“Ugh… holy hell…” Geof groaned, sitting up, rubbing his head. Somewhere between the time he blacked out and the moment he returned to the world, he had developed a splitting headache to match the sorry state of his body. But that was truly the least of his problems. “Shit,” he muttered, looking around at his surroundings, the recent events of the days coming back.

Tall stalks of grass towered above him, many times his size, the sun coming through the thick canopy of green in tiny bursts. The ground around him was completely made up of dirt. Deep brown, tiny sprouts sticking up in some places, and altogether disheartening. He hadn’t been noticed in his house, on the flat surfaces of the wood floors and carpet. What hope did he have now, surrounded by these blades of grass?

Painfully he pushed himself to his feet, wondering how many more kicks he had left in him. At what point would the physical damage grow to great? How many more close calls before his leg broke, or he hit his head wrong?

“Shit,” he muttered again, finding his balance, his miniscule weight causing a few loose specs of dirt to tumble free of the larger plane. He looked forward in the direction he hoped was the patio, finding that he could only see a maze of green and black. There was no way of knowing if that was the correct path, or what he might encounter on his way. There were bugs out here. Big ones. Ones that probably wouldn’t mind having little Geof as a snack.

He looked at the grass stalk closest to him, noticing the multiple shades that made up its stalk. A deeper, darker green at the base that gradually became lighter and more airy at the top. it's something he had never noticed when he was big. Perhaps just because it was too subtle, perhaps it was because he just never took the time to notice. There were some interesting things about being this size.

He saw the stalk bend, feeling the rush of air soon afterwards. A simple, light breeze, yet to him it was almost enough to push him over. Yet another thing he never gave much thought to that had become a matter of concern. But, there was nothing he could do about the wind. Hastily he turned back to the path he hoped would lead back to the patio, his footsteps crunching on the dry soil.

It was a while before he encountered any obstacles. The yard was just a mess of grass. Each step he took only revealed more of the same pattern. There was nothing to mark his path, nothing to convince himself that he wasn’t just going in circles. He just had to push forward, hoping he was going the right direction.

The sun was almost setting at his back, its rays turned to a watery orange, bathing his course in colors of red and yellow. The shadows had become spots of near total darkness, each one housing a possibility of death that Geof couldn’t seem to get himself over. He could remember reading somewhere that many bugs were nocturnal. That may have been the only reason he had yet to run into any.

A shadow fell over him, bigger and more sudden than any of the blades of grass could have produced. Instantly he sprung behind one of the great stalks, fearing for the worst. A crunching sound enveloped him, one that was accompanied by a deep tremble in the earth. Tiny Geof could only imagine what gigantic monster could have such an impact. After a few moments of further panic, he poked his head out from the blade.

“Wow,” he heard a voice utter, the sheer power of it ringing his ears. Still, he was able to recognize it as his sister, Eren. His hopes lifted for as long as it took his mind to remember that she wasn’t his savior, only another way he could be crushed. “I guess it is getting a bit high.” The girl shrugged, turning around. Geoff was struck with the amazing sight of her gigantic booty in the late afternoon light. It looked beautiful, cupped firmly by her tight jeans that left almost nothing to the imagination.

Then she was off, walking across the lawn and out of Geof's narrow view. “Damn,” the boy said, not sure what to make of the situation. Why was his sister out here?

His question was answered quickly by what sounded like an angry roar, reverberating over the lawn, assaulting the little boy’s ears. “What the hell?” he said, the sound drowning out his words. Without thinking, he started running away from the source, thinking only that it could be some predator, or some device that would only bring him harm. It was only after sprinting past several stalks of grass that he realized the source.

“Oh no,” he whispered, his eyes going wide. His sister had said that something had been growing high. If she meant the lawn, then maybe she had been told to cut it. And if that was the case, the roaring could only be coming from the lawn mower. “Shit!” he screamed, his speed doubling.

All he could picture was a giant lawnmower, thousands of time his size and weight, coming towards his position. The wheels would crush him, his sister’s steps could smash him to a pulp. But, worse than that, was the spinning piece of metal that could cut through his body without even the slightest delay. A machine built to cut down the massive plants that towered over him would have no trouble destroying his entire body, ripping him to shreds. If he didn’t find the patio soon he was dead. No possible way to come back, not a chance of some lucky break saving him. He needed to reach safety.

But that was no easy task. Within only a few minutes his lungs burned for air, his legs feeling as if they were about to fall apart. The roaring had only grown louder, more violent, more bloodthirsty with the passing moments. It was coming closer. He could even feel the earth vibrating underfoot, a miniature earthquake that would only grow more intense until the monstrous machine was cutting through his body.

No longer did the orange and red colors of the sunset look quaint and peaceful. As he sprinted through the stalks of grass, the world looked alight with the fries of panic, pushing him forward. He could swear he felt the heat from them, but that might have only been the terror taking a hold of his mind.

Soon he was sweating, the roaring turned into a continuous blast of noise that assaulted his ears, the shaking of the earth transformed into a true vibration that had caused him to lose his footing many times already. The machine was almost upon him, but there was a small silver lining. He could see that faint outline of the patio.

It was still far off, but it was there. His safety, his sanctuary. If he could just keep up the pace for a bit longer he might be able to make it. But god was the noise loud. He couldn’t imagine his sister was that far away, though he dared not look back to check. The sight of that much violent power coming to kill him might have been too much for his damaged mind to take.

“Holy shit,” he kept repeating to himself, his legs begging for a break, the horror behind him pushing him forward. he couldn’t stop now, not when he was so close to safety. He wasn’t about to let himself die like this!

