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Hooligans in the Park

The birds outside the apartment window chirped, frolicking in the trees and otherwise enjoying the warm and sunny morning. Winston could hear them all the way from the bathroom of his apartment, where he was currently grooming himself via the mirror inside of it. His face was completely clean-shaven, just how he liked it, and his very short black hair had been nicely brushed.

He walked into his bedroom, and once inside, he stared at his laptop computer, sitting atop the computer desk in the corner. Today was a Sunday, and it was his only day off from his job that week. He could use the time to work on the game that he had been trying to get into for a while, with not much progress done on his save file. However, right next to the mousepad was a science-fiction book that he had bought: "Earth's Cry". He had started it the night before, and was already hooked by the time he finished the first chapter. Though he had procrastinated with the game that he had paid full price for at launch for too long, he could not resist reading more of how "Earth's Cry" unfolded. Furthermore, it was such a nice day outside that it'd be a waste to spend it inside all day playing video games.

"Well, that's that, then," he said to himself.

Going into his closet, he grabbed a brown short-sleeved button-down shirt, and then to his dresser where inside one of the drawers, he found a pair of blue jeans. After putting them both on, he looked down towards the floor, and noticed his size 13 bare feet protruding from his jeans.

"Oh, right..." He remembered that he currently had no clean pair of socks. Not much of a problem, he thought, as he went on his hands and knees to look under his bed for a pair of shoes.

He had a number of them: red and white running shoes, black skater shoes, his work shoes, heavy brown boots and black boots, black formal shoes, and brown leather flip-flops. The flip-flops, he thought as his eyes locked on them. He had bought them at his college friend's suggestion, though he did not wear them outside much. Since he currently had no socks, those would be the perfect shoes for him. However, he knew that it could draw unwanted attention; it was uncommon for Black males--especially straight Black males--to wear flip-flops, or sandals in general, especially in his present environment. Most opted for socks with slides.

Winston considered just wearing one of his other shoes instead, but ultimately decided on the flip-flops. He knew that he risked being made fun of, like what happened last time, but today was a Sunday. Most people in this area were in church or still in bed at this time of day, so he felt that he wouldn't run into too much trouble. Besides, it seemed almost like a waste to not get much use out of them.

"For you, Spence," he said as he reached for them.

After sliding them onto his feet, he grabbed his book, his smartphone, and his keys, before placing them into his leather bag and walking out of his apartment.


Winston stepped out of his complex's doorway and headed onto the sidewalk. From there, he made his way towards his destination: a park in a moderately-forested area. As expected the streets were not as busy as they were before, but there were still a number of people going about their own business and paying little attention to him. Good so far, he thought.

After walking the distance of five city blocks, he came across the offshoot trail that lead into a dense batch of trees. Walking it, the concrete path went on, curving through the small woods until it reached a large clearing surrounded by trees, with the trail curving around the area in a somewhat circular fashion. There were several wooden benches near the path, as well as picnic tables and stationary barbecue pits in the center of the area.

The area was empty, devoid of all human life. This was great, as this meant that Winston could enjoy his book in peace, with nothing but the sounds of nature as his backdrop. Walking along the trail, he headed for the second bench some distance away and sat down upon it as after reaching it. Placing his bag on the bench next to him, he opened it up and withdrew "Earth's Cry" from within. He had no bookmark, but as he had only finished the first chapter, he didn't need one; he quickly found his place in the book and continued to read.

"Earth's Cry" told the story of an Earth in the near future, suffering from overpopulation, excess, and corruption by the mid-21st century. Everything changed when a race of giants--giant women, for some odd reason--suddenly arrived on Earth and began to slaughter and enslave humankind. The story picks up some two decades after the invaders'--or, the "Queens", as they are called--took over the planet, and follows the adventures of a rogue Queen named Merle who turned against the rest of her kind to fight for humanity's freedom. ...It was actually quite a violent book. Some humans were crushed underfoot by the Queens and mangled beyond recognition, some were eaten alive, and even the battles between Merle and the Queens were described in a bit of a gory fashion, since she wielded a sword.

Not that gore bothered Winston. In fact, the book reminded him more of an action cartoon or anime.

"They should have made this a graphic novel," Winston mused as he read on.

