The giantesses faces couldn't be seen from the window – but what we could see was 14 towers of varying colors – each emerging the ground from a shoe which varied in size and shape like the legs above them. Linh's feet were probably the smallest, but her brown leather boots looked like a double decker bus. In comparison just Kelly's bare athletic foot – excluding her sandals – were bigger, the looked like they could have easily been two story house.

Kelly spoke. Her voice was noticeably deeper and she sounded like a tomboy. “Come onguys, I don't bite I swear – do you girls need more wine?”

Kelly's gladiator sandals lifted into the air passing the window in front of me and then appeared behind the house, causing a gust of wind to blow into the window and send my hair flying around my face. I couldn't see the upper half of the girls bodies now, but I could hear them – they had all finished their first glasses (Ani was on almost done her second), so Kelly popped another bottle open and poured the girls fresh glasses, needing to pop a third bottle open for herself. The 5 bottles of wine that were brought are being burned through – but with the beer and boxed wine in addition, there would be plenty of alcohol to get these girls hammered. I think Stephanie even had some whiskey in there somewhere.

The thought of 7 drunk titans caused me to pour myself another glass, and I chugged it again. I told John and David that I was going to take a piss, and to go and stall them. I walked over to the sink and chugged another beer before walking into the jerry rigged bathroom.

Coming back to the rest of the boys, they were all staring as I was and hadn't attempted to leave the room. The bottom part of the legs of the girls were still visible outside, and I could see everyone except for Kelly, who was still behind the house. From left to right was Linh, Amoe, Stephanie,Crystal, Naru, and Ani. The continued to gossip as the drank their wine, their feet forming a semicircular wall, and the tips of their toes were only about 30 yards from the house.

“Come on guys. We are here for you.” It was Naru, her voice slightly deeper than the rest of the girls. The twang in her voice emphasized on 'you'.

John and David looked how I was feeling, but for some reason the waiting was starting to give me as much fear as the idea of going to meet the girls. I found myself walking to the door, stepping onto the porch, and jumping onto the shaggy carpet below.

To say that it was surreal was an understatement. Everything around me was cast in shadow from the titanesses, and even Linh, by far the smallest, appeared to be twice as big as the statue of liberty.

I felt like I had to look directly up to see the girls faces, and it appeared like they were looking directly down at me. From where I was looking, I could see 6 of the girls – Kelly was still behind me. I had often gotten used to being small, but this perspective made me feel truly tiny.

Stephanie spoke. “So Linh created what I think will be our greeting for the men. Since we obviously can't do a normal handshake...”

At this point Ani interjected as Stephanie continued to talk “Unless we just shake them in our hands” A few of the other girls chuckled and Kelly audibly laughed.

“... I think we will do a sort of a pound with a finger. Unless somebody else has a better idea” Stephanie finished.

The girls agreed. I wasn't quite sure what to do at this point. Being so small, if I had even taken initiative, i wouldn't have been able to do anything but “pound” the base of these girls shoes, or Ani's bare purple toe.

Before I knew what was happening, the bare sole of Ani's right foot was ascending into the sky above me. I froze in terror and felt like a deer in the headlights, watching the thing fly up like a rocket, moving in my direction. If she had been trying to squash me, freezing in terror would have been the wrong move. The bottom of her bare foot appeared tan under her toes and the ball, but the arch was noticeably whiter, her heel, while still tan, had more of a grayer color of a light callous. I could see miscellaneous dirt and bits of the shaggy red carpet stuck to the bottom, and they looked incredibly small in contrast with her foot, but from in the field I was standing I knew they were half my size. It reached it's apex and descending at the same lightning speed, looking like a bus falling from the sky.

The toes landed only yards in front of me on the carpet, and caused loud BOOM with the accompanying vibrations. I found myself stumbling from the shaking, which sent me closer to her toes, and threw my hands forward to stabilize myself. I found my hands pressed up against her big toe, the top of the nail coming up to about my nipples. It was warm, and felt like I was standing near a warm fire, her foot had a faint smell of leather and a splash of vinegar.

I found myself blushing and scared. I don't know why I was embarrassed, but I just felt so pathetic. All of the goddesses above were looking at me, watching me stumble at the this short step Ani took. I couldn't look up, I was scared of what I might see.

What I heard was enough. They were giggling – the wine was starting to get to them.

“It's pound the finger Mark – not the toe – but we can do that too.” She lifted her foot off the ground, the thing suddenly 10 yards in the air. I watched it go up and it then moved over me, blocking the light from above, cutting off my vision from the other girls. Bits of debris fell from above, and I could make out specs of dirt – the smallest looked as big as my palm. For a second I though she would squash me, but then she lowered it back down and in front of me, her big toe was hovering now only a yard off the ground, the rest of her foot sloping upwards and hovering in the air. She was balancing herself on one foot, so the toe was moving left and right and forward and back, at one point narrowly slamming me in my face. I ducked down at this.

