Please stop, Adam thought, the strength to speak having been pummeled out of him by the girl’s boots, his moral smeared into the dirt stuck between her treads. He had been beaten today, had almost been crushed, had seen some of his friends squished under the absolute might of these demons, but this, being stomped on, being trampled, stuck to the very treads he used to look at and admire, was the worst.

Amy’s boot came down again, the hard tile floor doing nothing to lessen the jarring impact. And again, the girl walked, her gate slow and measured, he steps peppy and happy as she went into the meeting room.

She was one of the first people in, with Mrs. Brooks sitting already sitting at the table, fiddling with the projector. The room was small for a conference area, but it did the trick in a pinch. In the center of the room was a large, oval desk that took up the majority of the space. Around it had been placed desk chairs, mostly black, with the cushions long since worn out. On the opposite side of the room was a row of windows, letting in the daytime light.

Amy went to step inside when she realized something. She had gone to lunch earlier with Chloe and had walked through the park. Which always meant one thing. Hesitantly she looked behind her, a path of dirt confirming her suspicions. Yep, her treads were covered in mud.

But luckily there was a small mat at the door, placed specifically so no one would track dirt inside. Sometimes she really appreciated the thought her supervisors put into this office. They really made it feel welcoming.

With glee the girl stepped onto the mat, dragging her boots along the bristly surface.

Adam almost screamed when he saw a thick plane of sharp spikes coming up at him. Where was this? Where in a hospital was there a huge sheet of needles? He cringed, closing his eyes, bracing for the worst.

When Amy’s shoe came down the bristles dug into the underside of her boot, more than a few jabbing into Adam’s tiny body, the course fibers pressing him deeper into the muck. The tiny boy gagged, a direct result of one of the bristles jamming him in the chest, and tried to move them out of the way.

The fibers were all around him, some by his head, others by his legs and feet. If he had any chance of escaping the girl’s treads before, these damn needles took that all away.

But what are they? He nearly screamed the question to himself, eyes straining to make out the details of the fibers in the half-light under his coworker’s shoe. He wouldn’t find out, for before he could even focus his vision Amy started to drag her foot back.

The bristles around his body bent, their springy nature forcing them to compress as they were dragged under the thick sole, taking large chunks of mud with them. Adam was shaken, the sound of a thousand strong fibers snapping and bending echoing through the tiny chamber he was caught in, until finally Amy’s boot came up again.

Only to slam down on the carpet once more. The girl continued to clean her feet, wiping them on the thick mat, watching as more and more dirt came out from between her treads. She never understood how so much grime managed to wedge itself into her sole. But that was just one of the effects of going out to lunch.

Eventually a bristle found its way next to Adam, Amy’s step pushing it up next to him, then forcing it to dig into the dirt he was encased in. When she pulled her boot back, when the bristle was dragged under, it broke the mud patch holding the tiny boy. With a scream he came loose, falling into the dense field of course fibers below, rolling a bit as the side of the girl’s sole smacked into him.

Then one of the bristles caught him, and he was forced to stop, her sole rolling over his body, pressing him into the mat. But then, as soon as it happened, it was over. The sun came out again, and Adam was in the light. He was free.

The bug didn’t have long to appreciate his newfound life. As soon as Amy’s drag was completed she lifted up her boot, hovering it over her former captive. Adam looked up at the sight, at her mud stained sole, marveling both at its scale, and the implication of it hanging overhead. All around him tiny chunks of dirt plummeted to the ground, erupting on impact like tiny meteors. Most of them were bigger than he was.

And then her boot came down. The fibers all around him bent, taking most of her weight, but they didn’t save him completely. He was still pressed down, still squished into the hard ground. She dragged her foot backwards again, the mud and grime dislodging itself, falling all around the tiny bug below.

Again and again and again, the girl wiped her boot, until finally she was satisfied. When Amy took a step she left Adam behind, on the mat, half buried in her leftover dirt.

Adam groaned, the ordeal leaving him barely alive, the mud of Amy’s boot encasing him. But, for the moment, he was free. He was able to breath. He was able to see the light of day and not have to worry about being trampled by a being more powerful than he could ever imagine. He didn’t have to worry about one of his friends crushing him into a tiny blood stain.

Or so he would have liked to think.

“Hi guys,” Clair said, smiling to the three people already inside.

“Hello Clair, Bree,” Mrs. Brooks said, nodding to the two researchers she had invited.

Clair smiled back, taking a step into the office, her foot falling onto the entrance mat.

“No wait!” Adam screamed, watching as the giant’s shoe rose above him. She was wearing running shoes, almost completely black, save for the pink Nike check mark near the center of her sole.

As her foot started to come down only a single thought entered Adam’s ant-like mind. At least it isn’t dirty.

Clair walked forward, her shoe coming down, crushing into the cushy mat below, her full weight pressed down onto little Adam. The boy had managed to fit into the slight space between two of the squares that covered the majority of her sole, the thick rubber coming down on either side of him. The impact was tremendous, the sheer force behind it staggering. But the bristles of the mat, and his positioning, was enough to keep him alive.

When she stepped away she took a little of the mud Adam had been trapped in with her.

But the moment of relief truly was only a moment, for Bree’s shoe came to fill the roll. If Bree had known there was a bug where she was stepping she might have tried to avoid it. Perhaps, if she was in a good mood, and others were watching, she would swing her foot out of the way and let the pathetic creature carry on its miserable life. But that was only if she felt compassion towards the creature under her. And only if she actually knew it existed.

Bree’s sneaker came down, crushing Adam into the mat, the bristles barely keeping the pressure from crushing him completely. But this time it was different. The bristles were there to keep the pressure from crushing little Adam completely, but they did nothing to stop the disgusting, discolored glob of used gum from contorting around his frame.

“No, no, no!” Adam screamed, fighting against the sticky substance as it contorted around, knowing that he was already stuck. He didn’t want to be trapped on another girl’s sole. He didn’t want to be squished like this.

Why is this happening? Just make it stop!

Bree walked forward. As her foot lifted Adam tried to grab on the mat, his desperate fingers clawing at the bristles, his feeble attempts proving useless. Once again he was ripped into the air, stuck to a giant girl’s shoe.

Bree walked around the conference table, pulling out one of the chairs and sitting in the worn-out cushion. For a moment she wiggled around in it, trying to find some way to get comfortable. No use. Those chairs were simply too old, too worn out to be any type of pleasant.

She rolled her eyes, settling into a position she knew was going to make her back hurt after a couple minutes.

Geeze, she thought, even her inner monolog having an annoyed tone. Why is my life so terrible?