Angel’s Dust: Viral
“Ugh.” A somber Hazel groaned from
the computer lab of campus. The young woman endlessly clicked away at her YouTube
channel statistics, burning the numbers and graphs into her brain. She only
picked a dozen new subscribers this month and the viewership was painfully
stagnant.
“Purgatory.” She huffed, the worst place
for a channel to be. There was one exception, the video last month where she
helped that guy across campus. Like many online hits it came out of nowhere and
she had no idea it’d go over as well as it did.
It blew all her other uploads out the
water and was the first to enter six-digit territory sitting around the 300,000
ballpark in views. The unexpected success set her hopes high that she finally had
her breakout upload that would elevate her into becoming a prominent name in
the online community.
Alas it was the dreaded one hit wonder. Her follow up videos didn’t attract anywhere
near the same attention and within a couple of uploads her viewership returned
to their usual 5,000 or so views. Not terrible if you’re a casual content creator.
But for someone aspiring for a full-time career of this, nothing to write home
about.
Continuing her analysis Hazel opened
a new tab to catch up on unread comments. While most were tame and supportive,
the negative criticisms were the ones her attention honed in on.
“Just what we need, another
basic vlogger chick. Hard pass.”
“Fucking hater.” Hazel grumbled;
her fingers were raring to go on a tangent typing the most hurtful thing to put
that jerk in his place. Halfway through her reply her better judgement kicked
in and she deleted her entry. Tempting as it was, indulging the haters would only
validate the fact they struck a nerve.
“is she a discount TT?” That
comment especially reddened her face. She hastily clicked out of the browser
window before she saw anything else that would rile her up.
Such is the life of a vlogger. In
such an oversaturated genre standing out from the crowd was tough unless you
had something special going for you. Some had a particular gimmick, others possessed
a natural charisma, and a few were simply 10 out of 10 gorgeous and that alone
compelled people to watch.
Objectively speaking, Hazel fell
into a jack of all trades, master of none. She was nice to look at and
energetic in front of a camera. However, she wasn’t covering any new ground
with video topics that haven’t already been hackneyed to death. Detractors were
quick to write her off as another pretty face wanting her 15 minutes of online
clout.
Hazel tapped her cheeks a few
times. “Perk up girl, the show must go on.” Consistency was key. Sure, things
were stagnant now but not uploading would be a death sentence for her channel. Afterall,
out of sight, out of mind.
Hazel grabbed her phone and tripod and
left the lab to setup for her first ever live stream. She thought it would
serve her well to show a more authentic side of herself without the framework
of a script. Plus, she announced ahead
of time that it would be a Q&A style format with hopes of encouraging more
engagement and it gave her subscribers time to have questions ready in advance.
“Ack!” After cutting the corner to
the next hallway Hazel stumbled and dropped her phone after colliding with
another student.
“Whoops! Sorry about that!” The
girl said barely turning to stop and continued walking along.
“Fuck!” Hazel cursed, she caught enough
glimpse of that platinum blonde hair and the shrill voice was unmistakable. Tina,
better known as Totally Tina or TT for short boasted a sizeable 250,000 subscriber
base and the viewership to match. Her channel was on the fast track and left all
her contemporaries who debuted around the same time in the dust, herself included.
Hazel theorized Tina’s popularity
was based on the shy girl persona she carried herself with on video. Standing at
a meek 5’1 accompanied with a high pitch voice that rarely rose above a whisper
in her content, it’d only take a glance at the comments to see her legions of fans
gushing over how adorable she was.
Perhaps because Hazel’s demeanor
was the polar opposite, she never saw the appeal of what made Tina blow up and
not her. Regardless, she knew it would be foolish not to reach out and see if she’d
be willing to collaborate with her on a video and harness some of that
spotlight.
Not even the nastiest of trolls
could have gotten under her skin the way her response did.
“I’m not really interested in collaborating
with small channels. Maybe if your channel gets bigger, we can talk. TT~”
“I’ll show you.” Hazel said.
“Here you go.”
