Tom stood in his room, drying his hair with a towel after his second shower of the day. He felt it was necessary, given what he had witnessed earlier. Tom shuddered, partially due to the fact he was wet and it was quite cold, but mostly because he recalled the image of his little sister totally dominating a tiny girl with her foot. Even though Riley claimed that the odour of her feet wouldn't cling to him as he never came into contact with the horrid things, he had felt filthy having been in the same room as her smelly, exposed feet.

Until today, Tom had underestimated SCO feet. Sure, he feared them, knowing that they would be incredibly stinky. But he hadn't expected them to be that smelly. The shrinkee had no chance against foot odour of that calibre. Even after Riley had gone out with Jessica after wiping down the coffee table Tom thought he could detect a faint scent around the piece of glass furniture. For once in his life, Tom had been thankful to be nose deep in a woman's aromatic shoe.

The scene would haunt his nightmares for weeks to come, he just knew it. When Riley had put her boot back on with the shrinkee inside she had looked at Tom with a grin. She wanted her brother to be right where the poor girl was. Tom tried to think about something else, tried to push away the paranoia caused by his sister's threat to have him underfoot, but no matter how deep he put that fear it continued gnawing at his mind. Every time he did something, he would have to think about a way it might possibly be construed as illegal.

Luckily, Tom had his date with Ashley to look forward to. A ray of sunshine in an otherwise cloudy sky. Taking the same aftershave he used before in his hands, Tom applied a generous amount to his neck and his inner forearms. If his nemesis had admitted that it smelled nice, then it really must smell nice. Sometimes having a sister like Riley could prove useful. He hoped that Ashley wouldn't have a problem with his outfit. Tom had opted for a casual look, the classic t-shirt and jeans combo.

Over text, they had agreed that Tom was to meet her after work and they would hang out for a few hours. A good day, if everything went to plan. He tapped a button on the side of his phone, revealing the time to be 11:57. Just over an hour to get to Crave Explorers. Plenty of time.

Leaving his room and heading downstairs, Tom found his mom in the kitchen. She was leaning against the table with a cup of coffee, watching the small, wall mounted television. She smiled when she saw him. “Hi honey, you look nice. Are you going anywhere exciting with this mystery girl?”

Despite her tendency to punish and humiliate him now and again, Michelle was a good mother to Tom the majority of the time. He suspected that society's shift towards the acceptance of SCO helped justify such behaviour to herself. Since quitting his job, Tom's list of chores had gotten longer and when his mom was in a bad mood she was quite the slave driver. But today, on her last today off before returning to work, she was enjoying herself and thus in a good mood.

“Just hanging out. I haven't planned anything exciting, although I can't speak for her. I am still okay to borrow the car, right?” Tom had told his mom about the date yesterday, but kept the details light and didn't disclose Ashley's identity. He had been afraid that she might mention it to Riley. She hadn't, but the possibility had been there.

“Sure. I haven't got any reason to drive anywhere. Plus the book club is meeting here tonight, so stay out as late as you want.” Michelle smiled mischievously and raised a finger. “But be warned, if you come back too late and wake me up, you'll pay for it in hours of rubbing my feet.”

Tom forced himself to laugh. She was only being playful, joking around with her son, but it really rubbed him the wrong way when she made light of the smelly suffering she would often put him through. And even though she was clearly joking, he had no doubts that she would punish him for waking her up.

“Thanks mom, I appreciate it.”

“You're very welcome. I know I can be quite harsh towards you sometimes, but I only do it because I love you. You need to enjoy yourself, I know you don't go on many dates, so if you need to borrow the car again just let me know and we'll work something out. When are you setting off?”

“In about half an hour. I don't wanna be too early.”

Michelle smiled. “I'm sure she's worth waiting around for. But no need to waste time if you don't have to. Do come and say goodbye before you go, I want a big hug from my big boy and also to wish you luck.”

