Felix woke up on a cold floor. He didn’t have the strength to open his eyes, and he was too focused on the pounding
sensation that plagued his head to worry about where he was. His body tingled, and soon the pain in his head faded
away. For a second, he debated if he were dead. In that moment, he felt true peace. He was weightless, like an angel
resting on a cloud. He was afraid that opening his eyes might ruin his illusion of bliss, and reveal that he had just
collapsed on a pavement somewhere. No, he wanted to enjoy this feeling—a feeling that unfortunately wouldn’t last
long.
“Someone help!” A woman’s voice screamed. She sounded far away, but Felix could still make out the sound. His
eyelids were heavy, but he managed to open them wide enough to get a look at his surroundings. His vision was
blurred, but he saw the woman running adjacent to him. She must’ve been a couple yards away. She constantly
turned her head around, as if to look at whoever it was that was chasing her.
Felix blinked twice, clearing up his eyesight to his normal 20/20 vision. Something didn’t look right. It looked
like he was on a hardwood floor, but each plank was way too big. His body alone didn’t even make up the length of a
single plank width.
The sound of a bang in front of him brought him back to the woman. Felix tried shouting out to her, but his
voice was raspy and the words didn’t come out. For a second time, the woman screamed. Felix cleared his throat and
reached his arm out. It shook in the air, revealing to Felix how weak his body felt. “Hey.” He tried shouting, but it only
came out as a murmur.
Luckily, the girl heard him. She turned to him. Felix could make out the desperation and fear in her eyes. It
didn’t make sense to him; Felix didn’t see anyone else around. What was she running from? Before the girl even had
a chance to run towards Felix, something large and round struck the girl’s side. She screeched. Where did that come
from?
The girl shot a foot in the air, and landed far away from where she originally was. The sphere rolled towards
her before coming to a stop at her feet. It was too smooth to be a rock. The thought alone made Felix feel crazy, but it
almost looked like a giant marble.
“Bullzeye!” Unlike the woman’s screams, this roar was ear piercing. Felix instinctively covered his eyes. Felix
tried desperately to regain his bearings. He had no idea what was going on, but he was obviously in danger. He
staggered up to his feet. His head spun, as did his world. He no longer knew that peaceful bliss from earlier. It was
replaced with fear and anxiety.
“AH! Stop, please! I promise I’ll be a good girl from now on! I’ll be a good little whore.” The girl from earlier
wailed and cried. Who was she talking…
Felix grabbed his ears again at another ear piercing siren. “Can you even walk anymore? I think I might’ve
broken your back by accident.” Felix couldn’t hear anything else as his ears were ringing too loudly. Instead, he
forced his eyes open.
A large shadow casted over the woman, and she was soon covered by a weird liquid that fell from above
her. The liquid was too thick to be water, and it was mixed with some foamy white stuff. If Felix had known the truth
about his situation, he would’ve known the girl was now drawing in a layer of spit, unable to move due to the marble
that broke her back.
Despite not knowing what the liquid was, Felix knew he had to help the woman. Every instinct he had told
him to make a run for it, but he needed the woman’s help as much as she needed his. Each step he took towards the
woman sent knives up his numb legs. After he saved her, they would have to find somewhere to hide so they could
both heal up.
As he got closer, he could make out the woman’s desperate thrashing in the phlegm. She was covered in it.
Without help, she had no hope of making it out and she would drown. Felix dropped to his knees in front of her,
covering himself in some of the sticky liquid. He pushed his hands into the mess and wiped it away from her face
first.
The woman clung to every breath she was given, spitting out whatever it was she was forced to swallow in
the process. She turned to her savior, tears flowing out of her eyes. “Please, you have to save me. I-I can’t feel my
legs. Please please please you have to get me out of here. Get me away from her.” She was hysterical.
Felix tried his best to calm her down. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here.” He said with a smile. He wanted
her to feel safe. With him around, nothing bad was going to happen to her. He’d make sure of it. His face looked so
calm and handsome in the moment, who wouldn’t feel safe in his presence?
“See, I knew you couldn’t walk.” *Crunch*
Without any warning, something large and white crashed down on top of the poor girl. She was dead in an
instant. Her blood splattered, though most of it was contained under the object.
Felix stared at it blankly. Without moving his face and inch, he brought his hand up and wiped under his eye.
The woman’s blood was on his face. It was on his clothes. She was just right here, where did she go?
Looking longer at the object, Felix finally came to grips with what his current reality was. He was looking at a
giant shoe. Not just any shoe, but a giant white vans sneaker. The sneaker alone was enough to send his mind into a
panicked frenzy, he couldn’t even imagine who might be wearing it.
That giant just snuffed out a girl’s existence with her shoe alone. How cruel… Felix was brought back to the
present as the sneaker started to twist back and forth. Each twist bringing another crunch with it. The shoe continued
until every bone in the woman’s body was pulverized to dust.
Felix found the experience to be traumatizing enough; he wasn’t ready for when the shoe lifted up. He could
make out the girl’s twisted and deformed face as it stretched from the floor to the shoe that was only a few inches in
the air. Her guts clinged to the sole, stuck in its creavases.
The sight became too much for him, and Felix fell on his back. He looked up at the ceiling. Things started
making sense to him. He really was on a hardwood floor, and each plank looked huge to him because he was tiny.
He was shrunk, trapped inside a room he had never seen before.
