The train from Cologne to Brussels rumbled gently beneath Edward’s feet, the rhythmic hum of the wheels on the tracks mingling with the muffled conversations of the passengers around him. He leaned back into the soft, worn upholstery of his seat, feeling the gentle tug of the train as it glided out of the station. Cologne’s skyline, with its towering cathedral spires and sleek, modern buildings, quickly disappeared from view.
Edward sighed, pulling out his phone to call his wife. He’d been away on a work trip for nearly a week, and though the presentation had gone well, he felt a deep longing for the familiarity of home. His wife’s voice crackled through the speaker almost immediately, warm and inviting.
“Hi, honey. Are you on the train?”
“Just left Cologne.” Edward replied, his voice soft, his lips curling into a smile. “Should be in London by late evening, if all goes smoothly. How are the kids?”
“They’re good. They miss you, though. Amelia keeps asking when you’ll be home to help her with her homework, and Jacob’s been trying to cook your favorite dishes. It’s… not going well.”
Edward chuckled, picturing his son making a mess of the kitchen. "I'll straighten things out when I get home. Hopefully, they didn’t destroy the kitchen too badly.”
“Nothing we can’t fix.” his wife laughed. But then her tone shifted, a hint of concern creeping into her voice. “Did you hear the latest news about that virus? SHIV, I think they’re calling it. They’re saying it’s spreading faster now.”
“Yeah, I saw something about that.” Edward muttered, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “But don’t worry, it’s still rare. I’ll be fine.”
“I know… but still, be careful.”
“I will.” Edward reassured her. “I’ll see you tonight. I love you.”
“I love you too. Travel safe.”
Edward hung up, settling back into his seat with a soft sigh. He opened up a crossword app on his phone, letting the familiar comfort of words and clues wash over him as the German countryside blurred by outside the window.
Time passed quickly, and soon enough, the train pulled into Brussels. The sun was beginning its descent, casting long shadows across the city as Edward transferred to the Eurostar for the final leg of his journey. The platform was bustling with travelers, suitcases rolling noisily across the tiled floor. Edward moved with the crowd, boarding the sleek train bound for London
He found a seat at the back of the carriage, tucking his bag underneath the seat and making himself comfortable. As he settled in, a young woman boarded and took the seat directly in front of him. She had the look of a student—her caramel blonde hair was tied up in a messy bun, and she wore an oversized, dark hoodie that seemed to swallow her small frame. Her light blue, baggy jeans draped over her legs, and her white Converse sneakers were scuffed and worn from years of use. Edward noticed a tiny tear in one of the sneakers, the frayed threads catching the dim light of the train cabin.
She plopped down in her seat with a huff, pulling out her phone and sliding AirPods into her ears. Completely absorbed in whatever she was watching, she didn’t even glance back at Edward. He watched her for a moment, then turned his attention back to his crossword, tapping through the clues as the train began its journey towards the Chunnel.
The sudden wave of nausea hit him like a truck. Edward dropped his phone, clutching his stomach as the sensation of heat washed over him, his skin prickling with sweat. His vision blurred, and he slumped forward, sweat beading on his forehead. His world spun, the clattering of the train wheels growing distant and muffled. A strange sensation gripped him—a sensation of... shrinking. His clothes suddenly felt heavier, larger. Then everything went black.
When Edward regained consciousness, the first thing he felt was fabric, soft and heavy against his skin. He blinked his eyes open, but something was wrong. His clothing, once tailored to his body, now seemed impossibly large. He struggled to push himself out from the folds of his shirt and jacket, his mind racing to comprehend what had happened.
His heart pounded as he staggered to his feet, realizing he was standing in a cavern of fabric, his entire body reduced to a mere half-inch tall. The world around him had become colossal. The seats of the train loomed like monoliths, the floor stretched endlessly beneath him, and the muffled sounds of the train seemed distant and overwhelming at the same time.
SHIV, the virus. It had hit him. He had heard about the symptoms on the news—rapid shrinking, a condition scientists were still trying to understand. But he never imagined he would be one of the victims.
His eyes darted around the cabin, searching for any sign of movement. But no one had noticed his disappearance. His clothes, now empty, sat in a crumpled heap on the floor, forgotten and unnoticed by the few passengers scattered throughout the carriage.
Desperation surged through him. He looked at the young woman sitting in front of him. From his tiny perspective, her legs seemed like skyscrapers, her shoes massive boulders planted firmly on the floor. One foot was perched on top of her Converse sneaker, the other hung loosely in the air, swinging slightly as she absentmindedly fidgeted.
He had no other choice. She was his best shot at getting noticed.
With a deep breath, Edward began the arduous trek across the vast expanse of the train floor. Each step felt like a mile, the grooves in the floor forming deep, treacherous valleys that he had to climb over. The vibrations of the train rattled through his tiny body, making each movement more difficult.
Finally, he reached her Converse sneaker. The canvas material, once smooth and flexible, now appeared like a rugged cliff face. Edward grabbed hold of the textured fabric and began climbing, his fingers struggling to find purchase in the dirt-stained surface. Every now and then, the young woman would shift slightly, sending shivers through the shoe and nearly shaking him off.
Just as he reached the midpoint, her other foot came crashing down.
Edward was pinned beneath the ball of her foot, the pressure immense. Her sock, damp from the warmth of her shoe, pressed against him with overwhelming force. The scent of stale sweat clung to the fabric, filling his nose as he struggled to breathe. His body was crushed against the rough material of the shoe, and every tiny shift of her weight sent waves of agony through him.
