The openness of the room pressed on Charity like a physical weight. Walls that once felt cozy now stretched too far, every shadow deepened, every still surface transformed into a potential threat. There was too much sky above her head, too much silence hanging in the air.
She moved slowly, her feet pushing through the thick tangle of carpet threads, each one as thick as her wrist and stubbornly clinging to her calves as she trudged forward. The carpet, once a luxury, now worked against her at every step. It absorbed her movement, sapped her strength, and masked her progress. At her old height, it was soft comfort. Now, it felt like walking through a field of overgrown thorns.
She hated it.
She loved it.
She remembered picking it out herself, cream-colored, densely piled, the kind that swallowed sound and made the whole room feel plush. Her parents had balked at the price tag, but she insisted. And as always, she got her way.
Now, her knees ached from stepping high to avoid tripping. Her ankles wobbled on the uneven terrain. The very thing she’d once adored was now a punishment.
Still, she moved forward.
In the distance, less than ten feet, but now a staggering journey, she could see them: her yoga shoes. Thrown carelessly aside after her workout, their laces tangled, the left shoe lying atop the right in a half-fallen sprawl. At the time, she had barely registered the act. Just a flick of her foot. A casual I’ll pick those up later.
But there hadn’t been a later.
She stared at them now with a mix of resentment and hope. The opening beneath the upturned shoe offered shelter. Shadow. Safety. A place to crawl into and rest, hidden from view. It was ridiculous, sleeping in a shoe, but practicality had long since trumped dignity. The tiny part of her that still burned with pride was losing ground by the hour.
As she inched closer, she could feel her strength waning. Her legs burned. Her arms hung heavy at her sides. Her breaths came fast and shallow, the air around her dry and thick. Her transformation had drained her. The metamorphosis wasn’t just shrinking, it was a violent rewriting of her biology. Even now, her cells were still adjusting, rebalancing. Her balance was off. Her sense of space distorted.
She needed to rest. Desperately.
But rest brought its own kind of horror.
Even with the Generitech Repellent devices lining the corners of the room, those sleek, humming white panels designed to deter every species of bug from spider to silverfish, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being prey. She hadn’t seen a bug in years, not since her parents had the whole house upgraded. But now? Every unseen crevice was suspect. Every moment of stillness brought the imagined skitter of legs, the sound of chitin scraping across carpet.
Charity’s eyes darted to the ceiling, then to the far corners of the room.
Nothing moved.
And yet, her heart continued to race.
As she drew nearer to the shoes, she let her mind drift, to distract herself from her aching legs, from the gnawing panic. Her thoughts wandered to Sara, as they often did now. Always circling back.
She pictured Jordan, Sara’s Little. He wasn’t particularly remarkable, but there had been something about the way Sara carried him. On her shoulder sometimes, nestled under her chin, her hand lightly cupping him without even looking. It was a casual confidence—care, not showmanship.
Charity had mocked it at school. Loudly.
But privately, when no one was watching, she’d stared longer than she should have. Not out of pity or contempt, but curiosity. Confusion. Jealousy?
It was the same with Mallory Bak and Gavin.
Mallory, beautiful and bored, carried her Little like a fashion statement, but one she actually cared for. Gavin wasn’t treated like a toy; he was treated like a companion. Sometimes he sat perched in her palm, sometimes tucked into the crook of her arm like a child. He never looked scared. Just… settled.
And then there were the Wallace sisters, no, not Wallace. Charity corrected herself with a bitter breath. Kelli and Kayla Wallace were a myth she clung to, but now she knew better. Their dynamic defied the usual script. Kelli, despite being a Little, was undeniably the one who set the tone. She gave instructions. She offered plans. Kayla followed.
That flipped hierarchy had always unsettled Charity. Littles were supposed to be cute, helpless, ornamental. Not commanding. Not composed. And yet Kelli had never needed to raise her voice to command attention. Charity hated how much she’d noticed that. How much she remembered every word Kelli spoke when she passed by in the hall.
