Charity 29

Whispers of a Former Life: Episode 29

Charity’s lungs pulled in shallow, ragged breaths as she lay motionless in the soft bowl of Alejandra’s palm, but even now, trembling as the giant girl’s eyes raked over every inch of her tiny, helpless form, some detached part of her mind clung to clinical facts like a lifeline.  

I’m breathing through my skin, she thought, absurdly calm in this one corner of her reeling brain. Her chest rose and fell, but not with the desperate gulps of panic she might have felt at her old size. Littles didn’t just shrink; they adapted. She remembered reading it once, skimming Generitech’s literature when she still thought she’d be safely immune: the alveoli in the lungs dense and folded like a hummingbird’s, the blood more greedy for oxygen. And the skin, once just a boundary, now a living sponge, sipping air in trace amounts.  

She could suffocate slower than a human if trapped. She could survive hidden, crawling through spaces where air barely moved. A crawling insect with a brain. Not human, a cruel corner of her mind whispered. Not anymore.  

Alejandra’s fingers shifted beneath her, the warm, ridged pads flexing and cradling her more securely as if she were about to slip through them like a misplaced ring. Charity’s entire body responded instinctively, her spine stiffening, arms pressing tight against her sides, like prey bracing for a predator’s mouth.  

A bit of Spanish slipped from Alejandra’s lips, low and thoughtful, carrying words Charity barely caught: “…mira qué chiquitita… tan delicada, tan diferente…” Look how tiny. So delicate. So different. The sounds rolled over Charity in deep vibrations, an intimate storm of syllables that made her shiver.  

We were the same once, Charity tried to remind herself. It sounded like a lie. They had shared spaces, hallways, bathrooms, two teenage girls, separated by invisible walls of power and money and the careless cruelty of the privileged. Back then, Alejandra had been just another pair of eyes lowered when Charity passed, a broom in hand, background noise in a castle Charity thought she ruled by birthright.  

Now the girl’s thumb alone felt wider than Charity’s entire ribcage. The air smelled faintly of sweat, cheap floral lotion, and the earthy ghost of marijuana smoke that clung to Alejandra’s clothing fibers and now seemed to cling to Charity’s own skin too.  

Every detail drilled home the brutal truth that her biology had shifted under her feet while her ego had been too proud to notice. Her skin was not just skin anymore, she breathed through it. Her lungs were hummingbird lungs, tiny and rapid and greedy for molecules. If she ever grew back to human scale again, she’d be a freak. She would never quite match the people she once called her own. There was no real going back. There was only pretending.  

Alejandra’s huge, dark eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Her breath ghosted over Charity’s bare calves, warm and gently humid. She seemed to be studying not just Charity’s trembling face but her whole small frame: the faint sheen of moisture on her bare arms, the subtle rise and fall of her tiny chest.  

“Your skin…” Alejandra murmured, switching to English now, her voice carefully low but still thunderous to Charity’s hyper-attuned ears. “…it’s moist, no? So you don’t drown… inside yourself. Pobrecita.”  

Charity flushed crimson under the scrutiny, the heat crawling up her neck until it prickled her scalp. She hated how sharp the word stung: Pobrecita. Poor little thing. She wanted to scream she wasn’t pity. She was Charity Stevens. She had been captain of the volleyball team. She had humiliated girls like Alejandra for sport. And yet, here she was, a damp-skinned, hummingbird-blooded bug that could not even fill her own lungs properly without Alejandra’s warm air to supply the oxygen.  

She could not stop a tiny sob from slipping free. She hated the sound of it, how childish and whimpering it was, how utterly fitting it felt for what she was now.  

Alejandra’s brows knit closer. She tilted her palm a little, making Charity’s entire body slide helplessly closer to the cup of her fingers. For a heartbeat, Charity thought she’d be squeezed or pinched, but instead, Alejandra just looked at her, her massive thumb brushing the sticky hair from Charity’s damp forehead with exquisite care.  

