“So, there’s just the other two sizers?” asked Evelyn Hobbs. “The one in her office and the portable one?”

“Yes,” replied a young scientist, Brian. “And now this third one we’ve been developing,” he said, tinkering with a machine that looked like a turret gun. Evelyn and Brian were in warehouse 23, an oversized building where Naomi had her clothes manufactured and repaired. About 20 other disgruntled employees were with them, running cables, setting up power generators, and doing anything else Brian asked in order to get the new sizer up and running.

“I just can’t believe that this technology exists, and nobody has ever once thought of using it on that gigantic woman.” Ever since her reassignment to the maintenance department, Evelyn Hobbs had been dreaming of how to get even with Naomi and take her down. And most of all, she wanted revenge on William Harrington, the director of Naomi’s company. Naomi had been getting worse and worse ever since he took over as her assistant.

“Well it’s not really designed that way, only she can activate the sizers with her fingerprints,” the young scientist explained. “So, it’s not like you can just shrink her with it.”

“Well, why not?” asked Mrs. Hobbs.

“Because we don’t know how,” he responded dryly. “It was designed in a specific way according to her requests. The scientist who originally designed it has long since left the company and we’ve never been able to figure out how he did any of this. Our whole department is still learning how the current sizers even function. It takes everything we have just to maintain them.” 

“I don’t understand why there were even restrictions in the first place,” Mrs. Hobbs muttered. “How stupid!”

“It was before my time, I don’t know why either,” he responded dryly. But this one is based off of the schematics of the old sizers, but this time I’ve removed the restrictions that were placed upon them.” The machine buzzed and beeped at Brian’s last adjustment. “At least, I think I did…,” he muttered.

“We won’t get a second chance at this, Brian. It had better work.” Evelyn said somberly. She briefly wondered if it was worth the risk, but her anger filled her thoughts once again and she gained confidence in her decision.

***

Naomi carefully stepped through the tiny streets of Littleton. The residents scrambled to get out of her way as her giant killer heels stepped down around them. Naomi was careful not to crush any civilians, of course, but she did find it slightly amusing how hard they were tripping over themselves just to get away from her. It didn’t really matter though, if she wanted to, she could simply step on and squish whomever she chose. But Naomi was true to her agreement with the little people’s government and decided against having to pay the fines that would she would accrue. 

Each rumble from her deadly footsteps violently shook the ground and the people closer to Naomi would lose their balance and fall down. Naomi didn’t laugh at them per se, but it did bring a smile to her face as she watched them struggle to stand.

It was still way easier than usual for the tiny people to move out of her way because Naomi had to step extra slow and gentle. Normally, she walked the streets of the tiny cities barefoot so as not to destroy the road and so she could easily feel if someone fell under one of her feet. However, she chose to wear her heels on account of the tiny assistant she kept in her shoe. Thinking about William struggling under her foot and trying to breathe did make her laugh just thinking about it. She reveled in the enjoyment she got from stepping repeatedly on him. So if she needed to step gently to ensure that her heel wouldn’t needlessly wreck the road, causing more damages and nasty fines, well that was fine by her.

From William’s perspective, he greatly appreciated the gentler footsteps of his boss. He was still suffocating under her soft damp skin, but her slower approach allowed him to take in more air on the upswing than he normally could. But unfortunately, her softer steps still compressed and squeezed every last bit of air from his lungs. And swing after swing of her footsteps had started to make him nauseous and William was sure he was about to puke.

In the claustrophobic dark, William felt himself falling again and he knew that Naomi’s foot was descending. Knowing he was about to have all the air forced from his body as her heel came down on him, William didn’t even bother inhaling any of the sweaty salty air. He would just take a deeper breath during Naomi’s next step.

Two seconds had passed under the soul crushing weight of the heel. And right when William expected the pressure to lift and be able to breathe again… he couldn’t… Naomi’s heel remained firmly on the puny assistant. William tried to breathe in, but he couldn’t. Every time he opened his mouth it felt like more air was pressed from his lungs. William grew even more claustrophobic as he started to panic.

The giantess had stopped moving when she reached a certain point. Naomi uncurled her fingers, revealing the remaining Harrington family members in her palm. Now that they were no longer in the dark, the 3 little people could easily see every line and wrinkle clearly in the giantess’s hand.

“Do you know where we are?” asked Naomi with a smirk.

“In our old neighborhood?” said Sasha as she around from the vantage point of the gigantic hand. Max was looking too, but Mary however, just laid in her palm and panted. She was completely exhausted.

“That’s right, Sasha!” said Naomi excitedly. 

