After three months, Cameron was really starting to feel at home in his new apartment. He’d ordered some rugs to keep his feet from always being shocked by the cold tile. He even bought some postal stamps to use as wall art. They were cheap and stuck right on without much hassle.

Even better, he was friends with most of the guys on his floor. They played pickup basketball together, watched sports in each other’s rooms, played video games and drank beer. Although he’d formed bonds with many of his neighbors, Cameron found himself gravitating toward a guy named Niall the most. He was easy to talk to and had no problem busting his chops. Even better, he was somehow very well-connected. For instance, he was always hooking Cameron up with ultra-particular food items that were never on the shelves at the grocery store. Twinkies, kettle chips, vanilla coke, those sorts of things.

With all the horsing around and binge drinking, it almost felt like he was in college again. Except, there was one crucial aspect that was completely absent.

Girls.

By October, most men were tired of the constant sausage fest and longed for a female presence. The only true female contact they got was when they happened to see the giant women landscapers tending to the gardens outside the complex. And their outfits were rather conservative.

Cameron heard that some guys were carrying on full relationships with AI girls, but he didn’t want to go down that road. At least not yet. He wasn’t that desperate.

Though, by late November he was getting to the point where porn wasn’t enough. He wanted companionship with the opposite sex. Whenever he talked about it with Niall though, he didn’t say much. Either that or he quickly changed the topic.

The first spark of hope for girl time came via a flyer that was posted in all the hallways for a bar downtown. It was having a speed dating night specifically catered to the tiny men at Shrunken Spokane. Tiny men that were as small as a half inch (yay!) were allowed to come, but they had to arrange their own transportation. Plus, there was a cap on attendance. Only 20 tiny men would be let in.

Making matters even worse, Cameron heard through the grapevine that the other three towers with the bigger men also knew about the speed dating event. And each building had about 1,500 men inside, making his chances of going slim to none.

Eventually, a raffle was set up by four men from each building who all knew one another. They unilaterally decided that only five men from each tower would get to go. Everyone would draw numbers and if they matched the winning numbers, they’d get a chance to try and wow a girl thousands of times their size. Apparently, one of the full-sized employees agreed to drive the winners to the bar on the day of the event.

All the men gathered in the auditorium the day before the speed dating event. Cameron, even though he knew victory was far from guaranteed, picked a slip of paper with a number on it out of a hat. And so did the other 5,999 guys.

Before the winning numbers for his tower were shown, Niall, who was sitting next to him in the audience, nudged him.

“Listen to me, don’t ask me how, but I already saw the winning numbers. Let me see your slip,” he said.

Cameron showed Niall, who immediately frowned. He sunk his head in despair, knowing that Niall almost certainly wasn’t yanking his chain. He wouldn’t do that with something as important as this. Cameron knew for sure that he wasn’t going.

“Dude, don’t freak out at what I’m about to say. I happen to have a winning number. Number 56,” Niall showed the slip to Cameron. “Take it.”

“What are you talking about man, keep it! You won!”

“Keep it down, moron!” Niall said, eyeing some of the guys who’d turned to see what the commotion was.

“Niall, it wouldn’t be fair of me to take this. I’d feel guilty.”

“Well, believe me. You don’t have to,” Niall said.

“Why?”

“Do I have to say it? I’m gay.”

Cameron was flabbergasted. Suddenly, Niall’s avoidance of conversation having to do with liking girls made all the sense in the world.

“Seriously?” Cameron asked.

“Yeah, dude. Seriously.”

“Alright, well, hand it over then. And in return, I’ll have to set you up with someone. How about…Ryan?”

Niall handed over the slip. “Nah, that guy’s a prawn.”

Cameron laughed. “What does that mean?”

“Nice body, ugly face. Plus, I already fucked him.”

“Wait, seriously! Holy shit!”

“What can I say, I’m a bit of a slut.”

Cameron was amazed at how suddenly open and honest he was being about his sexuality. He wondered why Niall didn’t tell him earlier. Maybe he didn’t want to complicate things right away.

“Side note, I don’t think I’ve ever said something that mean about a girl. Bad face, nice body. Actually, scratch that. I definitely have.”

“Yeah, I betcha have, frat boy. And mark my words, if you don’t snag a baddie at this thing, I’m gonna convert you over to the dick side.”

“Dark side, dick side. Star Wars pun, nice.”

“That honestly wasn’t intended, but really man, I don’t understand how straight guys as small as us are going after chicks that could flatten them with their boot. You should really keep cock open as an option. Much more convenient and there’s no chance of death.”

