It was opening time at Tiny Toys Emporium, eight o’clock, six days a week for over a year now. The store itself was simple, it sold what seemed like sentient dolls to people of all ages, genders, race and any other defining trait. All stock was diverse and it seemed they had a doll that suited every need, from simple entertainment to more ‘daring’ endeavours. The shop itself looked nothing special, it was more of an apartment building that had a first story store for a base, with a living space above it.

The store’s owner, Natalie Hillman, a woman in her late twenties who seemed to be enamoured with her profession. There was enthusiasm, then there was Natalie’s pure excitement whenever someone mentioned her work. She seemed to have little quarrels with her work, despite the criticism from competitors – though this is dismissed as mere jealousy – and the constant worries about her ethical nature. Natalie claims to have little worry about her ‘lovelies’ as she tends to call them, saying that she only sells to people who seem to have well-mannered intentions for purchasing their dolls.

Although the store owner makes this claim, there has been a plethora of evidence suggesting otherwise, with her products finding their way into less than reputable environments – such as the local brothel. There was little any activists could do however, as at the time of purchase, the beings seem to be inanimate, with little sign of life. Some have attempted to claim this as an act or defence mechanism. But Natalie decided to prove her critics wrong.

In an experiment to determine the lives of her dolls, she decided to burn an entire crate of her products, and if the beings themselves would climb out of the top of the open crate, they would be alive, therefore, aware of their surroundings. When she commenced the experiment, no doll climbed out, nor did they scream plea. They were exactly as Ms. Hillman had claimed, non-sentient.

But that didn’t mean they were never gifted with life. There was a certain solution that made them breathe, giving them sense of taste, smell, sight and touch. It too was sold at the emporium – for an additional fee – and was the source of the stores main income. It only worked on the dolls sold at Tiny Toys, which had some sort of material or chemical embedded within them that allowed them to react with the magical liquid.

It was coming to be the end of summer, and the children and teens were preparing for their return to school. Natalie didn’t particularly care for teenagers, considering them to be too smart to be immature, but too dumb to make rational decisions.

In truth, it was because teenagers tended to contribute to the stockpile of inhuman abuse that would befall her lovelies. Some were used in less than desirable ways, such as nothing but live snacks to satisfy their hunger, or their personal sex toys that were more erratic and unpredictable than the common dildo.

Now generally this wouldn’t bother the owner – the customer is always right – but it was being used against her in a case that would threaten to shut the store down. As such, she was expecting a meeting with one of the activists, Tammy Schell.

Natalie was opening crate upon crate of her dolls, stocking them up upon the shelves all over the store. Most were in front of the door so that they could make their purchase hastily, other locations included the shelves next to other accessories such as the dream houses, toy cars, even smaller clothes. Other sections of the store dedicated to those with more ‘deviant’ desires were generally allocated in the traditional back room.

Truly the store was a safe haven for many enthusiasts of the hobby of working with these dolls. One of them was a young lady named Anne. Anne was in her early twenties, earning a decent amount of money working for Tiny Toys since its first opening weekend. Primarily, it allowed her to engross herself within the business world and hopefully gain some more experience. But she had ulterior motives, such as the opportunity to have an employee discount on the top items, which were always the toys.

The morning was always slow, with people having little time to drop by and do a little pre-day spending. So it was usually Natalie and Anne going over stock, reading articles on the progression of the case that was threatening to shut them down or even just sampling a few of the dolls themselves.

The phone began to ring and as usual, Anne would pick up and answer “Tiny Toys Emporium, how can we make you have a huge happy day?” Corny as it was, Natalie would refuse to change it, believing it gave more of a family friendly vibe. After some ‘uh-huhs’ and ‘hm’s, Anne finished her conversation, looking quite glum.

“What’s wrong?” Natalie asked, “Who was on the phone?”

“You remember that lawyer lady that fights for those activists that want to get us shut down? Well, that was her, and she wants to come in for a thorough inspection so that she can try and find some dumb violation that would have us shut down temporarily until the trial”.