At 12:50, sat waiting in the car park of Crave Explorers, Tom reflected on his short conversation with his mom as the seconds ticked by. He spied Ashley through the window, running around the restaurant providing service to customers, thinking about how surreal his life was becoming. As if everything was normal they had been talking, acting like a typical mother and son, when earlier that day they had seen Riley literally torture a human being. A shrunken human being, but a human being all the same.

He tried not to think about how he would be living under the same roof where such inhumane things were occurring, about the young woman living through the most hellish experience of her entire life whilst he slept in his bed.

Soon enough, Ashley left the restaurant. She held the helmet of her uniform underarm and had the orange suspenders hanging from her waist. The backpack she had was worn on one shoulder, giving her quite the carefree look. When she spotted Tom sat in the stationary vehicle, a warm smile split her tired expression.

Upon reaching the car she opened the passenger side door and got in. “Hey! You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”

“I find that hard to believe. You must still be set to customer service mode.” Tom joked with a wry smile.

Shaking her head, Ashley playfully punched Tom's arm. “You got me. I was in such a good mood too, then you had to show up and ruin it.”

The two of them laughed. “So, where to?”

“Are you kidding? My place! I need a shower sooooo bad. Then, we can go wherever. I'm not fussy.”

“So what you're trying to say is that I need to pick somewhere and I have to pray that you like it?”

“That's right!” Ashley winked. “Now hurry up, I'll direct you. The sooner I get out of this damn uniform the better.”

The drive to Ashley's block of apartments wasn't far at all, much closer than Tom's house. It made sense, given that she didn't drive and had to walk to work. On the drive, the two of them chatted continuously. About work, about what they had been up to since high school. Ashley admitted that she fell in with a crowd that were a bad influence on her, prompting her to stay home and smoke weed in dead-end jobs rather than going to university. But she was out of that phase, broken up with the ex boyfriend who pushed her in that direction and had been working on university applications. Thankfully, Riley wasn't brought up even once. However Tom was even more grateful for how easy Ashley was to speak to. When they knew each other before, he had been very shy and was surprised that someone like her would even acknowledge him. That seemed to be a part of her personality that Ashley had held onto and nurtured, because whilst talking to her Tom felt like they'd been friends for years.

Ashley directed Tom into a free car park down the road from her apartment, telling him to pull in next to a small pink car. He wondered who in the right mind would choose to drive such a thing, but that question was answered soon enough on the walk over.

“Just a warning. My room-mate, Kirsty, can be a little... overbearing at times. She likes to pry. She's also quite the extrovert, although I doubt that'll be much of an issue. You seem to be a lot less shy than back in high school.”

“It's almost as if people change over time.” Tom grinned.

A slight smile touched Ashley's lips and she shook her head. “Well, sarcasm aside, you have been warned. I may have also told her a bit about you, so don't get weirded out if she knows you better than you know her.”

“Oh? What kind of things have you been telling her? Anything good?”

“You have good qualities?”

Tom laughed. “Ouch. You win this round Ashley.”

“Get used to it.” Ashley winked. “Also, don't get too shocked if you take a peek into her bedroom. Kirsty likes pink. Like, really likes pink.”

Tom raised his eyebrows and glanced behind them, back at the car park. “I'm guessing that pink car I parked next to belongs to her?”

“Yep. Did you spot the furry pink steering wheel?”

“Somehow I missed that.”

“She is lovely though, despite that I've said so far. Likes to listen to gossip but doesn't like to spread it.”

Four floors up and the duo were stood outside of apartment 13, Ashley's home. The door was unlocked and Ashley led them inside. Kirsty was nowhere to be seen. Dropping her back by the couch quietly, she span around quickly when Tom started to speak. “Shhhh. I think Kirsty is still asleep.”

“Okay! I'll keep my voice down.” Tom replied not in a whisper but at a volume a little quieter than how he usually spoke, mimicking the volume Ashley had used.

With a gesture from Ashley, Tom took a seat on the couch. She didn't sit next to him as he expected, instead standing with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face.

“What?” He asked, bemused.

“Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if I should make you rub my feet before or after I get a shower. That was the original motivation behind today, after all. They just feel so sweaty and sore in these damn flats.”

