Anna had been a bit hesitant about taking a trip to the spa with her friends. Although tiny spas were becoming more and more common after the shrinking virus became widespread, she just did not think it was right. The aspiring pre-law student had been an activist for tiny rights and wanted to make sure that society did not turn its back on them.

It was only after some prodding from her friend Susan, that Anna had relented. The sorority sisters had a coupon to try out the spa and were planning the trip as a social event. Susan had also assured her friend that the spa had recently won an award for treating tinies with dignity while providing them with gainful employment.

Both girls had advocated for tiny rights, but Susan had been much more focused on finding opportunities for them to contribute to society rather than simply relying on government handouts . Small or not, Susan knew that tiny people still wanted to maintain their pride and dignity, and that simply was not possible relying on government aid.

The sorority sisters arrived at Endless Relaxation right on time. As they walked into the spa, more members of the sorority followed them.  In total, twenty girls had signed up for a day of pampering, which was to celebrate their successful charitable work from the previous school semester.  Megan Collins, the sorority president, had worked out a discount with the spa that provided all sorts of treatments - manicure, pedicure, massage, waxing and a makeup treatment.  Afterwards the girls were going to their sorority formal.

Anna was a little nervous as an attendant took her back for a massage.  While she had been to a spa many times, she had never been to a tiny spa. She was a bit uncomfortable knowing that tiny people would be slaving away for her throughout the experience.

The attendant attempted to make Anna comfortable and provided her with a luxurious robe to wear once she had removed most of her clothing.

Once Anna was settled, the woman asked her, "Would you like a mimosa while you wait for your masseuse?"

"Ummmm... yes," she managed to stammer. "Also I was wondering if I could just get a traditional massage?"

"A traditional massage?"

"Yes. So like a massage without any tinies."

An awkward silence followed as the spa attendant gave Anna a confused look.

"Look, I know your spa is known for tinies. I'm just not personally that comfortable with it.  I don't want to make things awkward."

"I understand Miss," she finally managed to reply. I will let your masseuse know your preferences.

The woman left, shutting the door behind her. For the first time since she had arrived, Anna felt a bit more relaxed.  She had expressed her wishes clearly in a manner that would not create any issues for the spa.  After all, she did not want to bring any negative attention to the small business.  Although Anna was not personally comfortable having a tiny serve her in such a manner, she did recognize the value that work provided them.

Lost in her thoughts, Anna hardly noticed when the attendant returned with her mimosa. "Miss, your masseuse is running a few minutes behind. I apologize for the delay."

Thanking the woman, Anna took the drink.  She was still a bit tense and it helped calm her nerves. Hopping up on the table, Anna took stock of the massage room.   It was decorated to create a relaxing oasis free from the outside world. Deep maroon walls gave the room a welcomed warmth.  Hues of yellows, oranges, and reds were reflected through the hanging oil lamps creating a subtle ambient glow.  A hint of lavender with a tinge of vanilla mixed with the aromas of the spa oils and lotions the place was known for.  Complementing the pleasant scent, soothing music played softly from hidden speakers in the walls.

Everything was designed to help the customer relax, and Anna definitely felt a sense of calm as she placed her drink down before lying down on the massage table. School had been incredibly stressful this semester. She needed this. Moments after closing her eyes, Anna drifted off to sleep...

Some time later, Anna awoke to bright lights and familiar voices. Although she was certain she had only drifted off for a few minutes her head was spinning.

"So like how does this work?"

"Well with normal instruments we are able to do a lot, but with tinies, we can get your skin even smoother. They are able to find and remove spots that I miss during the pedicure."

"Is it true that they use their mouth?"

"Yes, your dead skin is highly nutritious, and the tinies tell me it tastes delicious."

"That is so gross." As Anna began to regain her senses, she recognized that voice. It was Beth Marks, a junior in her sorority.

"I know, seriously." Giggles quickly followed, but Anna recognized the other girl as Zoe Henderson, Beth's best friend.

"Well I tend to agree, but as I already said our tinies seem to love it. Also it feels incredible." Anna couldn't recognize the third voice, but she assumed it must be someone who worked at the spa.