“Stop screwing around!” I said. I must have sounded terrified, because the foot came slamming back down in front of me. Her toe lifted again, only about a yard, but now I was face to face with the bottom half of her big toe, could see the ball of her foot below it, her arch obscured behind it. Her grayish heel was resting on the ground, allowing her foot to be stable.

“Sorry Mark. Pound it?” She laughed, and so did some of the other girls. Notably this time I didn't hear Stephanie laugh. Ani's toe moved forward, probably barely an inch for her but it was about 2 yards to me, so close I could easily touch it.

I pounded the big toe with my fist, it wiggled in acknowledgment, her purple toenail bending down slightly and then up to reveal the more reddish bottom a few times. I saw myself in the reflection of her nail – I had odd look of surprise and terror.

And just as quickly as the feet had appeared, they flew back, the light increasing as the skyscraper that was Ani stepped back to where she came. I felt a chill from the lack of body heat.

I was still trying to comprehend Ani's departure when the sky darkened again and I found myself trying not to fall over, this time extending my arm and contorting myself to maintain balance without anything to brace on. The vibrations had caused me to look down, but when I began to look back up and all I could was a black wall of leather, only about 5-10 yards away from me.

It was the base of Naru's shoe. Looking up, it appeared like the sole of her shoe was the first floor of a building, and I could see her black toes with white tipped nails peaking over the edge of the second floor. I traced my vision upward to see her black skin, and she had black specs of recently shaven hair visible on her ankles, before entering her gray pants. Her white tank top was above that, and I saw what looked like a forest of curly hair, forming a helix type shape as it spiraled down towards me.

The hair hung from the sides of her face was bent down, she was looking at me and I felt like I was being judged by god.

“I don't think the toe greeting will work for me, unless you think you can climb up here?” She took another long drink while gesturing towards her toes, which wiggled above me to indicate how puny I was.

Kelly loved the idea. “Come on Mark, I've seen you working out. This should be easy for you.” her voice boomed from behind me.

I didn't bother to turn to look, I was just staring at this mansion of a shoe. There was white discoloration along the bottom from where the shoe had met the ground, and bits of base seemed to be chipped off from wear. I could see a blade of grass bent down under the sole from being trampled some time earlier.

For a second I thought I they were going to make me climb her shoe, some overt display of power to humiliate me. Instead, Naru squatted down, her face rapidly approaching and seemed like the moon was falling from the sky.

“We'll have time for that later – still plenty of wine for that.” Naru giggled, and held out her index finger. Her nail was tipped white as well. And the living log approached me with a gust of wind and noticeable heat, her finger smelled like citrus.

I reached out with an enclosed fist and gave it a pound, the tip of her finger made me feel like was pounding the side of a cow – the living leather skin was thick but soft.

“Hi Mark. Pleasure to meet you. Her legs were split apart and I was looking up past her chest, her bare black arms seeming to descend from space. She was looking at me from over her glasses, her light brown eyes appearing to pierce my soul.

The whole thing was increasing my heart rate and I was starting to feel overwhelmed. Dizziness swept over me and I was having trouble focusing on her face, even squatting down she seemed to be 70 yards in the air. The wall that was the base of her shoe showed the tip of a toe and her toenail perched above it, and the rest of her body above started to seem out of focus.

It took all of my energy to say something. “Pleasures all mine, Naru”

She nodded and then ascended back into space, her mansion of a shoe went flying back with gust of wind flying past me from rapid movement. Her foot slammed down 30 yards away from me, sending shockwaves through the floor and carpet. She had only stepped back a foot or two from her perspective.

I found myself crossing my arms and staring at crystals pink loafers, the top of her pale feet peaking out of them. I was in a trance – not from the majestic, divine beauty of these otherworldly titans but from terror.

Crystal then went to move, and her pink loafer lifting into the sky, the the tight yoga pants on her leg casting a shadow over me. I saw the sole of her shoe, it was listed as 9.5, and I could see dirt wedged along the small treads on the bottom of them.

Before I even realized it, I was facing the doll house and running towards it. It was almost like I suddenly came to after being black out drunk and sobering up, I wasn't quite sure how I got here or what was going on. The last time I had experienced something like this was when I first met Stephanie.

The shadow got darker and in my desperate sprint back to the house I hadn't been prepared for crystals loafer to slam down. I smelt it before it landed, and it had a new shoe smell.

BOOM

The vibrations sent me face first into the shaggy carpet. I was frozen and didn't move. From the ground, I could only see the red of the carpet around me.

