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Author's Chapter Notes:

Just a little short story I whipped out with the writer's block from one of my other stories.


 

Abel doubled over, catching his breath as he made it to the top of the hill. He was tired, and his warm breath clouded his vision as his visor began to mist. He sat down, crossing his legs and looking over the view, almost awestruck at the impossible sight before him.

 

“Captain’s log,” Abel mused to himself, he adjusted his headset closer to his face, knowing the only functioning part was the microphone itself. “My ship, left unanchored, blew away in the gale force winds, leaving me stranded. It’s been three days, Earth time, and most of my crew have either deserted or perished in the hostile environment. I lost my navigator, Portia, to the muddy, humid swamp; her foot was caught in the heavy green-gray muck, and now I find myself alone in the harsh desert.


“The terrain is soft, pillowy, yet barren. Empty expanses of land stretched for miles upon miles. The land was peachy, consistent in texture and shape as hundreds of tiny ripples and wrinkles lined the landscape. But for some reason, I can’t shake the feeling that the earth… might be alive.

 

“Nonetheless, I will set up camp here, at the tip of the highest mountain, equipped only with my standard issue rucksack and a canteen of salty, stagnant water I found in miniscule pools along the base.”

 

“Earth to Doofus. Come in, Earth to Doofus,” another voice butted in, booming, all encompassing, but feminine. Her voice rang around the world, coming from everywhere.

 

“Louise!” Abel shouted in joy. “Thank God, I thought I was a goner.”

“You are,” she answered grimly. “Your air reserves in your fishbowl—“

“Space helmet!” he corrected.

 

“Sorry, the oxygen reserves in your ‘space helmet’ are running low, and we need evac immediately. You only have an hour before you're empty.”

“One hour! B-but I don’t know where it is.”

“Luckily for you, I—You know what, no. I can’t do this anymore. It’s getting too weird.”

 

Abel sighed in defeat. He was more concerned about what bothered Louise than her ending their game.  He was half a centimeter tall. And instead of being stranded, he was actually safely perched on the padded tip of his best friend’s big toe. Removing the glass fish bowl off of his shoulders, he took a deep breath, accidentally taking in a slight yet cheesy odor of his surroundings. “What’s wrong?”

 

“It’s just… I feel weird. You’re so… tiny. And you’re on my feet. If I make the slightest twitch—“

“I get it, but it’s nothing to freak out about. It was my idea anyway, and we’ve done this before.” Abel comforted honestly.

 

“Yeah, in my hair or on my stomach, but nothing this dangerous.” Louise stayed still, wanting to keep the ground stable for her friend. She was lying on her stomach, forced into looking at the video feed on her laptop with no space for movement without putting Abel’s life in danger. Almost as awestruck as the shrunken boy who was actually at her toes, and she couldn’t help but think that her mountainous toe was only a small fraction of her actual body.

 

“Relax,” Abel assured, slapping his hand against the ground, barely registering to Louise’s senses. “If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have asked. Remember the time I fell in your turkey sandwich?”

“Right, you ‘fell,’” Louise commented sarcastically. “That was three months ago, and I still feel bad about it.”

“I don’t,” he proclaimed boldly, puffing out his chest even though he had a zero percent chance of being seen. 

 

 “But why my feet?” Louise asked, mostly bothered by his adamant persistence on exploring her soles next earlier in the day.

 

“Hell if I know. I just thought it would be cool. And it is, if that makes it any better.”

“It doesn’t, but that’s sweet—in a weird way.” Louise admitted, letting their conversation end with an awkward silence taking up the rest of the space.

 

“Who’s Portia?” Louise asked, breaking the silence with a lighthearted joke laced with jealousy. 

“I don’t know. I just like the name.” Abel answered.

 

Feeling the small movement around her big toe, Louse grew tense as he neared the edge. She could only see the tiny boy look down the slope, unable to view whatever Abel was staring at.

 

“Hey, Louise,” Abel called, tapping again at her toe, earning a surprised yelp from the sensitive underside.

“What?”

“You take good care of your feet, don’t you?”

 

Louise was taken aback, his comment somewhat unexpected. She didn’t answer him, finding the way he absolutely marveled at her foot odd. Then again he showed the same excited interest in his other explorations, spending hours exploring Louise’s normally tiny dorm room.

 

“How do you know?”

“They’re soft, softer than your hands. And the smell…”

“Oh gosh, is it bad?” Louise asked, feeling embarrassed at the thought of her feet smelling, especially with a tiny human in tow.

