The cold Wisconsin winter was biting and harsh, the chill felt in the bones of those out and about. It was a rare light day for snow, the flakes drifting gently down from above to join in the countless ones covering the ground below. Despite the snow choking the ground and roads, life went on as it was a common occurrence here. Kids still went to school, people still went to work, the snow little different than a rainy day anywhere else. The below freezing weather didn’t stop anyone from enjoying a bit of fun or leisure either.

Boots crunched loudly again snow covered ground a pair of young women made their way out into the backyard of one’s house. It was fairly wide and expansive with snow blanketed trees lining the edges of the property in the distance. There was also a rather large pond in the center, good for swimming at the warmest part of the year and good for another pastime at this part of the year. The surface and a good bit below that was froze completely solid, forming a smooth and gleaming surface that came about from the melting and refreezing of the pond that had occurred early in winter.

One girl shivered slightly in her thick blue coat, pulling her warm white and blue cap around her ears further. “Damn cous, how’d ya live with this growin’ up?” White puffs of air escaped her mouth with each heavily accented word.

Her companion smirked. “You get used to it, Macy. I was born here so can’t imagine how it was for mom when she moved up. According to her, you get used to it.”

Macy shook her head. “Ya’ll are crazy. Couldn’t ever move up here, Kayli.”

Kayli let out a little chuckle. “Aww… but your favorite cousin is up here.”

“My favorite cousin can move down to New Orleans where its nice and warm.”

The pair continued on their walk towards the lake. There was a family resemblance between the cousins. Both had somewhat frizzy strawberry blonde hair and the green eyes their mothers had possessed. However Kayli was fairly tall, standing at eye height with the average man. Her form, concealed behind her thick coat, was rather athletic. In her right mitten covered hand she held the laces of a pair of old and well-worn ice skates, in her left was a wooden box.

Macy was rather physically the opposite of her cousin. She was petite and filled out in all the right places, her heart shaped face lightly freckled in a cute manner. Her winter clothes and ice skates looked rather new, recent purchases with that new clothing feeling and smell. The boots especially were uncomfortable to her, too constraining and thick. Her toes felt all pushed and squished together in the thick prison. The coat she wore felt heavy on her shoulders and she was careful in handling her skates, afraid they were going to cut her in some way if she wasn’t careful.

The stepped onto the small pier on the edge of the wide pond and Macy got a good chance to look over the frozen water. Usually it was Kayli that visited her and the southern raised girl hadn’t actually ever gone up to where she lived. She now knew how Kayli had felt the first time they’d taken a swamp tour together. The shorter girl’s breath was stolen looking out at the expanse of frozen water. It was so thick and smooth looking. Pictures were nothing compared to the real thing if she was being honest.

“So… what if we fall in?” Macy asked, slightly nervous now that she was actually up close.

Kayli was already seated down on the edge of the pier and working at the laces of her boots. She giggled and shook her head. “It’s way too thick this time of year for us to fall in. Don’t worry so much. I do this all the time.”

The young woman frowned and shuffled in place a bit as she looked at her skates, trying to figure out just how the hell she was supposed to balance herself. Maybe this wasn’t one of her better ideas. At the time it had sounded fun. When they were inside and bored but now that she was actually about to stand over ten foot deep water, freezing water no less, she was having some serious second thoughts. Not only that but what if she ended up falling over herself looking like an idiot. Probably revenge from her cousin for laughing at her, admitted, limited street wise knowhow.

Kayli’s first boots came off, then the other shortly after. Her thick pink socks were exposed to the below freezing air, toes flexing and curling slightly. She slipped on her skates and tied them up, humming slightly under her breath before hopping onto the ice. Amazingly to Macy she kept her balance. To her it was almost as impressive as actually walking on water. Her cousin made it look so easy. She noted Macy still standing there looking like she didn’t know what to do and chuckled.

“Nervous? Tell you what. Put on those skates and let me show you the basics and I’ll show you what’s in the box there.” She enticed.

Ah yes, the secret box Kayli had been building up this whole visit. Macy’s eyes flicked towards it and she frowned. Part of her was reminded of that SpongeBob episode were this secret box was built up and then what was inside turned out to just be a piece of string. Still, she was curious. And it wasn’t like she could just walk away and chicken out. Kayli would never let her live it down. Looks like she’d have to flounder around for her cousin’s amusement for a bit.

A thump sounded out as Macy plopped down and started untying her boots. Her fingers worked awkwardly with the laces. Wisconsin had to be the most backwards state she’d ever been to. Couldn’t wear sandals because your toes would freeze off, had to drive through snow, and people skated on top of frozen water for fun. Her aunt had to be completely insane to have actually gotten used to this.

Finally she managed to free her toes from the accursed prison, the digits practically inhaling the cool air of freedom. Her own socks weren’t as thick as Kayli’s, and it took exactly .5 seconds for her to realize why that was a bad idea. Immediately it felt like her feet had been thrust inside of a freezer. It was so damn cold! How could people live with this kind of weather? Sure, it occasionally got cold down south but never like this. And that was rare for them, for people up here it was the norm in the winter.

