He decided he would give her a name.  Giving her a name made her easier to relate to, not so distant, less like a goddess, or a deity.  Giving her a name would allow them to become friends, and make this whole experience less horrific.  But then again, friends didn’t do this to each other, not real friends, not best friends.

Steven Bryant was never a terrible guy.  He spent most of his time alone.  Too shy to talk to women, most of his time was spent either at work, in the IT department of a local electronics company, or in the basement apartment of his parent’s house.   Still in college at 24, he had yet to move out.  Some people called him a shut-in, others, a creeper.  But Steven was none of those; he just lacked the motivation necessary to do anything other than people-watch during lunch, in the company break room.

All of that mattered very little though, now.  He had set a completely different set of goals…the first of which was to surmount the mountainous terrain that he’d gotten himself caught up in, with peaks and valleys, all soft, delicate, and white.  This last hill was the hardest to climb, because of its steep face.  But once he reached the top, he could literally hop off the top, and slide down the other side to arrive at his destination.

What he found upon arrival at the flat surface he’d arrived at was nothing short of breath -taking.  She was delicate; her skin must have been softer than the comforter she was curled up under.  The flesh, only slightly hinted of olive in color, was dotted with tiny freckles around her nose, which was well defined, and small.  Her eyes were closed, naturally, because she was fast asleep, but the lashes of each eyelid curled all on their own, without the help of synthetic products.  Finally, her mouth, accentuated by pink, pouted lips, was slightly parted.  She was breathing through it, and gave the occasional, cute, girlish little snore.  All across her face, short strands of brunette and bronzed hair shaped the rest of her face.

Steven took a step forward, his semi-long hair blowing in the wind as he approached her.  He felt a bedroom intruder, watcher her as she slept.  Sadly, however, he needed her.  She was his only hope.  She was his savior, his queen, his goddess, and she might as well have been his world.

Taking another step closer to her face, he felt a rumbling.  He hadn’t considered checking behind him, and it was a little too late, now.  In a moment, the goddess’ hand, which he had not noticed behind him, moved closer towards her face, which he was standing directly in front of.  Screaming was unnecessary, only action.  The hand in itself was so large that it immediately cast a shadow over him, her long fingers looming over him, each other which had to be half of a mile long.  Doing all he knew to do, Steven began running in the only logical direction; towards her face.  The incident was over as quickly as it began, the impact of her hand sending shockwaves through the surface of mattress.  The index finger landed within yards of the unwitting hero, threatening to crush him, yet, instead, catapulting him further towards his goddess’ face.

Feeling temporarily free from danger, Steven sat up to see his new surroundings, and he was chilled.  Turning around, to his left was that enormous mouth of hers, easily able to house an entire housing development, and its residents.  The lips, still parted, acted almost as a shield.  Were he any further away, he’d easily be caught in the torrent of wind she created with every breath.   To his right, two massive caves, one atop the other; her nostrils.  Her right nostril was resting against the mattress, her pillow having been abandoned over the course of the night.  It was as large and ominous as any cave he’d seen on television, and twice as threatening, leading to the more intricate workings of the woman’s respiratory system. 

Steven, the poor innocent man, had no idea that his lovely goddess was suffering from a slight cold.  At that moment, before the tiny adventurer had a chance to react, her lips sealed shut, and the goddess gave a quick sniffle.

Screaming still did no good, but completely caught off guard, Steven began to yell at the top of his lungs, as an updraft lifted his miniscule body into the air, and he looked right, just in time to watch as the nostrils of the petite brunette became a yawning cavern, and he would be its first human inhabitant. Darkness was all he knew, and his voice echoed off the fleshy, mucus lined walls of her nose. 

Tiny, microscopic nose hairs whipped across his body, ripping at his clothes, stinging his flesh, until he landed, in a dryer, much warmer climate.  He’d been inhaled, and was now trapped, lost within the twenty-six year olds nasal cavity. 