“You really shouldn’t get that close to someone who’s about to be stepped on.” The loud voice said. Felix
didn’t have the strength to cover his ears anymore. He was barely able to move his eyes to get a look at the source.
He finally saw her. The giant dark haired girl who crushed the person under her shoe. He quickly looked
away. He repeated over and over again in his head how this couldn’t be real. But it was
The giant girl bent down over him. His vision was getting darker.
“Don’t give up on me now, you just woke up.” She said. Though his vision was weak, he could make out how
mad she was. What did he even do to her?
“You’re supposed to be mine.” She pouted. “I won’t stand for another weak tiny.”
Before anything else could happen, Felix blacked out.
Abigail hugged her older brother tight in her arms. She buried her face in his shirt, dampening it with her tears.
“Please don’t go. We can have so much fun here if you just stay.”
Felix put his hand on her head. He had trouble finding the right words for her. He knew him going away for school
again would be hard on her, but he didn’t think she would react so strongly. “It’ll only be for a semester, and then I’ll
be home for the summer. We can play lots then, promise.”
Abigail looked up at him, snot dripping down her nose. “Promise you won’t forget about me when you go up there
with your cool friends?”
“Promise.” Felix smiled, and the little girl did too. “I promise I’ll come home to you.”
I’ll come home to you.
---------------
“Come on man, wake up!” Connie helplessly shook the unconscious man before him. Elias continuously
swapped between looking at the man and Emma, who was trying to keep Katie busy. “If you don’t wake up right now
she’s going to kill us all.”
Felix was awake and heard his words, but he didn’t show it. He felt like his body and mind were separated.
These strangers, for whatever reason, were counting on him to wake up. But Felix didn’t have any strength left, not
after watching what happened to that girl…
“Screw it man.” Elias said, pulling his hair with his hands. “I’m a senior in highschool, not fucking a doctor.
Why would Katie task us with waking him up?”
“Just shut up.” Connie slapped that man as hard as he could. A red mark was left on the side of his face, but
he didn’t respond. “Just be thankful you didn’t get Emma’s job. She has to clean Mia’s remains off Katie’s shoe.”
Connie slapped him again, but he didn’t even flinch. “Wake up damnit!”
She has to clean up? How? Felix could see through his eyes, even if he couldn’t move them. Far away, he
could make out another tiny girl with her face buried into the bloodied shoe. The giant was sitting against the wall with
her legs stretched. She was saying something to the tiny, but Felix couldn’t make it out. Was… was that tiny girl
licking at the shoe?
“Is this really how we go out?” Elias gently hit the side of his face. His eyes sank and darkened. “I spent the
last month being the best little slave I could in hopes of staying alive long enough to be sold to someone nice, and
now that all is going to be ruined because this little shit decided to take a nap on his first day.”
Connie dropped Felix and turned to Elias. “If you want to stay alive then how about you stop complaining
and try helping me.”
“Helping?” Elias stared at Connie. He was starting to lose it. He was able to push the psychological damage
caused by a month of cruel torture and rituals because he hoped one day to make it out alive. But the reality he
dreamed about every night was starting to collapse, and he could taste how close his death was. “Sure, why not.”
Elias pushed Connie out of the way. He gripped Felix’s shirt and lifted him up. “Why are you being so
selfish? Don’t you know that Katie wanted you to be her own personal tiny? Come on man, that means we wouldn’t
have to deal with all her shit, ya feel me?” Elias brough their faces together, looking straight into Felix’s eyes. “So
won’t you become her plaything so I don’t have to suffer as much? She’ll kill us if you don’t.”
Her… Plaything? Her personal tiny? Was Felix shrunk… to be a slave to this giant?
“I don’t know how much longer Emma is going to last.” Connie’s hands started to twitch. He was really going
to die. “She’s turning green. I think Katie is making her swallow Mia.” Connie turned back to Felix and Elias.
He shoved himself next to Elias. They were both now staring down the unresponsive man. “Wake up!
Please!” They shouted.
“I’ll only be gone for a semester.” Felix spoke, but his tone was cold and emotionless. “Then I’ll be home for
the summer.”
Connie and Elias look at each other and smile. Maybe they weren’t toast after all.
“Pathetic.” Katie screamed. “You couldn’t even clean up one person from under my shoe before throwing
up.”
Emma was on her knees, hand over her mouth. She was staring down at her blood filled puke that way lying in the
already blood soaked floor. “I’m sorry…” She murmured.
“Sorry doesn’t make the throw up go away.” Katie reached her giant hand over to the tiny Emma. She slapped the
back of Emma’s head with her pointer finger. Emma’s head crashed into the floor, it was a miracle her skull didn’t
crack. Katie placed her finger on the back of her head and forced Emma’s face into her throw up. “Lick that up. It
better be gone when I come back. Then you need to finish my shoe.”
Katie stood up and walked over to the three tiny men in the middle of the room. Her giant form loomed over the three.
She tapped her foot. To an ordinary person, they wouldn’t see anything weird about that; but to the inch tall people on
her floor, they could make out the blood stain on her sole every time she raised it. It served as a reminder.
“Is it awake yet?”
Connie and Elias shake in their skin. It was true that he spoke and was awake, but they knew he wasn’t conscious.
“Well, see…” Connie said. Katie lowered her brows. She was getting angry.
“We can play lots then, promise.” Felix muttered.
