Downsizing by MXP

Harper & Ava

===

Harper did a lot of growing up in less than six months. While she should’ve been in 9th grade, she was instead taking care of her sister, five years her junior. They were orphans following their downsizing incident and were currently living with their late mother’s brother. He was a human, and their guardian. He was awful to them. Ignoring them or yelling at them for something out of their control.

“Why’d you take off your shoes?”

His scream from two days ago still echoed in Harper’s skull. She gripped her little sister tightly as they hid under a pile of empty beer cans. Tristen was a slob, and he made zero effort in accommodating his tiny nieces. He hardly kept track of them, fed them by dumping his scraps into dog bowls, and wouldn’t bother creating a bathroom for them.

“Just shit in the corner.”

Harper rested her chin on top of her little sister’s head while she cradled her. Soon, Harper would need to venture out and look for food. If there was nothing in the dog bowl, she’d have to check the kitchen or living room for fallen scraps. She wasn’t worried about not finding any. Tristen ate with his mouth open, after all, so there were bound to be bits of food lying around.

Tristen and his nieces hadn’t spoken directly in over a day. After he yelled at Harper’s younger sister for losing her shoe, he went on this one-hour drunken rant about how he wasn’t made of money.

“Disrespectful brats,” he said with slurred words, “I ain’t gunna buy you clothes.”

He wasted his days watching TV, drinking, and eating. It didn’t seem like he had a job, other than sitting on the couch.

-

Harper and her sister woke up with a jolt. They felt the mountain of beer cans collapse around them. They whimpered as they embraced each other tightly.

“Gotcha.”

Harper thought her heart was going to explode out of her chest. She feared her sister’s life first, and then her own. Before them was a monstrously large woman. She seemed more massive than Tristen somehow, except she didn’t have a beer belly.

“My name is Sofia. Are you Harper and Ava?”

Harper felt her tiny muscles lock in place, her lungs forgetting how to breathe.

“I’m with the Downsizer Protection Services. I learned about you and your sister and came by to do a wellness check. How are you doing here?”

Harper looked away, despite Sofia’s heavy gaze. The giantess didn’t seem impatient, nor pushy. She sat down cross-legged, dirtying her pristine trousers on Tristen’s filthy floor. She was wearing high-heeled stilettos that had an opening at the front, her big and second toe peeking through.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sofia asked in the most gentle, motherly tone she could muster.

The girls, no bigger than an inch and a half, remained silent and unmoving.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to talk. We can just hang out.” Sofia tilted her head. Her brown hair was in a high ponytail, and some of it brushed over her shoulder. “Want to see my badge? It’s like a policeman’s badge.” Sofia pulled out her golden DPS badge, that was affixed to a black leather billfold. The badge was taller and heavier than the girls. Sofia set it beside them so they could look at it, but the girls didn’t move.

This will take a minute.

-

(Days Earlier)

“I think you’re a dreadful human.” Evie said.

After delivering a one-inch Melissa to Tricia, Evie invited Sofia to lunch. They ate a roadside diner. Evie ordered a salad, while Sofia simply drank black coffee.

Sofia sighed. “Why is that?”

“Let’s just say I don’t think you should be legally allowed to own a microwave.”

Sofia suspected Evie knew everything. Sofia was no fool. She knew how close Miguel had gotten to Liam and Evie. It was only a matter of time before he blabbed everything to them. Crybaby.

“I would never kill Miguel,” Sofia said flatly. “He cheated on me, and I was angry. He’s lucky that’s all I did to him.”

“So, your first reaction was to threaten his life and traumatize him for life?”

Sofia breathed heavily out through her nose. She drank her coffee and gripped the hot mug tightly. “Well, if it was possible, I wish I could shrink. That way, I could go inside a microwave and prove he’s overreacting. If that would put this shit to rest, I would do it. I believe in an eye for an eye. I get it.”

Evie snickered to herself as she took a sensible bite of her salad. She chewed and then shoved the food into the pouch of her cheek. “Well, finish the quote.”

“Huh?”

“An eye for an eye. Finish the verse.” Evie pointed with her fork to punctuate her last point. She continued chewing her leafy salad.

“I don’t know the rest,” Sofia said, embarrassed to admit it.

“Everyone remembers the eye for eye part. But the rest of the passage also says if someone slaps you in the face, instead of hitting back, turn your other cheek. If someone's taking you to court for your shirt? Give them your coat too. Even if someone forces you to walk a mile with them, go ahead and walk two. The eye for an eye saying is actually about breaking that cycle of revenge. Being the bigger person, if you will …”

Sofia said nothing, but took the moment to digest the parable.

“I wish you could downsize like everyone else,” Evie said. “I wish I could hold you in my hand and throw you in a microwave and push the buttons while you beg me to stop. But would I really do that in real life?” Evie shook her head and then drank a couple of sips of her water. “Nah, I wouldn’t. Because what good would throwing you in a microwave do?”

“I don’t know.”

Evie set her fork down and pushed her salad away. “It wouldn’t be worth it. Because if you were downsized—if that was possible—then you wouldn’t have been around to bring justice to that unregistered downsizer. Because no DPS agent would’ve been foolish enough to risk their careers for a no-name downsizer.”

Sofia drank her coffee. She disliked talking to Evie and even being in her presence. Her life crumbled the second Evie showed up.

“I have some assignments for you, Sofia. Nobody wants them, because they’re not sexy crimes or big-time busts. But I think you’re the right person for them.”

-

Downsizing wasn’t a perfect process. Humans making the leap in downsizing, signed waivers, releasing the company from any liability, should there be any mishap, such as death. The risk of dying or suffering any abnormalities was low. But that risk was always there each time the downsizing machine churned its motors.

On the day Harper and her family downsized, there was an accident with the machines because the engineers calibrating the male and female downsize machines were careless with their calculations. The process had devastating effects on the people downsizing that day. Half of the patients suffered massive strokes and were dead before the nurses could come collect them. The only silver lining from the accident was that younger patients survived the downsizing process.

The nurses ushered the newly downsized Harper and Ava to the clinic, not telling them their mother and father had died. In short order, their emergency contact, Tristen, came and collected them—along with his sister’s family’s liquidated assets. He took all their money and gave nothing to the girls. So greedy was Tristen, he forged documents, wiping the existence of the girls from the government databases, effectively making them unregistered, and not inheritors to their family’s meager wealth.

Tristen blew through their money on himself, buying cars, new electronics, alcohol, and drugs. In no time, Tristen was back to being poor, but richer in non-essential goods.

-

Through Evie, Sofia learned about the malfunction that fateful day, and was performing a follow-up on all the survivors. Records didn’t match when she came across Harper and Ava. After some good old-fashioned detective work, Sofia uncovered Tristen’s fraud. Another agent took Tristen into custody and left Sofia to find the girls. Using her DPS tools, Sofia found the girls under a trash pile.

She sat with them for two hours. Giving the girls time to trust Sofia and by making small talk. Another agent called Sofia and asked her to hurry it up. “Just grab them, and let’s go. I need help with the paperwork.” Sofia hung up on him. These girls had every right not to trust humans, and Sofia wanted to approach them with the delicacy the situation required.

-

Harper and Ava ate a piece of chocolate bigger than their heads. Regardless of their size, the piece of chocolate tasted as delicious as ever. The giant woman in front of them ate from the bigger piece she tore off while she spoke.

“It’ll take me some time to register you and your sister,” Sofia said. “Do you have any family you can stay with in the meantime?”

Harper swallowed the chocolate in her mouth. There was no one to fall back on. Maybe some friends, but she didn’t want to see them as humans.

Sensing the pause, Sofia said, “I know a place you can stay.” She lowered her upturned palm next to them.

Ever since losing their mother, Harper and Ava craved the touch and warmth that their mother used to provide. Sofia’s hand was gigantic, larger than a minivan, dangerous and scary, and contained more power in its pinky finger than the girls combined. Yet, they sensed Sofia’s motherly aura that drew the girls close.

Harper guided her sister, and they both climbed on Sofia’s palm, instantly greeted by her warmth and the soothing thumps of her heartbeat. They both huddled together in the center of her huge palm. They felt themselves elevated up to Sofia’s giant face. She looked down at them lovingly, with a hint of concern and hope in her eyes. The girls felt reassured they made the right decision.

“Things will get better, I promise.”

Kamila

===

Kamila watched Beth hang up her phone and toss it to the side. The athletic teen seemed rattled, and her tough exterior betrayed her internal emotions. She looked down at Kamila and Mateo and forced a smirk, tapping her chest, encouraging her tinies to continue their climb up her body.

Though an outsider would’ve found the scene strange, Kamila had fun climbing Beth’s bare midriff like an obstacle course. Kamila had never seen someone with defined abs in person before. She always regarded them as Photoshop tricks or reserved for roided-out bodybuilders. Although Beth didn’t have that 5% body fat required for well-defined abs, her muscles created lines and cast shadows that showed off her athleticism.

Kamila learned more of herself the longer she spent time with Beth and Mateo. She enjoyed the company of humans and had zero aspirations to live in Lilliputian Lakes or even Beth’s Village. She liked this. The warmness of a human body. Being carried. Being loved. Especially from someone like Beth who took an infatuation with downsizers. Kamila felt so wanted, protected, and regarded—she wondered why’d she’d ever want to live alone after this.

Sure, Kamila was nine- or ten-years senior to Beth. But the age didn’t matter when you were taller than a skyscraper. Kamila recognized Beth’s power and authority and gladly gave it to her, knowing in return that Beth’s intentions towards her were pure.

Still … elephant in the room … Kamila knew she was the third wheel. She didn’t sense any jealousy in Mateo, but knew she her presence stole away from privacy that Beth and Mateo deserved. It would be hard for Kamila to step away from Beth; even for one night.

Tricia never left Kamila’s mind. She wanted that girl back, despite their history. Tricia was becoming a better person once she got on her meds. While reminiscing about Tricia, Kamila laughed out loud when thinking about Tricia’s pronunciation of Polish words. The girl tried so hard, and Tricia’s face would light up into a bright smile when Kamila told her, “that was perfect! Say it like that again.”

Was it because Tricia was a human? Or was it because who Tricia was that drew Kamila? Beth was a great person for a downsizer, through and through. But Kamila wanted a relationship with a human. A deeper relationship. And thinking about Tricia’s pretty face started an ember off deep inside between Kamila’s legs. She missed that teasing from Tricia. Her brash words and commandeering spirit.

God, Tricia could be so vile, mean-spirited, and contemptuous. But when Tricia was in a good mood—Kamila felt the ember inside her become a spark—Tricia was the most loving force one could be around. Steve felt it. Kamila felt it. And with Tricia’s treatment, she was only becoming a better person every day.

If someone accused Kamila of being a masochist, then whatever. Whatever they wanted to call it. Sometimes you don’t know what you want in life until it slaps you in the face. Kamila was content living in a squalid junk heap, saving money for a portable motor home while working long days at the hospital. But now … Now she knew she wanted a deep-meaning relationship with a human. She wanted what Beth and Mateo had. She wanted Tricia.

“Who was that?” Mateo asked.

“No one,” Beth said.

“Sounded serious.”

“It was nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Kamila asked, “Was it Tricia? Have you heard from Tricia?”

Beth furrowed her brows and shook her head. “What? No.”

“Oh,” Kamila said disappointingly. “Do you think I could visit her? Perhaps you can take me to her home?”

