There was a knock on the office door, startling Xavier from his paperwork. After quickly checking the time, he realized that his appointment with his client was nigh.

   "Come in," Xavier replied in a calm, yet clearly audible tone. While simultaneously pressing the button underneath his desk to grant entry.

   The door was made of an opaque, black glass with no handle. The way it opened was rather bizarre, indeed. It did not swing open, nor did it slide downwards like a car-door window from the old days. It simply... minimized. That is to say, the entire thing shrank, evenly, hovering in midair and getting smaller until it was completely gone.

   Once the door had disappeared, a woman who appeared to be in her late fifties walked into the office.

   "I don't think I'll ever get used to that," the woman huffed, "it's crazy how fast technology changes."

   Xavier merely chuckled in reply, gesturing to the seat in front of his desk. Technophobic old people never changed. The woman took her seat, and began to look mildly uncomfortable. What she was about to go through with made the strange door look like an invention as old as the wheel.

   "So... Ms. Sydney Simmons, was it?" Xavier questioned.

   "Yes sir," Sydney replied.

   "Alrighty. Well, we reviewed your application, and it's looking like you'll be approved as early as today," Xavier said.

   Sydney breathed a sigh of relief. The Re-do program was highly popular, and expensive. It was a miracle something like this even existed, surely proving just how fast technology can exponentially grow.

   The advertisements and commercials made it seem to be a dream come true. The Re-do program gave older folks a second chance at their life's mistakes, by sending their memories (and, to a lesser extent, their consciousness,) back in time to a moment of their choosing.

   "...Thank you so much," Sydney replied, almost in a whisper.

   Xavier smiled again. This business model was extraordinarily lucrative. Many people have their regrets, and some will pay quite the hefty sum to correct them.

   "Don't thank me, Ms. Simmons, thank science for allowing this to even exist. I can't imagine how many people died in the past with grief in their hearts from their mistakes," Xavier answered.

   "But we need to get some things cleared up, just to make sure you really understand what this entails," Xavier stated.

   Sydney nodded, trying not to tear up.

   "First, and I'm just making sure you know this, but you do know you'll technically be brain dead in this timeline after this, right?" Xavier questioned.

   "...Yes," Sydney replied. It was a very frightening thought, honestly.

   From what she'd learned, they were going to send her current knowledge and subconsciousness back in time to her former self. She would then be able to relive her life, although it would technically be her younger self in charge with a sudden burst of future foresight. The older Ms. Simmons wouldn't be able to speak or take any actions of her own, but she would experience it all again through the body of her younger self. This prevented the subjects from developing two personalities in the past, their young and older self. So really, her memories and feelings were the only thing she had to steer her younger self in a better direction. It was all very complicated, and paradoxes aside, it really worked. Was it worth it? No one knew. Their minds would enter the past, and their influence would change the world's timeline slightly, branching off on its own.

   Re-do was a legal suicide, the past would be their afterlife.

   Xavier checked something off his list on one of the papers on his desk.

   "Would you like your body in this timeline buried or cremated?" Xavier asked, as if nothing in the world was strange about it.

   "Cremated," Sydney answered.

   Another checkmark on the paper.

   "Have you made peace with your relatives about this?" Xavier continued.

   "The few ones that matter, anyways," Syndey replied.

   Checkmark.

   "Okay, now it's time for the hard part, Ms. Simmons," Xavier began, "as you can probably imagine, this is a golden opportunity for law enforcement to finally close long-open cases of crimes committed in the past. As it stands, I'm obligated to ask you if you're doing this because of the guilt of some serious crime."

   At first, Sydney didn't reply. She seemed very hesitant.

   "The murder of... Vince Bradford," Sydney managed to squeak out.

   Xavier's mouth dropped, unprofessionally.

   "You mean the one-inch tall boy who disappeared in 2018? That was all over the news for years as an unsolvable crime! He was born tiny, and never grew past the size of an adult's thumb. Due to the nature of his stature, searching for his corpse would have been a madman's task," Xavier spoke in shock.

   Sydeny stayed silent, and put her face in her hands. This was Re-do's other job. Solving crimes from guilty old people who wanted to make things right.

   "Ms. Simmons... in order to progress, I need your testimony to hand over to the police so they can close the case, or at least get a new lead. What exactly happened?

   ***

   It was a warm summer day. School had just let out, and after finishing my business in the bathroom, I washed my hands. I glanced at the mirror on the wall before leaving to check my appearance to make sure it's acceptable, just like many girls often do. I smirk at my dark brown hair, and its natural luster. It was still done up in a bun so it wouldn't get in my vision during classwork. And, of course, I admired my eyes briefly, too. I always thought they were one of my more attractive facial features-- a deep cerulean blue. But, being a typical girl, I still had my own self-consciousness issues.