BOOM

Then I heard Stephanie's voice. “Crystal! Chill! It's obvious you're scaring him. Mark, are you ok?”

Stephanie voice snapped me out of my my spell, but I still had a sense of dread. I put my hands on the ground and pushed myself up to my knee.

Ahead of me was the house. I was about 10-15 yards away to the steps. On either side of me were Crystal's pink loafers, each about 10 yards away in both directions, looking like a giant pink ships.

I was scared to look up, but I couldn't help myself. Crystal was standing directly over me, and I could see her form fitting yoga pants like towers on either side of me ascending into the sky before merging into a nice plump butt which prevented me from seeing the rest of her back. To her front, Crystal was bent forwards slightly, looking directly down at me with her light blue eyes, her red hair descending over her shoulders in tight little curls flowing down the front of her face and over her shoulders.

“Hi Mark! Sorry if I scared ya” She descended towards me, it looked like I was below a collapsing building, instinctively I fell backwards and tried to shield myself, putting my arms in front of my face.

I felt a gust of wind, then warmth, the smell of cotton candy lingering over me. I finally uncovered my face, to open my eyes, and saw french manicured nail before me.

I didn't even look up the arm to the goddess's giant hand it was connected to. I simply just put my arm forward and pounded it, already so embarrassed that I didn't want to make eye contact with her.

Crystal had been one of the girls that I'd hung out with fairly often; she for some reason thought it was appropriate to tell me about all the football players she though were hot, like I would find it an interesting topic. I would tell her I didn't care but she would just talk to Stephanie and myself about it anyway.

Now, with this building of a person hovering over me, I couldn't even look at her. I'd run from her in mortal terror and it was completely futile. It struck me as odd that even being so tiny I felt like I wanted to shrink even further so I couldn't be seen.

“Hey Mark! It's good to see you!” Crystal said in a sing song voice.

I didn't look up. “Hey... Crystal” I sheepishly mumbled. I was staring at her pink loafer, it's material was slightly fuzzy, it looked like a huge pink yacht, her heel was picked up from the ground as she was in the crouched position, I could see the sole from where I was standing elevated 5 yards into the air, bits of the shaggy red carpet had got caught in some debris stuck under her sole. I could see her toes pressing into the the tops of her shoes, the loafer looking warped along the top, like a creature trying to push out of the earth.

Crystal ascended back into the sky and her loafers flew off with a gust of wind. I found myself trembling slightly.

I was looking back towards the 6 girls, just straight ahead , and I could see the 6 pairs of shoes. None of them moved, but I felt a gust of wind again, with two booms striking down on both sides of me, and again the ground shook and I found myself tumbling. The light however, didn't get any darker – the girls in front of me hadn't moved.

This confused me. Was there an actual earthquake? This was California after all. I turned my head to my side and realized what had happened.

There was a giant tan, athletic foot in gladiator clad sandals about 10 yards away from me. It was Kelly, and she had stepped over the house from behind me, not blocking the light. Her foot was significantly larger than any of the other girls, it seemed to be almost twice as big as Linhs. If the pink loafers looked like large yachts, then Kelly's foot looked even bigger – and that was just her foot. In shoes I'm sure they'd be even more huge – truly mansion sized.

Just as suddenly as the foot appeared, it had became dark. I panicked, terrified, thinking that Kelly couldn't see me in the carpet, thinking I was about to be squashed under her sandal. It became black, and warm – almost humid.

I realized then that the darkness was getting closer – two walls pinned me between them – for a second I couldn't breathe, but sensation was a dead giveaway – human skin. It felt almost like I entered a sauna.

Up until the point I had only ever been held before by Stephanie. Stephanie's skin was softer in comparison. This living leather wall had the similar feeling oil to give the skin a soft feeling, but drier. To be fair, Stephanie was a tom boy – and closer towards her fingers she had a few rough callouses.

The surface of this alien planet was drier. Still alive, but a rougher leather. She cupped her hands completely around me, and the space seemed slightly smaller than Stephanie. This struck me as odd.

Then it dawned on me. Kelly scooped me up in one hand. Her hands were huge! They seemed at least 3 times as big. If Stephanie's hands were a living room, Kelly's seemed like a small theater!

The hand uncurled. “Can't you girls see that we're terrifying him?” It would have been comedic if it wasn't so ironic. Her palm felt slightly warmer then Stephanie's and were a dark tan color. Off towards her fingers rough callouses could be seen on the edge of palms, cracked patches that were a darker brown color, others that looked gray and white. This skin appeared weathered and had more of a white coloration. Some of the patches were clearly torn, dried bits of a dead skin on the callous showing a new layer beneath. Others were more like bubbles, presumably with pus. These were mostly along the tips of her palms and between the joints of her digits, presumably from where she gripped her field hockey stick and from lifting. It still felt like an alien planet but a more arid region, her pulse was a bit slower but somehow it vibrated more. It was insane.

