Thomas was inside of the dustpan, still attached to the dirty sticker, as it titled and sent him falling backwards. He had one last look at Vicky as she lifted the dustpan and Thomas' world titled once more. He was now facing the innards of a trash can and was quickly approaching it. Being weighed down by the other pieces of trash, the sticker and Thomas fell at a fast paced before landing softly on top of all the garbage. Thomas was forced to look upward as the giant black butt of the dustpan was squished down into the trash can to push all the trash further in. While still large compared to Thomas, the trash can he was in now was much smaller than the one before. It felt even smaller to him as well since he was now incapable of moving. All he could do was stare upwards and wait for the inevitable trash to fall down upon him. 

Thomas wondered which trash can he was in, but he didn't have to wonder long as the giant face of Danielle appeared far above him. She looked down at the trash inside with complete disinterest before her face was replaced with a giant metal object dropping a white parchment carrying thousands of wet, hot, dark objects, all of which splattered onto Thomas and the rest of the garbage, covering him entirely. He couldn't see it, but once more it happened, and he felt himself getting buried even deeper, with absolutely no way to do anything about it. Thomas knew where he was. As it was, Vicky had tossed the trash she swept up into the trash can near the coffee brewing station. Those hot, wet, objects covering Thomas and the rest of the trash were used coffee grounds. And Thomas knew there would be more where they came from. A lot more.

Thomas had no idea how long we was underneath all of the coffee grounds. He thought he would have died a long time ago from a lack of oxygen, but the more Thomas thought about it, the more he realized the issue. It wasn't that he was somehow managing to breath down here, it was more like he simply didn't need to breath. He had no need to breath, and he couldn't get hurt. Thomas didn't like where this was going. He simply wished his consciousness would go as well, but that stayed with him. 

In reality it had been about fifteen minutes, but in that time Thomas had two more rounds of coffee grounds poured over his trashy body, burying him beneath a massive amount of grounds. This predicament made it impossible for him to feel that the entire trash can was moving. Now being about half filled, Danielle took it to the back to change the trash bag. The amount of grounds in there made the bag get heavy quickly, so it was recommended to change it often. It wasn't until the entire trash bag itself started shifting did Thomas know something was happening.

As the walls of the bag caved in, the insides moved about, and Thomas felt himself and the sticker slide off to the side. Thomas was pressed up against the plastic of the bag and was being squished into it from all the heavy trash behind him. He noticed something though, he started slipping. As it turns out, the hot, moist nature of the coffee grounds had loosened him from the sticker, and he now found himself separated from it...and slipping right towards the bottom of the bag as Danielle was removing it from the trash can. 

Thomas now found himself falling to the bottom of the trash bag, and into  a pool of liquid that had formed from the used coffee grounds. Thomas made no effort to stay afloat, as he already determined he didn't need to breath. He assumed that meant he could survive submerged in liquid as well. And he was right. It was short lived however as Danielle dropped the bag and caused the massive amounts of garbage to collapse on top of Thomas and the pool of liquid. While it easily spread out, Thomas was not liquid, and was smashed between the plastic bottom of the bag and the heavy trash above him, again, unable to move. 

The liquid returned as the trash on top of him was lifted, submerging Thomas once more. Outside, Ruth the dishwasher was once again taking the trash out to the dumpster. It accumulated pretty fast, as there were quite a few trash cans in the place, and a lot of trash was being produced. She started with the heaviest bag Danielle had just brought, and began to take it to the back door. The door is slightly raised above the ground, with the few stairs leading down to make it easier. Ruth dropped the bag off the little platform and let it crash to the ground. Thomas was once more smashed beneath several pounds of trash and used coffee grounds as he winched in pain. Some of the liquid and old grounds entered his mouth.