“You got all of that from a ten second phone call?”

“It’s what the bitch was implying!” Anne yelled. Natalie shushed her to calm her down, always wary of coarse language. Natalie gave her a reassurance that she would have the woman dealt with. So the two resumed working, making sure that everything was swiftly up to code as to not be shut down through a loophole.

A good half hour had passed and the lawyer, dressed professionally in one of the suits brought from just down the road. She walked in shoes much too tight for her feet, showing her visibly discomfort with every step, though one might confuse it with her natural facial expression. The lady was named Lucy, and made sure to assert that fact, branding almost every visible piece of clothing with some sort of initial or even the entire name.

Lucy walked in front of the cashier’s desk, slowly glossing over each and every product from simple spinning tops to doll socks. She was reluctantly greeted by Anne, forcing a smile and resisting the urge to have a violent outburst, though she managed to hold out until Natalie was able to arrive and quickly take the woman away from her sight.

Natalie and Lucy had a conversation, one of professional critique, small interests, and a mutual desire for the overall trial to go smoothly, with both parties attempting to move away from the situation with little trouble. Though Lucy was carefully looking out for anything that may cause one to notify the city council with a violation of abuses, she found little evidence of such. She had a thought appear in the back of her mind whether she should have taken a case to condemn such a legitimate business venture.

“Well, I hope we can eventual settle, and put all fo this behind us, sorry for the inconvenience” Lucy said.

“Ah, please, you were no trouble, sometimes Anne is rather boring to talk to after a while” laughed Natalie, but quickly whispered, “But don’t tell her that”. “But please, as a token of our mutual understanding, please, take a pair of our shoes, complimentary”.

“Oh, sorry, I’m under contractual obligation to not accept such things, they can be considered a bribe”.

“Psshhh, whose bribing anyone? I offer these from the bottom of my heart. I’ve seen those shoes, they are far too tight on you. These ones come with massaging insoles” Natalie explained.

“Oh, I can’t accept them for free… but I could buy them. How much?”

“Oh, just for you, two dollars”

“Wow, thankyou very much. Just to clarify, those are the regular price of those shoes?”

“Why of course! Newest product!” Lucy accepted the shoes, and walked out with the massaging insoles, already going to work. It was a strange feeling, not that of a vibration, but one of erratic movement. Regardless, she was satisfied enough to continue her trek towards her car and finish her day.

Little did the lawyer lady know, that Natalie had sampled Lucy on the dolls – both middle aged females in doll age - regularly sold at Tiny Toys Emporium. In the minutes before her arrival, Natalie had got some of her tiny dolls and placed them under the thin layer of the insole cover. This allowed them to breathe the then fresh air, whilst still being able to move slightly.

Natalie had loved to use her dolls like this, and only shared her technique with Anne, who only used it on occasion, but it was Natalie’s favourite way of relaxing after a day on her feet. Only too excited to share it, she decided to let her new acquaintance indulge in her guilty pleasure. The tinnies had a very little time to take in their new found ability of life. They were immediately imprisoned within this uncomfortable makeshift tomb.

They tried to speak, but it was inaudible as their vocal chords were not strong enough to let the giant woman hear them. The next clear experience they knew, was the full weight of an already ripe foot, covered in sweat from her previous footwear. Of course, their instinctive answer was to try and get out of their prison, but it seemed to comfort the giantess, who wiggled her toes and rubbed the ball of her foot in the face of her unknowing victims of her stench.

Throughout the day, the sweat seeped through the thin fabric, drenching them in the salty liquid, sometimes involuntary swallowing it. The dolls life had been extremely torturous, but they would not last long, as they had no proper food to sustain them. Natalie had tested this with many of her products before, estimating them a good three days before they would expire.

 Though Natalie had not worn her shoes everyday with dolls in them, Lucy enjoyed hers so much that they became her primary footwear for the next week before they had become so overwhelmingly unbearable due to the smell that she threw them out. It wasn’t the greatest idea to wear a nice pair of flats all throughout the hottest week in the history of the summer.