Iliana, the stunning brunette, had gone to bed with her head pounding.  In addition to the migraine she was experiencing, she was developing a cold…she could practically feel her nasal cavity expanding with every breath.  Sighing, she tried sniffed a little, trying to breath in through her nose, before turning over and opening her eyes, glancing down at the messy floor of her bedroom…she hadn’t felt well enough to clean up, her clothes were discarded all over the floor…she’d have to take care of it later, for now…she just wanted to snooze.  She closed her eyes, and covered her head with the pillow, trying to ignore the throbbing headache, and the tiny irritation inside her nose, completely ignorant of her tiny admirer, lost inside in nasal cavity.

It was like a whole new world to Steven.   Hardly able to see his hand in front of his face, trying to walk was like wandering through a grass field at night, after a heavy rain, only without the oppressive winds constantly threatening to carry you away in its draft, deeper into the wilderness of the woman’s nose.  Fortunately, the miniscule nose hairs were thick enough that he could grab a hold, using the mucus as temporary adhesive, to avoid becoming further lost in the organic landfill.  However, this strategy didn’t last long.  He wasn’t sure if it was him, or some outside force, but something had caused a further irritation.  A pre-warning earthquake shook Steven to his knees, just before another huge up-draft caused, a soft sniffle from the unaware giant, planet of a woman, would catch him in its current, carrying him further into darkness, deeper into the a world of mucus heat. 

                The ride was not unlike what one would expect from whipping through nasal passages.  During his weightless roller coaster ride, he was constantly attempting to maneuver the winding passages that lead further inside her sinuses, the walls of which were pink, yet somehow, he was still able to make out the intricate system of veins, arteries, and capillaries that distributed blood all through her face.  He was so deep inside her now, that he couldn’t climb out, if he were given the opportunity to.  Just after avoiding a snot-lined wall, the tiny hero felt his pace slowing, until he began to descend, passing into a final cave, with some sort of thick pool of liquid just under him.  More snot, he realized as his lithe body barely made a splash, and he was stuck in a pool of Ileana’s nasal fluid.  He was only glad that he hadn’t ended somewhere else. 

                Fortunately, this cave was less intimidating, and after only a quick few strokes, found himself treading mucus, and standing on the brink of the path that had brought him here.  His eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness, though he still could hardly see, but staying there was no help...so he began to walk.

                Outside of Ileana’s petite nose, sleep was feeling more and more hopeless, to the point that she had sat up crossed her legs, pitying herself as she tried to find the strength to get out of bed.  Reaching over to the nightstand, she snatched up her saline nasal spray, eyed it carefully, then began to insert it into her nostril, the same that held Steven captive within its maze-like cavities, simultaneously inhaling and spraying the mist into her nose, repeating the action with the other nostril.  After setting the spray back into its place, she lifted a single finger, rubbing her reddening nose a few times, and pondering her plans for the day, since it wouldn’t be spent in bed.

                Steven hadn’t quite made it to the passage way that carried the medicated spray through his host’s warm nose, but he certainly felt the wind pick up and toss his hair about, as he nearly missed it.  Another five yards, and he’d have been careening into her lungs.  Braving the fear of being lost even further, if that was possible, he continued making steps forward, while Iliana reached for her glasses.  They were the cute, thick-framed kind that made her look smarter than she typically gave herself credit for.  As she continued to sit in bed, making out her to-do list, Steven continued forward, hoping that eventually he would see the light of day again.

The occasional sniffle carried him back a few yards,  naturally, but much less than before, as he would meander through only the smaller passageways, assuming the large ones carried the bulk of the airflow through this organic wonderland, inside the attractive woman’s face.  He couldn’t help but wonder if this was all fruitless, but had to keep trying.  He couldn’t honestly say he was closer to her, now, than any man had ever been.  No one knew her inner-workings like he did, having experienced them first hand.  If that wasn’t enough to call her his best friend, and soul-mate, nothing would be.  His thoughts were jarred, however, when there was a sudden eruption, coming from behind him, and he was, for the sixth time, carried back several feet. A harsh rumbling sounded, not unlike rushing water…oh damn.