Katie smiled, “Oh, so he is up. And he’s ready to play. I haven’t heard anyone word it quite like that, but things will
probably go better for him if he treats it like a game.”
Connie and Elias were speechless. They knew better than to correct their goddess, even if she was wrong in
assuming Felix was conscious and ready to play.
“I promise I’ll come home to you.” Felix said.
“What was that?” Katie raised a brow.
Connie opened his mouth, about to tell her the truth, but Elias quickly covered it with his hand. “He said he couldn’t
be happier, Goddess Katie.” He covered his deception with a discrete smile.
“Good work you two. At this rate, I’ll be ready to put you on the market in no time. I have plenty of friends at school
who are dying to have an obedient slave.” Katie bent down and grabbed Felix, pinching his arms into his body with
her pointer finger and thumb. She lifted him up to her face, being careful not to drop her newest addition.
A chill was sent through Connie and Elias’s bodies. It was hard to tell from how high she was, but if Katie gets a
closer look at Felix, she’ll know for sure that he’s not alert and that the two lied to her.
Katie eyed Felix up and down. Felix got a good look at her deep hazel eyes. Her skin was fine and smooth. She was
attractive too, despite looking a couple years younger than Felix. “He looks a little stiff, but you’ll get used to being
picked up and tossed around soon enough.”
The two on the floor exhale a sigh of relief as Katie walks away with Felix. Katie returns to the ill Emma on the floor.
Katie nudges her with the tip of her shoe, which sends Emma into a panic. “You done yet?”
Emma vigorously nods her head. “Yes Goddess Katie!”
“Good. Because you need to finish my shoe. Your friend’s replacement will be watching. Make sure you give
him a good show, I’m sure he’ll be cleaning up your remains from my shoe sooner or later, so I need him to know
how to do a good job.”
“Yes Goddess.” Emma said, almost too passionately.
Katie carefully bent down and sat Felix down in the mess on the floor next to Emma. One look at his
desolate eyes, and Emma was able to tell he wasn’t there. She looked back at her two friends. Without exchanging
words at all, she knew what was going on. She had to keep up the charade that he was awake, lest she dies.
“I love you too.” Felix again mutters.
“What are you looking at, bug?” Katie slid down against the wall and slammed her sneakers in front of
Emma, exposing the soles to her. The remains and blood were as prominent as ever. “Get to work.”
“Yes.” Emma dug her face into the rubber sole. The guts of her fallen friend squished into her face as Emma
worked at prying it off the Goddess’s sole with her teeth.
Felix could do nothing but watch the girl work. Her tongue dragged against ridges that were painted red until
they returned to their original white color. He could tell that the girl was barely holding it together. Did one of the men
from earlier say the dead girl’s name was Mia? Were they friends? Is this girl licking her friend’s blood off her killer’s
shoe? Is she swallowing her friend’s guts?
“I always liked you more than that other girl.” Katie said, humming to herself. “Training girls is a lot easier
than the boys, because you girls know what it’s like to be subservient. Mia was something else. She thought she
could be strong and brave, but did you see how easily I crushed her back with a marble? How’s that for reminding her
how weak she is, I mean the whore almost drowned in my spit.”
Despite the harsh words, the girl didn’t stop licking the bloody sole.
“You always knew your place though.” Katie continued. “Before I saved you, I bet you spent your free time
giving blowjobs on some corner. Aren’t you happy I found you and gave your life actual purpose?”
“Yes Goddess.” Emma ripped out another chunk from the vans. She didn’t let this one drop to the floor.
Instead she chewed it up and swallowed it. She looked like she was going to throw up, but kept it in.
Katie laughed. “I tried giving that other slut purpose, but she refused. I mean, what could be more of an
honor in life than being my plaything? Although I guess her existence wasn’t entirely pointless. Her death gave us an
opportunity to teach the fresh meat how to clean guts out from under a shoe. Ha! Isn’t that funny? Mia probably had
hopes and dreams for her life, but from the moment she was born, she was always destined for this. She only existed
so I could have the pleasure of squishing her under my vans and having you eat her.”
“Yes Goddess.” By now, Emma was crying. After how long she had been there, two weeks, she had learned
to weep in silence. “She really was worthless.”
“No she wasn’t.” Felix whispered. Emma’s heart dropped with fear, but luckily he spoke too low for her
Goddess to hear. No one ever corrected her and lived, and Emma wasn’t sure if being her personal tiny would be
enough to save him.
At the very least, Felix was showing signs of coming back to his senses. Maybe they wouldn’t all die after all.
Not today, anyway.
Felix sat there with his knees dug into chest. No one had said anything for nearly 20 minutes. Part of Felix thought he
should ask what the hell was going on, but the rest of him prefered the silence. He didn’t know if he'd be ready for the
answer anyway. A bunch of tiny people in a highschool girl’s bedroom, there wasn’t any good version of an answer
that would make Felix feel better about what he just saw.
From what he was able to gather, it seemed that Katie was shrinking people and training them to be slaves for the
highest bidder. That fact alone was enough for Felix to keep his mouth shut, scared of what else they would tell him
about her. The thought of being sold was scary, but what was even scarier was that Felix was under the impression
that he’d belong to Kaite forever.
Felix banged the back of his head against the bars behind him. Katie went to eat dinner shortly after Emma finished
cleaning her shoe. The floor was still stained, but Katie said that it could wait until after dinner. She didn’t trust any of
us running around when she’s not there, that’s why she put them in this dusty old cage under her bed.