Was that what her future would be?
Would Sara carry her the way she carried Jordan? Not with malice, but with ownership. Would she be perched on that shoulder, nothing more than a living trophy of poetic justice? A collar around her neck. Maybe a leash for effect. Would she be walked through school while students whispered and giggled behind cupped hands?
“Look, it’s Charity Stevens.”
“She used to make teachers cry.”
“She called Sara a pig. Now she’s Sara’s pet.”
The image stabbed through her like a needle.
Her stomach twisted. She blinked away the sting behind her eyes.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
Her family should’ve been immune. They had wealth, bloodlines, status. They belonged above the chaos. Chloe Gracewood’s family, Ellie’s, Maisy’s, they were anomalies. Exceptions that made no sense. Undeserving, she thought bitterly.
Charity had envisioned a different life entirely. Her with Littles, plural. She would have taken care of them. She would’ve taught them. She would’ve been firm, but not cruel. A guardian worthy of the role.
She would have made them useful.
Instead, she was the one dragging herself across the carpet like a worm, legs aching, throat dry, mind breaking apart piece by piece. Her dreams had turned to dust. Her future shrunk to fit in the palm of a girl she once laughed at.
She reached the shoes.
They loomed before her, massive and unyielding. The mesh texture of the sides stretched upward like scaffolding. The foam sole was caked in dust and flattened hairs. She gagged at the smell, not foul, just old. Fabric, foot sweat, and something faintly chemical. It was hers. Familiar. But now, it pressed in around her like a memory she no longer owned.
She collapsed into the shadow of the overturned shoe, curling into its shelter. Her cheek rested against the cool insole. Her chest rose and fell with shallow, ragged breaths.
It wasn’t home. It wasn’t a bed.
But it was safety.
Sleep came quickly, like a collapse. Her last thought, before unconsciousness pulled her under, wasn’t of rescue or escape.
It was of Sara’s hand, huge, warm, inevitable, closing around her like the lid of a box.
Damn all these nightmares that Charity is having of Sara have been interesting to say the least. Sara is Charity’s Freddy Kruger at this point.
I don’t think they are nightmares more what she knows it the right thing to do. she is not getting physically hurt like in Elem street
I think charity wants to be Saras little because deep down she wants closer for both and knows it is the right thing to do. Dreams have a way of telling people what they already know is the right thing to do. I think Sara with charity would work out well because that would leave more time for Jordan with Kelli 🙂
If these dreams are telling her what the right thing to do is, why is she getting hurt in so many of them?
she is not getting physically hurt only mental acceptance of her smaller form as payment for past sins
1) “There was too much sky above her head” interesting thought for someone inside.
2) “Her parents had baulked at the price tag, but she insisted. And as always, she got her way” damn, even her wealthy parents hesiteated, must be something special.
3) “It was ridiculous, sleeping in a shoe, but practicality had long since trumped dignity. The tiny part of her that still burned with pride was losing ground by the hour.” desperate times breed desperate measures.
4) “Even with the Generitech Repellent devices lining the corners of the room, those sleek, humming white panels designed to deter every species of bug from spider to silverfish, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being prey” well that’s some preparation at least.
5) “But privately, when no one was watching, she’d stared longer than she should have. Not out of pity or contempt, but curiosity. Confusion. Jealousy?” it makes sense for someone who knows they’ll end up as a Little to take an interest in how the Littles around them are being treated. However, mocking and bear poking doesn’t make sense.
6) “Kelli and Kayla Wallace were a myth she clung to, but now she knew better. Their dynamic defied the usual script. Kelli, despite being a Little, was undeniably the one who set the tone. She gave instructions. She offered plans. Kayla followed.” Definitely something a future Little would like to see, lol.
7) “Littles were supposed to be cute, helpless, ornamental. Not commanding. Not composed” sounds more like a Sara thought than one a Little would have.
