The warm, fuzzy glow of the television lit up the living room of the apartment, Taylor was sprawled over the couch in her work clothes, an unbuttoned white blouse and a form-fitting pencil skirt, her black blazer chucked over the back of the couch. Letting out a huff of exhaustion, she pulled her stockings off her long and shapely legs.

Ever since finishing her degree and landing her first job in a law firm as a legal assistant she had been jam packed with work and rarely got time to unwind, outside of going to the gym which had become something of a passionate hobby.

Her head fell back against the couch and her hands clasped together as they stretched towards the ceiling, letting out an exasperated yawn she closed her eyes.

Before she had a chance to fully settle down the jangling of the front door handle shook Taylor from her relaxed state, it was only Drew she thought to herself. “Yo,” she called out, “thought you’d be home before me.”

Drew offered no response, instead all that she heard were the light patters of small feet as he walked into the living room.

“Oh my god, what happened to you!” she exclaimed, sitting up from her comfortable position, shock crossed her face as the sight of his roughed-up form came into view.

“My manager fucking assaulted me,” he snapped, as he jumped up and laid down on the couch, “and to top it all off, she fired me.”

“Did you call the police?” she asked, worry riddled through her tone.

A defeated breath escaped his lips, “no, she’s a 13-footer, what good would that do.”

“What’s her name?” Taylor quizzed further.

“Casey,” he took a second to think, “Pierce or something I think.”

His roommate’s eyes narrowed, “Pierce, I swear I’ve heard that name before,” she mumbled, racking her brain for information. As if a lightbulb lit up above her, she perked up, “yeah, that’s right, I was helping my boss with a case against a Susan Pierce,” her head nodding as she pieced the puzzle together, “although I guess that’s probably her mum, there were loads of size discrimination reports coming from McDonald’s employees who were in your bracket or below.”

“Huh, anything ever come of it?” he was suddenly interested.

“Don’t think so, you know how it can be when it comes to issues like that.”

“Fuck man,” his hands covered his face in frustration.

“My boss gets back from a business trip next week, I’ll let her know about you, I’m sure she’d be willing to help,” she offered a soft smile with her suggestion, it might not lead to much but with the rising awareness to size discrimination, who knows what would be the straw to break the camels back.

“Thanks Taylor, that would be great,” he thanked her sincerely, unfortunately his worries did not end there, “I gotta get rid of all my stuff before the end of the week, there’s no way I can maintain this bracket otherwise.”

“Hey, don’t worry about that for tonight, have a shower and get some rest,” her voice taking on a motherly tone as she worried for his well-being.

Drew’s frown disappeared from his face, she was right, there was no point in fretting over it now, that was a tomorrow job. Plus, this meeting with her boss could very well be exactly what he needed to get back at Casey, while his size may be in danger, a small ray of hope was cast upon his life.

***

The census date had rolled around, and Drew had spent the last week entirely on Facebook Marketplace selling every last one of his old belongings, and last but not least with Taylor standing tall behind him, he handed over his laptop to a stranger, it was good having a giant bodyguard at times. All that he had left to his name was a change of clothes, his phone, his wallet, and thankfully just enough money in his bank account to keep him in his bracket.

“Lowballed again, but at least that’s everything,” he said as he shut the door and turned to face his roommate, the waistband of her form-fitting workout shorts just above his eyeline.

“Not surprising that everyone’s trying to save money before the census I guess,” she countered, the midday sun hit her face from the window, “anyway, let’s get ready to go, our suburb’s time slot is in like 20 minutes.”

Drew nodded as he walked past her and into his room to get some shoes, that was weird, he thought to himself, he only had bought two pairs of shoes for his three-foot size so far and yet he couldn’t find them. Wait, he hadn’t accidentally sold both of them, had he? The worried man whipped out his phone and frantically searched through his selling history. Shit, there they were, a pair of vans and his old work sneakers, he thought he’d held onto one or the other.

“God dammit!” he shouted as his palm made its way to his face.

Taylor’s head swung around the doorframe, her blue eyes looking down at him, “what’s wrong?” she queried.

“I accidentally sold both pairs of my shoes,” his head leant back in frustration, “I’m such a fucking idiot.”

