Ding dong.
I hear the door turn on its hinges, and Ash and Julia start greeting each other noisily, as if one of them was back from her third consecutive tour in Fallujah.
Okay, we’re finally moving again. I can hear the bottom of Ashley’s converses hitting the wooden floor; after all, I’m lying in her shoe and under her left foot. I can feel my clothes sticking to my skin thanks to the mixture of our sweat, as well as other bodily fluids….
My body’s sore and my muscles ache. I never really could stop tensing my muscles whenever Ashley’s toes landed on me after each step. I could tell that she was careful not to put too much of her weight on her arches. The poor, sweet girl practically limped half the way, just as soon as I relocated beneath her toes.
I’m sure I’d have more sympathy for her under better circumstances, but frankly the magic was lost after the first 15 minutes, or the third involuntary ejaculation beneath her toes. They coincided. Maybe if I could think of a better…. UGHHHHHH!
Oh… what the hell was that? Oh shit, not again, no… no… UUUUUUUUUUUH… Why is she pressing her toes so firmly all of a sudden? My stomach hurts from the hit it got from one of Ash’s toes, it is… UGHHH… are… are we going up the stairs?
I’m gonna puke in here if she keeps it up, I'm gonna bite her….
I go for biting the inside flesh of her big toe the next time it lands flat on my face, but she raises her foot as soon as my teeth hit her skin. She’s climbing another step, oh God here it comes again… UGHHH.
This time I bite her as hard as I can. I hear a shout from a mile above, and the world, which is Ashley’s left shoe for me at the moment, shakes violently.
“What’s wrong, Ash?” I hear Julia’s muffled voice from up there.
“What? Oh, it’s nothing. Let’s go.” Ashley replies, raising her foot and me beneath it up again, but this time her toes rest lightly on my tensed body. I let the air out of my lungs hesitantly. Glad I didn’t puke. In my experience, barfing in confined spaces is the worst that can happen. Well, that is, if the giant foot doesn’t squish you like an ant.
I hear another door open. Sweet merciful God, it’s finally over, I’m finally fre…..
“Hi Ash, come sit here! We were about to play a board game.” The devil beckons from pits of hell. Well, a ginger devil, whose name is Suzanne. Which is, interestingly, quite similar to Satan. Coincidence? I think not.
“Hey Suzie, sure!” Ashley replies with the same charming tone she’s been using ever since she entered Julia’s house. I’m willing to bet on my life that if ‘Suzie’ was not in the room, she would be the first topic of their gossip. That’s how girls are, my young friends.
The world turns 90 degrees, just like when we were on the bus. Thankfully, my feet are towards the bottom and not the other way around. I stand on my feet, with Ashley’s sole in front of me like a soft wall. Her toes are now to my left, and I have to put my hands on top of her foot to support myself.
The girls have started chatting again. It seems that Ash has forgotten all about me. I can really use some air here. I wish she would take off her shoes so I could breathe fresh air a little. I can easily hide from Suzanne in her converse. I’d better get her attention. Let me tap on her sole… nothing. Maybe she doesn’t feel my taps? I punch her sole lightly, but all I get in response is her toes wiggling to my left.
Suit yourself.
I tickle her sole as hard as I can with both hands, she moves her bare foot inside the shoe. I can hear her laughter… I tickle her even harder… okay now the shakes are getting too violent… I’d better stop… before she knocks me... OUCH!
She hit me right in the nose! With her sole! Dafuq?
I‘d better hold on to her foot before I lose my balance; it’d be hell, falling down towards her heel. I put my hands on top of her foot. I feel dizzy from the hit, and the dark, shifting place I’m in has really disoriented me. The muffled voices of the giantesses continue in my head without me making much sense of them.... Ash's foot odor is stronger now that I'm pressing my face against her moist, wamr sole… I… I’m not really feeling so well….
I lean on her foot; practically hanging from it. My hands are on top of it as if I’m giving it an awkward hug. I try to find the a foot hold inside the shoe, but there seems to be a curve down there. I fumble around with my feet, still using my hands for support. All the while, my face is pressed against her bare sole. Not really the best…
I suddenly feel like I’m pulled back by something. Blinding light rushes in, and I feel the fresh, cool air on my face. The chatter from the outside has stopped, and the silence is also another welcome change.
I open my eyes slowly to see where she’s put her shoes but… Ashley’s foot again? But… where is her shoe? I notice the distant floor below, with weird colors and pictures... my hands are instinctually holding on to her foot as I notice my position; I'm still clining to her sole.
I look to the right, where I sensed movement. My heart starts beating in my ears. Julia’s right hand is up in the air, holding a plastic cone between the index and the thumb. Her eyes are staring right at me.