Startled, Hazel stepped back at the
new face who practically appeared from thin air. What the heck was her deal? Better
yet, how did she not notice her until she was inches from her face? And those
silvery eyes, it was like she was staring into her soul.
“Yeesh, you surprised me.” She
looked down and saw the woman had her phone in hand.
“You dropped this on the ground.
See you later Hazel!” The mysterious student went on her way.
“Do I know … you?” Hazel turned around to peek at the girl again
but there wasn’t a trace of her. Thinking nothing further of it she made her way
outside and found a nearby grassy spot to set up her equipment. She was pleased
to see there were already a handful of people in the stream waiting for the
broadcast to start.
“What’s that?” Hazel paused to
ponder at the YouTube screen, “GO LARGE”. Where was “Go Live”?
“An update?” Maybe developers were
testing a beta version of a new feature. The regular button was gone so it was
fair to assume this new one was the replacement. With a tap on the screen a sudden
green flash overwhelmed her retinas and a jolt coursed down the length of her
spine.
“Whoa!” Was she just electrocuted? She
gingerly moved her limbs one by one to ensure everything was in working order.
The jolt wasn’t painful, surprisingly after it subsided a tingling pleasure dispersed
throughout her body. What was that about? You know what, it didn’t matter. The
camera was on and prior doubts were irrelevant, she felt great and the show must
go on!
“Hey there Hazelnuts, it’s ya’girl
Hazel going live right here on campus!” She waved and shined her perkiest smile.
“Drop in the comments how you’re all
doing today and don’t forget I’m accepting all questions you want answered so
pull no punches!” She gestured with a fist to her chin.
A few more viewers trickled in and
comments populated in the live chat which already set her in a better mood than
she was in before.
“Hey Hazel”
“it’s our girl!”
“afternoon!”
“first”
Seconds later the first question appeared.
“Whatever happened to the guy
you showed around campus? Was he really that small?”
“Tch, of course.” Hazel repressed
the urge to roll her eyes. It was a recurring comment left on the video, that still
appeared in her subsequent uploads. She figured the inquiry was bound to show up
and she couldn’t backpedal after saying she’d accept all questions.
“I assure you I meant it quite
literally when I called him my ‘little’ friend!” Hazel chuckled. “He’s been
overwhelmed with how popular the video ended up being and has been super shy
with making another appearance. I make sure to tell him about all the positive
feedback he receives in the comments.”
Thank goodness she prepared a response
ahead of time. She had no idea what happened to him, she hadn’t seen or heard a
peep about him since. In hindsight she wished she held onto him for herself as
her one-way ticket to stardom. The mileage to harness from interacting with her
cute tiny friend was endless and her lightning in a bottle video was proof that
the masses would eat it up.
Follow up comments soon appeared.
“tldl it was fake.”
“just tell us how you did the
special effects for that video already.”
“lol people still think that
crap was real?”
“Idiots.” Hazel muttered in thought.
The plain answer was that it was a one-off video that she didn’t expect to blow
up the way it did and the barrage of comments questioning its legitimacy took a
life of its own. How he became so small was beyond her.
In better news she looked to the
number of live viewers that reached over 100 people and still climbing.
“Ah!” Hazel yelped after another jolt
coursed through her body. Electrocuted again? Like before, another tingling
wave washed over her. However, pleasure was not the only sensation she was
experiencing. It took a whole minute for her to pinpoint what was amiss with
her body and realized she was staring down at her camera. But the tripod was
already adjusted for her height... It wasn’t just that though, everything
looked off. Her vantage all around seemed… higher.
Perplexed, the vlogger slouched to
view the influx of comments.
“uuuhhh what?”
“WTF!”
“please tell me someone else saw
that???”
“did you just grow!!!”
Hazel at first was too baffled to draw
any conclusions, but after reading what the viewers were saying the dots were connecting.
Higher vantage, everything appearing lower, the comment themselves. Holy crap
they were right!
