The harsh braying of her alarm roused her from sleep. She swore, realising just how long she had snoozed it for and therefore just how late she was going to be.

The tiny man on the floor fluttered weakly. He was barely alive and half mad from blood loss. What sleep he had stolen had been torn apart by her first alarm and for forty five minutes he had laid in agony, his broken voice calling to her as she snored gently, casually hitting snooze every ten minutes. He wept, his tears mixing with blood as above his housemate slept peacefully.

His blood encrusted eyes creaked open as a shockwave stirred him. Through vision blurred by dehydration and pain her saw her foot rest upon the floor. Her toes flexed, rising high enough to engulf sky scrapers before crashing back to earth.

He called to her again, his tiny voice croaking weakly, begging her to help him. Fresh tears fell across his cheeks as she rose from the bed, her attention already turned away from the helpless being at her feet.

She stepped forwards. On the floorboards, surrounded by congealed blood, the tiny human tried desperately to raise an arm, to get her attention. Her name fled from his lips as the heavens above grew dark, the white ceiling giving way to an oblivious tan sole.

 ‘No, please,’ he begged as her foot descended upon him. Though barely a second passed time slowed for him, he watched in defeated horror as her flesh consumed the light, an unstoppable force lowering towards him. ‘Please,’ he began, his voice turning to a short scream as she stepped on him.

The sound of his body turning to slush, of all his bones shattering at once was lost beneath the sound of her gentle foot fall. She scrunched her hair, releasing it from the knot she had slept in and letting it tumble across her shoulders. She yawned again as she pivoted in place, the miniscule remains of her former housemate being ground into nothing beneath her.

She wondered where he was, although only briefly. Their cohabitation was one of pure necessity and not through choice. Their college had limited spaces so it was this or a tiny apartment miles away from campus. Her heel settled as she rubbed sleep from her eyes.

She cast a tired look about her eyes. She secretly suspected he had been coming in here when she was at work. Though she hadn’t seen him in a few days she planned to get a lock installed at the weekend.

The young woman frowned. Gah, she thought, if only the bastard would turn into one of those Shrinkys; then she could have the whole place to herself. She smirked and chastised herself. She shouldn’t think like that really, there couldn’t be anything worse than finding yourself infected and tiny these days.

She yawned and stretched until her shoulders clicked before heading to the bathroom, the tiny splash of blood on the ball of her foot growing less with each step.

Unnoticed.