I was shoved from behind – it felt like a wall of the same flesh surface I was standing on pushed me. It wasn't hard enough to knock me off balance, but it was an unstoppable force – and I moved two steps forward.

The wall was the index finger on Kelly's left hand. Unlike the tip of Stephanie's finger, which standing came up to about my thighs, Kelly came up to almost my shoulders. It was like a boulder, but soft and alive. If Stephanie's fingers looked like logs, Kelly's were like the redwoods. They seemed like the could easily be twice as long.

“It's ok, Mark” Kelly said in a soothing voice.

I had a sensation I'd never had in my life before. Up until I shrank Kelly was a girl who would cause butterflies in my stomach if she was looking at me – almost like I was suddenly intoxicated. I would have trouble focusing on anything else.

Now, in the palm of her enormous hand, it was a strange mix. I felt the terror of being completely out of control. I felt like I was bug desperately trying to crawl away from a bird. I was embarrassed for being so easily manhandled and frightened. But I still felt the butterflies – and I was afraid to look at Kelly's eyes. I wasn't sure of it was from mortal terror of the giantess who could easily smash me between her fingers – or if it was because I thought she was beautiful. It was bizarre.

Kelly's warm breath washed over me, smelling of the red wine she was drinking. I simple found myself staring at her fingers in the slightly curled palm I was standing in, her callouses providing stark contrast with the usual swirls in her fingers. I traced it down from 30 or so yards away from the tip of her finger, to the center of her palm below me, the lines in her hands looking like a some kind of alien riverbed. Below my feet I saw a what looked like a huge stone. Something black was lodged below the surface.

Out of the corner of my vision, I saw a large object appear. “I think you may have put him in sleep mode.” It was Stephanie. The other girls laughed. “Mark – earth to Mark, come in Mark?”

It was oddly surreal – it did feel like I was on a different world. I simply found myself staring at the living terrain – her pulse beat felt like bass at a loud concert – but without the noise. I felt it in my bones.

I finally looked up. Kelly had been holding me below around her breasts. But even here it was only just low enough for me to see the top of Stephanie's face. I finally turned to look at Kelly.

I found myself tracing my eyes from the bottom of her palm, and then up her long tan forearm extending into the distance. It looked like 50 yards, and I could see little white hairs off towards the side. She was holding her elbow tucked at her side, and I traced it up to her shoulder, her arms showing defined biceps and triceps, and well defined traps on her shoulder. Looking at her chest I could tell her breasts weren't D's, but they were big, and looked like green hills under the tank top. As I traced my eyes further upward – she didn't appear to be wearing any makeup – her lips were natural red and skin was tanned from the sun. Her eyes were a striking hazel, but with a golden crown around the iris.

“Yo Mark! How's the weather down there?” She laughed, and so did the other girls. The wine glass appeared in her other hand and flew by me, the whole thing looking like a UFO. I watched her tip the glass up to her lips, the liquid looked like it could have filled a large home pool, and I watched it disappear down her throat, drinking the rest of the glass in only a few seconds. Her gulps were audibly loud, and I could see the liquid bulging in her throat. I'm sure if she wanted she could have thrown me in her mouth and swallowed me in one gulp.

I shuddered, but I couldn't take my eyes off her. I had always been attracted her, even before I was tiny. And her hugeness didn't make her less attractive. Being so close to her I was mesmerized. Removing the glass from her lips, I could see a splash of red wine clinging to her bottom lip, before a long red tongue stuck out and lifted the drop off her lip. I felt intoxicated.

She continued smiling down at me, her face appeared like a goddess judging me far in the sky. I finally managed to stammer out a response.

“It's... uhm... nice...” What a dumb response. On top your game as always Mark.

Kelly laughed and so did the other girls, which vibrated her hand a sounded like a machine gun of giggles. The jostling caused me to fall over again, feeling the pulse of her palm under my chest. I put my face down onto it and felt her dryish living leather that was her skin against my face. It was nice, but I was also full of anxiety from the earthquake I was experiencing.

The laughing stopped, so I stood up. Linh and Amoe, the two girls I hadn't greeted yet, faces appeared on the edge of the palm horizon, each looking like a mansion.

Linh had already said hello to me, and her log of a finger swooped in to greet me again, causing me instinctively to step backwards. Her fingernail was plain, and I gave it a little pound.

Amoe was next .“I promise not to cry this time” but her voice sounded choked.

Sweet Amoe, it was touching how much she cared – but she may just have a chemical imbalance. She seemed the manic/depressive type. Her finger extended to greet me, and I swayed slightly on the living earth that was Kelly's palm. Her fingernail was a pattern of red and black. I pounded it and she gave a sheepish smile.