Hazel stood upright and took several
paces backwards until she was in full view again and began surveying. The commentors
weren’t the only ones in shock. The nearby students who happened to be looking at
the time were staring away like she had grown a second head.
While she always welcomed being the
center of attention, the wide-eyed stares like she was a freak left her at a
loss for words. How could she explain away her growing 6 or so inches out of
nowhere to 6’0 tall?
“Well then…” She had to wing it,
she couldn’t let dead air ruin the stream footage. “So much for being subtle
about my growth spurt. You guys shouldn’t be surprised though, I am a growing
channel after all. And you’re all my supporters who helped me reach new
heights!” She announced stretching her arms up high.
“If you guys want to see me keep
growing, make sure to like and comment!” That was a dud, Hazel thought. It wasn’t
as eloquent as she would’ve liked, but it was the best she could improvise on
the spot. She watched as more message surfaced and just hoped they would blow
over it.
That was far from the case. Hazel
covered her mouth to contain her gasp.
“You’re awesome!”
“I love you!”
“Let’s help our girl grow!”
“You’re the best!”
“Keep growing Hazel!” Someone shouted
from a yard away.
“Go, Hazel!” Another one added.
Hazel flinched. Her message was obviously
meant for the stream viewers. She looked over to where the voices came from…
Were they listening to her? Not only were more students gathering at the scene all
of them were retrieving their phones and typing away with their lambent green
eyes glued to the screen.
She looked back to the broadcast
and performed a double take to make sure she wasn’t misreading the numbers. The
viewership was surging! It Surpassed 1,000 watchers and the likes on the video
weren’t far behind.
Something bizarre was at work here,
Hazel was sure of that and frankly she didn’t give a damn. Her face was
incapable of stretching further to contain her grin. Whatever was going on it would
help her have the stream of her life!
“I’m the best, aren’t I?” She asked,
her elation was already building knowing how they’ll respond. Not missing a beat,
they were eager to answer.
“Of course, you are! That’s why
you’re our girl!” One guy answered.
“Better than the best!” A girl chimed
in.
Someone else simply began clapping
to start the chain reaction of the others joining in to complete the round of
applause.
“You’re amazing!” Someone yelled at
the top of their lungs above the clasps of hands.
“You’re all so sweet, thank-” Hazel
paused. The tingling came back and was much stronger than before and stole the
air straight from her lungs. Then the pleasure set in gifting her body a high
that it never experienced. This time she was prepared with full focus as it
happened and now had several more students around her for reference. She drunk
in every second of them and everything else in her vicinity quasi-shrinking in
her presence as she sprouted higher and higher.
Enamored her peers watched with
bated breath at the spectacle and gathered closer in quiet support to will on
her growth, wondering how high their idol would soar.
“Mmm.” Hazel hummed. “That’s much
better. Being tall suits me, doesn’t it?”
“In fact, how tall do you all think
I am now?” Hazel took stock of the heights of her onlookers. The tallest of the
bunch were at her chest. The average sized students she gauged to be slightly
underneath breast level and the shortest no higher than her mid-torso.
Several comments flooded the live
stream and the people around her also answered.
“Seven feet!”
“7’0!”
“Our girl is 7’0 tall!”
“Tall Hazel is best Hazel!”
“Seven feet it is then!” She declared.
“How’s about we take this show elsewhere!” She announced to her crowd who cheered
in support.
Before she got moving, she pointed
to a student. “Excuse me, would you be so kind to man the tripod and make sure
it stays on me.” She stepped closer sporting a victorious smirk down into the camera. They maybe watching online,
but she wanted to capture the essence of her new stature by giving them the impression
of having to look up at her and all her glory. “After all, I don’t want any of
my little Hazelnuts to miss out on this!”
Post haste the student she singled
out hustled behind the tripod and lifted it up making sure the capture stayed
on Hazel who was now on the move. Both himself and the rest of her fans followed
in pursuit doing their best to keep up with her longer strides.
The sight of the oversized woman
strutting forward commanded the attention of everyone she passed. Their heads pivoted
as her statuesque body strolled by and a green hue developed in their eyes.