Thankfully right then, the announcer on stage began calling out the winning numbers through the microphone, giving Cameron the opportunity to escape this brutally awkward conversation. And just like Niall promised, number 56 was called. Cameron was going speed dating. And he was determined not to be subjected to reverse conversion therapy.

***

The next day, Cameron arrived at the bar with nineteen other men. He was one of the smallest out of the bunch, with the tallest being a whopping nine inches. Of course, to him, that dude was a giant. He didn’t even come up to his ankle.

He took that to mean that the competition for attention was going to be quite fierce and that he, at a half inch tall, was at a profound disadvantage.

He was proven right almost right away, because once the group made it inside the bar, the maître d' didn’t see him and the other half inchers. Rather, she picked up all the guys who were two inches tall and bigger, leaving them alone in the roped off waiting area. It was only when one of the guys in her hand alerted her that she was leaving five guys behind that she returned.

She leaned down as far as she could, and her eyes widened when she saw the quivering outlines of what she now knew were grown men. She appeared genuinely remorseful over her mistake. “Oh, I’m sorry, little ones. I swear that I didn’t even know you were there.”

He caught a glimpse of her name tag. Marcy.

“It’s OK, Marcy. We’re pretty used to it. Whoaaaa!” Cameron tried to say before getting whisked up in her toasty, squishy palm.

As she walked deeper into the establishment, Marcy the hostess engaged in some light banter with the bigger men in her right hand. The smaller men who were in her left hand, including Cameron, were left out of the pre-flirting entirely. Which again, was to be expected. He didn’t take it too hard, though it was annoying to be ignored once again.

Instead of focusing on the rejection of the woman carrying him to his destination, Cameron opted to take in his surroundings. The bar was lively, playing bumping pop music through its countless mounted speakers. It definitely had a divey vibe, but interestingly, he realized that women outnumbered men by a longshot. The men who were there were sitting on women’s laps and relegated to the background. He saw one guy — probably around two feet tall — trying to get a word in but failing miserably. His girlfriend just kept chattering away to her friends, so he laid back and rested his head on her breasts.

Marcy bobbed and weaved around countless tables of rowdy women before reaching the backmost part of the restaurant. It was a separate, quieter room that had around two dozen tables. But more importantly, the women participating in the speed dating event were already there waiting for them.

Cameron tried to absorb their appearances all at once but found himself getting overwhelmed at just how gigantic they all were. His instinct was to get into the fetal position, retreating into the warmth of Marcy’s hand. But social niceties were still a thing despite how tiny he was now. He also remembered that at the distance Marcy was currently standing from the girls, they likely couldn’t see him or the other four dudes who were roughly his size.

Marcy ever so gingerly placed Cameron down on one of the tables. His first date was with a very fair-skinned girl who looked like she’d just passed drinking age. She had long, straight blonde hair that curled slightly at the ends. Next, he noticed her twinkling blue eyes, which were laser focused on him. Knowing he was essentially under a microscope, he tried to loosen up and look casual.

She, of course, was sitting on a normal chair, while he was on a platform that raised him up to eye level with her.

“Can you, um, see me and hear me?” was the first thing out of Cameron’s mouth. Not the smoothest thing in the world, but when he was sitting across from a woman whose face was similar in size to one of the heads on Mount Rushmore, it was hard to be a casa nova right off the bat.

She smiled at the sound of his voice, relieving his worries right away. “Yeah, I can hear you. But do you mind if I pull you a little closer?”

“Oh, of course not, haha!”

Her porcelain cheeks blushing, she gently moved his platform nearer to her side of the table. “Yikes, I didn’t mean for that to sound so forward.”

“Well, we only have five minutes, so I guess it’s best to get right down to business. I’m Cameron.”

Instinctively, he extended a hand for her to shake, but realized that that wasn’t really feasible. She too went to go shake his hand but thankfully stopped right before her finger bowled him over.

“Oops! Maybe we should just wave instead, Cameron.” She pulled her hand back and gave him a cutesy wave not dissimilar to the way a shy child would greet a stranger. “I’m Anna, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Anna. I’m Cameron. Wait, shit, I already said my name. Ughhh.”

He put his head in his hands, cringing at his faux pas. If he were his normal size, this young girl wouldn’t have him nervous at all. The fact that she could crush him into a paste with one finger understandably had him a bit off kilter.

“Awww, it’s OK! I really kinda thought I’d be the one to embarrass myself, so thanks for taking the pressure off. Not that you embarrassed yourself! It’s just that…”

“I know what you meant, no need to overanalyze,” he cut her off.

