title: Patricia aliases: [] tags: [FA] author: [Alozec] id: [51990983] date: 星期四, 六月 1日 2023, 9:27:06 晚上 modified: 星期四, 六月 1日 2023, 9:38:40 晚上
[TOC]
Patricia
Dustfolk Patricia: The name gave it away, she was incredibly small, a creature so small that even household furniture looked nearly stratospheric in height compared to her small frame, she was absolutely microscopic.
For years she had lived among the unassuming humans, who were obliviously feeding her and sheltering her as they went about their daily lives without even noticing the small speck.
Patricia would go from house-to-house, easily sneaking in to scavenge scraps of food or other assortments of garbage she could use for survival; she had many close calls, however, from similarly-sized insects, to the gargantuan household pets confused by her presence, and of course the even-larger humans were responsible for a few scrapes and bruises along her journey.
After a long day of enduring the unforgiving outdoors, Patricia finally managed to seek shelter at a neighboring house.
Thankfully, wading through the crap-coated threads of the welcome mat was no challenge, and she was more than small enough to crawl under the wooden door.
She spent a good hour assessing the strange environment, Patricia could never get used to the amazing sights and sounds from her smaller-than-small perspective.
What was a discarded pair of sneakers was just another slice of curiosity to Patricia; you see, in her mind, all she could muster from the unusual structures towering beside her was just another alien landscape to explore.
At first she struggled to grasp on the weaved threads of the shoelaces, but as they leveled out on to the surface of the sneaker, Patrica managed to carefully crawl up towards the brim of the rubbery sole.
The weathered cracks within the leathery material were coated with streaks of dirt; random shades of off-white voids were dotted on the side. As she hopped onto another smooth surface leading towards the opening, Patricia scratched her head as she discovered an unusual detail that stumped her, looking at an oversized logo of the manufacturer, with the name and brand meaning absolutely nothing to the small microbe, the seemingly random characters of the unknown alphabet gave her some hope that perhaps this location was used to transfer supplies to the gargantuan aliens.
An unusual, warm scent radiated from nearby, the opening of the mysterious structure seemed like it could make for a great hideout, the surprising warmth felt welcoming, almost inviting, even.
The eroded material was soft and slick enough to slide down; Patricia gently glided down the steep slope, coming to a halt to grab onto stitched material at the edge. The walls were lined with a dense network of ridges and grooves that served as a sort of ladder, making her descent much safer.
Patricia was surprised to feel moisture seeping out of the fabric as she climbed down into the depths of the cavernous opening.
She landed on the squishy insole of the sneaker, finding herself surrounded by a thin layer of liquid that resembled water as her tiny feet pressed against the damp fabric, though she hadn't noticed any obvious sources of humidity or water, only adding to her confusion.
Cautiously, she snuck across the soft floor, which seemed to be made of some sort of foam rubber mixed with various weaves of fabric; the material was surprisingly sturdy yet flexible enough to not give way under her weight.
As she traversed deeper inside, Patricia found herself staring at an endless maze of patterns beneath her feet, surrounded by an uneven terrain of worn threadwork as far as the eye could see; She had never seen anything like the strange design before; she was intrigued by the strange landscape, fascinated with its odd appearance.
Looking down, more strange glyphs were visible, seemingly buried under a layer of compacted dirt and moist grime. Patricia scratched her head at the odd symbols neatly aligned on the floor, shrugging them off as directions.
It was dark inside, the air was thick and humid, and a strange, ominous feeling made her shiver slightly, but the warm air inside the cave was too enticing to turn back.
The hot air circulating inside the shelter only intensified as she treaded deeper and deeper into the dark depths. The strange liquid seemed to react to the surface of the floor, some larger puddles had small amounts of condensation were visible.
This deep inside, even the random patches of lint and dirt were caked in a film of mud as a result of the moist environment.
Unfortunately, the mite-sized explorer couldn’t go much deeper, the light was just too limited to make anything out. Not wanting to pass on a surprisingly comfy (albeit, wet) place to rest, Patricia found a small patch of padding to ease her tired legs, stretching her limbs out as far as they could as she slowly relaxed into a comfortable position to nap.
There was a sudden loud thud behind her, causing Patricia to leap back as she clutched her tiny body.
The surrounding areas darkened as a large, oddly-shaped lump of cloth wiggled its way inside the cavern.