Then a noise cut through the otherwise unbreakable wall of sound that the lawnmower generated. It was enough to make Geof turn his head for just a moment. Long enough to not notice the loose pebble below his foot. He tripped, his feet going out from him, soon finding his body sliding through the earth.

He started to push himself up, his face and chest now covered with rubble and mud, when he heard the sound again. A high pitched hiss, something that sounded almost natural. Something like a predator. Quickly he jerked his head to the left, his eyes hurriedly scanning for the source.

Then he saw it. “Oh god,” was the only words that he could find, the rest stolen by the sight of the newest gruesome abomination to enter his life. A massive body, twice, three times the size of his own. It was rounded, black completely, its shell reflecting some of the harsher rays of light from the sun, turning parts of it crimson. Its head was worse though. A small orb of a thousand glistening, black eyes, all of which were pointing at him.

Instantly Geof recognized it as a common beetle. He had used to go searching for them when he was a kid, enjoyed messing with them. Putting them in jars, flipping them over… he had found them fascinating. Now though, as the creature stared at him with hunger, it only looked like a monster.

“No,” Geof said, pushing himself away from the creature, the sound of the lawnmower only growing louder and louder. “No!” he screamed as the insect started moving towards him, each of its disgusting six legs working in tandem, pushing it's fat body closer to him. “Stop!” But the creature wasn’t about to listen. Even to a bug, Geof was nothing of consequence. A meal, that was all.

Geoff pushed himself to his feet, sprinting away from the monster with everything he had. Again he heard the hiss cutting through the roar of the mower, breaking into his skull, followed closely by the shifting of pebbles as the beast came forward.

Then he was falling, plummeting to the ground again, his back aching. How had it already caught up with him? He had been running at full sprint. Was he really that pathetic, that easy a meal?

His face scraped against the packed ground again, his hands quickly rolling him onto his back. If he was going to die, he needed to at least see the attack coming. Or, that's what he had believed. When he rolled over, when he saw the creature, his heart sunk. Even a simple beetle was large enough to dominate his entire being.

The roar of the engine was deafening, cutting off even the creature’s hiss as it pushed itself into the air on its hind legs, readying the final strike. Geof could see why the noise was so loud; just behind the beetles repulsive body the black wheels of the mower passed by, flattening the massive stalks of grass under the unimaginable weight.

So this was it? Not under his girlfriend’s foot, or as a snack, or even in the trash compactor. He was going to be the meal of a bug? “Emily, Erin,” he whispered desperately, knowing that neither could hear his tiny please, but unable to do anything else. He didn’t want to die like this. But, what was a tiny, worthless, insignificant boy like him to do?

The second wheel passed by, the beetle ready to deliver the final blow, its thousands of eyes locked on the little human that would become its next meal. He couldn’t hear anything over the completely deafening bellow of the gigantic machine that was passing so closely, though he doubted that was any worse than the sounds that escaped the monster’s rasping mouth. Geof’s heart was beating furiously, his eyes unmoving from the monster’s head. Even as the shadow fell over them both, he could not manage to rip his eyes from his imminent doom.

Then Eren’s foot slammed into the earth, the amazing power of her step enough to send a shockwave through the ground powerful enough to force her tiny brother against the dirt. Geoff was left in amazement, his mouth hanging open, his mind barely even understanding the sight his eyes were registering.

Where the beetle had so recently towered over him, Eren’s old, ratty Jordan shoe now stood, a thick ring of dirt mounted up against the worn out sole, pushed up from the massive impact. There were stains covering the entire surface, most of them of dark colors, like the brown of dirt or black of mud. Others were lighter, grass stains making up the majority.

The leather was worn and bent, thousands of creases of all sizes now covering the material. It was bulged out a bit at the sides, the old seams struggling to hold in Erin’s foot as it pressed against the confines of the old, worn out shoe. Geof could even see a small hole near the toe section, his sister’s white, puffy sock clearly visible.

Then she continued her step, her foot peeling away from the earth and the gross, gory, slimy remains of the beetle she had crushed so effortlessly. Strands of the creature's innards were still stuck to the underside of her Jordan as it rose into the air, thick bridges of green and white slime gradually becoming thinner and thinner as she continued her step until they eventually snapped.

Within another moment she was gone, leaving Geof alone once again. His sister had just saved him… Geof couldn’t put together what he thought about that. Should he be happy that she had crushed the threat, or appalled at how close he just came to death? He didn’t know what to think.

So, without thought, he pushed himself back to his feet, sprinting in the direction of the patio. His body no longer hurt, or at least he couldn’t feel it anymore. That was one of the better things about being put into such a life threatening, horrible situation. The adrenalin burst afterwards was enough to carry him forward.

He reached the ledge of the wood only moments later, quickly finding a place where the dirt had piled against the patio enough for him to climb up. He threw his body onto the hard surface, letting himself sprawl out. Another situation was finished, and he was still breathing. That was the most important part about things. he was still breathing.

But damn, that was bad. “Holy shit,” he whispered to himself, a small smile gnawing at his lips. The sky above was fading quickly, the brightest of stars already peaking out from under their blanket of darkness to lighten the sky. His chest lifted, the ragged pace of his breathing had turned into a slow, constant one. “Holy shit,” he said again, almost laughing at the absurdity of the situation, of how incredibly lucky he was to have survived.

When he was big again, he would have to tell Jo and the others about this. No, they wouldn’t believe him. They’d probably call him insane, ask if he was all right, maybe even laugh. None of this made any sense whatsoever, but at least it was exciting. In that life threatening, completely horrifying, would never wish to do again type of way.

Once he was bigger…