I swallow my saliva, the sound my throat makes is the only thing audible in the silence. I look back, still hanging from Ashley’s foot, just to see Suzanne’s frozen features. Her mouth is half open, and her green eyes are fixed right on me. Her eyebrows are raised so high I can’t see them among her hair. The entire ordeal must've lasted a second or two, but it is in slow motion.
A pair of dice falls from her hands and fall down on the cardboard surface with two consecutive bangs.
My frozen brain lets out a not very constructive thought: HO-LY SHIT!
“Holy shit!” Suzanne says under her breath.
At least we finally agree on something.
My trembling hands let go of Ashley’s foot, I slide off her sole and fall down the short distance to the wooden ground, with three pairs of eyes following my fall.
I close my eyes. The fall wasn’t that high, but I’m suffering from another kind of hit. Please God, let me see Ashley’s room when I open my eyes. Oh Jesus, please, please, please….
I open my eyes, and Suzanne’s face above me is the first thing I see. So much for miracles.
“Is… is that Sam?” Suzanne asks, looking at somebody to my left. I turn my head towards that direction, still lying on the floor on my back.
Ashley’s face looks pale. She’s looking at Suzanne blankly, clearly she doesn’t know what to say. I don’t think she knew I was holding on to her foot.
Julia’s face appears in my view out of nowhere, okay too close now… too close…. Her nose is resting on my chest now, and the crappy nose job isn’t helping either.
“Oh my gosh! It IS Sam!” She shouts excitingly. My ear drums are about to be torn apart. I sit up impulsively. Lying on your back with a nose poking you just seems… too exposed….
I’d better get on my feet. I stand up unsteadily. The world is spinning, and my ears are ringing. I shake my head to clear my vision.
“Oh my God, it says it’s not him.” Suzanne says stupidly. Wow, ‘it’ says?
“Guys, it is Sam.” Ashley finally says in a morbid tone. Well, I guess there’s no point in trying to hide it now. At least I’m not naked this time.
“But he’s so small!” Julia exclaims. No shit, Einstein!
“It… there was an accident.” Ash explains. “Sam… somehow... there was a sort of accident. He then asked me for help.” Ash says in a slightly trembling voice.
Strange, for some reason Ashley left out the part about the chemistry class and Ms. Wundt. I think she doesn’t trust Suzanne either, smart girl!
“But he was IN YOUR SHOE!” Suzanne says heartily. What’s she so excited about?
“Umm… We had no other way to hide him…” Ash replies uncomfortably. Her cheeks go red a little.
“Can it talk?” Julia asks curiously, looking down at me. The three girls are sitting cross legged on the floor, around a cardboard square that seems to be a game of some sorts. And I’m right in the middle of the three.
“Of course I can talk!” I snap at her.
“OKAY! I guess it is really you, huh?” Julia says, looking askance at me from up there. The look gives me shivers.
“What are we going to do with him now?” Suzanne asks, excited. She is staring at me like a cat who’s found a mouse while saying so.
So she thinks I’m some toy Ash has brought along for them to play with? I might be a couple of inches tall, but I’m gonna show this little bitch….
“YOU are NOT going to do anything to him, Suzanne.” Ashley’s voice booms from above. “And YOU aren’t going to tell ANYONE about him, if you know what's best for you!
OH MY GOD I LOVE HER SOOOO MUCH! I’d totally kiss her if any part of her except for her feet were within my reach.
“Okay, I… I think we’d better keep playing….” Julia says uneasily. Clearly, she’s understood that Ashley doesn’t want to involve Suzanne anymore. Well, I guess she’s not that bad.
I look at Suzanne, her white face is red now and for the first time since I got out, she’s not looking at me. She’s staring at Ashley, and Ash is staring right back at her. Wow!
Normally, I’d welcome a chick fight, but not when I’m in the position that might get me stomped.
Suzanne finally looks down at me again.
“Well, I guess it was your turn Julia.” She says slowly while staring down at me. She picks up the pair of dice which is lying next to me. I can feel her desire to snatch me, but her hand doesn’t get anywhere closer. She knows she’s the minority here.
I look back at Ash again just in time to catch her looking at Julia. They both know, as well as I do, that Tina and God knows who else will find out about me the second Suzanne sets foot outside the house.
Julia picks up her plastic cone again. “Does… does Sam want to play too?” she asks Ashley in as normal a tone as she can, as if this is nothing but a casual weekly gathering.
“No, I’m fine.” I reply back loudly.
“Oh… okay….” She says, embarrassed. She smiles at me while tossing the dice on the board, a good 3 inches away from me. I step back and approach Ashley. I look up. She’s looking down at me. Her face is still a little red with anger. She is looking at me, but I doubt she is seeing me. She is distracted.