“No más llorar,” Alejandra said softly, the Spanish warmer than the English had been. “Don’t cry. Shhh. You’re breathing fine, pequeña. See?” She gestured to Charity’s chest, then to her glistening skin. “Your body knows what to do. Even if you don’t.”  

The words hit her like a stone to the gut. Even if you don’t. And God help her, it was true. Her mind, so clever, so ruthless once, could find no plan here. Only this humiliating truth: her little lungs, her little skin, her little heart all working desperately without her permission, a clockwork creature built to stay alive so she could be helpless another day.  

Charity’s vision blurred again. She tried to speak but instead just croaked a single hoarse whisper:  

“Please don’t… drop me.”  

Alejandra’s lips curved, a small softness in her stern face. She shook her head, a slow sway of dark hair brushing her shoulders.  

“I won’t drop you, patrona. Not today.”  

And in that huge, calm promise, Charity heard the only certainty she had left: her next breath, whether through lungs or skin, belonged entirely to the girl who once swept her floors. 

 

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Lethal Ledgend
13 hours ago

1) “some detached part of her mind clung to clinical facts like a lifeline.” I could see how that’d bring her comfort.

2) “Not human, a cruel corner of her mind whispered. Not anymore.” damn, her own cruelty is turning on her.

3) “…mira qué chiquitita… tan delicada, tan diferente…” Look how tiny. So delicate. So different.” I appreciate the included translation.

4) “They had shared spaces, hallways, bathrooms, two teenage girls, separated by invisible walls of power and money and the careless cruelty of the privileged” well, Charity knows a thing or two about cruelty and privilege.

5) “If she ever grew back to human scale again, she’d be a freak. She would never quite match the people she once called her own. There was no real going back. There was only pretending.” She’d have the world’s most efficient body, enhanced strength, speed, and senses. She’d basically be a super soldier.

6) “Your skin… It’s moist, no? So you don’t drown… inside yourself. Pobrecita.”  it’s almost like she knows Charity was looking for facts for comfort.

7) “She wanted to scream she wasn’t pity. She was Charity Stevens. She had been captain of the volleyball team. She had humiliated girls like Alejandra for sport” It does suck to be pitied, but given who she is and what she’s done, there are worse options.

8) “She could not stop a tiny sob from slipping free. She hated the sound of it, how childish and whimpering it was, how utterly fitting it felt for what she was now” Charity much prefers it when her victims cry, not her.

9.1) “Alejandra said softly, the Spanish warmer than the English had been” many people are in their native tongue,
9.2) “Don’t cry. Shhh. You’re breathing fine, pequeña. See?  Your body knows what to do. Even if you don’t.”  Just like a newborn.

10) “I won’t drop you, patrona. Not today.”  so when then?

11) “her next breath, whether through lungs or skin, belonged entirely to the girl who once swept her floors” Better that than Charity owning someone else’s breath.

washsnowghost
Reply to  Lethal Ledgend
12 hours ago

9.2 she is basically a new born baby and needs a mother to teach and protect her in her giant new world
11) for a beautiful woman im sure her breath is great but have just smoked some weed, I am sure charity is getting a buzz lol

Last edited 12 hours ago by washsnowghost
washsnowghost
Reply to  Asukafan2001
12 hours ago

9) there many aspects to a culture and Latin woman’s culture is maternal, loving and wanting to help people and loving physical touch. The male Latin culture is not great in a lot of ways per my Latin woman mentors when I was young lol.

C M
C M
Reply to  washsnowghost
10 hours ago

I think that’s generational or regional lol I remember the Mexican american girls from this age range. They were brutally honest,get in your face when they yell, and hot head af haha

ale
ale
12 hours ago

I didn’t know that little ones stopped being mammals and became what: amphibians, cnidarians, flatworms, annelids or nematodes? Breathing through the skin, no comments

washsnowghost
Reply to  ale
12 hours ago

that is interesting, I guess we will have to Gronk it lol

ale
ale
Reply to  Asukafan2001
10 hours ago

“The smallest mammal in the world is the pygmy shrew (Suncus etruscus), also known as the “shrew.” It is an extremely small animal, only 3 to 5 centimeters long (excluding the tail) and weighing between 1.8 and 3 grams.”