                If there was one thing Iliana couldn’t stand about being sick, was the runny nose.  It was the first thing to come, and last thing to go.  Apparently that nasal spray had done its job, and her sinuses were emptying themselves.  Again, she reached over to the night stand again, taking up a tissue, and blew…hard. 

                The rumblings had been had been his only warning.  Regardless of his path, they would all inevitably lead out of her nose, which meant that all of that mucus that he had previously been swimming in was now coming back out at him, with a vengeance.  The pressure inside the nostril increased dramatically, and Steven felt like his body was going to explode, until the avalanche of snot barreled him over covering him in more of its sticky warmth, and then pushing him forward in its path.   Steven screamed, though immediately regretted the decision, as the disgusting filth-covered snot filled his mouth.  And as large of an avalanche of snot it was to Steven, it was hardly a trickle to the woman whose body had produced it. 

                After removing the tissue from her nose and finding it nearly dry, she moaned, annoyed at the idea of being able to breathe through her nose again taken away so quickly, the mucus had nearly dried up right at the edge of her nostril, leaving tiny Steven caked in the crusty stuff, but safe, for now.  He had an unobstructed view of Ileana’s lips, directly below him, and the breath from her lungs only helped entomb him there.  But he refused to stay there.  He began to struggle wildly, desperate to break free of his prison.  The woman, to which he was stuck to, however, had finally finished her to do list, tossed the notepad onto the night stand, and peeked over at her dirty floor again, prioritizing it over breakfast, for now, just as Steven broke free from his prison…and fell. 

He’d hoped, like any man would, to careen down her face, and land safely in her cleavage, which was certainly a possibility, until Iliana had chosen to lean forward and glance at her discarded clothing.  This motion had carried Steven away from her body, and into the open air.  Death was final coming, and he would embrace it, after the adventure of his life.  His eyes closed, as his speed increased, not caring to watch as the giant woman’s body passed by his eyes while he descended.  He only hoped death would be quick, that he would splatter on the floor.  At one point, he felt that he was no longer speeding up; he had reached terminal velocity, and could go no faster.  However, Steven’s miscalculation was that his terminal velocity was the same as his normal size, when, in fact, it was relative.  He was falling as gently as would a piece of cotton.

After what felt like entirely too long, he re-opened his eyes.  Directly below him was a thick forest.  Carpet, he assumed, it was blue, and shaggy.  He passed the top edges of the forest-like fibers, bouncing gently against them until he saw the forest floor, and impacted it, harsher than he would have liked, but received no worse than a few bruises.  As happy to be alive as he was, there was a new problem.   He was lost again, this time in a much brighter, more colorful world.  It was no longer hot, maybe just a little warm, but had a much more distinctive, musk-like smell to it.  The trees of this forest were tall, like red-woods, and proceeded just short of what he could see.  Looking away, he again assumed the risk of walking until he came up with a better plan.

Time to be active.  The brunette had spent entirely too long in bed.  It had to have been half an hour of doing nothing, and, if she wanted to it or not, she had a busy day ahead of her.  Another groan, as she uncrossed her legs, and set her white sock clad feet on the ground, next to her comfy blue house slippers.  As she looked down, she glanced back and forth from her feet, her toes wiggling gently within the socks, and her slippers, begging for attention.  Her feet were already a little warm; wearing socks in her slippers would only make them hot and sweaty.  Taking her seat back at the bed, she reached down, taking her left foot into her left hand, and her right hand removing the oppressive sock, and exposing her warm, olive-toned foot to the cool air.  Her bare toes wiggled gently, and she lifted her foot to rest her ankle on the opposite knee, examining the slightly-less tan sole of her foot, and finding tiny pieces of cotton scattered there.  As she contemplated re-painting her cute toenails, which were currently a very subdued pink color, she lightly dusted the sole of her foot free of stow-away cotton bits, being sure to catch little pieces that had seemingly began to flee to the gentle arch of her foot, to escape the wrath of her hand.  As she did so, she noticed that in the short period of time of being awake, her foot had already began to generated the tiniest little bit of moisture, that the passengers of her dainty foot had used to cling to. 
                “No free rides here, guys…”  She chuckled gently, uncrossing her leg, and slipping her foot inside the comfort of its companion slipper, then lifted the other, still socked foot to repeat the process.