Patricia had no time to react, she was immediately smothered between two warm and squishy layers of fabric, flattening her small figure into a paper-thin mess as she attempted to squirm out of her constraints.
The sound of shoelaces whooshing against one-another echoed from within the shoe, and the already-cramped space left within the sneaker that Patricia had to work with was immediately snuffed; as the laces tightened, Patricia only had a moment to breathe as the socked foot she was stuck under lifted up for a brief moment in an attempt to get comfy.
As the immense weight shifted yet again, her body began to distort into the fabric of the sock, effortlessly adhering to it as the owner took their first Patricia-clad steps, the poor girl was somehow getting flatter and thinner with each agonizing stomp.
Time was now non-existent to Patricia, she was stuck for what felt like hours, she was beginning to adjust to the sensation of being an insole, after all, at this rate she was merged into the folds of the coarse fabric like a wad of tiny chewing gum.
As the day went by, Patricia could only focus on the muffled noises she could hear from the outside world; every blade of grass made a distinct crunch, every patch of loose gravel had a unique scuffle, every miscellaneous sound, whether it be a car horn or dog barking in the distance, all made for a unique journey.
Eventually, the nauseating thrusts and shoves stopped, and there was finally a few minutes of peace, Patricia was so used to the endless trampling and grinding that the sudden halt of it felt alien.
The soles that she were now practically melted onto began to scrunch and shuffle, seemingly relaxing from a long day’s work, Patricia had no control of her movements. she folded alongside the other imperfections within the sock as the material scrunched up.
Seemingly oblivious to the creature plastered on their foot, the unaware owner propped their tired feet onto the coffee table, airing out them out as they cooled down from the fresh breeze, one that gave Patricia the chills, she was completely speechless at the change of environment, the sudden hot and murky sneaker to helplessly flattened in the air almost made her head spin, the constant swaying from the owner’s foot didn’t help, either.
She was completely stuck, no movement seemed to help, she had no choice but to wait it out, looking directly at the blurred imagery projected on the nearby television, whether it was TV shows or the news channel, none of it meant anything to the confused speck, she just wanted to live peacefully in this unusual, oversized world.
Over an hour passed, the owner seemed to have fallen asleep. Patricia could only keep her eyes open for so long, too, but the light from the TV was enough to keep her occupied.
She tried once more to move her pancaked legs, but her flat form held her in place, preventing her from escaping the confines of her socked restraints. The only thing she could do is patiently wait until the owner woke up.
Patricia eventually faded into slumber, soon to be awakened by a familiar sound she knew all-too-well.
Just as she thought she might be free, her body was still adhered to the underside of the sole as it shifted positions, whooshing into the sky, only to be firmly planted onto the hard and cold wooden floor, her brief screams of protest were cut short as her world plummeted into darkness with a deafening thwump.
This agonizing process repeated itself for what felt like an eternity, and while Patricia was starting to get annoyed, she couldn’t help but gaze in awe at the random details from across each step as the floor bounced in and out from her view.
Suddenly the landscape changed from the dusty wooden floorboards Patricia was beginning to be all-so familiar with, to a more inviting, albeit still painful sea of blue carpeting; as the carpeted floor grew closer and closer, so did the random bits of junk that were wedged within the forest of fibers. Even if it was for only a brief moment, Patricia winced at the intimidating shards of nacho chips, rusted screws, bent tacks and what looked like a penny, all of which were completely foreign to her.
Patricia could suddenly feel movement within her limbs, she was starting to slowly peel off of her captor as the foot brushed against the carpeting, the fabric loosening her body slightly with each agonizing step.
She was flung across the room, landing somewhere within the grimy carpet, the random distortion of the forested world creeped her out, the fibers of the floor twisted and tangled one-another, with the random crap from the homeowner seemingly scattered everywhere; it was clear that whoever was in charge of the place clearly hadn’t swept up in a while.
Patricia could only squirm around on the carpet as she struggled to find her way, her limbs were still too weak to stand, and her body was too small to escape the incoming footfall.
The soft stands of carpet creaked and crackled as they folded to the weight of the giant foot relaxed onto them, Patricia having no other choice but to instinctively curl up into a fetal position as the sky above her soon turned into a mess of off-white fabric.
She felt her whole body become absorbed into the floor as the ceiling collapsed onto her. Patricia angrily grumbled as she felt the familiar sensation of her figure flattening into a paper-thin pancake, the moist surface adhering her puny form with a audible SQUISH!