8) “Would Sara carry her the way she carried Jordan? Not with malice, but with ownership. Would she be perched on that shoulder?” No, she’d be relegated to purses and pockets if Sara were transporting her, maybe Sara’s shoe like the waitress Sara mentioned in 308. She wouldn’t like Jordan; Jordan is her pet, and Charity would be her slave.
9) “She used to make teachers cry.” “She called Sara a pig. Now she’s Sara’s pet.” Just in case anyone was getting too sympathetic for Charity.
10) “Her family should’ve been immune. They had wealth, bloodlines, status. They belonged above the chaos” Understandable why she’d think that, hopium is one hell of a drug.
11) “Charity had envisioned a different life entirely. Her with Littles, plural. She would have taken care of them. She would’ve taught them. She would’ve been firm, but not cruel. A guardian worthy of the role. She would have made them useful” Honestly, sounds about right from her.
4) it is becoming more realistic of a rich soon to be little family prep.
5) maybe part of charity finialy wants to be loved, protected and cuddled as little that she didn’t get as a child
6) Kelli will be giving up more power to Kayla soon, she does not have a choice. Kayla is taking her guardian role back with Saras friendship
4) that would make sense.
5) theres no evidence Charity had a rough or loveless childhood. Not every bad person is secretly victim waiting for a wide-eyed stranger to show them sympathy. Sometimes (most times) they’re just plain bad people.
6) I too worry Kelli’s going to lose what remains of her freedom and independence.
1) The thought was that when you are small as she is. To a little even the ceiling would be like a sky. As its so far off from you.
2) Well she is daddy’s girl as they say. She had a degree of pull with him as I feel like most daughters do. That has been my experience
3)Indeed she has little choice in the matter now. As you say perfectly drastic times.
4) my thought process was honestly while it was practical for little safe keeping but even non little owning families used them just to keep bugs out. As who wants bugs in there home.
5) She was curious so it seemed natural that she would be looking to see what it would be like. She was a bit bitchy and a bully because that’s just her natural personality with people she views as beneath her.
6)Its the golden star of little/biggle relationships. A relationship were the little is basically in charge is quite rare.
7) Society in this world does have a leaning and the propaganda and educational material leads people down a set path. Especially with it being in the schools thanks to cindy.
8) Sara would definitely treat them differently. As Sara does love and care for Jordan. Even if itsnot quite how people would like her to be all the time. I don’t think here is much debate that she does care about him.
Charity would be a different animal. (no pun intended) So there would be differences in treatment. I don’t think that would be a shocker to most of the regular readers.
9) Just had to remind people how much respect to put on her name and who she really is.
10) Hopium and just living in a world where you have enough wealth and power you can pretty achieve whatever you want. Where you have lawyers on the ready so you do put a degree of fear in people.
11)Yeah, if I ever were to do what if story kind of like your little dayton story. I would do one where Charity at least was immune and it was her with littles.
I forgot to mention to you for the timeline. This story takes place in late 2021.
11) I am guessing her parents and brother would be her littles AK Madison. That would be interesting how she treats her little family when she has the family power and money.
No, having the parents as littles would be to much like Madison’s world.
They would be littles from the store most likely or if she did know them it would be a different kind of connection then familial.
Do people normally send their Underbred to Obedience School or do they usually allow them to maintain a normal and independent attitude as if they were normal sized? I would wonder if most people treat them as pets being stuck in terrariums or if that’s the more extreme example by people like Madison. The little being in charge is rare, huh? Does that mean that Kelli might be sent to obedience school herself? I know Sara is basically trying to push her sister to treat her more like a pet with pup cups from the coffee shop and not letting Kelli dictate terms to her.
Obedience school for Littles is expensive, most guardians wouldn’t bother. Littles who stay at facilities are given basic training but nothing too extreme.
