They were sitting on the green sofa in the living room facing each other. Kristine was leaning to the side, keeping her legs crossed and listening intently as Nicole, who brought her feet up on the sofa’s edge, was talking about her plans for the beginning of the next month. She and her friends wanted to spend two weeks in a newly-opened summer resort down south, on the riviera. The beach, the sun, the sea, the colourful drinks in coconut shells adorned with cocktail umbrellas. They had already made the arrangements, all that was left now was packing their stuff and convincing one reluctant friend to come with them.

‘She doesn’t like the sun. Maybe because she gets the burns easily. She’s super pale’ Nicole wondered, hugging her knees and leaning back and forth as she spoke.

‘If that’s the case then maybe you shouldn’t bring her along’ Kristine said with an understanding smile ‘I doubt she would enjoy being there’

‘Yeah, but, like… There will be me and another girl and three guys, so if she did come it would even out…’

‘Guys, huh?’ Kristine raised an eyebrow and smiled ‘Well then, I should remind you to bring protection’

‘Auntie!’ groaned Nicole, embarrassed.

‘What? I was nineteen too at a time, I would know’ Kristine smiled widely ‘But that’s a conversation topic for another time. I wonder if Sean would enjoy the riviera’ she added, looking down at the birdcage hanging around her neck.

‘You don’t want me to bring him along, do you?’ Nicole asked with an unsure look.

‘Oh, no, not at all. I fear he’d get lost in the sand and eaten by a crab or something’

‘There are no crabs where we’re going’

‘Maybe they’re just hiding under the sand so you’ve never seen them’ Kristine laughed for a while before changing the subject ‘So, boys. And three at that’

‘Auntie…’   

‘No, no, let’s go with that for a moment. Is there one you like among them?’

‘Uh, yeah’ Nicole said, desperately trying not to blush.

‘That’s good! No, really. It’s about time you’ve found someone who cares about you’

‘I mean… That trip will tell if he does. If he really does’

Kristine smiled sympathetically at her niece ‘Ah. Young love’.

Nicole looked around the room, desperately trying to find something else to talk about, to change the subject, before her attention turned to the golden cage.

‘Do you think he likes being in there?’ she asked, nodding in its direction.

‘Why wouldn’t he? I can always keep an eye on him and he’s safe’

‘Yeah, but… Does he like it?’

Kristine gave her a surprised look ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, doesn’t he get bored being locked up like that? Maybe you should let him let him wander a bit further around’

‘Oh, sweetheart’ Kristine chuckled at her niece’s suggestion ‘We’ve literally lost him in the carpet not even twenty minutes ago. If he was a bit bigger, then I might consider it, but this small? I wouldn’t be able to notice him from afar or on the floor. It’s a miracle I haven’t stepped on him when he got in the house in the first place’

‘Alright, I was just suggesting’ Nicole cut the conversation, slightly irritated, much to Kristine’s amusement.

‘You know, I’ve just had an idea where we could let him take a stroll’ Kristine said with a grin ‘Give me your leg’

‘Wh-What?’

‘Come on, put it straight in my lap’

And Nicole obliged.

Sean stood up as he saw the cage’s door open and Kristine’s massive fingertip appear. He carefully stepped down onto it, crouching as her finger got lower and lower until it was time to descend on the tan ground below. He looked around, noticing two massive columns rise before him, both ending with a white-polished nail and it took him no time to realize he was now standing between Nicole’s big and second toes.

‘He makes my feet look even bigger than they are’ he heard Nicole’s thunderous groan from afar

‘They’re not that big’ Kristine’s voice followed, even louder due to her proximity. He was standing on a foot that was lying in Kristine’s lap, an unbelievable, unearthly sight for the little man.

‘Yes they are, they’re size ten’

‘The right size for the girl your height then. Now, little one’ Sean’s attention turned upwards as he was called, to the distant, looming face of Kristine ‘Can you make it safely to Nicole’s lap? We’re counting on you’ she told him, her radiant smile spreading across the sky. Sean nodded and turned, beginning his journey.