“You know, that’s funny. That used to be my nickname in school.”

“What?” he asked, intrigued.

“Overanalyze. You know, over-Anna-lyze. I was a bit of a worrywart back then. Guess I haven’t quite grown out of it yet.”

Right then, she put both hands over her mouth and her eyes widened in dismay. Cameron was confused, wondering what was troubling her.

“Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! I said the word!”

She clenched her teeth and recoiled. Cameron, though, was completely befuddled.

“Word? What word?”

She whispered, “Grown.”

She once again withdrew into herself. From her perspective, it seemed that by merely saying that word, his self-esteem would be shattered. Did she think that little of him?

“Anna, it’s fine. You can say ‘grown’ or any other variation of that word in front of me. I know I’m pretty tiny, but I promise you I can handle it. I didn’t even notice you said it to be quite honest, so I definitely wasn’t offended. It is what it is. I’m a half inch tall.”

“I guess,” she said, unconvinced that she hadn’t ruined everything with one wrong word.

“How tall are you out of curiosity? Women are just all huge to me now, so it’s hard to tell sometimes.”

“I’m 5’9”. So, I guess pretty tall for a girl.”

“Wanna know something?”

She nodded.

“You are taller than the apartment building I live in.”

Her mouth fell open in shock, exposing what was essentially a canyon to Cameron. He tried to shake off thoughts of how small he was in comparison to her gaping trap.

“No way! You mean, I’m physically…bigger than an entire building?”

“Yup, there are forty-five stories in total, which may sound like a lot, but the tower is only 68 inches tall. And just to further burst your bubble, 1,500 other men my size live in a building you could knock down like King Kong. I wouldn’t be purposely belittling myself if I were offended by the word grown.”

After getting over the initial bombshell of how truly miniscule he was, she relaxed into her seat and let out a relieved sigh. Her exhale was strong enough to push his chair back a bit. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice.

“I’m glad I didn’t hurt your feelings or anything like that. It’s just that at school, they tell us not to use ‘sizey’ language in front of shrunken men. Especially ones as small as you.”

Ignoring the irony of her pointing out his smallness seconds after explaining the concept of “sizey” language, he found the segue he was looking for. She mentioned school. He could finally, hopefully, navigate them out of this storm of awkwardness.

“So, you go to school? Where at?”

“I’m right here in town at Gonzaga. I’m studyin’ English. But I’m a proud Idahoan. Born and raised on my Daddy’s farm. Where are you from?”

When he revealed his New York origins, she immediately rained questions down on him. “Oh my god, you live in New York City?!” “Do you like go to Broadway shows every weekend?!” “Where’s your favorite place to go, the Empire State Building?!”

He tried to answer everything, even as her queries became increasingly inane. In fact, while she was bombarding Cameron with her immature curiosity about New York, the one minute-warning alarm bell sounded. That seemed to snap her out of it.

“Sorry, Cameron. I didn’t mean to go on and on, it’s just that I’ve always wanted to visit. It’s just so different from where I live.”

“Yeah, I get it. Believe me, I didn’t think I was gonna end up in Spokane. Shrinking tends to put a wrench in your plans.”

She lolled her head sideways and looked down at him with sad eyes. It damn near looked like she was about to tear up. He, in turn, averted his eyes, embarrassed that this college-age girl was pitying his very existence.

And then she went on to say the worst possible thing she could have said.

“I know how you feel,” she started, though she didn’t seem to recognize the level of disrespect she was showing him with that statement. Not like when she *gasp* said the word “grown.”

She continued, “My dad shrank down to just two inches tall, and now he expects me to take over the farm with my mom when I graduate. That certainly wasn’t the plan before this stupid pandemic. I wanted to move somewhere that wasn’t corn and potatoes as far as the eye could see.”

Cameron was literally counting the seconds he had left on this date. Anna seemed nice enough, but she was way too young and naïve for him. Despite being a very beautiful girl, he felt no connection with her at all and doubted she felt different.

That’s why her asking him for his number surprised him. She asked right after the bell rang, and when he didn’t immediately respond, she qualified her request.

Anna progressively leaned down closer and closer to Cameron, unknowingly intimidating the tiny man. “I’m thinking about going on a trip to New York, and I’d really love it if you could give me some suggestions on where to go when I’m there. I don’t know a soul from there, so it’d really help to have a local’s perspective!”

Now that her giant, grinning face was inches from him, eagerly waiting for his answer, he panicked. He gave her his number and practically ran into Marcy’s waiting hand so he could be ferried over to Mrs. Right. Hopefully.