  First, I thought I was too pale. I was white like a bar of Ivory soap. My body was decent enough, though if I had to come up with some complaints, it was that I was rather petite. I always thought boys wouldn't like a girl who didn't carry a full figure. My breasts were the very definition of B-cup, and my butt... well, it could use some shaping up, but it wasn't bad, I guess. Occasionally both guys and girls would tease me for some of these things, but I did my best to ignore it. Surely there's worse traits I could have had.

   I hadn't been at this school for far too long, yet, as this was my third day. I had made some friends rather quickly, and they were pretty freaking popular. I thought I was doing the right thing by hanging out with them-- surely a guy would hook up with me, I mean, I was seventeen and I had never even dated yet. That's the way my mind was operating.

   "Be cool," I told myself in the mirror.

   I heard some giggling outside the bathroom window, so I peeked out to see what was going on, but couldn't make it out quite clearly. My three friends were there, was all I was able to make out. So, I decided to go have a look for myself on what exactly they were up to.

   It wasn't a very long trip. Maybe half a minute, and I was already outside. Desirea was the first to notice me. She was the de facto leader of the bunch, from what I could tell. Kayla and Ophelia waved and smiled, their cheeks still red from laughter.

   "Hey! Syd! Get over here! You haven't seen the pipsqueak yet, have you? We finally caught him all alone," Desirea called to me.

   My curiosity was piqued, so I headed over.

   "Fuck this. Fuck all of this. My life, my height, me... Everything!" I yelled as Desirea twisted my arm. I would have said anything to make her quit. The woman was a damned demon.

   "What? I couldn't hear you from down there, Pipsqueak," Desirea taunted as she tortured Vince in her hands.

   I was trying to go home the most covert way I knew how to, but it had seemed my luck ran out. These three bitches always made my life at school a living Hell, and no one ever stepped in to help me. Every time I'd tell on them, or hope a faculty member would notice them in the act, nothing would end up being done. Sometimes I felt like I wasn't even considered human. Desirea was the main issue, the others just normally followed their leader's commands. And, recently, I heard they'd gotten the new girl involved with their clique. I just hope she realizes her mistake before they corrupt her.

   I yelled in agony as Desirea twisted my arm, though she finally stopped after something else caught her attention. And while this shit hurt, it certainly wasn't the worst thing she'd ever done to me. There was also that one time at lunch where she dropped my in her mouth and drank a carton of milk, while I struggled not to drown or get pulled into her throat. Or that other time where she threw me in the girl's toilet in the bathroom, and had Kayla take a goddamned shit on top of me since she randomly needed to use the restroom. I was knocked out by one of the blonde bimbo's turds since they came out in hard nuggets. She probably needs to drink more fucking water. They obviously rescued me while I was unconscious, but that doesn't mean they're good people. Not by a long shot.

   "Hey! Syd! Get over here! You haven't seen the pipsqueak yet, have you?" Desirea called out to someone who was likely a short ways off. Syd? Oh. Sydney. I haven't gotten a good look at her yet, I'd only heard rumors here and there that she was their newest member.

   Desirea held me up like some type of animal, and Sydney's jaw dropped. Mine did, too. Since she was really freaking cute.

   I couldn't believe my eyes. I mean, I had heard the rumors of a tiny boy at the school, but up until now, I'd not seen him yet. He was a grade below me, and we didn't share any classes together.

   "T-that's the boy I've heard about, isn't it?" I asked. Vince Bradford was his name, or so I'd heard around school. I was skeptical that it was all some sort of running joke, but no. There he is. And... he looks like he's in pain?

   "Yep! See for yourself!" Desirea said.

   What happened next shocked me, honestly. Desirea tossed him to me like a ragdoll. At the same time, he screamed in terror as I also yelped in surprise. I can't believe she'd do that!

   Luckily, I caught him.

   "What the Hell, Des?" I shot a quick glare at her, but she didn't seem to care. I turned my attention back to the boy in my hands.

   He looked... terrified of me.

   There was a short silence as I stared at him, and him back at me. This was still hard to take in. Tiny people shouldn't exist according to science, and yet, here he was. Even worse, he seemed to be a victim of bullying, at the hands of my own friends, no less. Honestly, I was a bit conflicted on the inside about it.

   Ophelia whispered in Desirea's ear.

   "Ophey! You always have the best pranks," Desirea suddenly announced, breaking my trance.

   "Prank?" I asked.

   "Yep! We've figured out your official ceremony to really be one of us, Syd," Desirea replied.

   I mean, I thought I was one of them already. But, whatever.