See, the smallest mammal in the world is smaller than a small one and it doesn’t breathe through its skin. In other words, no small one (which is a mammal) would need to breathe through its skin to adapt and survive after shrinking. Good old-fashioned lungs would be enough, as they are for the pygmy shrew. You should stick to reality to make your stories more believable. What other example? Why do the small ones in your universe shrink when they shrink, and why don’t their clothes stay the same size, and why don’t they get naked? Was there some rational, biological argument, or was it your puritianism that prevented you from addressing this in the universe you created, preferring to ignore it and let it go unnoticed by everyone? The universe you created is deeply flawed, and the arguments you develop are sometimes deeply flawed, in my opinion, as in the two cases I mentioned. But ultimately, the universe is yours, but the implausibility impoverishes it and ultimately impoverishes the story.
I hope I made myself understood, Google Translate is sometimes very bad.

Last edited 10 hours ago by ale
Asukafan2001
Admin
Reply to  ale
10 hours ago

You are forgetting one important fact. We are taking a human body as it exists and downscaling it. That is not the same thing as a Pygmy shrew which was created to be that size.

Taking a human body as it’s designed and then making it the size of a female and male little and have it work the same way as a regular sized human being is not possible.

But if my word isn’t good enough here’s knowledge for you.

A human shrunk to 4 inches tall would not be able to breathe normally without major biological changes. At that size, the normal human respiratory system would be vastly out of proportion to the oxygen needs and atmospheric limitations at that scale. Here’s a breakdown of why:

🫁 Why Breathing Would Be a Problem at 4 Inches Tall
1. Surface Area to Volume Ratio Increases
• A smaller body has much more surface area relative to its volume. This means more heat and moisture loss, which could dry out the lungs and mucous membranes rapidly, impairing function.
2. Lung Volume Shrinks Cubically
• Lung capacity shrinks drastically, while the oxygen demand (metabolically) doesn’t scale down as efficiently, especially for an animal with a human brain and active metabolism.

3. Alveolar Surface Area Drops
• The microscopic sacs in lungs (alveoli) are where gas exchange happens. Shrinking a human reduces the total alveolar surface area so much that not enough oxygen could diffuse into the blood fast enough, even if the lungs were still working.
4. Air Molecule Density and Viscosity Stays the Same
• Air is thick and sticky at a small scale. For a 4-inch human, breathing would feel like inhaling soup—the air’s resistance becomes much more of a problem.

You may require facts in a more professional matter with citation. Because I actually spent time learning this to my best of my knowledge before adapting it into my work.

This report examines the fundamental respiratory limitations of a hypothetical human reduced to a height of 4 to 6 inches (10–15 cm). Based on principles of comparative physiology, allometric scaling, and fluid dynamics, we find that standard human pulmonary architecture would be incapable of supporting adequate oxygen exchange at this scale. The primary limitations stem from decreased alveolar surface area, increased air viscosity at low Reynolds numbers, and a mismatch between metabolic demand and oxygen delivery capacity. Without extensive biological adaptation, a miniaturized human would experience respiratory failure within minutes.

1. Introduction

Miniaturization of complex organisms, particularly humans, has long been a subject of theoretical biology and science fiction. However, the feasibility of shrinking a human to 4–6 inches in height while maintaining survival depends on scaling biological systems that do not scale linearly. Respiration is among the most critically affected.

2. Allometric Scaling and Lung Volume
• Lung volume scales roughly with body mass (M), which itself scales cubically with height.
• A normal adult human has a lung volume of ~6 liters at ~170 cm height.
• Scaling down to 10–15 cm height reduces mass by a factor of ~1/1000, and lung volume to ~6 mL—comparable to a mouse.
• However, the human brain and oxygen demands do not scale down proportionally, resulting in a metabolic-oxygen mismatch.

