Thomas found himself in the middle of a forest. A dark, dank, brown forest filled with dirt, debris, dead insects, and other assorted crud that gets stuck to people's shoes. He said it once more to confirm that what he just thought was true. He was the same size, no, smaller, than the dirt that gets stuck to shoes. And he was now in a dirty mat that collects all of this. He truly was no longer human, he was a simple piece of dirt. And not even a big piece. 

There were hills made up of hardened dirt that had fallen from the shoes above that blocked a lot of the pathways between the rug strands. It was amazing how dirty this had gotten already. The employees were supposed to vacuum these mats every night, but it was already filling with crud. It scared Thomas, wondering just how much more dirt could fill this place in. And what if he was stuck here until night? What if someone started to vacuum this mat before he could escape? Thomas didn't want that to happen. But how was he supposed to get out of this? Craning his neck all the way, he was barely able to see the location of the front door, so to get inside he just has to go opposite that, right? Except down in the mat, everything looked the same, plus the paths were all cluttered, he couldn't just go straight. He could try and climb on top of the strands? They were made of a fiber of some sort, and he was certainly small enough to climb them. Yeah, he would try that.

Climbing the strand was much harder than he thought. Being placed at the front entrance, the area got a lot of traffic. As such, Thomas had to deal with a steady stream of people coming in and out, with the door shaking the area each time, causing Thomas to lose his balance. And of course when people stepped on the mat things shook like crazy. Thankfully, the strands were strong enough to support the weight of people, so the strands weren't instantly crushed to the bottom, but the higher he got, the more vulnerable he was. But he was finally able to reach the top. The strand wasn't all one thing, rather a combination of many, small strands, so at his size he found it hard to really stay atop one, but he managed for the second he was up there. Once he was settled a giant force pressed down on him, sending him plummeting back down into the depths of the mat, landing on the giant mound of dirt before rolling off. He was helpless as fresh dirt clods, all of them the same size or bigger than him, rained down from above all around him. 

One of the dirt clods had landed on Thomas, but fortunately for him, it was a smaller one, only about the size of him, and was relatively easy to move as it was a nice sphere shape. Still, he pushed it off of him and only proceeded to get mad at it. He was really made at his predicament. This was really the first time Thomas actually had any control over his situation, but here he was, stuck at the bottom of some disgusting mat filled with shoe dirt. He instinctively looked at the bottom of his own shoe. That was him. That's what he was. It was ridiculous. And even after he managed to finally get out of the first of strands, he was easily and instantly knocked back down to the depths because of someone taking a single step. Thomas was taking out his anger on the dirt ball in front of him, until he had calmed down, and started thinking things over rationally again.

Yes, his situation was terrible. Yes, he was probably screwed. But he was able to move, and that was more than he could say for the rest of the day. He had control over his body. And his actions. And he was in a place where the people who had no idea of his existence couldn't step on him once more. And he was no longer outside. Thomas did the one thing he wasn't able to do before: Think about his next move, as it was his to make. It would be hard to think as dirt continued to rain from above, but he tried nonetheless.

Thomas was once again climbing the strands. His plan was probably bad, but he thought of it himself and that was enough for him. This time Thomas climbed up near the center of the strand, having to climb inside of the tiny threads it was made up of, but this way, he would be much more secure if someone stepped down on him again. Once up top, he would look for the exit, and make his way over there. Thomas had to get seen, but there was absolutely no way he would be seen when below the strands of the mat, so his first order of business was getting out of here. Of course, all of this was meaningless, as fate just loved to taunt Thomas. Crashing down right in front of the mat were the shoes of Danielle, as was another dustpan, and in her hands one of the small straw brooms used to clean mats in the dining area. She had some to clear the various leaves and debris on top of the mat, the same place Thomas now was. Thomas cursed at himself at his terrible luck.