He walked down the slope of Nicole’s enormous foot, keeping his posture straight to avoid tumbling down. He could tell the young giantess did her best to keep her leg steady, but every now and then he could feel slight tremors beneath his feet, even the slightest budging from her part making him force himself to keep his balance, especially when he finally made it down to her shin. He marched the impossibly long and massive leg feeling as if he was walking across a gigantic sequoia. He could feel the giantesses’ gaze upon him, four blue, celestial bodies focused on his infinitesimal body trekking across the living landscape of a body, staring at him in silence – two with amusement, the other two with concern. And he realized, much to his surprise, that he was enjoying himself. He eventually made it to the smooth hill of Nicole’s knee, the ground here hard like rock, and he climbed it up and down on his way towards her thigh. Once there, he took pleasure in the sudden softness of the surface in sharp contrast with the knee he just walked through and he stopped in the middle, about an inch before her thigh met her dress.

‘Wow. You made it, little guy’ he heard Nicole say and he look up to see her face, finally smiling and then turning towards her aunt ‘Do you think I could pick him up?’

‘Ask him’ said Kristine’s distant, cheerful voice.

But instead of being asked, Sean watched as her enormous hands descended on her lap, as if a massive hill suddenly fell softly from the sky and landed near him. She stretched her huge index finger out, asking him to climb on her fingernail, which was coated in the same snow-white polish as the ones on her toes. Sean clambered aboard, lying down with his entire body spread on the glossy, white surface, as he was lifted up, all the way up, soon finding himself facing an enormous expanse of her cheek, one blue eye staring him down with affection.

‘Did you enjoy your little stroll?’ he heard Nicole whisper, grateful to her she lowered her voice now that he was so close, and he nodded. Now that she could see him better, he figured he wouldn’t have to resort to arm lifting to communicate ‘Aw. Happy to hear that’ she cooed, watching him closely. She was amazed by the prospect of her body constituting an actual journey for the little man who now fit entirely on her fingernail and she knew there and then that they would have to do it again. Now. ‘Do you think you’d find the stamina for the way back?’ she asked with a playful smile and, being answered by Sean’s eager nodding, she slowly lowered her finger and placed it in the middle of her thigh. Her smile grew even wider as she watched him jump down the nail and set the course for Kristine, willing to march all the way towards Nicole’s enormous foot looming on the horizon.  

Eventually, he made it back to the starting point, and was safely deposited (much to his and Nicole’s chagrin) inside the birdcage, as the giantesses chatted some more. Eventually they ran out of topics to discuss. Eventually the day began to near its end and Nicole decided it was time for her to go. She promised to drop by tomorrow and said goodbye to both Kristine and Sean, crouching to look inside the cage and wave at him, smiling upon receiving a wave back. She walked out the door, leaving the two to their own devices, as she got into her mini cooper and drove it back home, a cheerful mood not leaving her for one second. She thought about what an interesting turn of events today was, one surprise after another, and how eager she was to see them tomorrow as she finally pulled up at her driveway.

And on the opposite end of the city, Mandy was drowning in coffee and papers, looking through equations and comparing her private notes to those made by Sean. She’s already spent hours over them, being on it ever since the women she had met today left her apartment, and still she couldn’t find any way to help Sean. The numbers didn’t seem to add up, some figures and formulas were alien to her, even construction manuals for various parts of the device seemed different from what she remembered when they worked on them together. She closed her eyes and rubbed both her temples. ‘Try to remember. Recall something, anything. You’ve done this before’ she thought to herself, taking yet another glance at some more complicated parts of the research. Something clicked in her head, something moved, a metaphorical piston began to push forward and back, an imaginary cog began to turn. She started to see a pattern, or at least a shade of one. She gathered the notes, sat on her knees and began spreading them on the floor as if she was dealing cards or playing solitary. ‘I’ll find it’ she whispered, determined, as she placed one sheet of paper down after another ‘I’ll find the solution’.