Chapter 7
The next
morning, Mark awoke on the pillow covered by the towel that Julie had left for
him as a blanket. The cage
cover was removed and he could hear Julie in the kitchen. As she walked passed the cage, he
kicked one of the bars, trying to get her attention. She continued without looking down
once. This angered Mark
because he knew she was ignoring him. “Julie!”
he yelled, “Julie! Damn it, you can’t just ignore me! Let me out of here!”
As Julie left
the kitchen, she heard a small rattle from the cage. She figured he must have hit a bar or
something, obviously trying to get her attention. He would have to do better than that,
she thought. She continued
past the cage into the den, pretending not to hear him. From the den, she heard him
yell. She could hear his
frustration in the tone of his voice. She
stayed in the den a little longer, knowing this only added to his anger, but also
knowing that it demonstrated her control. Finally, after a couple of minutes,
she walked over to the cage as if she had heard nothing he said, and leaned
over. “Good morning”, she
said.
“Let me out of
here!” he replied, and immediately added, “please, Julie, I can’t take it in
here any longer.”
The look of
anger mixed with fear in his expression indicated that he was close to his
breaking point. “Do you
have something that you want to tell me first?” she asked, pushing a little
further.
Knowing what she
meant but trying drastically not to give in, he replied, “What do you mean?”
“Oh well, I
guess you’re not ready to come out yet then.”, Julie stated firmly and turned
as if she was going back to the kitchen.
This
infuriated Mark. ‘She had
no right to keep him in a cage’, he thought. But he was desperate to get out. He would go crazy if he stayed in the
cage another minute. “Wait!”, he yelled in desperation.
“Yes?”, Julie
answered as she turned and approached the cage. Her Face moved within inches of the
cage causing Mark to take a few steps back so that he could see her whole face.
“OK, I’ve been
thinking”, he said trying to sound sincere. He didn’t want to make her mad before
she let him out. “You’re
right. You should be in
charge.”
“And why should I be in charge?” she continued.
“Because…because,
you are responsible for me.” That
sounded so lame to hear himself say that. But it seemed to satisfy her.
“Good, and
what else?”
“Umm….I’m
sorry for getting angry with you last night. It won’t happen again.”
“Very good. Keep going.” Julie was enjoying this and Mark could
tell. He had to keep it up
though, he wasn’t out yet. He
paused for a moment, thinking.
“When you tell
me to do something I will do it without asking questions.”
“And what
happens if you disobey me or break any of the rules that are set?”
With all the
self-control he could muster he answered reluctantly, “You will punish me.”
With that,
they both stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Julie’s sense of satisfaction was
matched only by Mark’s feelings of humiliation.
“Well, it
looks like you’ve learned your lesson”, she smiled as she unlocked the cage and
opened the door. “Now don’t
you wish you would have listened to me in the first place?” she asked, not
expecting an anwer. He
remained silent, hoping she would leave the door open and just walk away. Instead, she leaned over, staring
directly into the door of the cage at him, her smiling Face surrounding the
doorway.
“Well, come on
out, before I change my mind”, she said playfully as she began slowly closing
the cage door with her Finger.
Mark was in no
mood to play after being humiliated, but he couldn’t risk being trapped, so he
quickly climbed out of the cage and stood on the table. Julie reached down and placed her
hand, palm up, on the table next to him. “Need a lift?” she asked, still
smiling down at him. She
was more into this whole “shrinking thing” now than she ever could have
imagined. Before, she just
felt sympathy for Mark because he had shrunk and wanted to try to make things
comfortable for him. She
had slipped into that “caretaker” role that was so familiar. That was back when it was only
supposed to last only a few days. But
now, she saw it as a whole new way to regain her self-confidence, self esteem,
and the control over her own life that she so desperately was seeking. She realized that having Mark around
at his size, she would be able to take more risks than she ever would with a
full-grown man. For her,
risk taking was essential to turning her life around and that had priority over
anything else right now, including restoring Mark’s size. Besides, there
was nothing she could do about that right now. She was beginning to think that fate
had intervened and that maybe she shouldn’t question “why” so much as take
advantage of the unique opportunity.