Formal introductions were done, and I watched as Kelly held me. I found myself staring as she spoke to other girls. I couldn't see it, but the other girls were now introducing themselves to John and David, who finally had overcame their own fear apparently. Unlike my original introductions, the “owners” of John and David had immediately picked them up – apparently “learning” from my experience. I wouldn't say it was much of a leap forward – yes, having living buildings creating earthquakes as they casually stomp down next to you is terrifying, but now I'm just hundreds of yards in the air, on a seemingly alien planet, moving at inhuman speeds as Kelly walked casually around the room.

I started to feel incredibly frustrated. It wasn't just that Kelly was literally manhandling me, but that this was some kind of bizarre tease. Here I was closer to this girl that I'd had a crush on since the first days I saw her in school. Now, I was literally touching her, and it seemed like she'd forgotten about me. I knew consciously she hadn't, but she wasn't paying particularly close attention – occasionally she would say something and glance down at me but I was lost in my own thoughts as she giggled from above.

I would have loved to ask this girl out – but now, I wasn't even a man. I was just a little bug to her. Why would she date me? What would I be able to provide her?

Throughout all this I had been staring into her intoxicating eyes like I was in a trance. But the second that thought crossed my mind, I felt depressed, and I sat down, and saw myself staring at the black object embedded within her skin. I wonder if she ever noticed that herself? Just this thing that had been stuck with her but was probably too small for her to notice. I found myself pressing into her skin with my own hand, trying to manipulate whatever it was below the skin. The living leather felt rough but not completely dry – it would have still been quite comfortable to nap on. Later I would learn that there would be tinies so small that they could end up like whatever it was stuck under the surface of her skin.

Kelly's voice came down from above like thunder. “Whatcha doin Mark? If you want to dig your way to China, you're probably not starting from the ideal position.” The planet I was on began to ascend into the air rapidly, the sudden change in force causing me to lurch towards the ground.

I looked up and saw that she had brought me to her face. Kelly was beautiful, her dirty blond hair was pulled back into a pony tail behind her head, and it made her forehead look like she was wearing a crown. Her eyes were striking, like a grayish green cloud with the sun striking the center. The glass of wine appeared in front of her face, and she drank deeply from it, she had already refilled it again – what was that, her fourth or fifth glass already?

She lightly blew at me, her hot breath like a storm of damp red wine. I oddly felt like a cartoon character when he smells something lovely – I wanted to stand up and walk towards her lips. But I simply stared – I had fallen back into a trance.

Kelly noticed this and grinned, clearly enjoying the obvious power she had over me. She blew on me again, my clothes billowing in the wind – this didn't snap me out of it, but instead the cartoon character within me took over, I found myself walking over to her lips. From where I was the center of her palm it was about a 10 yard walk to the base of her hand – towards the directions of the red wine hot air. After that, her arm descended at a steep angle below, almost like she was a waiter carrying a tray.

She continued blowing on me. And my brain completely deactivated. For the next few moments I felt like I had no control over my body – I was just a passive observer, and a divine wind was drawing me to it's source. When I reached the edge of the palm, I didn't stop walking.

Kelly's eyes looked amused. She stopped blowing on me as I got closer to the edge and her look turned to something of concern, her lips descending into a slight frown.

And then I was falling – I had walked right off the edge of her palm.

Everything was a blur and I heard Kelly's voice, “MAR- !”

I was suddenly drenched, everything around me was red. I couldn't breathe and I was cold.

I snapped out of it, and in my confusion I swallowed some of the liquid. Red wine. I couldn't see anything – I began to swim, but I struck an invisible barrier. I began to panic, just banging against the wall I couldn't see, slowly running out of air.

In the wine, I heard a loud, WHOOSH – and felt a force which felt like a soft floor pull me upwards. I emerged suddenly at the surface, gasping for air and feeling dizzy. Everything smelled of wine.

As I waded there catching my breath I understood what had happened. Kelly, holding her wine glass in her other hand, must have reflexively positioned it below me as I fell in the air. In my panic under-wine I swam into the side of the glass, not being able to tell which way was up, but Kelly deftly used her finger to pull me up like a fish hook. I was leaning on her finger in the glass, but it uncurled and I splashed down back in the wine. Now I was simply floating in her wine glass, and could see all the girls around me, staring down, looking concerned.

“Are you alright?” Amoe said first.

Then Kelly spoke, looking directly down on me in my glass cage as I waded in the wine, the slightest movements of her hand would cause it to shift and splash against the side of the glass, and it felt like I was in a wave pool.

“Do you have a death wish?” She sounded displeased, and that made me feel ashamed, my face turning hot in embarrassment. Luckily, being recently immersed and still being splashed on by red wine, I'm sure it was impossible to tell.

