Downsizing: Capsized by MXP

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Drew – Petals

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I woke up on day two of my island adventure with the yellow morning sun shining on my face. The sound of the constant ocean waves and chattering from other people took me out of my deep sleep. I yawned and rubbed my face, feeling the buildup of sea salt drying my skin. I had a crick in my neck and my body ached.

The beach was alive with people doing all sorts of stuff. Some were getting water, others were at the tree line scavenging, while the giant woman slept a couple hundred yards from where I stood. I saw the giant man pouring water for us and then rummaging in bags by the discarded orange raft. The blonde giantess with the short shorts was nowhere to be found.

A yawn from the giantess grabbed my attention. She stretched her limbs, hands balled into fists and toes curled. Her heels dug into the sand, excavating the beach sand into long canals. I could sense the mood changing in some people as the giantess started to wake.

I took my morning piss in a bush near the beach before making my way to the water trough. There were a few of us drinking from the lid when the water rippled. We moved our heads away in time for the giantess to grab the lid from us while we drank. “My turn,” she said before downing all the water the four of us were drinking from. She put the lid back down, empty. I got enough water, but I could’ve drunk some more had she not swallowed everything. I looked up at her but only saw her backside because she was already walking away from us.

The muscles in her legs tensed and then relaxed with every step she took. I could see the many strands of muscle fiber working in concert to make such a simple thing like walking a reality. Her thighs and ass were super big. Her jean shorts were made of that stretchy material, and I think they were past their limits. She was scary hot to me.

-

“What’s your name?” a man with a beard and balding head asked. I’d never seen him before—not like I’d recognized anyone else on this damn island.

“Um, Drew.”

“Make yourself useful, Drew. We’re building huts before the rain comes back. We need palm leaves and bamboo. Stack them over here.” The man was tall and probably twice my age. He gave me a list of instructions and asked me to help where I can.

I wasn’t exactly a big guy myself. Even the young bamboo had more girth than my arms. I helped anyway since it took my mind off things. Also, it was nice seeing people come together. I grabbed a couple of bamboo stalks and moved them close to the builders. The weight of the bamboo felt like it weighed a ton in my fucking noodle arms. That leader guy would’ve kicked me off the team if he saw me struggling with the bamboo stalks.

Some of the people building the huts were so smart, I wish I thought of half the stuff they did. They grabbed stones, sharpened them, or chipped them against other stones, and then used those to chop the bamboo. Others were stripping palm leaves and using the fibers as strings. Some made tools, others tied the bamboo to other pieces using the palm fibers.

There was a ton of work to do, but with everyone pitching in, we made a lot of progress. I guess most people wanted to help instead of sitting around doing nothing and hoping for rescue. The work also helped take our minds off food. I’m not much of an eater, but even I was starving.

I was kinda annoyed by the giants. The blonde giantess just straight up disappeared. The giant man was still dicking around with the containers, the raft, and the bags. And the dark-skinned giantess just lounged on the beach. She rested her head against a hill, one leg bent with the sole of her right foot on the sand. Her left leg was crossed over, resting on her right knee, with her foot gently swaying back and forth. I can’t imagine it would take that much energy for her to rip out a forest of bamboo and stack it for us. Hell, she could probably build a hut faster than the fifty of us combined in half the time. Why wasn’t she helping us? If I had an ounce of bravery, I probably would’ve asked. But no way she’d give someone weak like me a second thought.

I went back to work while she just lay there in the sand, relaxing with her eyes closed.

-

“Look at the rich college boy playing survivor!”

I’ve been helping with the construction all morning. I found lugging the bamboo from the cutters to the construction site as my niche. That’s how I contributed, even though I got winded with every trip I took. It got warm and most of us went shirtless.

“I bet the heaviest thing you’ve ever lifted was yo mama's dildo!”

I rolled my eyes. There were these three big dudes laughing at me. They weren’t part of the impromptu construction crew. Their clothes were weathered, with sleeves torn off to display their huge arms. The one taunting me was in the middle and the largest.

I ignored them and continued working. At least I was being productive, unlike them and the others. I grabbed a few stalks and lifted them. They snickered and jabbed each other in the shoulders as they watched me. I tripped over an exposed tree root and dropped the bamboo all over the place. My bare chest landed in the mud, soiling me up rather good. They laughed at me and called me more names. I don’t know what I did to deserve that. Without looking at them, I just raced out of there, ditching my job. They just laughed harder.