Whatever they were doing was dropped without so much as a thought and they melded
into the ever-growing crowd.
Hazel stopped in front of one of the
largest campus buildings. “For those watching online, here you can see the Multimedia
Department where I take most of my classes.” She then centered herself in front
of the entrance way to highlight the sheer scale of the structure and more
importantly the size differential between herself and the exiting students who
froze at the sight of the anomaly before them.
“Not to toot my own horn, but I’m a
pretty big deal around these parts!”
Two girls who she shared a class
with her wedged their way out of the building, curious as to who or what was
causing the jam.
“H-Hazel! Is that you?” One shouted
out.
“Y-you’re huge!” The other gasped.
Both mystified seeing their peer standing head and shoulders above everyone.
Amused, Hazel looked down to them. The adoration of the general public was great,
but that couldn’t compare to the satisfaction of having peers whom she was acquainted
gawking up at her and having to accept her for what she truly was. Better than them.
She stooped down and easily scooped
each girl in a crook of her arms with a swipe of her long limbs then reeled
them tight to her. Both girls attempted to pull away, but neither were capable
of matching her enhanced strength that accompanied her newfound stature.
“I agree, I am a huge deal. I’m a
huge deal wherever I go. And you know what else is huge?” Hazel asked them. There
struggles lasted a bit longer before settling down. The two women blinked and
looked into the other’s emerald eyes.
“The stream!” They answered in
unison, looking up to Hazel with toothy smiles.
“That’s right! We’ve hit over 10,000
viewers and if you want that number to keep going up, everyone knows what they
must do!”
“Share!” The amassed group shouted.
“Share!”
“Everyone share!”
“Sharing now!”
Like clockwork the comments and
chants flooded the environment and chat box. Hazel didn’t need to continue
looking at the stream to know it was working. Every new viewer brought forth a
new jolt followed by tingles of ecstasy.
A snicker escaped her mouth, oh how
often she heard wind of the critics murmuring and laughing behind her back. She
should focus on something real. She’s wasting her time with YouTube. She’d
never make it, they’d say. Well, who was laughing now? Overjoyed, the growing
vlogger looked down her nose at the flock of people. Strangers who she hardly
knew and classmates who scoffed at her dreams were now cheering her on. They
were her fans now… her Hazelnuts!
“Thank you everyone.” Hazel’s body
rose further to the clouds. The onlookers silenced and the chat paused as if bearing
witness to a sacred event.
“You really know how to make ya’girl
feel 10 feet tall!”
The gathering around her burst into
an uproar and the comments resumed at a vigorous pace, prattling on with their nonstop
praises. Hazel didn’t need to look down to read what they were saying. It was
all the same, they loved her!
“You’re amazing Hazel!”
“We love you!”
“Yas, big queen!”
Admittedly it was odd having all
these people revel in her presence. She was always conscientious to maintain a
relatable image to her audience. Of course, that didn’t stop detractors from
calling her fake or basic any chance they got, but still. Going from a lukewarm
reception to them behaving as if she were royalty had her taken aback.
Though on second thought, why wouldn’t
they? She was the queen bee and none of them were even taller than her legs! Giggling to herself she took a moment to bask
in their adulation, their hands extended endlessly trying to push past the next
person to get close enough to touch her. A bunch of small peasants trying for
her acknowledgement.
“How do you deal with being so
awesome!!!???” A comment popped in right as Hazel chose to look back at her
stream.
She faked a humble gasp. “What can
I say, it just comes with the territory when you’re the fastest growing content
creator on campus.” She positioned her palms over her heart. “Even so, I still
try to make myself accessible to my fans. But some of my Hazelnuts still can’t
get enough of ya’girl!”
She turned her head and sauntered
over to a plain looking guy who had his head buried in a book and ignoring all
the commotion, it only took a handful of her lengthy strides to reach him. The
sudden shade that swallowed him drove him to look upward at the mighty woman
smirking down at him.
“Don’t you agree?” Hazel asked.