She felt a sudden thrust into the sky, lifting her among the other crap that was now glued onto the sole. Patricia‘s mind was going at a thousand thoughts a minute, the unforgiving force from the movements constantly smacked her body with endless breeze, the constant high-pitch whooshing began to pierce her ears.
Patricia daren't to open her eyes. As she slowly lifter her eyelids, she could see the once forested blue carpet turn into an sea of carpet as she zoomed away from the upward momentum, the random crap and garbage wedged inside the carpet were soon too small for even her to see, the whole sight made her blush slightly, realizing how difficult she must be to notice at her puny height.
The velocity soon inverted, and before she knew it, Patricia found herself gliding across the top of the carpet, not even having her arms to shield her as she screamed in advance for the inevitable impact.
A sharp crunch startled her, not of her own body, but for something else nearby… As her world lifted back up, she saw the pulverized remains of an old unlucky tortilla chip, some debris of the chip rained back down into the carpet, Patricia wished she was as lucky, as the surface she was plastered to rotated into the sky, revealing the monster she was stuck under, the light from above silhouetting their features, but still enough to make out a generic shape.
“Damnit!” A voice boomed from above, reacting to the small pinch under their foot.
“What are you!? Let me go, I’m down here!” Patricia squeaked, noticing them reaching out towards her.
She felt the edge of something scraping across the walls, various junk began peeling off the sole as the giant knuckles rubbed the dust-scattered debris across their foot, knocking Patricia with the rest.
After giving their sole a quick glance, brushing the random crap from the floor off their feet, they retreated back towards a different room.
Patricia slowly regained some of her strength, waddling in no particular direction as she remained lost in the thick trunks of carpeting, her perspective was obstructed as the dense forest continued to swallow her horizon, with only the random lumps of dirt and debris to accompany the already-lifeless wasteland.
The coarse, thick trunks of carpeting coated Patricia in various layers of dust as she attempted to squeeze between them, barely registering her pity shoves, at times nearly getting stuck from the claustrophobic environment.
Patricia tried to stay calm, as she could feel the familiar shakes beneath her feet slowly intensify; the owner returned once again, she could hear the faint sounds of rustling fabric, failing to make out what was going on in the distance. The thunderous echos of clanking and shuffling from seemingly miles away only further confused her tiny mind.
A loud ‘Click!’, then... nothing.
Just as things started to settle, a lighter, yet still monstrous rumble shuck the floor once again, and then, she saw it...
The unforgiving shadow of a tall, unassuming giant rolled into Patricia’s view, the sky above consumed by the beast, mechanical in form, its one purpose? To clean. The worn leather sack attached to the end of a flat mouthlike opening, like the lungs of a god ready to suck away anything small enough to get in its way.
The end of the some enormous piping landed close by to Patricia, flattening the overgrown carpeting nearby as the soft fibers struggled to hold its weight, landing with a soft yet auditable clunk! Patricia was completely oblivious to the wiring that almost crushed her.
Whatever was about to happen, Patricia knew it couldn’t be good, immediately retreating away from the awakening vacuumous Kaiju.
She hid behind an enormous shield of thick copper that was caught between two strands of carpet, catching her breath momentarily before continuing to sprint as fast as she could... which, given her puny size, wasn’t much.
An ear-piercing shriek caught her off guard, a continuing white noise of immense intensity blew through her minuscule eardrums, she could barely comprehend a thought with such a racket.
Meanwhile, a strong gust of air blew through the whole forest, the once-dead fibers of carpeting suddenly danced back to life as they wiggled and wobbled from the incoming onslaught, a cloud of dust began to form, too thick for poor Patricia to navigate through, let alone with the deafening vacuum slowly inching closer from behind.
The massive, heavy copper coin that Patricia hid behind moments ago was slowly loosened from the grasp of the carpet trunks, giving into the suction and taking off into the air, only to be consumed by the unforgiving cleaner.
It was now or never—Patricia had to do something, and fast.
Immediately looking at a loose strand of carpet in front of her, Patricia quickly sprinted towards the towering trunk.
The patchwork from the old carpeting was enough to at least grab ahold of. The thin wire-like material was perfect, Patricia quickly scrambled over to it, attempting to tie herself to the still-moving ‘tree’.