-

During a break, I sat on a fallen tree trunk and watched the giantess relaxing on the beach. There were some hot chicks among the survivors, but none were as hot as the giantess. Her figure was like … wow. I mean, mathematically perfect or something. The ratio of her waist to her hips was probably some golden number they’d teach us in math or art. Her boobs were like hills that didn’t sag or care about gravity, even though she was on her back. Her orange patterned bikini worked hard to hold what I assumed were perfect tits.

Every once in a while, I saw one or two groups of people walking up to the giantess to say something out of reach of my ears. Their reactions surprised me. Some of them seemed really scared talking to the giantess. Others treated her like she was royalty with head bows and stuff. I was new to being a downsizer, and I didn’t know jack shit about anything. I wondered if I got downsized like normal, through a company, if they would’ve given us training on downsizer etiquette. Do I have to bow when speaking to a human?

-

The giant man brought the lid of water close to our construction site and filled it with water from the giant thermos. While still squatting over us, he complimented us on our work and asked if he could help. Before our crew leader could respond to the giant, the structure behind him vibrated as the giantess came walking up beside the giant.

“I’m hungry,” she said.

Still squatting, the giant pulled out a protein bar from his pocket and held it up to her. She had her arms crossed and stared down at him, making no attempt to grab the bar.

I felt so small then. These behemoths took up the entire sky and could easily overpower all of us if they wanted to. I took a step back and hid myself behind someone bigger than me—which they all were. With the giantess seizing the attention from the giant, we, the tiny people, felt forgotten, like we had no place to talk or even interrupt them. We stood silent as the giant got up and spoke to the giantess eye-to-eye.

“It’s all we got,” he said to her in an even tone.

“C’mon Seb, I want something fresh,” she said, taking the bar from Seb’s hand and holding it in front of him with disgust. “Not these dried-out, chalky pieces of crap.”

“Fleur, it’s our only food source.”

She shook her head. “That blonde girlie mentioned boars yesterday. Can’t you go snatch some of them up and barbecue them for us?”

He snickered. “Didn’t you say the downsizers should hunt for their own food? What’s stopping me from saying that to you?”

“Oh, that!” she said in a dismissive tone. She shifted her weight to one leg and swayed her hips while she cocked her head. “Listen … I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting. When I get hungry, I get—”

“Hangry?” he answered for her.

“Exactly!” She reached out and grabbed his hand. She played with his fingers as she spoke. “I bet you can go out there and snatch a hundred boars in a second. And not just for me … the tiny people could use some fresh food, too.”

“You mean ‘downsizers,’ right?”

“From where I’m standing, they are tiny people, and we are giants.” Her hand traveled up his arms and gave him a squeeze on the biceps. “Big giants.”

He took a breath. “Okay, maybe you’re right.” He looked down at us. “… about me hunting for some food. So, listen, I can’t go out there to cull every boar on the island. Like Kiernan said, we need to hunt the bare minimum, so we don’t wipe them out and keep their population healthy.”

It was hard to see from my angle, but I could see Fleur giving him a smirk. “Okay, fine. But a boar would feed like, what, twenty of them? How big are they?”

Seb held his thumb and index finger about an inch apart (in his perspective). “Yay big, I assume.”

“Shit. That’s smaller than a fucking chicken nugget. Okay, gimme like seven or eight of them.”

Seb sighed.

“Or whatever!” Her hand went from his biceps to his upper back. She took a step closer, her body pushing up against his. “I trust you’ll provide for all of us. You’ve been so capable since we washed up here.” Her other hand patted his hard chest.

I couldn't help but cringe by watching the whole thing. Was every guy this transparent, or did Seb just have the sucky disadvantage of being the size of a building to us? Guy's body language was so obvious, I’m sure Fleur picked up on it. I don’t know if I could blame him. If some hot girl touched me like that, I'd probably short-circuit completely. He actually played it pretty cool with Fleur’s fingers dancing around his chest—At least I thought that until I saw the bulge in his shorts twitch.

While those two had their moment, all of us on the ground kinda paused with everything we were doing. Their feet were right in front of us, and their enormous bodies cast a long shadow over us. Not like it was our place to speak out, anyway. Fleur convincing Seb to get some meat did sound enticing. I secretly hoped he’d listen to her. The thought of pork chops for dinner made my mouth water.

“Alright, I’ll get out there and see what I can find.”

