The wind howled outside, its vicious bight digging deep into Matt’s exposed skin. The sun had disappeared by this point in the day, leaving the world bathed in a blackness that seemed only fitting.

Matt was passed the point of shaking, his naked body barely even moving through the deep snow. He was stopped now, motionless, standing in front of the goddess that he had loved for so long. And she looked beautiful too.

Cassie stood under one of the few lights of the shop, her long red hair dancing in the wind, her deep green eyes held steady. Matt knew she couldn’t see him, knew that his chances of surviving had fallen to almost zero. Yet, as he stood before his giantess, as he felt his body giving up, he was not sad. He regretted not being able to spend more time with her, regretted the series of events that lead to his shrinking, but didn’t regret this moment. He was going to die, that had been a certainty ever since they escaped, but at least he could die looking at her.

“Cassie,” he whispered, the wind billowing over his words. His eyes lowered to her boots. Fitting that she would be wearing his favorite pair. White, with warm tuffs of fur on the inside. Black streaks made up an intricate pattern of the sides, blending in with the laces that dripped off below and continuing to the sole she now stood on. He could still remember it, a zig-zagging pattern of thick rubber that always had something wedged between. Sometimes it was just dirt and mud, other times it was the corpse of some poor insect crushed by the giantess.

Then he saw a tiny speck sticking out from the bottom of her foot, something that reminded him of a life he no longer lived. With his last ounces of strength he crawled to her foot, moving up the the curious item.

“Oh,” he said, smiling, almost crying at the realization. It looked to be the remains of one of her sweet potatoes. Cassie wasn’t the best cook, but her potatoes were some of the best things Matt had ever tasted. He loved it whenever she made them. Perhaps he could have one last bight.

The bug bent down, pressing his tongue against the exposed sections of her sole, letting his taste buds marvel at the mixture of Cassie’s cooking, and the grime that they had been mashed in over the entire course of the day. Despite the horrid flavor, despite the humiliation of licking them off the bottom of her sole, they were still some of the best tasting things Matt had ever eaten. A fitting last meal for a bug like him.

He then looked up, his breath stolen from him as his eyes locked with the vibrant emerald orbs miles above. Cassie was looking directly at him. Then, almost kindly, the giantess spoke. “Oh,” she said, her voice flowing over the cold, barren landscape to his unworthy ears. “I thought all bugs had gone inside for the winter. Poor little guy, there’s no way you’ll survive out here.”

“No,” Matt agreed though there was no way she could hear. It was all he could do.

“I’m sorry,” the giantess said, looking genuinely concerned. She was always kind, even when it was only to a worthless little bug. “I’m not sure what to do. I’d like to help, but I can’t think of anything. If you stay out here…” She paused, soon coming to the only logical conclusion. “Here, at least let me end it quickly.” She raised up her boot, hovering it over the tiny insect.

Matt embraced it, starred up at the hovering sole of his love with a smile on his face. If this was how he was to die he had no complaints. To be squished under Cassie’s shoe was far better than anything else a disgusting worm like him could ever hope for. She might not know it, but this was the greatest mercy she could possibly give to the tiny, naked, defeated man.  

Her foot came down, the hard part of her sole slamming into Matt’s form, pushing him deep into the icy snow beneath. He felt the cold surrounding him as snow came up to devour his body, felt his love’s sole pressing harder and harder into his body. His limbs snapped first, then his chest. Blood was pushed onto the snow, turning it a deep crimson as his life was quickly brought to an end under the unimaginable pressure.

In an instant it was over, the last living member of the escape party turned into a flattened corpse. But, at least he was with her still. Maybe not alive, maybe not even in one piece, but always as a tiny red speck on the underside of his sole.

With that, Matt could be happy at last.