Ruth dropped more and more bags down onto the pile, growing it even larger. With each bag Thomas was smashed even more beneath even more pounds of garbage. He was at the bottom of it all, taking on the weight of several bags literally on his back while still inside a pool of gross liquid. Ruth dropped the last couple bags onto the pile, and went down the stairs to bring them to the dumpster. As the last bag fell, Thomas heard a loud pop and felt the sensation of movement. A strong current was pulling him somewhere, but in the darkness beneath all the garbage he couldn't tell where. It wasn't until a few minutes later when Ruth picked up the heavy bag of coffee grounds that Thomas understood. With all the weight that was on top of it, the bag he was in finally ripped. It was a small one, and only allowed small amounts of liquids at a time and the occasional ground of coffee. One of those that escaped was none other than Thomas himself.
Light returned to Thomas' world, blinding him temporarily. When he could see again, he found himself in what seemed to be an alien world. But as he concentrated more, he realized it was no alien world, it was a familiar world. A loud noise behind him caused Thomas to look back, and take in the gigantic form of Ruth standing above him, moving up the stairs. He watched as she dissipated above him, followed by the sound of a huge door slamming shut. And then Thomas came to the realization of what had occurred. He was no longer at his work. He was no laying in a small puddle of liquid, on the cement sidewalk outside of his work. He thought of it more. He was outside, and he was only the size of a crumb. He was doomed. 

Millions of thoughts went racing through Thomas' head. It was impossible for him to get anyone's attention while inside. How in the world would he get anyone's attention now that he was outside? What if any bugs came? He would be an easy snack for them. What about the weather? Thomas looked up and saw cloudy gray skies on what was supposed to be a nice spring day. What if it rained? He'd be washed away into the storm drain. What if it got windy, and he was just blown somewhere else? What if a car ran him over? Thomas didn't want to think about this anymore. He had to find a way of getting back inside, no matter what. Even if it meant getting stepped on once more. There was simply no chance of survival while outside. 

Looking around, Thomas saw the jagged, rough, and bumpy surface of the concrete sidewalk. He found himself in a valley of sorts formed by the small hills that were unnoticeable bumps. The small puddle of liquid he was standing in had pooled here as well. Looking further, he saw the same thing stretch out for what seemed like miles. It was basically a grey desert for him. At the edge of the grey desert, Thomas saw it transform into another object. Looking at it by itself, he was completely confused. Once he looked more upward at the entire picture, he saw it was in actuality a car. It was absolutely massive compared to him, as it should be. He saw an object sticking out of the desert, and decided to head towards it. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to really go towards.

Thomas thought to himself that be had made great time getting to the object, but he really didn't know. He wasn't even sure what time it was. It was all for himself. Once he got to the object he realized what it was. Just a lousy cigarette butt that someone had crushed, and probably been stepped on more than once. It gave Thomas an idea though. If he stayed on this, someone was bound to step on it at some point. He could then hitch a ride inside! Thomas thought of the ridiculousness that was him now wanting to get stepped on, but he brushed it aside as he waited, wanting to think less of his predicament. He didn't want to wait long as looking forward he saw a girl coming right towards him. She had on a nice pair of brown boots that still looked fairly new. Thomas thought that if he was going to get stepped on, those seemed like a nice pair to have it happen. He again quickly tossed these thoughts aside. 

Thomas tried not to get excited, because there was only a small chance she would step on the exact spot the cigarette butt was. But his entire day has been about small chances, hasn't it? Maybe this would work out. She was now only a step or two away. Thomas prepared himself for the crush he knew was coming. But it didn't come. The woman's right shoe landed just right of Thomas. Her left shoe to the left of him. And she stopped. Before Thomas even had a chance to look up at her, a giant, cylindrical object, still smoking, fell from the sky right next to him, causing him to trip. It then rolled right over him, pinning him to the ground, with the burning, ashy side right next to his face. Looking past the object and upwards to see what the hell was going on, all he saw instead was the dark sole of the girl's boot approaching him fast.

The still slightly lit cigarette butt was smashed into Thomas. The hot part was pressed into his body, and small ash crumbles fell all over his face, causing him to cough violently. His world was plunged into darkness once more as it started to move left and right in rapid succession. He back was being ground into the already crushed cigarette butt he was laying on, with the new one smashing into him even more, coating him with all sorts of disgusting materials found in cigarettes. This continued for just a few more seconds, but for Thomas it was basically hell. The smokey ash was all in his eyes, his nostrils, his mouth, and he was sure that's all he smelt like now. While he was sure he wasn't injured from it, he could feel the searing pain that was the burn the cigarette butt was pushing into him. And finally it was over when the girl lifted her shoe from the crushed cigarette butt.