“Great!” Fleur got on her tippy toes and pushed herself into him, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a deep hug. To me, they seemed to be the same height. “Getting stranded on this fucking island blows, but I’m so lucky you’re here with me.” She didn’t break the hug. She kept pushing her soft tits into Seb’s rock-hard pecs. “You do this for us, and I’ll reward you! How’s that sound?”

“I’m not doing this for a reward.” He gently broke away from Fleur’s amorous arms. He looked down on the ground and watched where he planted his feet as he stepped back. “But maybe you can help them out while I’m gone?”

I laughed to myself. He might’ve said he didn’t want a reward, but the bulge in his shorts, bigger than before, said otherwise. And even though I laughed at his little public display of affection for Fleur, I felt really fucking tiny for more than one reason.

“Of course!” Fleur said. “I’ll take good care of them!” She looked down at us with a smirk that seemed two-faced to me.

Seb watched his step as he grabbed his supplies from the beach and then trekked into the jungle. We felt his booming steps disappear the further out he went, leaving us just with Fleur for the first time. I felt a little optimistic that Fleur was going to help us instead of lounging on the beach. She promised Seb, after all. And with the promise of having some barbecue later on, I was actually looking forward to the rest of the day.

“Why are you tinies playing with twigs and leaves?” She lifted her foot and brought it over our heads, causing us to run out from under it. She didn’t set her foot down, but her big toe did knock into the main hut we were building. The entire thing fell like a house of cards. “Oops.”

I ran and hid behind the trunk of a tree.

“Pretty fucking puny.” She set her foot back down while everyone scattered. “What’s even the purpose of that little shit shack?”

“What the hell?” the leader of the crew shouted. “We were—”

Fleur shot him a glare that was enough to make him shut up and buckle. She didn’t threaten us or even make a move, but my heart skipped a beat, and I was suddenly terrified. Maybe Seb shouldn’t have left.

“That’s what I thought,” she said, squatting lower. She tossed back a couple of her long dreadlocks over her shoulder and looked at us like she was looking for someone. “If I point to you, you’re coming with me to a meeting.”

She started pointing at people and said, “You” in a stern voice, like from a professor or something. I think she pointed out twenty of us, both on the construction site surrounded by green grass and a few people on the beach. When she looked at me hiding behind a tree, I thought I was going to shit a brick, but thank God she didn’t care about me and kept moving on.

-

Fleur had left to have her meeting with those people she picked out some time ago. Me and others went back to fixing the hut, this time putting more supports so that walls wouldn’t topple so easily. We were never going to make it giantess-proof, but seeing how easily it fell over, the leader of the construction team wanted to brace it more.

It got warm, but thankfully we had some clouds moving overhead that blocked most of the sun. While walking over the cutters, I kinda just kept walking. I was so tired and needed to lie down for a minute or so to get some energy.

When Fleur asked for a meeting with those downsizers she picked, she made them walk down the beach and around a bend, behind a small mountain. Well, small to her. The mountain was maybe 200 feet tall like her. She went ahead while the gaggle of people she pointed at followed her footprints in the sand.

I stuck to the tree line and mindlessly walked in the same direction they did. My intentions weren’t to spy on them, but the closer I got, the more curious I became. When I came close to the mountain, I heard the first screams. I ducked down behind a bush and felt my heart pounding in my chest. That scream wasn’t a normal scream.

I heard it again. Blood-curdling, like someone was getting tortured. Fleur’s gigantic voice came around the bend in a mumble and indiscernible to me. There was another scream, this one from someone else. Then silence.

Only the sounds of the waves and ocean water lapping in valleys created by beach sand filled my ears. Birds wailed their calls and the wind rustling the palms and leaves around me were all I heard after the two distinct screams stopped. I felt like I was in danger.

My body kinda just took over. I ran out of there, sticking to the jungle and not daring to be out in the open on the beach. In a few minutes, I reached the chopping crew, working at clearing away a grove of bamboo and palm trees. Everyone ignored me as I sat down on a rock and grabbed my bare chest. Those screams sounded so awful.

In my head, I kept repeating that I heard nothing and that nothing happened. Just one of those weird island phenomena that can happen. Like an entire island shrinking or a storm causing everything to grow, except an island. I rubbed my head with my hands. I didn’t know what the fuck was going. Maybe this was like The Truman Show and I didn’t get downsized. It’s been a trick this entire time to think I’m small.

Then what about the fucking giants!

My hands were shaking as I grabbed two bamboo stalks. What the fuck did Fleur do to those people? Everything around me was so real. The earth under my feet, the trees, the pebbles, the birds, the waves—nothing’s changed since they downsized me.