Emma had been crying since we were put in here. Another girl was comforting her, Felix remembered someone
saying her name was Sofia. Connie and Elias were silent like Felix, but they sat close to each other. And then there
was a boy who hadn't spoken up at all. He laid on the ground on the other side of the cage, sneezing his head off.
And who could blame him with all this dust. The cage was filthy. Even where he was, Felix sat next to a pile
of dried up poop. It stunk, but it mixed with all the other scents. After spending who knows how long sitting in blood
and guts, the stool didn’t bother him.
“That’s Mia’s, ya know.” Connie said.
Felix looked at him, but didn’t say anything.
“That pile of crap you keep looking at. It's Mia’s. That’s all we have left of her: a pile of waste.”
Emma wailed even harder, having trouble keeping it quiet this time.
“Well I guess we’ll get a little more of her if Emma decides to throw up again.”
“Watch yourself.” Sofia barks.
“What’s your problem, it was a compliment.” Connie remarks. “Emma ate her friend like a good little dog,
now she gets to live another day.”
“She did what she had to do.” Sofia said. “I don’t have to remind you of the things you’ve done.”
“I’m sorry.” Felix said, looking at no one in particular.
“Ah, it speaks.” Connie turned to him.
Emma calmed down her crying to look at Felix. “What are you sorry for?”
“She was right there in front of me. I could’ve saved her, but I didn’t. I was so focused on looking cool to her
that I did nothing as she was crushed to death.” Felix buried his head into his knees.
“Sorry doesn’t bring Mia back.” Elias sat up.
“That’s something Katie says.” Sofia said. “Leave it up to the teacher’s pet to really retain that lesson.”
“Call me what you want,” Elias shied away from everyone. “I’m getting out of this hell hole. You guys haven't
been here as long as I have. Katie has only sold three of the last ten tinies before me. The rest ended up just like Mia,
one way or another. I’m doing whatever it takes to get sold, anyone has to be nicer than Katie.”
“Achoo!” The boy in the back sneezed. He quivered, staying to himself. Felix started to stand up to move
towards him, but Sofia glared at him and shook her head. Felix sat back down.
Felix reflected on what Elias said. Katie has only sold three in ten people. There were six people in here.
The odds weren’t in any of their favor, except maybe Elias. But what about…
“What did you mean when you said I was going to be her personal tiny, Elias?”
The man peered back at him. The hairs on his chin were so thick, and his eyes heavy. “Katie was tired of
seeing all her best pets go, so she wanted to train one all for herself. And since I know why you’re asking—no, I don’t
think she’ll kill you as easily as she’ll kill us. You’re her lucky 76, she won’t give up on you as easily as she does us
lower beings.”
Felix would be lying if he said he wasn’t relieved to hear he probably wouldn’t die, but living as Katie’s
personal slave sounded like a worse fate. Felix scanned the room. Everyone there looked like they were the living
dead. Felix wondered what each of them had done. He already knew Emma had eaten her friend off Katie’s shoe, but
what did the rest have to do? What kind of things would he have to do to meet Katie’s standards of the perfect slave?
And did he have any hope of returning to normal size and escaping?
Besides the boy hunched over in the corner, those in the cage jumped up when they heard Katie’s heavy
footsteps climbing up the stairs. They all turned to the door. From under the bed, they could make out only the bottom
portion of the wooden door, but they watched it intensely.
Felix kept his eyes glued to it as his heart raced. The footsteps quickly approached, getting louder as the atmosphere
began to gloom.
Elias walked up besides Felix, gripping his hands between the tight metal bars. “A word of advice.” He started. “Do
whatever she says.” Elias never once turned to him. Felix nodded silently to himself. He didn’t expect friendly advice
from Elias. Honestly, Felix thought he was a little self absorbed. Could it be true that Elias cared about the safety of
Felix and the other’s as much as his own?
The footsteps stopped, and the crew could make out a shadow from the small crack at the bottom of the door.
Without any more warning, the door shot open. It banged against the wall behind it, and Katie harshly slammed it
shut again. She marched over to the group. A long arm reached under the bed and grabbed the cage. She yanked it,
sending the cage out into the open and everyone inside to the front facing bars.
Felix’s body pressed into the bars next to Elias. There was a scream from behind him. Sofia flew in the air. Her skull
crashed into the bars as they came to a stop. She screamed as she landed on the cage floor, grabbing the back of
her head.
Katie opened the top of the cage and turned it upside down. All six of the tinies fell out. The sneezer had trouble at
first, so Katie had to shake the cage until he joined the others. Felix didn’t like returning to the cold hardwood.
Memories of what happened earlier returned to him. Mia’s death, Connie and Elias desperately trying to wake him up,
and Emma having to lick Katie’s shoe cleaned after the fact.
Felix could see Connie in front of him. He was quick to jump to his feet. So were the others. Felix and Sofia
were the only ones who still clung to the ground.
“Welcome back Goddess.” Elias said, dropping to his knees and kissing the floor. “I’m so honored to be in
your presence.” He kept his head plastards to the ground as Katie walked past him.
“You.” Katie said, peering down at Emma.
“Me?” Emma gazed up at her. Her eyes widened as Katie’s giant digits reached down for her. Kaite picked
Emma up with her pointer finger and thumb pressed into her head. The tiny girl screamed as gravity alone threatened
to tear her head off her miniscule body.