A slight giggle escaped her lips, it was understandable how stressed he was with the census today, yet she couldn’t help but react to his irritation, she took a step into the room, “it’s alright you can just borrow a pair of mine.”

He rolled his eyes at her joke, “Ha, ha, very funny.”

“I wonder though…” she trailed off as she slipped off her white pair of converse, they hung from her hooked pointer fingers, “you should try these on.”

“They obviously won’t fit me, and we’re gonna be late-“

“No, I know, I just want to see what it looks like, it will only take a sec,” she interrupted and leant down to hand him her shoes. The weight of her oversized footwear caused him to stumble back slightly, he cradled the converse in his two arms like he was holding a child, “go on, put ‘em on.”

Drew’s face went red as he gave in to her teasing and let the white shoes clatter to the ground, they settled around his feet and as he expected, they were over double the length of his appendages. He hesitatingly lifted his right foot and placed it into the mouth of the beast.

Morbid curiosity replaced embarrassment as his mouth dropped at the sight of his foot sinking into the shoe, the footprint left by her hefty sole easily fit his own and some. It was clear she’d been wearing these all day so far, as the sole gave off a humid warmth that clung to his foot.

With his mind distracted he didn’t notice her take a step closer to him to admire the emasculating display, “Jeez, I didn’t realise how much bigger my feet were,” she said with her eyes wide, and a smirk plastered across her face.

“Yeah whatever,” he huffed, clearly flustered, “we need to get going anyway, I’ll just go barefoot,” the shoes, slid against the floor as he stepped out of them and pushed them to her.

“You’re right, go get our documents and meet me at the door,” he tried to keep his cool as he watched her squeeze her massive feet into the converse that previously offered him a spacious vacancy, it almost seemed they were too small for her.

The size centre was only 15-minute walk for the duo from their apartment, a 15-minute speed walk for Drew at least. Once he had gathered their passports and bank documents, they made their way out of the building and into the warm sunlight. Taylor adjusted her white top as they began their trek to the central Government building where the size alterations were conducted, their conversation filled with nervous chatters and discussion about the crappy reality TV shows they had been watching.

She didn’t have the guts to tell him about the recent raise she had gotten at work, figuring it might have been insensitive to bring it up while he was struggling so much with his own financial issues. In truth, she was curious to see what size her new wealth would net her, hopefully he wasn’t too shocked by the change.

The scene of census day was always a mixed bag, with a range of emotions covering the faces of citizens as they exited the sliding glass doors of the Size Alteration Facility. A family roughly the same size of Drew walked out holding each other close, it was clear they had been crying, whether they were tears of joy or sadness he did not know.

Once the pair had walked in, they were split into different height categories, it was a pleasant feeling to be surrounded by others that shared the same fate as you. However, it was apparent that some were going to be more fortunate than others judging by their demeanour.

The sounds of chatter in the waiting room were slowly quieting down as the number of patrons continued to trickle their way through the size stations. He had been patient so far, but the late nights spent scouring online marketplaces were starting to catch up to him, his eyelids grew heavy as he leant back against the wall.

“Drew Palmer, station 13.”

He collected himself briefly as his name echoed about the hall, this was it, positive he was going to have to shrink again. Begrudgingly, he took step after step towards his new future, there was a roughly five-foot nurse dressed in scrubs waiting for him with a kind smile.

“Hi, how are you?” she asked, as she gestured him into the clinical white booth.

“Could be better.”

“Ah, it’s certainly a stressful time for all,” her tone oozed a feeling of calmness, “if you don’t mind could you hand me your documents and step into here for me, please,” her hand reached past him to open a door to a machine that resembled a modern looking fridge.

He gave her an affirming nod and stepped into the grey, sleek machine. He had spent the last three months getting used to his three-foot height and now he would have to readjust again. Beeps and whirs sounded around him as the door closed shut behind him, the machine worked to calibrate itself to his body.

“So, the good news is you’ll be staying in the third bracket, but the bad news is that you’ll be in the lower half, your new height will be a couple of centimetres over two-feet,” her voice came through the built-in speaker.

Just as he had expected, he didn’t know whether to feel relieved or not, obviously shrinking is never a good thing but at least he had managed to minimise the damage.