Still rattled by the phone call, Beth snapped. “I said no, okay?” Beth said in a volume louder than necessary. “I don’t understand why you want to see that bitch so badly, anyway. You know she almost killed Mateo and Emma by trying to step on them and then throwing them in a toilet, right? She then kidnapped you and a bunch of people. Sounds like she even killed them, but you won’t tell me the whole story, so I don’t know for sure. Face it, Kamila, you’re better off here with me. Quit thinking you’ll get back to Tricia—it’s not gonna happen.”

Kamila jumped off Beth and onto the bed. “You can’t tell me that! I’m not your prisoner.”

Beth regretted her words. “You’re not! Sorry if it came off that way. I just don’t think you should be with a sizeist like Tricia.”

The front doorbell rang. Beth got up and slipped on an oversized shirt and plucked Mateo. She asked Kamila if she was coming with her, but Kamila gave her the cold shoulder. Goddammit, Beth muttered under her breath.

“Do you think I was too hard on her?” Beth asked Mateo.

“Hindsight me, says yes. Kamila cares about Tricia a lot,” he said.

“Stockholm Syndrome is a bitch.”

Beth's fingers curled around the doorknob, rotated her wrist, not knowing who was behind the door. Beth swung the door open and tilted her head down. She had her dark brown hair arranged in a lazy half-up double knot style. Narrow shoulders equipped with a backpack stuffed larger than her torso and a gym bag in the right hand. Modest, average-sized breasts perked up against a white tank with sweat lines forming under her breasts. Short khaki shorts flowed loosely around blemish-free thighs. Way down on the floor were her feet, with dark purple nail polish chipping off and a thin layer of dust and sand clinging to the perspiring feet. A perfect row of ten toes that rivaled the craftsmanship of the finest piano keys.

Tricia looked tired, yet determined. Weary, but confident. She stood over a foot shorter than Beth, and under the gaze of the athletic girl, Tricia propped her chest forward and held her head high. The straps of her backpack were pulling her shoulders towards the earth and straining her back. Tricia gripped the strap with her left hand, trying to ease gravity’s hold. The small duffel bag in her right hand felt so heavy, it threatened to pull her arm out of its shoulder socket.

“Sup?” Tricia’s throat was dry, causing her voice to come out hoarse.

“The fuck are you doing here?” Beth’s fingers instinctively curled around Mateo, protecting him from his ex-girlfriend, who tried killing him.

“Word on the street is that you shelter people smaller than you.” Tricia pushed herself past Beth and dropped her bags a few feet from the doorway. Tricia suppressed a moan of relief after dropping so many pounds off her body. The only thing her body craved now was a glass of refreshing water.

“I help downsizers in need,” Beth said through gritted teeth. “Not kidnapping, sizeist, psychopaths!”

Tricia was about to fire back when a tiny voice caused both giantesses to snap their necks towards the floor.

“Tricia? Tricia!” Kamila yelled as she ran from Beth’s bedroom door towards the living room. Kamila held her arms up like a toddler, requesting to be lifted.

Tricia’s demeanor flipped so hard, Beth felt the electrical changes like a malfunctioning circuit breaker. Tricia’s facial expression dropped to someone at the airport seeing a loved one after many years. She dropped to her knees and held out her arm for a bear hug, while the two-inch Polish woman ran across the floor. The entire time, Beth and Mateo stared with dropped jaws. This was not a sizeist’s reaction to seeing a downsizer.

“Kamila?” It sounded like Tricia was on the verge of crying. Pent-up emotions spilling over a dam after not seeing Kamila for weeks. When the little Polish woman was in reach, Tricia snatched her up with two hands and brought her up to her lips for a kiss. Kamila extended her arms and kissed Tricia’s plump lips back. “How have you been? Are they treating you alright?”

Beth shut the front door. Those questions were a little offensive. Of course she’s treated Kamila alright. Better than alright!

“Yes!” Kamila said, finally breaking off her kiss. “Beth is like what you said. She’s super good to downsizers. I like her and appreciate her a lot. But I miss you so much, Tricia.”

“Really?” Tricia asked, but Beth and Mateo were thinking the same thing.

“Yes, really. I was so worried about your safety, living with your mom after what she did.”

Tricia smiled and rubbed Kamila’s cheek with her thumb. “You’re so cute, Kamila. You’re worried about me. Meanwhile, I was losing my mind, not knowing how Beth was treating you good or not.”

Beth cleared her throat. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

Tricia shook her head and brought her attention back to the little Polish woman, who looked up at her with glassy eyes filled with joy.

“Hey, I asked you a question,” Beth said, crossing her arms, making sure Mateo’s head was poking.

“Nothing!” Tricia finally relented. “I knew you’d treat her fine.” Tricia gave Kamila another smooch while getting comfortable on the floor, kicking off her flip flops.

“I treated her great—not just fine. Kamila and I have had a wonderful time together,” Beth said, noticing the two were completely ignoring her. “Goddammit Tricia, why are you here?”

“I told ya,” she said, cradling Kamila close to her lips. “I need a place to stay because I ran away from home.”

“So, why here? Don’t you have friends you can stay with?” Beth stepped close to Tricia. “You know … someone that doesn’t hate your guts?”

Tricia shrugged. “I thought I did. But it didn’t work out like I thought it would.”

Beth appeared unconvinced. Her freehand without Mateo in it clenched into a fist. Tricia saw this and felt she was moments away from getting clocked in the chin.

“Fine,” Tricia said. “I guess I owe everyone an explanation. Just sit back and let me tell you about it.”

Tricia’s Story

===

My dad, Steve, downsized when I was fourteen. He went behind my mom’s back to shrink, because he told us—at the time—it was best for our family. He said he had a job lined up, and with the lower cost of being small, we’d live upper-class.

Steve knew my mom hated downsizers for a ton of reasons. Reasons I find bullshit now. But back then, I believed it as much as my mom did . My dad was a little shocked when mom cursed him out at Lilliputian Lakes; y’know that human-downsizer lobby? Yeah, she made a big show about how much she hated him and everyone downsized there. She stormed off and didn’t care who heard her sizeist rant.

I kidnapped my dad when no one was looking. Stuffed him in my pocket and chased after my mom. I don’t know why I did it. I knew mom was going to divorce dad, and with my mom’s view of downsizers, there was no chance I’d ever see my dad again. So, I took him. Just like that.

He lived under my bed in secret for the next four years. Tricia laughs. You’d think living with my dad like that would cause me to sympathize with downsizers. But it didn’t. I hate downsizing because of what it does to families. I loved my mom and dad growing up, and I cherished all the memories we had before he downsized. When he shrunk, it was like a storm cloud hovered over my life and refused to leave.

My mom remarried to a smelly, selfish man. I can hardly look at him, let alone hold a conversation with him. But my mom loved him because he had the same level of hate for downsizers that she did. That hate rubbed off on me. I treated my dad badly. Tricia looks out at a wall and is frozen for a moment. Kamila patted her palm, encouraging her to continue.

When Mateo said he was downsizing—all those horrible memories of my dad came rushing back. I stepped on his leg by accident, and I had to amputate his leg. My dad should’ve been the head of the household … not a little bug that almost died because I didn’t watch my step. So, when Mateo said he was going to shrink, I knew—just knew!—I was going to hurt him. Intentionally or not.

Mateo, I’m sorry. I don’t hate you. It’s the downsizing I hate. Tricia pulled out an orange prescription bottle. She opened the cap and tilted it until a pill dropped in front of Kamila’s feet. Kamila lifted the pill and fed it to Tricia, who scooped it up with her tongue. If I was on this medication … Ah, who am I kidding? I would’ve fucked up things between us, regardless.

Anyway, my dad’s health was getting worse because of his leg. I kidnapped Kamila when I learned she was a nurse. She ended up being the perfect nurse and the best person in my life. She set my fucked up head straight, and now I see things with the clarity of a sober person. All that hate and explosive anger I had went away.

I loved my dad. I love Kamila. Things were perfect. Just have to take these twice a day. Tricia shook the orange prescription bottle.

Then my mom discovered my dad and killed him, without letting me or him explain what was going on. She confronted me, and when she learned about Kamila, she went after her. That’s where we met up, Beth.

After that, my mom and stepdad grounded me. They made me sit on the couch while they shouted all their anti-downsizer talking points to me. Awful shit I used to believe in. When I looked my mom in the eye, I didn’t even see my mom. Just a big, fleshy ball of hate. Hate. Hate. Hate.

Steve was a living person. The last person in this world that deserved hate because of who he was. And what he was, was a loving man. He loved me, no matter how horrible or flawed I was. I could beat the shit out of him, and he’d still smile at me the next day. Tricia laughed, but tears came streaming from her eyes. I didn’t deserve my dad. He was too good.

Mom—Melissa—grounded me. Took my phone away and forbade me from going to school. I was a prisoner in my room with nothing to do but read books. I talked to my dad … his spirit … if there was such a thing. Talked for hours in my room with him. He even talked back. But every time I asked him if he forgave me, his spirit would twinkle away. Tricia waved her fingers like falling rain.

Days blended together. Food lost its taste, and I could not find happiness in anything I did. Tricia looked at Kamila, who was on her palm with the biggest set of eyes she’s ever seen. I kept taking my pills, Kamila. I don’t know what would’ve happened if I didn’t.

Tricia looked up at Beth and continued her story. So, my mom gave me a bunch of sizeists literature to read. I fucking tossed them all when she was looking. I decided right then and there that I wasn’t going to live a life like hers. My dad loved people for who they were, and that’s what I was going to do. I love Kamila. I don’t even see her size anymore. What I see is a beautiful person who put up with my shit and helped me, despite the evil shit I’ve done.

Anyway, days pass, and my mom goes missing one morning. Well, not really missing. She said she had an appointment. Later that day, there’s a knock at the door, and to my surprise, it was Mateo’s mom. I found out she was a DPS agent, and I thought she was there to arrest me. But instead, she handed me Melissa. One-inch Melissa. Tricia giggled. I didn’t know they could downsize so small.

Mateo, your mom pretty much told me I could kill my mom and no one would know or care. I guess that was a nice thing. So, now I had my mom, a true, through-and-through, sizeist, in the palm of my hand. She was smaller than other downsizers, so I bet she really hated herself.

Tricia closed her eyes and sighed as if she walked into a bakery and was taking in the aroma. There was a lot of stuff I wanted to do her. First thing I did was tape her to my desk. I pulled out my exacto knife and started cutting into her thigh. I told her it was to keep her from running away.

Beth, Mateo, and Kamila looked up at Tricia, horrified and at the edge of their seat. I didn’t do it, guys. My dad’s spirit came to talk to me. We had a long talk. I told my dad it was only fitting that my mom got the same treatment he did. Tricia laughed but smiled oddly, which looked like a fearful realization. But my dad didn’t want that for Melissa. That … or he didn’t want me to do it.

My mom barely bled, because I didn’t really cut her. Knife is fucking sharp though. I stopped the bleeding, and I kept my mom in a jar in the closet. She deserved punishment, but I couldn’t bring myself to kill her.

Which brings me to today. My stepdad has been making a bunch of phone calls. Filing a missing person's report for my mom and going all-out looking for her. He’s super mad, because he says the government doesn’t have records of my mom existing. Tricia laughed maniacally. He doesn’t know I’m keeping mom prisoner for being a bitch.

With my stepdad preoccupied with all that shit, I was able to grab my phone, pack my bags, throw Melissa in my pocket, and leave. I went to my friend’s Lin’s house. She loves tormenting downsizers, so I thought it was befitting for my mom.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Lin asked at her front door. The little Asian chick is shorter than me, but has bigger tits than—well, not bigger than Mateo’s mom, but they’re big. She was wearing shorts and a tank. It looked like she had just come back from the gym or something.

