Finding food got easier after that day. 

The problem was how Kevin thought about the girls who came into the restaurant. When he first started looking for food, he saw the girls as an object— a means to an end in which to obtain food. However, what the girl’s really were, were goddesses. 

Kevin was so preoccupied about the food the girls were eating that he neglected the food they were actually offering. Kevin was selfish, thinking himself still on the same level as the goddesses who entered the restaurant. He was lower than them, he didn’t deserve the same food that they were eating. 

Customers so seldom actually drop their food on the floor, at least not often enough for Kevin to get the food in time, but they did frequently step on food. Whether it was good in the streets or food from the restaurant, the bottom of their footwear sometimes had food on it. 

For the following months, Kevin would inspect the shoes of the woman who entered the restaurant. It didn’t matter if they didn’t have food on them, each goddess deserved to have her feet worshiped.

5 months after Kevin first entered the establishment, he was smelling the foot of a junior. She was talking about how she recently transferred to the university from the school in California where she’s from, and Kevin was ecstatic to be worshiping west coast feet. He moved over to lick the sole of the sandals of the girl she spoke to, who removed her feet from the sandal. Kevin had gotten quite skilled at knowing when to leave a shoe, and hopped out of the sandal just as the girl was sliding her foot back into it. 

He moved over to a table with a young couple. Kevin tended to stay away from men's feet, but he inspected the girl’s sneaker and found no food. He planted plenty of kisses on it, and noticed that her boyfriend did have some  cracker crumbs wedged in the divots in his shoe. Kevin had no choice but to crawl under while his shoe was twisted and lick out the crumbs. 

Above him, the God and Goddess whispered dirty things to each other, talking about the awful things the god was going to do to the beautiful goddess when they got back. It sounded sexy, but for Kevin it was nothing but humiliating. He wished the girl had the food under her divine shoe, but it was out of his control.

Another thing Kevin got really good at was noticing which people were more likely to actually drop food. Children and young teens were the most likely to drop food since they ate with their mouths open. Kevin would hide under their tables and wait for the food to drop. Their feet didn’t quite reach the ground, but Kevin never worshiped them. Instead, he’d clean the mother’s shoes with his tongue while he waited for the food to fall. The crumbs or chunks were often covered in a thick layer of spit, but again Kevin didn’t have a choice over being picky. 

A year in, and Kevin also noticed customers who frequently returned. One was a senior who had been going to the restaurant since she was a freshman. Every Friday at 12:00, she came in and ordered a BLT. And every Friday she dropped crumbs of the toasted bread onto the floor. Kevin licked it, and sometimes when the girl would be wearing sandals or opened toed shoes, he would rub the crumbs against her foot to taste it with her sweat. 

When Kevin wasn’t indulging in the sweet aroma of college girl’s feet, he was listening to the kitchen gossip. There was one corner right by the door nobody ever swept or put traps by. Apparently the owner had a falling out with his son over changes the son wanted to make with the restaurant. The cooker staff all took the owner’s side, as did most employees, but some secretly wished the owner would croke so the son would get ownership of the restaurant. 

Kevin thought he’d get tired of his life worshiping the feet of the goddesses who walked in and eating food from their shoes, but 2 and a half years in and he loved his life. He was actually afraid of it ending, which is why he always tried to keep his place in the restaurant a secret. 

Even if it meant letting others die. 

Occasionally, a new shrunken person would get the idea that restaurants were good places to hide out. At night, before locking up an employee spread’s out toxic gas to kill any tiny people. Kevin was safe by the air vents, but some people weren't as lucky. He watched another person he knew from college slowly choke to death on the gas.

One day during Kevin's third year in the restaurant, a group of girls walked into the restaurant. A man stopped them at the door. 

“No no no, you can't bring that tiny in here.” He was referring to a tiny man that hung from the ear of one of the girls. 

“But he's my brother.” The freshman said. Kevin was shocked, she was keeping her own brother as an earring. “And he’s all tied up. I’ve had him there for years and never been kicked out of a restaurant.”

“If I tied a rat to my ear and went into your home, would you let me stay?” 

“I guess not.” The girl shrugged, and took her brother from her ear. It was over in an instant. She trapped the tiny in a fist and squeezed. Blood dripped from her hand, and she wiped the remains off on her jeans. “Can we be seated now.” 

Eventually, Kevin grew cold to the tortures of the tiny people. Another tiny stowing away in the restaurant was taught by a teenager, who kicked the poor tiny between her sneakers until it was time to leave. He was too broken to move, and died before the busser noticed him and threw him away. 

One tiny girl thought it wise to climb into somebody’s meal, and ended up being eaten by one of her former professors. Another who was 6 inches tall got served as a meal. It was during Kevin's 5th year, and it was the first time he actually watched one happen. Usually he shut his eyes to it, but he was so indifferent, and even turned on, but this time he decided to watch. 

The tiny girl was served naked and tied up. She was crying, evidently still alive despite the stick shoved up her ass and through her mouth. She was coated in some kind of oil, and the woman above her calmly chatted to her friend while slowly licking the tiny. One by one the woman bit off the girl’s limbs, sucking out her blood. All the while, Kevin wondered why he couldn’t get himself to look away from it. 

Soon enough the restaurant’s owner retired. His son took over despite the tensions between them, and the menu changed. From what Kevin heard, the changes upset a lot of returning customers. Kevin couldn’t notice a difference, since he had grown used to eating dirt from the bottom of shoes and enjoyed that. 

Over the next year, less people started showing up. The kitchen staff started quitting, upset with how the new owner wanted them to serve expired or rotten food. Kevin's plump belly started to thin from the lack of food he was recovering. 

A couple weeks after his six year anniversary, Kevin recognized one of the girls who walked in. It was Susie, a friend of his little sister. Susie was 16 the last time he saw her, now she looked about ready to graduate from college. 

Kevin took the opportunity to worship the girl’s feet. He always thought Susie was cute, but now she was an absolute goddess. The smell of her feet were familiar— Kevin used to sniff her shoes when she was over with his sister.

Kevin's indulgence was interrupted by a piece of moldy food falling from the table. It looked gross, but Kevin ate it. It instantly upset his stomach. 

Then in a matter of an instance, Kevin's height shot up to his normal height of 5 foot 9 inches.