3. Alveolar Surface Area Reduction
• Humans rely on ~70 square meters of alveolar surface area for gas exchange.
• Miniaturized lungs would offer less than 0.1 square meters.
• Even assuming identical alveolar density, the massive drop in surface area would result in critically insufficient oxygen diffusion.

4. Diffusion Limits at Low Reynolds Numbers
• Air viscosity becomes a dominant factor at small scales.
• Breathing at 4–6 inches becomes functionally similar to drawing air through syrup: airflow resistance increases disproportionately.
• This makes tidal ventilation (breathing in and out) far less efficient, especially in narrow bronchial tubes that cannot scale down infinitely.

5. Increased Surface Area-to-Volume Ratio
• A miniaturized human’s surface area-to-volume ratio increases dramatically, resulting in:
• Excessive heat and moisture loss from the lungs.
• Rapid drying of mucous membranes critical for oxygen absorption.
• These effects compromise respiratory membrane function, increasing the risk of desiccation and collapse of alveoli.

6. Metabolic Demand
• Human brain function requires ~20% of the body’s total oxygen usage, and miniaturization does not reduce cognitive requirements proportionally.
• The high baseline oxygen demand remains, but delivery capability via respiration is diminished—leading to hypoxia and rapid onset of respiratory failure.

7. Conclusion

A standard human, reduced to 4 to 6 inches tall, would be incapable of surviving due to:
• Critically reduced lung volume and gas exchange surface area
• Increased airway resistance and ineffective ventilation
• Disproportionate metabolic demand
• Unsustainable loss of moisture and heat through respiratory tissues

Without drastic anatomical or genetic adaptation, respiration would fail within minutes of miniaturization. Viable survival would require the integration of non-human traits such as cutaneous respiration, hyperdense alveolar structures, or engineered blood oxygen carriers.

8. References
• Schmidt-Nielsen, K. (1984). Scaling: Why is Animal Size So Important?
• Weibel, E. R. (1963). Morphometry of the Human Lung.
• West, Brown & Enquist (1997). “A general model for the origin of allometric scaling laws in biology.” Science, 276(5309), 122-126.

I will be awaiting your reply of how science, fact, and biology is wrong but somehow you are right and that condones insulting me and my work.

Last edited 10 hours ago by Asukafan2001
ale
ale
Reply to  Asukafan2001
10 hours ago

The likelihood would then be a change in the small animals’ lungs to adapt to their new size and avoid breathing through their skin, which is not something mammals do. In other words, the small animals’ lungs undergo evolutionary changes to adapt to the small animals’ breathing, just as the lungs of the shrew’s ancestors evolved to adapt to the shrew’s size. And why didn’t you comment on why the small animals’ clothes shrink as they do? What explanation—biological, physical, magical, or mystical—explains this, other than your puritanism? There’s still time for you to invent an explanation for this, instead of ignoring it in your own universe as you have done so far. If you criticize your work, you yourself ask us to comment. Now, you can specify that only constructive criticism or praise be included in the request. You also have the option to exclude me from the site, so I can no longer comment here.

C M
C M
Reply to  ale
9 hours ago

I can’t remember exactly but the clothes has been explained earlier in this stories comments. They basically adhere to the body and the heat and moisture from the transformation causes the clothes to reduce with them

ale
ale
Reply to  C M
9 hours ago

Heat and humidity? I live in a hot and humid country, why don’t my clothes shrink? They only shrink a little when washed in the washing machine. But if that’s the explanation, it’s consistent with the idea that babies breathe through their skin. I just don’t understand why they didn’t also develop gills (if a mammal can breathe through its skin, why can’t it develop gills, an evolutionary adaptation unique to fish?) to breathe underwater. These would be extremely useful, as for babies, any small rainfall can generate a 7-cm-high current in the streets that would drown any baby. Unless, of course, the evolution of babies already considered that they would evolve to be dependent on humans, and humans would never allow them to drown.