“I need a place to stay for a while,” I said to her.

We went to her room, and that’s where I met Brian for the first time. Well, second time. He was on the bus with Kamila when we kidnapped a bunch of them. That dude, in Lin’s room, looked tired, but happy. He was naked and shiny with baby oil. Lin had these leather strips around his limbs, tied to a dildo.

“The fuck did I walk into?” I asked Lin.

“Sexy time!”

Lin lifted the dildo with Brian attached up to my face. The smell of Lin’s pussy hit me like a truck. Then I noticed Brian had a gag around his face with a candy, smaller than a Tic-Tac, in his mouth. It didn’t look comfortable, and the guy’s penis was rock hard. It looked red and bruised, but he had a major hard-on.

“Jesus, Lin. Why are you torturing him like that?”

“It’s not torture! He loves it. Don’t you?” She gave Brian a pat on the head. His response was muffled. “C’mon, haven’t you tried fucking a downsizer? It’s way better than a human penis.”

“I have.” Sorry Kamila. Kamila blushed. Beth and Mateo went wide-eye at this revelation. “But I don’t hook her up to a torture device like that,” I said.

“It’s not torture. It’s our kink, gosh.” Lin undid the straps to Brian and set him on the floor. Brian immediately crawled to Lin’s barefoot and started kissing her toes. “Aww, you’re so sweet. But you can go on a break while your goddess talks to her friend.”

“Goddess?”

“To him, I’m his goddess.”

I nodded. “Okay, then.”

“Pfff, like you can do better. What do you make your downsizers call you?”

“Tricia.”

“You’re so boring.”

“Look, Lin, don’t ask how, but my mom downsized.” I pulled out Melissa from my pocket. You should’ve seen my mom. She was sweaty, out of breath, and fucking scared. I handed her to Lin. “She thinks because she downsized, she now deserves protections and shit.” I lied to Lin. She didn’t need to know the whole truth. “What do you think I should do to her?”

“Whoa, how did she get so tiny?” Lin poked my mom. She screamed her head off and was begging or something.

“I said don’t ask questions.”

“Can I have her?”

“Hmm, maybe.”

“Name your price. What do you want for her? I won’t give you, Brian, but I got a lot of stuff to trade.”

“Why do you want her so bad?”

Lin’s eyes bulged, like I asked the most obvious question ever. “Kidding me? Look how tiny she is! I can have so much fun with her. And when I’m done, I bet I can swallow her in one gulp!”

Melissa yelped.

“Lin, she’s my mom. I don’t want you eating her.”

“Oh, c’mon!”

“No eating!”

“Ugh, fine.”

“Just give me ideas on how to punish her. She’s a hypocritical bitch that needs to be taught a lesson. A serious lesson.”

“Tricia, honey?” Melissa said in a tiny voice. Maybe our ears have grown accustomed to hearing downsizers, because her tiny voice was so mousey, you can’t hear her unless the room is dead quiet. “Please, don’t do this. I’m sorry and—”

“Best thing you can do,” Lin interrupted my mom. “Is make her do humiliating stuff.”

Lin and I sat on the floor. She placed my mom next to her feet and ordered her to kiss her toes. My mom didn’t move. She just stood there, not believing Lin made the request in earnest.

“I like to encourage my downsizers with a little negative reinforcement.” She snorted and then hocked a loogie at my mom. It was gross, but I was impressed by her aim. “Kiss my feet, bitch, or I’ll spit again.” Melissa couldn’t move under the spit. And even if she could, I don’t think it would’ve made a difference. Because Lin spat at her again. The force of the spit was enough to send her tumbling back.

“I don’t get it,” I said. “You’re just spitting all over your floor.”

“She’s drowning in my boogers, Trish.”

I shrugged. I didn’t feel sorry for my mom. She killed my dad in cold blood. But seeing her get spat on wasn’t making me feel any better.

Sometime later, Lin cleaned up Melissa with a wet wipe. She was showing me another ‘lesson’ by stuffing my mom in her cleavage. She pressed her tits together, which, I’m not gonna lie, were impressive to watch.

“I bet she doesn’t want to be this close to another woman,” Lin said. “So, it’ll annoy the shit out of her being between my boobs for the rest of the night.”

I must’ve sighed a little too loud or Lin probably saw me roll my eyes, because she got a little annoyed with me.

“What’s wrong now?” she asked.

“Not really the punishment I was expecting,” I said.

“Hey, you came to me. This is what I do. If you want, you can play with Brian.”

The little man perked up. I hardly noticed him sitting between us while we talked. He crawled on all fours towards me. I flicked him away with my middle finger.

“I don’t want your sex pet.”

“Hell, Trish, what do you want?”

That was an interesting question. Because I didn’t know what I wanted. Mateo’s mom gave me Melissa to punish for Steve’s death. But I realized nothing I did to Melissa will ever soften the blow of losing my dad.

Lin grabbed Brian and shoved him under her waistband. While she pleasured herself through her shorts, her other hand squeezed her giant tits. My friend seemed really comfortable with me in the room watching her getting off downsizers. One of which, being my mom.

“You can always stick your mom—”

“Stop,” I said. “If you were going to finish that sentence with any mention of my holes, I don’t want to hear it.”

“Not even up your ass?”

I released pressured air through my nose. “My mom, for all my life, hated downsizers. Now she’s one, and I want to show her how hard it is to be a downsizer. I want her to know how fucking hard life is for them. But treating her like a sex toy isn’t what I had in mind.”

Lin pulled her tank top to the side, so a titty popped out. She grabbed Melissa from her cleavage and rubbed her against her hardening nipple. Melissa cried, but Lin placed her index finger behind Melissa’s head and shoved her into her nipple. I could see Lin’s nipple getting bigger than my mom’s entire head.

“Better?” Lin asked.

“I guess.”

Lin’s pretty comfortable with her sexuality. She didn’t mind showing me more of her body as she ordered Brian around and threw my mom around. She made Melissa gag under her armpits, between her toes. Lin loved jabbing her and pushing her around. Lots of mean things were said. Demeaning things. Reminding her she wasn’t human anymore, and that she was sub-trash. She said even mice had an ecological place in the world, while the purpose of downsizers was nothing. Except serving humans like her.

What Lin did was nothing I wouldn’t have done in the past. I mean, I’ve done way worse. But watching this from the sidelines made my stomach drop. I don’t think I could ever forgive my mom, but holy shit …

“Can I have her?” Lin asked. “Name your price.” She tossing Melissa between her hands like a precious hacky sack.

“She’s mine.” I grabbed my mom and held her in my fist. I could feel my mom’s tears on my palm.

“Why did you have to tease me with her!” Lin pouted and crossed my arm. “I could’ve used her for Brian. He needs a companion!”

I didn’t want to know what that meant. “Nah, I got some plans for her now. Thanks for the help, Lin.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

That entire time, she had Brian in her panties as she spoke to me. I left her place with nowhere to go. I walked to the nearest bus stop and read the messages on my phone. Messages from unknown phone numbers went to my junk box, but I saw Kamila’s messages to me. I told myself, fuck it, and came here.

There, you’re caught up now.

Beth’s Apartment

===

“Tricia …” Mateo said in a soft voice. “I’ve never knew your dad was a downsizer. How come you never told me?”

Tricia let out a raspberry. “Last thing I wanted in this world was for the school to find out I was taking care of my downsized dad under my bed.”

“Sounds fucking cowardly to me,” Beth said. “Why do you give a shit what others think about you?”

“Because I’m vain,” Tricia said, without missing a beat. “I was vain. Afraid of other what other people might think about me, if they saw me with a downsizer.” She shook her head. “Not anymore.”

“Tricia, I’m sorry to hear about your father,” Mateo said. “Is there anything we can do to help you?”

“Dude, Mateo,” Beth said, “she tried killing you, remember? Why the hell do you want to help her?”

“She lost her dad, Beth. And, in a way, she lost her mother too. Don’t you feel bad for her?”

Beth lifted a brow and regarded Tricia. Both girls were alphas and made challenging stares at each other, refusing to be the first to back down. “I love you, Mateo. And she tried hard to kill you and Emma by flushing you down the toilet. That’s not something I can forgive easily. By the way, Tricia, where’s your mom now? Did you end up killing her?”

Tricia pulled Melissa out of her pocket and handed her to Beth. Beth wasn’t expecting it but reached out anyway. The neurons in her brain fired away as she gazed at the diminutive woman in her palm. She was tiny!

“Oh, my God!” Beth said out loud. “She’s so fucking small.” In her left hand was Mateo. On her right, Melissa. The woman looked lethargic, as if she were crying for hours non-stop. She didn’t have the energy to scream or even look over the new giantess that was holding her. Beth’s eyes darted between her boyfriend and Melissa. “Hey, Mateo … so hear me out.”

“No, Beth.” He grinned while shaking his head.

“You didn’t know what I was gonna ask.”

“Does it involve me downsizing even more?”

“Just think about how cute you’d look! You’re hot now, but if you were tinier—oh my God, Boo! You’d be so fucking precious. C’mon, think about it? What’s one more inch? Inch and half, whatever.”

“Not gonna happen, babe!” They both giggled with each other. “Ain’t I man enough for you already?”

“You’d be more of a man if you were smaller than my pinkie toe!” They laughed some more.

Tricia spoke up, breaking their little fun. “You guys are a bunch of nerds.”

Beth stopped laughing and snapped back at Tricia. “What are you planning on doing with your mom?” Beth bounced her palm slightly, as if determining the weight of the tiny woman.

“She killed my dad in cold blood. She’s a sizeist and hates downsizers with a passion. What would you do? Huh? If she was your prisoner?”

“I’d treat her like a prisoner. Orange jumpsuit, tiny prison cell. One hour for exercise. I’d give her hard labor.”

“What? Rub your feet?” Tricia accused with a mocking tone.

“No. I’d make her work in my village with the other downsizers I rescued from the junkyard.” Beth explained to Tricia everything about the junkyard and her shelter in the other room. “I’d give her a pickaxe and force her to turn big rocks into little rocks. She’d help with construction. Sleep in a prison cell at night. Bread and water and simple food. I’d make her pay for her crime, like any other prisoner would in the big world.”

Tricia shifted uncomfortably on the floor. “So, you wouldn’t make her do sexual stuff?”

Beth rolled her eyes. “I got a boyfriend for that.” Beth lifted the woman up to her eyes. “I’m not a slave driver or sex fiend. I love downsizers and I wouldn’t even hurt the bad ones. They’d be treated like prisoners, is all.”

Tricia nodded. She looked at Kamila in her own hand and they both communicated silently through micro-expressions.

Tricia made a deal with Beth. Her mother would become the first prisoner of Beth’s Village. Tricia wanted what Beth spelled out and nothing more. She would live in a cell and do hard labor for her crime.

Beth looked at the tiny figure in her palm and felt so big holding her. Yes, Melissa would make a fine addition to her village as a prisoner. Beth agreed, but Tricia had one condition—she would take custody of her mother whenever she liked. Beth rolled her eyes but agreed.

-

Tricia took Kamila outside for a private moment. The night air was cool, but not cold enough for a jacket. Still, Tricia kept Kamila warm with her body heat.

“I want to confess,” Tricia said.

“To what?” Kamila furrowed her brows.