An hour or so passed, and despite coming off as somewhat preachy on the nature of humanity, he was completely immersed in the world of this post-apocalyptic Earth. He had finally completed the fifth chapter, in which Merle and her human companion Trey met up with a hidden colony of human survivors, before he heard noise. Human noise. The sound of loud talking and laughing from the direction in which he had arrived.

"Great, that was fun while it lasted," Winston said to himself. Though he was enjoying the peace and quiet of this enclosed park, he knew that it'd only be a matter of time before other people showed up. He was just hoping that they wouldn't be rowdy.

The voices became louder, and it sounded as if it belonged to a group, two females and one male. Winston tried to get back to reading his book, but he found it difficult to concentrate as the group drew near and made its presence known. He looked towards where the noise was coming from, and in seconds, saw the group enter the area. Indeed, it consisted of two young women and a young man, all three of whom were Black and no older than 18 or 19.

"See?" One of the women, somewhat heavyset with braided hair dyed blond, said. "I knew someone was in here!" She was referring to Winston.

"Okay, and?" The other woman, possessing a lankier figure with straight black hair, responded. "He ain't nobody!"

He observed them, hoping that they'd cut across the grass and leave the area, or at least stay far away from him and leave him to his own devices. No, they walked the same trail that he had. In fact, it seemed as if they were approaching him, chatting with each other all the while occasionally shooting glances directly at him. That's more than what someone who was a "nobody" would get.

Winston considered getting up and leaving, but he felt that that could have drawn their attention even more. Perhaps he was overreacting, and they were just going to walk by. He did tend to overanalyze situations.

He decided to just try to continue reading his book.

The chatter drew closer and closer.

Winston tried to focus on "Earth's Cry" as much as he could.

He could see their shadows on the ground in the corner of his eye.

"What up, dawg?" the male said to him, his voice rather deep.

"Hey..." Winston greeted, trying to be cordial.

"What book you reading?" he asked.

"Oh, this?" Winston showed him the cover, featuring Merle with Trey standing on her shoulder while the two looked towards a sunset. "It's an action/sci-fi story called 'Earth's Cry'."

"Oh, I ain't never heard of that. It look whack."

'I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't read at all,' Winston thought to himself. "It's actually pretty good."

"Whatever, lemme ask you something else. Why you wearing those fruity-ass flip-flops?"

Upon saying that, his female companions burst out in a giggling fit. Winston sighed. 'Not again...' he thought. This was not the first time this had happened, but he had hoped that no one would cause him trouble like last time.

"Only girls suppose to wear them," the heavyset woman said between laughs.

"Don't nobody wanna see your nasty feet," the dark-haired woman chimed in.

"Yeah, what's wrong with you?" The guy asked. "You shoulda known people would be talkin' about it."

"I didn't wear these to make a statement or anything," Winston responded. "And I don't need to justify myself to you."

The trio was taken aback by Winston's rebuke.

"I can tell you ain't no real nigga," the dark-haired woman said.

"Okay...?" Winston was becoming agitated.

"Yeah, you in here readin' and talkin' proper and shit, and you dressed like a fool," the guy said.

'Says the guy sagging his shorts,' Winston thought to himself, noting the male hooligan's baggy shorts well below his waist.

"Hey..." the heavyset woman said to her companions. "Maybe he a fag."

The three burst out laughing at this. Winston simply shook his head and rolled his eyes. Of course they'd pull the "F-card", he thought.

"He do look like one," the dark-haired woman said.

"Hey, gay faggit," the guy said. "You like sucking dick?"

The two women laughed again. Winston did not answer. In truth, he was considering his options; should he wait for them to get their insults out of their system and leave, or should he just leave himself? Though if he did leave, there was the chance that they would follow him and continue hurling insults at him.

There was always his special ability, his "ace in the hole", so to speak. However, he did not want to use it unless he really had to, and it was not one he felt comfortable using in public.

"Hey, you heard me?" The guy said, stepping a bit closer and becoming more belligerent. "Answer the question!"

Winston did not want to give this man a straight answer; it was not like it was any concern of his either way. "Would it really matter to you if I did or didn't?"

"Ooh, he got a smart mouth," the heavyset woman commented.