The first earthquake had been enough to startle poor Steven, who was still wandering through his own private forest of blue trees.  Sadly, he hadn’t made much progress, and nothing seemed any different, until he felt, what his mind could only process his beautiful, unwitting host setting her feet on the ground.  But he was perplexed.  If she had done that, in the distance, he would be able to see where she had stood, right?  But he couldn’t…she must have been farther away than he anticipated.  A sigh, hoping that meant he was safe from her incredible foot falls.  But still, that musk had not yet gone away, and though it was not strong, it was present enough to be annoying, without knowing its source.  Maybe the carpet just needed to be shampooed?

A few moments later, he began to see a clearing, and jogged ahead to push through the trees, to see what he could find.  He was hoping to find a slightly lower level of wooden floors, or linoleum, of a private bathroom attached to the bedroom he was lost in, but, instead, what he found, further perplexed him, and eventually, frightened him.  He had gotten part of his wish, there was another level of floor under the one he was standing on, but instead of it being floored like a bathroom…it was...more carpet, though not as tall, and further across that field, was an identical forest of blue, just as tall and thick.   What was this place?  He got his answer soon enough. 

A shadow appeared above the other forest, darkening it.  He swallowed hard, anticipating what could possible put a shadow on such a large forest.  It wasn’t a cloud, he was inside, it had to be his guest, whom he had still yet to name.  In that moment, however, he regretted his actions, as he began to look up, in search of what had cast the shadow, and very quickly learned.  The bottom of it was flesh toned, with soft hills and valleys, dramatic dips and swells, a landscape that could only be defined as the feminine sole of an immensely large foot.  Braving the woman’s respiratory tract had been tough, and frightening, but this…this was terrifying. 

He stood there for a moment in utter fear, as he realized that his forest was nothing but the simple house slipper of his unaware host, and he was watching as she put her foot inside the adjacent slipper.  Eventually, the foot descended to the insole of the footwear.  He was close enough that he watched in immense detail as, first, those five, perfect, pink-painted to made their way through the soft field of plush that sprung vividly from the insole, each of the massive digits offering the tiniest little wiggle, as they slid out of sight, apparently into the housing of the slipper, which was just out of view.  Next and more quickly, was the ball of her foot, followed by the gentle slope of her high arch, which still had not completely settled onto the insole.  Finally, to his left, was that mountainous heel, soft and round, yet strong and defined, and obviously well cared-for.  All of these massive structures, worked together to form the petite left foot of a woman who hadn’t the slightest clue of his presence.

Steven had had enough.  There was no time to gawk at her foot, like some sort of fetishist.  It was time to abandon the slipper he was still standing on. However, his plans were immediately put to rest, as Iliana finally allowed her entire foot to rest within its slipper, setting the weight of her leg on it, as the other foot went to meet with her knee.  This quick movement created a displacement of air from under her foot, blowing out from each direction, including that of the tiny hero, who was blown, as he’d been accustomed to, back into the dense forest of plushness.  He began to panic, getting to his feet again and searching for the quickest exit, before her other foot decided to follow suit. 

Her stomach growled…and as she finished removing her sock, dusting her sole off, and slipping her foot inside the empty slipper, she decided that breakfast was more of a priority than cleaning.  She had all day to do that, and would be more motivated to do so, if she wasn’t fighting hunger pangs.

There was no avoiding it, hiding from it, running from it…it was simply too massive.  The best he could do was head for what he hoped was where the arch of her foot would land; it would provide less pressure than anywhere else.  As he gazed up into the sky, he ultimately, saw no sky, only the oceanic sole of an innocent girl, preparing to go through her morning routine.  The world had begun to grow dark, as the rippling expanse of soft, female flesh descended towards its home, and himself.  Her monumental toes, likely cute and dainty to her, flew overheard, each toe seeming to nearly have its own gravitational pull, as he could clearly outline each rung of the toe print, some even harboring a few cotton-based fugitives that Iliana had missed. 

