Time
stands still as we lock eyes, and my mind is filled with a mixture of hope and
terror as the gargantuan woman stares down at me wordlessly, clearly trying to
evaluate what I am. To my horror, her face transforms into a disgusted sneer as
I hear her mutter,
“Ew, another bug”
I don’t wait for her to rise back
to her feet as I try my best to run for it, hoping at the very least to live
another day. Behind me, an earsplitting explosion slams mere inches next to me
as a single step undoes all the progress my little legs could make. As a dark
shadow creeps over me, I trip on the edge of the tile, faceplanting
spectacularly on the cold floor. Rolling onto my back, the ceiling is replaced
with the filthy white textured sole of the Miyano’s sneaker.
No matter what comes our way, it’s
in our nature to resist, so as the bus-sized shoe rushes towards me, I put up
my hands in a pathetic show of resistance, as if something as tiny as me can
even hope to stop her footfall as she exterminates the pest interrupting her
work. As the shoe makes contact with my body, it feels like I’ve been hit by a
truck. The unyielding rubber sole impacts my entire body at once, fracturing
bones and crushing one of my legs under the rubber pattern. With me
successfully pinned under her shoe, she begins to press down, denying me the
mercy of a quick death as she takes her time dealing with this trivial problem.
The weight increases slowly but
firmly. Joints begin to dislocate as my body struggles to survive the
ever-increasing pressure. My arms fracture before breaking as my other leg is
reduced to red pulp, sending a new wave of splitting pain across my entire
body. Finally, my ribcage caves, showering my innards in shards of bone as she
casually overcomes a slight bit of resistance. Above the sheer agony she puts
me through, I can hear Miyano softly chuckling to herself, as my brutal death
is reduced to a mere distraction from her duties.
With one more firm press, my body
liquefies. My chest collapses and bursts open like a grape, spewing blood and
my innards across the pristine tile floor in a bright crimson splash under her
shoe. Blood and viscera spurt from my mouth all over the girl’s dirty shoes as
she pulps me into a uniform mush. As I fade out from the torture, her shoe
lifts again, separating my head from my ruined body as it sticks into one of
the ridges of the sole before she slams it down and the world goes dark.
“That
was fun.” The girl mutters to herself, grinding the remnants of the weird bug
into the ground with an audible squeak. Lifting her shoe reveals a bright red
splatter, staining the bottom of her shoe and the floor.
“Now
I have to go grab tissues, stupid bug.” She complains to no one as she walks to
the back room, leaving faded red footprints behind her as she fetches a mop
from the supply closet. Stopping on the way back, she scrapes her shoe against
the mat, dislodging most of what remains of the bug’s body before she walks
down the aisle to mop up her foot prints.
A
few passes of the mop later and all evidence of the bug’s existence vanishes
from the world. The girl checks her watch, and sighs, realizing how much time
is left on her shift as she returns to her boring night shift duties.