“What I’ve done. All of it. I killed three unregistered downsizers, and kidnapped you … I’ve done worse than my mom.”

“Tricia, you can’t do that,” Kamila said, patting Tricia’s thumb. Tricia found a bench in the outdoor section of the apartment complex and sat down. “You weren’t thinking right. You weren’t on medication.”

“But I still didn’t it.” Tricia rubbed her thumb on Kamila’s side. “My conscious is killing me. I’ve decided I’m going to confess to Mateo’s mom. She’ll downsize me, and I can become a prisoner here, with Beth.”

“You would? Why?”

“So, I can be next to you.”

“But Beth doesn’t seem to like you. Aren’t you afraid she’ll hurt you?”

Tricia shook her head. “She’s more likely to hurt me as a human than me as a downsizer. C’mon, Kamila, we’ll be the same size. Or, if Mateo’s mom is pissed off at me enough, she’ll probably shrink me smaller than you.”

“That’s why you were quizzing her about having a prisoner.”

“Now that I know she won’t use me like a sex toy, I’ve decided I’ll be her next downsized prisoner.”

“No!” Kamila shouted. It took Tricia back. “People don’t choose their punishments, Tricia. Don’t confess—don’t do this. If you do, there’s no telling what will happen.”

Tricia snorted. “So, you think I should just live with this guilt for the rest of my life?”

“Who’s your worst enemy?”

“Beth!”

“If Beth was in your hands instead of me, what would you do?”

Tricia raised a brow. “I don’t know. Nothing.”

“Even on your worst day? What if she called you names and said hurtful things? She’s in your hands, downsized. What would you do to her?”

"Nothing," Tricia said, her tone suggesting it was the most trivial question imaginable.

“Can’t you see? You are a different person now. By treating your mental illness, you are not a threat to downsizers. Your dad told me there’s good in you, Tricia. Deep down, he knew you were a good person. I believe him and think there’s much potential in you. What you did in the past was horrible—but that was a different Tricia. Please listen to me, I can help you. We can work to atone for your sins. Beth has a village full of unregistered downsizers that need help. Out there,” Kamila said, pointing towards the city. “There are more downsizers that need help. You can help. You can be the force of good your father thought you were.”

Tricia nodded and sat in silence.

After some time, they returned to the apartment.

-

Beth was playing with Melissa in her hand. Melissa no longer sounded like the proud sizeist she once was. Tricia gagged when she heard her mother try to champion downsizer rights. Now that it affected her personally, suddenly she reconsidered all her previous anti-downsizing stance. Tricia proudly contradicted her mom by saying things like, “That’s weird, because you said downsizers should protect themselves and not clog up police time.” And, “Didn’t you say the DPS shouldn’t exist?”

Beth and Mateo would wait for Melissa’s answers and listen to herself fumble, unable to keep up with her conflicting views.

The front doorbell rang, causing everyone to quiet down. Beth secretly hoped it wasn’t anyone working for the mayor at the front door. She stood up and slipped Melissa in her pocket while holding Mateo close to her chest. Beth answered the door and was relieved to see Sofia standing there in her professional attire.

Sofia lifted her palm and presented Harper and Ava to Beth, which caused Beth to fawn over the girls. Sofia explained their backstory and went into detail about their registration status. It would take Sofia days to clear up, so she asked if the girls could stay in Beth’s Village.

“Of course!” Beth took the girls.

Sofia spotted Mateo and asked for a swap. Downsizers exchanged hands like valuable diamonds between brokers. Beth giddily took the girls to her village and explained to them she knew the perfect family that could take care of them. While Beth gushed over the tiny girls and walked into her room with her village, Sofia looked down lovingly at her son.

“M’hijito,” she said, her breath washing over him. “How are you today?” She closed the door behind her and walked over to the living room.

“Hi mom,” Mateo said. “It’s been … interesting around here. You look happy.”

“Doing the right thing will make you feel like that.” Sofia paused when she saw Tricia sitting on the couch. She spotted Kamila in Tricia’s palm. “Oh?”

“Hi Misses Rodriguez.” Tricia’s elevated heartbeat pounded throughout her body. Even Kamila noticed the change.

“Just call me Sofia,” she said, plopping down on the seat beside her. “It’s feeling weird when people call me misses. Hello Kamila, how are you?” Sofia paused for Kamila to answer and replied with, “Good. So, Tricia, what brings you here? Did you take care of your mother?”

“You can say that.”

They made small talk, but eventually the conversation was mostly Mateo talking to his mom. Tricia and Kamila locked eyes. They knew each other so well; they communicated through glances and body language. Tricia was having an internal struggle, close to confessing to Sofia. Kamila was steadfast and expressed to Tricia to keep her mouth shut.

Beth came out of her village’s room with a smile. “Harper and Ava are in good hands,” Beth said. “The entire village came out to greet the girls and offer them love. They got food, water, and a warm house to sleep in tonight.” Beth sat next to Sofia, sandwiching herself in the middle.

Sofia breathed in through her nose before slowly letting it out. “Thank god for that village of yours, Beth.” She patted Beth’s thighs, almost taken aback by how powerful they felt. “I knew this was the right place for them.”

The next half hour was awkward. Beth secretly wanted to tell Sofia about the mayor’s ultimatum, but kept her mouth shut because the mayor explicitly told her not to get the authorities involved. And Tricia wanted to confess to Sofia, but Kamila held her back.

Sofia was oblivious and just plain happy to hold Mateo in her palm. She eventually left and reminded the girls she was only a phone call away if they needed anything from her.

Tricia & Kamila

===

-

Beth allowed Tricia to sleep on the couch overnight, considering her circumstances. It wasn’t so much Tricia’s sob story, but mostly Kamila’s silver tongue that convinced Beth to allow Tricia to sleep over. Beth gave Tricia a stern warning to stay out of the bedrooms, and that she was only permitted in the bathroom, kitchen, and living room. Tricia agreed, and Beth gave her sheets and pillow for the couch.

Kamila laid in the fetal position in the center of Tricia’s palm. She looked up lovingly at Tricia, who reciprocated the same look. They said nothing for ten minutes and merely enjoyed each other’s presence.

“You know how fucking weird it’s been,” Tricia said, “sleeping without you beside me?”

“Same.”

Tricia giggled. “Why?”

“I missed you.”

“Weirdo. I recall you hating my guts and wanting to runaway so bad.”

“I recall you saying you love me.”

Tricia flinched, but smiled. “Kocham cię.”

“Kocham cię.”

They went back to looking each other in the eyes. Kamila, with her tiny hands stroking the lines and ridges that made up Tricia’s palm prints. Tricia stroking Kamila’s bare legs with the digit of her index finger, starting from the upper-thigh and ending at her feet.

“You should stay big,” Kamila said, out of nowhere. “Think about Beth and how she uses her size to help others. I think you can be like Beth, but better.”

Tricia snorted. “I’ll never know why you think so highly of me. When I look in the mirror, I see someone that should be behind bars.”

“Don’t say that.” Kamila crawled off Tricia’s palm and climbed up the pillow she rested her head on. She then maneuvered to Tricia’s lips and planted a kiss with her eyes shut. Kamila shivered from the electric feeling.

Tricia felt it too and squirmed on the couch. Her body heat getting trapped under the thin sheets Beth supplied. Tricia wore only her panties and tank-top and felt like she was overheating as her little Polish woman kissed her lips again.

Tricia puckered and kissed Kamila across her face and upper chest. “I’ll do it,” Tricia said, her humid breath blanketing Kamila. “For dad.” She kissed a little lower. “And for you.” Her tongue slipped out and tasted Kamila’s inner-thigh. “If you believe in me so much—fuck it, I gotta try, right?”

Kamila jumped forward and gave those inflated pink lips a hug. She bucked her hips as she felt Tricia’s tongue go between her legs and curl up her ass. “I believe in you, Trish.” Kamila let out her breath, which sounded more like a soft wail.

Tricia pulled her tongue and face back. “Can I have a taste? I really miss your taste, Kamila.”

She nodded eagerly.

Tricia licked her lips and opened her mouth wide. Kamila stripped nude and then crawled into Tricia’s pink cavern, taking extra care to avoid her teeth. Tricia snapped shut and tasted her girlfriend like a piece of melting cotton candy. She moaned as her exquisite flavors came out. Tricia rolled onto her stomach as her left hand pulled her wet panties to the side so she could play with herself.

Kamila grabbed the bottom row of Tricia’s teeth and used them as bedposts while she pushed her hips into Tricia’s tongue. Her tiny legs clamped onto the tongue as her lover, knowing full well that Tricia’s pink appendage was stronger than her entire body. Kamila’s climax was more than just carnal pleasure. It was her actualizing her feelings for Tricia. It was her giving herself up to the giant girl she truly believed could be a force for good.

Tricia sucked on Kamila’s supple flesh, tasting the tiniest hints of the Polish woman’s feminine cum. She sucked her skin dry, greedily tasting every millimeter of the woman. She opened her mouth and let Kamila slide out lazily onto the pillow.

“Tasty as ever!”

Kamila gasped as she flipped on her back. “Can I go inside you?”

Tricia snorted. “You really like my mouth? Okay, sure.”

“No! I meant … inside you.”

-

Tricia bit into the pillow while her knuckles turned white as she held onto the armrest. Her toes curled and her hips dug into the sofa cushions. Kamila swam deep inside her pussy. She could feel each limb, each finger and toe scraping along her insides.

This wasn’t like before. Tricia used Kamila as a dildo, and that wasn’t all that pleasurable. Kamila was stiff and crying while she rubbed her body against her lips.

This time, Kamila wanted it. She wanted to be inside and give her big human girlfriend pleasure. Tricia trembled so violently it looked like she was having a seizure. She gasped, letting out a squeak as she came. Her vaginal canal squeezed Kamila like those blood pressure machines that inflate around a person’s arm. Except, this was her vagina compressing on the little woman.

Tricia collapsed. With what little strength she had, she pushed Kamila out of her. “Fuck me.” Tricia gasped as she fished for Kamila and brought her back to her face. “Okay, maybe you have a point.”

Kamila took a deep breath, trying to regulate her thumping heartbeat. She glistened in Tricia’s love juices, causing her to shiver out in the cold open. “What’s that?”

“If I wasn’t big, we wouldn’t be able to fuck you like that. Ready for round two?”

Kamila lifted a thumbs up. Seconds later, she was back inside the warmth of Tricia’s vagina.

Jack & Felicia

===

(Warning: M/f content)

A dozen candles aligned in a pentagram provided the only lighting in the pitch-black room. Their flickering light barely pushed back at the suffocating darkness. Felicia was in the center of the towering, yellow-glowing candles. She was nude and on her back. Pushpins, larger than her head, held her in place. Silver needles penetrated the ground next to her body, with the thick plastic of the pushpins pressing against her wrists and ankles, making her look like the Vitruvian man. She tried pulling her arms and legs free, but it was no use.

Wax dripped steadily from the white stem candles, pattering nearby, making her flinch. The candlelight failed to reveal the face of her giant captor, but she could’ve sworn she saw his silhouette against the blackness of the room.

His hand became visible as he grabbed a candle and lifted the three-story obelisk without resistance. Felicia swallowed a cold lump in the back of her throat as the giant positioned and tilted the candle towards her. A pool of cooling wax seeped along the white cylinder of the candle, clinging to the base like a sap. But as more wax pooled, gravity took hold, and it dripped onto Felicia’s right leg.

