Cindy silently picked up the scattered bits of fried rice, her fingers small and shaky as she placed them back on Madison’s plate. The fried rice, even cold, smelled heavenly. Her stomach churned with longing, despite being full of Little pellets and tap water. The aroma teased her senses, and she couldn’t help but wish, just for a moment, that she could steal a bite. But even as that thought crossed her mind, she glanced at Madison, who had just reached for a bottle of cold water from the fridge, unscrewing the cap and taking a long, satisfying drink.
Cindy’s eyes locked onto the bottle. It was impossible not to. For the past few days, she had been relegated to drinking lukewarm, unfiltered tap water, forced down with every meal. The thought made her stomach turn. It wasn’t like the clean, crisp spring water she had once taken for granted, carefully filtered, chilled to perfection, drawn from pristine sources. Now, she was reduced to sucking room-temperature tap water from a dispenser with a metal straw or lapping it up from a shallow bowl like a pet. The taste was revolting, metallic, and stale, lingering unpleasantly on her tongue long after she swallowed.
Her mouth felt dry as she watched Madison drink, the cool water cascading down her throat, refreshing and pure. Cindy’s throat tightened, her body betraying her hunger and thirst. It wasn’t that she was starving, Madison had fed them. She and Greg had eaten the dry, chicken flavored Little pellets, and they had drunk the tepid tap water provided in their shallow bowls. But it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t human.
Watching Madison now, casually sipping from one of her water bottles, made Cindy’s throat tighten. Her mouth watered, and an overwhelming urge surged through her. She wanted to throw herself at that bottle, to beg for just one sip of the cold, refreshing water inside. But she knew it was futile. The thick plastic was impenetrable to someone her size, and the cap, screwed tightly, might as well have been locked behind a door. Only Madison could allow her access to such a treasure.
“What?” Madison asked, catching Cindy’s gaze as she took another drink before setting the bottle down on the table. “There’s plenty of stuff for you to pick up on the table, Mom. A Little should be thankful for chores, shouldn’t they? Time outside your habitat is a privilege, not a right. You’re in my world right now. Your little world is that habitat, where everything is just right for you. You know, perfectly temperate. I can see you’re getting cold,” Madison added, her voice laced with a kind of condescension that made Cindy’s stomach twist.
Madison lifted the bottle again, taking a slow, deliberate drink. “Why do you keep staring like that?”
Cindy hesitated, her pride warring with her desperation. Finally, her voice broke through, barely audible. “Can I have some water, please?”
The humiliation of having to ask for something as simple as bottled water from her teenage daughter burned at Cindy’s core. But her thirst, and the thought of having even a taste of cold, clean water, was worth the hit to her pride.
Madison’s eyes flickered with amusement. “Oh, sure, Mom. You should’ve said something. Let me fetch your bowl, I just put it away.”
Cindy watched as Madison turned and walked across the kitchen, retrieving the shallow water bowl meant for Littles. She carried it over to the sink and filled it with lukewarm tap water before setting it down in front of Cindy. “Here you go, Mom. Drink up.”
Madison smiled kindly, but there was something behind her eyes, an unspoken satisfaction in the power she now held. “It’s good to see you eating and drinking again,” she added, her tone gentle, almost patronizing.
Cindy’s heart sank as she looked down at the bowl of tap water. Her throat ached with thirst, but the sight of the dull, tepid liquid made her stomach churn with disgust. She glanced back at Madison’s bottle of water, the condensation glistening on its surface. She didn’t care about pride anymore, not in this moment. She didn’t care if there was backwash, didn’t care about germs. She just wanted to taste something clean, something familiar.
“Madison,” Cindy began, her voice shaking slightly. “Do you think I could have some of that water?” She nodded toward the bottle, her eyes pleading. “Just a drop, even…”
Madison laughed softly, shaking her head. “Oh, Mom, you’re so silly.” She picked up the bottle and took another long drink before setting it back down. “You know bottled water is for people. You’re a Little now. Bottled water is way above a Little’s station in life. You taught me that. Even the cheapest, most generic bottled water from a big box store is too refined for a Little’s palate, isn’t that what you always said?”
Cindy’s heart sank further, her hope deflating as Madison’s words dripped with condescension. Every part of her ached, not just from the physical exertion but from the cruel reminder of the world she had once championed, now used against her.
“Proper Littles drink from the faucet,” Madison continued, smiling as she recited the same words Cindy had once spoken. “But don’t worry, we do have some special Little drinks. McKenzie brought them home. I told her we should wait a few months before giving them to you, though. It should be a reward for becoming a proper Little.”
Madison’s smile widened as she leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a playful whisper. “So you can look forward to that, Mom. Once you’ve earned it.”
