The day was slowly slipping away, Jason and Amber sitting on the couch, doing nothing save unwinding from a painful week. Amber was wearing her gym clothes, her pink socks looking tantalizing as her toes moved ever so slightly. She was on her phone, probably texting Carly about their plans for the day, her foot flexing continuously and randomly. If it hadn’t been so early Jason might have tried to press his luck.

They both looked towards the window at the sound of a heavy truck tires crunching on the gravel outside, a motor turning off. “Carly?” Jason said to his girlfriend.

“Carly,” She answered, standing up and walking to the door. Jason stayed where he was, stretching a bit to get the blood flowing through his system again, a loud crack coming from the center of his spine right as the two girls entered the living room.

“I see you’ve been active,” Carly commented upon seeing the man in his slob-like dress. It was a saturday he didn’t plan on leaving the house, so he had donned his messiest, most stained sweatpants and t-shirt.

He shrugged in response. “Sorry I’m not as active as you girls.”

“You should come to the gym with us,” Carly said as Amber moved to the back room, gathering her supplies and throwing them in a gym bag. “It would do your lazy ass some good.”

“Hey, Amber loves my fat ass. I’d love to get rid of it, but she would be so sad.”

From the other room Amber called, “Mortified.”

“Whatever. I’m sure you have better plans.”

Jason glanced back at whatever was playing on the television. “Much.”

“You ready?” Amber asked when she returned, gym bag slung over her shoulder.

“Yep. Whose car should we take?”

“I don’t mind using mine.”

“Sure. See ya later stinky,” Carley called over he shoulder as they went to leave. Jason gave a weak wave in response, the door shutting a moment later. Then the sound of an engine, then the sound of it slowly fading into the distance.

Jason kept his eyes on the television, but he couldn’t stop his mind from wandering back to Carly’s feet. She was wearing a pair of running shoes that looked brand new. Mostly white, with some flashes of pink around the heel and toe. A little girly, but Jason had liked them well enough.

Then his thoughts started to drift further. Those weren’t her normal sneakers. Perhaps she had the old ones in her truck? If she did, and she left it unlocked… An evil plan started to form in Jason’s mind.

It didn’t take him long to deliberate. Within moments he was out the door, walking up to the girl’s large black truck, his fingers around the handle. “Come on, open. Come on, open,” he started to chant, hoping despite logic that he could get his hands on the girl’s shoes, even if it was only for a few hours.

Then he pulled, the door swinging open, a smile spreading across his face. It didn’t take him long to search around her backseat, finding everything he wanted and more. She had her old gym shoes with her, a pair of black and pink Nike’s, some red and black cowboy boots she wore on occasion, and even a pair of red high heels. It was absolutely perfect.

He retreated back to the inside, all six shoes carried in his arms, stopping only momentarily to grab the brown package that sat upon his doorstep. He couldn’t forget to take that in for Amber. It was the least he could do after playing with her best friends shoes.

When he entered the living room he plopped the shoes onto the glass table, dropping the package next to them as he sat down onto the couch. But then the question, which one did he play with first? The cowboy boots, the heels, or her gym shoes?

Though he couldn’t believe it, he reached for the package first. Amber had dropped so many hints the night before, he couldn’t let such a mystery sit on the table. Just a peak, and hed move onto Carly’s shoes. That would be easy enough.

He opened the package, reaching inside, pulling out a small black object about the size of a marble, with no discernible characteristics except being shiny and reflective. “The hell?” he said, rotating the thing around, trying to find out what was so special. He saw a button on the backside, pressed it, watched as it did nothing, then placed it down on the table. Maybe Amber had just been messing with him. But, with Carly’s shoes so close, he found it difficult to care.

With a smile he grabbed her boots, flipping the sole around to face him. It was exactly like he thought it was, a flat surface of hard black, with countless specks of dirt smashed into it. The sheer force required to wedge the grains so deep was astounding, an idea that Jason couldn’t stop thinking about. He imagined what it would be like to be one of those specks, to be crushed into a giant’s boots and wedged inside, forced to be stomped on again and again until you finally drop off.

He placed them back on the table, going next for her sneakers. They had been a thing he had fantasized about many times, especially after seeing her and Amber coming back from a long workout. She would be sweating, her body glistening, her hair slicked back in a ponytail, her feet pressing into her shoes, her toes stretching the fabric. They might have been well worn, but they were still in pristine condition, the silver details barely cracked or scrunched. But there was definitely a smell present, something that came from hours of being wrapped around the girl’s feet. Her sweat had soaked into the fiber and dried, giving them a scent that was powerful, perhaps even overwhelming to some, but brought euphoria to Jason.

Glancing into the shoe he noticed the last few traces of white paint where a Nike check symbol used to be, but had been worn off by thousands of steps, Carley's heel pressing into it with immence pressure. He started turning the shoe so that he could get a better view, trying to hold it to the light. The inside was a dull black, with light pouring in from the meshed fabric that made up the sides, the toe section a dark spot. There were so many different pieces of dirt inside that it was almost impressive. Tiny little pebbles that had been dislodged from the ground only to make it inside of this girl’s shoe. What would have been better, to get stomped on by her boots or trapped inside her gym shoes? Jason wished he could learn the answer.

He pulled the shoe away from himself, not even noticing the black ball blinking on his desk, his thoughts thoroughly locked on the girl's shoe. His mind was spinning with possible ways to escalate the situation. Smelling them was a start, staring at the worn bottoms would help, but he wanted to do more. Perhaps he would go farther, rubbing himself against the hard undersole. Perhaps he would even give them a lick, picturing what it would be like to be a little slave to his giant friend.

But then the ball beeped, a shining light emitting from its center. Before Jason could react his head started to spin, his balance completely lost. Vaguely he could feel himself falling forward, the shoe dropping out of his hand. Then he was tumbling, spinning uncontrollably, screaming as air rushed around his head. It all stopped when his back landed on something rough and spongy.

“What the hell?” he spoke, rubbing his head as he pushed himself to a sitting position. Upon his first breath he started gagging, his nose assaulted with a scent more powerful and pungent than anything he had smelled before, yet it was oddly familiar. As was the scene that presented itself. What lay before him was an irregularly shaped cavern, with some of the walls cut to let in light, and a great break in the roof directly overhead. The material was odd, nothing hard like stone or wood, but soft and spongy.

“No,” Jason said, a possibility entering his mind. “This can’t be,” he continued, looking around at the world, seeing his ceiling far, far overhead, looking at the shaded section at the end of the room, staring down at the tiny flecks of white paint. “I can’t be… I can’t be…”