   "And... that would be...?" I replied, not liking where this was going.

   "Have you ever heard of the goldfish trick?" Desirea questioned me. Vince must have known something I didn't, because he started to throw a fit in my palms.

   "No! N-not that!" Vince screamed, fidgeting violently. I didn't want to drop him, so I just kind of tightened my grip on him a bit. To secure him. I hope it wasn't rude, or that it didn't hurt. I looked down at him, and he was already crying.

   "W-what are you, um... getting at, Des?" I stammered. I didn't like this, and I didn't like how Vince was reacting. But I was stupid at that point in time. I became a victim of peer pressure.

   I tried to escape Sydney's hands, but she quickly secured me, despite my best struggles. I knew what the fucking goldfish trick was. It's when someone swallows a fish, and gags it back up, usually only because someone dares them to with some cash as a reward.

   "Sydney, we want you to swallow Vince," Kayla chimed in. It wouldn't have surprised me if she hadn't done something like that in the past, on some sort of dare.

   My captor reeled back in shock at those words, giving me a sense of relief. Maybe she had a decent head on her shoulders.

   "B-but he'd die in my stomach!" Sydney countered, obviously against this. "How is that even a prank!?"

   "Because you'll gag yourself until you throw him up. If it helps, I've got a bottle of water in my backpack," Desirea added.

   Sydney looked at me, with worry.

   Surely. Surely to God she wasn't considering it?

   I looked down at Vince in my hand. It was a very cruel prank... but, I mean... he would be fine if I got him out quickly enough, right? Or, at least, that was my reasoning at the time. I desperately wanted to impress these girls. I wouldn't jump off a cliff for them, and I sure as heck didn't want to kill anyone. But this, in theory was something I could likely do. I would just have to make it up to Vince in private later.

   And, then, going against everything in my mind and body that told me not to do it, I said the word that I wish I hadn't.

   "Okay," I replied, not being able to bear the shame I would feel from looking at the bullied boy in my hands, who, at this point, was struggling for all he was worth.

   The girls looked stunned, as if they didn't expect me to agree. But soon, Desirea had a huge smile erupt across her face.

   "See! I told you she's crazy enough to hang with us!" Desirea rejoiced, "Go ahead, we're watching!"

   I hesitated.

   "He'll be fine if you throw him up, Syd," Ophelia encouraged.

   Vince was yelling at me to spare his life, but I did my best to tune him out, against my natural instincts. He didn't seem to think this would work. And, even if it did... I couldn't blame him for not wanting to go through with it in the first place. A dark thought overtook me. I was glad I wasn't him. I was glad I wasn't tiny.

   "I... I'm sorry, Vince," I finally stated, so lowly, I'm not even sure if he heard me.

   I was screaming at her. Anything to get through to her. This was a terrible idea.

   "Sydney! Don't do this! They're just using you for their own entertainment! I will die if you can't get me back out!" I yelled.

   But, her words chilled me to the core, and grasped my heart with the icy terror of my own mortality at what was about to happen.

   "I... I'm sorry, Vince," Sydney whispered to me.

   She didn't even look at me after that. I felt my world move, as I was being lifted into the air even higher.

   "Hooooly shit," Kayla cooed from behind me in the near-distance.

   I shut my eyes, sweat was pouring down my face now.

   But I wasn't strong enough. A whole two seconds later, I reopened my eyes, only to see that Sydney had me positioned a short distance away, hanging above her now gaping maw, complete with a single strand of saliva that quickly severed itself. Below that, I saw her tongue, her clean teeth, her uvula hanging down in the distance. All in all, it was the prime example of a healthy female mouth. But, I'm not a fucking dentist. And I wasn't here to clean her teeth. I was about to be dehumanized. Swallowed by one of the prettiest girls I'd ever seen, only so she can impress her friends that probably don't even care about her as much as she thinks they do. I thought she would be more reasonable than to agree to this... this... stupid shit.

   Somehow, I managed to not scream as she lowered me inside. Ha. Bonus points for being cool in the face of death, huh? But I don't think she would even notice, she's fucking about to eat me for crying out loud. Why would I think I can impress her at a time like this? Why the hell am I even considering that? Fuck this girl! Keeping my cool didn't last long. She left me lying on her tongue, facing forward to the dark cavern of her throat which instantly imprinted itself as a scarring memory in my mind. I snapped my head around just in time to watch her lips shut, closing out all of the light from the outside world, possibly the last time I'd ever see daylight.

   I was paralyzed. This was worse than the time with the milk. At least that time, Desirea was kind of holding back to give me a fighting chance. This new girl's prime directive was explicitly to swallow me whole.

   With the air flow from outside her mouth gone, things got hot and stuffy real quick. I was wondering why she had so much saliva accumulating in her mouth, until a dark thought hit me.

