“I would move if I was you.”  Zack said a little bit after Noah fell off.  “Don’t want Kevin to move his foot and step on you again.”  Noah sat up and tried to analyze the situation.  He was on the floor in the back seat of Eddy’s car.  Kevin was sitting above him, and to his right was Justin.  He considered trying to climb up Kevin’s leg, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to.  Kevin was wearing shorts, and his skin didn’t allow any places for him to grab.  Justin had the same problem, although he did have his foot out, resting his leg at an angle.  It might be climbable.  After a few more seconds of thinking, he decided that was his best plan. 

            “What do you think?”  Noah asked, not expecting any real response.

            “I think it could work.  But you have to be careful.  Its still a steep incline.”  It was a better answer than Noah had expected. 

            “Ok, I’m gonna try it!”  He said with renewed enthusiasm.  He walked past Kevin’s other foot, careful not to get to close out of fear of him moving it.  It was easy enough getting to Justin after that.  It was just a straight path.  Justin was probably the person Noah best liked in the group.  He was a little on the short side, had brown hair, and was currently wearing a pair of basketball shoes, the site of which brought back memories of the first kid to crush Noah.  He would have to fight through these fears if he wanted any chance of getting back to normal. 

            He quickly ran up to the side of his massive, black and white shoe.  He climbed up onto Justin’s toes, hoping that he didn’t have any plans of moving.  One motion would be like a massive earthquake to him.  Noah started climbing to the top of his shoe, grabbing onto the crisscross pattern of his laces as support. 

            He soon reached the top, although he was by no means finished with his climb.  As he looked up at his gigantic friend, Noah started to have second opinions about climbing.  His leg seemed much higher, and much steeper than it had before.  Noah stood on the edge of Justin’s shoe’s rim, carful not to fall in.  He knew that wouldn’t end well.  He had both his hands on the giant leg for support.  Then he had an idea.  It wasn’t going to work, but it was worth a try. 

            Noah started pounding on Justin’s leg with all his might.  Maybe he could feel it?  He started to have his doubts after a couple seconds went by with no reaction.  He was about to give up, but then something happened.  Justin moved his leg back.  It wasn’t much of a movement, but it was more than enough to make Noah loose his balance.  He lost his footing first.  He wished he would have just fallen off his shoe, but fate had worse plans for him.  He slid into Justin’s shoe.  He tried grabbing onto his sock, but the action only served to swing him around to the back of his leg.  He let go, and fell.  His body slid down in-between the back of Justin’s sock and the soft fabric of his shoe.  His arms were pinned to his sides, and he found he couldn’t move.  He looked up and was able to see a tiny slit of light between his friend’s leg and the back of his shoe.  It was so small.  Then Justin got up.

            The car reached its destination right as Noah had reached the top of Justin’s foot.  He got out of the car, completely oblivious to his small friend currently trapped inside his shoe.  Then he started walking. 

            It was no better than what would be expected.  Noah was scarred beyond belief.  If he couldn’t find a way out, he would be trapped inside his best friends shoe for no telling how long!  The rhythmic motion on Justin lifting his foot up, then slamming it down only served to bash Noah more and more.  Then suddenly he stopped.  Noah was thankful.  It really didn’t hurt if he was just standing.  In fact, it was kind of nice.  Both his shoe and sock were remarkably soft.  Being pressed gently between then was like being rapped in the world’s cuddliest blanket.  But his comfort didn’t last long.  Suddenly Justin pulled his foot out of his shoe, leaving the tiny bug still trapped. 

            “Wait a second guys.”  Noah could hear him say far above.  “I think there’s something in my shoe.  Noah only had a second to feel happy before Noah picked his shoe up.  He first tilted it so that it was almost vertical, sending Noah rolling down to his toes.  He then flipped his shoe over, letting a single pebble roll out.  He quickly dropped the shoe back on the ground.  Noah had missed his chance.  He tried to get up and run to his heel before he shoved his foot back in.  He might still see him.  He had no such luck.  Justin’s foot came in only a second later.  His toes hit Noah first, nocking him on his back.  The warm sock rolled over his body as his foot pressed further into his shoe.  It finally came to rest with Noah pressed between the balls of his feet.  Justin finished tying his shoe again, then stood up and continued walking. 

            Noah was pressed beneath him.  The sock and the cushioned sole took some of the pressure off him, but not enough.  Not at all.  Every step he took was like having a ton of bricks fall on him.  But that wasn’t the worst part.  The fabric of his sock pressed against Noah’s face, greatly restricting his airflow.  Not to mention the fact that every ounce of air was forced out of him whenever Justin took a step.  He was forced to take quick breaths whenever he raised his foot.  He was alive for now, but how long could he last?

            The group continued to walk around the mall for some time.  Each step was worse than the last, pressing Noah’s tiny body against the soft fabric of his sock.  Each step crushing him, flattening his body.  Noah prayed for him to stop, but his torment carried on.  The balls of his warm feet pressing into his face. 