Tom felt his face warm in a blush. Honestly, while he would prefer to massage a clean pair of feet for once, he reckoned that he could endure Ashley's after-work foot odour considering his past experiences with the feet of his mom and sister. Besides, earlier that very day he had witnessed feet in action that possessed an odour far beyond anything Ashley could muster. “Hey whatever you want. I offered, I suppose it's your choice when I do it.”

Ashley looked a little surprised. “Wow, you're brave. I was expecting you to balk at that.”

Tom chose the moment to look tough; tough in a way that would look strange in any other context. “Ashley, my sister is an SCO. Do you really think that you could have stinky enough feet to scare me?”

“Does that mean that you've... had to smell her feet?” Ashley looked horrified.

Tom almost said 'Not since she became an SCO.' But he made alterations long before the sentence left his lips. Telling his new female friend about the humiliating things that Riley used to do to him was not a good idea. “Nope. SCO regulations prevent her from allowing unauthorised individuals to smell her feet. But this morning Riley got her first shrinkee. She did a little demonstration.”

“Really? What happened?” Tom wasn't sure whether Ashley asked out of morbid curiosity or out of interest. He hoped it was the former.

“Sorry Ashley. I don't really wanna go into detail. It wasn't something pleasant to see.”

“Fair enough.” Ashley smiled reassuringly. “And don't worry, I was only teasing you about having to rub my feet before a shower. I know you claim that you'll be fine, but I've given my feet a sniff straight out of these flats before and trust me, it ain't a pleasant smell. Chill on the couch for a bit. You can turn the TV on too but keep the volume low. I'll try not to be too long.”

So Tom sat on his phone whilst Ashley was washing off the sweat her body had produced during her last shift. He did turn the television but the only thing that were on were talk shows about the most inane topics and re-runs of 'Small Steve'', a sitcom on its seventh season, a show that Tom was not fond of. It followed the adventures of a shrinkee called Steve and his SCO Brianna, or 'Big Brianna' as she was sometimes called. The reason that Tom hated it was because of how it shined a comedic light on the interactions between Steve and Brianna, ignoring how in reality what SCOs did was arguably torture. Every episode ended with Brianna extending her shrinkee's sentence to which he would say his catchphrase: 'Looks like my problems just got bigger!'

Whilst the shower was still running, Tom heard a door open. He looked back, curious as to why Ashley had returned so soon. But instead, he saw a different girl with platinum blonde hair. The long hair was messy with bangs covering the forehead. Although it was the afternoon, she still looked half asleep, covering her eyes as she walked and dressed in an oversized pink t-shirt that Tom assumed she used as nightwear, along with a pair of pink fuzzy socks.

“Hello?” Tom greeted who he guessed was Kirsty. She started, having not realised there was someone there.

“Who are you? What are you doing in my living room?” She asked. Below the fringe of blonde hair her dull green eyes were wide with suspicion.

“Uh... I'm Tom. Ashley brought me in, I picked her up from work. I take it that you are Kirsty?” Tom lowered his tone, trying his best to diffuse the situation.

Kirsty's eyes filled with understanding. “Yeah, that's me. Fuck. I'm so sorry. I forgot that Ashley said she was bringing you here today.” She dropped the startled stance and walked over to the armchair next to the couch. She didn't sit normally, she slouched sideways, resting her legs over the armrest.

A moment of awkward silence fell over them. It wasn't the best introduction. But Kirsty refused to let the air remain silent. “Please don't judge me for getting out of bed at this time. I'm not usually this lazy. I work in a restaurant like Ashley does and today is my day off.”

Tom laughed. “Relax. I'm not about to judge anyone. I recently left my job so I wouldn't be able to say anything.”

“Yeah? Why'd you leave?”

“Wasn't getting enough hours. It was at a supermarket stacking shelves. My mom has seen fit to make up for my lack of rent payments with a heap of chores.”