Last edited 9 hours ago by ale
washsnowghost
Reply to  ale
7 hours ago

Keep in mind this is a Fiction story of content that people that are on this site are interested in. I am a aerospace engineer by trade and I learned why my story writing sucked following the comments from the guys on here because, I didn’t create drama because a made everything logical and making sense. I think you might fall in that hole and need to just enjoy the universe with the deviations of logic and science of our world and enjoy the world of smallara. Asking questions is of course great but its asking about the rules of the universe most of the time lol.

Asukafan2001
Admin
Reply to  ale
8 hours ago

I don’t mind criticism countless people have criticism of my work and that’s fine. I have an issue with you who chooses to attack my work directly and indirectly in others work across the site.

There is a difference between criticism and outright attack. My goal here is to foster a community who is respectful of each other which you have not been.

Not every view or every idea or ideal is going to be positive but there is a way to deliver that in a friendly manner that encourages people and is helpful. As that’s the community i want to foster.

There is so much hate and inability for people to express themselves in a manner where even if it’s not agreed with they are respected, heard and discussed friendly with merit.

You choose not to do that repeatedly which is my issue. I have said canonically there lungs did evolve and explained that at the time. I chose to also include the breathing through skin to supplement as it would allow for creativity at times but it’s not an aspect which is beaten over people heads.

This is an alternate world and universe I created to have fun in. I’m not out here creating lord of the rings I’m just an amateur writer learning how to build a world and universe as I go.

I ran giantess world for years and when it stopped being fun I sold it. Now I focus all my creative effort on this.

I do this and am not blocking you because when I started doing this i said I was gonna respond to everyone who commented or atleast try to because good or bad they took the time to comment. I appreciate that. I appreciate that after all our talks you still care enough to comment on my work here and others.

I enjoy my convos with cm, lethal, washnowghost, Vader, nodfaq, dark one and so many others i can never name who I talk to here , discord, email and so many other avenues. Who I only met through creating this universe and these stories.

I don’t block you because I wouldn’t block them. I don’t block people just because I don’t agree with them. I don’t have to agree with every opinion. My only issue with you is you aren’t very respectful in how you chose to comment

I’ve said countless times why the clothes Shrink with them canonically and literally. Canonically the sweat and moisture from the reduction process gets In the clothes and is reduced with them.

Literally the clothes shrink with them to adhere to the policies of deviantart at the time of when I created the universe. Now after six years I’m not going to arbitrarily change it just because. So irs just a quirk.

I’ve also said for the last six years between here and deviantart and the entirety of the time

washsnowghost
Reply to  Asukafan2001
7 hours ago

I just want so human little romance lol.

Asukafan2001
Admin
Reply to  washsnowghost
7 hours ago

I have ann ideas for that. It’s just a matter of getting to the story idea.

washsnowghost
Reply to  Asukafan2001
6 hours ago

Yeah. a lot of my fancy books on amazon are turning into romance novels lately and its changing me lol.