He wondered what the heck she was
blathering about until they locked eyes and his pupils assumed a green tint. From
apathy to nonplus, his mouth went agape that his existence was being recognized
by Hazel, THE Hazel.
“W-w-wow! H-Hazel. I I.. I love
you!!” He shouted upwards after a concentrated effort to get the words out.
“Aww, you’re so sweet!” She kissed
her own palm before blowing it at him, igniting the jealousy of the other attendees.
“OMG, HE’S SO LUCKY”
“WE LOVE YOU TOO HAZEL.”
Their words were practically
seeping into her pores and fueling the euphoria in her bloodstream for her next
surge of growth. “Mmm, you’re all so good to me! Thank you everyone for helping
me come this far!”
Another series of claps commenced like
they received a rousing speech and confetti emojis were rampant in the chat in
celebration of their 15’ tall queen.
Courtesy of being able to look
above everyone else Hazel saw two additional folks rushing their way through
the thick of the crowd. One had a microphone in hand with the other close
behind with a video camera in tow.
Were they coming to talk to her?
Pft. How silly to even ask, of course they were. Look at her! What else was
there to talk about? No need to keep the media waiting. Her very steps parted
through the denizens she dwarfed, giving them no choice but to get out of the
way or be bulldozed over.
The woman with the microphone lost
all train of thought as the Amazon approached her. She was momentarily afraid she
would be trampled over until the towering woman stopped a few feet away from her.
Taking a breath to gather herself she held the device with a trepid arm as high
as possible for the star to speak into.
“Hello there, would you like to
have a word with me!” Hazel chirped.
“O-of course, you blew up out of
nowhere. Your stream has over 100,000 people watching right now. The speed at
which your stream garnered these numbers is unprecedented and is still soaring
as we speak. You’re reaching the top percentile of the number of live viewers in
a stream EVER. Do you have anything to say to this sudden success you’ve
found?”
“Ah, in fact I do. I owe it all to
the Hazelnuts for supporting me, liking, commenting, and sharing the video. Now
there’s only one thing I need you all to do. Subscribe!”
As if her voice had an echo of its
own, the word was chanted over and over again by the masses and spammed in the
chat.
“Subscribe!”
“Subscribe!”
“Subscribe!”
“Subscribe!”
Tina sat for the last half hour in
front of her computer screen with a blank word document pulled up that she
intended to write a new video script for. Brainstorming was impossible with the
nonstop ruckus outside. As far as she knew there wasn’t any special events occurring
on campus today, so what was all the racket about? One voice in particular came
from a girl who sounded like she was speaking from a megaphone with the way she
was shouting above the conglomerate of noise.
Curiosity took a hold of her and
she ventured out to see what the fuss was about and her confusion amplified. It
was like a concert crowd out here! That wasn’t even the most shocking part, off
in the distance the cause for their assembly was crystal clear. Standing in the
heart of it was the tallest woman she’d ever seen! What threw her though, the
bystanders were all lauding and cheering for her. Were none of them alarmed?
She was taller than three people stacked on top of each other!
And her face, Tina was too far away
to tell for sure but it looked… familiar. Her short stature helped her sift
through the cracks as she navigated the sea of bodies. She watched the massive
woman soaking up the spotlight, posing and waving to her fans who were either
taking pictures or stood starstruck to be so close in her proximity.
Finally, Hazel turned to Tina’s
general direction and the latter squinted to get a better view. Within seconds,
as fast as her eyes narrowed, they shot wide open when the epiphany hit her.
“Y-you, I’ve met you.” She mouthed
to herself.
The raucous crowd silenced in an instant,
leaving a gaping void of silence. All their heads turned towards the newcomer. Tina
choked down a swallow at somehow becoming the focal point of their icy focus.
The cohorts who were ahead of her stepped
to the way side to create enough space for her to stand directly in front of
the woman of the hour herself, Hazel who already had her sights locked on her
target.
Somehow Hazel knew she’d show up.