“Sorry Kelly” Stephanie said before I had a chance to respond. “This is the second time Mark almost ran off somebodies hand. You'll have to forgive him though – if you haven't noticed, sometimes being this small makes him – confused.”

Stephanie's defense of me was appreciated if not entirely accurate. I would have had trouble responding anyway, as treading water and speaking wasn't the easiest thing to do. I was reflexively looking for a way out, like I was at a pool, but the shape of the glass, curving inward above me, made it impossible to get out without assistance.

I knew I was getting tired but I felt a surge of energy, and realized I had swallowed quite a bit of wine. The alcohol made me feel great! I began swimming around the wine cup like I was on vacation.

Kelly laughed at me swimming around her cup, as the rest of the girls sat back down to discuss why they had met there. “Well, if you do have a death wish I'll just leave you in my glass where you can't go and jump off a cliff!” she giggled.

Now if I hadn't been drunk I probably would have thought this was dangerous. I was getting physically more tired, and being in a glass of a probably tipsy girl who seemed to have no problem downing her wine might be slightly dangerous in and of itself. But I was gleeful – almost manic. It was like I was enjoying an afternoon dip at the pool. I pulled off my shirt as it was irritating me, and it floated around in the wine.

The other girls didn't seem to mind this statement. Stephanie, who had been drinking since the start, seemed more drunk than the rest.

“Alright guys, now for why we are here.” Stephanie said. She wasn't slurring her words but she seemed especially outgoing. She, like myself, usually was a little shy upon first meeting somebody.

Stephanie then proceeded to ask the girls to share a little about themselves and their motivations for being here. Each one of them shared a personal or family story, and each their stories had a common thread. Everyone of them had an experience where somebody they knew – family, friends, neighbor – or just some random person on the street, was “othered” and effectively depersoned – allowing for the victimization of a person or group for some superficial reason.

Kelly's fingernail tapped at the glass, causing a reverberation within. It sounded like I was in the middle of a bell, and was creating ripples in the water. I could see her plain nail rapping at the side.

TAP TAP TAP

Kelly's nose then appeared above the glass, giving me a clear view into the blackness of her nostrils. She took in a deep breath through her nose before exhaling, causing the air at the surface of the water to feel heated with her breath.

Ani was the first to share. Her family was Armenian, and many of her ancestors had been murdered for simply being Armenian by the Turks a hundred years ago. It was something her family had been deeply affected by, and the living memory had been shared with Ani like her own parents. When Ani saw what was happening to boys – she saw the pattern. A group of people being blamed for things either because of who they were, or because of things their ancestors may or may not have done. Each had a slow degradation of people to “otherhood” It wasn't a stark contrast, but a slippery slope. If they didn't agree they were degenerates. If they were degenerates, it's because they were evil. If they were evil, then they weren't really people. All actions from them weren't evaluated objectively – if they took any action, it was part of some greater evil agenda. And that agenda had to be resisted at all costs – censure, imprisonment, violence – they were all justified because “we are correct and they aren't people”

TAP TAP TAP

I stopped my backstroke and looked towards the finger. The tip of her index finger was resting at the glass, her fingerprint visibly smushed into the transparent material. The glass shifted in her hands, it was raising, getting closer to her face. I saw one giant hazel eye peering through it at me, slightly distorted from the glasses curve. It appeared to take up the whole side of the glass.

Linh's story was slightly different. Her parents had been living in a jungle village in southern vietnam during the early 60's, her grandfather had been the village elder. This village was left to its' own devices from the Southern Vietnamese government – it was of no concern to the corrupt officials in Saigon. Vietcong communists had snuck into their village in the south, and tortured him – their justification was that by staying in south vietnam, and not actively joining the communist cause, he declared his loyalty to the south, and was a traitor to his people. For his crimes they buried him alive.

The pool of wine I was in started to get pulled towards the walls, and a whirlpool in the middle began to form. Kelly was slowly spinning the glass in her hand. The current started off gradually, but slowly started to get more intense. The centripetal force began pulling me towards the walls, until I could visibly see a dip in the middle. I started to getting dizzy, but then Kelly would relax, and I could feel the wine begin to slow.

Kelly's inhaled and exhaled on me from above, filling the glass with warm air. She then begin to spin the glass again, bringing it back up in intensity, causing my body to roll along the side of the glass, as I began to struggle to stay afloat. Then she began to slow down again.

Now I should be clear that at this point most of what was happening I didn't really hear until Stephanie told me the next day. I never bothered telling Stephanie what was happening to me, partially because I didn't want to worry her, and partially because I was deeply confused about my feelings towards Kelly. In one sense what was happening was obviously abuse – in the other, I still had a crush on her. Kelly began to spin the glass faster.