   She was soaking me, to make me easier to swallow.

   I was past the point of screaming. I just laid there, and cried onto her tongue as she had her way with me.

   Words can't describe how I felt at that moment. I didn't feel good. I didn't feel powerful. I felt pity. I felt hesitation. I could feel the poor guy trembling on my tongue, for Pete's sake. And it was all my fault.

   I kept telling myself I'd get him out. I hadn't eaten in awhile, so my stomach might not be full of acid right just now. And Desirea said she had water, which I was counting on to help me get him back out.

   I hated to do it, but I rolled him around in my mouth, trying to lube him up with my spit. I wanted this to go as smoothly as possible. I wanted to be done with this. Part of me wished I wasn't even doing this at all. I could blame peer pressure, sure. But is that really all it takes for me to do something this horrible to a tiny stranger? From what I could tell earlier, he was even a bit cute, too. Which made me regret it all even more.

   He resisted, half-heartedly from what I could discern. But I carefully centered him near the back of my tongue. I raised my head slightly, making eye contact with the girls, who looked more eager than I'd ever seen them.

   And swallowed.

   ***

   Xavier stood there, scribbling down everything on his notepad as hastily as he could.

   "That's... um," Xavier tried to speak, but found himself at a loss for words. Sydney didn't look at him.

   "Is... there anything else I need to answer?" Sydney asked.

   "Um..." Xavier checked his list, and sighed, "Nope. That's about it. Your payment will be drafted, and your family notified of the cremation. Please, follow me."

   And with that, the two headed down the hallway to the last room. The door was located directly in the center.

   Xavier stopped before opening it.

   "Ms. Simmons, there's something else I forgot to ask you before you enter the machine," Xavier piped up.

   "Y-yes...?" Sydney replied, curiously.

   "Why didn't the water work?" Xavier finally asked.

   "... There wasn't any," Sydney replied, dejectedly. "Desirea lied to me."

   ***

   "You... you actually fucking did it!"

   "No... WAY! Oh, my God!"

   "... Nice!"

   The girls were bragging and throwing a celebration, but I wasn't in the mood to join in. I thought it was in bad taste, making fun of the poor boy I'd just one-sidedly ingested like that. Honestly, I didn't know why they hated him so much. I was going to be his friend as soon as I was able to retrieve him.

   "W...Water, please!" I stammered in a panic. I was overcome with regret. I felt horrible. I felt like shit.

   Desirea stopped laughing, and soon enough, the girls did too.

   "I.. um, don't actually.. have--" Desirea began, before I sprinted away.

   That... fucking whore.

   But there was a problem. I didn't know the layout of the school too well. Where were all the water fountains supposed to be, anyways?

   I'd reached the entrance of the school building again, but it was already locked up. We'd been out here a little longer than I thought, I suppose. I wanted to go to the bathroom and drink water from the faucet, but my hopes were dashed when I felt the door stand firm. Why'd they close the school already? Shouldn't there be extra curricular activities? Teachers grading stuff?

   I didn't have time to find out. I tried dry-heaving.

   ***

   "...And?" Xavier asked, enthralled.

   Sydney looked down. And shrugged.

   "I... couldn't. It was hard to gag, like my gag reflex was turned off. And the few times it worked... nothing happened. I kept at it for awhile, crying almost the whole time. I did it until my throat hurt. He wasn't coming out. I just kind of gave up after an hour. I wasn't thinking straight. I didn't ask for help, like a dumbass," Sydney replied.

   "And your... erm, friends?" Xavier pushed further.

   "They didn't care! They... kept referring to him as a bug, saying stupid stuff like how it was just natural selection. So I bitched at them, and that was that. All that trouble to impress them, and it was all for nothing. They also bullied me until I graduated and then I never saw them again. Of course, people asked around about Vince... but I was too scared to come out about it," Sydney whimpered.

   "...Until now, that is," Xavier concluded.

   Syndey nodded, then they entered the next room.

   Xavier sighed as he input the calculations on the machine.

   "Alright. I think we've got it down to the time near where all of this happened, Ms. Simmons," Xavier announced as Sydney entered the machine.

   As the door sealed her inside, Xavier spoke up one last time on the intercom.

   "Ms. Simmons? I'm glad you're going back to make all of this right again. Really. I am. But seeing as these are the last words you're going to hear in this timeline, I want to remind you of something. Even if you do end up sparing Vince this go around, don't forget: right here, right now, as I'm speaking to you. That boy is dead in this world line, and here you are, practically killing yourself to get rid of your guilt. But still..." Xavier said as he started the machine.

"I hope you find the peace you're searching for."