There’s nothing but the sound of Julia’s plastic cone getting dragged on the cardboard square. I look down, it looks like a picture of a jungle or something, with a castle in the top left corner.
“It’s your turn, Ash.” Julia declares.
Ashley reaches for her plastic cone.
“You know what! Sam can be your game piece!” Oh great, Suzanne has decided to open her mouth yet again. I swear, it’s like she and Tina intentionally try to be annoying.
“I told you, Sam….”
“It’s okay, Ash.” I interrupt her, approaching her hand that’s holding the dice.” I’ll gladly be your game piece.” I continue, kissing her hand.
I can see that Julia has a faint smile, whether out of disgust or interest I cannot tell from down here, and Suzanne looks a bit dim. I guess she didn’t expect me to react like this. Haha, I’ve changed ‘Suzie’…. Umm… I mean, my personality has….
Ashley’s tender fingertip brushes my cheek. Suzanne’s green eyes get even wider. I guess she expected a more defensive, more distanced Sam whom she can humiliate easily. or maybe it is the weirdness of it all.
Well, screw her. I walk to Ash’s plastic cone, and she picks it up and puts it aside. I stand on a circle with a big black 13 on it.
“Not a lucky number.” Suzanne says, smiling. She then picks up the dice.
-------
Who the FUCK plays board games anymore? I mean seriously! When was the last time you played a board game? Couldn’t they play on their iPads or something?
Anyway… Suzanne’s red cone has been on my ass for the last ten minutes or so. Ashley seems distracted and has been on a streak of fuck-ups for the past 5 turns, and Julia’s yellow game piece is like 50 squares ahead of me. I never thought I'd be jealous of a piece of plastic so much. Well, time to move three squares forward. Here we go... there! I land my bare foot on the eye of a corocodile or lizar or whatever.
“Aha! You have to go 10 squares back!” Suzanne says, completely oblivious to the quiet atmosphere of the room and the fact that I'm small enough to be compared to a game piece. She must the only one enjoying this stupid game. I sigh before turning back to walk closer to her game piece. I hate this side of the board, it’s too close to Suzanne and her shadow is over me all the time.
She rolls the dice and tosses it on cardboard. It’s a total of 5.
Julia is eyeing Ashley, and she raised her head to look at her. Suzanne picks up her piece and moves it 5 squares forward. Oh, her hand is right above me now… and it’s coming down hard! SHIT!
I jump to my right towards Ashley, and Suzanne puts down her piece with such a force that all the other pieces – me included – shake unsteadily. A yellow cone is knocked down by the force of her hand. She has a grin on.
“What’s wrong with you?” Ashley snaps at her harshly. Julia’s also staring at her now. Oh my beautiful guardian angels! (I have to ignore Julia's nose for this part.)
Suzanne looks at them quietly, then suddenly stands up. Her feet are on either side of me and her pink socks do little to make them feel less frightening. She looks down at me, smiling. I look up, she looks like a skyscraper compared to me and her head is in the sky.
Suddenly, I feel Ashley’s grip around me. I know it’s her, her aroma precedes her, and her touch is the most familiar feeling I know. I feel myself going up, Suzanne’s feet get smaller and smaller until I’m at eye level with her.
“I guess you’ll be going?” Ashley asks, or order? I never knew she could be this serious, and admittedly a little bit frightening ….
“Yeah, yeah, I’m going.” She says, looking at me with her naughty eyes. “I’ll see you soon.”
She exits the room, followed by Julia.
Ashley sits on Julia’s bed, still holding me in her hand.
“Sam, what the hell were you doing? Why were you hanging from my foot?” She asks quickly.
“I was feeling dizzy, Ash….” I tried to explain.
“You were suppsoed to stay in my shoe, hidden from others. Didn't you hear Suzanne's voice? What are we going to do if she tells other people?” She continues, she sounds worried now.
“Ash…”
“What if she calls the cops? Or the principle!”
“Ashley relax….”
“What if they take you away from me?” she finally says, looking at me with her blue eyes.
There’s tear in them.
I hug her thumb, kissing it.
“They gonna have to do way more than that to separate me from you.” I tell her. She gets me closer to her, and kisses me with her full lips. A tear makes its way on her soft skin and reaches my head while she does it, and I can taste the salty love in my mouth.
I kiss her lips, not sure if she’s felt it but… No, she has felt it. She kissed me again, and I her. I wish I could hold her in my arms….
The door opens, and Ashley lowers me a bit so she can look at her friend, Julia, who’s staring at us while standing in the doorway.
“You wanna tell me what the hell happened to him, Ash?” she asks, closing the door behind her.