I walked out of my house, eager to see what Fulda had in store for me. When I opened the door, I was greeted by her gargantuan face stretching as far as I could see in any direction. Her olive skin literally glowed, emanating a small amount of light from every pore. All of her colors seemed more vibrant, from the bright pink of her lips to the flaming intensity of her auburn hair. Lightning leapt across her pupils, bridging the distance between her light blue irises. This was not the same Fulda I had created, but a much more powerful version of her.
Fulda had taken complete control of the universe. Though she may shy from the title, she was for all intents and purposes a goddess.
She stood up to her full height, beaming as she peered down at me on her desk. Aside from the slight glow, she looked the same; I had created her as my perfect woman, and I supposed she had the same idea of perfection. From her smug grin, I knew that she was fully aware of what she could do now. All of creation was her clay, and she could sculpt it with her mind however she saw fit.
“I’ll start with something simple,” Fulda boomed, and her voice echoed in my ears. Each word left a minor imprint on my psyche, lasting a brief moment before fading to make room for the next. She began to grow rapidly, and I figured she was simply shrinking me again until I realized I was looking up at her knees. I glanced around and saw that the desk and everything on it, aside from a few writing implements, was still the same size. When I looked back to her, I was faced with the white rubber wall of the toes of her Converse, and she was still increasing in size. When she finally stopped, I was looking up at a range of perfectly geometrical mountains lining the toe of her shoe while she towered for miles above.
A series of buildings appeared at the foot of her bed, and I instantly recognized them as her university’s campus. Fulda had made herself grow several miles tall when adding a single inch to her own height should have been impossible. Despite an entire college appearing at her feet, she kept her attention unerringly on me. I should have been beneath her notice at this size, more akin to a molecule than a person, but her gaze never strayed from me. More than that, I always felt like she was looking at me rather than in my general direction.
“How do you like that?” she exclaimed, her voice simply a series of thunderous booms that I understood because she decided I could. “Gamma Tau Sigma is officially the biggest sorority on campus!” In the distance I could see hundreds of tiny people walking among the buildings, going about their day as though nothing was wrong. Their whole lives were constrained to Fulda’s floor and it seemed perfectly routine to them. In their minds, she had always been the giantess looming over campus. “I’d bring the other Gammas in here, but I hardly think that’s necessary.”
Fulda waved her hands in front of her chest and everything returned to the way it had been before. She was still gigantic, of course, but she was no longer a world-shattering titan miles tall whose body heat could change weather patterns. I looked to the foot of her bed and the university was gone, no doubt distributed around us at its regular size. With a simple thought she had undone what she had done, playing with reality like it was her toy.
“But you’ve seen me change the sizes of things before, so that’s hardly unusual.” I realized that she did not quite realize the enormity of what she had done. Due to the logical reactions of someone becoming gigantic in a city, I had decided that no one could grow themselves to keep egomaniacs from drawing the military’s attention, but she had blown right past that. “I’ll change something a little less expected to show what I can do.”
She pointed over my head, and I turned to see my house shimmer and coalesce inward and upward. After a moment, the house took on a new shape. Fulda had turned it into a smaller version of herself, though I still barely came up past the new Fulda’s ankles. It was an exact scale replica of her, from the French braided auburn hair to her long, shapely legs, with the exact same outfit the larger one was wearing.
The smaller Fulda, though not able to impose her will on the world around her, still behaved exactly like her much larger counterpart. Her cold blue eyes turned downward, easily spotting me amid the white background of the larger Fulda’s tank top, and gave a big, toothy grin. “Well look at that!” she proclaimed, her voice only slightly distorted by our difference in size. Without the added bass and reverb from being a thousand times my size, it sounded a little deep, but with a strong softness to it. “My pet’s big enough for me to pet now!”
