Walkway (Patreon)

“Of course… No… It’s no problem at all Carol… Yeah… Yeah… No, I’ll be there… Gimme 20 minutes… Yes… Hmm… Yeah, don’t worry I already got coffee… No, really it’s okay… Well, one of these mini muffins then, if you insist… Thank you… ‘Kay, see you, see you…”

Casey pressed the red button on her phone, making sure she hung up before angrily throwing the device through a pile of paperwork neatly sitting on her desk. She sighed in frustration.

“Ms. Heywood is working from the coffee shop again?” a man’s voice emerged from the cubicle next to Casey’s.

“Yeah, and she wants to discuss the reduced team’s Q2 performance there - because fuck me I guess! I don’t get it. You know she works on the 21st floor right? That normie zone’s got the best pantry in the building. Plus, she’s got her own private office. But no, Madam Senior Director of Digital Marketing prefers to work from the coffee shop across the street…” Casey replied, grabbing all the items she needed for her impromptu meeting.

Ron watched her ramble with amusement. He'd become friends with his office neighbor since he had joined Adrale a few months back. Casey had been there far longer than him, and she knew everything there was to know about the fashion company.

After all, Casey Jones had been famous once. About a decade ago, she’d made a name for herself on social media, amassing millions of followers who tuned into her content for fashion advice and trends. Shortly after graduation, she had joined Adrale as a special advisor for their marketing department, spearheading the company’s return to glory with bold digital strategies. Fashion’s next rising star... or at least she would have been if it wasn’t for the virus. Now, she mostly pushed paper for normies who got ahead of her thanks to their size.

“Hey, careful now. Your volume’s getting a bit high. I know you and Ms. Heywood go way back, but I still don’t think she’d like to hear about how her reduced team lead is bitching behind her back.” Ron interrupted Casey, a slightly worried look drawn on his face as he peeked above the cubicle’s separator.

“I basically got Carol hired, she’s welcome to wag her finger at me if she’s unhappy about what I think of her dumb habits. Plus, the Snitch is on sick leave. Some intern accidentally kicked her into an elevator door last night. Five broken ribs and a broken leg. We aren’t gonna see her face around for a while…” Casey grabbed her coffee before finally stepping out of her cubicle. “Which means I can say whatever I want and Carol will remain clueless. Her natural state.” she winked at Ron before making her way down the corridor.

“Well, be careful anyway. Keep an eye out for interns…” Ron laughed, his voice growing distant as Casey made her way along the yellow line indicating the path for reduced personnel.

Casey fastened the pace. She was already late. She fumed inside, trying her best to keep her frustration in check. Ten years ago, she had hired Carol fresh out of college as her team’s first Digital Marketing Specialist. However, fate had struck Casey with the virus and she’d slowly been relegated to making Powerpoint presentations for normies since then. Carol however, got to dodge the damned disease and went on to take over the department. Despite the gut-wrenching feeling Casey felt every time she looked up at her former employee, she’d never stopped calling her by her first name - one last shred of the old times to old onto.

“I mean I didn’t do it on purpose. I was checking a video Jimmy sent me when I just felt her hit the tip of my shoe. It’s actually the thud she made against the elevator door that made me realize she went flying. Can you imagine? That must have hurt like… so bad!” Casey heard the whispers coming from the pantry. The interns never lost any time gossiping.

She, however, didn’t have time to pay it any mind, and continued her way towards the elevator. The tiny brunette felt exhausted just thinking of the journey ahead. From the elevator, she’d need to cross the entire lobby, get in the reduced subway system, cross the road and then get to the coffee shop. That place wasn’t even shrinky-friendly, and she really didn’t look forward to getting Carol’s attention, hoping not to get kicked or smushed under her overpriced shoes in the process.

One lonely elevator ride later, Casey found herself in the busy lobby. So close to noon, Adrale employees came and went, fancy takeaway food in hand.

“I swear Carol…” Casey whispered behind her teeth in frustration as she watched normies walk around, paying close to no attention to where their feet landed - whether it was on the pristine marble of the company’s lobby or a shrinky walkway.

Five minutes left. Casey’s pace was close to a run. She tried her best to remain composed,  throwing quick and disingenuous smiles at the reduced colleagues she crossed on her way to the entrance. She carefully slowed down as a pair of red-soled high heels approached her walkway, before picking up the pace again once the threat of the titaness passed beyond the yellow line. Casey felt her phone vibrate.

“Here soon?” she read on the screen under Carol’s name.

“Be there in just a mi-” Casey tried to quickly type back, before a shadow fell over her. A loud bang exploded in her ears, leaving an uncomfortable buzz in her skull. She fell down, pain shooting through her shoulder. She watched everything she held fly out of her hands and spill in front of her. “What the fuck?” she whispered, her breath cut short. She immediately tried to get her bearings. Chaos like this could often be followed by more. Her hand skimmed the marble floor in search of her glasses. Without them, all she could see was the faux leather of the cheap Mary Jane that had almost pulverized her. Past the ankle, the titaness was just a blurry mess.

Casey looked up at the towering figure. She felt enraged. She wanted to shout and curse at this bitch who couldn’t bother to watch out for bright unmissable yellow lines tagged “WARNING REDUCED WALKWAY” every meter.

“Oh my God, are you okay?” a delicate voice boomed from above. The blurry mess clearly couldn’t read, but at least she could speak, Casey thought to herself. Of course she wasn’t okay. She wanted to throw it in the giant’s face. Tell her how much of a clutz she was. Tell her to go fuck herself.

However, the shrunken woman remained silent. She couldn’t do it, no matter how much she wanted to. Casey liked to consider herself brave for a shrinky. Now, knocked out under some cheap heel, saved by its arch, hearing the muffled sound of nylon rubbing against leather above her, she faced reality once again. There was no bravery for shrinkies, only survival.

“I’m sorry, I was looking at my phone…” Casey muttered, finally grabbing her glasses and putting them back on. The shrunken woman watched as the petite normie smiled down at her. Her lips were kind, but her eyes lied. Casey had seen it so many times before. A spark of mischief fed by invulnerability. That girl, ten years her junior, had stepped on the line because she could. Because she felt like it. Because it was fun.

“Better look above and ahead lil’ missy! You and your pals got pretty lucky there. Anyway, gotta rush. I’ve got my second interview starting in a bit. Wish me luck!” The normie spoke down to Casey before stepping away, finally freeing the shrunken woman from the merciful arch of her heel.

“Break a leg, bitch.” Casey whispered to herself as she gathered her files. With everything back in hand, she grabbed her phone and pressed the home button. It turned on, revealing two missed calls and a text…

Carol, 12:02PM::

“Come on, Casey, I don’t have all day 🙄”

I've received good news after a pretty terrible month of February, and suddenly felt creativity fill me once again. The office vibe was stricking, and I felt heels were due some love. It's also been a while since I've wanted to make a size piece where the tiny is saved by an arch's height like this - so goal achieved :D

As always, I hope you'll enjoy this new render and story!