Most people would leave their littles in their terrarium, Mia and Maddison are typical examples in that regard. Sara and Mal taking Jordan and Gavin everywhere are the extreme examples.
Kelli, or any Littles being in charge is extremely rare outside of Little Cities.
Sara does treat Kelli as lesser than Kayla does, and definitely believes Kayla should do the same.
I could see Littles being neglected in that way. Like how a dog is lonely and bored all day until it’s owner comes home and it’s super excited and wants all of your attention? These Littles would basically feel like that and might desperately want their guardians attention. I still don’t see how you can have an entire modern city of Littles but they’re information is censored and there is no impetus from them to demand equal rights. These are obviously not simple minded creatures so I would assume they would resist the status quo. Like what if a Little simply refuses to listen to their Guardian? Not to be too dark, but I’m fairly certain there is only so much a Guardian can do short of physically abuse or threaten to kill a Little, which I don’t think is legal in any circumstance. I could see someone like Kelli refuse to listen to a Guardian if it’s something she finds demeaning and would probably call their bluff.
Well the littles in the cities are owned directly by Generitech which is also the company that does most of the little research in the world. The people who pay for generitech to do the research is the U.S. government so the results of the research is property of the U.S. government.
So Generitech isn’t allowed to disseminate said information among the population. As its not theirs to directly share. They can internally use the data and act upon it but they can’t share it publicly.
So Generitech who is the main distributer of littles in the U.S. for the united states government sells a portion of the littles they get while using others internally to provide them better life.
As far as if a little refuse to listen to directions. There are training collars as depicted in Madison’s world. Where you see tehy can be programmed to provide various function. The variety madison has restricts the airway making it harder breath until compliance is met. However there would be other correctional methods such as shock collars, etc. Thery are obviously tested to prevent death and the punishments are kept at humane levels.
Most littles comply with that as most littles like people don’t want to die.
The other aspect is many of the issues you are talking about are only short term issues. The majority of littles will be smallborns which won’t have any notion or pretense of life in any other way. They won’t have ever been large or have a concept of what being 5 or 6 feet tall would be. They won’t have a concept of rights being taken away as they never had those rights to begin with. They will have basically never been human.
A smallborn will have been born a little and die a little. Which mentally is different then someone infected. A tiger doesn’t wonder why it was born a tiger. It just accepts that it was a tiger. A smallborn is very much the same way.
As time goes on the idea of a little deriving from a human would be that of fairytales and disney movies.
In Madison’s case, she has “plans” and letting them out their “habitat” for now is a privilege. Once she has them trained, they will be doing all types of chores for their “community”.
As far as obedience classes, I feel as was mentioned that most guardians would forgo it if they got their Little from a corporate vendor. Those that were familiar with their guardian in their pre-smallara life might get training depending on how good of a relationship they had and how well the guardian and/or the Little is adjusting. I could see a well intentioned family member guardian having trouble with authority and then just feeling that obedience class would be a simple solution.
2) Makes sense, maybe her family isn’t too rich after all.
4) That makes sense, I’d love a device like that, especially during mozzie season.
5) Just like Sara, she naturally treats people whom she views as beneath her as lesser beings.
6) It’s not devoid of issues, but it does seem pretty good.
7) It seems to have worked on her, and Sara and Ellie and a lot of others.
8) She cares about him, selfishly, but still better than Charity would get.
Speaking of shockers, what kind of features would Sara put in Charitie’s collar?
9) Just had to remind people how much respect to put on her name and who she really is.
11)Fun fact, Charity is immune in the Little Dayton universe, just like Gavin and Greg. Tamara and Lauren are vulnerable, though.
Talisa was almost vulnerable, becoming Kayla’s Little while Kelli was immune, but I changed my mind last minute, lol.
I think you have mentioned that before,
(11) Another fun fact I’m going to make Charity Sara’s guardian when I get around to writing my Small Sara story.
that would be fun lol