I looked at the people around me as I walked back to the hut’s construction site with the bamboo in my arms. All the strangers on this island still weirded me out. I didn’t get it—one minute on vacation at a five-star resort, the next … this. I could only remember bits and pieces. Like the faces and voices of people were all a blur and lingered like fog in my brain. Nothing made sense. Why did I feel like these people were strangers but familiar at the same time?

I tossed the bamboo near the other workers and turned to grab more when I bumped into someone. My eyes went big when I saw her.

“You should watch where you’re going,” she said, carrying a tool in her hand. It looked like an axe made from a branch and rock. “Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I recognized her, but I didn’t know from where. She looked like a worker from the resort that worked at the lobby. She even looked like a flight attendant from my plane ride to Mexico. Or the woman that was in the glass cage with me. But she could’ve also been the giant standing outside the cage with the others. All I can say is that I recognized her from somewhere.

How could I forget someone like her? Olive skin that was either Latina, Italian, or even Greek. She had black hair that flowed messily behind her head. Narrow face with great, big teal eyes. Even though she was petite, I felt like she had more muscle than I did.

“I don’t know,” I said, forgetting the question.

“You don’t know if you haven’t seen a ghost?”

“I-I …” I lost the ability to talk.

“Leave da boy alone,” an older man said behind her.

“Hang on, Jean-Claude.” She moved so her back was to him. In a quieter voice, she asked, “Have we met?”

“I …” I shook my head. “Don’t think so.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“Lucia, let’s go.”

“Fucking Christ, just give me a sec,” she said without turning her head and keeping her eyes locked on me. “Did you see something you weren’t supposed to see?”

I think I flinched and made it too obvious that I did. But there was no way I’d tell this woman anything about Fleur and that scream I heard. I shook my head to answer no. She gave me a half-smirk like she wasn’t buying it.

“I know you’re fucking lying to me,” Lucia said. “I’m going to let you off easy today because I’m busy. But if I run into you again, and you lie to my fucking face again, I’ll gut you like a fish.” She twisted the makeshift tool in her hand in front of my eyes.

She scared the crap out of me. I don’t know if Fleur or Lucia was worse. I wasn’t able to say anything or even look in her big eyes. My throat felt dry, and my vision was a little watery. I nodded and hoped she’d go away.

Lucia leaned into me and whispered something in my ear that only I could hear and that Jean-Claude couldn’t. My eyes looked at Lucia as she pulled back with a little hope this time. I nodded. She gave me a wink before turning back to Jean-Claude and yelling something at him.

-

Later on, the people who went to Fleur’s special meeting on the other side of the beach returned. They all had different looks on their faces. Some looked shocked like I was when I heard the screams. Others were unconcerned. That guy that was making fun of me earlier was walking towards the front with his two friends. They were laughing and didn’t seem like they had a worry in the world.

I guess I was looking at him a little too hard, because he elbowed his buddy and pointed at me. Fuck, I sighed to myself. As they walked up to me, I looked for a way to get out of there or maybe someone to hide behind. But I was stupidly out in front of the construction site with no one around me.

“Still playing with sticks, college boy?” the big dude asked.

I didn’t answer him right away. “Yeah.” I just wanted him to go away.

“Look at their little house, Rhett,” one of the goons said to the big man.

“Looks nice, college boy,” Rhett said. “Making it big enough for all of us?”

“Not yet,” I said. “We’re going to build many more. But if you need a place to sleep, the downsize transport is still—”

“Goddamn beach is more comfortable than that cramped shit,” Rhett said. “I want a house with an ocean view.” His buddies laughed along with him.

I nodded, ignored him, and walked away. I didn’t get far.

“You hear me, college boy?” Rhett asked, pulling my shoulder back. “Build me a house.”

“Leave me alone!” I blurted.

“Da fuck you say?”

“I don’t build houses.” My voice shook as I spoke, and I hated it. I tried to sound confident, but it didn’t come off like that. “I help move the bamboo.”

“Don’t give a fuck,” Rhett said. “I told you to build me a house on the beach.”

Guy didn’t even know about that proverb about building on the sand. “Ask someone else.”

He didn’t like that. Rhett shoved me on my shoulders. It felt like a bus hit me, and I went to the ground hard. His buddies laughed while the other downsizers working at the construction site stopped to watch. But nobody bothered helping or telling Rhett off. I was there by myself.

