The Giant's Landscape (Patreon)

(Had to mark as patron only as it contains nudity.)

Perhaps there is something instinctual in a person for them to believe something smaller than them is weak. A lot of people would suggest that protecting the weak amongst us is something all should do. Since they can’t fend for themselves, we, as good people, must do it in their stead. But what makes a good person? There isn’t a universal standard. Even the sweetest, most respectful, most innocent person you know has, at some point, stepped on a bug. Perhaps they saw an ant on their desk and smashed their fingertip into its body, killing it instantly. But you don’t think of that person as evil, do you? Of course not. It was just a bug. In society’s eyes, this person can still be good. Most of the population agrees bugs are just bugs, and more often than not, are pests.

So, in a world where a large portion of the human race is subjected to the possibility, and reality, of shrinking to the size of a mere toy, would we see them as us? Or could we fail to ignore the obvious difference in size. How could giants and mants be equal, be the same? This society does not.

Hal learned this the hard way.

Hal grew up normal sized, or as this world called it, a giant. Nineteen long years of complete normalcy. He had friends, a family that loved him. He was smart; enrolled in a nice University.

But this came to an end. What he didn’t know was that his parents failed to test him for the diminutive gene, a telltale sign that the person could shrink later in life. He had the gene, but was completely unaware of it.

So, at nineteen, he slowly shrunk. At first, anyway. He had a special form of the diminutive disease, called RRS, or rapid reduction in size. About four months into the slow process of losing his height centimeter by centimeter, he awoke in his dorm the size of a toothpick. It took over two hours for him to crawl out from underneath his now oppressive blanket, and into a world that had outgrew him.

Confused and scared, his mind nearly broke at the realization. He had shrunk. He was now a diminished person, or as the less politically correct and more widely used term: a mant.

After sobbing until he could no longer, he began a trek to get across his room, and into the dorm hall. He had to get someone’s attention so they could use his phone and call for help.

His university housed both mants and giants alike, albeit in separate wings. While he was well aware of the prejudice giants had for shrunken people, he assumed this place would be more tolerant.

After an hour of walking, he was able to slide under the door into the hallway. The temperature change was jarring. He usually kept his dorm warm; the hallways were about ten degrees cooler. Luckily, he spotted a giant not long after.

It was a girl with long hair, wearing a black dress and flats. He could spot piercings on her face, one on her brow, another on her lip. She was no stranger, Hal knew her. It was Jude.

Jude was a rather popular girl whom he befriended in high school. Though they drifted apart, he was aware she went to the same university as him. She was a rather blunt, sarcastic person, but could still be friendly when she wanted to. Which, luckily, was often.

“Hey!” He shouted as the giant stepped ever closer. “Down here! Jude, it’s me, Hal!”

She didn’t respond.

Hal sighed, readying to yell much louder this time. “HEY!” He screamed. “DOWN HERE, JUDE!”

All his waving and screaming must have gotten her attention. Which he was thankful for, as her flats were getting a little too close for comfort.

“The hell?” She muttered, looking down at the dirty floor. “You guys, like, aren’t supposed to be in this part of the dorms. You know that right?”

Trying to ignore her accusatory tone, he tried to elaborate the situation.

“I just now—”

Before he could explain, Jude had reached down and buried him in her fist. Try as he might, he couldn’t move an inch. She had him.

“What’s she doing?” He thought, his heart speeding in panic. “Is she taking me to the mant dorms?”

The air inside her hand was too stuffy. He could barely get oxygen in there. After a few minutes of walking, Hal was barely holding onto consciousness, until…

A bright flash of light and a devastating series of thunders and vibrations brought him to. Jude had finally opened her palm. She was staring down at him, an uncaring, casual look on her face. They were on the subway, which explained the noise. Where was she taking him?

She poked and prodded at his bare body, sliding her fingers up and down his legs and torso as if studying him.

“J-Jude, what’re you doing?!”

She raised an eyebrow. “How do you know my name? You been like, spying on me, or something?”