“See you around, Cameron!” Anna chirped, waving goodbye to him.

Thoroughly creeped out by her uncanny cheeriness, he muttered, “Yeah, see you never.”

He was glad he never specifically told her where he lived. Though, as a tiny man, it probably wouldn’t be hard for her surmise that he lived in the only tiny community in Spokane. He’d be sure to let security know to never let her in when he got back.

Marcy dropped Cameron off three tables down in front of a woman who was considerably older than Anna. He guessed her to be in her late twenties like him, which imbued him with hope that they’d have more in common.

Also, unlike Anna, she had a bit of a tan, as if she’d just gotten back from a vacation somewhere warm. Everything about her screamed that she had just gotten off work and rushed over. Her wavy dirty blonde hair had subtle bronze accents and she had it wrapped up in a massive floppy bun. Her outfit also wasn’t too elaborate. She was wearing a basic blue and white striped tanktop that showed a decent amount of cleavage.

His first intrusive thought came as soon as he laid eyes on her chest. He imagined what it would be like to jump off his elevated platform and into her tits. How warm and squishy it would be. How tight it would be. How far he’d sink. How completely trapped he’d be. He’d watched enough porn with shrunken men and normal sized women to be morbidly curious and have a desperate desire to go exactly where those tiny porn stars had been.

“Hi, I’m Victoria. Nice to meet you!”

He snapped his head up and met her gaze, hoping that she hadn’t seen him ogling her. “Oh, hey! I’m Cameron. Sorry I—”

“Was a bit preoccupied? What, pray tell, were you distracted by? Hmmmm?” she teased. Her head was cocked upwards in a faux attempt to appear mystified. Then, while smiling, her eyes traveled down to the obvious culprit. Her cleavage.

Desperate to explain himself, he went to open his mouth but couldn’t come up with a satisfactory excuse for his wandering eyes. Nor could he get his now completely hard cock to go to rest.

“You caught me. I was checking you out. I, uh, hope that’s OK.”

“Check me out as much as you’d like, little guy. I find it cute. Trust me, if I had a magnifying glass, I’d be checking you out too.” She bent over the table and squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look at the tiny man before her. He just hoped she wouldn’t take notice of his full boner. “Mmm, you’re definitely a looker. Brown hair. Chiseled jaw. Are those…green eyes? Bet you were quite the player in your heyday.”

“Hah! You mean when I was normal sized.”

“Yup, lemme guess. You were over six feet?”

Cameron stuck out a thumbs up. He’d learned that was a clearer signal to big people than a simple head nod. “Six foot three.” He had lost over 99% of his height, which only happened to guys with the most serious cases.

“I loved tall guys. All my boyfriends have been taller than me. I’m only five foot two.”

“Only?! You don’t have the right to say that anymore. Listen, I’m only a half inch tall.”

“Fair enough, Cameron,” she chuckled.

“What do gorgeous women like yourself even consider tall now?” he asked, genuinely interested in what she had to say.

Cameron watched as she let slip a reserved smile, a clear sign his compliment landed. She took a swig of her beer, diffusing the undoubtedly more charged atmosphere he’d created. Her lips then scrunched in thought at his original question.

“I dunno. I feel like for guys, eight inches is the new six feet. You know, kinda like how people say 40 is the new 30.”

“Guess I fit squarely into the short king category then.”

Again, she smiled, but this time she wasn’t expressing excitement over being praised, nor was she flirting. She was agreeing with him.

“Unfortunately, yes. You are a very short king. But you’re still a king. To be honest Cameron, I did kinda come here to meet guys a little taller than yourself. It’s nothing against you. In another life, I could see myself being very attracted to you. It’s just that you’re too small for me.”

“And everyone’s too big for me,” he pouted, getting up from his seat and looking away from her.

“That’s not true. I don’t know how long you’ve been on the dating market, but there are certainly women who prefer smaller men like you. You definitely have to weed out the crazies who only like super tiny men so they can add them to their collection or whatever. But once you get past those, there are women out there whose maternal instincts go from zero to 10 when they see a dude like you.”

He looked back at Victoria and offered a lukewarm smile. He appreciated that she was trying, but he didn’t want a mother. He wanted a partner. A partner who was attracted to him and viewed him as somewhat of an equal. He’d left everything behind to hopefully find just that. But he didn’t bother to tell his date that. They were running out of time with each other as it was.

“Thanks, Victoria. I’m glad you have some semblance of hope for a guy like me.”