“What’s your problem?” I felt like an idiot talking back to him. Even trying to sound tough, I think I came off as a whiny kid.

“My problem is you, bitch. I told you to make me house—Did it sound like I was fucking asking? Huh? College boy? Use your smarts to build me a house real quick. I want a window, a bed, three rooms—”

“I’m not doing that!” I got back up to my feet.

“Yes, you are!” Rhett shoved me again.

I looked around. People just looked away like it wasn’t their problem. I probably weighed 150 pounds soaking wet going against someone that was around 220 made up of muscle and fat. Was nobody really going to help? Were they not concerned at all? Rhett’s buddies kept egging him on, snickering and pointing at me.

Maybe the stress was finally catching up to me, or maybe I was dying of thirst, but I just couldn’t take it anymore. I jumped up and shoved Rhett as hard as I could. My stupid little arms almost broke trying to push this huge dude. But I did surprise him. He stumbled back a couple of steps and had a look of shock. More because I chose to fight back.

“Piece of shit,” he said. His friends busted his balls for getting shoved back like he did.

I made fists with my hands—not like they’d do anything—but it was more for show and made me feel prepared. I braced myself as Rhett took a step forward. No matter how hard I tried bracing myself, his next shove threw me to the ground hard. My ass hit so hard I thought I broke my tailbone. Rhett’s friends jeered at me, encouraging me to fight back. Getting back up to my feet, I repeated the same move from before, but because Rhett expected it, he stood still like an unmovable boulder. He shoved me, and I went flying.

Nobody flinched or even bothered to tell Rhett to back off. But they stood in a circle around us to witness the fight.

I was about to get back up and try to make myself stand against this unwinnable fight when someone a lot scarier than Rhett appeared.

“The hell is going on here?”

The voice came from heaven above. Fleur hovered over us like a blimp, her dark skin contrasting against the light gray clouds hovering low overhead. Finally, I thought to myself. Fleur seemed like the type to have a low tolerance for this type of stuff. Once she saw this dude picking on me, she’d put him in his place.

Oh, how stupid I was.

“He’s shoving me because I won’t build a house!” Even I cringed after speaking those words. I straight up sounded like a kid tattle-telling to a teacher on a playground. But at the time, I didn’t care how I sounded. I just wanted Rhett fucked up by the giantess. That’s why I was surprised by Fleur’s next move.

Her giant pointer finger came and pinned my chest to the ground. If I had a full bladder, I would’ve wet my pants. I grabbed her finger near her nails. They were wider than a barstool and put so much weight on me, it might as well have been a fucking car. I shoved her finger and even pounded on them with my fist.

“The fuck are you doing, causing trouble?”

I could feel Fleur’s voice vibrate through her finger and blur my vision with each powerful word she said. I stopped fighting and just looked up at her, like a bug giving up on a spiderweb when they knew there was no chance of escaping.

Rhett laughed. “Just having fun,” he said to the giantess. “Ain’t that right, college boy?”

I nodded.

“Looked like a fucking fight.” Her eyes pierced me like daggers.

“He was fighting,” Rhett said. “But it ain’t nothin’ I can’t handle.”

“Goddammit,” Fleur said. “I don’t have time for this shit.” She eyed all the downsizers. “I don’t care what y’all do, like building with twigs in the dirt or whatever, but don’t fucking fight.” She eyed me with those last words. “Next one that fights, fights with me. And I won’t go easy because of how big I am.”

She released her finger from me. I looked down and saw this huge red impression on my chest where she pressed into me. Looking back up at her, I saw that she never took her disappointed look off me.

“I got my eye on you,” she said. “Little piece of shit.” She rose up to her full height and threw her dreads back before sauntering off to the raft, scavenging for something.

Rhett and his buddies laughed hard. Everyone else seemed petrified after encountering Fleur like that, but Rhett and a few others didn’t seem to give a fuck. Rhett grabbed my arm and helped me up to my feet roughly.

“About that house,” he said, shoving me to the side, so I got a view of the beach. “I want a view of that big ass.” He referred to Fleur as she hunkered over the supplies. Her jean shorts looked like they were about ready to burst. “I want my view to be on her ass all the time. You can make that work, huh, college boy?”

I glared at him.

“I’ll get her back here,” he said with a laugh. “Tell her you’ve been fighting again if you don’t start building right now. Fuck, I might do it anyway. I want to see you fight against her pinkie toe and lose.” He and his friends burst into laughter.