The temperature began to increase, as the natural body heat radiating from the foot began penetrate the coolness of the slipper, and beat against his face.  It got darker and darker, as the intricacies of the soft sole became more present, and as it continued to bear down on him, he was unsure if he had even positioned himself correctly to be spared under her majestic, lady-like arch.  He hoped so…but he couldn’t be sure, especially as her foot cast out the last of the light in his world, and he closed his eyes, waiting to embrace death…at least she wouldn’t know, if he did die.  They were best friends, or so he would have liked to imagine.  Rachel…that was her name, he decided.

The arch of Iliana’s sole lorded over him like the sky, generating a wave of heat over poor Steven like he was sitting in a sauna, yet due to the warmth; her tender sole had begun to lightly perspire.  Not enough to cause any sort of downpour, but enough that he could finally place the smell that he’d noticed when he arrived in her slipper…it was sweat.  Again, it was not a strong smell, yet, but enough to be frustrating for any man trapped inside a woman’s slipper.  However, to Steven, the fun had not yet even begun.  It was time for his hostess to take her first step. 

And what a step it was, and unlike anything he’d ever experienced.  As her weight shifted onto both feet while she stood, Steven could hardly watch, as the bottom of her foot began to further collapse into the slipper, and push deeper into his jungle of fuzzy, blue trees.  It was the one instance where he was glad to be as tiny as he was, even with her full weight on that foot; he was protected under her arch.  Even so, it was no less frightening to watch that wall of flesh as it stretched and shifted to compensate where necessary.  From his position underfoot, he could practically see, and hear the mechanics of the great foot of the goddess, as it prepared to bend at the toes to lift the heel up, and shift the ankle to allow for even further, more complicated mechanics higher up the leg than Steven could fathom.

At nearly the same instant, there was a brief gust of wind and a nearly blinding light, as that strong, massive heel began to lift.  The slipper, being the sort that slid on without a heel, was in conflict with itself.  The foot in which it was adorned, was pushing its toes downward, preventing it from moving, while the heel of the foot was doing the opposite, lifting off of the floor.  With nothing to allow the heel of the slipper to follow its fleshy companion, it stayed planted, while ball of the foot both planted and bent, so that only the toes remained grounded, and the heel was raised countless miles into the air.  Steven watched all of this first hand, seeing every muscle of the feminine foot contained within the warm skin, performing its duty behind the olive-toned veil of flesh.  It was a magnificent sight, really, thought Steven, to see the intricate workings of Iliana’s step, her sole wrinkling, then flexing and pulling along, doing the will of its counterparts.

All too soon after the Steven had watched the foot he was trapped under began to move for its first step, would he realize…all of this was only the first half of the step.  Looking up and around, half of the sky that had previously been made up of only the wrinkled sole of his goddess best friend, was now only partially so…the rest of his view taken up by the distinct sight of Iliana’s bed comforter, immediately behind her.  And then there was that familiar rumbling of something moving. 

He knew the rest of that footwear would not remain in tension with itself.  The moment her toes lifted from the ground completely, the rest of the slipper would jump to meet with sole that had abandoned with it.  Steven braced for impact, hearing the strained fibers of shoe as it attempted to compensate for its owner’s foot moving gently inside it.  He knew it was about to be bad.  Steven wanted to close his eyes, but couldn’t, and clung tightly to that blue fuzzy tree.  Just as expected, another gust of wind roared, this time coming from all around him.

The movement happened faster than he could have expected, and the entire insole that Steven clung to was catapulted towards the sole, the details of the foot becoming increasingly more vivid as the tiny man was vaulted closer towards the sole, until he could no longer see anything but the underside of the foot.  He only hoped the impact wouldn’t crush him.  That instant, however, he felt his fingers slip.  The combined moisture from Iliana’s sweat, and his own palms prevented him from clinging effectively to it…and he was thrown away from the sole, just as the entire foot and slipper alike lifted into the air. 
               