“Hey, if you do happen to meet someone you’re compatible with tonight, you should use the line that my brother uses to pick up girls. It seems to work wonders for him and he’s an inch tall, so not much bigger than you.”

His interest was piqued. “Go on.”

“OK, you say, ‘I’d climb a mountain for you. Oh wait…’”

Cameron scoffed. “Oh my god, that’s terrible.”

“Yeah, I thought so too. Maybe it’s the way my brother says it. Take it or leave it, I guess. Good luck, Cameron!”

“You too, Victoria!”

The bell rang not too long after this, meaning it was time to meet a new woman. The next one he was placed in front of was named Jessy, something he was informed of by her before he even left Marcy’s hand.

Jessy, who was quite well endowed in the chest like Victoria, seemed a little overeager. She was beaming from ear to ear and her eyes were bulging at the sight of him being placed on his little platform. That didn’t change the fact that she was nice to look at.

Her warm almond skin was complemented brilliantly by her shiny white teeth and her arresting hazel eyes. And when her eyes fluttered, her full lashes whipped up and down. He was sure that if they weren’t longer than him, they were very close. Her button nose and bright red dimples were the cutest features she had though.

Once his eyes met hers, she excitedly waved at him. The back-and-forth motion of her arm was enough to send a ripple effect down through her body and make her tits jiggle about in her red tube top.

Even though her sheer giddiness unnerved him a bit, at least it meant there was a possibility that she was more into him than Victoria or Anna was.

After they introduced themselves to one another, both got good looks at the other and got past the usual “I just met you crap,” Cameron got the ball rolling by saying what was on his mind. Plainly and simply.

“Jessy, I gotta say. You’re beautiful. The competition truly has nothing on you.”

And he meant that. Everyone else there, including Victoria and Anna, weren’t close to as hot as Jessy was.

“Awww, really?! That is so cute coming from you,” she squealed, her cheeks flushing red. “I feel the same way about you.”

“Yeah?” he prompted.

“Yeah! Are you kidding? You’re a total hottie, Cameron! The last guy I talked to…”

She paused and darted her head left and right, making sure no one was eavesdropping. She leaned down, bringing her face about a foot away from him. He felt weird sitting when she was about to confide in him, so he got up and moved closer. Close enough for the aroma of her perfume to waft down and fill his tiny nostrils. He could smell rose petals, along with a little bit of vanilla. He shivered, feeling the strong vibrations under his feet radiating through his entire body from her merely opening her mouth and whispering to him.

“Like I was saying, the last guy I was with had to be like 50. He was balding. Had a scraggly, unkempt beard. He even had a belly. I thought all guys lost that when they shrank,” she cooed down to him, her wine breath and slow, drunken cadence now very apparent. He was looking up at her mouth with his head craned at practically a 90-degree angle. She was so huge that he couldn’t even see her eyes. Just her lips moving and her nose flaring when she said something with emphasis.

“They did,” Cameron said. “But some guys over at Shrunken Spokane are big drinkers. Old habits die hard I guess.”

Perhaps realizing Cameron’s uncomfortable pitch, Jessy lowered herself onto the table, bracing herself with her forearms. Now, he could see much more of her face, her eyes included, which were still huge and ablaze with desire.

“I take it you’re not a big drinker then, are you Cam?” she asked, raising one of her perfectly manicured brows.

He gulped, not wanting to answer this one incorrectly. “No, I wouldn’t say so. I have the occasional drink, but usually just to celebrate milestones, you know.”

“Well, that’s OK,” she said, her face softening. “I like to have a drink here and there too, as I’m sure you’ve probably noticed.”

She seemingly realized how close she was talking to him and backed up.

“That’s OK, Jessy. I, uh, like red wine.”

“Oooh, that’s a good nose you have there, tiny! I’d love to split a bottle with you sometime.” She came closer, her dark brown hair spilling over her ears and framing her face. In a hushed tone, she said, “You can lick the cork and I’ll take care of the rest.”

Cameron’s heart was racing. With each word that spilled from her now-filterless mouth, his attraction for Jessy was building and building. He was panting like a dog and sweating profusely. Even worse, he was struggling with yet another stubborn hard-on. Given how forward she was being, he was hoping she’d take him in her hand so he could touch her skin, get doused in her intoxicating aura.

His hopes were dashed, however, when she asked him a relatively straightforward question.

“How old are you?”

“I’m 18,” Cameron said.

Jessy’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“I’m kidding! I’m actually 28.”

“Whoa, you really had me going there for a second. Despite your size, I can tell that you’re way too…confident to be a barely legal adult.”

