Beatrix's Apathy (Patreon)

“What?!” He’d exclaimed.

“I’m sorry sir,” the voice over the phone had become short with him. “But we can no longer cover you.”

“I don’t… I don’t understand?!”

“As I’ve explained, due to your current financial status, we can no  longer cover the expense for your Amplidine. Per our guidelines, you may  reapply in six months to see if you are once again eligible.”

The news struck Melvin hard. Being one of the unfortunate few born  with the diminutive gene, it was all but guaranteed the diminish disease  would take hold and shrink him merely inches tall. Amplidine was one of  the few medicines one could get to prevent it, but it was expensive. You  couldn’t just take it once every couple of months, it needed to be  consistently taken. It wasn’t feasible for a normal person to just  purchase it every month; insurance was basically a requirement.

For a long, long time, this was fine for Melvin. He was rather  well-off, and he was eligible for coverage, which is not easy to do.  There are many complicated rules and requirements to qualify.

But recently? His financial situation was slowly but surely changing…  and for the worse. His debt was growing, and his credit was tanking. To  no fault of his own, he would admit. But what he was reluctant to  admit, at the time, was that it was the fault of his wife, Beatrix.

Many of Melvin’s family and friends warned him about her. She saw his  cushy job, his penthouse, his nice car… Everyone considered her a ‘gold  digger.’ But he disagreed. She was sweet to him; kind. She was pleasant  to be around, she was beautiful. As far as he was concerned, her  expensive tastes didn’t matter. They fell in love and became married.

For years, their relationship remained solid. He was on the board of  directors for a rather large company making more than enough money for  the both of them. Life was good. He was happy.

After a while though, living with Beatrix became more… expensive.  Much more than usual. A couple of new cars and jewelry purchases every  week… But the biggest straw was buying a vacation home.

After receiving the news he would no longer received Amplidine at a  reduced price, all there was left to do was struggle to pay for  everything. There was an attempt to cut back on spending, but…

“Do you really need to buy them every month?” She’d asked. “I’ve got  to attend this fundraiser, it’s important I make a good impression.”

“Why can’t you wear something you already have?” He asked, but to no avail. She wore him down.

So he’d miss a month. And then another. And another. Soon enough,  he’d lose a few inches off his height here and there. It wasn’t long  before Beatrix disallowed him from purchasing the medicine.

A year’s passed since that period. Now? Melvin stands at just two and  a half inches tall. After being put on medical leave for a few months,  he’d been demoted in his company to an assistant branch manager. It was a  nothing position, all formality. His pay had been cut, he’d lost the  respect of his colleagues, his friends pitied him, and even his family  rarely called. Worse of all, though, his wife was now registered as his  official caretaker, which gave her control of his estate and finances.

While  she continued to live it up, he remained home, living day to day in a  loop of nothingness. Beatrix, now a giant that towered over him, barely  pretended to care about him. She’d go days without talking to him. She’d  go on dates, funded with his money. There were even many instances of  her ‘accidentally’ stepping on him. Many times she was barefoot, leaving  him stuck to her sole for hours before she’d notice. Or maybe she  pretended not to notice.

Any kind of  argument or pushback from Melvin would lead to Beatrix placing him in  her mouth before spitting him out. Other times, she’d forcefully place  her foot atop him, pressing down hard enough to severely bruise him.  There was even an instance of her breaking one of his ribs with her  foot. She described it as reaffirming the food chain. To her, her husband had too many human tendencies, and the best way to put him in his place was to confirm how easily he could be eaten, or smushed.

“Honey…” he asked, looking up at his loathing wife. “Can you help me onto the couch? I’d like to sit up there.”

Beatrix leaned over, peering at the little thing next to her resting feet.

“Ugh,” she sighed. “Melv, I’m not doing that, my back’s killing me right now. I’m not bending over. Find another way to do it.”

She reclined back into the couch and began looking at her phone.

The  mant fell to his knees. He had known it was over for a long time. Even  though Beatrix had no problem picking him up and placing him where she  pleased, the fact she couldn’t do it when he politely asked made the  fact hit him. This wasn’t his wife anymore, wasn’t his Beatrix. She was  his owner, and he was an annoying pet.

He sat and watched his owner’s flexing toes, silently crying to himself.