Amelia’s sandaled foot appeared from the heavens and connected with the ground with all the might of a deity. The quick step shook the earth beneath him, announcing her presence. Dust storms from the displaced air kicked up, billowing at Andrew from the half mile away he stood. From the gently wiggling toes, exposed, high arches, and powerful, rounded heel, Amelia’s foot stood as a monument unlike any he had seen. He tumbled backward at the sudden presence of the feminine, slender foot that dwarfed him and everything around him with a majesty that commanded his full attention and respect. Amelia had merely stepped a single foot inside, and the tiny world that Andrew inhabited shuddered in reverence for the simple, innocent act.
That wind...it was the door opening, the displaced air of the door had been enough to carry him to safety. Now, Amelia was fully inside, towering over Andrew as she spoke with her frustrated roommate. The simple, thin sandals she wore were held to the foot with a single, inch wide strap across the toes, and another, thinner strap just above the heel, wrapping gently around the ankle, and tied in place with a small tassel. The sandal left much of the foot exposed, especially along her arch and heel, vast and impressive. The shoe had nearly no heel to speak of, and the toes were left unpainted. From Andrew’s perspective, standing in awe of the new goddess, it was quite perplexing.
Behind him, Rachel’s foot, hidden by layers of sock and tucked into an aggressive looking running shoe, was a challenge he was intimidated by, but familiar with. Her ankle towered hundreds of feet into the air, lording over him and and accented by the rim of her sock, which barely peeked out of her shoe. It was climbable, and if he could predict it or find a place to cling to, survivable, even in Rachel’s footsteps.
On the other hand, Amelia’s simple sandals commanded his attention with their sheer elegance. There was no rugged tread that he could be lost or trodden within, no deep depths to fall into. There were no socks keeping the toes at bay, no tangle of shoestrings interwoven along the instep. Amelia’s feet stood in full view, and yet he was more intimidated at the thought of approaching them than anything else so far. He could not hope to climb much higher than the insole with finding himself ascending the woman’s bare flesh. Even if he were to consider it, he felt almost unworthy of climbing the sensitive, smooth surface of the foot.
Maybe it was the fact that so much of the mostly bare foot was visible, but still dominated his vision that made Andrew struggle to continue his jog toward freedom, she’d taken but a single step into the room, and her presence had already become the primary source of his anxiety. The thin soles of the sandals she wore were probably three times his height at the thinnest point, and twice that at the thickest, which meant that even her toes were taller than the heel of the shoe. These skimpy sandals were a love letter to the female foot, and Amelia’s feet, with her slender, round toes and pronounced arches, were a perfect match.
Gasping audibly at the sight of another giantess in his vicinity, Andrew willed himself up to stand again, swallowed his fear, and began to jog again. He pushed himself harder, desperate to get to the wall more now than ever. If he didn’t reach the wall soon, one of these two girls was going to set a foot down in a very inconvenient place, and Andrew could disappear underfoot forever. The thought chilled him to his core, and he tried not to think about any of the four massive feet all within stomping range. His trial had begun. Amelia’s foot was not directly in his path, but it was near enough that he would need to come much closer to it than he was comfortable with, or give the foot a wider birth to avoid being within its shadow. The whole consideration felt pointless, in any capacity. Either of these girls could take a single step, or at worst, two, and tread upon him in seconds. No strategy or clever tactics would put him outside of that perimeter until he was against the wall.
The first to cause Andrew undue stress was Rachel’s left foot, which swung around over his head, exposing the deep, thick treads. The shadow of the shoe darkened the ground around him, something he was getting reasonably familiar with considering how often if happened. As it passed over his head, he kept his pace for the wall, still only at least two miles away, if he had to guess. The fastest athletes in the world could cover that distance in less than 10 minutes easily, and being quite toned himself, felt than he could do it in 15. But 15 minutes was more than enough for him to be crushed hundreds of times over. Reaching the wall was possible, but surviving the girl’s footsteps was an entirely other issue.
The sound of Rachel’s left foot connecting with the ground far behind him was all he needed to hear to confirm that the threat it presented was currently placated. Despite the thundering echo and residual wind the step caused, Andrew was undeterred. Focused on his goal, he rushed along the vinyl, wood-like flooring, wishing that the panels had some kind of space between the tile that would provide safe passage.
The creaking of the floorboards was not unlike a warning siren, wailing as Amelia’s petite size 6.5 foot lifted from the ground and carried itself half a mile across the landscape. The was the first step she’d taken since arriving, and it was subtle, though for Andrew, it caused a panic that had him slowing to a stop. The towering woman’s sandaled foot was a force to be reckoned with, as it displaced the air around it, causing wind currents below and nearby to shift violently for anyone who happened to be near the foot’s path or destination. Andrew watched the entire motion, a simple maneuver, the foot barely lifting an inch over the ground with sandal in tow, before crashing to the ground milliseconds later. It was barely enough to call a step, yet it meant a completely new route for Andrew.