TAP TAP TAP

Crystal's family was Jewish – much her family was killed in the holocaust. Antisemitic practices steadily rose after WW1 in Germany to lead to the gas chambers in Auschwitz – they did not occur overnight. Starting with societies problems being blamed on the Jews, to the media outlets printing anti Jewish propaganda, to the passing of laws that favored non jews in regards to hiring practices, property rights, taxes – to the eventual requirement of being forced to wear certain things and live in certain areas. This was a slow erosion one group of peoples rights over another, based on immutable characteristics – lineage in this case – that eventual lead Nazi's to believe that Jews weren't people – and the final solution was not murder – but an improvement to society. They Nazis believed they were morally correct.

An exhaust of hot air filling the glass, steaming the sides.

Amoe's family had fled to Hong Kong and eventually the states because they didn't agree with the communists. The party had taken over her families business who had worked over many generations to build it up, giving it to a government bureaucrat who pocketed the money for himself and used government force to prevent his family from making a living wage or having any control. Worst of all, this official had no ability to run the business himself, as he simply had been a leeching politician his whole life and never created anything of his own, so it quickly went into the red and was no longer profitable. Due to the great centralization of power in the government, his family had no recourse and any open speech would have meant death or imprisonment.

The glass's spinning slowed down.

Naru's family was from Rwanda – and she had family murdered for simply being part of the wrong tribe. Her tribe was blamed for actions her ancestors may or may not have taken in the past – and that no living person had a responsibility for.

At this point the spinning of the glass was taking it's toll. I was dizzy and exhausted, and I was struggling to stay afloat, my body was bumping into the sides of the glass. I wanted to yell, but I was using everything within my might to simply stay afloat and breathe. It was impossible.

All of these stories shared in common similar ideas. One group dehumanizing another. One group believing that they are morally correct. One group judging another based on immutable characteristics. One group holding another group responsible for actions they didn't commit – and may not have even happened. The refusal to have dialogue – to listen – to measure things using the scientific method and quantitatively. All leading to the idea that their actions were a good, a great “balancing act” to right the perceived wrongs in the world.

Stephanie began to share her story, and Kelly's glass began to ascend up towards her face. At first I thought she was going to breathe into the glass again, as it stopped just below her nose. But then I watched the edge of the glass touch her lips. She must be kidding.

Stephanie was still talking in the background.

The glass began to tip towards her lips which were parted slightly. I could see her teeth faintly in the dark cave that was her mouth.

What was Kelly doing? I attempted to look up at her eyes through the splashing of wine in my face. She wasn't looking at me, looking past the black her nostrils I could see her eyes were looking away, presumably towards Stephanie, who's voice was muffled through the glass.

The bottom of the glass continued to move slowly upwards as the mouth of the glass starting tipping towards Kelly's mouth, the small cave entrance slowly shifting from above me to in front of me, the wine itself stretching further along the edge of the glass. The glass was now at a bout a 45 degree angle, and the wine was only a few yards away from splashing against her lips. I could feel the wind and heat from Kelly inhaling and exhaling around me, causing ripples in the surface of the wine. Interestingly, even though my relative position towards Kelly's lips continued to change – the distance didn't . I seemed to be about 10-15 yards away from her parted maw, which I guessed I could easily be sucked into – it seemed about around 8 yards wide and over half my own height tall. Her lips, slightly reddened from the wine, looked like a huge red snake shifting over the cave entrance, and the thing was huge, perhaps 10 yards long and a yard thick.

A gust of warm air from Kelly's nostrils blasted myself and the surface of the wine again, sending splashes of it onto me. Slightly drunk and physically exhausted, I was expending all of my energy breathing in this surf and staying afloat; I desperately wanted to shout but I just didn't have the energy to do so. The wine cup tilted further and the dark red liquid finally made contact with Kelly's lips.

Still 10 yards away from Kelly's mouth, I was splashing about in the wine, no longer treading the water in an expert way, but more like a dying animal who'd been caught out in the water too long. I kept bobbing below and above the surface, only giving myself enough time to breathe before I felt exhausted and began sinking below, and then the sensation of drowning giving me enough of an impetus to attempt to surface again. I could feel the wine beginning to drain towards Kelly's lips – and I heard a loud 'GULP' as Kelly began drinking the wine. I could only faintly hear Stephanie, Kelly's breath, the splash of the wine, and the echoing within the chamber making it almost too loud to hear anything else.

I was going to be swallowed alive. Terrified, I tried desperately swimming away from her mouth, hoping that perhaps I could prop myself to the bottom of the glass as the wine was receding away from me. I struggled but the current from Kelly's long, slow drink easily overpowered my futile attempts to swim away, enough to slowly pull me towards her lips. Kelly exhaled again, and I could feel it push on myself and the wine, which in combination with my own efforts to swim effectively froze the current in a state of equilibrium – but then the wind was gone, and I was slowly being pulled back towards her lips.

