David gauged his environment; by his estimate, he was no bigger than 1/4 of an inch tall. How could his have happened?!

     Not knowing what to do, David tried to remain calm to better contemplate the situation. His tiny body was currently in the middle of the living room carpet, stranded between the coffee table and one of the lounge chairs. The eggshell-colored carpet fibers nearly came up to his chest, and the ceiling looked miles away. 

     David examined himself: even the underwear and tank-top he had been wearing had shrunk! Whatever had happened to him was, at the very least, an area effect. It also meant that it had to be something in the environment, or something that he’d come into contact with.

     Unfortunately, before he could make any further sense of the situation, David could hear footsteps coming up the wooden staircase to the deck outside his second story apartment; he knew in an instant who it was when he heard keys jingling as they were being inserted into the lock, along with doorknob jostling: Kelly!

     Kelly stepped into her apartment, tired after a long day at work, her feet hurting slightly from walking around all day. Fortunately, she’d worn her flip-flops that morning, which had cushioned her every footstep as she went about her business at the office throughout the day. She kicked them off just inside the door, unaware she had just performed an act that would ultimately save her husband’s life, yet set in motion the series of events that would follow.

     “Kelly!” David shouted up, frantically waving his arms and jumping up and down, desperate to get his wife’s attention. “Kelly, down here! Honey, I’m down here! I’ve SHRUNK! Kelly, help me!”     

     Unfortunately, David had no way of knowing his shouts were in vain: his voice was currently too small to be audible to the normal human ear.

     Meanwhile, Kelly, still oblivious to the situation, walked into the living room, heading towards the master bedroom to change out of her work clothes and into something more comfortable.

     David was screaming frantically for Kelly’s attention as she approached, watching in horror as her giant, right foot lifted into the air and headed right for him.

     “EEK!” he squeaked in fear as the huge foot slammed to the floor just to his right, narrowly avoiding stepping on him. “KELLY! DON’T SQUISH ME!”

     Kelly had no idea she’d almost crushed her tiny husband as she walked by, completely unaware of his shrunken fate. She was about halfway across the living room when she suddenly stopped and turned around, her giant figure heading back in his direction.

     “KELLY!” David screamed as he fell over prone on the carpet. “DON’T STEP ON ME! AAAA—!”

     Kelly’s left foot came down right on top of him; luckily, he’d ended up under her arch, once again dodging a bullet. The huge foot quickly lifted off him as his wife continued walking into the kitchen. Kelly quickly grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before walking back into the living room again, her bare feet barreling towards her tiny husband once again.

     “KELLY! NOOOOOO!”

     This time, however, David’s luck ran out! His shouts were completely cut off as his wife’s right foot came down right on top of him again; this time, trapping him beneath her toes. As Kelly stepped forward and lifted her foot, she nonchalantly scrunched her toes, unknowingly grabbing and scooping her tiny husband up in between her second and third digits. 

     David was now trapped, taken for a frightening ride between Kelly’s toes.