“Oww!” she wailed from the intense heat as the wax cooled and hardened around her calf and ankles. She was expecting the wax to be hot, but nothing prepared her for a bucket’s worth splattering on her legs.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” Jack said. “Did I burn you? Want me to get some water?”

“Shut up!” Felicia said. “I’m fine. Keep it going; don’t stop now.”

Jack poured another few drops of wax on Felicia’s bare stomach. He made sure the wax traveled the length of the candle so it would cool off before landing on the two-inch redhead. Felicia let out a mixture of a scream and moan. She sucked in air through her gritted teeth and exhaled hard, causing her ribcage to become defined on her exposed torso. A tuft of her red pubic air glittered under candlelight as she squirmed.

“I need that cock, big boy.”

Jack nervously swallowed. He set the candle down and unzipped his pants. Felicia was on his desk, where she forced him to set up this cult-like scene for her. He obliged and did whatever the little redhead wanted. Including pulling his dick out.

As soon as he pulled his boxers out of the way, his giant cock sprang forward. Felicia gasped, not realizing how well-endowed Jack was. A mischievous smile formed across her face. Her crotch felt like it was on fire, as her desire for Jack ratcheted up.

“Slap me with it.”

“Um, are you sure?” Jack asked. His cock twitched and drooled with pre-cum for the woman restrained below him, but his wavering tone betrayed the concern beneath.

“I’ll be fine,” Felicia said. “I’d tell you otherwise. Now, drop that meat on me.”

Jack obeyed Felicia and, by grabbing the base of his cock, tilted it forward so it dropped mid-shaft onto Felicia. He noted the wails and moans coming from the redhead were that of pleasure. Encouraged by her writhing, he slowly bucked his hips, the length of his cock running up and down Felicia. He closed his eyes and could feel every detail of her body under the sensitive nerve-endings of his dick.

Jack pulled back until his purple head contacted her face. Her sweaty red hair stuck to his penis as he shoved his cock into her face with his thumb, squishing his flesh into her. He felt her breathing. Her nose was dead center with the underside of his tip. Felicia’s tongue licking caused his heart to figuratively skip a beat. He felt all the details of her face he thought would be impossible. Just the tip of his dick was half her height, yet his hyper-sensitive cock felt her every move, no matter how minute they were. He even felt her individual teeth. Teeth …?

“Ow!” Jack pulled his cock back. Felicia giggled while licking her lips. “You bit me!”

Felicia snapped, showing off her perfect set of white teeth. “I couldn’t resist. It just looks so meaty and tasty!”

Jack let out a half-laugh. “This is wild first date.”

“Bring it back and go hard. I want you to cum on me! Every. Last. Drop. Better land on me and not go to waste—or else!”

Jack fucked Felicia like this for over a dozen strokes. Eventually, she freed herself from under the pins and clambered onto his purple tip, as if hugging a beanbag the size of a Mini Cooper. She bucked her wet cunt into his tip. Her pussy aligning with the slit of his piss hole. Felicia’s fingers dug into his cock, which drove Jack wild with rapture.

He wasn’t sure if Felicia got her fill or not, but he couldn’t hold back anymore. He released a deluge of his lava-hot cum onto her, knocking her back onto the table. Jack aimed his hose and made sure his seed coated the redhead from head to toe. Felicia struggled to wipe the smut from her face, but as soon as she did, another fresh coat of cum plopped on her. Jack drained his balls onto his downsized date and, in a moment of clarity, groaned at the mess he made on his desk. It was going to take a lot of paper towels to clean this.

-

Felicia would not relent. After Jack cleaned her, she demanded he eat her out. She made love with his tongue, played with his testicles, had him massage her feet with his fingertips, and fuck her pussy with his pinky.

It was near midnight by the time Felicia finally wore herself out. She was bruised, sweaty, and nude in his palm. Jack couldn’t believe how many times she wanted him to use his size against her. He was always cautious, which only angered Felicia. But he was so afraid of hurting her. The bruises on her pale skin bothered him. But Jack’s treatment of her made Felicia happy, and she wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Mateo

===

“Cool it!”

“Beth, this is serious!” Mateo shouted from the bedroom floor. Beth was slipping on her dirty, beige-colored Nikes on. They were getting ready for school, dressing early in the morning. Mateo stood defiantly between Beth’s shoe-clad feet. “You are taking this seriously, right? We can’t let your mom and dad die!”

Beth told Mateo about the phone call after he pestered her all night about it. Once he learned about the ultimatum—give up the unregistered downsizers or her parents die—Mateo had been relentless with Beth. Begging her to talk to talk to the village and explain the situation.

“I’m not losing them.” Beth fumbled with her shoelaces.

“What, your village?”

She finished tying her shoe. Mateo walked up to her right foot and leaned against it with one hand.

Beth said, “They don’t deserve to live in a junkyard. Their home is here. With me.”

“Your mom and dad, Beth … Surely, everyone in the village will understand why they need to go back to the junkyard. This is out of your hands.”

“It’s not out of my hands.” She picked him up and rose to her feet. She walked to the bathroom while talking to him. “My parents abandoned me when they downsized without me. No phone calls, no letters, nothing. Even if they were in danger, why should I care about them? My village loves me. I’m keeping them. They mayor, mom, and dad can go fuck off.”

Mateo felt the trembles in her hand. She didn’t mean what she said.

Beth opened the bathroom door and felt a blast of humid air blast against her. Tricia was already in the bathroom, behind the counter, brushing her teeth. She was barefoot and dressed in a fresh outfit, still wrinkly from being inside her duffel bag. She wore tight denim shorts that hugged her thighs and a pale-yellow shirt that sat lazily over her shoulders. Her brown hair was wet, carrying the rich scent of Beth's shampoo and conditioner.

“Morning, sunshine,” Tricia said, without taking the toothbrush from her mouth. Kamila was on the counter next to the sink basin, also brushing her teeth. Just like Tricia, she was damp, clean, and wearing a fresh set of clothes. She wore a lovely sundress that accentuated her breast and waist.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Beth asked, stepping forward.

Tricia wasn’t the least bit intimidated. “Borrowing your toothbrush. Hope you don’t mind.”

Beth gritted her teeth. She set Mateo down on the counter. He ran and caught up with Kamila, whispering something in her ear.

“Do you always look this pissed off in the morning?” Tricia asked, turning back to the bathroom mirror. “You must’ve given Mateo a heart attack the first time he saw you in the morning. Like those giant ogres from fairytales.”

“Tricia, I swear to God.” Beth pinched the bridge of her nose. “I will choke and throw you into that wall.”

“I don’t think Kamila would like that.” Tricia opened her mouth wide and brushed her back molars. Foamy toothpaste spilling over her lips like a Rottweiler. “She’ll think of you as a meanie.”

“Ugh, fine. Move over.” Beth’s hips bumped into Tricia’s, easily shoving her to the side.

Mateo and Kamila watched in awe as the crotches of two giantesses vied for the center of the counter. Beth grabbed her hairbrush and lifted it to her head, creating a voosh sound that made Mateo and Kamila duck. Tricia tried pushing back on Beth, but she would’ve had better luck against a marble statue.

While both giant girls fought for the bathroom mirror, Mateo told Kamila everything. “That’s horrific!” Kamila shouted.

“What’s horrific?” Tricia said with a full mouth. She spat the excess foamy toothpaste over the heads of the downsizer and rinsed her mouth. Kamila relayed the information to Tricia.

“Why’d you tell her?” Beth asked with a groan towards Mateo. “Nobody can do anything about it, anyway.”

“So, you’re going to do nothing?” Mateo asked.

“No! Those were probably not my parents, for all I know. Mom and dad like to travel and shit. They wouldn’t hang out in Lilliputian Lakes for their retirement. The best thing I can do is ignore that call.”

“You think that’s smart?” Tricia asked. “If you piss off the right people, they might come after you … or Mateo.”

“Are you suggesting I take the unregistered downsizers back to the junkyard?” Beth set her brush down to face the much shorter Tricia.

“Sounds like your best option,” Tricia said with upward inflection as she turned back to the mirror.

“That would mean Kamila goes back to the junkyard,” Beth said.

Both Kamila's and Tricia’s stomachs dropped. They both locked eyes with one another and felt a pang of misery overcame them. No. They would not be separated again.

“I see your point,” Tricia said.

Lunch

===

“How are you and Felicia getting along?” Hazel asked.

Jack's appearance told a story of his rough night—heavy bags under his eyes, disheveled hair, and clothes that looked like they'd been pulled from the bottom of a laundry pile. Jack and Hazel were in the dining hall at their usual table with trays of highly processed school food in front of them. Hazel sat across from Jack with her own tray, albeit her food choices were healthier.

Emma helped herself to Jack’s food tray without asking and stole pieces of his chocolate chip cookie. Hazel never got desserts, and the infuriated Emma. Hazel would defend her choices to her little girlfriend and explain the extra calories weren’t worth it. Emma would fire back and tell her she didn’t have to eat the dessert. Sometimes Emma wanted a sweet treat.

“Felicia … she’s something else,” Jack said with a yawn.

“Oh?” Hazel stuck steamed broccoli in her mouth.

“She’s got a lot of energy. More than me, I think. How do you keep with Emma?”

Hazel snorted. “You mean, how does Emma keep up with me? C’mon, it’s easy for a human. You’re like forty times her size.”

“Yeah, but she’s got forty times my sex drive.” Jack rubbed his eyes. “The things she makes me do …”

Emma laughed, crumbs of cookie shooting out of her. “You guys fucked already? I figured Felicia was a little slut. I could sense it.”

Jack became bashful but tried to shrug it off. “It was her idea, I swear. I gotta tell ya, having a downsized girlfriend is the best thing ever.”

Emma said, “We are the best things ever, aren’t we?”

“Yes, you are,” Hazel said, patting Emma’s head. “Because if you weren’t two inches tall, you would’ve driven me so insane by now. I think I would’ve—”

Beth sat next to Jack and set her tray down gently. Mateo climbed off it and greeted everyone before jogging over to Emma. Beth didn’t seem like she was in the best of moods. Her eyes looked down at her tray as if her mind was off elsewhere.

“You alright, Beth?” Hazel asked.

Just then, Tricia sat alongside Hazel, dropping her tray a little hard. “What up?” She adjusted her ass on the bench and straightened out the plates on her tray. She grabbed hold of her fork and separated her rice from her chicken.

Jack and Hazel stared at Tricia with mouths agape. Emma ignored what Mateo was saying to look up at Tricia, both a little nervous, but mostly angry. She looked up at Beth and Hazel, waiting for them to do something.

“This is a weird spot,” Tricia said, with a forkful of rice in her mouth. “I feel like I’m in the middle of the cafeteria. Wouldn’t it be better along the wall, near the exit? Actually, Beth, I thought you’d prefer a table near the downsize aquarium over there.” She pointed with her fork.

“The fuck you think you’re doing?” Hazel asked Tricia.

“What does it look like? I’m eating lunch.” Tricia looked down at her ex-boyfriend and Emma. “Hey you two! Boy, I haven’t seen you guys together like that since I—”

“Stop.” Beth said sternly.

Tricia gave Beth a death stare and shoved another forkful of food into her mouth.

Weeks ago, when Hazel carried the unregistered downsizers back to Beth’s apartment, she asked Mateo about Beth’s parents. Hazel was concerned about how Beth’s parents would react when arriving at their home with over three dozen downsizers. That’s when Mateo told them the complete story about Beth’s parents. How they went into early retirement and downsized without Beth.

