You ever just daydream?

Like not just some normal dream but some grossly exaggerated reverie on how your life should have been: Straight A's, meeting the lover of your dreams, finding a lottery ticket worth a hundred million, whatever. And when it gets good, good enough to the point where you're left with the dopiest of smiles, you're ripped away with your own crushing reality.

I don't really know where I was going with that, but I go through that every day. It helps, I guess.

All it takes is a brutal step from my older sister to snap me out of my trance.

May's relentless as usual, and I'm stuck with her throughout the day, plastered under her foot with no chance of getting out on my own. She makes no effort to lessen the pain, and I'm left to wonder if it's through malevolence or just plain negligence. I can never tell for sure, but I always lean towards one or the other at the end of the day, but I never fully decide.

The air is cold, almost refreshing, and my eyes shoot open. I'm out of her shoe, gasping for clean air but only suck in the thick, muggy air of my surroundings. It doesn't help that today is probably one of the hottest days of the year. My sweat soaked body is stuck to her foot again, and I'm once again blessed with the sight of the bottoms of students' shoes.

Desperately, I scan the area, looking for the blonde girl from two days ago, and I immediately wish I hadn't. She's sitting in the same seat, scrawny, surprisingly tiny for a girl her age, yet she holds a life in her own absolute mercy. I begin to lurch at the sight of her feet, stuffed in thick combat boots that reach her shin.

I keep telling myself he's not in them, but I know better.

Her idle movements haunt me the most as she leans her feet against each other. At some point she begins to shake her right leg, jittering erratically while her foot bobs in a rapid motion. Her hand is resting on her cheek, obscured by her thick, wavy blonde hair.

The look of absolute apathy, no boredom, on her face is enough to infuriate me, and I want nothing.more than me running up to her and kicking her teeth in. And even then, that won't be enough.

It's just a big bark from a such a little dog.

There's no way that I'd be able to do anything about it as I'm left with a hopeless weight on my chest. I don't think I would have even done it if I were still normal sized.

What I truly want the most if I were normal, is to just hold the tiny boy in my palms, giving him the most warming smile as I tell him everything will be okay. If anything, I just want the same to happen to me.

I close my eyes, attempting to keep my cool, not for me, but for the boy and others who have it much worse than I do. Luckily, I manage to space out with the brief moment of inspiration, letting myself lose me senses as I begin to tune out.

When I wake up, I'm in my bed, my real bed. I sit up, looking around in disbelief as I smile out of pure shock. This is a dream, I tell myself. I can recognize it instantly.

Excitedly, I get out of bed, and a load of weight unloads from my tense shoulders as my feet firmly touch the ground. My toes grip the soft carpet fibers, something I hadn't  been unable to do for years.

"Juniper!" I hear a voice call. It's quiet, distant, almost as if...

As if it were muscle memory, I dart towards a small cardboard box on my nightstand, and my breath stops as I see two impossibly small figures standing inside, my sisters.

"G-good morning," I stammer, gripping the rim of the box as I look into my oldest sister's eyes.

"Morning," she greets cheerily, the wearing the same cheeky smile, "you're a little late to rise."

"Yeah," May adds, "you still down for sneaking us into the movies today?"

"Sure," I say quietly.

They're looking up at me expectantly as I bring my hand into the box, and without hesitating, they both climb aboard. Looking back, the feeling, it's unreal as I feel the tiniest amount of pressue on my palms.

If I just clench my fist...

But the thought never comes, and I never even consider it in my half lucid state. I know this is a dream, but I can't help but hold on to it like it was real.

Next thing I know, we're in the bathroom with April and May both bathing in separate tea cups. And that's where I finally get a good look at myself, of who I should've been.

My hair is long, soft and healthy, a dark black that compliments my earthy brown skin, almost glowing in the light. I resemble my father, like May, appearing short and a little stocky.

I get undressed, hopping into the shower and letting the blissful streams of warm water pour over me, taking a deep, relaxed breath with the steamy rain massaging my back.