“Did you think what you did was funny?” Katie asked in a diminutive tone. She pressed her fingers ever so
slightly together, but it was enough for Emma to feel her head was going to explode.
Felix watched in horror as the small girl thrashed in the air, desperate to be released from the giant’s grip.
Her head sunk into the flesh of the goddess’s fingers. Emma scratched at the giant finger nails, but to no avail.
“Don’t you know how embarrassed I was at dinner tonight.” Particles of spit flew out of Katie’s mouth as she
spoke. Her eyes showed no remorse for the tiny girl in front of her. “I was still walking around with a stain of blood on
my shoe. What if someone saw it? They wouldn’t know it was blood, but they’d think I don’t keep my shoes clean.
What’s the point of having a slave who cleans shoes if people think my shoes are dirty.” Katie pressed harder into the
skull of tiny Emma. Emma’s scream became ear piercing. Emma lost the strength to kick in the air, instead she
focused on the excruciating pain she was under.
“Christ.” Connie said. Everyone’s eyes were fixated on their friend above. It was always hard to watch
someone be punished, but this seemed extreme. This stunt could leave Emma with permanent brain damage if Katie
didn’t stop soon. If this impaired her functioning, then there was no doubt that she’d be killed next time Katie asked
something of her.
“Stop it!” Felix yelled. “You’re hurting her.” The other tinies turned to him. Usually, they’d be terrified as to
what punishment would fall on him for speaking out, but this time they all hoped his cries would save Emma. Even if
the punishment shifted to Felix, they’d be happy to have Emma back unscaved.
“The fuck did you just say to me?” Katie said, now focused on Felix. Her grip on Emma seemed to loosen,
as her screaming stopped and she was again able to breathe again.
Felix froze in fear. He couldn’t find any words to say. He felt the malice of the young girl above him radiating
down at him.
Katie locked eyes with Felix for a moment, debating what to do. The tiny girl between her fingers cried,
wetting Katie’s skin. “Pay close attention, fresh meat.” Katie turned her hand around and extended it to the group of
tinies on her floor. They could all see the agony on Emma’s face as she was brought closer to them. “This is what
happens to a tiny who doesn’t do as they’re told.” Katie again pressed down her fingers on the girl’s head, but this
time harder than before.
Emma screamed out. She trashed at the fingers, trying to scratch them and claw her way out.
“Disappoint me, and this is what happens.” Katie squeezed the tiny girl harder. A crack could be heard as
Emma’s skull started to fold in on itself. Her head became thinner and longer. Before long, her arms fell to her side.
Katie increased her grip, crushing Emma even harder. Emma’s eye turned bloodshot red. Most of her face wasn’t
even visible from beyond the pads on her fingers. With the next increase in pressure, Emma’s left eye pops out of her
socket. Before her right eye could do the same, her entire head collapsed between the weight of Katie’s forefinger
and thumb.
Blood exploded from in between Katie’s fingers. The remnants of Emma’s body fell to the floor, blood still
sprinkling out of where her head once was. The tinies stood there stunned. This was the second brutal death Felix
had seen in just a few hours. His mind was breaking. He wanted to scream, but didn’t have the strength.
Katie flicked her hand, trying to get Emma’s brain off of it. “And in case you need another reminder, insect.”
Katie’s hand reached for Felix’s head this time. Scared he would be next to die painfully between the giant’s digits, he
jumped back. He wasn’t fast enough for the hand, and Katie wrapped her pointer finger and thumb around his head.
Instead of squeezing, Katie instead rubbed her thumb and finger into Felix’s face, covering it in the blood of the now
deceased Emma. The girl who was just crying in front of him moments earlier. After his face was completely red with
her blood, Katie pulled her hand away.
“You, you and you.” She said, pointing to Elias, Connie and Sofia. “Clean that up right away.”
Elias didn’t hesitate before rushing over to some of the blood that splattered on the floor and lapping it up
with his tongue. It took Connie a little longer to move, and Sofia didn’t budge at all.
“And you, fresh meat.” Katie was referring to Felix as she slipped off one of her sneakers. The sole was
exposed, and Felix could barely make out a tiny red smudge left on the bottom. “Clean that.”
The sneaker was right in front of Felix. He wondered why Emma hadn’t cleaned that part. From what he
remembered, it was clean when Katie had left for dinner. The only explanation Felix could think up was that Katie had
gotten that stain after Emma finished cleaning it, perhaps when she stood back up in the blood that was still on the
floor that she said would be cleaned up later. Did Katie know it was her fault her shoe was still dirty when she killed
Emma?
“I won't ask again.” Katie said.
Felix stared at the blood on her shoe. He figured he was supposed to lick it up until it turned white, just like
Emma had. He thought back to what Elias said about doing whatever Katie tells him to. At first, he thought Elias was
giving him advice to help him out, but now he knew better. Emma died so that Katie could teach Felix a lesson on
obedience. That’s what Elias was trying to tell Felix: Do whatever Katie tells you, because it’s them who are going to
be paying for his insolence.
Not wanting to witness anymore torture, let alone have any imposed on himself, Felix inched forward and
licked the rubber sole. He dragged his tongue against the red spot. He couldn’t smell anything besides iron due to the
blood on his face, so he couldn’t smell the foot stank that Emma could earlier. But he could taste the dirt and the
rubber that was forever infused on the sole. Every lick caused his tongue to twitch. Felix licked at the sole until he
could no longer see any red spots. He fell down to his knees, swallowing the blood soaked spit that lingered in his
mouth. What had he just been told to do?