Cindy felt her stomach knot, the full realization sinking in. The life she had known, the comforts she had taken for granted—were gone, replaced by this new, rigid reality where even a sip of bottled water was beyond her reach. And it wasn’t just the loss of physical comforts. It was the loss of her own identity, her own dignity. She had fought for a world where Littles knew their place, and now, she was trapped in it.
The tap water that now sustained her was a far cry from the pristine, filtered water she used to enjoy without a second thought. It was an endless reminder of her new reality, as bitter as the taste it left on her tongue. She had once lectured Littles about how they should be grateful for the care they received, how tap water was good enough for them. How ironic, she thought bitterly, that she now found herself on the receiving end of that same rhetoric.
Cindy’s fingers slowed as she continued cleaning up the rice, her mind drifting back to the days when she had ruled her household with confidence. She was in control, and her daughters respected her. But now, every sip of water, every bite of those revolting pellets, reminded her of her place. She was no longer in control, no longer the parent. She was Madison’s Little, and the hierarchy was clear.
Madison’s voice broke through her thoughts. “Make sure you don’t miss any, Mom,” she said casually, her tone light but commanding. “You wouldn’t want the table to be messy, would you? After all, you used to tell me all the time that cleaning up after yourself is part of being responsible.”
Cindy’s heart sank. The lessons she had once drilled into Madison were now being thrown back at her, twisted and weaponized to fit this new, nightmarish reality. She nodded silently, swallowing the lump in her throat as she continued to gather the remaining pieces of rice, carefully placing them back onto the plate.
I think it was said yesterday, but normal cindy would be proud of madison, and that’s the part that Cindy might be the most disgusted with right now. the thing that’s been making these chapters rougher the last few days for me, too, is there aren’t too many insights on what’s going through madisons head lol it’s driving me wild cause I wanna know what she thinks every time she does something.
You do get some of Madison’s insights throughout the season but due to the episodic nature of the series they aren’t served in a immediate fashion. As smalllara series is generally depicted following a centralize character or characters. So you are normally focused on that core person(s). So you are moreso restricted to there knowledge the majority of the time.
But because people like knowing what the other characters are thinking. I have provided moments of the internal thoughts of the other characters.
makes sense. I’ve loved hearing Madison’s rationel and conflicts through out the season, just miss them in these moments lol
What’s odd is the duality of Madison and how she feels about her mom. While she definitely took and uses her lessons and are using it against Cindy there’s a very clear sadistic streak from her enjoyment of this. Kenzie is way more reasonable for sure but the resentment towards Cindy is arguably the main point of this entire story. Everything bad happening to her and Greg is because of her actions. Dominating personality, hard core beliefs, and seeking to maintain control over her family. It’s a shame Greg was so passive he’s the real victim here. And while some say his apathy helped out I have to disagree from a realistic perspective. It seems his apathy is less about disdain and more about voluntary ignorance. He never hated littles or saw them in a negative light and judging by how the family sees him and how he acts, if he did come into contact with one I doubt he’d be on the same level as Cindy and more in line with Sarah’s dad. Here in our world bad things happen and we either do nothing or choose to ignore them because we have our own issues. Greg is a family man who did what any father would. Honestly he’s the only real victim as he was caught in a crossfire. I bet if Cindy became a little instead of them both he would’ve treated her well. I doubt the opposite would be true. While Mads and Kenzie have to grow up early, they will always have their freedom. Greg and Cindy won’t.
i fully agree with all your points. Not much i can add you pretty much nailed it in my opinion.
Although I would slightly pushback on Madison enjoying it to the level you think she is. I mean she enjoys aspects of it like the additional freedom and control. She wanted a little and has littles so she likes that even if they aren’t the littles she wanted.
I think there is a large degree of she is just training the her littles who happen to also be her parents. The only way she knows how. Its kind of a means to an end. She wants a proper little and this is how she knows to educate litltes into being proper littles.
But I can see how those wants can manifest into the interpretation you have of how she views her ideals.
1) If Madison was over at the fridge that was a perfect time to steal a bite, there are ways Cindy could have prevented her from seeing.
2.1) She hates tapwater to an almost cartoonish extent
2.2) “It wasn’t human” More humans drink tap water than bottled water.
2.3) “She just wanted to taste something clean” Is there something wrong with American tap water that I’m too Australian to understand?
3) “A Little should be thankful for chores…Time outside your habitat is a privilege” Fuck you Madison and fuck you Cindy for teaching her that.
4) “It’s good to see you eating and drinking again,” you’re the one who kept food they wanted to eat away from them.
5) “Bottled water is way above a Little’s station in life” What the actual fuck Cindy? Given her obvious opinion of bottled water, this isn’t just thinking littles are lesser this is a straight-up unbridled hatred of littles.