"Hey, Andre," the dark-haired woman said to the guy. "Maybe you should beat his ass and get 'im to show some respect."

"Yeah, I feel you." Andre took a step closer to Winston. "I'mma ask you again, and if you don't answer the question, I'mma beat the shit out of you." Andre's stance became more aggressive, as if he fully intended to carry out his threat.

The situation was getting out of control. Winston didn't know if he was bluffing after all, or if Andre would attack him regardless of his response. Furthermore, at this point, trying to get up and leave the area may not calm the brute down enough to not become violent; in fact, he might interpret the act of just standing up to leave as a sign that Winston was going to fight back and therefore throw the first punch. Not only that, but part of him felt that his female companions would also jump in and pummel him into near-unconsciousness or worse. Winston also couldn't be sure that Andre wasn't also carrying a firearm, as his ilk often did, and that he wouldn't use it especially if the fight turned sour for him.

"Oh, so you WANT me to beat you, faggit!" Andre said as Winston pondered over this situation.

At this point, Winston knew he only had one choice.

He briefly looked around the area. The four of them were still the only ones present. 'Alright, then.' Winston thought.

"You brought this on yourselves," Winston said, before lifting his right index finger at the group.

The three were dumbfounded and a bit disturbed. Though Andre seemed to become angrier. "What the fuck are you-"

Before Andre could finish his sentence, a white bolt of sparkling light shot from his finger and enveloped the trio in a white glow. Then, they started to rapidly diminish in size, shrinking down to 4 feet, 2 feet, 1 foot, and so on--screaming and yelling all the while--until they reached an average size of just barely over an inch, before the shrinking process came to an end and the glowing disappeared from their bodies. Winston peered over to get a better look at the now bug-sized trio on the pavement below him. All three seemed somewhat dazed and confused, but that was to be expected, considering the new view of the world that they were currently taking in.

Closing his book and setting it on the bench between him and his bag, Winston stood up and walked a few mere steps towards the trio. No doubt that--from their perspective--they noticed him approaching; he must have looked like a tall skyscraper to them, never mind the deafening sounds of his approach. Andre and the heavyset woman seemed to recoil with each step he took; however, he noticed that the dark-haired woman bolted away in the opposite direction as soon as Winston stood from the bench. It was almost as if she sensed what was to come net and left her friends behind. 'Some friend,' he thought as he watched her run, before looking back down at the other two in front of his feet. 'Then again, maybe she was being smart.'

Winston and the remaining two hooligans stared each other down for a few seconds. In that moment, Winston felt like one of the giants in "Earth's Cry", looking down on creatures that are so beneath him that they were barely worth the dirt on the bottom of his shoes. The tiny duo backed away from him, yelling all the while; though their words were very faint to him and thus could not hear what they were saying, he knew that they were shouting up at him a perhaps-expletive-laden rant and demanding that he make them big again.

Not a chance, Winston thought as he flashed them a smirk before lifting his sandal-clad right foot from the ground and lowering it upon them. Even as he lifted his foot, they must have known what was next as they both started to run in the opposite direction, Andre much faster than his much more overweight companion, but in the end, it did not matter. Winston stomped down, catching both of them under the sole of his flip-flop and crushing them both underfoot with a wet crunch, silencing their screams in the process; with how small their bodies were, they were completely flattened almost instantly.

Winston grinded his foot as if he was putting out a cigarette, with each motion accompanied with a faint crunching noise as their frail forms were further demolished. After all, he did not want any future passerbys to tell that this mass once belonged to tiny humans. He kept twisting his foot until he could not tell whether the crunching he heard from beneath his foot was from their shattered bones or from the friction of his sole turning against the concrete. Then, he removed his foot, exposing the gooey splatter that was once human. Everything about the two--their bones, their organs, and their clothes--was all mashed together in nothing more than a deep red paste.

Some would say that what he had some was needlessly cruel, but Winston saw it more as a mercy kill, since they likely would not survive long in their shrunken states, and growing them back would have likely caused them to violently lash out at him. Besides, he didn't acquire his shrinking ability just to scare people and hope that they had gotten the message.

He then looked towards his third victim, still running away from him, or at least trying to. Due to her size, she had not made much headway towards wherever she was running. He considered stepping on her as well, but as he briefly looked back towards his bag, another thought flashed into his head.