Small Fulda strode forward, her legs still covering so much ground I could not hope to outpace her even in peak condition. As she approached, I wondered if I even wanted to be caught by her. I was still small enough for her to crush in a single hand, and thanks to the gigantic feet I had given her, I would still fit beneath one of her shoes. Still, the only way out was jumping over the ledge and hoping the original Fulda’s thighs gave me enough cushion, and that would hardly improve my situation. They were the same, and if the newer Fulda wanted to smash me with her hand, the larger one could do it with the tip of one of her fingers.
Smaller Fulda walked forward until she stood over me, boxing me in with her enormous Converse. For once they did not block my peripheral vision, and though I could jump over them like hurdles I elected not to engage in such a vain gesture. Even at a reduced size she was still majestic, and she set her hands on her hips and pushed out her chin to make herself as imposing as possible. Though she was a fraction of the original’s size, she had the same poise and presence, and I hardly felt a difference between them looking up at her.
The newer Fulda leaned down and extended an arm toward me, and I decided to put up some token resistance. I ran toward her right shoe, but before I could bound over it her hand set down in front of me, blocking my view with her huge palm. In an instant her fingers snapped shut around me, clenching my body tightly from my shoulders to my feet. Fulda stood, lifting me off the ground as though I weighed nothing and making my head swim from the sudden shock of movement. When it stopped around her waist, she quickly lifted me toward her face, subjecting me to another whirlwind of movement and g-forces.
Her fist was tight around me, leaving naught but my head exposed, and I could not even make myself struggle against her fingers. The warmth of her grip was offset by the chill of her gaze, and for once I was met by a face only slightly larger than I was. She brought her free hand up and extended a finger, then set it atop my head. To my surprise, she did not painfully shove my head down into her fist. Instead, she slowly moved it back along my scalp, grinning softly as she looked at me.
The smaller Fulda gently stroked me repeatedly, cooing softly as her finger ran as far as it could down my back. “You know,” she offered while she petted me, tilting her head slightly to the side, “I kind of have a thing for shorter guys. Like, really shorter guys. Like, able to fit in my hand shorter guys. I mean, sure, I can control you with a finger, but I also think you’re so damn cute! Think you could offer some insight into that, man currently in my hand?” Her grip was tighter than ever, and her relentless petting made it difficult to think of a reply.
Before I could offer one, however, the smaller Fulda disappeared, and I was back in the palm of the one who had made her. The ambient glow from her skin engulfed me, making it difficult to focus as I looked up toward her gigantic face several hundred feet above me. “I think that’s an ample demonstration of that power,” she declared, subjecting me to the booming rumble of her voice once more. “But none of that is what I really want to show you.”
Fulda stood, and I tumbled to fall face-first onto the smooth flesh of her palm. She noticed my predicament, and brought her other hand up to hover above me, then extended a thumb and forefinger to rest on either side of me. Carefully she plucked me out of her palm, then held me aloft so I could see where she was walking. Even with her enduring glow, I was able to spot the small door of white light that appeared in the floor. It was the same time Fulda had used to travel into my universe, and she was walking right toward it.
“I recognize you’re not dumb, just powerless, so I’ll explain a few things to you,” Fulda explained, her booming words reverberating in my ears. “First, since I’m in control now, you’re not immortal, so if you get crushed or eaten, it’s for keeps. Second, I can mess with stuff you’ve already written and published. Not like I’m editing it, of course, I don’t have time for that. More like I can create a new version of the story, or at least let someone relive it. I’ve decided that you should get to live through your own stories.” I looked at her in shock, unable to find words for how perverse I found this.
“Of course, I won’t be writing this story, so you’ll be on your own,” Fulda continued. “All the other characters will be on their own too, working on whatever direction you gave them. How’s that sound, my weak, deposed god-pet?” With a self-satisfied smile, she stopped, standing astride the small glowing gateway in the floor. “I hope it doesn’t sound too bad, because you’ll be living through it. Or dying in it, if that’s what happens. In a couple days, I’ll ask my high school friends if they remember smashing a tiny man senior year.”