 

“No, it’s nice, fruity. Like apples or strawberries or something.”

“Blueberries actually,” she corrected. “Sweaty blueberries.”

“Your words, not mine.”

 

Abel smiled, knowing he was easing his friend into the idea. If he knew anything more than himself it was Elouise Sanchez. She was shy, soft spoken, and self deprecating, drawn to his outgoing, excitable outlook on life.

 

They were polar opposites in both attitude and appearance. Abel was tall, pale and blonde, while Louise was shorter, with a natural skin tone on the darker and thick curly black hair that stopped just below the small of her back. Of course her hair was tied back as most of their “expeditions” took place on Friday night’s while her roommate went out and partied and before they went to bed.

 

Sharing the same interest in film production, they met in overlapping classes. Abel pursued directing and screen writing, and Louise also focused on writing but diverted by studying animation.

 

Although she was reluctant to let him traverse her soles, she found herself supporting his shrunken exploration more often than not. They both loved the idea of taking the mundane and creating another world armed with nothing but a shrink ray.

 

“Your nails are cleanly clipped, more than your fingers.”

“Can you please drop the subject about my feet?” Louise asked, attempting to force the conversation shut.

 

“How can I? They are—quite literally, my world.” Abel mused, pausing cheekily to accentuate his position. “Why are you so self conscious about your feet?”

“I just don’t like them, okay? My toes, they’re too… stubby.”

 

“Wait, that’s it? Well, I think they’re kinda cute, despite being hundreds of times my size.” Abel once again pressed his hands against Louise’s foot, lightly tickling the sensitive skin.

Louise yelped, almost kicking her feet in the air. “S-stop, you dork!”

 

“See? You do have self control.” Abel pointed out matter-of-factly, crossing his arms in triumph.

“I could have kicked you across the room!” Louise argued.

“No you wouldn’t have. You’re too hard on yourself.” Abel chimed dismissively.

 

“This really means a lot to you, does it, Abel?”

“Uh… yes?”

“Fine, if it will make you happy.” Louise conceded.

“Alright!” he squealed, clapping his hands together. “I’ve been bouncing around ideas in my head after you shot down the whole space explorer thing.

 

“Get this,” Abel paused, “you are Gaia, a goddess, the world itself, and I am but a lonely wretch, humbly living in a shack at the lowest point of the Earth. He seeks passage north, possibly to a better life, but he is at the mercy of Gaia, who judges his life, including the morally reprehensible decisions he made during the war.”

 

Abel stopped speaking, trying to gage Louise’s reaction. “Wow,” she commented, “You really are a writer.”

“Chills, right?”

 

“No, but how about this: Instead of me being some giant goddess, I’ll just be Louise, your expedition’s communications director and interim navigator. My goal is simple, just lead you to your ship at the opposite side of the desert, and get you the heck off the planet.”

“You do care,” he beamed, immediately running back to his space helmet and excitedly placing it over his head.

 

“I have a status update regarding the whereabouts of your vessel captain, but you’re not going to like it, sir.” Louise jumped back into her role, a little hesitant, but all around a bit more comfortable the second time around.

“I’ve wasted four-fifths of my supply, so as long as I can get to my ship in the next few hours or so, I’m good.”

 

“It’s at the other side of the desert, but be advised, we detected seismic activity in the region along with unstable nearby landmasses.”

Abel nodded, smiling dopily. He was a little relieved that Louise at the very least was accepting. “I guess I’ll be on my way.”

“Good luck,” Louise advised, her voice genuinely concerned, despite knowing she was his biggest threat.

 

Abel walked back to the edge of Louise’s toe, surveying the landscape. He weighed his options: either descent slowly or go headfirst down the peachy slope. So naturally, Abel opted for whichever would freak Louise out more.

 

Feeling the rushing winds, Abel slid down until he crashed face-first against the padded ball of Louise’s foot. Panicking, Louise clenched her toes together, closing any gap between them, cradling the tiny boy between her digits. The smell only intensified as Abel quickly figured out the underside of her toes is where most dirt and sweat collected, something he wasn’t eager to experience ever again after this. He also noted that it wouldn’t be a good idea to relay the stench to the gigantic self conscious girl.

 

It didn’t take him much longer to surmount the ball, his feet sinking into the plushy ground. He hopped up and down, hoping to tickle Louise just a little more. Needless to say, she wasn’t all that amused with his cheeky actions.