“Better put on those skates before your feet freeze.” Kayli teased as she spun around in a circle on the ice.

“I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. Ya’ll are crazy.” Macy responded as she started working on her skates.

With her possibly lethal footwear on Macy gripped the edge of the pier, swallowing hard. She lowered one blade onto the ice, then the other. She slid them experimentally, finding near zero traction to be found. With a final deep breath the young woman pushed off from the pier and got about a foot away before falling forward flat on her face. To say the cackling laughter from Kayli that came after her tumble didn’t bring a hot wash of shame over her neck would have been a lie.

Macy groaned and tried to stand up, her mittens sliding across the ice and only serving to cause her to fall flat again. There was just no traction at all to be found here. Like zero. It was like trying to actually hold into a wet ice cube. She did manage to get to her knees but even that was an exercise in slipping and sliding. Kayli slid over to her, still giggling at her cousin’s expense naturally.

“Laugh it up.” Macy grumbled.

“Sorry, sorry, just kinda priceless. I got a picture of it on my phone for later. Your mom is going to laugh her ass off.” Well, that was going to be an extremely fun family dinner.

The more adept skater of the pair helped Macy up and steadied her. “Right, it’s all in your center of balance. Not too different from roller skating. You’ve roller skated before down in redneck land right?”

“We ain’t the fucking third world.” Came the grumbled reply.

With that advice given Macy spread her legs a little bit, wobbling slightly as she tried to find her balance. When it looked like she was about to fall over Kayli was there to help fortunately. Apparently one incident of her falling flat on her face was enough for her cousin. After about a minute she found enough of a balance to stop from toppling over at least. So mission accomplished so far.

Next Kayli started skating around, her blades sliding over the smooth icy surface. “This next part is easy. Just have to keep your balance while moving. It’s actually waaay easier once you start moving forward. Just keep thinking roller skating. Not too different.”

Macy took a deep breath. Right. Roller skating. Roller skating. She had this. Of course after three movements of her legs she ended up overcompensating with her weight. Her arms flailed about and, slam, right onto the ice she went once again. She had the foresight to predict there were going to be some bruises on her knees after this. Still she managed to get up and start again. Kayli was right. After the first bit of roughness it actually was a lot like roller skating, same motions really.

“There you go; you’re getting the hang of it.” Kayli encouraged.

By that she meant she was actually managing to move in a straight line. Still it was progress. “Right. So about that box?” Macy reminded.

Kayli chuckled. “I was actually planning on saving it for your last day here, surprise sort of deal. Buuuut, I think we can have a blast with it now.”

With that Kayli smoothly skated back over to the pier and picked up the box. Macy managed to wobble her way over to her, her arms wobbling as she tried to keep balance. She pulled up next to her and looked at the box. Kayli waited a moment for dramatic effect, her fingers drumming softly along the top of the box before finally slowly opening the top and tossing the lid onto the pier. Macy peered inside and her green eyes widened at the sight within.

Six miniscule people were squinting and squeaking as light flooded their world. Above loomed the faces of the young women, one they were all too familiar with while the other was as new to them as they were to her. Macy stared at them in awe before looking at the oh so proud of herself Kayli. Her cousin shook the box slightly, the little people tumbling onto their asses and letting out cries of protest.

“No way… are those…?”

“Shrinkles? You better believe it. A couple of the family’s in the neighborhood turned out to be carriers. Mom put down some cash with their extended relatives, boom, we’re thirty shrinkles up.” Kayli said with a smirk.

“Now, can’t play with all of them. I wanna keep Amy and Tod there. They’re my favorites. But the other four… might as well make your first time skating a little eventful yeah?” The young woman continued.

She moved away from Macy and started skating leisurely around the ice. Her mitten clad fingers reached down, plucking up one nude woman by the arm. Those around her tried to grab onto her legs, trying desperately to rescue her. Kayli was having none of that, lightly shaking her to knock anyone holding her prize off. She then placed her down on the cold ice before skating off around the pond, repeating the process with three men. Macy watched the whole thing; almost disbelieving the thing was happening before her eyes.

Once the four were down upon the ice, Kayli skated her way back over to Macy, humming slightly as she set the box and the remaining two down on the pier. She grinned widely at her cousin, clearly pleased at the look upon her face. It wasn’t every day one saw shrinkles. They were usually bought up by those big pet companies or snatched up by extended family. Macy had only seen pictures and articles about them online.

“Aren’t they… contagious?” Macy asked, a little concerned.

Kayli laughed. “Nah. It’s in the genetics. Some people have it, some don’t. We already got checked, Mom and me are carriers but its recessive for us so we’re in the clear.”

Kayli grabbed Macy’s wrist and started dragging her along to the middle of the ice. That little tidbit actually had some alarm on Macy’s face. If Kayli and her aunt were carriers… what if she was? Or her mom? The look must have shown clearly to Kayli because she actually chuckled a little bit.