It was a revelation that made Hazel and Emma see Beth in a different light. They didn’t pity her, since Beth was a strong person, and far capable of taking care of herself and the ones she loved. But to have your mom and dad abandon you like that? No matter how strong Beth was that must’ve been emotionally damaging to her.

Emma felt a knot tie itself in her stomach when Mateo finished telling the story about the mayor and his ultimatum. She looked at Beth and felt hopeless. Just when things were turning positively for those unregistered downsizers in Beth’s village, this had to happen? They couldn’t catch a break—and neither could Beth.

“The fuck?” Emma asked. “Beth, your parents are being held hostage?”

“Mateo!” Beth chastised. “Are you going to tell everyone?”

“Tell her what?” Hazel asked.

“Mayor Pearson of Lilliputian Lakes,” Tricia said, “is gonna murder Beth’s parents if she doesn’t give up the toy village in her apartment.”

The group burst into questions and concerns for Beth. They talked over each other while Tricia ate her meal peacefully. Beth briefly explained the phone call, and how she didn’t care what would happen to her parents. She weighed her options between her village and her parents, and the scales tipped in the favor of her village.

“They’re counting on me,” Beth said. “I’m not sending them back to live in a junkyard. They mean more to me than my mom and dad.” She made the same points she made earlier with Kamila and Tricia.

Emma stepped towards Beth and said, “Just explain to your village what’s happening. They’ll understand that they’re not worth losing your mom and dad over.”

“Did you hear me?” Beth asked. “I don’t care if the threat is real or not. Mom and dad deserted me, so I’m doing the same to them.” Beth rose from her seat. “I gotta use the bathroom. Hazel, Jack, watch Mateo for me.” She turned and stormed off angrily from their conversation.

“She must be really pissed,” Tricia said, using her fork to play with her food. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her and Mateo ever separated.”

Hazel turned to Tricia. “Excuse me, but why the fuck are you sitting with us?” Hazel asked.

“Just making friends,” Tricia said in a mock defensive tone.

“You’re a fucking sizeist bitch that almost killed your ex and my girlfriend. Give me one reason I shouldn’t I beat the shit out of you.”

Tricia gave a whatever expression with her lips and brows, completely unfazed by Hazel’s threat.

“Hazel?” Mateo asked shyly. “I know this is going to be weird to hear, but I’m not mad at Tricia. I’m ready to move past the bathroom stuff and maybe be friends with her again.”

Tricia gave Hazel a smug look.

Hazel closed her eyes and shook her head. “Mateo, what the hell is wrong with you?” She squinted her eyes. “Did she threaten you?”

“No. Listen, Tricia was in a different place back then. Kamila can vouch for Tricia, and I think we should give her a second chance.”

“Damn, dude,” Jack said. “First, you did homework for the biggest bully in school, only to fall in love with her. Now, you want to be friends with your ex that almost killed you. I don’t get you, man.”

“Was I wrong about Beth?” Mateo asked. Jack, Emma, and Hazel stood stunned. He was onto something. He saw something in Beth that the entire school missed. “I’m not wrong about Tricia. Trust me.”

“Thank you,” Tricia said with a slight head bow. “He’s fucking right, you know. I want to help. If Beth listens to the mayor and takes back all the unregistered downsizers to the junkyard, that means I lose my Kamila.”

A realization hit Jack. “Shit. That means Felicia goes back, too?”

“Who’s that?”

“My girlfriend. She’s unregistered and from the junkyard.”

“Eww. A human guy and a downsized chick?”

Jack frowned. “Some people are into that!”

Hazel shrugged him off. “How are you going to help, Tricia?”

“Don’t ask me. Mateo is the mastermind,” Tricia said.

All heads turned to Mateo.

“We can’t let Beth make this decision on her own,” Mateo said. “If we do, I know whatever she decides, she’ll regret for the rest of her life. So, we gotta do this ourselves. We got until eight tonight, before the 24-hour ultimatum is up.” Mateo paced between them like a lawyer, trying to persuade a skeptical jury box. “Problem is, the mayor only gave Beth two choices. Two unfair choices. My plan is to meet with the mayor and negotiate a compromise.”

“Wait, who’s doing the negotiation?” Jack asked.

"Me," Mateo said, striding between the three giant students who watched his every move. Emma had her arms crossed and stood still while turning to keep facing Mateo. “Mayor Pearson is a downsizer and works from City Hall in Lilliputian Lakes. I just gotta get there and meet him in-person.”

“We,” Emma said. “I’ll go with you.”

“Are you nuts?” Hazel asked. “Didn’t you say this guy is threatening to kill Beth’s parents? Now you want to stroll in and make a deal with him? Nah-uh. You two are not going to Lilliputian Lakes.”

“You can’t tell me what to do,” Emma said. “I’ll go if I want to.”

“Em, it’s fucking dangerous.”

Tricia was on her phone while the two argued. After firing off a text, she set her phone down and rejoined the conversation. “Probably best you listen to your human,” Tricia said. “She knows what’s best for you.”

“Fuck you,” Emma shouted.

Mateo received a text and pulled his phone from his pocket. It was a text from Tricia that read, >I can get you 2 the Puny Express. Trust me? ;) Mateo felt a weird sensation in his stomach. He talked Tricia up earlier, but even he wasn’t sure if he trusted Tricia. He texted back >sure.

Mateo grabbed Emma’s hand and gave it two squeezes while she and Hazel had their argument. “I’ll come up with something else,” he said to everyone at the table. Beth was returning from the bathroom and only a dozen paces away from the table. “Just keep this under wraps so that Beth doesn’t find out.”

He looked up at Tricia, who gave him a wink with her right eye. Something about her smugness made him nervous.

5th Period

===

Beth chewed on her nails during chemistry. The mayor’s deadline was on her mind, and her decision to not help her parents was sitting heavily on her shoulders. She wondered about the mayor and if he was serious about murdering her parents. If he went through with his threat, what was stopping Beth from going to the police? She wondered if this guy was closer to a mob boss than a mayor. To make such a bold threat like he did meant he was either profoundly stupid, or confident he could get away with his crimes. Maybe he had connections she was unaware of.

What if he had humans working on the outside? What if his goons were watching her now?

The classroom door sprung open, and then the click-clacking of heels echoed throughout the classroom. Principal Carol Sullivan walked in, in her business outfit, comprising a long skirt, blouse and jacket. She pulled her hair back into a bun and looked as pristine as ever.

“Pardon my interruption,” the principal said. Both human and downsized students looked nervously at the boss of the school. “Mr. Mateo Rodriguez and Ms. Emma Kingsley. I need to speak to both of you urgently.”

Some students broke out in an ooooh, mocking them for being in trouble with the principal. Beth and Hazel’s expression dropped. Their protective hands instinctively covering their tiny partners. Principal Sullivan walked to Hazel first and extended an upturn hand. As principal, she had the authority to handle all downsized students in her school, with or without their consent.

“Hand her over,” Carol said. “I’m very busy and don’t have time for arguments.”

Hazel’s lips quivered. If she didn’t listen to the principal, there could be hell to pay. Like disallowing her to handle Emma while on school grounds. Hazel reluctantly gave Emma to the principal. Carol repeated herself with Beth. Except Beth gave the principal an icy stare, knowing this was some kind of farce.

“You can pick them up from my office at the end of the school day,” she turned to leave the classroom. “Please resume your class. I apologize again for the interruption.”

-

Carol didn’t say a word to Mateo and Emma. The two downsizers sat elbow to elbow, trying to think why the principal wanted them. They had broken no rules lately and have kept remarkably clean at school. She entered her office, and that was when they saw Tricia sitting across from the principal’s desk.

Carol gently set Mateo and Emma in the center of her desk while she walked around to seat herself. The two little downsizers held hands as they looked at Tricia and then the principal. Their presence felt a lot heavier than when they were around Beth and Hazel.

“There you go, Ms. Adams.” Carol folded her fingers as she sat straight. “Now … let me see her.”

Tricia reached in her purse and pulled out a ring box. She opened it and set it on the desk. Carol let out an audible gasp. A one-inch woman held her arms out, trying to shield herself from the bright lighting in the office.

“Unregistered criminal. You can have her for one day. Just don’t kill her or break any bones. Try not to, at least,” Tricia said.

Carol was drooling but kept herself composed. She reached for the ring box and snapped it shut. The loud clasping noise caused Mateo and Emma to flinch.

“What about them?” Carol pointed at the frightened downsized students standing in the center of her desk. “I can’t have them repeating what they saw here. And if their human partners don’t find them in my office in a couple of hours, I—”

“Emma and Mateo want this,” Tricia said. She lifted her purse and set it on the desk, with the open end facing them. “I’m actually helping them. And when they’re on the train to Lilliputian Lakes, they’ll tell Beth and Hazel there’s no need to stop by your office.” Tricia looked at them. “Right?”

“Tricia …” Mateo said. “You’re helping us?”

“I’m helping Kamila. You and Emma go to Lilliputian Lakes and do your thing so I can keep her forever.”

“Fat chance,” Emma yelled. “You might’ve tricked Mateo into thinking you’re a better person, but I know better.”

“Then stay here. I don’t give a fuck about you,” Tricia said.

“Language,” Carol said.

Mateo turned and walked halfway into the purse. “You promise to take me to the train station?”

“Yes, Mateo,” Tricia whined. “If you think you can stop your giant girlfriend from taking the unregistered back to the junkyard, I’m willing to help. C’mon, I’m just taking you to the school’s train station.”

“Okay, I’m going.” He crossed the threshold of the open purse.

“Mateo!” Emma said. “This could be a trap.”

Mateo shook his head. “I’ve seen Tricia and Kamila together. I think Tricia wants me to succeed more than anybody.”

Emma looked up at Tricia wearily. Tricia smiled and jerked her head towards the purse.

“You better be right about her,” Emma said to Mateo. “Or I swear to god, I’ll choke you out.”

The two downsizers walked into the purse. Tricia slowly tilted it upright and looked at the principal with a smirk. Tricia didn’t have an MHIP, or all the other stuff required to carry downsizers in school. But the principal looked the other way, so long as Tricia didn’t get caught carrying them, hence the purse.

Tricia walked out of the principal’s office with a grin. Carol herself found her fingers inching towards the ring box. Eager to play with her new toy.

-

“I think I’m going to throw up,” Emma said, holding onto Mateo.

“It’ll be over soon.” He tried balancing himself inside the bouncing bag, which was the size of a circus tent to them. Lipstick, pencils, gums, and other random crap jostled around them as Tricia walked. It didn’t feel like Tricia was trying to give them a comfortable ride at all. But no matter, the train station wasn’t far from the principal’s office. “Shouldn't be much longer.”

“It’s not that …” Emma said. “Only Principal Sullivan knows we’re with Tricia. She can do whatever she wants with us. I don’t think Tricia changed, Mateo. I think she’s the sizeist cunt she’s always been.”

“Don’t say that, Emma.” He had to shout over the sound of everything bumping around. “And if I’m wrong, we have our phones.”

“Our phones will be useless if Tricia eats us.”

Mateo nervously laughed. “You think she’d do that?”

They heard a door get kicked open. Odd. Were there doors on the way to the school’s train station? Another door opened, but this one sounded like a swinging saloon door. Tricia stopped walking and sat down. Emma and Mateo felt their lunch lurch up their throat as gravity shifted. The purse went swinging and then opened wide, revealing a smiling Tricia. They looked up and saw her black nostrils and brown hair cascading around her face.