“Yep, sounds good,” he confirmed.

“Alright, please keep your hands to your side, I’ll be commencing the shrink now.”

He shut his eyes as the machine came to life, flashing lights trying their best to break through his eyelids. A familiar warmness overcame his body as he felt it began to contract on itself, luckily the machines were designed to shrink clothing as well otherwise it would seem as if he was wearing hand-me-downs. 

The door swung open with a hiss, “you can step out now,” came her angelic voice.

Drew had to take a couple of seconds to readjust himself to his newly grown world, the first thing he noticed was the nurse’s new size, as he stared right into the middle of her blue fabric covered thighs.

“T-thanks,” he stammered, processing the sudden shift in perspective.

“I’m surprised you’re thanking me for shrinking you,” she laughed, her soft hand placed itself on his shoulder, covering it entirely, “you’re all done now though, so just go through here and you can get on with your day,” her other hand motioned towards the exit.

As he walked into the open space behind the booth, he gazed around to try and spot Taylor. Doesn’t look like she’s finished yet he thought to himself, he pulled out his phone to let her know that he was done and was waiting outside.

The sounds of an argument caught his ear as he walked past a mismatched couple, a woman who looked to be six-feet tall with a face covered in an expression that could kill and a man who barely came up to her knees.

“Look I can explain Lisa,” his exasperated voice pleaded.

“You told me you got your job back Graham,” the woman’s eyes sneered down at him, her arms crossed underneath her bosom.

“I know, I know, but-“

“No, we’re done, I can’t be seen walking around any longer with a pint-sized midget like you,” her looming torso leant at the waist to put her closer to his level, he stumbled back as a manicured finger poked him in the chest.

Tears began to roll down his face as he chased after his now ex-girlfriend who had begun walking away, “wait, Lisa please just give me one more chance.”

“I already gave you ‘til last census,” she hissed as she turned on her heels, “and the last three months you’ve been nothing but a leech,” her hand shot down to meet his wrist as she effortlessly hoisted him into the air so that they were face to face, “so get out of my life you fucking rat.”

The woman strutted away with a huff as the small man was released from her grip, now lying in a defeated heap on the ground. Similarly to other onlookers Drew turned his head away from the scene and made sure to not cross her path.

He checked his phone; it had been ten minutes since he’d finished, and Taylor still was yet to be seen. “Come on,” he whispered to himself impatiently as his foot tapped away.

“Hey, Drew,” her recognisable voice called from behind him.

Huh, that’s strange, the past couple of months, he had gotten used to the volume and tone of her voice, yet there was something off about those two words. They sounded deeper and like they had come from somewhere further up, there’s no way.

He began to turn to greet her and was met with the sight of the bottom of her knee that met with her cleanly shaven legs. Familiar white converse laid before his comparatively tiny feet, especially without shoes her footwear completely dwarfed his. His eyes tracked their way up from the sneakers to her striped crew socks, her quads bulged out over her knee and filled her shorts with ease. That was the extent of his view, he had to take a step back to see her body any further.

“Surprise!” her voice called out from way above, a slight buzz brushed over him from the volume of it.

“Woah, Taylor you’re…” his eyes continued to track up her body, over her developing hard-earned abs and developed chest until they reached hers, “huge.”

His words of amazement plastered a grin over her face, “you can say that again, I’m eight-foot and three inches now,” she stated proudly as she lifted her arms to recreate one of the many poses that he had seen in her gym progress pictures. Her biceps swelled outwards and the veins along her forearm revealed themselves as she tensed, she could probably curl me if she wanted to.

“I mean, congratulations, but since when were you so well off?” he asked after being humbled by her athletic body.

“Well, I didn’t want to make you feel bad or anything, but I got a promotion last month.”

“That’s nothing to feel bad about, I’m happy for you, that’s really exciting,” he offered words of support, “looks like we’re both gonna need a whole new wardrobe and furniture though.”

“You’re so right,” she agreed, “also I have some good news for you.”

The sudden topic change caused Drew’s features to light up, anything that could make his new size more tolerable, the better.

“My boss gets back from Sydney tonight, and she wants to meet with you tomorrow.”

Bingo.