She blinked up at the ceiling of her overturned yoga shoe, the once-familiar fabric walls now her temporary fortress. Her limbs trembled as she shifted to sit upright again, but something felt different.
Not broken. Not weak.
Just… heavy with purpose.
She braced herself against the cushioned sole and rose slowly. And though her body complained, it held. Her bones, small as they were now, felt solid, grounded in a way that made her realize they were not the brittle, fragile sticks she feared they’d become.
No. Her body was changing still, quietly, deeply.
Her bones had thickened. She couldn’t see it, not directly, but she could feel it. There was a density there now, a kind of strength that hadn’t been there before. The virus that had taken her size had given her something else in return: resilience. Her skeleton had rebuilt itself to survive a world that wouldn’t bend to her anymore. Every rib, every vertebra, every knobby knee joint had thickened from the inside out. Not bloated, not clumsy, just strong. Compact. Reinforced.
Charity took a step forward into the plush carpet, and her legs burned in protest, but held.
Her muscles, though sore, didn’t feel like they’d been weakened. If anything, they felt tighter, more efficient. She ran her hands down her thighs, feeling the lean tension beneath her skin. The fibers were packed differently now. Stronger. Her body had become something like a coiled spring, small, but ready to move, lift, react.
She crouched once, hesitated, and leapt gently onto the curve of the insole. Not far. Just a few inches. But her knees didn’t buckle.
She landed softly, feet sinking into the cushion, and she realized she hadn’t even winced.
Her joints had changed, too.
In her old life, she’d twisted her ankle on a stair at school once and limped for days. Now, her ankles felt tight and compact. The joints were cushioned by something thicker, denser. Cartilage, probably. Her knees didn’t creak. Her hips didn’t wobble. Everything about her frame felt like it had been compressed, reinforced, and made smarter.
She was built for this now.
Her balance had improved too. At her new size, she had a much lower center of gravity. She didn’t tip easily. Her feet, though narrower, seemed more stable. She suspected that over time, even her soles might toughen up, evolve thicker pads for shock absorption, like the paws of a cat or the heels of a dancer. She was already starting to notice how the vibrations of each step didn’t rattle her the way she’d expected. Something inside her spine, maybe the way her vertebrae curved or stacked, had learned how to take the hit and bounce back.
Every movement was teaching her something new.
Even her tendons and ligaments felt different, less like thin ropes, more like steel cables hidden beneath skin. They flexed and held with strength that surprised her. It was like her whole body had realized: you are small now… but you can still carry your weight.
Maybe even more.
And as she moved, she felt it, that her muscles weren’t just strong, they were clever. They burned slower, held tension longer, like they knew they’d have to keep her going on less fuel and more determination. There was an intelligence in her body now, a way it shifted resources on the fly. When her breath ran short, her legs kept moving anyway, using sugar stored deep in her muscles to buy her more time, more distance.
She still had limits. She knew that. But her body wasn’t fragile.
It was a miracle of design, evolved, adapted, armored in all the right places. Her bones didn’t break. Her joints didn’t wobble. Her heart raced, her lungs pushed forward, her muscles held her up.
The world was too big.
But she wasn’t too weak.
That realization, more than anything, gave her the strength to step forward again.
Back From camping. This story is a cool way to show more physiological and biological lore of littles. How their eyes work, the new bone density and adaptive muscles and balance, it’s all cool and presented really well
I agree but for me as I get more knowledge of how tough littles are, it makes me question some of the myths of littles should be scared of all bugs. Maybe a few, but there isn’t a lot of bugs big enough to mess with the upgraded body of a little, and in most of the US there isn’t a lot of big bugs that can mess with a 4 to six inch little lol. The more know age, I am sure is getting out in the smallara universe whether the government wants it to or not. lol
The only bugs depicted have been spiders for obvious reasons and insects like mosquitos which suck blood.
Other bugs would be fire ants, army ants, carpenter ants. Bees, beetles, caterpillars as some are venomous in warmer states, scorpions, centipedes.
Some like moths, crickets, grasshoppers could crush a little enough to be fatal in some situations.
“but there isn’t a lot of bugs big enough to mess with the upgraded body of a little, and in most of the US”
*Cries in Australian*
Your entire ecosystem is anti little
Thanks, hopefully you had fun camping
It was fun, but I have the worst nasal sunburn of my life haha thought I used enough sunscreen but it looks like I was guiding Santa’s sleigh
another example of being a little is a evolution to being human. I think bugs shouldn’t be that dangerous to littles because littles can be stepped on buy a full grown woman and survive while a bug couldn’t. I think even the venom would have issues with the littles upgraded healing. I think all she and other littles need are weapons and they are good to go. Littles would make amazing spies. people could make them amazing gear and weapons lol, and plant bugs in places and people.