Mark looked up
at Julie who was apparently lost in some private thought. He really didn’t have much choice from
this height.
“OK, I guess
it is a little high for me”, Mark replied.
“Hop on”, she
said as she wiggled her Fingers slightly. Mark stared at the giant Hand that lay
in front of him. The Fingers, slightly curled, were at least as long as his
arms, and the Palm was more than big enough for him to sit comfortably. He was reluctant though. Somehow, voluntarily allowing her to
handle him made him feel very vulnerable. It was different when she grabbed him
the night before because he had no choice. She used to use a shoe or a box when
he first shrunk, but now it seemed like she was getting more comfortable with
direct contact. He figured he would have to get used to it from now on. He would have to trust her. Slowly he approached the Hand, put one
knee on the edge of the Hand and crawled up. He turned and sat on the giant Palm
with his legs hanging off, nervously awaiting the next move.
Julie
watched Marks hesitation from above. She
purposely didn’t say anything, wanting the decision to be completely his. It was obvious that he was having
trouble with the idea of her holding him. She watched intently as he slowly
approached her hand and climbed on. A
wave of contentment hit Julie as she felt his knee touch her skin. She felt a tingling sensation as he
repositioned himself on her hand. Julie
curled her fingers toward him and moved her thumb over so that he could grab it
if he lost his balance.
Mark flinched
a bit as the giant Fingers moved toward him and the Thumb crossed in front of
him. Then he realized what
she was doing. He placed
one hand on her Thumb and the other on her middle Finger near her fingernail.
Seeing that he
was ready, Julie slowly lifted her hand off of the table, feeling Mark tighten
his grip on her fingers. As
Mark felt himself lifted off the table, his feet dangled over the side of her
Hand. He could feel himself
slip slightly from the moisture on Julie’s Palm and gripped Julie’s Fingers as
tightly as he could. Looking
down through her Fingers he could see her bare Feet, which meant he was no
longer over the desk. This
made him feel slightly uneasy. Trying
to relax, he noticed that her Hand was softer that he expected but not as
stable as he would have liked. So,
in order to prevent himself from looking down, he looked up at Julie, who was
focusing all of her concentration on him.
It was
exciting to Julie to have a little man sitting on her hand as she lifted him up
through the air. She was
careful not to tip her hand, but the excitement made it hard to keep a steady
hand. Her palms were
starting to sweat a little as well, making it hard for Mark to balance himself. “Don’t worry”, she reassured him,
“I’ve got you.”
Before setting
him down on the floor, she raised him up to her face, eye level. Mark,
expecting to be lowered was caught off guard when Julie instead raised him up
to her Face. He momentarily
lost his balance and grabbed her Thumb with both hands for support. Julie grinned a little as he grabbed
her thumb, realizing that she startled him. It reminded her of just how “in
control” she was.
“I don’t want
us to become enemies, you know. It’s
natural for you to be a little afraid of me since I’m so much bigger than you,
but I really want us to try to make the best of the situation, OK? My goal is not to punish you all the
time, but I will if I have to, alright? Do
we understand each other better now?”, Julie asked, sounding almost like a
parent.
“Yes, Julie”,
he replied, half-heartedly.
“Good.” The
words were enough for her as she gently lowered him to the floor. Mark
moved to the edge of her Palm and tried to step off her Hand. Julie moved her hand away a second too
soon and sent Mark tumbling. He
landed square on top of her bare Foot and rolled off the side, instinctively
trying to hold on to anything he could grab. “Oh! Are you alright?”, she asked as
she kneeled down and covered her mouth with one hand.
“Yeah”, he
answered, more aggravated than hurt, “I’m OK.”
“I guess I have a little to learn too about handling someone so small”, she
said playfully, realizing how strange it felt to have a man’s entire body slam
into her foot and only feel a small bump.
Her whole
attitude of him having to “learn” to listen to her, and her idea that he had to
adapt to her way of thinking angered him. But in his present situation, what
choice did he really have. If
he listens, she’s nice to him. If
he disobeys her, she punishes him. What
a life. His total existence
had been reduced to angering or pleasing a Giantess. His freedom was totally taken from
him, except that for which she allowed him.
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