Cowering at her feet below, Andrew was forced to face the fear of Amelia’s dainty foot. The women were discussing something up above, causing the new goddess to shift into a more conversational pose. Closer now than earlier, the step had placed the foot more directly in Andrew’s path, leaving Andrew detrimentally within short jog of Amelia’s foot. He watched from its shadow as the toes settled into place, gently wiggling as they adjusted to the girl’s weight. The arch of her foot exposed quite a bit of the soft, wrinkled sole of the foot from this perspective, and he imagined how many creatures his size had met their doom under this normally delicate field of flesh, meticulously cared for and pampered. With her foot closer now, he would have to take a less direct path toward the wall...something he did not want to do.
A daydream settled upon him, or rather, a waking nightmare. He imaged Amelia taking a much more substantial step, the simple sandal that adorned her sweet little foot rising into the air above him. He thought about how hopeless he would be underneath the sole of the shoe, and how unrecognizable his remains would be when Amelia set her foot down, toes gently wiggling as she finished the step. He thought of how unnoticed his tiny life would have ended.
In a moment of blatant panic Andrew’s resolve melted away. He turned 180 degrees, ready to embrace a new life at Rachel’s feet instead.The nerd girls sneakers were easily climbable, and had much less exposed skin, something that provided a strange comfort. He begged her to stay still long enough for him to climb aboard the daunting mountain of a shoe, dislocated shoulder and all.
But Rachel, as per her usual antics, was not so quick to grant this wish.
As if in response, Rachel’s foot sprung to life, sliding with a chaotic, ear-shattering noise across the floor, sending Andrew to his knees. Her sneaker barreled toward him, treads as tall as any building relentlessly covering territory at an incomprehensible speed. Before he could react, Rachel’s sneaker slid to a halt over his miniscule body, massive treads nearly crushing his meager existence beneath them.
Opening his eyes again, he had been plunged into a labyrinthine darkness, surrounded on three sides by 10 foot tall, black rubber walls. He was lost within the tread of Rachel’s sneaker, a gift, he thought, compared to the indomitable sandals of her roommate. This new world, beneath the feet of his towering would-be tutor, was creepily quiet. The sound of rubber and plastic moaning to adjust to the weight of the wearer above could only be heard by him. He remembered noticing the black and pink accented shoes when he arrived, looking down at them and hardly giving them another thought. Now, beneath them, they were the only thought he had.
Light flooded into his world, and though he hadn’t fully adjusted to the darkness, the change was jarring. He looked up, panicked at what had caused the change. For a split second, he could see Amelia’s other foot in the distance, shifting to be nearer to its twin. Before he’d gotten a chance to react to the sudden light, Rachel’s shoe came crashing back down around him again. Banished back to the eerie of darkness within her sneaker’s tread, the massive boom and expulsion of air caused both of Andrew’s ears to pop at once. He grabbed his throbbing head, only for light to flood back into his world again. His gaze shifted up, and as he did, Rachel’s sole was already descending. She was tapping her foot...of all times.
Screaming, Andrew’s fight or flight response triggered, unsure of whether he should try to escape, or simply cover his head and hope for the best. The simple motion of tapping her foot was going to be his undoing.
Rachel answered his question for him, the shoe descending with more force this time, the wind erupting around him send him tumbling, just as the shoe descended again. Darkness fell yet again, and this time, when it lifted, so did Andrew. Caught between some of the thinner tread of the sneaker, Andrew was carried into the air with the next simple tap of the girl’s shoe, nearly vomiting at the speed and acceleration. He couldn’t catch his breath enough to scream, but in his mind, he was screaming incomprehensibly.
This next quick tap of Rachel’s shoe dislodged the tiny student, shaking the ground around him. He rolled over once, just in time to watch the shoe lift off of the ground again. Unprotected and in the open, there was no possibility that he could end up under foot and alive again. He braced for impact.
But none came. Rachel, foot resting on her heel, had blessed him with mere seconds of time to escape her step. Though bones and muscle alike ached, Andrew found the strength to stand and sprint, escaping the shadow of the girl’s tread. Even though the shadow no longer covered him, he knew better than to stand still. He had to clear enough ground to avoid the…
Woosh.
A final stomp by Rachel send a gale force wind at the shrunken boy on her floor, sending him flying away from her sneaker and tumbling across the ground. He landed with a heavy thud, having only been a few feet off of the ground from his perspective, and slid several more yards before he collided with another vertical surface. Without the energy stand again, he lay on the ground. The wall...he must have been knocked all the to the wall he was trying so hard to reach. He’d survived...after nearly being stepped on and crushed alive by Rachel’s gently tapping foot, he’d finally made it to safety. Eyes slowly reopening, he peered up at the wall that had become his savior. Instead, dread overcame his senses...this was no wall.