Kaleb woke up the next morning, refreshed and clean. The walls of his new home rose up all around him. He couldn’t help but regret his imprisonment, but it was a very fair price to pay for the assurance of safety. As long as he didn’t leave the confines of the box, he could live out his days in peace.

Morning sunlight colored everything rosy orange. Kaleb heard something shift and mumble, and Emilia appeared above the walls of the box, looking as bedraggled as ever. It was disappointing to see that she’d still not gotten herself into order, but Kaleb could hardly ask her to go take a shower. At least not directly.

Emilia stretched herself, groaning slightly, before getting up and shambling over to the shoebox. She brought with her a heady musk. It wasn’t bad, per se, but still extremely strong. She smiled down at him.

“How’s my little buddy doing?”

“I’m good!” he shouted back.

She chuckled and said, “God, you’re so cute. Wait, I’ll be right back!”

She wandered off, making her signature tremors. Kaleb watched her go, then sat back down. The air cleared up a little, and he found himself feeling lonely somehow.

Kaleb tried to imagine what life would be like from now on. He guessed that whatever curse had befallen him was probably not something a doctor could fix, so remaining under someone’s protection would be his only way to survive. That being said, he wasn’t sure Emilia was the best choice. Sure, she had a certain charm, but he doubted he could stand living in this one little box for the rest of his life. If only he could remember the names of any friends or family members he could trust…

But at the same time, he felt some unnamed urge not to bother with any of that. Life with Emilia could be interesting enough, and she certainly did seem to care about his well-being. Maybe staying put wasn’t such a bad idea. And he was already missing her badly.

To Kaleb’s delight, Emilia came back with some jam and toast, bringing with her the fresh scent of good food, as well as her own intriguing smell. She prepared a tasty-looking spread, tore off a chunk, and tossed it into his box.

“Here you go! You look absolutely starving.”

That he was. Kaleb hurried over to the toast and began scarfing it down. Maybe the starvation of the past few days was finally catching up to him?

Emilia watched him eat with glee. Kaleb didn’t mind much, and was happy stuffing his face with sweet bread. Besides, he enjoyed the company. When breakfast was finished, Kaleb sat down and craned his neck to look back at Emilia.

“So how was your meal?” she asked him.

“It was great! Thank you!”

“Aww, it was nothing. Least I could do for such a cute little thing.” She got up and retrieved a backpack from a distant corner of the bedroom. “I swear I tore the apartment apart looking for something for bedding. The best I could do was this:” she held up an old t-shirt. “I’m heading out for work now, but I’ll be back with something a bit softer. You be good while I’m gone, ok?”

Kaleb, throat already sore from yelling so much, made an exaggerated nodding motion to show his acknowledgement. Emilia giggled and threw in the t-shirt, “to keep him company while she was gone.” The t-shirt piled up against one side of the box, forming a formidable looking hill.

The clothing was, of course, less than pristine. It looked very well-worn, with dark, grimy stains here and there. Emilia’s smell permeated the clothing, but at such proximity, it was hard for him to stomach it. Emilia was heading out the door by then, so Kaleb retreated to the far corner of the box in an attempt to escape the overwhelming, musty aroma. He wasn’t successful.

The hours ticked by. Kaleb began to pace inside his pen, wishing for something to happen. he quickly grew numb to the shirt’s scent. As if to spite him, his body remained at a couple inches tall, large enough that the shoebox felt cramped. He could leave by climbing up the t-shirt, but he didn’t want to leave the relatively safe walls of the box. The mounting heat of the day began to bake the apartment, but Kaleb’s miniaturized body was able to cool off quite easily. Even the weather was boring.

As the sun crept through its motions, Kaleb found himself eyeing the t-shirt more and more. He had long since stopped avoiding the clothing, seeing as he could no longer smell the odor it emitted. He now stood right at the edge, near the frayed arm hole. The t-shirt was logoed, but the crumpling made it hard to read what it was. Kaleb decided to make it his mission to find out.

He grabbed the sleeve and began to haul it toward the far corner of the box. He had to exert himself thoroughly to move the fabric, which made sense. After all, he weighed maybe a tenth of an ounce? Less? Either way, the shirt was heavier than he was.

Once the sleeve was stuffed into one of the corners, Kaleb rested a little, then repeated the process with the opposite sleeve. When he was done, he collapsed into the cotton field and rested there for a moment. He could faintly detect Emilia’s scent on it.

He was still recuperating when the distant sound of opening door echoes through the apartment. Kaleb was happy to have someone to talk to, but felt too tired to stand. He stayed put, wand waited for Emilia to come by and check on him.  

In no time at all, he saw her lightly freckled face crest the walls of the box. As usual, she was smiling, her expression a combination of delight and astonishment.

“Hi! I’m back! How was your day?”

Kaleb took a moment to decide if she was joking. “A little dull, but I can’t complain,” he yelled.