“Uhm, but why though?” Sasha asked.

“Because your mom needs to do a job for me. And I figured I would be nice and bring her to the jobsite,” replied Naomi coyly. 

“What job?” asked Mary dejectedly. She looked tired and broken, almost on the verge of tears. Naomi almost felt sorry for her for a brief moment. But that moment passed pretty quickly.

“You can’t go back home,” Naomi sighed. “Anyone who catches you now will surely want to kill you, and probably your family as well. Everyone knows who you are. News travels fast Mary.”

“We will be safe here,” Mary said reassuringly. “We have friends and family here. They will protect us and make sure we are safe.”

“Right…,” Naomi sighed loudly and caused a whirlwind of air from her nose to blow over the puny people in her hand. “That’s where your new job comes into effect. The job is simple. You just have to prove your loyalty to me.”

“Loyalty?” Mary asked.

“Yes, loyalty,” Naomi pursed her lips. “I’m going to set you guys up in one of the nicest suites I have back at the office. But after you tried running away, and with Williams’ approval no less, I feel like I can’t trust you anymore. I am going to fix that.” Naomi smiled and rolled her eyes toward her shoes. “I’d say William is paying a sufficient price for that decision.” Naomi’s eyes then squared back on Mary. “But you, on the other hand, you will have to prove your loyalty to me.”

“H-how?” asked Mary, afraid of where this was going.

“I think you know now that you can’t leave town Mary. Just look at what happened on the train. But you have to realize that you can’t go back home either. That’s just not an option. You need me, Mary.”

“Naomi, you have my word that we will never try to leave again!” Mary said with conviction, trying her best to pledge her loyalty to Naomi.

“As long as ‘home’ is always here, you will always want to go back. You will always wonder if you can get your old life back.” Naomi plucked Mary out of her palm and set her on the ground below. As soon as Naomi’s fingers retracted, Mary looked around and saw her old house and neighborhood. She looked at the house next door and saw her old neighbors peeking out from the windows, trying to figure out what was going on.

Marys’ heart was sinking, anticipating what Naomi was going to ask of her.

“What do you want me to do, Naomi?” asked Mary. “I’ve already pledged my loyalty to you.”

“You have,” Naomi agreed. “But you will always be stuck. You need to move forward.”

“How, exactly…?” Mary wondered.

“I am going to resize you, Mary,” Naomi said, digging out her portable sizer while holding the kids in the other hand, “And then you are going to destroy your house, until not a single board is left standing.”

“But what about our stuff?” asked Mary. “All our possessions, not to mention the kids’ things.”

“It all has to go, Mary. Now, if you had been more trustworthy, then perhaps we could have worked something out. But you have to do this if you want my help. And face it Mary, you need me, don’t you?” Naomi sneered. “The minute you lose my protection, you will be killed by anyone who knows who you are or what you’ve done. Don’t you agree?”

Mary slumped her shoulders and bowed her head in defeat, “I do…”

“Great!” cheered Naomi as she zapped Marys’ life form. Within seconds, Mary grew hundreds of feet tall, towering over her old neighborhood. To the little people on the ground it sounded like roaring jets as she grew. Mary caught her bearings and looked around. Naomi was close by, but still out of arm’s reach.

Mary looked down and felt a melancholy sadness in her heart, but she had a determined and confident look on her face. She was a very resilient person. And after the incident in New Mexico, and the massacre at the train, this was no challenge whatsoever for her. She could hear Max and Sasha screaming at her not to do it, but Mary easily ignored them. She lifted her shoe and brought in down on the two-story house. The top level smashed easily under Mary’s giant shoe. Wood, drywall, and furniture burst into splinters and dust clouds. The bottom level offered a little more resistance, but nothing a few more pounds of pressure couldn’t fix. Mary ground her shoe into the earth, twisting her shoe back and forth until nothing but a pile of indistinct rubble remained. She stepped off her old house and looked at what remained. It was barely recognizable. 

Mary’s face now reflected that sadness in her heart. She looked so depressed. Naomi on the other hand, was giddy with excitement.

“That’s perfect, Mary!” she said, standing perfectly still. Not allowing William any reprieve under her foot.

William’s mind was floating in and out of consciousness. The pressure from the weight of his boss’s heel made it impossible for him to breathe any air. He wondered if Naomi had forgotten about him. Naomi hadn’t, she just  wanted to make his life under her heel as miserable as possible. She was still incredibly mad at him and wanted him to pay dearly. And in her mind, feeling him squirm under her foot was worth his suffering. William had to fight off panic attack after panic attack of claustrophobia under the tight space underfoot. He was stuck, couldn’t move, and couldn’t breathe. And now with his mind deprived of sanity and his body deprived of oxygen, he floated off into unconsciousness. 