6) I’m glad little drinks exist, I’m guessing their liquid equivalent to little pellets for things like Juices, Soft drinks, coffees and milk (Regular and flavoured). I’m guessing alcoholic drinks Probably exist too but McKenzie couldn’t have bought that cause she’s a minor
7) “cleaning up after yourself is part of being responsible.” She’s not cleaning up after herself, she’s cleaning up after you!
Honestly the tap water thing doesn’t make any sense. It’s even funnier because this takes place in NY which is notorious for being super annal about the quality of their tap water to the point where there isn’t even a difference. She’s just pompous is all.
It’s 100% just a belief of Cindy. so the family has just gotten used to it as she only buys bottled water.
I didn’t know that about new york lol certain parts of California have arguably the best tap water in the world, mostly in the Dunsmuir\Mt. Shasta area, just to throw a fun fact in there XD
1) “If Madison was over at the fridge that was a perfect time to steal a bite, there are ways Cindy could have prevented her from seeing.”
That is true It would be risky though as if you are caught you would have to deal with an upset Madison. So it would really depend on how much of a risk taker or gambler that you are.
2.1) “She hates tapwater to an almost cartoonish extent”
Well its part of her personality but it doesn’t come up real often. She does drink the tap water she just doesn’t like it.
I will say while I do drink tap water there are taste differences. I live in a border city that is separated by a river. Where I live we have deep well water as our water source and then across the border they take water straight from the river. Obviously it goes to a water treatment before coming out the faucet. But the water in my town tastes better then it does across the border who drink the clean river water.
Neither is bad water but it does taste different. So i will give cindy that if you have a type of water you like the taste of I can respect wanting it. But I wouldn’t go as far as not accepting or drinking water unless something was wrong with it.
2.2)“It wasn’t human” More humans drink tap water than bottled water.
That is a fact.
2.3) ““She just wanted to taste something clean” Is there something wrong with American tap water that I’m too Australian to understand?”
No cindy herself doesn’t like tap water. It’s not like a national thing but there are area’s in the US where you probably wouldn’t want to drink the water like flint Michigan.
3)” “A Little should be thankful for chores…Time outside your habitat is a privilege” Fuck you Madison and fuck you Cindy for teaching her that.
While Madison did say it harshly but one could take what she meant as a little needs thing to do they can’t just be sitting around wasting away as that’s no life. So you should be thankful for having a purpose.
4) ““It’s good to see you eating and drinking again,” you’re the one who kept food they wanted to eat away from them.”
Well she was feeding her proper little food. The intent was she was saying it genuinely as she liked seeing her mother eat a proper meal. As people food isn’t healthy for her.
5) “Bottled water is way above a Little’s station in life” What the actual fuck Cindy? Given her obvious opinion of bottled water, this isn’t just thinking littles are lesser this is a straight-up unbridled hatred of littles.
I will say you should put that specific part into the back of your mind for later. It comes back around for episode 75. I will be curious what you think.
6) “I’m glad little drinks exist, I’m guessing their liquid equivalent to little pellets for things like Juices, Soft drinks, coffees and milk (Regular and flavoured). I’m guessing alcoholic drinks Probably exist too but McKenzie couldn’t have bought that cause she’s a minor”
You are correct. McKenzie would need a fake Id or someone else to buy for her if she was going to get little alchoholic drinks.
But she did buy her parents little drinks. Soda and juices and coffees are a pretty good parallel. As that’s basically what they are but like you said tailored for littles. There is still love and caring for them.
7) Although to be fair Littles generally assist the guardian so if Madison is cleaning its not shocking to have what she thinks of as her little helping.
1) very true, I can’t see Cindy taking that risk.
2.1) so she’s just being a picky snob.
I get where you’re coming from as taste can differ. On the farm we had Giant rainwater tanks, so our water always tasted the freshest, but even when I moved to the city, the yesterday didn’t differ that much, but it was enough to notice.
2.3) so it’s her preference, lol.
3) I suppose, but I doubt that’s what Madison meant. She’s trying to manipulate gratitude, imply to Cindy any taste of freedom, even to be put to work, should be treated as a reward.
4) I see, but she could easily have added things they wanted to eat to the meal to entice them, she chose to make eating an unpleasant experience for them.
5) sure, let me just add a reminder in my calender for 13th of December for when you publish episode 75.
6) like the littlecino Jordan got in a previous chapter.
7) yes, but Cindy’s still cleaning up after Madison not herself.
7) I dont think Madison sees a difference between those two scenario’s. As her mother generally cleaned up after her. You saw in season 1 how she just left her dishes in the sink as she knew her mom would clean them.
So picking up after her in little form is basically the same thing to her.
5) lol
6) yup, exactly like that