When I wake up, when I really wake up, the water is freezing, suffocating, and I feel May's nail accidentally dig into my back. I let out a sharp screech, choking on tap water as I start coughing violently. I'm on my knees, spitting out the metallic after taste while the heavy waterfall hits my back with bruising force. My head hurts the moment I realize I'm back to reality.

I'm an inch tall in the bathroom sink as my giant sister May rinses me off.

“I hear you’re giving foot rubs now,” May comments. My stomach drops, and I begin to pray that she just drops it at that. “Would have been nice to let me know personally. I can read too, you know.”

Her words aren’t angry, just teasing. Her thumb pats against my back as she continues to dry me off. I don’t say anything, and I let her dry me off with a scratchy paper towel.

“Today’s really hot out, like, stupid hot,” she says, “and I don’t want you dying of heatstroke or something.”

As weird as it is, that’s her own way of telling me she loves me…I think.

I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and it takes all my energy not to break down. She looks different than the happy girl in the dream, dark sunken eyes, a thin, hungry frame, paler skin, and a short, boyish haircut about a relative inch in length. I’m a wreck, physically and mentally.

I’m held out against the open side pocket of May’s book bag, and I sigh in relief as she nudges me into the small pouch. I don’t question it, letting my older sister grant me the smallest of mercies. As soon as I’m inside, May zips it closed, leaving me in the darkness for what seems like hours.

May goes through the rest of her day, forgetting I even exist as I’m tossed around the inside of her bag, but luckily the heat isn’t much of a problem other than the occasional sudden burst of warmth.

When May finally opens the pouch, I’m assaulted by the oily smell of French fries. I’m not complaining since it’s a hell of a lot better than the smell of May’s feet.

I can hear her from above; she’s with a group of friends, talking, laughing, and going on with her life without paying attention to the shrunken human trapped in her backpack. Their conversations aren’t much to note, but I listen closely to them anyway, taking in the information as my sister talks about boys, tests, whatever comes up at the time.

She’s off doing people things.

People things? That’s new.

The smell of food gets stronger, and I finally notice how hungry I really am, skipping breakfast seemed like the right choice at the time, but now I can feel the need to eat biting at my stomach. And as if she read my mind, May drops in a small piece of the fry, and I attack it ravenously and gratefully.

I get through about half of the food before I’m too full to even think about eating again. The greasy goodness is enough to lull me into a content haze.

Maybe a minute or so later, May’s massive fingers dig into the pocket, grabbing my left leg in between her thumb and her index finger. I’m too full to even fight back as my panicked flailing had become more of a lazy struggle.

The blood rushes to my head as I’m dangling right in front of May’s thick, intimidating lips. They’re curled to a smile, and I don’t dare look up at her eyes. Her hot, foggy breath, smells like cooked meat and starch. I let out a slight shriek as I feel a sudden warmth at my back as I realized I’m being pressed against a French fry.

Not even a second later and I’m submerged under the viscous layer of chocolate milkshake, gagging on the sweet drink in an attempt to hold my breath. And just as quickly, I’m brought out back into the fresh air before being placed directly into May’s waiting mouth.

Her tongue tosses me around with no sign of stopping as she pins me beneath the expanse of muscle. I’m knocked against the chunks of food, thrashing in complete darkness, slipping in spit with her tongue as the only point of reference to where I am.

I’m planted against her cheek with brutal force as the pink muscle claims complete dominance over my tiny frame. I grit my teeth and keep my eyes closed, hoping to just bide my time as the humid air only gets worse by the second.

Unceremoniously, I’m spit onto her palm, sputtering and gasping for air while I hear an amused giggle come from above. I keep my head planted against her hand, hoping May would just leave me alone, and she does for the most part.

“Is that?” A voice calls in disbelief; it’s curious but uninterested in my well being, It’s one of May’s friends for sure.

“Yup.” May hums with absolutely no remorse. In fact, her tone is laced with pride as she shows me off to her nearby friend.

I’m breathing heavily, too tired to even focus on my surroundings as the chorus of teasing laughter tears into my brain. I want to cry but I don’t, forcing myself to keep it together just because I don’t want them to gain any more power over me.

It’s hard to even think, but my mind fully wraps around a single idea.

I have to run away.