it was too late to run. The guy who shrank her stepped on her like he didn’t even know she was there; the foot fell with a terrifying speed, smashing Katya into the sand, sending her sprawling on her back once again. Screaming and crying, she felt the immense weight lift off her, but she barely had time to turn when another foot hungrily smashed her into the sand mounds. Absurdly, she noted the difference in smell and weight. The foot twisted on top of her, crushing her deeper into the ground, and she felt like she should have died a thousand times by then - but, miraculously, she didn’t.

He stepped off. There was another one coming. The heel of his foot landed on her back and she whimpered like a wounded dog. Sand was everywhere, and some of it had drops of her blood on it. As this man stepped off, she was thrown around a bit more, and ultimately ended face-up. She had a moment to herself then. Strangely, despite the pain, her limbs felt functional… just sore, badly so, more sore, than she’d ever felt before. The sand was a wonderful cushion.

“Please…” she said, looking up into the big blue sky. This had to be the end of it. They walked off. It was over. It had to be over. Now she just had to find…

And then he appeared; a fourth one, another jock, darker-skinned and leaner, and his skin was glistening with droplets of water, and his hair was wet, and a pair of swimming goggles was up on his forehead… he was swimming, Katya realized, and now he was following them, their friend, and oh no

A sand-covered sole appeared right above her, and it slammed into her, once again almost squashing her flat but not quite.

And then it rose back into the air, except it took Katya with itself, plastered to the sole with the wet sand. The world became the most insane roller coaster for a while as she went up and down, repeatedly plunged into the hot dry sand, compressed, smothered, utterly dehumanized, a bug stuck to someone’s sole. She wanted to die. Anything to stop this.

But the man stopped, eventually, and then the pressure relented as he sat down. He shook his feet, and Katya came off along with the quickly drying sand. She fell in a heap, not broken, but worn out and mentally empty. She curled up as she lay there, her mind blank, silent tears making shiny ribbons on her cheeks.

But then, she felt a nudge.

She rolled to the side, her thoughts racing again.

The last man to step on her still was there, and she was at his feet, and it was his toe he nudged her with. The others were there, in the neighboring chairs, all relaxing with tablets, cocktails and books. The one who was stepping on her originally was the closest to the current one… she looked, against her own will, at his bronze legs, extended forward, and his feet, which had dominated her so effortlessly… and then she gasped.

In front of him a tiny head was sticking out of the sand. Long black hair, a smidge of pale skin. Probably a girl, too. She was buried up to her neck and was clearly bigger than Katya, though still tiny.

And she had one of his toes in her tiny mouth. He lazily moved his foot back and forth. The neighboring toes sometimes lightly pet the woman’s head. Katya gasped again.

She felt another nudge and turned to the man who brought her here on the sole of his foot. Somewhere beyond the immense length of his leg she saw a face with a smirk. The foot in front of her rose on its heel, just enough to stick the toes in her face. Instinctively, Katya fell backwards, and the foot followed, settling on top of her in an all-too-familiar feeling. The largest toe tapped on her face.

Struck with a sudden understanding, Katya swallowed her tears and kissed it.

Her day was far from over as the tan man simply pushed his toes into her face, clearly happy with what he felt. Katya covered his toes with feverish kisses, wishing only to never be trod on again. She was willing to debase herself, to humiliate herself, but she never wanted to be smothered under a hot sole, deep in the sand, on the brink of death. So she kissed. And kissed.