“Really? It looks like you really enjoyed my present.”

Kaleb looked around and noticed that he’d chosen to collapse near the armpit of the t-shirt.

“Uhh…”

“Well, if you liked that old thing, you’ll love what I got you!” Emilia showed him a cushion and some assorted fabrics. “I found these at some prissy craft place down the street. You don’t mind the color?”

He hadn’t even noticed the color, and told her not to worry about it.

“Well that’s great! Could you step off that shirt so I can take it? I think I might need it for tomorrow.”

Kaleb complied, and watched the mountain of fabric flutter up and away. Emilia lifted it effortlessly. For all his effort, he never got to see what the logo was. Once the t-shirt was gone, Emilia put in the new “furnishings”.

“And what do we say when someone does something nice for us?” she said.

“uhh…Thanks?”

“Aww, what a polite gentleman.”

Emilia smiled down at him and turned as if to leave. Kaleb, desperate for some break in the monotony, called out for her to stop.

“What’s wrong little buddy?” Emilia asked, concern written across her face.

“Could you, uh, let me out for just a bit!? It’s getting a little boring in here!”

Emilia paused. “I’m not sure… wouldn’t that be dangerous? What if you shrank again?”

“You could carry me around in your hand. That way, you would feel it when I got lighter, and you could me somewhere safe.”

“That doesn’t seem like a good idea…”

“Listen, I’ll go insane if I stay in this box much longer. Please, just let me take a look around.”

Emilia considered his plea. “Okay...but you have to stay in my sight at all times. And I expect some sort of compensation too!”

She waited for some acknowledgment. Kaleb shouted back up, “Sure! Whatever you say!”

Emilia carefully reached her hand into the shoebox and curled her fingers around Kaleb’s frame. It was a little frightening, but she never squeezed too hard, and his fear quickly melted into a sense of security.

Seeing Emilia’s apartment from his place in her fist rang some very loud bells in Kaleb’s memory. Even so, there was nothing distinct, just shadowy connections, a familiar shape here and there. Still, the view helped restore some sense of normality. He could imagine that he was a normal person, albeit an unusually short one.

Above him, Emilia spoke. At this proximity, her voice was loud enough to cause him some pain. “I’m going to make some dinner. I bet you’re pretty hungry too, huh?”

Kaleb was, and he nodded to let her know. Curiously, he didn’t remember ever feeling peckish during his hours’ wait in the box. Then again, his memory wasn’t all that reliable lately.

Emilia entered the kitchen, and set him down on the counter, where he’d be within reach if anything bad happened. She started gathering preparing some basic ramen.

“So, is there any reason you spread that shirt out?” she asked. “Must have been pretty hard for a puny thing like yourself.”

“Oh, I was just trying to read what was printed on it. Things got pretty slow in there.” Emilia was standing directly over him, so Kaleb didn’t feel a need to yell.

“If you say so,” was her only response. She continued preparing her dinner, glancing down at him from time to time.

“You know, it’s been a while since I did any laundry,” she said after a time.

“Has it? I really didn’t notice.” Kaleb immediately regretted his sarcastic snark. If there was one thing to avoid, it was angering the sixty-foot tall behemoth of a woman.

“Oh yeah. The water’s been out for a while and the damn landlord can’t be assed to do anything about it. I could take them down to the laundromat, but I keep forgetting.”

“Well that sucks,” said Kaleb, lamely.

“Oh yeah. You don’t mind? I could probably…”

“Oh no, don’t worry about it. I really never noticed.”

“Well…okay. As long as it’s not a bother.”

A few minutes passed in awkward silence as the water boiled and the noodles cooked. He could have said something. Why the hell didn’t he tell her to have some self-respect and clean herself up? It wasn’t like she was going to kill him, at least not if he was tactful about it.

“Noodles are ready!” she said, and piled the steaming ramen on a paper plate. Looking around, Kaleb noticed that, as far as apartments went, the kitchen wasn’t especially filthy. The counters and floor were mostly clear of debris or stains, the stove still gleamed. But the sink was bone dry and stacked with dirty silverware. Kaleb began to sympathize a little.

Emilia, holding her dinner in one hand, gathered him up again and moved over to the living room. Setting him down on the coffee table, she started to slurp up the ramen.

“So…what do you do for a living?” asked Kaleb, hoping to strike up some conversation and maybe learn more about his new roommate/owner.

“Hmm?” Emilia couldn’t make out what he’d said.

“What do you do for a living!?”

“Oh. Right now I’m a stocker at some big box store downtown. Gotta pay the bills somehow, you know.”

“I take it you’re not in it for the long haul?!” he yelled.

“Wait.” Emilia picked him up and placed him on her shoulder. “This should make it easier for us to understand each other.”

Kaleb repeated his question. Emilia was wearing a tank-top, as usual, and Kaleb hugged one of the straps to keep from falling.

