My brother’s feet were on either side of me again. I guess this was a lucky spot. He seemed to be moving around the bathroom a lot, yet he still hadn’t crushed me. Does that make me lucky?

            My body tensed as he rose up onto his toes, reaching for something high. Even the slightest movement from him was sending shivers through my tiny body. I kept looking at his feet, silently praying that he wouldn’t move over to me. That he wouldn’t accidently step on me like he had done to the other two. Why was this happening?

            He came down with a boom, the shockwave making me roll a small bit. I could feel my heart racing as I starred up at him. Even though he was on the verge of killing me, even though he had already slaughtered two others, he still looked so cute. So innocent. I guess none of this was really his fault. He didn’t know he was stepping on us. He didn’t know how deadly his feet were.

            Tommy started fidgeting again, moving his feet ever so slightly. Now the movements held more panic than they had before. Every time his shoe came closer I held my breath, hoping that he would move it back. He always did.

            Again and again his shoe came sliding towards me. Side to side, side to side, over and over again in a maddeningly monotonous pace. I wanted to shout up to him. I wanted to beg him to stop. I couldn’t though. I couldn’t do anything to get my brother’s attention. I couldn’t do anything to stop him from crushing me.

            I saw his right leg swing out away from the cabinet as he turned his body towards the door. He paused as his foot hit the tile, one hand at his side, the other still resting on the sink.

            Please, I silently begged. Please leave. Don’t step on me. He seemed to debate the idea, turning from the door back to the sink, then back to the door again. What was he doing? Why couldn’t he just go? He wasn’t going to find me, he wasn’t going to help me, so why couldn’t he just leave me be?

            Finally he dashed my hopes away as he shook his head, lifting his foot, turning back to the sink. I saw his shoe arching towards me, the shadow falling over my body.

            I thought I was prepared for it, but the shock of the moment was too much. I closed my eyes, letting out a tiny scream as his foot slammed into the ground. Instantly a pain shot through one of my six arms.

            When I opened my eyes again I couldn’t believe the sight. The toe of his shoe was hovering just above me. One of my arms was trapped under the rest of his shoe. Tommy, I tried to say, though nothing came out.

            I tried pulling at my trapped arm but it didn’t do any good. At this point I was just thankful he hadn’t crushed me. To think that I was saved by the simple fact that his shoe curled up a little at the toe. Still, that fact wouldn’t save me if he decided to lean forward. That was all it would take to kill me.

            There was so much dirt stuck to his sole. Tiny pebbles were lodged in between the grooves of it, pressing into the sides, packed into their tiny space by his immense weight. Then there were patches of gunk that looked to be mud. Perhaps they were. Perhaps they were the remains of some other bug that had been in the same situation I was.

            The pain was growing steadily in my arm. He wasn’t doing this on purpose though. He wouldn’t hurt me on purpose. Not Tommy. We were brothers. We had been together for the greater part of my life. I helped him through his difficult times. He wouldn’t step on me.

            Suddenly a memory came back to me. One where we were outside, running around, pretending we were superheroes or something similar. We had found a little anthill near our driveway, the small workers quickly scurrying about. He had seemed so fascinated by them. He didn’t want to hurt them, he didn’t want to step on them or flood their hill. He just thought they were cool to look at.

Why couldn’t he just look down at me? Why couldn’t he just see a helpless ant on the ground and try to help? I know he would help me, even if I were just an bug. He was too nice, too sweet to let me suffer on the floor. If he would just look down, if he would just find me, all this could be over.

Light came back to me as he stepped off of my arm. His foot came down behind him. I was breathing hard again, my heart beating wildly. This was the scariest moment of my life.

I cringed as I saw something coming towards me, my eyes closing on reflex. There was a boom as it hit the ground next to me, bouncing up, then finally finding a place on the floor. When I summoned the courage to look I saw that it was the cap to the toothpaste. I let out a slight sigh of relief.

My heart leapt as I saw movement above me. Tommy was looking down quizzically, trying to find what had fallen. Trying to find the cap that was right next to me. For the first time since I had woken up, I actually felt hope. I wasn’t going to die here. Tommy, my caring, compassionate brother, would find me. He’d think I was just an ant, but at least he’d get me away from danger. He wasn’t going to step on me. I wasn’t going to be squished by my little brother!

He knelt down, placing his weight onto one knee, his face eclipsing almost my entire vision. His hand came down next, reaching for the cap. For a moment I thought he wasn’t going to see me. Then those deep eyes turned, finding my tiny form.

I was almost bursting with joy. This was it. He had seen me.

He looked concerned, like the loving brother I knew he would be. I tried moving again, tried to call out to him, but my voice was still far too weak. My legs managed to twitch slightly, but nothing more. Still, it didn’t matter. Soon I would be out of harms way, then I could recover. Then, hopefully, I would get his attention. Maybe I could write a message to him somehow.

“Oh,” he said, sounding saddened by the sight. “Are you alright little ant?” I tried to answer, tried to shout to him, but my lunges were too weak. He continued looking at me for a few moments more, clearly not sure as to what to do. “Did I step on you?” he eventually asked.

No, I tried to answer. I tried to do everything I could to make him realize I was still alive, that I was still all right.

“Sorry,” he said as he stood back up, his deep eyes still trained on the tiny speck on the ground that was my body. I saw him move his leg then. For a moment I starred up at him, confused. Then I saw his shoe come over my head, blocking out the light.

No! Please Tommy, it’s me! I tried to shout, but it wasn’t working. I couldn’t do anything but watch as my little brother moved his foot into position. It’s me! Please Tommy, please! I couldn’t believe this. I couldn’t believe he was about to step on me. This wasn’t happening. This wasn’t possible!

“Sorry,” he said again as his shoe came down. I heard the boom as it hit the ground. I felt his immense weight as it crashed down on me, squishing my very being. My exoskeleton popped, my organs seeped out onto the tile. In an instant I was reduced to just another spot on the underside of my little brother’s shoe.

Fin