Rhett shoved my weak ass to the ground again and walked away with his friends, laughing and taunting me the entire time. They asked the other people gawking at them if they had anything to say. Those cowards turned around and went back to building the hut. A bunch of bitches. I had no business being in a fight, but at least I tried. Not like Rhett could take on all of them!

-

I didn’t give a shit about helping any more. If they weren’t going to help me, why should I help them? Fuck ‘em. I sat under a palm and looked at the ocean waves by myself. It was a beautiful island with picture-perfect beaches. The sand was super soft and almost white. The ocean near the shore was turquoise before turning into a deep dark blue that matched the sky.

The clouds moved fast, and I wondered if the storm that grounded all flights was still lingering around. Could explain why we haven’t seen any attempts at rescue. I guess building those huts was a smart thing to do. But I wouldn’t be caught dead sharing space with the other survivors. I’d rather be by myself or sleep in the seats of the downsize transport container.

While I still steamed about my fight earlier, the giant, Seb, came back to the beach with his haul. His palms were full of lifeless boars. He set them in a pile on the beach and sat down. Slowly, other downsizers came out from the tree line to greet him. They got to work, creating a fire, while more experienced dudes went up to the boars to skin and cook them.

I nearly threw up when I saw them stick a knife through the belly of the boars and slice them open. My head turned to the side in time to see Fleur’s gigantic legs in my view, walking through the beach. Her shapely legs were so unreal to me. A creamy chocolate river with thighs spilling into the banks with every flex they took.

I balled my hands into a fist. I fucking hated Rhett. Because of him, Fleur thought I was some fight-provoking dipshit. I was standing up for myself! But not like that mattered. Fleur saw things wrong, and it pissed me off so much that Rhett was getting away with this … this injustice!

“When will they be ready?” Fleur asked the seated giant.

Seb was sticking the boars through bamboo stalks to make a spit roast out of them, but it looked like he had a kebab skewer in his hand.

“It’ll be a while. Maybe an hour-ish to cook them all slowly and thoroughly.”

“Okay. Come get me when they’re done.” She turned to walk away.

“You can help, y’know?”

“Some other time,” she said without turning her head.

I locked up when I noticed Fleur walking right toward me. I thought about running, but I was so scared to get caught staring that I hid behind the palm with my back against it instead. Fleur’s booming steps became louder and more pronounced. I could hear tons of sand getting kicked up by each step and the palm leaves rattling like they were in a storm. Coconuts fell around me when suddenly Fleur’s bare foot landed beside me, taking out two trees that provided me with shade earlier. I saw the inside of her arch tense and her toes flex, balancing herself during her step, tiny movements I’m sure all people do without thought, but amplified to me.

As quickly as she decimated the trees next to me, her foot was gone. Already halfway through another step deeper into the jungle. Dust and tiny splinters of trees floated up my nose and made me sneeze; it also stung my eyes and made them water. Once I overcame the aftereffects of Fleur’s footstep, then came my realization that I almost got stepped on without a notice.

I slid down the palm tree on my back until I was seated again and shook for five minutes straight. The flattened ground next to me could’ve easily been me if Fleur had walked a slightly different path.

Looking over my shoulder, I could see Seb working multiple bonfires and little people around him cooking all that pork. Some of the smell made it to me, causing my stomach to gurgle in hunger. But I looked over at the path Fleur walked. She wasn’t too far from me.

-

I caught up to her. Looked like Fleur took a shortcut to her beach where she had held her meeting earlier. It provided her with a lot of privacy, even though she was close to the main area we’d been settling in. A mountain that grew from the sandy beach made it so that anyone walking around this bend had to walk through this narrow strip of sand out in the open. The mountain itself was rocky, with only grass and bushes growing on it. I slithered my way around the mountain instead of walking the beach.

Why?

Well, I wanted to talk to Fleur, for one. Secondly, I wanted to make sure I caught her at a good time. I didn’t want to disturb her if she was busy with something …

I heard Fleur giggling. I thought to myself, Whoa. She actually has a soft side. I really wanted to tell her about the fight earlier. Let her know it was some punk ass named Rhett that started the whole thing. I’m not a bad dude, and I was only helping others build bamboo shelters when Rhett demanded I build an impossible home for him.

“Stop it!” she said with another flurry of giggles. She was talking to … someone. “Just because you’re downsized now doesn’t mean we can’t have fun like before.”

“I ain’t downsized. You upsized! Look at this fucking island.”