Once again, Steven could feel the strength of opposing winds, one from the slipper heading towards the foot, the other from the foot racing into the air.  The combination of the two winds negated each other, as well as Steven’s momentum, causing him to plummet.  He’d have preferred to collide into the sole, its many ridges from her foot print would have provided plenty of hand-holds to cling to, but instead, he got a glance of what he was falling towards.
                Immediately below was a familiar cavern, created by the sole of the massive foot and the insole of the slipper, creating a great, dark chasm that lead deep inside the slipper, all the way to the hidden toes of Iliana’s precious foot.  Staying under her arch was safe, but if he fell to the ball of her foot, the moment she planted that foot again, he’d surely be crushed, and there was little he could do to prevent it.  He fell, staring wide-eyed into the bowels of his beautiful captor’s foot, and she prepared to finish her first step.

The captor, however, was innocently ignorant, as she rubbed her eyes, taking a step forward to lead to the kitchen.  What sounded good?  Oatmeal?  Eggs? Fruit?  No… cereal.  Hm, did she have Cap’n Crunch?  The sounded delicious.

The scent of flesh was unmistakable.  It surrounded him and invaded his senses just as closely as the flesh that entombed him had.  It was a terrible thing, Steven had never really been a big fan of feet, even soft, sensual female feet, like that of Iliana’s would never rank very high on his list of attractive features.  However, at such a tiny size, the intricacies that created the divine silkiness of human flesh were moreapparent than they had ever been.  Distaste of feet and all, there was no avoiding the truth, the sole of Iliana’s foot was a sight to behold on a level Steven had never considered.

Encountering its wrath was, unfortunately, quite the opposite.  The curvaceous swells of her arch might have provided a temporary sanctuary, but there was no avoiding the terrible might of its step.  The sole must have stretched out for miles beyond Steven’s sight.  Had he not been oppressed so harshly under it, he’d have contemplated the just how long it would have taken him to scale such a height, or traverse it on foot.  These considerations would have made his spine tingle, the thought of spending hours, if not days wandering the deserted landscape of a woman’s arch, climbing in and out of each minute line that created her foot and toe prints.

It had only been a single step, and Steven’s mind raced to find something to divert his attention to, if only to keep his sanity.  No such thing existed; he was as much trapped in his own mind as he was trapped in Iliana’s slipper. 

The kitchen was only a few, short steps from her bedroom.  It was one of the reasons Iliana had chosen this apartment above the other choices.  There was nothing more discouraging than waking up late at night, wanting a sip of water, and knowing that getting it meant walking all the way to the other side of the apartment.  This set up meant that the brunette would hardly have to open her eyes to navigate into the kitchen, should that situation ever arise.  It was by no means a requirement in house-hunting, but it would be severely appreciated when the time came.

After her short jaunt to the kitchen, the two in one heroine and antagonist of our story turned to grab that near-empty box of Cap’n Crunch (no berries for her), and shake it lightly, listening in anticipation to hear enough cereal bits bouncing around for a full bowl of breakfast.  If it wasn’t full enough to satisfy her hunger, she’d try a different cereal, and save that for a mid-day snack.  However, the box sounded to be just barely large enough to soothe her appetite, and after turning to the opposite side of the kitchen, she retrieved a white-porcelain bowl from the cabinet.  Below it, she opened the silverware drawer, took up her favorite cereal spoon (which was only ever used for cereal, and maybe ice cream), and carried the trio to the table.  

Finally, she needed the milk.  As she took the necessary steps to reach the kitchen, her lips parted and emitted a yawn, which was covered by her hand.  That same hand went to open the refrigerator door, reach for the milk, and pause.  Noticing the level of the milk was below the requirement for a good bowl of cereal; Iliana cursed herself for being as lazy as to skip going to the grocery store on the way home yesterday.  Sighing, her fingers drummed a few times against the fridge door, just as her eyes caught sight of the non-dairy coffee, un-flavored coffee creamer.  It wasn’t as tasty as the 2% milk, and had a lot more calories and fat, but could certainly work if she combined the two.  Shrugging, she grabbed both containers and headed back to the table, where she assembled the necessary ingredients, and prepared the cereal.