Tricia’s hand reached in and grabbed them in a single fist. Mateo and Emma were back-to-back, under the pressure of Tricia’s massive fingers. When they elevated out of the purse, they looked around and saw a familiar bathroom stall.

“Alone at last,” Tricia said, lifting the downsizers up to her face. Their tiny heads turned to face her. Mateo looked like he was betrayed, and Emma had nothing but worry painted on her face. “Scared? You guys look scared. Not so brave without your human fuckbuddies to protect you.”

“Tricia?” Mateo asked.

“What?” Tricia snapped.

“W-what are you doing?”

“I decided to close some unfinished business with you two.”

Emma teared up. “I fucking knew it.” She sniffled while fighting within Tricia’s grasp. She rotated her shoulders erratically, shoving them hard into Mateo’s back. “Goddammit, Mateo! Why did I fucking listen to you! Look at her. She’s going to kill us.” Emma tried pushing her knees into Tricia’s fingers and kicking off, but the giantess held her tighter than a Mummies’ bandages. “Hazel will know what you did!” she yelled up at Tricia. “She won’t stop until you’re dead!”

“She’ll never know. No one will ever find you guys once I’m done with you.” Tricia licked her lips. “I’m big, and you guys are little insects that can’t even fight back my fingers.” She giggled. “You willingly walked into my purse. You little dopes.”

“Fuck you!” Emma yelled, with a tremble in her body. “You can’t do this! I want to go back to Hazel.” Emma closed her eyes and cried.

Tricia fought a grin, but it became a wide smile that rivaled The Grinch from Dr. Seuss. Then Tricia laughed hysterically while opening her hand so that Mateo and Emma fell into her palm.

“Shit!” Tricia said, wiping a tear from laughing so much. “I had this whole thing planned about getting payback, haha. I was even going to take a piss while talking to you guys, but … but looking at Emma crying like a baby made me think she’s not as tough as I thought.”

“You were joking?” Mateo asked, feeling his heart thumping in his chest. He was on his ass with his hands behind his back, sitting near Tricia’s thumb. “Why would you do that?”

Tricia sat on the toilet with her shorts still on. She made a smirk and said, “I thought that’s what friends do. Play pranks with each other.”

Emma was still panting. She dropped to her knees and left hand, holding her right hand over her heart.

“Damn, mellow out Emma,” Tricia said. “Fuck, am I really that scary looking to you guys? Shit, Beth must look like a monster. Especially that morning version.”

Mateo scratched the back of his neck. “Tricia, that was beyond fucked up.”

“I guess that explains a lot with Kamila,” Tricia said, her eyes looking up. Her tone was casual and void of remorse.

“Why the fuck did you bring us here?” Emma shouted. “Why aren’t we at the train station?”

“Oh! Yeah, so, I wanted some alone time before you guys headed out.”

“Why?” Mateo asked cautiously.

“So …” Tricia said. “Yeah … Um, I feel terrible—about the way I treated you guys. Here, actually, in this bathroom.” She used her free hand to wave around the stall. “Before I got on meds, I used to get angry really fast. Like zero to a hundred in one second. When I saw you guys driving around here, my anger just went through the roof.”

Emma and Mateo looked at each other, and then back at Tricia.

“What I’m trying to say is …” Tricia’s eyes looked away. She was no longer her cocky, giggling self. Her lips quivered and a fine sheen of tears formed in both eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Mateo, for the way I treated you after I learned you were going to downsize. And Emma, I’m sorry for being a major bitch to you.”

“And for fucking giving me a heart attack just now?” Emma screamed, not moved the slightest by Tricia’s apology. She sat on her knees and looked up with hate in her eyes.

Tricia thought and bounced an index finger on her chin. “Okay, so that prank was probably not a good idea.”

“Probably?”

“Okay, I’m sorry for that, too. I couldn’t help myself. You two are so adorable the way you look up at me. It was a little tease because … I like you guys. There, I said it.”

“Tricia …” Mateo was lost in the moment. Where was this Tricia the whole time? She tilted her head and waited for him to continue. “I forgive you.”

“Thank you, Mateo.”

Emma crossed her arms and said nothing.

“You can take all the time you want, Emma,” Tricia said. “I’ll be eating lunch with you guys and hanging out at Beth’s apartment a lot more. So, when you’re ready—”

“Fuck you,” Emma said.

Tricia giggled. “I’m positive that if the roles were reversed, and you were holding me, I’d say the same thing.” Tricia lifted her purse. “Okay, you guys got a train to catch and a mayor to stop.”

-

From the Puny Express, Mateo and Emma texted Beth and Hazel in a group chat to tell them what they were doing. Their reactions were predictable. Mateo and Emma stood their ground and told them it was happening, whether they liked it or not. They were going to Lilliputian Lakes, and they were going to negotiate a deal with the mayor.

“What kind of deal?” Emma asked.

She sat in an aisle seat, while Mateo’s face was glued to the window. It was amazing seeing the big world zip by him at high speeds from the comfort of zero friction train. This was his first time going to Lilliputian Lakes since downsizing, and if it wasn’t for the seriousness of his trip, he would’ve been excited.

“So, Beth wants to take care of downsizers in her home,” Mateo said, not turning away from the window. “And the mayor wants those downsizers to work. I don’t see why both parties can’t get what they want. Beth drops them off in the morning at Lilliputian Lakes and brings them home at night. Win-win. And Beth’s parents get to live, and we all live happily ever after.”

“Hmm, I guess that sounds fair,” Emma said. “Sounds like a bitch traveling back and forth to Lilliputian lakes like that, though.”

“Small sacrifice to save the lives of her mom and dad, if you ask me.”

“I suppose.”

Lilliputian Lakes

===

It was as if he had never downsized. Stepping into the station at Lilliputian Lakes was like stepping into a portal back to a time before he downsized. Everything was scaled perfectly for Mateo. The platform, the lampposts, the escalators, and even the vending machines were perfect replicas. Not only that, but everything was so futuristic and sleek. Not the dilapidated buildings of the big world with their paint chipping, pothole-laced roads, crumbling infrastructure, building with wildly different architecture, dying trees, and brown grass. Here … everything had a Disneyland-level of perfection and cleanliness.

Each building had the same theme, the lighting was beautifully done, and the landscaping was immaculate. A model city. Mateo thought. He could see why some people like Amber never left Lilliputian Lakes. The atmosphere felt electric. Many people walked the streets in these quaint downtown areas. Gondolas and electric trams crisscrossed the city.

Mateo and Emma took a taxi, with Emma taking the lead, since she had more experience in Lilliputian Lakes than Mateo. Mateo couldn’t stop but look out the window at the busy city. There was a Ferris Wheel along the river, an old-timey steam engine chugging through a mountain tunnel, and street vendors every five feet selling some sugary treats.

“This place looks nice,” Mateo said, looking up at the netting that draped over all of Lilliputian Lakes. It kept wildlife out, while allowing natural sunlight in. “Too bad Beth and I can’t have a date here.”

Emma snorted. “There’s no way for a human to enter Lilliputian Lakes. The entire place is sealed off, thank God. But after seeing Hazel walking around Beth’s Village half-naked … it’s kinda hot to think about, huh?”

“I’ll say. Imagine Beth using the lake as a bathtub.”

Emma moaned. “I can. What about Hazel walking around these tall buildings? God, her feet would cause this whole place to have an orgy.”

The taxi driver looked in the rear-view mirror and shook his head, not believing what he was hearing.

“I think Beth would enjoy playing Godzilla,” Mateo said. “But more like a Godzilla that helps people.”

“I’ve seen her around downsizers. That girl would flood this place with her cum if she had us all at her feet, looking up at her.”

The taxi driver nearly drove into oncoming traffic. Not the conversation he expected from a couple of high school students. He drove them to city hall. Emma paid him through her phone. Mateo and Emme felt nervous, but confident they’ll succeed. They walked up the hundred steps to the stately building and disappeared behind the mahogany doors.

Deadline

===

“Where the fuck are they?” Beth asked, pacing back and forth in her living room.

Hazel slumped at the dining table, face buried in her hands, elbows planted on the surface. Her phone was directly below her. She was waiting for a call, text, email, anything from Emma to appear. She had already fired over 20 texts and dozens of calls, but they all went ignored.

It was seven o’clock. Only an hour left in the mayor’s ultimatum. The floor plan in her apartment was one large rectangle that contained the living room and kitchen, without a wall in between. Beth paced between Tricia seated her table and the living room, while eyeing her wall clock.

Tricia sat on the couch, with Kamila in her palms, cradled next to her stomach. Her hands trembled—unnoticed by Beth and Hazel, but apparent to Kamila. Jack sat beside her with Felicia in his hands. He stared blankly across the room, desperately trying to figure something out.

“Should we call the police?” Hazel asked. Her eyes were red from crying. Being separated like this from Emma was causing gut-wrenching anxiety.

“Douchebag mayor warned me against calling the police before he hung up.” Beth rubbed her face with her right hand.

“Beth … I hate to say this,” Hazel said, “but maybe we should get the carrier ready. We still have time to gather up all the unregistered and take them back to the junkyard.”

“I can break the news to everyone,” Felicia said. “So, what if we’ll be sleeping in the junkyard tonight? You shouldn’t be fucking with the mayor, Beth. My mom and I are tiny because of him. You don’t know how powerful and well-connected that man is.”

“I’ll bring my camping supplies,” Jack said. “I’ll set up a tent and a campfire. The coyote situation might be bad, so I’ll bring my rifle.”

Beth threw up her hands. “Stop. Just stop. No one is going to the junkyard. I’m not folding to that asshat. Fuck my parents.”

“Take that back!” Felicia shouted. “Bethany Palmetto, don’t you ever talk about your parents like that. You hear?” Felicia shouted so hard she trembled.

Beth sighed. “Why? Why should I care about them suddenly?”

“They are victims of the mayor as much as my mom and I are,” Felicia said. “Your parents uncovered the mayor’s corruption with NanoHabitats. The company paid Pearson to be a puppet political figurehead under the guise of a free election. Your parents threatened to expose him. Little did they know the extent of mayor and DPS’s corruption. He had your parents shrunk. And they would’ve shrunk you too, but your dad convinced Pearson to let you go. All he had to do was pay off Pearson with every penny he had. And be under house arrest in a tiny apartment in Lilliputian Lakes forever.”

“That’s a lie,” Beth said, with a tear forming in her eyes.

“Your parents aren’t the only ones, Beth. There are many political prisoners in Lilliputian Lakes and in your village. My mom and I were shrunk when we got close to the truth. Pearson let us live in the junkyard so long as we kept our mouths shut. Blackwood, Thorne, Callahan, Sterling, and Palmetto, to name a few.”

“If you knew about this, why didn’t you tell me before!” Beth was crying but standing tall. “You recognized my name. Why didn’t you tell me!”

“Because I would’ve put you and your parents in danger. That’s how the bastard operates. Everyone keeps their mouth shut, and the world keeps spinning. Make a fuss, and you downsize and disappear. But it’s not the happy downsizing everyone thinks about, where you get to live in a mansion and sit on your ass all day. It’s the kind where you live in a rusted Buick while rattlesnakes slither around.”

“Fuck.” Beth sat down on her coffee table and buried her face in her hands. “What do I do now?”

“I’m sorry Beth,” Felicia said. “I didn’t think Pearson would give a shit about the junkyard dwellers. He doesn’t care when we starve out there or get eaten by a coyote. I didn’t think he’d care if you gave us a home. But I guess the dick wants control … the power to put people in their place.”