I recognized that voice. My gut sank as I realized who Fleur was talking intimately to. I low crawled through the grass on the slope of the mountain so I could reach the other side and get a better look at things.

Fleur sat on the beach with her back to the ocean and her legs extended out towards the island. From my angle, I could see the soles of her feet, her legs crossed the ankles. Green stains and reddish dirt covered her feet. I shivered again, thinking about her feet and how close they were to killing me. They just swayed there like a normal body part—but they were an instrument of death to me and the others.

On Fleur’s knees was the last person I wanted to see.

“Don’t be a baby, honey,” Fleur said. “You used to say how much you wished ‘it was you’ going completely inside me back then.”

“That was a joke,” Rhett said. “And besides, seeing what your pussy can do to ‘em put me off.”

“You’re missing the bigger picture,” Fleur said. “I had a lot of fun!”

Rhett sighed.

“C’mon, I didn’t play nice with them. You, on the other hand, are my boyfriend. I won’t be so rough with you.”

“We gotta do this now?” Rhett held out his arms. “Aren’t you waiting on that doofus to make you some barbeque?”

“My snacks from earlier helped cut down on my hunger,” she said, patting her bare belly.

My imagination ran wild. No human had ever … done something like. … Humans don’t kill downsizers like that. They don’t. I’ve never heard of that. I was shaking a lot thinking about the screams from earlier while watching Fleur lick her lips and pat her stomach. Rhett sat on her knee and didn’t seem the least bit disturbed by what she said. I mean, from what I could tell by the back of his head.

“Fine,” Rhett said. “We fuck and then go grab something to eat. I’m fucking starving.”

I lost my footing on the mountain under loose rocks, and when I tried to stop myself from sliding with the dirt and rocks, I kicked my foot into the slope, loosening even more stones. It was a cascading avalanche effect. The more I tried to suppress all the tumbling rocks, the more alive the mountain became with shit rolling down. It was only a matter of seconds before they’d noticed all the noise.

“The fuck is that?” Rhett yelled, turning around.

I looked up in time to see Fleur locking eyes with me. I couldn’t tell if she was angry or amused. She just had this blank stare. At least she didn’t seem startled or embarrassed or anything.

“Oh, shit,” Rhett said, “it’s college boy!” He laughed. “The fuck are you doing spying on us? Come over here!”

I couldn’t stop sliding until I reached the bottom of the mountain, about ten feet down. With a roll, I jumped to my feet and brushed all the dirt and sand from my bare chest. Rhett was still yelling at me. Surprisingly, Fleur just sat back and watched.

“I-I’m coming.”

Well, my plans on reconciling things with Fleur were shot to hell. Even if I managed to get my side of the story out, would she listen to me or her boyfriend? I was like twenty feet from Fleur’s feet when Rhett started shouting down at me again while standing on his giant girlfriend’s knee.

“You’re so fucked!” Rhett yelled. “Spying on us? What were you hoping to catch, college boy?”

“Not much,” Fleur said to Rhett, cocking her head to the side. “Not with you limp-dicking and scared of going inside me.”

“What the fuck?” Rhett shouted before turning to Fleur. “I ain’t fucking limp-dicking. Just ‘cause I don’t want to enter your fish-smelling hole—”

“Excuse me!”

God! Her voice was like thunder, making my lungs feel weird as the pressure in the air altered from her shout. I was shaking, I’ll admit. Fleur was scaring me the more I spent time around her. Her feet crushing trees like they were dandelions, her shoving her finger into my chest, breaking the hut with her toes … that fucking comment about having snacks. Humans aren’t allowed to hurt downsizers. Who was she? Was she not afraid of the laws?

“Rhett, you better watch your fucking mouth,” she said, punching the air with each word she said.

He blew her off with a wave of his hand. “You know what I mean.” He then looked down at me. “This is the motherfucker that tried fighting me. He knows too much, babe. Waste his ass.”

I felt the blood drain out of me. My heart thumped so hard in my chest that I twitched with every beat. My eyes pried away from Rhett and looked over at Fleur. Oddly, she wasn’t looking at me. Her eyes squinted as she focused hard on her tiny boyfriend that stood on her kneecap.

“You don’t tell me what to do,” Fleur said, holding up a finger as she talked. “You never, not before, not now, ever tell me what the fuck to do.”

“Fleur, honey, he knows about us. That can’t get out. Fucking kill him already.”