Everything prior was a prelude for this very moment. Her presence, popularity, and
height were impossible to ignore and now the subject of her envy was here to
witness it.
“It sounds like you don’t know who
I am. Can you guys please fill her in?”
In perfect harmony both live and in
the stream a volcano of unbridled support erupted around the lone girl. The
volume of their outcry was deafening, forcing Tina to tuck her head and cover her
ears.
“IT’S YA GIRL HAZEL!”
Hazel expanded her lungs with as
much air as they could hold and splayed her arms out for this glorious event.
The power fueling her body felt like it was being channeled from the sun itself
with the radiant yellow star encasing her body in a luminous shine.
Tina slowly looked back up to the chilling
visual, Hazel was glowing an ominous shade of green. To top it off… she was
growing.
Whereas the stream viewers and live
audience were rooting Hazel on as she achieved and surpassed all records of
human height known, Tina wondered when the hell it was going to end!
Smaller and smaller the crowd
became relative to Hazel. Each passing inch accumulated to passing feet and using
humans as a reference point of comparison was impossible. They resembled closer
to toys now.
Tina craned her head, taking continuous
steps back to keep the increasingly enormous vlogger in full view. Her brain was
quickly losing their tethers to reality trying to process the magnitude of her
size, leading to clumsy stumbles with each backwards pace. Forget all the
adjectives, there was no other word to describe it, Hazel was a freaking giant!
After eternity of ascending to the
sky with a horde of her tiny admirers surrounding her, the 50’ tall Hazel stood
center of the unyielding rejoice of her supporters. From the depths of her diaphragm,
she released the accumulated oxygen to deliver her most powerful message.
“AND SHE’S BIGGER THAN EVER!” Her voice detonated with the force of a bomb,
overpowering all the cheering spectators. The sheer decibel strength for those close
by tremored the very ground they stood on and left them scrambling to reclaim
their balance before resuming their cheers.
Then there was Tina herself. If her
eyeballs could pop out of their sockets and her lower jaw disconnect from her mouth
like in cartoons, they would’ve.
“H-Hazel! You’re gigantic!”
The smuggest grin formed on Hazel’s
lips as she rested her hands on her hips. Towering over everyone was great and
all, but like with her two classmates having Tina at her feet staring up in awe
of her trumped it by a long shot. She was right where she wanted her.
“Wow genius, I didn’t notice.” She
quipped.
On cue the whole crowd laughed like
they heard the funniest punchline ever and the chat filled with “LOL” messages.
Tina’s focus darted all around the
mob that encased them. They hung on the giantess’ every word like she was divinity.
Why was she the only one reacting with the gravity this deserved?
“What is wrong with you people!”
She snapped only then realizing speculation of the brain-dead minions was useless.
Her shouts fell on deaf ears as the
laughs continued at her expense until Hazel’s lips parted to speak, then it all
ceased.
“Now, now everyone let’s not laugh
at her. As hard as it might be to believe, I looked up to Tina.” Two massive
steps were all she needed to put her truck sized feet on each side of her puny
rival and quake the concrete beneath her. Tina was sweating bullets as the
giantess came forward, with the amount of absurdity going on she couldn’t rule
out the chance of Hazel squashing her where she stood.
“Figuratively speaking of course.”
She added causing an encore of laughter until their idol was poised to speak
again.
“After all, there was a time when I
was an up-and-coming channel and I reached out to her in hopes of doing a
collab with her and well…” Hazel tapped her chin. “I’m a bit faint of memory.
Can you please remind me what your response was?” She cupped a hand behind her
ear and tilted sideways encouraging Tina to speak up for all to hear.
Tina quivered like a leaf, everyone
was dialed in and the looming expectation of the gigantic Hazel weighed on her like
gravity. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that she remembered what the response
and only wanted her to repeat it in front of her ravenous cronies.
With a dry gulp the outcast
prepared to retell what would surely be an unpopular statement. “I said… I don’t
collaborate with small channels.” She quoted.
A series of appalled gasps dispersed
through the crowd that transitioned into a chorus of booing.
