Adam watched as Mrs. Beth’s feet walked up to the table, her flat soles stomping down with authority, the carpet under her bending to her will. Though Adam had been surrounded by giants since he first shrunk, Mrs. Beth was different. Every other woman commanded a power over the bugs at their feet, but for them, the power only came from their size. Mrs. Beth knew she was a god, and she acted like it.

A feeling of powerlessness came over Adam. The rest of these girls hadn’t felt him, they hadn’t even noticed his little movements as he crawled about on the floor, or on their shoes, or over their skin. What chance did he have with a creature as strong as Mrs. Beth? But… maybe he was being foolish. She was strong and confidant, yes, but she was also one of the kindest, most intelligent people Adam had ever known. If anyone was going to realize the situation it would be her.

So, in that moment, Adam looked at her feet not as a giant death trap ready to crush him at any second. He saw her feet as a hope of being saved. These other giants might have toyed with him, crushed him, stomped on him, but not Mrs. Beth. With his mind made up, he ran towards the giantess’ feet.

Luckily, he had been kicked close enough to her side of the table that he reached her shoes before she moved away. They were magnificent structures, constructed of dark leather that had been worn and broken in, but well cared for enough that they still looked beautiful. They were low heels, with the back supported by a column of hard material that would show no remorse to any creature that found itself under it. The toe section was pointed, with her sole smooth and clean. Exactly what Adam needed.

He jumped when he reached her shoe sole, grabbing onto the side of it and digging his hands into the thick leather. With all his might, he pulled himself up, climbing as quickly as his diminutive muscles would allow.

When Mrs. Beth finally moved he had almost reached the top of her shoe. He pressed himself into her toes as she took her first step, knowing that this ride would be hell, but also knowing that he would lose any hope he had if he were to fall off now. His ride on Mrs. Brooks’ sneaker was still fresh in his mind.

She didn’t travel far, but it was still a tortuous experience for the tiny stowaway. His face was smashed into the giantess’ sole with every step, and his fingers ached from holding on so tightly. But this was his only option, the only thing he could do.

When she stopped, he was finally given a chance to breathe. They were out in the hallway then, with all the girls looking around at something on the floor. He wasn’t in the right state of mind to wonder what. He just needed to get up higher, and escape her pounding footsteps.

There was only one way to do that. Adam ran up Mrs. Beth’s shoe, the lip of it ending right after the toe section. When he reached it he looked down at the slight fall, only a fraction of an inch, her skin only a little drop away. He paused, a spark in the back of his mind firing, telling him that he shouldn’t. He, as a bug, as a pathetic, insignificant parasite, shouldn’t touch her skin. It wasn’t right. His place was at the bottom of her foot, not on top of it.

He grit his teeth and shook his head, banishing those thoughts away. This was no time to start believing he was a bug. Mrs. Beth wouldn’t see him like that. Mrs. Brooks wouldn’t see him like that. They would all understand and help him, he knew they would. They were good people, he just needed to be found.

He readied himself to jump onto the giant’s foot. But the moment before he could launch himself, Mrs. Beth took a step. Such a simple action, such an insignificant thing. But for Adam, it was life shattering. He wasn’t prepared, and the sudden shift made him lurch, falling onto the smooth material of her shoe and sliding down, until he was finally kicked off the edge.

A scream erupted from his lounges as he plummeted towards the ground. He hit the concrete hard, bouncing off the surface. When he finally stopped he was clutching his ribs, his belly feeling like it had just been ripped out.

There were voices around him. Big, hulking things that made his ears ring. Voices of the girls, he knew. They were all around him, standing over him, looming over him. Adam tried to push himself up, tried to stand so that he could see where he was and at least try to form a plan.

A shadow fell over him before he had the chance. With dread he looked up, seeing Chloe’s face high above, bathed in light from the fluorescents so far in the distance. The rays fogged around her perfect face, creating an effect that was almost like a halo. A golden goddess, a pristine angle, a merciful deity.

And then she moved her shoe over Adam’s head, and his view was replaced by the sight of her dirty treads. She was wearing the same sneakers that she wore most days. A pair of Nikes that had been on her feet ever since the first day he had met her. A white and black sole, with once thick treads that had been worn down after being ground into the dirt so many times, zig-zags and spirals making up the pattern. Adam had always thought they looked cute… but that was before he had looked at them from this perspective.

Her foot came down, Adam bracing himself for the impact. Suddenly he felt a great pressure upon him, but there was more. There was something wet hitting his back, something that gave way when she put weight on him, something that crushed into his body and expanded over it.

But more, there was a smell to it. Like grime, but more powerful and repugnant. When he opened his eyes all he could see was brown, with slight hints of yellow. What was this? What was all around him? But he didn’t have time to wonder as the girl leaned on him more, and the pressure doubled. Once again it felt like he was being crushed, like his ribs would pop and his organs would spill out onto the floor. And all because Chloe had taken a wrong step.

“Please,” he whimpered as the girl leaned even more on him, the gross substance flattening out and spreading into her treads, leaving his chest to take more of the pressure.

Then, without warning, Chloe moved. Her shoe lifted up from the ground, the thick object sticking to the tile, leaving tendrils of goop and slime as a bridge, before the distance caused it to break off. And Adam was in the air, stuck to the gross thing, stuck to the girl’s shoe, dragged as she walked forward.

But at least he knew what he had been trapped in. As the light flooded over him he was able to look around. It was a single spot on her sole that was different from the other mounds of mud. This one was thick, with parts that were still whole, that still had their green and yellow color, or their rounded, bulbous shapes. There were patches of slime, patches of organs… and all around him the goop that had exploded forth when Chloe’s foot came down.

Adam was trapped against her shoe, trapped by the sticky organs of whatever bug she had stepped on before.

He screamed as her foot crushed into him again.

Josh walked down the hallway outside of the row of offices. His life as a janitor wasn’t the most interesting thing in the world, but at least it kept him busy. Not even a full ten minutes after he found that disgusting thing on the floor and he had another incident to deal with.

As he walked to his destination he couldn’t help but thinking about that poor creature. And he couldn’t believe that it was an actual human. A person, just like him, turned into a bug and stepped on. The person that did it probably didn’t even realize.

It was enough to make a man shake. He closed his eyes and tried to think about something else, telling himself that it was just a fluke. A rare thing, that was already done with. The people in this hospital were smart, they knew what they were doing. There was no way they’d let that happen to more than one or two people.

He soon reached the woman’s bathroom, knocking first to make sure it was empty. When no answer came he went in, shutting the door behind him. “Janitor,” he announced, once again receiving only silence.

He was glad no one else was there. It always felt awkward when there was a woman in here and he had to work. It was his job though, so he couldn’t avoid it.

The boy went over to the third stall. The toilet wasn’t in great condition; It could definitely benefit from a good cleaning, especially around the edges where it connected to the wall. Maybe, one day, he would have time to take care of that. For now it just needed more toilet paper.

He reached into his bad and grabbed a roll, meaning to replace it quick and be done with it.

But something happened when he touched the roll. He didn’t feel right.