As far as she was concerned, she was effectively sending me back in time, but she had come to see my past stories how I saw them, too. I was going back to the very beginning, when Fulda was first introduced in a stand-alone story, and I did not like my odds. “Can’t I just stay here with you?” I asked, not wanting to be subjected to the life I had consigned several fictional characters to. “I’d like that a lot more than living through The Prom Incident!”
Fulda suppressed a laugh, spraying spit over her knuckles, and began kneeling. “Oh, you’re not just going through that story,” she began. “It’ll share some space with it, but you’ve defined the time before that well enough that I could get a grip. I’m still single, you know, so you might end up as my boyfriend. Or Alyssa’s, or Anni’s, or Vicky’s.” I gulped, remembering what I had happen to Alyssa’s boyfriend while Fulda lowered me toward the doorway. “Or I’ll smash you like the hundreds of tiny people I had by this time. I guess it depends on how you wrote us, doesn’t it?”
My feet dangled above the portal and I could scarcely believe what I was hearing. “But wouldn’t you rather keep me here as a pet and have fun with me?” I shouted as a last-ditch attempt to stop her.
Fulda chuckled, and the low rumble of her voice let me know in my core I had failed. “Haven’t you heard? I’m a goddess now, and the whole world is my pet. On the off chance you get back to me, maybe I’ll have learned to control my glow by then.” She smiled, lowering me into the portal. Nothing I could say would have any effect on her.
Fulda grinned as she slowly dipped me into my own story, knowing that I would not have the same protections the original protagonist had. There was no way out of this; I was going to become my own character, subject to the will and mercy of my other characters. My eyes dipped into the light barrier, and the last thing I saw from this world was Fulda’s gargantuan face smiling, her blue eyes remaining like ghosts. Her fingers let go, dropping me into the abyss, and I screamed as I fell into my world.
I landed on hard tile as though I had been placed there. It was imperative I figure out where and when I was so I could properly prepare myself for what was to come. I looked ahead and saw a narrow blue door integrated into the metal wall around it, a combination lock by the handle. Somehow, I knew how to open the lock. Still, a single locker would not provide me with all the information I needed to get by in this timeline.
Bits of new knowledge began popping into my brain. I was a senior in high school and this was my locker, though logically it should have been one of many in a row. For the past several years I had been homeschooled, though with my recent independence I had fought to go back to a normal school. For whatever reason, I had met a lot of resistance, but they eventually acceded. Beyond what was immediately applicable to my situation, everything was hazy. It was clear I was still me, though I had foreign memories forced onto me to fit with the story. However, I did not remember any such character from the story, and I hoped more would become clear in the future.
I looked to my sides and found nothing, but from the dark shadow around me I knew that could not be right. Looking a bit further back, I spotted the ratty toe of a dirty Converse, the white sock showing through a crack where canvas met rubber. A quick glance to the other side revealed the same thing, just a little further up and less damaged, though with more dirt on the toe and caked along the white wall running above her sole. Glancing upward, I saw a vast expanse of milky-white skin over me, a bit of camouflage visible behind the pale calf spread wide. I was still tiny, and someone was crouching over me!
While I struggled to process my predicament, the alabaster ceiling above me started to fall. There was no time to think, only to react. I ran away, toward her heels as fast as I could go, while the brown-stained heel of her Converse lifted up. I felt it closing in and dove forward, throwing myself into the movement, and launched myself into the air. The dull thud from her knee hitting the ground filled the air, but I was fortunately immune to any seismic waves it may have caused. Upon landing I slid over the smooth tile some insignificant distance, still leaving me well beneath the colossal person. I realized I had just avoided getting crushed by someone’s knee, while they were completely unaware I had even been there.
Once I recovered, I evaluated my situation again. Her knee was right where I had been standing, and where I would be had I chosen to open my locker. She would not have even remembered smashing me, I figured. I could be squished just as easily as before, only now there were no take backs.