Naomi took a step forward and put her hand on Mary’s shoulder, “Are you okay, Mary?”

“Yes,” replied Mary. “I just feel a little overwhelmed and sad is all.”

In William’s world, Naomi lifting her heel, even just to take a step, allowed air to flow back into his lungs. His mind and body sprang back to life, inhaling the hot musty air from her shoe. He didn’t care, in his mind it was the same as breathing in fresh country air, considering his predicament. William wiggled his way down toward Naomi’s arch before her heel came back down. The high curve of Naomi’s arch softened the pressure considerably. William could breathe and move somewhat freely. He cursed himself for not moving to her arch sooner.

“Sad?” asked Naomi. “Why are you sad?” She was completely clueless, not having any idea what it would be like to be in Mary’s situation.

“My life has changed so much in the past few days.” Mary explained to Naomi who was trying her best to console her. “I used to hate and fear the giants so much. But at least I had a normal life with family and friends, and we survived… And now, not only have I lost my friendships and any relationships with my family, I have become the very thing I hated. I’m a freaking giant! I’ve killed people!” Mary teared up slightly. “Not to mention, my children are being held in your hand, my husband is in your shoe, my daughter practically hates me and will barely talk to me. It’s all just too much.”

“Well, let’s put all that behind us and find a new normal, Mary,” smiled Naomi. “You’re right, you’re a giant now and that comes with its own problems. You just have to own it, Mary. Accept it and you’ll be happier in the long run, I promise. I used to feel like that too. And to be honest, I didn’t particularly like killing people in the beginning. But I had to do it to prove a point,  to punish them, or just protect myself. And honestly, the more I did it, the easier it became. And now, it doesn’t bother me in the slightest.”

Mary was a little miffed. Here she had expressed herself to Naomi and all Naomi could think about was that she would get used to killing people.

“Well…,” sighed Mary, “nice to hear that gets easier, I suppose.”

“And don’t worry about that other stuff Mary,” Naomi smiled. “You’ll develop new friendships and you won’t even miss your old friends and family. I bet a ton of people back at the company will be clamoring all over you, kissing up to you, the director's wife, and the personal giantess-on-demand of the boss. You’ll be fine!”

Mary just nodded, realizing just how clueless and out of touch Naomi really was. Mary was never going to get used to this.

“Let’s get you resized, Mary,” Naomi said, zapping Mary with the sizer. Mary was reduced to her normal height once again. Naomi carefully picked her up and put her in her hand with Max and Sasha.

Naomi’s phone buzzed. She pulled it out and looked at the message that had been sent to her.

“Hmm, that’s weird,” she said. “There is a problem at Warehouse 23 I need to address. What could possibly be wrong there?” Naomi looked around for the quickest path out of the tiny district so she could make it back to her complex quickly. She reached down and pulled her shoes off so she could walk quickly.

“I guess I better take you out now, huh, William?” asked Naomi as she plucked him out of her shoe and set him alongside his family in her palm. She carried the family of four in one hand, and her shoes in the other. 

She quickly stepped barefoot through town, narrowly avoiding squishing citizens who had been watching what was happening. The thuds and booms from her feet knocked them to the ground as she stepped near them.

“You’re lucky if you don’t get stepped on!” she called down to them. They screamed and ran out of the way as the giantess moved overhead. Naomi was not trying to stomp anybody, but she was so annoyed with them that she would gladly pay whatever fines necessary if she did catch one or two underfoot. Fortunately for the little people, nobody got trampled. However, the smell from her feet as she walked by permeated the air and scorched the noses of everybody in that area of town.

Once Naomi got out of the outskirts of Littleton, she walked like she was on a mission. Once she had reached the giant pathways designed for her, she quickly slipped her shoes back on and regained her compusure. She didn't want her litle employees to see anything out of place on her.

She quickly approached her complexes and neared warehouse 23. Little employees scrambled out of the way. Naomi still wasn’t trying to step on anybody, but she wasn’t being super careful either.

She opened the warehouse doors and stepped inside. It was about the size of a normal living room to Naomi, but to the little people who worked in there, it was the size of 4 football stadiums. It was dark and Naomi couldn’t tell what was going on.

“Hello?” she called.

She was blinded by a series of flood lights being turned on at once and aimed directly at her eyes. 

“What the hell!” she screamed.

“Now!” yelled another indistinct voice.

Naomi was zapped by something that felt like lightning coursing through her body before she blacked out.