“What the hell Tina!”
“I knew she was a bitch!”
“Let’s flood her page with
dislikes”
“I hope everyone unsubs her
page!”
The visual was simply priceless for
Hazel watching the girl swiveling her head about like a squirrel. The
chastising hushed when she leaned down, eclipsing over Tina’s whole being with
her overwhelming body. The frightened gal scurried for somewhere to hide only to
be faced with the reminder that she was trapped by the army of Hazelnuts. With
nowhere to go her shirt collar was pinched and she looked down in horror as the
pavement moved further and further away.
In a frenzy Tina flailed her limbs
to break free for a short while which soon faded to her limply dangling when
she looked back down to see ground level the equivalent of several building
stories down. There was no good option, but she decided the lesser choice of
terror was to look at her captor than the peril of a potential free fall.
It wasn’t the better option by
much, Tina’s gaze met Hazel’s and the former couldn’t begin fathoming what was
going on in her mind. The ecstasy in her expression red flagged Tina that she was
probably imagining all the things she could do to her now that she was a doll
in her hands. The depth of Hazel’s grudge towards her was beyond Tina’s
comprehension, but she found it in herself to ask a question.
“What did you do?” Tina asked.
“What did I do? Hmm!” Hazel hummed,
looking upwards as if she were contemplating before returning her sight back to
her captive. “I GOT BIG!” She bellowed instantly eliciting a scream from Tina.
“WHO’S THE SMALL CHANNEL NOW!” She
boomed, jostling her captive with a couple of up and down twitches of her wrist.
“P-please! Don’t kill me, I’m
sorry, I’m sorry! Mmf!” Tina’s pleas were cut short with a log sized finger
smushing into her face.
“Ssh!” Hazel hushed. The remainder of her digits coiled around Tina’s
body; leaving her head poking out between the gap of her index finger and palm.
It was hardly an improvement for Tina, her fear now transitioning from falling
to the likelihood that Hazel may simply squeeze her into paste.
Though Hazel was already aware she
was scaring the daylights out of Tina, having her ensnared in her grasp allowed
her to feel every motion of her tiny body.
“Oh my god, you’re really
shivering!” She cried in delight breaking into a fit of chuckles.
“Get it together girl, at least
have some dignity, people are watching.” She laughed. Inadvertently it caused
her grasp around Tina to sporadically tighten and loosen. The small girl
shrieked in hysteria from the alternating pressure on her body. The perpetual panic
was twofold, a cycle of her fearing whether she would be crushed or dropped.
“Phew, sorry about that.” Hazel
panted, bringing the girl to the corner of her eyes to wipe with. Tina thrashed
and turned her head to no avail as her face was saturated by the salty tears of
joy.
Regaining a serious disposition Hazel
took a final look at her beaten adversary. Her smile remained the whole time,
however it transformed into something far more sinister.
“You’re like all the rest of them…
you shat on my dreams. I never understood what made you so special, why did you
become the star?” Hazel gave the barest increase of pressure to her grip, enough
to make Tina squeal and expel the oxygen out of her. “I was at my wits end,
ready to give up and then I realized it today looking at you…” Her tone
lowered. “You’re the small one.”
Tina would’ve given a final
desperation plea for her safety if she had the breath to do so.
“Is this who you all want as the online
face of our campus!” Hazel asked, shooting her hand down with her prisoner for
all to see at her lowest point.
“NO!” They exclaimed.
“NEVER!”
“HELL NO!”
“You all deserve more, someone better,
someone... BIGGER!” Hazel declared and jerked Tina back up face to face. “And so
long as ya’girl Hazel is here… there’s no room for SMALL channels.”
Tina shut her eyes preparing for
the worst as the pressure around her body increased again, it would be too easy
for Hazel to simply apply maximum force and end it quickly. It will be
prolonged and agonizing. Her mouth opened
in a voiceless cry. The only sound primed to come from her was be her bones
which were at their breaking point.
Then suddenly the constrictive
force stopped. Though still being held up in Hazel’s grip, her body hung as a
lifeless ragdoll.