With her vision a bit blurry, Anna really couldn't make much sense of her surroundings. This ultimately made the next sensation all the more terrifying. She suddenly felt herself being picked up.  The ease and speed at which she found her bound transported was completely disorienting.

"There you go. I will let the tinies get to work while I get some of our special lotion."

In front of Anna, she could make out a large shape. It was blurry in appearance but easily multiple times bigger than herself. She blinked her eyes several times to see if that would help while her nose detected cinnamon wafting through the air.  It appeared to be coming from the object.

"Oh my god, this is amazing. Zoe I can feel her mouth on my foot. It's incredible."

The attendant smiled as she continued preparing her other instruments. She'd never had a customer who disliked the experience of a tiny cleaning her feet. They didn't just love it. The customers were almost always hooked for life.

"I don't feel anything," replied Zoe.

"Seriously, Zoe. I can't believe you're not loving this."

Anna was hardly paying attention to the girls as her vision started to clear. Although she could now see things clearly her mind was having a hard time processing it. The object sitting in front of her was a gigantic foot. It wasn't just any foot, it was Zoe's foot. Her mind struggled to process what was happening, but she couldn't accept the reality of the situation. Somehow, Anna had shrunk.

When the shrinking virus had originally struck, it had devastated the population, but once a vaccine had been created cases all but disappeared. Unlike most emerging diseases, the shrinking virus was a strand of DNA, not RNA. This made it incredibly stable and prevented it from mutating. Sure cases of the virus still plagued the third world, but in rich countries everyone for the most part had been vaccinated.

While Anna's mind tried to grasp her predicament the attendant reached over and flicked her with her finger.  At full size, Anna would have barely felt this.  Anna, however, was not full size.  The flick slammed into her back with tremendous force pushing Anna right into Zoe's wrinkled foot. The tiny woman struggled to breathe for several moments as her body collapsed to its knees.

Anna looked over at Beth's foot and noticed that a tiny woman was busy eating the dead skin.  It was disgusting.  Even if Zoe's foot was clean, Anna had no desire to chew the dead skin off it. The tiny college girl could not bring herself to do it.

"I think my tiny must be defective or sick or something. I can feel her up against my foot, but she isn't doing anything."

"I'm terribly sorry, Miss.  Sometimes our tinies are a bit lazy. They don't appreciate all the benefits our spa is providing them." The attendant glared down at Anna.

Anna could feel her stare as she faced Zoe's gigantic foot.  She didn't want to do this, but in another minute she was going to be flicked by the attendant again.  Could she really chew the dead skin off this girl's foot?

She didn't have long to decide.  Anna felt the attendant's finger against her back, pressing her body against the customer's foot.  The woman's well maintained nail began to dig into her sensitive skin as the pressure increased. Anna's mind desperately searched for a way out, but the pain was beginning to become unbearable.  She knew what she needed to do to end the pain.  She had to begin chewing off the dead skin.

With a deep breath, Anna opened her mouth and took a small bite out of the dead skin on Zoe's foot.  The taste was even worse than she had expected, but the pressure from the attendant's finger on her back was too much to bear.  Anna forced herself to continue chewing and swallowing the skin, trying not to gag.

"Omg... that is unbelievable." Zoe spoke from above as Anna continued to slave away at her feet. "Beth you were right. I've never felt anything like this."

As Anna continued her disgusting task, she began to feel the pressure on her back dissipate.  While this provided an immediate relief, it did not end her suffering.  Anna had traded her dignity to save herself from pain.  This left her conflicted as she continued with her humiliating task.  She was stuck there, chewing away at the foot of her sorority sister, feeling utterly defeated.

Lost in her own thoughts, the tiny pumice stone didn't even notice when the girl above her switched feet. The entire experience left her completely dazed. It was only when the attendant picked her up and placed Anna back in the container that reality began to set in.

"What were you thinking?" It took the shrunken sorority girl a minute to realize that the question had actually been directed at her. The other tiny who had been working on Beth's feet was talking to her.

She finally managed to reply, "What do you mean? I didn't want to do that."

"It doesn't matter what you want to do.  We work here.  Look, you need to get your head straight.  There are far worse fates for tinies."

"Worse than cleaning feet." Anna rolled her eyes.