“W-What, no—”

Again she cupped her hands together, trapping him tightly in her hand. It wasn’t long before…

A cold surface slapped against his body, jolting him awake. It was a hardwood floor, covering a bright, white room. In front of him stood a mirror, and behind were two towering bare legs and flats. Behind the monoliths were a bed. He was in a bedroom. Jude’s.

“You can’t just take a person like that!” He yelled. “You have to get a phone and call my family, please!”

Jude slumped to the floor and leaned against her bedside. Without answering Hal’s request, she removed her flats, revealing her bare feet. At her size, their smell was likely inconsequential and barely noticeable, but at Hal’s? It was obnoxious, and all his nose could experience.

“What’re you—”

“Alright shortstack,” She spoke in a dull tone. “Start licking my feet.”

The giant stretched out her legs and placed her bare feet mere inches away from Hal’s tiny body. So close, in fact, that he could see the individual ridges, wrinkles, and specks of dirt and sweat beneath them.

“You’ve got to be joking,” he said. “J-Jude, it’s me, Hal! Don’t you remember, we went to high school together?”

She angled her foot so she could see the mant past it. “What? Why’re you trying to, like, talk to me?”

“What?” He was confused.

“You guys still don’t know your place? Y’know, usually I eat you things but I decided to take you in as a pet instead. You’re, like, pretty lucky. Am I gonna have to ask you again?”

“But,”

Hal stumbled over his words, struggling to speak. It was now, on the floor, where he could truly feel the size difference. Looking at Jude sitting, her feet outstretched, it was all he could see. She was like a mountain. A landscape.

“But, you know me!” He pleaded. “Hal! Don’t you remember? We were really good friends in our sophomore year!”

She squinted, and tilted her head. No doubt looking for a memory of Hal.

“Ohh,” she said finally, nodding her head. “Yeah, I remember Hal.”

“Y-Yeah!” He said, a slight tinge of relief falling over him. “We were good friends!”

“Yeah, I guess we were.” She shrugged. “What’s your point?”

“Huh?”

His heart sank as he realized she was unphased. Did she not care who he was? Does she still want to do this to him?

“We were friends,” He said sadly, fighting back fearful tears. “Don’t you remember? You don’t have to do this, you know? You can just let me go, or help me!”

Jude snorted. “We were friends. You’re not really Hal anymore, are you? I mean, like, the Hal I knew was taller than me. And kinda cute. You’re not really that.”

“How could you be so cold?!” He scoffed. “What is wrong with you?!”

“I’m gonna give you your two options, ‘kay? You can either give up fighting me and live out whatever life you might be able to live as my pet mant, or you can get swallowed. It’s like, pretty simple. I mean, you realize that’s all your really good for, right? You know how mants without owners live? In shitty little rat dens, either built by the government or behind dumpsters, running and hiding from giants. They say most mants don’t live to an old age, the leading cause of death being eaten. You don’t want to get eaten by some random person off the street, do you?”

Hal could hold himself together no longer. He was devastated. He sobbed.

“Hey, bug,” she snapped her fingers to regain his attention. “Do you want to be eaten? Swallowed alive and melt in somebody’s stomach?”

“...No,” he mumbled.

“What?”

“No.” He said slightly louder.

“Thought so,” Jude said.

She leaned back into the mattress, and began wiggling her toes.

“So start licking, little freak.” She commanded.

He stood to his feet and moped over to her rough, sweaty heel. He stuck out his tongue, bathing her foot in as much spit as he could.

It didn’t take long for the giant girl to break the mant. As horrifying as it was for Hal, this was an everyday occurrence for people like him. Everyone did this. Keeping mants as little trinkets and pets, or as food. It was accepted. And because of this, Jude is still considered a good person by most around her. Her friends loved her, thinking she’s hilarious. Her parents were proud of her. She was even in the early stages of a relationship. But to Hal, any every other mant she’s eaten, stepped on, enslaved and discarded? She was a malicious God.

So, the next time you think about how you know somebody and know they’re a good person; just think. What would they do if you suddenly shrank around them?