass and soil with parts of their face covered by toe flesh.

She took them all the way back to the flower bushes, past the fence, and untied them. With a kick of her foot, she kicked them of like something icky caught underfoot. Mara brought out her beads and rubbed them with a silent incantation. “Barrier is gone.”

Red immediately dashed past the fence, a furious look back at the giant who had humiliated them so. Blue, Green, and Lenny joined him.

“And for the record, redhead,” Mara said, “I don’t have a hard time getting kissed or doted upon. There are thieves who come here several times a week, and I teach them a lesson like I’ve taught you. You’re the ones who are nothing special, my feet have fun with humans every day. I’ve no doubt you boys will warn people, but it just doesn’t do enough. Humans can’t stop themselves, it seems.” She chuckled. “Lucky me.” She turned around, waving a hand goodbye. “Bye now. Feel free to try again.”

They had to swallow their pride and turn back home, something especially hard for Red. But Lenny turned around and longingly watched those massive feet trample their way back. His erect manhood spoke of missed opportunities, of so many things unexplored. Lenny, the only one of them, left with a hollowness, not dreading over what was, but wondering what could have been.