He followed after her, reaching her in only a few steps. He could tell that she knew that he had caught up to her, as his shadow completely engulfed her entire body. She looked back at him and screamed before hasting her pace. Winston kneeled down and reached for her. Despite her speed, he managed to capture her in between his fingers and thumb, taking special care to not crush her between them. She continued to scream and shout, as her arms and legs flailed about as if they were trying to free her.

Winston brought her closer to his face, and in doing so was able to make out the mixture of both fear and anger being worn on her face.

"Lemme go!!!" He could finally make out from her tiny mouth. Her face was also wet, likely from tears. "Lemme go NOW, and make me big again!!!"

Winston shook his head. "Not a chance. If I did, you'd just tell everyone what happened here. I mean, I don't think they'd believe you anyway, but I can't take that chance."

"W-what?! You gonna kill me like you did my friends!?"

Winston smiled. "Maybe. Maybe if you had not've acted the way you did before, none of this would have happened and your friends would still be alive. It's not the first time I had to do that to someone."

An expression of shocked disgust appeared on her face. "What!?"

"A while back, some guy made fun of me wearing these same flip-flops, just like you and your friends did. So I shrunk him as well and, like your friends, introduced him to the bottom of the very flip-flops that he was so captivated by."

 "You triflin' monster!!" She started to struggle even more, but Winston kept a firm grasp on her.

He shrugged. "Say what you want, but I'm in control right now. You're not going anywhere as long as I can help it."

The woman screamed and yelled and continued to flail about as Winston stood up and walked back to the bench. Sitting down upon it, he turned towards his bag and, with his free hand, opened one of its pockets and fished around inside of it until he felt and then pulled out what he was looking for: his first-aid kit, though it was nothing more than a few band-aids, tissue, hand sanitizer, some thread, and small scissors to cut said thread with inside of a ziploc plastic bag. Specifically, he was after the thread.

He slipped his right foot out of its flip-flop, and placed the dark-haired woman upon its leather surface, near the thong.

"Don't move," Winston ordered.

He unzipped the plastic bag and retrieved the thread and scissors. He pulled a foot-long length of the thread and then with the scissors cut it. As he did this, he noticed in his peripheral vision that the tiny woman had foolishly disobeyed his demand and had made another attempt to run. Winston contemplating just crushing her underfoot and being done with it, but since he had already cut a piece of the thread, he didn't want it to go to waste.

He reached down and scooped her up. "Didn't I tell you not to move?"

She yelled something at him, which he had difficulty making out.

"Yeah, whatever."

With his other hand, he picked his bare sandal from the ground and placed it on his lap. He looked around at his surroundings; still, he and his tiny captive were the only people in the park. Then, he placed the woman back onto the flip-flop in front--from his perspective--of its thong and with his index finger, pressed her against it.

"I'm serious," he told her. "Don't move. This is your last warning."

He didn't know if his words finally got through to her, or if she knew that as high up from the ground as she was, it'd be futile to try to run again, but this time she did as he had commanded. Taking the string in hand, he tied her to the thong, tightly binding her arms and legs within the thread as well. He pulled both ends of the thread as tight as he could so that she'd have no chance of breaking free of her own power, before tying what was left of both ends into a knot.

"You called my feet nasty before," Winston told her, "but I've had some girls tell me that I had great feet and even kiss and suck on them. Maybe you need a closer look."

He picked up the flip-flop and placed it back onto the ground, before sliding his bare foot into it. As he did so, he could see the woman panic and yell as she saw his foot approaching her; it was all she could do in her current predicament. In seconds, his foot had met the thong and the woman tied to it, and she was completely engulfed by it as his foot settled back into place within the sandal. He could feel her minute movements between his toes, and he gave them a slight squeeze, more tightly gripping the thong as well as the tiny woman. Her screaming was almost inaudible due to being pressed so closely against his skin, and unless someone was really paying attention, they would not pick up on it.

"Well, now that that's taken care of..." Winston said, before picking his book back up and opening it back to where he had left off before being rudely interrupted. He resumed reading "Earth's Cry", giving the thong of his flip-flop periodic squeezes to further torment his tiny prisoner.

Peace and quiet had returned to the park.



[THE END]

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