HOBBIES [Short story] Who doesn’t love to indulge into hobb..

HOBBIES [Short story] Who doesn’t love to indulge into hobbies and pastimes? They are an escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, a way to unwind and relax, and a source of happiness that I can’t be found anywhere else. From reading novels and painting landscapes to playing guitar and hiking in the mountains, people can find solace and fulfillment in pursuing the most different kind of hobbies. Some of those, however, are more unusual then others, if not uniques… That is the case of Logan. He’s your next door guy, gentle, always smiling, sportive. One of those people that everyone consider a good y o u n g man. However, it is known that each of us has some sordid little secret and Logan wasn’t an exception. He had many hobbies, playing video games, watching movies, hiking, playing sports like boxing or soccer or spend some hours at the gym a few times a week. But there was something he loved on top of everything else, something he kept for himself only, something secret… At least once a week (twice if he could, but that depended by his duties and spare time), he went to the park in the most quiet hours and check for a fitting guy. Usually someone doing jogging but at times just someone that inspired him, or even more simply who was there at the right moment. He then would check none is watching and would shrink him to the size of an ant just to bring the poor unfortunate guy back home with him. Once at home, things would unfold pretty much always the same. Uncaring of the tiny guy’s pleads and screams, he’d kick his shoes off and peel his socks tossing them aside. He’d sit down on the sofa, holding the now minuscule guy between his thumbs and bring him right in front of his face. While staring at him (something that was intimidating enough to freeze the little guy and silence him) he’d firmly explain him the rules of the game he was about to play “Now I will relax for awhile and in the meantime, we will play a game… I’ll place you by my feet, all you have to do is climb them to the top of my toes. If you succeed, I’ll set you free. As easy as that. But if you fail or you try to run away, I’ll crush you immediately. All clear?” There wasn’t a single time the little guys would there to try their luck, complain or disagree. Each time, seeing they at least had a chance, they’d just desperately go for it. So Logan would lay down on the sofa, propping his feet on the armrest and then set the minuscule terrified guy in front of them. Previously he’d set a camera down at the armrest, pointing toward his feet so that he could both record the whole thing and enjoy it in the next days, but also allowing him to watch closely what would happen down at his feet from his phone and follow the “game” actively. Each time was priceless to watch how the shrunken people would freeze staring at the colossal sole in front of them. Their jaw always dropped in shock, their eyes showing both defeat and fear. It wasn’t rare they’d start cry or feel their knees so weak they’d fall down on them, defeated just by the sight of his immense soles. Usually they also started to cough, c h o k i n g on the powerful smell his feet emanated, a stink the tiny nostrils of the now minuscule guys totally weren’t used to handle. The smell of his feet, already unusually powerful and intense for someone normal size, was hugely amplified to them. Useless to say Logan never washed his feet before this game, having them dirty and sweaty just made the climbing more “adventurous and exciting”, at least for him, of course... Their reaction was each time similar, yet each time as fun and enjoyable as the very first one. This made Logan smirk in amusement each single time, it was such a power rush, it made him feel so superior, so god-like compared to those minuscule guys at his feet. He’d always take his time to enjoy this initial part of the game, he loved it and he had no hurry so he savored each moments. Often he’d wiggle his toes teasingly and eventually he’d make himself more comfortable on the sofa, propping one foot on top of the other. He also enjoyed to tease the unfortunate tinies with some casual talking like “That’s it, the challenge of your life… I introduce you my size 12s!” or “My feet won’t get climbed just by staring at them you know? And for sure crying won’t prevent you from becoming a stain under my soles…” or “Yes, my feet are big uh? You better start climbing before I change my mind and just squish you right away…”. That sort of casual teasing was usually enough to push the tiny guys to start trying to climb his foot. It was so satisfying for Logan to admire his own foot in comparison to the minuscule size of his victims. They always had to start from the heel of course, that was so broad, thick and overwhelming for them. His skin, due to the various sports and activity he used to do, was a bit roughened, especially on the edges and it provided the shrunken people some tiny cracks to grip on. Even if they were so small that simply the tiny folds of his skin were enough for them. Despite that, they were always so incredibly slow at climbing but after all it was obvious, for them it was like climbing a mountain! Logan would just lay there and enjoy the show from his phone, at times cheering for the tiny guy (with a rather remarked bantering tone) and at times he’s just laugh when seeing them loose their grip or slip down back onto the armrest. Mostly he remained still during the game, but it happened he just felt to move some and that would cause a powerful shake for the tiny guys. The fall for them was hard and as long as they fell down from the height of his heel, they usually survived but if it happened when they were at the middle of his foot, like at the arch level or higher, the fall was most likely going to be lethal. At times it happened they’d fall down and injure themselves rather seriously. A broken limb or dislodged articulation was making their climb an impossible task. In those cases, it was a disappointment for Logan cause the game and show would end too quickly and he’d usually asked “Can you still climb or you give up?”. His question was usually answered with pleads for mercy or help and to him that was a negative answer to his question. With a sigh or disappointment and annoyance, he’d usually just slide his foot forward, repositioning his heel on top of the tiny guys and smearing them without a second thought. Luckily, however, this wasn’t always the only outcome of his pastime, unless he purposely shook his foot to make the tiny fall (cause yes, he’d sympathize for some more then others). Some little guys would eventually reach his toes, where the smell and sweat were much more intense. It happened some just went u n c o n s c i o u s due to the overwhelming stench, falling down to m e e t their end. Other simply lost their grip and slip down due to the much more wet and slippery skin. A few times, instead they tickled him enough to cause an u n w i l l i n g reflex of his toes and he squished them right there. It also happened that he’d simply couldn’t hold the urge to crush them between his toes or he had enough fun for that session and felt like call it a game and deliberately clenched his toes to crush the unfortunate tiny guys. After all, his game, his rules! He could do whatever he wanted, when he wanted… the solely purpose of this was his own fun. Considering all the deadly difficulties the tiny guys had to face, it was very rare they’d actually succeed at reaching the top of his toes. By now Logan had shrunk and played with 657 guys and only 4 of them won the game. In those more unique then rare occasions, it was funny for him to see them cheer so happily on top of his huge big toe. Wide enough to allow them to stand and even jump in happiness at the thought of having their lives spared. It was almost cute to watch them as they asked their naive questions “Am I safe now?” “will you grow me back and set me free now?”. More or less they all asked the same. Their question always been m e e t by a hearty chuckle from Logan that would tease them some more “Who said growing back is possible?” or tell them the hard truth “I never said you’d be safe… I said I’d set you free, and I will. I’ll set you free from your misery… Pathetic bugs as you are are just meant to be crushed and you make no exception…” with that, he usually just picked them up, set them down on the floor and end with a good stomp and twist that he’d enjoy and savor to the very last. The hard truth was that none of his shrunken victim was ever meant to come out alive from his sadistic game, none ever survived and looser or winner, none ever will. This was Logan’s pastime and as such, only meant to provide him fun and entertainment...