 

Abel briskly walked around, enthusiastically climbing over the slight wrinkles sporadically spaced apart. He looked back at the toes he just jumped off of, completely entranced by the sheer size alone that humbled him as the mountain range like digits towered over him.

 

Subconsciously, Louise wiggled the toes of her left foot together, and Abel simply stared from below, just far enough to be safe. He was transfixed at the sight of the continental digits rubbing together, curling and overlapping each other absentmindedly. He only wished Louise were just a little more into their current scenario, finding the thought of fighting to stay on her toes too good to pass up.

 

“Sir, I believe you are standing above an active fault line. I’d watch your step if I were you.” Louise advised, winking to absolutely no one in particular.

“I think I could handle myself, Louise, but I appreciate your concern.”

“They’re not like our regular earthquakes. They’re different somehow.”

 

With her subtle heads up, Louise began to shake her foot ever so slightly, not enough to rattle him around but enough to knock him off his feet. He let out a tiny, startled yelp, being caught off guard before he truly realized what was about to happen.

 

The wind was knocked out of him as he hit the ground. He was met with a face full of her soft, warm skin. He was humbled and a helpless feeling of insignificance washed over him. Something as unimportant as a slight twitch was enough to completely discard his thoughts of being in control. Despite all that, Abel felt the best when confronted with those situations, his mind fascinated by the simplest actions having a near catastrophic affect on his life.

 

He pretended to dust himself off as he continued his trek. He found himself running down a smoother slope until he reached the deep indentation of Louise’s arch.  He got a better look of the side, admiring the view which was mostly obscured by the giant girl’s right foot. He managed to see the simple flowery design of Louise’s bed sheets.

 

Without a warning this time, the microscopic boy immediately realized that Louise’s toes were approaching at a breakneck speed. And within a split second, he found himself pinned under by the expanse of flesh with seemingly millions of tons of pressure directed on him. She wiggled her toes again, battering him slightly with brief glimpses of light between the crevices.

 

She seemed perfectly fine with it now, whatever skittish reluctance she had was now gone. Whatever Abel did worked as something clicked inside the girl’s mind, somehow convincing her to be a little more aggressive with her role playing.

 

“Oh my gosh, Abel! Are you okay?” Louise asked, hamming up her voice. “I could have sworn the nearby land formations didn’t present themselves as a problem.”

“It’s fine,” he groaned, forcing a deep breath while taking in the foot’s stench unwillingly. “I just got caught under a landslide. I’ll live.”

“Not if you stay there too long,” she added, trying to stir up some fictional tension.
“Yeah, I can kinda smell some noxious fumes building up.”

 

Immediately following his comment, Abel felt the pressure on his body begin to build, reminding him who really was in control. Her giant toe pressed against him, weighing him down heavily and forcing the air out of his lungs again.

 

The pressure began to disappear, and the shrunken boy caught a breath of fresh air and a glimpse of light. Her toes had moved away, placing her foot back to a parallel position against the bed.

 

Without saying a word, Abel realized his next destination was Louise’s massive heel, standing hundreds of times his size. He found himself    walking up a prolonged zig zag formation, using the natural grooves of wrinkles from the base of the heel. His biggest obstacles were the sweat forming in certain spots, slicking the floor and causing him to face plant more times than he would like.

 

As he reached the top of Louise’s heel, he was soaked in both her sweat and his own. At the peak he was greeted with Louise’s left hand that seemed to wait for him. Catching his second wind, Abel ran towards the outstretched hand.

 

The wind rushed against him as the insane sense of vertigo came over him. And within seconds he was standing directly in front of Louise’s massive face, staring directly into her intense yet comforting brown eyes.  Every time she smiled, Abel couldn’t resist staring at the dimples on her cheeks.

 

“What’d you think?” Abel asked, “You kind of seemed like you were enjoying yourself.”

“It was definitely weird—in a good way, I guess.” Louise answered truthfully. “I didn’t think I’d like feeling so big and powerful… it was fun.”

“Glad you warmed up to it.” Abel replied, finding it hard not to smile back.

 

“Of course, if you make another comment about my feet smelling, I’m throwing you in my gym sock.” Louise teased, giggling a little as she spoke.

 “Wouldn’t dream of it.” Abel agreed, laughing along with her.

 

“So,” Louse said, pausing slightly before taking a deep breath, “where do you want to go next?”

 

Chapter End Notes:

I just realized I'm invested with the characters again. If I do revisit these two, it'll probably for another one shot though. Anyway, please write a review and let me know what you'd like to see if I do come back to these two.

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