“Really, you think I’m confident? I’m over here trying not to pee my pants around you ginormous women!”

She had a good laugh at that, “And you have jokes too.”

“Wasn’t joking,” he said under his breath.

“What was that?” she probed, a smile growing.

“Nothing that concerns you,” he chuckled, a boost of actual confidence surging through him. “How old are you, Jessy?”

Fully grinning, her head bobbled excitedly. With it tilted to the right, she gave him a sideways glance and told him, “Guess.”

“You areeeee…25?”

“Close, 23. I’m gonna decide to take that as a compliment.”

He nervously laughed, not sure how to respond. When she laughed along, he let out a sigh of relief.

Cameron and Jessy talked and flirted some more, until she noticed that the timer was running dangerously low.

“OK, I don’t want to pressure you, but I’m not ready to be done talking to you yet. I think I like you. Plus, you already said that I don’t have any competition. Why even swap partners at this point? We can just go to the bar. You and me.”

She smiled down at him, fervently awaiting his answer. Cameron was a bit apprehensive to leave the group of guys he came with in favor of a girl he’d spent four minutes with. The plan was that they’d ride back to the apartment complex together. If he absconded off with Jessy, he’d have to trust her to bring him back to the apartment at the end of the night.

He could just ask for her number and ask to meet up again. Though if they met up for another date, he’d have the same predicament. He’d have to trust her since they’d be alone together.

The truth was, Cameron was having fun now. He liked Jessy and felt a budding attraction to her. The last thing he wanted to do was let the spark fizzle out because he was too much of pussy to follow it through in the moment.

“Yes, let’s go to the bar, Jessy.”

“Hehe, I knew you’d say yes, tiny. Now, step into my hand. I’m your chauffeur for tonight.”

She rested the side of her hand on his platform, and he strolled onto her palm. As she got up from her seat, she closed her hand around the speck of a man. He was as big as a Skittle, and like a well-trained shrunken man, he didn’t dare move. That was what they were taught when a big person was carrying them. Staying motionless cut down on unnecessary accidents.

With every step there was a slight bounce, but Cameron was used to being carried this way by his mother. The only difference now was that he was in the hand of someone he was into, which made something that was normally mundane, extremely arousing. Her skin was so firm and taut, her youthfulness still very apparent. When he pushed down on her hand, he couldn’t even budge it. His fingers didn’t sink into her flesh or make the slightest impact.

Being wrapped up in her hand meant her scent was strong, yet it stopped short of being too much. It was like being dipped into a bouquet of roses in a sauna. She gave off so much body heat that he’d started to sweat a bit.

In his dark, hot surroundings, he began to miss the sight of Jessy’s face. Her cheeky smile. Her dimples. Her globes for eyes.

Right as he was about to touch himself to the thought of her, the up and down rhythm of her hand stopped. She stopped walking, Cameron gathered. He put his hands to the side, not wanting to get caught.

“Do you have a chair and table for a half-incher?” Jessy asked.

The bartender, presumably, said something that Cameron couldn’t make out. Judging by Jessy’s characteristic squeals, he guessed that he would be accommodated just fine.

Jessy suddenly unfurled her hand, sending him tumbling out onto the bar top. He landed with a thud in front of his chair and attached table. It resembled a highchair, just way, way, way smaller.

“Did ya enjoy the slide? Probably the only one you’re tall enough to ride.”

He hopped into his highchair and swung his legs to the side, so he didn’t look like a toddler. It was probably all for naught, but it made him feel slightly more at ease.

“Your whole body could be an amusement park for me,” he said, knowing exactly what he was getting at.

“Oh reaaaallly? I do have an admission price, little guy. Wanna hear it?”

“Absolutely.”

“Oooh, I’m so glad you’re interested! Let me order us some drinks, and then I’ll tell you all about what I want.”

Once her full-sized margarita and his drop of beer arrived, the atmosphere shifted. Jessy wasn’t nearly as chatty as she was before and even appeared nervous. She was literally twiddling her thumbs instead of talking to him.

Wanting to know what was up, he simply asked, “Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing’s wrong. I, um. It’s just that when I get to this point with a guy, this is usually when everything falls apart.”

She took a big slug of her drink. Cameron gulped, realizing that the amount of liquid she just casually threw back could probably fill the swimming pool back at his place. Despite being tiny for years, observing giant people doing things that used to be normal for him always made his body twinge with inadequacy.

“What do you mean, Jessy? I feel like things are going great so far. We’re talking, we’re laughing. I mean, am I wrong?”

“No, you’re not. I’m just afraid to tell you what I know I need to tell you.”