ale
ale
Reply to  Asukafan2001
6 hours ago

There’s nothing wrong with blocking me if I don’t respect others in the community, especially if my direct or indirect criticism bothers you so much. You may have noticed that it’s been a long time since I commented on anything you post, precisely because I thought it would be better that way. Now, when I comment on CM’s posts, I sometimes make indirect digs at your work. I thought it was a way to not be so ostentatious. If you noticed, my indirect comments were about how CM’s characters are much deeper and more complex than yours. That’s what I’m trying to tell you: “Look how much richer your stories could be if you invested more in the characters than in the aesthetics.” For example, I haven’t been following your stories for a while, but when I saw you were going to talk about Charity’s story, I got curious and decided to follow it. But I soon realized it would be another story in which dialogue between characters would be rare. It would be another epic of monologues, your reflections through Charity’s thoughts on how a little one must feel small and see the world. In 28 chapters, if I’m not mistaken, there were two conversations between characters, a phone call between Charity and Cloe, very short, and in the penultimate chapter when you put a very short dialogue between Alejandra and Charity. Today, in chapter 28, you returned to the same broken record, the same repetition of thoughts when I thought that now you would finally invest in the interaction between the two characters, but to my surprise, the same story came about about how being small means breathing through your skin, having to ask for favors from the giants since now she is not big anymore and can no longer humiliate anyone. This mantra you repeat in all your stories and in all the chapters, and without it serving to deepen Characters, conflicts, redemptions, in short, add nothing to the story. 28 chapters and two mini-dialogues between two characters. It’s tiring, repetitive. There came a time when I thought to myself, “I’m not going to read it anymore. I’ll just look at the drawings that illustrate the chapters.” When a drawing appears with a character other than Charity, I’ll read it to see if there’s a real story. You broke the record when you managed to write 8 chapters with Charity inside a sneaker, repeating the same things. I thought the rest of the story would be inside the sneaker. What I’m trying to say is that you seem to want to escape the story. It seems like the story, for you, is just an excuse for you to ramble on and on about how a little one becomes powerless, how he’s no longer master of his own destiny. In the end, that’s what matters to you. My indirect criticism of you in CM’s publications is to see if you understand that the theme of giants becomes relevant when it tells stories about small people or giants. A single chapter of a CM story has more density and depth than these 28 chapters of Charity. Okay, I’ve already said what I had to say to you; I think I’ve exhausted the subject. Don’t worry, I won’t comment on any of your posts or make indirect comments on others. I’ll only comment on other posts that I find relevant, whether to criticize or praise, without making any indirect comments about your work.
If I spend so much time writing this diary, it’s not just to criticize for the sake of criticizing, it’s because I like reading good stories on the subject and I think you have the ability to write them.

Last edited 6 hours ago by ale
washsnowghost
Reply to  ale
6 hours ago

many of us this site are interested in the size dynamics of the world and how they interact and that’s what some of his writing in my opinion is directed at. I understand it seems your not into it so I would find a place on the internet your more interested in because I am grateful for the hard work Asuka puts into this site, writing and working. You sound like you just want to complain and that seems sad to me. I hope you have fun on sites, not just want to say negative stuff. Maybe go to a writing site and put a story you did on there?

ale
ale
Reply to  washsnowghost
6 hours ago

Read my comments on CM’s posts and you’ll see that I don’t just complain. And even Asuka, to whom I addressed him, didn’t repeat this repetitive mantra: “Those who are bothered should leave.” He’s bothered by what I write, by my criticisms. He said I’m disrespectful, but that didn’t stop him from repeating it. Quite the contrary: even though I told him he had every right to exclude me, he said he wouldn’t, and I respect him for that.

Last edited 6 hours ago by ale
washsnowghost
Reply to  ale
5 hours ago

all most everyone on this site is positive but you want agitate; and its sad to me you find pleasure in that but I’ve been on the internet from the beginning and understand your type. I am going to chill and respond to my friends on here and let you do you.

Last edited 5 hours ago by washsnowghost
washsnowghost
Reply to  Asukafan2001
4 hours ago

I apricate the time and effort you put into the site. Thanks bud.

Asukafan2001
Admin
Reply to  washsnowghost
4 hours ago

Thanks

washsnowghost
Reply to  Asukafan2001
4 hours ago

Your writing on Kelli and her dealing with losing everything after being a overachiever and having to relie on others she used to take care of helped me dealing with my post accident stuff because I had so much in common with Kelli except I was able to humble myself while Kelli is still making things hard on herself by not fully excepting Kayla was in charge. I see Kayla throwing her giant weight around soon per Saras instruction to get Kelli in line before she does something that will get her hurt lol.

C M
C M
Reply to  washsnowghost
2 hours ago

Lol wasn’t expecting to be mentioned in comments like this

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