“Rhett, shut the fuck up now before I rip your jaw off.” Her body moved as she spoke. If it wasn’t for the seriousness of the moment, I would’ve laughed because of how awkward it was for Rhett to balance on her kneecap as she admonished him. “I’m not your motherfucking executioner. You don’t tell me who to kill or not. Fuck you.”

“Baby, I’m sor—”

“Shut the fuck up,” she said with tensed up lips. She then looked down at me. “You. The fuck are you doing here?”

“I …” I was so scared. She was going to kill me. I just knew it. “I w-wanted to explain what happened e-earlier. About the fight.” I looked at Rhett, who was turning a shade of red.

“Okay,” Fleur said, “explain.”

“I-I was only trying to hold my g-ground. Rhett was shoving me and making me build a house for him.”

Fleur rolled her eyes. “And what? Why are you telling me this?”

“I don’t want you to think I’m a bad person. I-I don’t start fights.”

“Yeah, I can kinda fucking tell.” She looked bored. “Okay, what else?”

“Um, that’s it.”

She snickered. “You came here just for that?”

I could see Rhett biting his tongue. He just wanted to yell something at her. Probably to ask Fleur to kill me. But after that last outburst from her, I doubt he wanted to push it.

“Why do you care if I knew you didn’t start the fight,” she asked. “I know Rhett. I know his punk-ass started it.”

“It’s just … I don’t want you to think I’m bad.”

“Oh, brother,” Rhett said.

That got Fleur pissed off instantly. She spread her legs and then clapped them together. The slap from tons of leg fat and muscle sounded like a swimming pool's worth of gelatin colliding with itself. Rhett fell backwards and then he was gone from my view, but I knew he was stuck between her thighs somewhere.

“Well, that’s sweet of you,” Fleur said. “But I really don’t give a fuck about you. I forgot you even existed until right now.”

I nodded. “Okay. I’m sorry to disturb you.” I was hoping she’d let me off with a warning and that I could walk out of there.

“Where are you going?”

“Um, back to the camp.”

She laughed. “No, you’re not.”

“I’m not?”

“Get in my pocket.” She pointed at the left pocket of her jean shorts.

“Your pocket?”

She forced a smile and tilted her head down. “I’m doing you the biggest favor of your life, by letting you live and breathe right now. If I have to repeat myself or wait on you, let me tell you right now that I won’t give you any warnings or second chances. You will disappear and not survive … me. You don’t know me well, so that’s why I’m giving you this courtesy. Now then … crawl into my fucking pocket, you scrawny little shit.”

I was hyperventilating. I almost lost balance as I absorbed her words. Not knowing if I was even allowed to verbally acknowledge, I nodded and sped walked towards her hips. Her shorts were half a football field away from me. I walked up to her foot and looked down the length of her polished marble smooth legs.

Her body was so big that even her shins soar above my head. Walking alongside her legs was like walking alongside a naval submarine. Thick and deadly. I grew more anxious and downright delirious the closer I got to her hips. The only reason I moved forward was because of my baser instinct to live.

At her hips, I looked up at the opening of her pocket. She made zero attempts to open it or even give me a lift. Past her hips, I could see her staring down at me, just waiting for me to slip up so she could fulfill her promise of “disappearing” me.

I grabbed her jeans and lifted myself up. Through the shorts, I could feel her radiating heat and smell her unique scent. There was no time to admire her body, as I felt her patience waning. I threw my body forward and crawled inside the pocket. Even my tiny self had issues squeezing into her tight shorts.

As I crawled inside the pocket, I could feel her upper thigh under my hands, separated by a thin layer of cotton. Her thigh was strong, but taut, like an expensive leather couch cushion that is welcoming but firm. My feet kicked and pushed me deeper into the pocket. My head didn’t have room to move. My left cheek rubbed against her thigh, while my right was against the stretchy shorts. I stopped moving when I was completely inside the pocket of her shorts. I could already tell it was going to be hot inside my new home for … How long did she want me in here?

There was movement and a new sound. Her zipper came undone and sounded like a mattress getting torn apart.

“Baby, I’m sorry!” Rhett yelled.

My prison in the pocket loosened up as I felt her shorts traveling down her leg a bit. I used the opportunity to shift my body around so that my head looked out the opening of the pocket. I caught the briefest glimpses as Rhett dangled between her fingers.

“Tiny dildos don’t talk,” she said.

Rhett’s scream was brief. It was soon replaced by sloshing and slick sounds as Fleur shoved her boyfriend inside her. Then there were the moans.

I don’t know what Rhett was talking about. It didn’t smell like fish to me.