After milk, cereal, and creamer had all combined in the bowl, Iliana stirred the cereal together and dipped the spoon in for a first bite.  She had anticipated a slightly different taste, and preparing for it, crossed her fingers, mentally, while crossing her legs physically, allowing her slipper to balance on her toes, off of her heel.  Here goes nothing.

Steven had found himself fighting consciousness.  The first step had been so terrible that he had considered burying his face into one of those tree-like slipper fuzz strands and suffocating himself, so that he would not have to endure another.  He was not given the time to consider the option though, as the foot landed with harshness onto the ground again.  His body screamed in agony.  Though he was smaller than most bugs, he was still too large to ignore the impact of the woman’s step.  Her foot threatened to impact his lungs and crush his organs into each other, but that same pressure also prevented any movement on Steven’s part.  This meant that his body was not able to be crushed in that way, there was simple nowhere for the parts to move.

Steven was finally granted his temporary vacation from consciousness however, and the duration of Iliana’s breakfast preparation was only experienced on a subconscious level.  Luckily for him, he stayed unconscious until Iliana was sitting, leg crossed over the other.  He awoke to see that familiar sole lording over him like the sky.  With the heel of the slipper dangling so lightly at the goddess’ toes, the artificial light of the kitchen allowed Steven to see his predicament again.  He was lucky enough to have stayed embedded in the slipper fuzz of the shoe, staring up at the oceanic wall of flesh that had only moments ago threatened to crush him.  

His body was throbbing, and he was sure that he was bleeding internally somewhere.  Surely a few ribs were cracked, and a finger was broken, but he was alive.  His second encounter with Iliana’s body had nearly killed him, but here he was, experiencing life again.  Steven grinned, trying to shift to an upright position.  This turned out to be a mistake however, as his body screamed at him for being such a terrible protector of it.  Steven quickly shifted back into a resting position, sighing. 

Above, he could feel the lightly sensation of Iliana’s slipper bouncing against her toes.  It wasn’t much, only a light tilting of her ankle, or maybe shifting of her toes.  Both were far out of sight, but he imagined that her toes would have dwarfed anything he’d seen before.  He could even hear the groaning of the shoe’s fabric as her toes wiggled inside of it, surely causing anything trapped within their powerful grasp to be ground into dust, and lost between them, until Iliana showered again.

And as he thought about those things, Iliana, almost as if in response, wiggled those toes again, attempting to move the slipper further onto her foot, before it fell off.  She couldn’t quite move it into the position she needed though, and so instead, allowed her ankle to shake the entire foot left and right vigorously, hoping this second attempt to re-position her footwear would succeed.

For Steven, though, once plastered to the insole of the slipper, it was all but the worst thing she could have done.  He was violently thrown from his position and tossed into another, landing on his chest.  Screaming in pain, he attempted to grab one of those furry trees that made up the insole, but only found himself careening, along with a few other near microscopic bits of dirt and dust, towards the heel of the footwear, and a sheer drop to the kitchen floor, thousands of feet below.

There was little he could do, but close his eyes, and pray to every deity that he could think of to take him to heaven, or at least some alternative, more peaceful existence.  With eyes closed, he was more aware of the burns against his flesh from sliding so harshly against the thick foliage of synthetic fibers.  When he reopened his eyes, things had grown a bit darker, and ahead, where he expected to see the outside world, and a cliff leading to his death, he saw an unmistakable wall of flesh.  

Damn slipper, it just didn’t want to stay on!  Iliana, trying not to get annoyed with something as petty as her own footwear, set her spoon down and reached towards her slipper, grabbing it at the heel, and pulling it back securely onto her foot.  Problem solved, she sighed, and lifted her hand back up to the table, but instead of going for her spoon again, her hand continued its ascent.  Frustrated with the tastelessness of her breakfast, the bombshell brunette ran her fingers through her hair in contemplation.  Meanwhile, she had unknowingly deposited Steven, her greatest admirer, and tiniest friend, into the jungle of brown hair on her scalp.

Steven himself was unsure whether to celebrate his freedom from her footwear, or panic at the even more vast world that he was lost in, deep in Iliana’s hair.