“That sucks.” Kirsty looked like she was making a decision. The debate in her mind was soon over with however. “Speaking of jobs, I hear that your younger sister is a shrink correctional officer.”

“That's right.” Tom suspected that Ashley had told her room-mate not to ask about Riley based on the hesitant tone. He didn't mind answering questions like that, so long as he wasn't expected to go into too much detail.

“Cool. I mean, not cool. I'd hate to end up with a shrink sentence. A girl at my work got one and she said that she had to ring in sick and spend an entire day scrubbing her skin to get rid of the stink. Not to mention she seemed... different afterwards. Not a completely different person, but not the same.” Kirsty pulled a disgusted face. “My younger sister is involved with shrunken people too. She isn't an SCO though.”

“Really? What is she then? Does she work for the Association?”

“No. Are you familiar with Candy J?”

Tom grimaced. “Unfortunately.”

Kirsty chuckled. “I thought you'd react like that. Well anyway, Candy J does this think where she encourages her fans to get their feet as smelly and gross as possible before coming to her concerts. Then at the end, there is a booth to have the odour of your feet measured. The girls with the strongest smelling feet go backstage.”

Tom leaned forwards. “That's odd. What possible reason do they have for going backstage?”

“Becca wouldn't spill all the beans no matter how hard I pushed. Just said it was something to do with the shrinkees that Candy J uses in performances. Apparently Candy J liked her enough to offer a position on the touring staff, travelling around and looking after shrinkees.”

“But... what does the ability to look after shrinkees have to do with smelly feet?”

“I don't know. Becca claims that the reason she was chosen wasn't to do with her feet. That was just what got her backstage. I wonder if that's really what she does. You don't sound like that's what you believe is going on.”

“No, I don't. But that might be because I don't trust the Association in the slightest.” Tom winced. “Please don't tell your sister I said that. Candy J is close to the Association.”

Giggling, Kirsty shook her head. “Don't worry. I won't say anything. Besides, my relationship with Becca isn't the greatest.”

“Glad I'm not the only one who doesn't get along with my sister.”

The door to the bathroom opened and out stepped Ashley, a towel draped around her. Tom caught himself staring, admiring her tan shoulders exposed above the towel and her smooth calves below where the towel ended. He stopped himself but Ashley had obviously noticed, rolling her eyes at him with a half smile. She didn't look annoyed in the slightest. “Just gonna put some clothes on. I'll join you guys in a moment.”

While waiting for Ashley, Tom and Kirsty didn't really say anything else. As promised, Ashley returned soon enough, wearing a chequered shirt of green and black, buttons undone so that you could catch a glimpse of cleavage. A simple pair of black legging were on her legs, stopping on her lower calf. There was a visible tan line just above her ankle, giving way to a pair of pretty feet that were a lighter tone than the rest of her skin. The black hair that was usually in a braid was still wet and bundled up into a bun.

“I see you guys have met. Talk about anything interesting?”

“Not much. Just talked about jobs, spoke a bit about our sisters. Turns out neither of us are too fond of them.” Tom explained.

Ashley shot Kirsty a look. “What!?” Kirsty responded defensively. “I couldn't not ask!”

“Ashley, it's fine. I don't mind.”

Ashley sighed. “Okay. I just told her NOT to say anything. I got the impression at the restaurant that you wasn't a fan of your sister's career choice.”

“Yeah, I'm not. Thanks for looking out for me though. But if either of you have questions about my sister, ask them now. Ruling out any detailed questions about what she does to shrinkees of course.”

Kirsty looked like she was about to speak, but Ashley interrupted. “Before you get started, I want that foot rub, my little foot boy.” She sat on the couch opposite Tom and swung both bare feet onto his crotch area. What she was doing was clear, playfully kneading her heels in a very sensitive area. Tom felt himself stiffen a little and looked from Ashley's feet to her face. She blew him a kiss.

“Come on.” She urged, wiggling her toes which were decorated with chipped black toenail polish. “Let's see if you're as good as you claim to be.”

“No fair! Do I get my feet rubbed next?” Kirsty pouted, training puppy dog eyes on Ashley as if she were in charge of Tom's actions.

