Interview Series: Lauren

 2022 Began with a bang, a rare virus began to spread throughout the world’s population, shrinking young adults to random heights, typically below 1 inch or possibly smaller. The majority of mankind adapted well, however soon after accommodations were being made, stories began to surface of bizarre situations, Mothers, Father, Brothers, Sisters, Aunts, Uncles, Teachers and Bosses applying unique methods in taking care of and or punishing the shrunken people or “Micros”, as not all people saw these tiny people as people anymore. My name is Jake, and I've set out across America and somewhat beyond to interview these people and their shrunken captives to try and hopefully shed some light on how the world has changed, and inspire others to think better of our tiny counterparts.  

"Okay, we're all set!" I say, grabbing my notebook.

The stranger in front of me smiles and nods, she shifts a bit nervously and asks "Okay, what should I do?"

"First things first, can I have your name, age and occupation?"

"Sure! My name is Lauren, I'm 38, and I work in a women's clothing store chain."

"Excellent, and who do we have down there?" I ask, shifting my attention to the tiny man currently embracing the giant woman's toes like a lover. He plants tiny kisses on them and despite myself I feel a slight and minor pang of jealousy, the woman is admittedly attractive after all, and likewise, she seems to be enjoying the attention on her toes, both from her Micro, and from me. 

"This is my husband, Jay, say hi honey!" She scrunches her toes with a giggle and the Micro takes a moment to wave before returning to his worship.

I return my attention to Lauren, who is watching me, a knowing look in her eyes. She smiles and I clear my throat and do my best to get back on track.

"So, your husband? How did that happen?"

"Well, I imagine it's pretty standard at this point, but my husband was infected at some point during the initial wave. One day his shirts started to feel a bit loose, but we ignored that at first, it became impossible to ignore when one day I woke up and thought he had left for work, only to find him buried in our sheets, I had nearly crushed him at some point in the night apparently, according to him."

With my impending shrinking on the horizon, this story does nothing to diminish my fears, a Micro could so easily meet their end at the hands of someone completely unaware of their tiny existence. 

Lauren see's the look on my face and nods. "Yes, it was very scary at first, and as he got smaller and smaller we had more scares, I never realized how dangerous my feet were!"

It's a bit off color, but I can't help but smile back at her, clearly she did care about her husband if she was worried about him.

"Which I guess makes it look kinda funny, considering he's on my feet at the moment!" She gives me a shy grin.

"Well, I assumed there was an explanation there?" I ask encouragingly.

"Yes!" She exclaims, "As it turns out, a few of those 'accidental' scares we were having weren't as accidental as I first thought..." She looks down at her husband in a sort of mock-stern way, I can tell she's enjoying him were he is.

"Ah" I say as it comes to me, "So, how did you find out?"

"Well it's hard to miss when you wake up in the middle of the night to little licks on your toes" she giggles, blushing at my raised eyebrow.

"I can't argue with that" I say, chuckling. 

"Something tells me you and he might have something in common" Lauren says with a wicked grin.

Now it's my turn to blush. "So...now you let him play on your feet?"

She smiles and nods, flexing her toes, though i'm not sure whether it's for her husband or my benefit. "I figure his life is crazy enough as is, I might as well let him enjoy himself down there. I might like it a little bit myself..."

It suddenly feels unbearably stuffy in this small room. I watch for a moment as the Micro man lovingly worships his wife's massive toe, seemingly in heaven.

"You're staring sweetie" Lauren says suddenly, breaking the silence. 

"Right. Right, sorry!" I say, regaining my composure. 

"So, you both are clearly at peace with the situation, does anyone else know?"

"Oh some of our friends and family, but when they're around he isn't making out with my toes in front of them!" 

We share a laugh before I ask my final question. 

"Do you still see your husband as human, Lauren?"

She seems confused for a brief second. 

"What? Of course I do?"

I smile at the confused tone, knowing she'd never even considered her husband as anything but human, no matter his size. 

"I figured as much, thank you Lauren, and i'm very happy for you both!"

The interview is wrapped up, and I'm moving on 20 minutes later, I've decided I need to start making serious preparations for when I eventually do shrink, even when I'm small, I want to be able to continue this series, I need to find someone who can help me, I've got a few ideas...