I was 8 yards away now. Her lips were slightly bigger, more red. I began to wonder how long Kelly had been drinking in this one tip towards the glass. Was she deliberately drinking as slow as possible, just to torture me? Or was I just so terrified that what would amount to a normal drink just seemed to drag on forever?

6 yards away. Kelly's breathe wafted over me and the splash of wine caused me to choke. I tried yelling but the wine would just splash into my face and muffle my shouts. Her face was looming larger and larger, her mouth looking like I was approaching a cliff.

4 yards away. From here, I could hear the noise coming from inside Kelly's mouth. It sounded as if a it river from within a cave – from inside, it would have been deafening. Kelly's teeth were enormous and slightly red, I could see them jutting slightly out from under her lips, only the tips of them, but each was bout half my size, like small sharp boulders.

I gave up. I had no strength left. I found myself moving towards Kelly's lips, the wine splashing around me and preventing me from seeing. As I neared closer, I could feel heat radiating out of her mouth, and the strong smell of wine seemed to intensify.

My back was pressed against something that felt hot, in contrast with the cool wine. But just as quickly as I felt it, the current swept me over the top; it became dark and I was under wine level. For a second I forgot what was happening and where I was – fear overtook me, and in panic I attempted to swim back towards the light of the cave entrance, but the current was too strong, and I sunk deeper into the cave.

The current started to slow, and I felt a glimmer of hope. This was my chance! I tried swimming towards the light of the entrance but in my horror it became dimmer, and I realized that the entrance was closing, and suddenly it was black.

I was going to drown.

Under wine in the black cave that was Kelly's mouth I had a moment to contemplate on my life. Oddly, the only thing that crossed my mind was the fact that, at least, I got to be in this mouth of this woman I had a crush on, and if I hadn't been drowning I would have laughed. It was bizarre. I'm not sure if it was because I was exhausted, or the lack of oxygen, but I was no longer scared, no longer mad. Just acceptance.

In my struggle for life I had perhaps swallowed too much wine though, and maybe I was just drunk. The liquid was continuing to pull me towards what I presume was her throat, but before I got there a hot wet wall slammed me into the roof of the cave, surfacing me from above the wine and causing me to gasp for air as my body was wedged between these two slimey surfaces.

Gasping, I comprehended that the thing that threw me upwards was Kelly's tongue. On my exposed back it felt hot, wet, and slick, and I could feel her pushing her tongue back and forth across my body like she was licking a lollypop. The roof of her mouth was wet and soft as well, but bumpy – it felt almost like a layer of seaweed. Everything smelled of hot wine. I was inconsequentially small in comparison to even her tongue.

I couldn't tell how long I was pressed up to the roof of her mouth. Occasionally a layer of saliva would form around me and I would began to choke, but then I could hear and feel Kelly suck away at it. I felt like my whole body was surrounded by a vacuum, but her tongue would hold me in place, before I heard a loud 'GULP' from behind me.

Light then appeared again from below me, and I could make out Kelly's teeth to my sides, they looked like white walls that extended to below the sides of Kelly's tongue where I couldn't see them anymore. Then I found myself splashed with cold wine again, swept under it, the current throwing me about in her mouth. The gift of life I had felt before made the fear I would be slammed into the walls of her teeth all the more palpable, but before I knew it was suddenly surrounded by bright light, and I found myself surfacing in the wine again.

I gasped for air and again found myself struggling to stay afloat. I couldn't think anymore, it was just me against the elements. My muscle fatigue was so great it felt like my arms and legs were weighted down. I was back in the glass.

I looked up for a fraction of a second and could see Kelly's hazle eyes staring down on me from above, her lips parted partially like she was going to deliver a kiss, and a stream of red liquid sprayed down from her mouth, slamming me in the face.

I was underwine again, I tried to surface but my muscles gave out.

I simply looked above me through the dark red liquid and could make out Kelly's teeth faintly through it. While I couldn't distinctly see Kelly's lips, the outlines in contrast with her skin appeared to be parted into a smile. Considering she had almost drowned me multiple times now, and that I was about to drown currently, the rational thought would have been that she was a sadist.

But in this particular instance, all the logic that was available wouldn't have been able to overwhelm the primal in me. I forgot that I was drowning – I had this warm feeling of approval from this girl I found myself falling in love despite what was happening. No, because of what was happening.

I was insignificant. I accepted that it was my purpose to drown, simply for this girls entertainment, and that it was the reason for my existence. I felt sadly proud to have been gifted this opportunity by her.

Everything began to fade.