"Yes, worse than cleaning feet.  This spa actually pays us.  That money goes to my family.  I was a single mom.  When I shrank, I didn't know what was going to happen to my kids.  The spa sends the money to my sister who is taking care of them."

"There has to be something better than this.  I mean that experience was revolting."

"Well there isn't, and I can assure you that we are very fortunate.  Two of my friends simply disappeared.  No one cares about tinies.  The minute I shrank, my life insurance policy became void.  If something happens to me, my kids are on their own.  This may be awful, but at least I know I'm supporting them."

Anna felt bad for the woman, but she was not ready to give up.  Even if she had somehow contracted a case of the virus, she could not imagine spending the rest of her life in this place performing these actions.  She needed to get the attention of someone who might at least know her.  Even if she was condemned to spend the rest of her life as a tiny, she wanted to make sure she was cared for by her family.

Suddenly Anna felt herself being picked up again before being placed on a foot. This time, however, it appeared she had been switched to Beth. Apparently the nail tech paid the tinies so little attention that she had intermixed them.

"Now ladies, in order to give you the perfect pedicure the tinies will remove any mistakes that I may not have detected.  This is why so many people rave about our spa. Our attention to detail leaves you completely satisfied."

Anna noticed that sitting near her on the foot was a small filing type instrument.  Looking over at the other tiny woman, it became apparent to Anna that she was to go from toe to toe carefully fixing the nail tech's work.

The tiny sorority girl felt a wave of disgust wash over her. She didn't want to be touching someone else's feet, let alone clean up their pedicure mistakes.  But the memory of the attendant's finger pressing into her back made her quickly reconsider.  She took a deep breath and began working on the first toe.  It was difficult to do with the tiny instrument, but she managed to do a decent job.

The task was tedious and Anna had to concentrate hard to not mess up the delicate work.  She could hear Beth talking to Zoe above her, whispering excitedly about the experience.  Anna tried to tune them out, focusing solely on her task.  As she worked, she couldn't help but think about her previous life. She had been a senior in college, with the world at her fingertips.  Now, she was a tiny, living out a life of servitude to those who barely noticed her.

By the time both tinies were done with their task, Anna was completely exhausted. The nail tech picked both of them up and placed them back in their container. She treated the two women just like her other pedicure instruments. They were not humans but simply another tool to get the job done.

"Well ladies, that wraps up your pedicure.  Please sit back and relax in the massage chair for the next fifteen minutes while the polish dries.  In the meantime, is there anything else I can get you? A mimosa perhaps?"

"Yes, can I buy some of that amazing lotion you used earlier?"

"I'm afraid that is another part of our treatment that you can only get here," the attendant replied.

Zoe appeared disappointed but pressed on a bit. "It really felt amazing.  The lotion tingled when you put it on my feet.  I've never experienced anything quite like it before. Now my feet feel like butter."

Anna grimaced. Her feet might feel like butter but they certainly didn't taste like butter.

"I agree. It feels incredible. One of the perks of my job is that I have access to use it whenever I want. Unfortunately we just don't have enough to sell it to the general public."

Beth chimed in, "That just makes me want to get some even more. What's your secret?"

The attendant paused cleaning up her space for a second before whispering. "I don't have all the details, but from what the other girls have told me, the lotion is made with tinies."

"Tinies?"

"Yes, tinies. As you can imagine this work can be quite demanding, and well not every tiny survives. When that happens, let's just say they get recycled.  It really goes well with our all natural approach."

Anna hadn't really been paying much attention to the banter, but suddenly she was very focused. The other tiny seemed oblivious to things or had simply stopped caring.

Anna, however, felt her blood run cold. She had heard rumors about such practices before, but she had always dismissed them as urban legends.  But now, hearing the attendant's words, Anna couldn't deny the truth anymore.  She felt sick to her stomach, thinking about the possibility of being turned into lotion.

As the attendant finished up and left the room, Anna lay in the container, feeling completely defeated.  She didn't know what to do.  The sorority girl couldn't continue living like this, but she also couldn't imagine a way out.  She was trapped, tiny and powerless. One thing was clear. She needed to get help before things got completely out of hand.