Beth’s phone rang. She recognized the phone number from last night. She answered it through speakerphone. “Yeah, what?” She failed at masking her wavering voice.

“Um, Beth, it’s me,” Mateo said. He sounded afraid. “Don’t be mad …” There was static on the line.

Beth closed her eyes, causing a tear to run down her cheek.

“Emma and I are okay,” Mateo said. “But Mayor Pearson decided he doesn’t want—I can’t say that.”

The gang in the apartment heard something that sounded like a slap coming across the phone’s speaker.

“Mateo!” Beth gasped.

“Hello, darling,” a man’s voice said. “You know who this is, and you know why I’m calling.”

“I’ll give you what you want. Just let Mateo and Emma go!”

“Ha! You think after this stunt you pulled, I’ll let your precious boyfriend go? No, the deal has changed.”

Goddammit. “Fine, what the hell do you want?”

“You.”

“Huh?” Everyone in the room remained silent. Kamila shook, and Tricia enclosed her protective fingers over her. “What do you mean?” Beth asked.

“I want you.” He paused. “Downsized.”

Beth couldn’t move a muscle. Her friends stole glances at each other before falling on her. Would Beth downsize? She loved being human and loved playing with downsizers more than anything in the world. Well, almost anything.

“And if the unregistered are not returned, and you’re not downsized in 12 hours, you can forget about seeing your boyfriend … or this girl—” He was referring to Emma. “—ever again.” He hung up immediately after.

After several moments of painstaking silence, Hazel asked Beth, “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know!” Beth snapped. “How the fuck did Mateo and Emma even get to Lilliputian Lakes? Why the fuck did Principal Sullivan take them from class like that?”

Tricia lifted a nervous hand. “That might be because of me.”

“What?”

“I kinda helped Mateo and Emma get on the train to Lilliputian Lakes.”

Beth got on her feet and stomped over to Tricia on the couch. She stood tall with the fury of hell within her. She balled up her hands in a fist and snarled as she spoke.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Beth asked. “You put Mateo and Emma in danger!”

“Hey, I only helped because Mateo was so sure of himself.” Tricia set Kamila on the coffee table and stood up to meet Beth in the eye, though she fell incredibly short. “I only did it to help you.”

“A lot of help you did! Now I have to fucking downsize to save everyone.”

Hazel stood up and walked up to Beth, tugging her arms. “Seriously? You’ll downsize?”

“To save Mateo and Emma? How can you even ask that? Of course.” Beth looked at Tricia through tear-soaked eyes. “I can’t believe I’ll have to live in a world where Tricia is big and I’m small.”

Tricia scowled. “I was trying to help! I don’t want Kamila going back to the junkyard, as much as you don’t want the others there, too!”

“Yeah, how’d that work out?” Beth asked. “I knew we should’ve told Sofia about what you did to her son. She would’ve downsized you and imprisoned you within an hour. Then none of this would’ve happened. You’re just a walking disaster, you know that?” Beth said in a volume louder than intended.

Tricia walked around Beth, her shoulder bumping into the tall girl. She grabbed her purse and stormed out of the apartment.

“Coward!” Beth shouted. “Just when things get difficult, she runs away. Fucking bitch.”

Kamila whimpered from the coffee table. Why didn’t she take me with her?

“Where is she going?” Jack asked.

“Doesn’t fucking matter,” Beth said. “We got work to do. I need to find a way to downsize quick. But first, we need to break the news to my village and tell them about going back to the junkyard. We can probably take some of the homes with us. Jack, what you said about camping over there is a good idea. Hazel,” Beth said, turning to the crying girl. “When I downsize, I’m signing my CoH to you.”

“Beth, you can’t downsize! There has to be another way.”

“Downsizing isn’t the end of your life,” Felicia said. She walked along the coffee table and stood beside Kamila. “We’re downsized, and still enjoying life. Thanks to you all. But something y’all are overlooking is the mayor. You think he’s gonna stop with Beth? What’s stopping him from forcing Hazel to downsize. Or Jack.”

Beth shook her head in frustration. “What should we do then?”

Tricia’s Gambit

===

Beth, Hazel, and Jack gathered everything in the living room. They had camping supplies and the large downsizer carrier ready. Felicia had explained the situation and everyone was weary of going back to the junkyard.

Harper and Ava weren’t from the junkyard, so Hazel told them she’d be taking care of them. But they would all move together, so no one got separated.

Beth was going through the motions of packing and getting everything ready but was not the least bit thrill what she had to do, to save Mateo. As she looked at all the little homes in her village, along with the little vehicles, small furniture, and little people, she wanted to break down and cry. Soon she’ll be like one of them. It wasn’t that being downsized repulsed her, but she’d rather remain big to help tiny people. She didn’t want others helping her as a downsizer.

And if the mayor intended to unregister and keep Beth around as a pseudo-prisoner, just like he did to Felicia and so many others, that would mean Beth would live in the junkyard. That can’t happen. Beth thought. Because people like Tricia could come by and snatch her up. Beth shook her head. She’ll find a way. Sofia was DPS. Surely, she could shelter her. Beth wished she could call Sofia so she could save her now, but the mayor’s threats about getting the police and DPS involved prevented her from making the phone call.

“Hello?” Beth answered her phone. An unrecognized number was dialing her.

“It’s Trish.”

“You got some fucking nerves,” Beth said.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen Lurch, don’t do anything stupid like sending your village back to the junkyard or downsizing yourself.”

“What? If I don’t, the mayor will—”

“I’ll take care of the mayor, rescue Mateo and Emma … and what the hell? I’ll rescue your mommy and daddy. Free of charge.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I shouldn’t do this for free. I want twenty bucks and a foot rub.”

Beth closed her eyes and breathed. “I don’t have time for your games!”

“No games. To prove it, why don’t you turn on the live feeds of one of the Lilliputian Lakes cameras in about twenty minutes? You’ll see what I mean. Ciao!” Tricia hung up.

-

Sofia guided Tricia through the backrooms at Lilliputian Lakes’ clinic, where humans go to get downsized. Remembering the tour Liam gave her months ago, Sofia walked through corridors and employee-only hallways towards their target. Late at night, these backrooms were empty and minimally manned by staff. Sofia and Tricia walked freely, without resistance. And since Sofia’s DPS badge gave her access to restricted areas, no one was the wiser.

Lilliputian Lakes was cut off from the outside world. Sealed with only tunnels and accesses scaled for downsizers. There was the tunnel that led to the big world that buses took to the junkyard. Several train tunnels, one being for the Puny Express, that led to the school. And finally, the tunnels from the downsize machine that led to the downsize clinic inside Lilliputian Lakes. The largest of these tunnels was five inches in diameter.

The downsize community was self-sufficient, with their own engineers, emergency crews, and government functions. There was no reason for a human to be inside Lilliputian Lakes—not like it was physically possible with all the steps taking to seal the big world off. It was a selling point of downsizing. The safety and security that some downsizers craved was never seeing a human that would remind them of their diminutive size.

Tricia told Sofia about everything going on, with emphasis that if the mayor found out the DPS knew about his ultimatum, that he would kill the hostages. So, it was imperative that Sofia and Tricia worked alone and quietly. And when Sofia learned that her little boy’s life was at stake, she quickly agreed with Tricia’s audacious plan—racing to Lilliputian Lakes to save everyone’s life.

They entered something that looked like a storage room. Many metallic shelves in the room carried cardboard boxes and shipping containers—shipping containers scaled for downsizers. The type of shipping containers that go on ships and on the back of a semi-truck. Along one wall, on the floor, was a conveyer belt, like something from an airport, that led to a square opening protected by a steel grate.

“What is this?” Tricia asked Sofia.

“It’s how humans stock Lilliputian Lakes with food, goods, and whatever else they need,” Sofia said, while she swiped her access badge on a reader. She entered a keycode which unlatched the grate to the approximate 1’x1’ square opening in the wall. “On the other side of this chute is Lilliputian Lakes.”

Tricia squatted and looked at the black hole. “How long is it?”

“I don’t know. Ten feet maybe?” There were security controls in place that prevented humans from crawling in the chute. Lasers, cameras … But Sofia shut all those down, though someone was bound to notice, so they had to act fast. “Are you sure you can get my little boy back?” Sofia asked with worry in her voice. She was anxious and held her hands together, attempting to stop them from trembling.

Tricia snorted. “Yeah. They can’t stop me once I’m inside. Are you sure you don’t want to come with?”

“I want to!” Sofia kneeled downs beside Tricia. “But I can’t fit through that.” The chute was tight, even for Tricia’s petite frame. “Once you get inside and the downsizers see you, all hell is going to break loose out here. I’ll stop anyone that comes by, but there’ll only be so much I can do. Get in there, get my baby and that asshole that’s holding him prisoner. Bring him to me! I’ll deal with him.” Sofia pointed at her chest with a flare of anger, thinking someone had the audacity of kidnapping her precious Mateo.

“Sure.”

“And Tricia … The DPS will punish you and me for doing this. I’m ready for them to dish it out on me. Are you sure you want to do this? They’ll probably downsize you and throw you in prison. I’ll try to prevent all that in my power, but a human inside Lilliputian Lakes … that’s some serious shit.”

Tricia nodded. “I know what I’m getting myself into.”

Tricia took a breath and crawled inside the chute. Her shoulders packed tightly against the metallic walls. It almost felt like she was crawling through an air duct. She shimmied her arms and legs, propelling herself forward. The rubbery sole of her flip-flops helped. Her feet hardly made it inside when she shouted back at Sofia.

“Miss Rodriguez?”

“Yes, honey?”

“I got a confession to make.” Tricia paused, feeling her heart pump so hard it rattled her head. “I’ve tortured my downsized dad for four years. I’ve eaten three downsizers, tormented Kamila, and tried to kill Mateo by stomping on him, peeing on him, and then trying to flush him down the toilet. He’s only alive because Beth saved him in time.”

Sofia’s expression dropped. It took several cycles for her mind to comprehend what Tricia had just said.

“I will save Mateo’s life and stop the mayor. But I think you should know I’m not a good person. When I come back, I’ll be ready to face the music.”

“Tricia, you did what to Mateo?” Sofia snarled, yelling so loud the metal walls in the chute vibrated.

“I tried killing him. But I promise I’ll try my best to save him and everyone. You have every right to be angry with me.” Tricia continued crawling while Sofia shouted to her. It felt good to finally get that off her chest.

Tricia made it to the other end of the opening and came to two sliding doors. But because it was on the downsizer-side, it was flimsy and weak against Tricia. She opened the sliding doors using her nose and then crawled the rest of the way through. She got on her hands and knees before standing up straight.

Tricia almost lost her balance from the shift in perspective. It felt like she had just stepped into a scale-model railroad set. It looked like she was in a loading yard. Large area paved with grayish concrete, adjacent to a warehouse that was equivalent to a twin-size mattress. Over two dozen electric semi-trucks were parked against the warehouse.

Surrounding the loading yard was a tiny forest, with trees that were less than a foot tall. Tricia took one step, her flip-flops slapping against her soft soles. Workers in high-visibility vests were the first to see Tricia. They dropped their clipboards, and their hard-hats fell out of their heads as they shouted at others and ran inside the warehouse. Some electric semi-trucks bolted out of there.

Although it was nighttime, there was enough illumination from the city lights to expose her presence. She was at the edge of Lilliputian Lakes and had to trek to the dead center to make it to city hall.

She smirked. This was going to be like a walk in the park.