Although it wasn't over. A few tiny, insignificant pieces of ash, and only small, worthless Thomas, were lifted up along with her shoe, slightly adhered to it, as she took her next step. Thomas could do nothing as he was once again lifted up into the air with his ashy brethren, before feeling the same downward motion as he was pressed hard into the rough, jagged sidewalk. Before, the old cigarette butt cushioned his back as he was being crushed, but now he took the full force of the sharp, jagged pieces of concrete sticking out, causing him immense pain, which only increased as the entire girls weight shifted to the shoe he was under. He was lifted once more, the pain decreasing, but still present. It hurt, but he had to acknowledge the fact that he did get exactly what he was hoping for. His back was once again slammed hard into the rough sidewalk and once more the entire girls weight pressed him deep into the concrete. This time, however, there was no rising, as once he opened his eyes he found himself still within the ridges of the sidewalk, as the girl continued on her way. He was still outside.

Cursing his luck, Thomas looked around once more. Although an unpleasant experience, and didn't achieve what he wanted, he was at least closer to getting back inside. There was that. He was standing there thinking of how else to get back inside. He was closer now, he could walk there. It would take awhile, and he had no way to open the door, but maybe he could just slip under it? As lost in thought as he was, he didn't notice the ant approaching him until it was too late. The ant was bigger than Thomas, though not by much. It was, however, much bulkier than he was, and was easily able to overwhelm him. Thomas was tossed on his back as the ant crawled over him. He could swear he saw a smile on the ants face as it got ready for the kill, as if it finally succeed. He was simply personifying though. He really wondered what would even happen if the ant tried to eat him. He honestly didn't want to find out. As Thomas was busy underneath the ant, and the ant was busy on top of Thomas, neither one of them noticed the girl approaching their spot, until her red flip flop was falling directly on top of them.

The ant was smashed immediately and grossly, spewing guts and body parts all over the sole of the girls flip flop, and all over Thomas, who remained unharmed, although slightly grossed out. As her weight shifted, the sole of her shoe and all the ants innards were pressed into Thomas. He had been through this routine several times already today, so he took it as no shock when he was lifted up along with the girls flip flop, obviously stuck to by the sticky guts of the ant. Although disgusting, and more nasty than with the cigarette, his goal was once again being achieved as the girl was heading right towards his work. Thomas had to endure the horribleness that was insect guts, and the occasionally twitching body of the destroyed ant, but it would be worth it once he was inside. Wouldn't it?

Thomas could tell the girl had went inside, because of her movement. And what happened next. As she went to step down, Thomas felt his body get attacked by rough, bumpy straws that made up the ground. They attacked him all over his body and seemed to be pulling him, grabbing him from the girls shoe. And that's exactly what happened. As her flip flop lifted this time, Thomas felt himself pulled from her sole, along with the broken pieces of the ant, before falling a short distance into a dark, dank forest. It took Thomas a second, but he knew where he was. He was now inside the mat placed at the front entrance, used to scrape dirt and other debris, like Thomas, from people's shoes so they wouldn't track into the store. Looking around, it was confirmed. Thomas was surround by giant mounds of dirt, fuzz, and the dead carcass of the ant he was attacked by, all surrounded by giant, thick trees that made up the mat. Thomas had walked on this mat countless times coming in and out of the store, but he never knew it at this level. From his view, it really needed to be cleaned, it was getting pretty gross. Looking up, Thomas found it hard to see anything aside from the giant strands, but he was able to see the very top of the door, and possibly anyone who came in or out. Though looking up like that really hurt his neck. 

The strands were thick, and the paths were all clogged with dirt and other crud. Thomas could only wonder one thing: How the hell was he going to get out of here and get someone's attention. But hey, at least he was inside!