A terrible, grating scratching noise assaulted Thomas' ears as Danielle brushed the broom about the top of the mat. He was rather annoyed at himself. If he had stayed below the top for a few moments longer, he would be safe from the broom, but now he was a prime target. And it soon took over him. The grating noise rushed up behind Thomas as he felt his entire body bombarded and pushed by the straw broom, sending him flying. He could picture it already. He was going to be sent flying right in front of the dustpan, and once again be brushed up inside of it. And once again be dumped inside of the trash. Thomas was getting really annoyed with the trash. No one should ever have to be inside a trash can once in their life. Thomas would have been inside three, in one day. Thomas cursed once more as he landed hard. Except it wasn't where he thought it would be.

Thomas now found himself at the very edge of the mat, looking outwards to the open floor. Of course, a lot of his view was currently being blocked by Danielle's shoe, but it was the open floor nonetheless. It turns out the broom had tossed him to the exact spot he was wanting to go. Looks like things were working out for him after all. First he had to get out of the mat, then find a place to hide until Danielle passed. Starting to feel happy again, Thomas made to get out of the mat. But his happiness was gone once he realized he couldn't move. Thomas looked at his legs, and to his horror, found they had been jammed into a large clod of dirt. Though to a normal person, it would appear as a small piece of dirt. He tried to force them out, but at his size, he simply was not strong enough. Thomas now had to stare out at the open floor as he was stuck in a stupid piece of dirt. 

Legs trapped in their prison, Thomas could do little but watch as Danielle swept the leaves and debris from the mat into the dustpan as her shoes moved about. At one point, her enormous shoe landed right on the spot Thomas and the dirt clod where at. He begged to anyone listening to not let the dirt get stuck in her tread. He really didn't want to deal with that. And he didn't. Her shoe lifted off and he found himself in the same predicament, legs trapped, but otherwise safe. He watched as Danielle left leaving him alone once more.

He wasn't alone for long though, as a giant object fell right beside him, scaring him. He didn't have time to calm down as a giant fleshy wall smashed into the dirt clod he was stuck in, and he found himself rising. And rising. And rising. Then lowering. Then swinging back and forth. Thomas was getting dizzy. As it turns out, the object that had fallen was some girl's phone, and as she went to pick it up, he finger brushed into the mat, and took with it a small piece of dirt. She was completely unaware that this small dirt clod was stuck to her finger, so there was no way she would notice the even small human being stuck inside of the dirt. But he wasn't human anyway. 

While stuck to this girls finger, and in between the movement she was making, Thomas saw something that would change his entire demeanor. Entering into the door right now was his girlfriend Rose. While hard to tell with the constant motion, Thomas was sure. It was Rose, and she was here. She had come to ask if anyone had seen him. Little did she know, he was closer than she even thought, as she stepped behind the girl whose finger was holding the piece of dirt with Thomas on it. 

Thomas knew for a fact that it would achieve absolutely nothing, but he did so anyway. He couldn't help himself. He had to try. Thomas started screaming out Rose's name and waving his arms back and forth trying to get her attention. But nothing happened. He noticed her take a quick glance down at his position, and went wild screaming at her, but he quickly looked back seeing nothing of interest. The girl whose finger he was stuck to walked up to the register and started to order. As she did so, he brushed her fingers together and knocked a piece of dirt off onto the counter. 

Thomas felt himself free falling as he and the dirt clod fell into the hard counter. Thankfully, it broke apart and freed Thomas was the prison. Collecting himself, Thomas saw the girl move away, and Rose approach the register. Here she was. He was literally right in front of her. Right below her at waist level. He could do this. If anyone would notice him, it would be Rose. Thomas was going to be saved. He once again started to scream her name and wave his arms. It was still futile, however, as he was simply much to small. The only reaction he got from Rose was the simple action her putting her hand on the counter, nearly crushing Thomas with it. 