            They kept bumming around the mall for about three hours.  Three hours of nothing but Justin’s foot stepping on his best friend.  Crushing him into paste, then letting up the pressure just long enough for him not to black out.  By the time he finally sat down in Eddy’s car, his friend was beaten, bruised, and pretty much flat. 

            His torture finally ended a few minutes later when Eddy dropped Justin off at his house.  He walked in, said hello to a few members of his family, went into his room, and finally, mercifully, took of his shoes. 

            Noah felt the pressure leave his body as Justin took his foot out.  He laid at the bottom of his shoe, just breathing, happy to finally have fresh air.  He never knew his friend was that heavy! 

            Then he was suddenly tossed into the air as Justin accidently knocked his shoe over.  It landed on its side giving Noah an exit.  He wasted no time in running out from the shoe.  He jumped down onto the hardwood floor.  He had been inside Justin’s house many times before, and knew what to expect.  His room was as messy as it always was.  Clothes were lying on the floor, his desk was filled with random papers, and from the looks of it his bed was unmade.  Justin was sitting on his bed now.  He reached down and quickly removed one of his socks, exposing his foot.  He did the same with the other one, throwing the sock on the ground.  He then stood up, and walked back into the house closing the door behind him leaving his tiny friend trapped again. 

            “That was fun wasn’t it?”  Zack said happily. 

            “Fun?  I should have died!  I was trapped for hours!”

            “Yeah!  Cool right!  I never thought you would actually slip into his shoe!”

            “I didn’t either.  How do bugs live like this?”

            “No idea friend.  Any ideas on what to do now?”

            “No, not really.  I guess I’ll just wait for him to come back, then try to get his attention.”

            “Sounds good to me.”  With that, he walked over to the wall and sat down.  Sat and waited. 

            His boredom got the better of him a few minutes later.  He couldn’t just sit there all night.  He started walking around the gigantic room, trying to find something to do.  He didn’t find much. 

            He was close to Justin’s desk when the giant himself decided to walk in.  It was a few hours after, and it looked like Justin was tired.  He yawned once, and then threw of the covers of his bed.  Then he started to undress. 

            Noah wasn’t sure what to do.  First he took off his shirt, then his pants.  The giant was standing with just his underwear on.  Did he sleep in his underwear?  Oh what did it matter?  Noah felt more than a little creepy.  He was watching his friend undress without him knowing.  Then Justin pulled off his underwear.  Noah tried to look away, but found that he couldn’t.  His eyes were pinned to his friend’s privates as they dangled above him.  He stared in complete aw. 

            Justin then crawled into bed, and threw the covers around himself.  Noah snapped back to his senses and quickly tried to think of a plan.  The only thing of use he saw was that there was a corner of the blanket hanging down to the floor.  He decided it was his best bet.  He ran over to it.

            Before he could reach it, the giant turned of the light, leaving Noah in darkness.  He was relieved to see that the moon provided some light, but not much.  He could see outlines, but nothing specific.  It didn’t matter.  He needed to get Justin’s attention before he fell asleep.  He continued on to the corner of the blanket.

            By the time he reached it he could tell Justin was asleep.  His heavy breathing was a dead giveaway.  He didn’t give up though.  He knew that getting to him would be better than staying on the ground.  The blanket was only at a slight angle, but there were many folds in it that would help Noah climb up.  He just hoped he wouldn’t fall. 

            After almost an hour of labor intensive climbing he reached the top.  He stood panting at the edge of Justin’s bed, trying to catch his breath.

            “Good job.  Didn’t really think you would do it on your first try.”  Zack stated.

            “I almost won an award for my rock-climbing you know.”

            “Yes I know, and you should have won to.”

            “I know!  That kid had a head start.”

            “Well no matter.  Got a plan for what to do now.”

            “Absolutely none.”

            “Awesome.  I love a surprise.”

            Noah walked towards the center of the bed.  He didn’t have any ideas.  If he couldn’t get his attention in the car, how was he going to get it now when he was asleep?  He figured he would have no chance on top of the blankets.  So, he decided to crawl under them. 

            The idea proved harder in practice than it was in theory.  Noah quickly found the edge of the blanket and crawled under, but he couldn’t see.  The blanket blocked off all light.  He was forced to just crawl blindly forward. 

            Then he bumped into something.  He had no idea what it was.  He put his hand out in front of him, touching the mysterious object.  It was roundish is shape, had a bunch of grooves on it, and was warm to the touch.  Then he figured it out.  It was Justin’s toes.  Justin was laying on his stomach with his foot facing upward.  Noah was a little surprised.  Somehow he hadn’t had expected to find his foot.  He started rubbing his hands around his toes absentmindedly, feeling his cute toe print.  He thought for a minute about what to do. 

            “What the hell.”  He thought aloud.  “I’m only going to have one chance at this.”

            He crawled on top of his friend’s foot, and then lied down towards the center of it.  He rubbed his face on the soft skin for a second before he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.