“No way. Find your own man to rub your feet. Besides, your feet probably stink after being in those damn socks all night.” Ashley said. She sunk her back into the cushioned armrest when she felt Tom's strong hands on her soles, applying pressure to all the right places. “Ah, you weren't kidding. Already I can tell this is gonna be good.”

“As I was about to say,” Kirsty swallowed her envy and continued the previous conversation “why do you dislike your sister so much, Tom?”

“Well, I'm not sure where to start.” Tom wasn't distracted from the task of rubbing Ashley's feet when he spoke. Sometimes when his mom punished him anything foot related, she would have him apologise for what he did over and over again. “She's always been a brat. And whenever she gets the chance to make me suffer, she'll grasp the opportunity.”

“How did she make you suffer? If you don't mind answering, that is.” Ashley enquired, her voice soft in the way that only the truly relaxed can speak.

“It's embarrassing, so I'll keep the explanation light, but Riley has always enjoyed making her feet stink and inflicting that smell on people. I used to overhear her on the phone to her friends when she was back in high school, laughing about how she'd made people sniff or perform other humiliating tasks with her feet. Then she'd try and do the same to me. Rarely, she would succeed.” Tom's face reddened as he spoke.

“That's awful.” Ashley said, raising her head up with an expression of sympathy. “You can stop rubbing my feet if you want. I didn't realise tha--”

“No no!” Tom cut in. “It's fine, honestly. Your feet are fine. Nice, even. But bare in mind that my standards are low.”

“In that case; keep on rubbing.” Ashley smirked, causing Tom to laugh at her sudden switch from concern to audacity.

“Any more questions?” Tom asked.

Ashley remained quiet, not wanting to come across another sore subject, but Kirsty had a few more. Asking Tom if he'd met any other SCOs through Riley, asking if he'd ever been to the Association headquarters. He answered no to both.

One question, however, was something that he was glad Kirsty asked. “Are you worried that your sister might try and make you smell her feet now that she's an SCO?”

“I was at first, but she mentioned that she isn't allowed. Some kind of regulation prohibiting SCOs from using their foot odour on anything other than or shrinkee or someone authorised by the Association.”

“Oh! So that's why I've never seen an SCO not wearing those black boots! Are there more regulations?”

Tom paused. “I've actually never thought to ask.”

“What? You're at odds with your sister, a person who apparently enjoys seeing you suffer, a person now bound by regulations, and you haven't checked to see if there are other regulations to protect you from her?”

“No. I never even thought of doing so.” Tom felt like such an idiot. He made a mental note to check out this book of regulations that Riley had mentioned. Perhaps there was a way to overcome Riley after all.

Afterwards, Kirsty flicked the television on and the chatting slowed down. Ashley was fully enjoying the foot massage, moaning every now and again; something that Kirsty would comment on without fail.

Tom found Ashley's feet to be much more pleasant to rub than his mother's. For one, these feet were clean. The bottoms of Ashley's feet were hard, likely because of her job and decision to wear such a thin soled shoe whilst doing that job. He wasn't complaining though. It was a relief not to be pushing his thumbs into doughy, sweat soaked flesh. Her feet were a few sizes smaller than his mom's feet too. If Tom had to guess, he'd say a size 7 next to his mom's which were size 9 and a half. Even though Ashley was almost as tall as Riley, he knew that the latter would have the bigger feet, knowing that his sister's feet were only a little smaller than that of their mother. The reason Tom was comparing sizes and smells of feet in his mind was because he was trying to pin down why he found Ashley's feet so cute. Was it because he was attracted to her, because they were so much better than the other female feet he had experienced or because they were small?

Eventually, Ashley pulled her feet away, after thanking Tom for the massage. The three of them went back to conversing and watching whatever was on TV. They remained that way for a few more hours, just hanging out, until Tom felt his stomach rumbling.

Ashley heard it too. “Sounds like somebody is hungry.”

Tom chuckled. “Indeed it does. You fancy going for something to eat?”