Katie came over to inspect his work. “Good boy.” She kicked off her other shoe and shoved them both under
her bed. Her light blue ankle socks were right in front of Felix’s eyes. He could make out each toe on each foot. The
sight alone made him wanna vomit.
For a second, Felix wondered if Emma had been spared from a fate worse than what had happened to her.
Felix didn’t get any sleep last night. He laid in the dirt filled cage playing with the dust scattered under his fingers.
Every once in a while, he would ram his head against the plastic. He didn’t understand why, but part of him liked the
pain he felt afterwards. If he could focus on that, he wouldn’t have to focus on the mental pain. He also entertained
the thought that one might kill him.
Only Elias was able to get any shut eye, with his knees dug into his chest and his hands over his ears.
Tomorrow was Friday, meaning there would only be one more week until the end of the month. That’s when Katie
would bring him, Connie, and possibly Sofia into her school to be sold. Seven more days of anguish and torment. He
hoped he’d get a nice girl, or if she had to be cruel like Katie that she’d be a cheerleader. Katie sells tinies for only ten
dollars, that’s how little she thinks they're worth.
Andrew didn’t see what Katie had done. Even though she had forced him out of the cage, she didn’t force
him to watch like she did the others. Andrew thinks that’s her way of being nice, or maybe her way of appeasing him.
Even though he was being punished, it would end sooner or later. She wouldn’t want him resentful of her, just
obedient. He wasn’t like the other tinies in the cage.
Connie and Sofia tried their hardest to get their minds off Mia and Emma. They talked about their old lives
and what they would’ve been doing at that moment. It worked for a while, but each of their stories would somehow
work it’s way back to Mia or Emma. Around 2, they sat in silence.
And of course, Katie slept soundly in her bed above. A few times during the night the tinies could hear her
shift her position in bed, reminding everyone of the monster that laid just above them.
---------------
Katie didn’t acknowledge her tinies for the majority of the morning. She rarely ever did. Once in a while, she liked to
take one or two with her to the bathroom, but even that was only on weekends. She wasn’t a morning person, and
didn’t like anyone seeing her until she was fully dressed— even those she didn’t consider fully human.
When the lights in the room turned on, Connie, Sofia and Elias all approached the front of the cage and sat down.
They told Felix that this was the way Katie preferred it. She wouldn’t always like it, but it’s what was least likely to
make her mad. Felix followed their lead.
It took Katie an hour to wash up and eat her breakfast. During that time, Felix was able to ask plenty of questions to
his fellow captives.
His first question was about food. Sofia told him that Katie only ever feeds them actual food after she eats dinner.
She also mentioned that Katie almost never gives them water, but they drink when they can—whatever that means.
He found out that Katie also knew all of their names, but didn’t often use them. She didn’t think unowned tinies
deserve names, but there were circumstances where using them were unavoidable. Elias thought Katie would give
Felix a name herself when she thought he was ready for one.
Felix tried not to ask too many questions about what the other’s been told to do by Katie, as to not bring up any
unpleasant memories, but he thought he should be prepared for what's to come. So he reworded his question a bit.
“What might Katie ask me to do?”
“Napkins. Toothpicks. Table weights. Insoles. Toothbrush. Nail clippers. Wipes. Toilet paper.” Connie said, staring
blankly at the bars. “Think of any common object, that's what we are now. You saw how she used us as shoe and
floor cleaners yesterday. I’m sure you’ll see some other things today.”
“I used to think that was the worst part.” Sofia picked up. “It’s so humiliating, I hated being reduced to
something so worthless. But it’s the torture that’s the worst part. Because there's no purpose behind it. It’s just Katie
being bored. Mia was crushed like nothing under a marble yesterday for no reason at all. At least when she’s using
us to clean the food left on her face, or shortening her fingernails, we have a purpose. But she still treats us like we’re
nothing.”
Felix sat on that. Before he could ask another question, Katie came back in, and Felix wiped the terrified
look off his face.
Unlike last time, Katie pulled the cage out from under her bed with ease and caution. She undid the latch at
the top of the cage and opened it up.
Felix forgot how pretty she was. He spent the entire night reflecting on how much of a monster she acted.
How could someone so beautiful be so cruel?
Katie reached her hand down and plucked each person out one by one. Felix thought he was going to have
a panic attack when it was his turn. Katie used the same fingers to pick him up that she used to crush Emma. Visions
of Katie smearing Emma’s blood on his face filled his vision. As he was carried out, a terrifying thought came to him—
he hadn’t had a bath or water or anything since he shrunk, was Emma’s blood still on his face?
She dropped the five of them on her bed. After scratching her chin for a moment, she picked the sneezer
boy back up and brought him over to her book shelf. “While I’m at school, you can work on getting over your
allergies.” Standing on her tiptoes, she dropped the tiny boy on the top of the shelf. Felix didn’t think a girl like Katie
would read a lot of books. The shelves were probably littered in dust. A loud sneeze confirmed his suspicions.
“And you,” She said, walking back to the bed and picking up Elias. “You’re going to help me cheat on my
history exam Monday.” She dropped him on top of a notebook sitting on her nightstand. “So memorize all of those
notes I borrowed from Lina by the time I get back.” Elias nodded and got to work on lifting the heavy front cover of the
notebook.