“Today’s your lucky day though, I’D
like to give YOU the opportunity to collaborate and become a permanent addition
on my channel.” Hazel said “Do you accept?”
Tina was light headed from the
mixture of shock and oxygen deprivation, Hazel’s voice barely registered beyond
a low rumble. She barely managed to comprehend enough to discern a bargain was
being made in exchange for her life. Of course, she’d be foolish to decline.
“…Yes.” Tina croaked in a raspy whimper.
“Thanks… little buddy.” Hazel
gloated.
“I feel… funny.” Tina attempted to speak
in a last unintelligible squeak.
The Live Stream Has Ended.
Epilogue
“Hey everybody, Hazel here!” The jubilant
YouTuber greeted with the upmost radiance from her dorm room.
“I’d like to take a moment and
welcome all the new subscribers to my channel and give my sincerest gratitude
to my long time Hazelnuts for the success of the first live stream that
garnered over a million views, and with all your efforts the Hazel Army is
strong with over 500,000 subscribers!”
“At this time, I’d also like to
introduce the newest addition to the channel.” As she spoke the camera which until
that point was focused on Hazel panned down the length of her body until the capture
was at ground level a where blonde-haired woman resided flanked on each side by
Hazel’s feet.
“Let’s give a special hello to my
little buddy TT! Also known as Tiny Tina!”
Tina offered a half-hearted smile and
wave to the camera.
“Poor little Tina, always so camera
shy.” Hazel’s voice chimed in from far above her head.
“She doesn’t need to worry though;
she has all the support of the Hazelnuts and she is going to need it because
she has a big challenge on her hands today.” The capture then tilted upwards,
starting from what was Tina’s perspective at ground level and having to look up
at the imposing colossus before her.
“We’re going to play a childhood
classic, a game of tag!” Hazel said, spreading her feet shoulder width apart
and hands akimbo to encapsulate the David vs Goliath type atmosphere she was
going for.
“And I’m it!”
Tina didn’t listen further and took
that as her signal to run. Her best bet to give Hazel the slip was to hide
somewhere and her sights went to underneath the bed, where her size would play
to her advantage.
Humoring her Hazel watched Tina
sprint of her life, letting her gain a sufficient head start to encourage some
false hope.
At the halfway mark to her haven,
Tina’s blood chilled hearing the dramatic thud of one of Hazel’s steps, already
consuming half the distance between them. The captive willed her body to move faster,
but fatigue was already triumphing with her pace taking a plumet.
Another exaggerated thud set Hazel’s
foot mere centimeters away from Tina’s body. The power generated from the stomp
staggered her into falling and was faced with the realization she could’ve been
crushed just now if Hazel really wanted to.
“Uh oh, looks like our Tiny Tina is
in trouble!” Hazel announced, lifting her foot again.
“Hazel, stop!” Tina begged, staring
at the sole hanging over her body like a guillotine ready to descend.
“Those are your last words?” Hazel
snickered. “Suit yourself.” She drove her foot down as hard as she could.
Tina closed her eyes for the worst
and didn’t see at the last second Hazel halting her momentum, then simply nudged
the girl on the forehead with her toe.
“You’re it!” Hazel chirped.
Tina cracked a single eye open to
make sure she was still in this world. Barring the monstrous sole hovering by
her face she was okay.
“That was a half decent first take.”
Hazel mused out loud and rested her foot over her victim’s body. “I would’ve
preferred it if you screamed though.”
Flattened out on the floor Tina
haplessly squirmed in her losing effort against a lone foot.
“That tickles.” Hazel giggled and
rotated her sole to snuff out the meager resistance and giving Tina a face full
of her leathery sole for her troubles.
“Maybe I didn’t scare you enough… we
need to do some more takes… Or maybe change the game to hide and seek instead.”
Hazel carried on talking to herself still prodding and nudging Tina’s body with
her foot until another idea came to mind.
“… I wonder how many people would
pay to see this on OnlyFans.”