“You read my mind.”

“I assume I am invited too?” Kirsty said with a grin. She could read the room perfectly fine, she just didn't care about invading their privacy. Not when the chance to tag along for some food anyway.

“Sure.” Tom shrugged. He couldn't just be rude and turn her down.

“Awesome! Crave Explorers?”

“No!” Ashley protested. “I'm not going back there today.”

“Fine. We can go to Rhonda's Roadside Diner then. I don't care where we eat so long as we can make use of one of our discounts.”

“Rhonda's Roadside Diner it is!” Tom announced. “Except I have no idea where it is. You'll have to direct me.”

“No problem. Wait for me you two, I'm gonna go get dressed.” Kirsty sprung from the armchair and tore into her room, slamming the door.

Half an hour later and the trio pulled into the car park of Rhonda's Roadside Diner, which was a lot further away than Ashley's place of work. The place had a clear theme, that of the diner of old, with the whole black and white chequered tiling everywhere.

A tall, quite strong looking woman with dark auburn hair spotted them as they entered and came over with a menu and a big smile. “Kirsty! Good to see you. Are you having a good day off?”

“Rhonda, I only got out of bed a few hours ago. I'm having a great day off!” The two of them laughed together. “You know Ashley. This is her... new friend, Tom.”

Tom and Ashley looked at each other, both seeing if the other would correct Kirsty. Their eyes met and they immediately looked in different directions, blushing.

“Nice to see you again, Ashley. Good to meet you too, Tom. I'm Rhonda.” The woman who Tom presumed owned the place introduced herself warmly. “Take a seat, I'll send Daniel over to get you drinks.”

As Kirsty led them over to an empty booth, she made an angry noise. “Urgh. Daniel. Why does it have to be that creep.”

Tom sat on the side opposite to the girls. He felt Ashley playfully kick his shins with her feet, finding her to be smiling quite mischievously when he looked at her. “I take it that you don't get along with this Daniel? What's wrong with him?”

“What's right with him?” Kirsty said before groaning. “You'll see what I mean when he gets here.”

As they were discussing what they were going to order for drinks, a young man looking to be in his late teens approached. It was clear he worked here. Daniel had a heavily freckled face and the same colour hair that Rhonda had. “Hello there, Kirsty. I see you decided to bring another sexy lady with you today.”

Daniel didn't even look at Tom, ignoring him completely. “Oh my god. Daniel, just take our drink order like you're supposed to. This is your job. Do it. Stop being so sleazy to Ashley and ignoring my friend like he isn't even here.” Kirsty said. Tom noticed that she seemed more on edge than earlier, when she thought he was an intruder.

Daniel looked like her was about to make a retort, but he went as stiff as a board when a large, strong hand clamped onto his shoulder. “Daniel. We've spoke about this. You know what happens when you treat women like this. Would you like to tell Kirsty and her friends what happens?”

“A-Aunt Rhonda, I--” Daniel had gone from ghostly pale to bright red in an instant.

“Tell Kirsty and her friends what happens when you behave like this.” Rhonda commanded, sternly.

“I... I get a spanking.” Tom didn't think that a face could get any redder. He was wrong.

“Get out of here. I'll take over.” Daniel slunk away in shame as Rhonda took their drinks instead. Tom heard some girlish laughter from a table in the direction that Daniel had gone.

“It's always so satisfying when Rhonda puts that turd in his place.” Kirsty said after Rhonda had gone.

“You were right, I do see what you mean. Why hasn't he been fired? You make it sounds like he does stuff like that a lot.” Tom replied.

“He's the nephew of Rhonda and Rita. Rhonda's the owner, if you haven't guessed already. Rita's her sister, the head cook. They always apologise for his behaviour and promise that it'll get better. Yet here we are. They really ought to do more than just spank him.”

Thankfully, the rest of their time at Rhonda's Roadside Diner went without further problems. Daniel stayed well away from their table and the food was fantastic.