“If you’re worried, get checked when you get back home. If it’s recessive in us, probably the same for you. Don’t worry so much, jeez. You act like I wouldn’t take care of my cousin if she turned shrinkle. Now, stop looking so pale and let’s have fun.” Kayli said with a grin.

With that said Kayli took off along the ice, her motions fluid and natural. She possessed a grace and artful movement about her, as though this was as natural to her as breathing and blinking. She moved straight towards the first woman she’d dropped out onto the ice. The tiny woman saw the titanic form of the young woman speeding along the ice, the blades gleaming in the light of the sun and ran. She ran as fast as her little legs could manage, slipping up on the ice and falling flat on her face.

She screamed as the blade of Kayli’s right skate drew closer and closer, placing her hands above her head as though that would protect her. Kayli laughed and at the very last minute diverted her course. The side of the blade passed very close to the tiny woman, so close she could likely reach out and touch it. Flecks of ice rained over her form as the blade passed, the woman spared a gruesome end for now.

Macy watched Kayli work, as she circled around one of the shrinkles like a shark. Her skates formed a barrier of death right around him before she moved off, towards her next target. This one she picked up speed for. She moved faster, faster, and faster as her legs pumped to propel her towards her target. The man tried to flee, scrambling along the ice and a pathetic speed. Not fast enough.

There was a slight ‘shink!’ sound that sounded out followed by a wet sucking noise. It happened in an instant, Kayli sliding on by as though she’d hit nothing. In fact the only sign anything had happened was the red now smearing along her skates. Where the tiny man had once stood were two halves split down the middle. It was a clean cut as well, severing his body so instantly that it didn’t seem to realize it was dead until one half fell over and then the other followed suit. A red line followed Kayli’s blades now, evidence of her execution.

“C’mon, Macy, don’t just stand there looking stiff! Pick one and go for it! I want you to have fun after all. Try to hit em’ going as fast as you can.” Kayli called out, breaking Macy from her trance.

Macy frowned and looked at her pickings. She could already see Kayli picking up speed to head for another unfortunate shrinkle. The one actually managed to leap between Kayli’s skates, narrowly avoiding getting sliced up like the other one. Her cousin was quick to divert her course however and started circling around the tiny figure. Ice blasted up around him, kicked up by the titanic girl’s movements. She circled closer and closer before leaping up, her shadow falling over the tiny figure below.

He barely had time to scream before the blades came down like guillotines, slicing and dicing at his legs and torso. It didn’t end there as Kayli started spinning around in place, the blades of her skate acting as a blender. What had once been a tiny human was reduced to red blood and bits of bone being scattered out by her graceful moves. The young woman had a big smile on her face and was laughing easily as she played, the blades of her skates now coated with fresh blood.

Macy found her breath stolen by Kayli’s motions and how well she worked her gruesome tasks. Now she found herself getting a little nervous. It wasn’t that she was opposed to it naturally. Shrinkles had no rights and weren’t really people anymore. More that she still wasn’t sure she could skate well enough. She zeroed in on her target, namely the woman trying to make a break for the shore line. Roller skating. Roller skating.

With that repeating her mind she started picking up speed, her tongue in her cheek as she tried to angle herself just right. Her heart started pumping as she saw the tiny woman slip. Right, that was her chance then. In her attempts to aim however her leg ended up overextending just a bit too much. Which caused Macy to freeze up and promptly start to topple over. She flailed her arms out and ended up turning over into the fall.

The shadow of her ass fell over the woman, looming above like a massive thick wall of winter fabric. She screamed as loud as she could, shielding herself with her arms as though that would do any good. Even the petite form of Macy was unto a living mountain. Her ass came down, the crushing weight of the young woman adding to the force of her fall to create an unbearable amount of pressure. The tiny woman didn’t get the chance to even feel pain she was obliterated so quickly.

Macy landed with a thump, sliding a foot or so as her head smacked the ice and dazed her. As she slid her ass left a red smear following in its wake. She blinked as she saw spots dancing before her eyes, her mind not reorienting itself well enough. She stared up at the open sky aware that cool air was hitting her head as her cap had managed to come off some point during the fall itself.

She saw Kayli’s form looming above her suddenly, concern wrote across her pretty face. She wondered if this was what those shrinkles had seen. If so, that didn’t seem so bad really. Macy squinted for a moment, grimacing from the pain on the back of her head. That had certainly not been fun.

“Macy, are you okay? Shit, how many fingers am I holding up?” Kayli asked, holding up three.

Macy didn’t respond verbally, instead lifting her own hand and extending her middle finger. Kayli chuckled and shook her head. “Yeah. Looks like you’re fine. Nice smear by the way. Way to put that oversized ass of yours to use.”

Macy rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Think I’m done skating. I’m also thinking I want some of your mom’s hot coco right about now.”

Kayli looked off into the distance at the lone shrinkle survivor. “Sure you don’t wanna introduce him to the ass of doom?”

Macy looked to the side and smirked. “Nah. Maybe you can show me what you usually do with em’?”

Kayli laughed lightly and offered her hand to help her cousin up. “Sure, bet your feet are sore anyway. I’d be delighted.”