His eyes darted around cautiously, taking in his surroundings. On Jessy’s left was a gray-haired woman who looked to be in her fifties. She was pretty hammered and was accompanied by a foot tall man. On her right, closer to him, was a much younger woman, close to Jessy’s age. The young woman was situated immediately behind him, and she was decked out in all black. Yet, strikingly, her face was ghost white. Even stranger, she was reading a book.

If things went bad, he wasn’t sure he could trust either the middle-aged lady who was already slurring her words or the bookworm goth chick to save him. He concluded that he was on his own.

“What do you need to tell me?” he asked.

She chugged more of her drink, then took a deep breath.

“I have a girlfriend, Cameron.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah, I’m bi.”

“So, if you have a girlfriend, what are you doing out here?”

She looked down at her toes and reluctantly began to explain. “My girlfriend, Talia, is really into tiny guys. I initially wasn’t, but I’ve sort of warmed up to the idea of, you know, being intimate with them.”

She stopped to scan his face, and her resigned eyes let him know that she felt guilty for dumping this on him. He was experiencing one of the greatest letdowns in his life. He really thought they were vibing, but it turned out that she was just here for someone else.

“Anyway, Talia is a bit of an introvert. Despite being the one who’s really into small dudes, she’s too afraid to approach them. So, I meet up with the guys first and well, take them home with me.”

He stepped down from his highchair and paced around in circles for a while. Jessy was silent, watching him have his mini freakout.

Finally, after collecting his thoughts, he asked, “Did you even like me a little bit, or was it all an act?”

She sighed, nervously scratching her hand. “It wasn’t all an act. I genuinely enjoyed talking to you. But I won’t lie, I’m not interested in a long term or even a short-term relationship with you. This is one of my least favorite parts of this. Leading you tinies on.”

“What do you mean ‘one of?’ Is there something else you’re about to spring on me?!” he asked.

“Sort of, yeah. I know I’ve treated you with respect up to this point, but now that the jig is up, I’m gonna have to insist that you come with me.”

Cameron vision went black for a moment, and he stumbled back into his highchair. Instead of making it into his seat, he hit his head on the seat and slumped to the ground. The highchair scraped across the bar top, making a surprisingly loud ruckus.

“Oh boy, I think you’ve had a little too much to drink, Cam Cam,” Jessy said so those within earshot could hear. He cringed at the fake familiarity she was projecting to the people around her, using a supposed pet name for him. “Let me scoop you up, and we can get you home.”

Cameron sat on the ground in horror as Jessy’s hand, which minutes earlier was an object of affection, closed in on him. The nearer it got, the further his heart lept into his throat. Abject terror gripped the tiny man. He was now convinced that his attempt to get a fresh start in Spokane was about to be ruined by this temptress.  

He didn’t even try to run because he was cornered. His highchair was behind him, Jessy’s towering margarita glass was to his right and her other arm was blocking his left flank. Plus, the bar he was standing on was around 50 stories off the ground for him. He had nowhere to go even if he somehow managed to evade Jessy’s giant, hulking hand.

That left him one option. Scream as loud as possible and hope someone interceded on his behalf.

“HELP! SHE’S TRYING TO KIDNAP ME! I DON’T WANNA GO WITH HER! I JUST WANNA GO HOME!”

To the big people around him, his yelling sounded like a when a balloon has a tiny hole leaking air. A very high-pitched squeaking noise. But big people, women especially, had come to know that shrunken men only made that sound when they were in distress. Even if they were too far away to decipher the exact words.

Right before Jessy’s fingers made contact with Cameron, another massive hand zoomed in from out of nowhere and slapped Jessy away. Cameron, who was cowering, didn’t see this happen but heard the deafening thump of the two hands colliding. He snapped his head up to see that his savior was the goth girl he’d taken brief notice of minutes earlier.

“I don’t think he wants to go with you,” the goth girl said, walling Cameron off from Jessy with a cupped hand. She refrained from touching him though, seeing how scared he was.

Cameron tried to see past this stranger’s hand by jumping, her digits slenderer and longer than Jessy’s, but it was futile. Her four fingers on top of one another created a barrier that was easily 30 feet tall from his perspective. Even her pinky was wider than he was tall, and there were three more fingers stacked on top that were even thicker. The women were hashing it out, and she wasn’t letting him be a part of it.

“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?! I’m his girlfriend!” Jessy shouted.

“Oh, give me a break,” the goth girl said sternly, not raising her voice. “I heard everything you just said to him. Not interested in a relationship. Just interested in pleasing your girlfriend with kidnapped tiny men. Tell me, how many guys have you captured just like him?”