Okay I just want to find out who her guardian will be already lol the suspense is killing me hahah
it’s reading abuse lol
You have a ways to go for that. I think she gets out of the bedroom this week.
Only to face another problem, the dreaded stairs.
There is a stair section, as bedrooms are on the second floor generally. Atleast in the construction around here in midwestern united states.
Oh, I know I was just trying to be funny because I can see something like the stairs being intimidating to a little.
1) “Her skeleton had rebuilt itself to survive a world that wouldn’t bend to her anymore. Every rib, every vertebra, every knobby knee joint had thickened from the inside out.” but not thick enough.
2) “Her balance had improved too. At her new size, she had a much lower center of gravity. She didn’t tip easily” that’d help her when riding on shoulders and things.
3) “There was an intelligence in her body now, a way it shifted resources on the fly. When her breath ran short, her legs kept moving anyway, using sugar stored deep in her muscles to buy her more time, more distance” it’s interesting that Littles have fit thousands of generations of evolution into just one mutation.
4) “She still had limits. She knew that. But her body wasn’t fragile.” Obviously she would, despite all the listed advantages, being a Little is still a fate most would rather avoid.
1) Its better hten nothing though. She is better equipped then the average person who would just shrink proportionally and keep the same human body.
2) That is also true. That is why Jordan’s fear of heights while there is lessoned as the story goes on.
3)Well, the thought process was that since littles are kind of an offshoot of humanity, so it took lessons learned and made an evolutionary better human, but at a reduced scale.
As eluded to the actual little evaluations are to come as time goes on as the thought process is that littles and standard humans become more divergent as times on genetically.
4) I agree, if littles had more equality you might get a few takers depending on disease, sickness or disability as some things could be fixed by becoming a little. But the loss of rights make its less appealing.
I wonder if it would be easier and quicker for a Little to move around on all fours?
Well littles like humans are genetically bipedal. So without further modifications to the body it would probably the same level of effectiveness as you or I doing it.
They would need their body reworked to effectively move around on all fours and have it be more efficient then just walking or running.
Gotcha. Just seemed like the way that the Little evolution changes their body, I wonder if eventually it would be more efficient due to their lower center of gravity to just scamper on all fours like a mouse might. Potentially making them more aerodynamic as a Little’s chance of survival in the wild depends on their speed and cunning.
anything would be possible over time with evolution if you push it out far enough. The legs would need to be reworked completely.
The hands would be interesting as the arms would need be stronger to maintain the gait and speed of the legs as they run but the hands would want to be nimble.yet still able to support the speed of the little and full stride
I think littles brain power and ability to make tools and weapons is more import than speed. The same things that are important to humans is important to littles like thumbs lol
Canonically littles lack the resources to make tools and weapons. Even if released into the wild it would be similar to starting over.
Yes, but due to the Littles’ diminutive size, making tools may not be worth it evolution wise. Higher intelligence may not even be necessary for Littles on a long enough time scale, especially if the pellets they eat are not conducive to the energy requirements for brain power like Humans have. Plus, even if Littles could make tools they still would be more or less defenseless against anything. They would be at the bottom of the food chain as they have no natural defense or claws. If they could use a spear or weapon, that still would be insufficient to defend themselves from insects; never mind animals like cats. If the Littles are completely dependent on Humans to survive in their environment, then eventually their bodies would probably adapt like a mouse would… in the wild a Little would be better off trying to run and hide. And evolution doesn’t necessarily favor intelligence if the payoff isn’t worth it. Intelligence is really only good for tool making and creating a society, both more or less irrelevant for Littles in general as they are part of Human society.
I don’t have little living in the wild on their own for a reason in any kind of mass or sizeable number. It happens sure for how long who can say.
But generally speaking littles in this universe are dependant upon mankind. There is no story arc where littles are out in the wild with their own city or anything for that very reason.
Sara has even said that littles are pets because they are dependant. Which is kind of the narrative you are talking about which is the messaging the story also provides.
Oh yes, I totally agree. I’m just saying because Littles are dependent on Humans that higher intelligence may be bred out as it’s really unnecessary for pets. Especially because even with the intelligence, there isn’t anything they really can do on their own with it and biologically it takes a lot to power a brain for higher intelligence if there’s no payoff for it.
1) My point was it didn’t compensate for what she lost.
2) I always saw that as a Jordan problem, not a Little problem
3) Well, that makes about as much sense as people randomly shrinking, so I can accept that.
4) Agreed, I could imagine retirees and people with debilitating health issues picking it to be easier to care for.