After eating, Tom dropped the girls off outside their apartment block. Kirsty was the first to leave, thanking Tom and going on ahead to give him and Ashley a moment alone.

Ashley kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks for today. It was fun. We have to do this again, soon. And without Kirsty this time.”

Tom cringed. “Sorry. I couldn't just flat out refuse her. She wasn't as bad as you warned though. I thought she was nice.”

“I know. I'm not saying it's your fault. And yeah, I was probably a little harsh, I just wanted to prepare for the worst. Believe me, she can be a lot more irritating.” Ashley looked as if she was going to continue, as if she was going to say something else. In a moment of intense consideration, she bit her lip. Then she leaned forward. Tom thought she was going to kiss his cheek again, but to his surprise he received a wet kiss on the lips.

“Yeah. We definitely have to do this again.” He said once Ashley had pulled away.

Ashley laughed. “I'm glad you agree. See you soon, foot boy.”

In any other circumstances, Tom would have hated being called 'foot boy'. But from Ashley, it was affectionate. “Aye, see you around.”

Tom drove away, bubbling with joy because of the kiss. So much joy that he was able to brush off Riley's teases and insults for the rest of the evening. The 'date', if you could call it that, had gone exceptionally well in his opinion. No longer was he wondering if Ashley was just being polite. He thought that she seemed to actually like him. That hot, kind girl from high school was interested in him. Tom repeated it in his mind, over and over, as if he couldn't believe it was true. If only his dreams that night had been as sweet as reality had been that evening.

“Toooooom. Oh Toooooom. Wakey wakey.” Tom opened his eyes at the sound of an all too familiar voice. He tried to speak, to tell Riley to knock it off, but he couldn't part his lips.

Worse than that, upon opening his eyes Tom found himself in his living room, only it was much, much larger than he remembered. And upside down. “MMMMMMMPPPPHHH!”

The giant faces of Riley and Jessica started laughing, sending drops of spittle towards him. He tried to dodge, but he couldn't. Suddenly, Tom was made aware of the position he was in. His arms hung freely and his legs were above him, tied together with a length of string that Jessica held in her hand.

“Are you having fun there, Tom?” Jessica mocked, swinging the tiny on a string from side to side.

“If you think you're having fun now loser, just wait until I kick off my boots.”

For a moment, Tom was dizzied by the momentum, swinging from side to side like a pendulum. Regaining his senses, he managed to find a moment to get his bearings. The three of them stood wear the now absent coffee table would be, right where Riley had begun her torment of Emma Klootz. He noticed that there were two people sat on the couch. Spinning around, he couldn't see them clearly until after a few revolutions had passed and he had slowed down, but when he did see them his blood went cold.

It was Ashley and Kirsty, watching intently with repulsive grins marking their usually attractive faces. They looked like they were having fun.

“I'll tell you what.” Riley spoke again, putting her face right up close to her helpless, shrunken brother. “If our audience allows it, I'll let you go right now and have you returned to normal height. What do you think? Ashley? Kirsty?”

“No way!” They answered in unison, laughing.

“You heard them Tom.”

This isn't real. This is a dream. You're not shrunken. You are normal size. Ashley and Kirsty are nice, they would never act like this. Tom tried telling himself that this was a dream, but it didn't seem to help. He was hoping that realising it would break him free of this nightmare. But he stayed trap, at the mercy of the four dream-scape giantesses.

“What do you two think I should do with my poor, little brother?”

“Make him smell your feet!” Kirsty said, loudly and enthusiastically.

“No.” Ashley disagreed. Tom felt relief, thinking that his knowledge of this had caused a more real version of Ashley to take over. “That creep actually thought he had a chance with me. I say that you make him smell your feet first, then put him in your boot. Make him really suffer. Let him know that he's nothing but a worm.”

“Yes!!” Kirsty clapped. “That instead!”

Riley giggled. “Very well. You'll have your wish.” She leaned closer still, putting her lips almost into contact with Tom's face, so that she could whisper. “Don't blame them too much. I was going to do that anyway.”