I would not be crushed anonymously. I ran forward from her shoe, guiding around her knee, and emerged beside the tarnished toe of her gargantuan shoe. I was still in her shadow, but I could see her looming over me. More importantly, I was out from underneath any part of her body that could suddenly crush me. Looking past her red shirt, I saw her gray eyes far above, focused on the locker in front of her, and the bangs of her straw-colored hair pushed back behind her ears.
Realizing who was above me, I hesitated. Alyssa ate her tiny boyfriend, after all, and I could hardly expect to receive any better. However, I could hardly be picky with the help I got, and aside from that one interaction she had been nothing but pleasant towards tiny people. The only question was which behavior this character given life would draw upon. I decided to try my luck with her.
I began jumping up and down, waving my arms overhead in hopes of grabbing her attention. “Hey, Alyssa!” I shouted to augment my jumping. “Down here! On the floor!” She showed no sign of noticing me. Her eyes remained forward on her locker, and as I cried out for her help I noticed two long cords running from her ears into her pocket. There was no way she could hear me over her music, and she would barely see me even if she looked down. No matter what, I would not be able to get Alyssa’s attention.
She slammed the locker shut with a loud clang, causing me to recoil from the sudden explosion of sound. She gathered her things – books a hundred times my size – in one hand, and stood to leave. I made one last desperate attempt to grab her attention, but I doubted my chances of success from half the height of her toes. Her left foot stepped away from me, and when her right sole filled my vision with its worn brown sole – almost orange, in my view, with most of the tread worn smooth – I knew she was merely callously stepping over me.
“Alyssa!” came a familiar voice, and the shoe above me stopped. I scrambled toward the heel, and just managed to clear it before it set back down with a thud. A horrific shockwave ran through me, knocking me onto my face while the rest of my body struggled to recover from the impact. I forced myself to turn over and was met by the faded, gargantuan ALL-STAR on her heel while the conversation between giantesses proceeded above. “Have you considered trying out for the volleyball team this year? Someone short like you could really clean up as our center.”
“First of all,” Alyssa began, “I’m taller than average, so jot that down. “Second of all, I wouldn’t get involved with your jock bullshit if you held a gun to my head.” Their voices themselves were something I had to fight against, and I gripped the crease of a locker to keep from getting thrown backward.
“Well, you can’t fault me for asking. Still coming over on Friday?”
“Yeah, of course!” Alyssa answered. “I mean, who else has mysteriously absent parents and a fully stocked liquor cabinet?”
“Find me after seven drinks and it won’t be such a mystery anymore,” the mysterious voice said, patting Alyssa on the shoulder. The dingy Converse stepped away from me, and I was left exposed. Her conversation partner remained, however, and took a big step toward me. All I could see before she was on top of me was a pair of long, tanned columns below a dark blue jacket.
Her shoe slapped against the tile with a loud crack, making the floor tremble beneath her feet. I struggled to remain upright, dancing back and forth as the ground shifted. Just when it settled another wave hit me, the result of her other gargantuan foot setting down beside me. The second wave hit with the same intensity of the first, driving me down to one knee while it passed. When the tremors from her ginormous feet stopped, I forced myself back up to evaluate my new surroundings.
The gigantic Chucks were pristine, practically fresh from the store, with shining white rubber and strongly defined black bands, in stark contrast with Alyssa’s grubby shoes. I looked up from them, and saw a shapely pair of olive-skinned legs, the powerful thighs giving way to the thick quads far above me. Tiny black shorts made a small indentation in her thighs before the dark blue of her varsity jacket took over. Continuing upward, I caught the bright yellow leather sleeves imitating gold, and a shock of auburn hair pulled behind her head. Cold blue eyes focused forward, not wavering from her locker.
There was no longer any doubt about it: Fulda had delivered me unto her own feet.