“Ha, no way. I’m in school for business. Thank god it’s summer or else I’d have to stop by the gym every day to stay in presentable shape. It’s hard enough to keep everything organized in my head as it is.”

At least I’m not the only one forgetting things lately. “Hey, uh, you wouldn’t know if there’s been any missing persons around here, would you?”

“No, not really. Oh, you think…shit, you have a family out there?”

“Ah, maybe. I can’t remember anything from before I shrank. I’m pretty sure I told you.”

“Ohh, right. You did. Slipped my mind. I’m not sure about that missing persons thing. I’ll take a look later.”

Kaleb thought to tell her that she could just search it up on her phone right now, but the hunger was starting to bite. He eyed the ramen, which was almost gone. “Could I have some?” he asked.

“Oh, sorry. Here you go.” She lifted a forkful of the stuff to her shoulder. He breathed in the nourishing fragrance and took a few awkward, sloppy bites. It didn’t take long for him to eat his fill. Emilia examined her fork after his was finished.

“Wow, that’s all? Guess you’re pretty low maintenance, aren’t you? I don’t even have to go buy extra food!” She finished the remainder of the noodles.

The way she spoke was unsettling, as if she thought of him as a pet. Though it wasn’t an inaccurate assessment of their relationship, what with him being smaller than most rodents.

“Okay little guy, I’ve let you out of your box for a bit. Don’t you think it’s time you held up you’re end of the deal?”

“What deal?” asked Kaleb, genuinely confused.

“Don’t play dumb! When I let you out, you agreed to compensate me for the stress of having to worry about you.”

“Well…Okay. I don’t have any money or anything…”

“I can see that, silly. Do you know how they used to do business before there was money?”

Kaleb wasn’t sure where she was going with this. “Uhh…”

“They traded goods and services directly. My chicken for your goat, these pearls for that corn, a short massage for some freedom…”

It took him a moment to process what he’d heard. “You can’t be suggesting…”

“I am! I’ve been working my ass off all day, I’m feeling sore, and I’d really appreciate a massage.”

“But I’m too small!” said Kaleb, holding up his hands. “It’d tickle more than anything!”

Emilia looked at him with puppy eyes. “But my feet hurt!”

The mention of her feet brought on some bad memories. Emilia seemed to notice, and blushed. “Oh right, I forgot about that. How about a back massage instead? Does that sound better?”

Kaleb admitted that it did. Without much warning, he was plucked from Emilia’s shoulder and lifted up vertiginously as she stood up and went to her bedroom.

“Thanks a bunch for doing this,” she said. “You’re really helping me unwind.”

Emilia set him down on the nightstand and took off her top. The motion was so fluid and shameless that Kaleb almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Her torso was toned, her waist slim, and her tits, still contained inside a somewhat abused bra, were full and perky. His brain shut down as his blood supply redistributed itself.

Emilia picked him up again, and laid down on the bed without moving him too much. Then, she deposited him on her back. “Get to work, little man,” she said. Her voice resonated through his legs.

Unsure of how to proceed, Kaleb took some time to survey the bodyscape. Her shoulder blades, neatly framed by the straps of her bra, were sharp crags. Above them was the greasy mess of her auburn hair. Further down, the curve of her spine formed an elegant groove down the center of her back. Her ass, still obscured inside some grey yoga pants, was a soft, well-defined hill.

Kaleb took a tentative step. Currently, he stood at the small of her back, right in the central groove. Her skin was warm and soft, and yielded easily under him. Kaleb took a few more steps, putting more force into it. Emilia yelped a little.

“You’re poking me!”

Kaleb cringed, and resolved to kneed at her with his hands instead. After doing so, he noticed the flesh loosen up even further. At the same time, Emilia released a contented sigh. Whatever he was doing was working.

Over the next few minutes, Kaleb continued to work on Emilia’s back, slowly traveling back along her spine. Occasionally, he would be regarded by some words of encouragement, or a sigh. Eventually, he ended up near the base of her imposing butt. His sense of smell was largely numb to her personal fragrance at this point, but even he picked up a faint musk. Kaleb made sure not to let it on.

“You enjoying the view down there?” teased Emilia, wiggling her ass and causing Kaleb to hit the deck, scared to fall off. The mountain of flesh continued to jiggle for several moments, looking somehow enticing despite its monstrous size.

Kaleb, still shaken, didn’t notice the shadow of Emilia’s hand. All of a sudden, he was whisked away, and found himself gazing into her deep grey eyes.

“I don’t know about you, but that felt really nice for me.”

Kaleb squirmed in her grasp.

“You know, I feel bad having you do all this work with such a minor reward. I’ll let you stay out of your box for a bit longer, but you don’t have to do anything for me. Just stay nearby.”

She placed Kaleb on her back again and settled back into bed, seeming to ignore him. Kaleb, free to do as he pleased, decided to head south.