She pulled away. Jessica smiled at Tom, twirling the string so that he could see her do so. “Get ready. Riley is taking her boots off.” Thud. “That's one.” Thud. The smile grew. “There we go.” Jessica pinched her nostrils shut with her free hand, something that in real life wouldn't do much to protect her from the unholy stench of SCO feet. But the rules were different here.

Seconds later, Tom felt it. It stung his eyes, assaulted his nose. He had no idea how exactly Riley's feet really smelled, but his mind used the smell of his mom's feet as frame of reference. Except this was dialled up to eleven. This what Tom imagined the odour of his sister's feet to be like, and it was abhorrent.

“MMMPPHH! MMMMMMMPPPHHH!” His own struggles swung him around. The smell grew stronger. It was as if the smell dial was turned from eleven to twelve. Then from twelve to thirteen. He felt heat, telling him that the reason for the smell getting stronger was the approach of one of, or both of, Riley's feet.

Riley laughed evilly as her feet came up on either side of Tom. His struggles stopped right away, realising that if he kept it up it would cause him to swing into one of them. “I bet that smells so good, right Tom? He looks like he's tons of fun, right girls?”

“Right!” Ashley agreed.

“He could be having more fun though, don't you think Ashley?” Kirsty asked her room-mate, licking her lips.

“Yes he could. Please Riley, make him suffer more.” Ashley requested, her eyes twinkling with glee.

“As you wish. If you wouldn't mind, Jessica, tie my brother to my foot. Nice and tight.

“Sure thing Riley.” Jessica unpinched her nostrils, requiring both hands for this task. She didn't seem affected by the potent aroma regardless. Turning Tom the right way up she smashed Tom into his sister's sweat slicked sole like a wrecking ball. He screamed as she did so. She then hooked the string between two of Riley's toes, causing the SCO to giggle.

“Careful! I'm ticklish between my toes!”

Tom felt the string touch his back, crossing over him horizontally. Jessica was tying Tom to the massive hulk of reeking foot flesh. He felt the string crossing over more of his body. His legs, his hips, his shoulders, even his head. Tighter and tighter. He was almost grateful that his lips were sealed, protecting his mouth from the copious amount of stinking sweat that Riley's soles were excreting. But his nose was picking up the slack, inhaling the warm moisture infused with foot odour.

“MMMMPPPPHHH!!!!” Tom screamed again, the only thing that he could do. He was sinking further and further into his sister's titanic soft sole, practically mummified by string and sole at this point. Finally, Jessica came to the end of the string, tucking the end into the constrictive cocoon.

“All done!” Jessica told Riley. Ashley and Kirsty cheered.

“Now for the grand finale!” Riley gloated her dominance over Tom. He felt her scrunch her foot, momentarily crushing him with even more rancid skin. “Believe me Tom, if you can't handle this much, the inside of my boot will be living hell for you. Literally; the heater is turned up to max!”

Tom squirmed against the unthinking, unfeeling foot of his little sister. He could feel Riley lowering her foot, heading straight for the black boot. The heat and odour from the boot soon joined the heat and odour already drowning the tiny bound to the foot of his gigantic sister. They crossed the precipice, Tom and the foot, making it darker and darker. Light was extinguished. Everything was consumed by the stink.

Tom shot upright in bed. He almost screamed, thinking that he was drenched in Riley's foot sweat. But no, this wasn't Riley's foot sweat. This was his own sweat, born of the pure fear felt in his nightmare.

For a few minutes, he was breathing heavily, his pulse racing. It took a few more checks, moving his limbs around, opening his lips, before Tom truly knew he was safe.

With a sigh of relief, Tom fell back, his head hitting the pillow.

“Fucking hell.” Tom swore, knowing that after a nightmare like that, he didn't have much chance at sleep. Weirdly, that was fine. It meant no more nightmares.

For the next couple of hours, he stared at the ceiling, trying not to recall the events of his nightmare. Trying not to think of Riley, or SCOs. He did that until sleep did take him once more. A sleep devoid of dreams, thankfully.