She began to absentmindedly play with her shoe, flexing her foot and tapping her toes. Each movement only made things worse. Edward was tossed and turned, his tiny body battered by the shifting sock. A loose thread from her sock coiled around him, binding him tightly like a rope, trapping him even further.
Then, her feet lifted off the ground, and Edward dangled helplessly in the air, still tangled in the thread. She had propped her feet up on the seat in front of her, leaving him hanging from her sock like a doll caught on a string.
He fought against the thread, twisting and wriggling until finally, with a desperate burst of strength, he managed to free himself. Edward fell, landing hard on the seat below. The impact knocked the wind out of him, and he lay there for a moment, gasping for breath.
He looked up at the young woman, her face partially obscured by her hoodie as she continued to scroll through her phone, completely unaware of the tiny man who had just survived being trapped under her foot. Edward scrambled to his feet and waved his arms frantically, shouting at the top of his lungs.
But she didn’t notice. The AirPods in her ears drowned out any noise he could make.
As the train pulled into the next station, she gathered her things, slipping on her shoes and walking away, leaving Edward stranded on the seat
As the minutes stretched on, Edward lay on the seat, utterly defeated. His tiny body ached, and his mind spun with the horror of his predicament. He was no longer a man, but a speck, an insignificant mite in a world that would never even notice his existence. He had been abandoned, forgotten, and he couldn’t even find the strength to scream anymore.
Then, out of nowhere, the door to the train carriage slid open with a soft hiss, and the voices of two young women spilled into the cabin. Laughter echoed through the near-empty space as they entered, their carefree chatter oblivious to the tiny man clinging to life on the vast surface of the seat.
Edward’s heart sank as he spotted them. He didn’t have the energy to call out for help. He didn’t even know how they could help him. These women, much like the others who had come and gone, were giants to him—massive, towering creatures, unaware of his plight.
One of the women, a tall brunette, wore a thick knitted sweater, the loose threads catching the light as she moved. She was slender but strong, her movements deliberate and graceful. Her gray leggings hugged her legs tightly, the fabric taut across her thighs. Edward stared at the sheer scale of her, feeling like an ant staring up at a mountain.
The two women continued to chat and laugh as they found seats across from each other. The brunette flopped down heavily on the very seat where Edward had been lying. The moment her weight crashed onto the cushion, Edward felt the impact before he could even react.
"NO!" he screamed, his tiny voice drowned by the sound of her body colliding with the seat. He tried to scramble to his feet, but the smooth surface of the cushion was treacherous, and the second her body made contact, it was too late.
Her enormous frame came down on him like a landslide, pressing him deep into the fabric. The material of her leggings stretched over him, the texture coarse and tight against his tiny form. He was pinned instantly, unable to move, his limbs frozen by the overwhelming pressure.
The heat radiating from her body was intense, smothering him in a cocoon of warmth and sweat. His face was mashed against the soft fibers of the cushion beneath him, his mouth open in a silent scream as the weight of her body compressed his chest, forcing the air from his lungs. Every breath was a struggle—each inhale a shallow, desperate gasp that barely kept him conscious.
Edward tried to move, to wiggle or shift in any direction, but the pressure was too much. He was completely immobilized, his body nothing more than a tiny lump beneath her. His mind reeled in terror, the sheer helplessness of his situation overwhelming him. How had it come to this? Only hours ago, he had been on the phone with his wife, talking about coming home to their children. Now, he was nothing more than a speck, about to be crushed to death by a complete stranger.
And then, something worse happened. A soft, muffled sound reached Edward’s ears, and the air around him grew foul—dense and acrid. The woman had farted.
The gas seeped into the confined space where Edward was trapped, and the smell hit him like a punch to the face. His eyes watered, his nose stung, and his lungs burned as he choked on the noxious fumes. He gagged, his tiny body convulsing in protest as he struggled for clean air, but there was none to be found. The foul stench enveloped him, filling every inch of the tiny pocket of space between the woman’s leggings and the cushion.
Edward’s eyes rolled back in his head as he gagged again, his tiny body writhing beneath the oppressive weight of her. The air was hot, thick, and foul, and the stench clung to him like a second skin. He had never felt so helpless, so utterly powerless. He was nothing more than an afterthought, an insignificant speck caught in the most humiliating situation imaginable.
And then, just as he thought it couldn’t get any worse, she shifted. The massive weight lifted slightly, her body rising just enough to give Edward a fleeting moment of relief. He gasped for air, his tiny lungs burning as he tried to fill them with clean oxygen. For a split second, he thought he might be able to escape—might be able to crawl out from beneath her and find safety. But it was a false hope.
The woman leaned forward to show something on her friend’s phone, her weight shifting forward and off Edward for a brief moment. But as quickly as the relief came, it vanished. She sat back down—this time with more force, her body slamming into the seat with a casual, careless thud.
Edward’s world imploded. The full force of her weight crashed down on him, and in that instant, everything inside him broke. His tiny bones cracked under the immense pressure, his chest collapsed inward, and his skin split open like a grape under a boot. There was no time to scream, no time to process what was happening.
In one horrifying moment, Edward was reduced to nothing more than a small red stain on the woman’s gray leggings, a tiny, unnoticed mark against the coarse fabric.
The woman shifted again, completely oblivious to the fact that she had just crushed a man to death beneath her. She continued chatting with her friend, laughing as she leaned back into her seat, completely unaware of the life that had just ended beneath her.