“You have no right to judge me! And who eavesdrops on conversations at the bar?! Mind your business and keep your nose in your stupid book!”

Suddenly a third voice rang out behind him. The female bartender. “Do we have a problem here?! Because I have no issue kicking you both out.”

“No miss, I apologize for…well, getting a little heated,” Jessy said.

“Fine. I’m gonna let you two cool down for a bit before I let you order any more drinks,” she said, seemingly forgetting about Cameron, who was still quivering in the shadow of the goth girl’s hand.

“No need. I’ll see myself out. I just realized what us girls were fighting over isn’t worth it. Not in the slightest. I’ll just pick up flowers for my boo instead.”

And with that, Cameron listened intently as Jessy’s shoes clacked on out of the bar. Almost as quickly as she entered his life, she was gone from it.

The sheet-white hand that’d been shielding him from the wrath of Jessy finally moved away so he could see the visage of his hero.

She was full goth, no doubt about it. And normally, he didn’t go for girls like her. But somehow, the look worked for her.

Just based on her longer face and more chiseled jawline and cheekbones, Cameron could tell this girl was a lot taller than Jessy. Her face was doused in a remarkably even layer of white makeup, covering any possible blemishes or imperfections. Her grayish blue eyes were inexplicably kind, which did a lot to reassure and calm him down. The whites of her eyes were practically the same color as her skin, making her black eyeshadow and long, dark lashes stand out even more. Her lips, just as black as the trim around her eyes, were positively plump. They were much fuller than even Jessy’s lips and were upturned into a relieved smile.

“Hi Cameron. I sort of picked up on your name from overhearing your conversation with Little Miss Succubus. My name is Aurora, but you can call me Rory for short. Are you OK?”

Cameron was still shaken up at how close he came to becoming a living sex toy, making it impossible for him to respond right away. Images of himself being used by Jessy and her girlfriend for years on end filled his psyche. 

“Sorry,” she started again. “I can see how afraid you are. Let me back up. I have absolutely no intention of harming you. You’re safe with me. I’m a bit of a people watcher and I’ve seen so many cute guys just like you get harassed in this bar. I’ve never seen a girl blatantly try to kidnap a dude though. Insane.”

Cameron pushed through the residual terror still coursing his veins and reigned in the courage to speak. And what came out was, “You think I’m cute?”

She did a quick glance away before looking back down at him with a sheepish smile. “Yeah, I do. The moment that crazy girl set you down, I noticed you with your red flannel and jeans. And from that moment on, I was pretending to read my book. This might be completely out of pocket, but you reminded me of that burly lumberjack on the Brawny paper towels.”

He laughed harder than he would have expected to at her out-of-the-box reference.

“Oddly enough, I know exactly what you’re talking about! I’m flattered.”

“Well, you certainly perked up. A compliment from me and you stopped shaking like a leaf.”

He grinned up at her, almost forgetting that the nightmarish predicament he’d been in minutes ago. He liked her outfit choice as well. She had a black mesh top on over a solid black bikini top, which showed off her impeccably round boobs. They weren’t huge like Jessy’s or Victoria’s, but they were certainly big enough for a man his size to get lost in.

He was taking unnatural comfort in the company of this towering goth girl. Even though she was being somewhat talkative, he surmised that was only because of how small he was. He posed no threat to her. Despite that, he picked up on her more reserved nature. Her facial expressions — happy, apprehensive, flirty or otherwise — were measured. It was almost as if she was afraid to spook him by being too outgoing. Especially after what he just endured.

“So, I admit, me saving you wasn’t entirely altruistic. But I’d understand if you want nothing to do with another giant woman who’s telling you you’re cute. In fact, I probably should have just kept my mouth shut.”

“No, it’s OK, Rory. I know what almost happened could have, well, you know. But I have you to thank for stopping her from taking me. I so so appreciate what you did. I don’t think many other people would have done that, get in the middle of two people in public. So, thank you.”

“You’re so welcome,” she gushed. “Now, as much as I’d love to sit here with you and talk, after the ordeal you just had, I think it would be weird and inappropriate. Let me help you get home, wherever that is.”

“Sure, on one condition.”

“What?”

“Let me take you out sometime next week.”

Her eyes widened, suggesting she didn’t expect that from him. “Oh, that’d be lovely. But don’t feel like you need to repay me.”

“I don’t want to repay you.”

“Sooooo, it’s a date?” she asked, with a tinge of hope evident in her voice.

“It’s a date.”