Thomas started crying while waving his arms. She had to notice him. It couldn't end like this. She was just playing with him. Yeah, that was it. She knew he was right next to her and was messing with him. Any second now she would look down and rescue him from this hell. Any  second now...Except, it didn't happen. The truth was Rose had absolutely no idea the very person she was looking for was right next to her. Quite literally, right next to her finger. If Thomas had actually done something, he might have been able to make her look down in his direction...but maybe he truly was just that insignificant? Either way, it was too late now, as Rose had no idea she was about to cause hell for the very person she was looking for. 

With one motion, Rose placed her finger tip flat on the counter, and inadvertently crushed Thomas in the process. Thomas was now physically touching Rose! This was it. This, he knew, was his chance. He opened his mouth as wide as he could while under her finger, and took the biggest bite he could of into her skin. And absolutely nothing happened. Rose felt nothing on her finger tip as Thomas bit once more. He truly meant nothing to her now. Not even worthy of an irritation on her skin. And with one subtle motion, Thomas found himself being flicked away from Rose, towards the other side of the counter, to his coworkers once more. Thomas slid across the counter until he was once more stopped by being pressed under the fleshy skin of his coworkers finger.

Rose had entered into the building and went to one of the cashiers there. She inquired about Thomas, and if anyone had seen him, but got nothing. Maybe he didn't come here after all? But if so, then where was he? She would have to keep looking. But first, she was thirsty. She was worried, no doubt, but needs like that come first, and since she was here anyway...Rose decided to purchase a smoothie. They had pretty good ones here, Thomas always got them, she wanted to try one herself now. It reminded her of him. As she was ordering, one of the associates came up to behind the cashier and saw the drink, and then went over to make it. 

Thomas was pressed into his coworkers finger and noticed he was stuck. He wasn't sure why or how, but he was stuck to her finger and was now being dragged away from Rose. He screamed out one more time in vain. Grace, meanwhile, had yet to wash her hands from the last time she made drinks just a few seconds ago, and thus still had some sticky residue on her fingers. She would wash that off soon. Seeing that this girl had just ordered a smoothie, she went to prepare it, getting the puree mix and yogurt from the fridge. She got the blender, poured in the correct amount of puree, tossed in some yogurt and ice, and set it to blend.

Thomas was going all over the place while stuck to this girls finger. He still wasn't even sure who it was since everything was moving too fast. He thought she went to grab something from the fridge, as the temperature got cold for a second, but he wasn't sure. All of his questions would be answered soon, as in a couple seconds Thomas found himself hovering over an open blender with an pink ocean inside - the smoothie mix. Of course, now was the time Thomas felt himself peeling from his coworkers finger as he started to free fall into the ocean and land with a nice splash. 

Thomas was instantly covered in the pink, gooey smoothie mix, already making the impossible to see speck even harder to find in the mess. Looking up, he saw who he was stuck to, as the uncaring face of Grace looked down at him as if he didn't exist. Her face was replaced with a giant mound of white as the scoops of yogurt dropped into the blender. The first scoop missed Thomas, but created a large splash sending mix everywhere. The second scoop splashed right next to Thomas sending him careening into the side of the blender. It didn't end yet as he looked up once more to see a mountain of hard, rocky ice cubes drop into the blender, scraping up against the side and dragging him down into the ocean below. Thomas looked up to see one last glance of Grace as she put the top onto the blender, and set it on the machine. 

This was it, Thomas thought. This was how he was going to die. He knew he had survived a lot of things before this, but this was a blender of all things. He would be torn to shreds and the person drinking this would....The realization hit Thomas. Grace was making a drink for a customer, and the last customer Thomas saw in line was....Rose. No, that wasn't possible. He screamed one more time as Grace hit the button, and sent Thomas into a whirling hell.

Grace waited until the blender stopped, and then took it out of the machine. She got the cup ready, and pour all of the smoothie into the cup, and placed a lid on it. She grabbed a straw from the container, and called it out, giving it to the girl known as Rose.