Tiffany waited patiently, leg crossed over the other, bobbing her foot up and down. She was worried about her siblings, the real ones, not the ones she had fabricated in her own mind. They were gone, and she wouldn’t be hearing from them again, especially when she heard from her real brothers and sister. Her stomach still felt a little strange, but she ignored it...that ice cream was full of sugar, and it was all she’d eaten today. Sighing, he looked around Joana’s office, it was pretty large, had lots of artwork and acclamations on the walls. As she looked around, Joana stepped inside, stopping in the door to turn towards Tiffany. Both women looked up at each other with a hopeful look on their face, searching for confirmation that the kids were found. Both looks were returned with frowns.
“…You haven’t heard anything at all?” Tiffany sighed, uncrossing her legs and leaning back on the couch she was sitting on.
“No, not a thing…not even from you dad.” She shook her head in disappointment and moved fully into her office, standing in front of Tiffany. “…and we can’t call the police until tomorrow, it has to be 24 hours.” Joana crossed her arms across her chest and frowned deeper, shaking her head. “I can’t sleep tonight knowing my children are god knows where…” lifting her hand to cover her mouth and nose, she held back a few tears. Tiffany, also frowning, stood and embraced her mother, holding her tight.
“We’re going to find them, mom. They’re going to be fine. Jake and Allison are smart, and Danny wouldn’t make a move without them.” She did her best to comfort the weakening woman, but was growing more concerned herself. “Maybe I should just…go to dads house, find out if he’s not just playing some kind of immature game. If he is…” Tiffany’s words trailed off, she already had issues with her father, and this would just confirm her thoughts.
Meanwhile, tiny Jake and Allison were holding on tight to the material of Joana’s pants cuff. It was tough to hold on while she walked, but with the cuff itself acted as a wall, they weren’t going anywhere.
“Jake! We have to get out of here! Who knows where this person is taking us.” Allison called out as they did their best to hold on while Joana walked.
“Yeah, I know! But they’ve gotta stop moving first!” Jake replied, scrambling to stay close to Allison. And just as he mentioned it, Joana stopped moving for a moment…then took a few more steps, before stopping once again. There was a brief lull of movement, and the shrunken twins looked at each other hopefully. “Ally, get on my shoulders again, look to see what’s going on, quick!” Jake took the opportunity to stand again, and crouched. Allison moved over to her brother and stepped onto his shoulders, using the wall of fabric to stay balanced, while Jake stood to his full height.
Now with nearly six feet of added height, Allison was able to see outside of the cuff, and took a survey of the land.
“It’s a woman, she’s wearing sandals and…”
“I don’t care what she’s wearing, tell me if it’s safe to get out of here!” Jake snapped quickly, knowing the woman would start walking any second if they didn’t hurry. Above them, the two goddess like women’s conversation continued on, neither group knowing how close they were to each other.
“Okay, okay…um…she’s just standing still…and…” Tiffany looked out into the distance, watching as another person, this one wearing black flip-flops, moved into view, stepping directly next to the foot of the person whose leg they were hanging on to. Joana shifted to allowed Tiffany to move in for the hug, and the motion sent both teens toppling. Jake fell over onto his backside, and Allison went tumbling over the cuff of the pants.
“Allison!” Jake called out, watching his sister’s legs go tumbling over the edge of the wall of fabric. “I’m coming!” He screamed out, desperately trying to find solid purchase.
“Jake, help!” Allison did her best to hold on the outside of the cuff, dangling precariously over a sandal-clad foot of a woman she had not realized was her own mother. Directly below her, that same foot that had earlier buried her underneath it’s sole earlier that morning, was threatening to trap her between its toes. Allison did her best to hold on to the material, but after just a few seconds of trying to pull herself up, her fingers slipped. Screaming, she fell towards the vast plain of flesh that was the top of her mother’s foot. She landed rather roughly, right next to the arcuate artery of the foot, the most noticeable, prominent blood vessel seen on a foot. Standing, she looked around.
For yards upon yards in every direction, the flesh of Joana’s bare foot stretched on, easily the size of a parking lot. Further ahead, a brown archway stretched over heard, over the surface of the entire foot…the strap of the sandal. Further ahead, the powerful toes rested gently, barely moving, for now. Behind her, the incline sloped up, leading to the ankle, sitting just below the cuff of the pant leg she’d fallen from. “Jake!” Allison screamed out again, spotting her brother also dangling from the cuff now, like she had been. “Hurry!”