Connie and Sofia were so stiff, standing on either side of Felix. They didn’t show an ounce of emotion or
take their eyes off Katie for a second. Felix wondered if he still looked afraid. He felt it, fear like you wouldn’t believe.
He was still trying to wrap his head around being only an inch tall, let alone being as weak and powerless as a bug on
top of it.
Katie bent down and pulled two shoes out from under her bed. They were sadie shoes, probably the ones
she wore to school. They had a white toe and heel, with a navy blue color in the middle by the laces and a brown sole
bottom.
“I think we’ll go a little easy on you today.” She said picking up Connie. “I’ll put you in the left one.” With that,
she dropped Connie into her left shoe.
Felix jumped back and screamed. Sofia turned to him. She looked terrified. “Shut up.” She barked, sounding
scarier with that demand than Katie ever did with one of hers. Felix paid her no mind. Katie just dropped Connie into
her shoe. He’s going to die in there. Was she killing all of them? Felix looked around for any way of escape.
Katie’s hand reached for Sofia and picked her up. Felix wasn’t even able to scream again before her hand
was upon him, squishing him in her grip next to Sofia. “And you two get the right one. Girlie, make sure my new pet
doesn’t die in there. You’re in charge of him.” And then she dropped them in her right shoe.
Felix landed on the leather sole with a thud. A slight tilt of Katie’s hand sent Felix hurderling into darkness as
he plummeted to the toe section. The smell was putrid. The odor smelled like something had corroded and rottened
inside. Knowing Katie, it could either be that or her natural foot smell. Felix’s body slid into the tight tip. His heart rate
intensified.
Thoughts of dying painfully under her toes cluttered his mind. With the faint light peering in from the
entrance, he could make out Sofia’s body next to him. Katie told her to keep him safe, she wouldn’t let him die would
she? Would she even have the power to save him if she wanted to. “Brace yourself.” She said.
“What?” Felix panicked. He felt his soul leave his body. Katie had dropped the shoe, sending Felix into a
world of dysfunction and disorientation. He hated rides for this very reason. He screamed in fear as the shoes
clanked against the floor and sent knives of pain through his body. He took in deep breaths, relieved he was alive.
He looked forwards towards the exit. If he could get there before Katie slid her foot in, he might be able to
climb out and escape. He made a run for it.
Within seconds, Sofia was on top of him. She grabbed his arm and sweeped her leg under his, forcing him
down on the sole.
“What are you doing?” He yelled, trying to get out of her grip. He was going to die. He was really going to die
and Sofia was trying to kill him.
“You’re going to kill yourself, you idiot.” She heaved. “The toe section is the safest place to be.”
“Are you nuts?” Felix freaked out. “That’s the furthest away from the exit. How are we going to escape?”
“Don’t be dumb. You need to give up on escaping and do what makes Katie happy. How else will you live?”
The shoe rumbled. Katie was slipping her foot in. Felix could make out the outline of each toe through the
thick navy socks.
“Get up!” Sofia yelled, letting go of him and running for the far corner of the shoe. Felix flipped on his back.
He crawled backwards towards the edge of the shoe, trying to escape the impending foot. Felix reached the end. He
was screwed.
The foot grew closer, and the musky scent grew stronger. Katie’s big toe collided with him, shoving him
deeper into the shoe end. Her toe rubbed up and down his body, and he could faintly feel her sharp nail poking at
him. At first, he thought she was petting him, but he soon realized what she was actually doing.
With each rub, Katie was trying to drag Felix’s body under her toe. Felix screamed and tried to fight it, but
the toe was too strong. He was forced under her toe. He tried wiggling his way out, but Katie lifted up her toe and
slammed it back down on him. She did this several times, slamming her toe against his body until he got the
message that she didn’t like his squirming. “You’re an insole.” She said, slamming her toe down on him again. She
pressed on him. “Insoles don’t move. I’ll give you permission to lick and kiss if you want to show me how grateful you
are, but don’t move from that position.” That was the last thing she planned on saying to him until after school.
Felix finally got the message as the pressure lifted up. He caught his breath. How long would he be in there?
Katie wasn’t serious about using him as an insole was she?
As if to answer his question, Katie tightened the laces on her shoes. She stood up straight and pulled her
bookbag off her chair. Katie took a step towards her bedroom door. The toes crushing Felix became weightless. It
allowed him the time needed to catch his breath. His body ached. He had only been under her big toe for a few
seconds, he knew he wouldn’t survive a whole day.
At the peak of her step, Felix felt his whole world stop. Everything began to shatter once her foot started to
descend. Felix’s head spun, and Katie’s toe slammed into his body as her foot hit the floor. The process repeated
several times. It was especially excruciating for Felix. His body would feel like it was on the worst ride of his life, then
his head would bang against the bottom of her insole, and at the same time the putrid toe would crash down on him.
He felt like he was going to pop. How was a young girl’s toe doing this to him? Tears flowed down his eyes
from the pain. Every step caused him to scream, but every scream was muffled by the thick cotton sock. Then came
the stairs—the worst experience Felix had gone through in his entire life. It was a rapid succession of Katie’s foot
being raised and slammed down on top of him. His mind went numb, letting his body be assaulted by the onslaught
Katie’s toe brought.
She landed on the floor with a stomp. This forced Felix’s mind back to what was happening to his body. He
was sweating profusely, or maybe it was Katie’s foot sweat that was drenching him. It was so hot in the shoe. What
was going to kill him first? Would he die of a stroke? Would he be crushed to dust under Katie’s toe? Or would he end
up drowning in sweat?