Above them, Joana pulled away from Tiffany for a moment, her eyebrows lifting. “You think you can handle your father? I know he’s…difficult.”
“He’s an asshole, mom. Just say it. And yeah, I’ll take care of him. If he knows where the kids are, he’ll tell me so.” She smiled. “I am YOUR daughter, remember?” She grinned, hoping to lighten the mood a little. Leaning forward, she stepped into Joana’s embrace again.
“I’m coming, Allison! Don’t move!” Jake yelled at his twin, staring down at the plain of flesh, the same way that Allison had. Instead of simply falling though, Jake began to swing gently, trying to position himself to land safely. Though thinking how to do things safely was not typically his strong point, he knew that falling onto soft flesh would break his fall.
But Jake, again, was too slow.
Allison looked out forward again, towards Joana’s toes, just in time to see another person, the one wearing flip-flops from earlier, moved forward, her foot sliding against the one she occupied. In response, the foot she stood on lifted into the air, but just enough to move out of the way.
“Are you playing footsie with me, Tiffany?” Joana smiled some, happy to have her daughter there to help her through this. Both girls giggled as Joana stepped out of the way.
“Help!” Allison called out to her brother as the world began to shake, Joana’s foot moving causing a terrible earthquake. As a result, Allison fell over, rolling down the steep incline of Joana’s right foot. The soft skin of the foot gave little resistance, and Allison found herself careening to her left, and flying right off of the foot. Closing her eyes and expecting death, she sailed a few inches into the air, just as the women’s feet crossed paths, and Allison tumbled into a dark, warm, moist crevice.
Jake watched from a bird eye view as Allison rolled right off of Joana’s foot, and into the air. He only caught a quick glance of what happened next, another foot had appeared next to this one, this one wearing black flip-flops, with pink toenails.
…Wasn’t that what Tiffany was wearing?
He had no time to really process the thought, as he watched his twin disappear into the cavernous space between Tiffany’s toes. Shortly after, Joana’s foot hit the ground again, causing Jake to fall from the cuff finally, and land in nearly the same place that Allison had, moments earlier.
From this perspective, he was able to see Tiffany’s foot, and specifically her toes, knowing that amongst them was his sister. He hoped to any god that would listen that Tiffany didn’t wiggle those toes of hers, and crush his sister under or between them. Desperate, he ran with all of his might across the surface of his mother’s soft, warm foot, hoping to reach both of his sister’s, before Tiffany ended another life.
Allison made yet another harsh landing, her body screaming at her for being punished so badly. When she opened her eyes again, the smell of fruity lotion and sweat filled the air, a scent she had become all too familiar with. She was with another person’s foot. With no reason to cry anymore, she stood and looked around. The light above her confirmed that she was not under a foot, and the black, textured surface she stood on told her that she was on a shoe. The woman she’d seen earlier, it must have been her shoe. A flip-flop.
“Hello...?” She called out, turning around. “Jake?” As she did, she saw a tall pillar behind her, reaching up into the skies. This must have been the thong of the flip-flop, which meant Tiffany was standing between the woman’s toes. Groaning, she knew that the huge thong, separating the largest toe from the next, would be the safest place to stay until she got another plan, or found Jake. With little energy left, she jogged towards the thing, heading deeper into the dark chasm between Tiffany’s massive toes.
Jake had attempted to reach Tiffany’s foot, but Joana chose that moment to step away. Turning back towards her desk, she walked several feet. “Why don’t we go have lunch, first…” Joana spoke, gathering herself again. Tiffany nodded some, but stood there, sighing. “There’s a café down the street I really like.”
Tumbling end over end with simply the first step, Jake found himself sliding towards the strap of Joana’s sandal, towering hundreds of feet into the air. The toes beyond them flexed powerfully as Joana landed her foot, and wen reeling towards them, watching the leather strap go over his head. The buckle of the strap held the foot in place, but had caused some wear, leaving a few strings to dangle from it, just above where Jake was sliding. Being the size of a coke can, Jake was able to grab the string and stop his tumbling before he reached Joana’s toes. The next few steps threatened to send him towards those powerful toes again, but he held tight, is mind reeling at the thought of Allison being lost to Tiffany, just like Danny.