Felix didn’t want to think of the idea that Katie might have gym class. Part of him wished that she didn’t, that
he would have an easy day as she sat in a chair for 8 periods. Another part of him wished for a quick death. No, a
large part of him did. The only reason he didn’t want to die was because of how degrading his death would be, but
even that part of him was smaller.
His throat started to hurt from the screaming, as did his head from the trampling and crying. What would his
parents think? What about his sister? He didn’t want them to ever know about this. He wanted to be crushed by
Katie’s toe and flattened beyond recognition. He hated himself for where he was. He finally understood how worthless
he was, why Katie thought she could push them around the way she did. He was nothing.
Katie’s foot continued to rise and slam down. Was she putting any thought into her movements? Felix never
once thought about the strides he took. Katie was taking each step without thinking even a little bit about how much
pressure she put down or considering the tinies inside.
Felix wondered how Connie and Sofia were doing. Despite being right next to him, Felix didn’t have the
strength to move his body to check on Sofia. She was supposed to keep him safe, but how could anyone save him
from this? His body continued to be beaten and bruised by Katie’s toe, and she wasn’t even trying to hurt him.
Things got really heavy for a second. All of Katie’s weight was being supported by her one foot. The
pressure was relieved for a moment, but Katie soon returned to her normal walking style. After a few more steps,
Felix again felt himself suspended in the air. Except this time her foot didn’t go back down all the way.
Felix heard the sound of an engine, and then felt a little nauseous. Was Katie on a bus? She really was on
her way to school with Felix shrunk and in her shoe.
Feeling the pain consume him in the same way the toe did, Felix couldn’t help but resume his crying. He
surprisingly clung onto the toe, pressing his face into it. It was so humid and damp. He felt a gentle hand grasp at his
shoulder. He turned and swatted at it, thinking it was another thing out to hurt him.
It was Sofia. “Are you done crying yet?” Despite being in the same situation Felix was in, she didn’t look
battered or scared at all. While Felix’s face was red and soaked in tears and sweat, hers was dry and pale.
“Kill me…” Felix begged, weeping to himself. He shut his eyes and laid his head on the well-worn insole below.
“Emma made me promise something to her once.” Sofia said. Katie’s foot twitched, and she scrunched her toes to
feel where her tinies were. “When I was first brought here, I told her that next time Katie picked us up and put us on
her desk or drawer, I was going jump off and kill myself.” Her voice was so calm and soothing. You’d never know she
was almost crushed to death beneath Katie’s pinkie toe. “Do you want to know what she told me?”
Felix forced snot back up his nose. He nodded, staring up at the girl. She couldn’t be older than he was, she actually
looked a little younger than Katie.
“She told me that no matter what we did, no matter how well trained or behaved we were, that we were all going to
die here. None of us were making it out of here, not alive.”
Katie flexed her toes, trying to find where her one slave had gone. Sofia made sure to stay out of its way. Felix shook
his head. “Is that supposed to cheer me up?” He clenched his fist. “I don’t want to spend another second here. I don’t
care if I’ll die eventually, I want to die now.” The two could feel Katie place her foot back on the bus floor.
“You idiot.” Sofia said in the driest tone imaginable. “This isn’t about your death. It’s about Emma’s. She was right,
she died. And if I don’t go back under Katie’s toe, I’ll die too.”
Out of nowhere, Katie brought her weight down on Felix, pressing her toe into him with great force. He screamed, but
Sofia’s face didn’t change.
“Do you know what’s happening? Katie is squishing you to threaten me to get back under her toes. She really will kill
you, and then I’ll probably be killed for making her do that. I’m willing to let her kill the two of us if you want, and I’ll let
you die. I don’t mind, because I want to die too.”
Felix felt like his head was going to burst. Sofia’s arm slid under the toe, and she pulled Felix’s hand out with hers.
She had no hope of pulling him out, but she wasn’t trying to.
“But if I die, who will remember Emma? Or Mia, or Moritz or Charlotte? Who will remember Elias and Connie after
they’re gone?”
Felix spit up blood. It splattered on his stretched out arm and sole below. “Please, h—” He coughed up more. The
toe’s pressure was only getting harder.
“Make me a promise.” Sofia smiled. “Promise me that you’ll keep living. Not for yourself, but for the rest of us. So
someone can remember what we had to do to keep those before us alive. If you want to die I’ll let you, and I can
forget about you too. But one day, someone might escape from this hell. Until then, won’t you fight with us to stay
alive?”
Katie wriggled her toe on top of Felix. Half his face sunk into her sock, leaving only the other half visible to Sofia. He
couldn’t speak. His throat was torn to shreds from the screaming, and he couldn’t capture enough breath to form any
words. But he squeezed Sofia’s hand in his.
“Okay.” Sofia’s hand slid out of his, leaving it to fall to the floor. She inched her way to the other side of the shoe and
slid under Katie’s pinkie toe. Sofia planted a kiss on the fabric of Katie’s sock. Instantly, all the weight on Felix was
lifted and transferred to Sofia. She screamed, having Katie’s pinkie toe drilled into her ribcage.
Felix couldn’t watch. The bus ride to school would be over soon, although he didn’t know how long. All he could do
was lay there and wait and listen to Sofia scream. He had a long day ahead of him.