As she managed to tie one of her hands securely to the base, her surroundings continued to grow darker as she felt herself being lifted, Patricia's vision was starting to blur as she was pulled further and further in, all she could do was close her eyes and pray it would stop, as the sounds whirring and dust hitting the mouth of the vacuum continued to assault her ears.
Patricia could feel every soft chunk of dust evaporate as it assaulted her body, she could barely keep her eyes open from the clouds of soot surrounding her.
The suction was so strong, she could do nothing but hold on for her life, as the rectangular maw of the mechanical giant loomed directly above her position.
It was hungry, and it only had an appetite for dust.
While Patricia was enduring the punishment of the vacuum, the loose threads she was wrapped around could not. As the thin twine snapped, Patricia was still holding onto it, having no other choice but to take the same journey with the rest of the dust that fell victim to the gravity-defying suctions.
It only took a fraction of a second until the poor micro realized what just happened, her eyes opened for a brief moment in disbelief, only to face the unrivaled force of the vacuum as she flailed and struggled in the air.
The next few moments weren’t pretty, but they were quick; Patricia was assaulted by what felt like a thousand tiny bristles as she moved up within the manmade guts of moving parts and tubing. She was spat out into a small vent, the thunderous roars were still assaulting her ears as the beast continued to suck the dirt from under its feet.
Patricia was consistently pelted with small chunks of thick debris, clouds of soot-caked dust that shared her prison were thrown at her with no remorse. There was barely any light to make out where she was, only the light penetrating through the chinks within the walls were her only source of sight.
While it wasn’t exactly pleasant, Patricia was at least thankful she could still breathe in such a dusty, enclosed space, being too small to have any affect on her lungs. She could make out some small objects buried under the dunes of dust, random crumbs of food or a few strands of hair protruded out of the colorless sand.
All Patricia could do was wait, there was no way out, she was stuck here, awaiting the next step of her inevitable journey within the trash. While she couldn’t see it, she could still feel the soft thumping of socked feet not too far behind her.
Suddenly the loud motors cooled down, the high-pitched white noise came to an end. The sudden jolt of the room flung Patricia into a massive pile of collected dirt, still warm from the heated environment.
Spitting out some of the dry substance accidentally stuck in her mouth, Patricia had little time to react to the seemingly random movements within the confined dust chamber.
Patricia had no say in the matter, as she was thrown along the landslide of filth, her whole body now coated in a thick grey coat of soot, camouflaging her dustfolk form with her fellow, smaller comrades.
She felt a sudden jolt yet again, only this time it felt much more concentrated, as if the room she was stuck inside was being picked up by a god.
As the movements began to soften, Patricia was immediately overwhelmed by the fresh air that wafted, the ceiling was slowly lifting up, until it was completely removed, Patricia could barely contain herself as she was finally free of the dust camber.
Unfortunately, she only just realized where she was headed. From one dark abyss to another, as the container tilted towards a black hole, Patricia couldn’t even see the bottom.
She struggled to grip onto the plastic sides of the room as it tilted at a downward angle, the dust-filled contents slowly emptied out, sliding towards the circular hole of nothingness that Patricia feared she would soon join.
No matter how much she tried, Patricia soon felt herself slipping, the ground too steep to keep a solid grip on.
One final shake, and it was all over, Patricia was now sliding uncontrollably down the slide of the container, her body leaving a void in the remaining coat of dust that was left on the surface.
Patricia protested as much as she could as she was nearing the edge, her squirms did nothing, her muted cries heard by no-one, this was it, she was moments away from being swallowed into the unknown.
Patricia let out a small squeal as she lifelessly fell, she closed her eyes, not wanting to see what awaited her.
Her landing was soft, yet still impactful enough to hurt. Patricia was surrounded by the shiny film of plastic, the glossy walls were too tall and too steep to climb, and it wouldn’t make much difference for what was about to come.
A titanic shadow engulfed the artificial sun in the sky, then a barrage of random garbage and filth rained down; Patricia had no choice but to bury herself under the dust-filled dunes, the violent thuds shuck her very core as a torrent of weaponized junk assaulted the surrounding area.
When the dust settled, and the crashes stopped, Patricia quickly popped her head out of the dirt to observe the now-terraformed landscape within the garbage bag.
Patricia looked up, taking in one last look at the light, which was abruptly snuffed as the owner tied the bag ready for collection.
Patricia helplessly banged on the thin plastic walls, to no avail, as she stumbled over from the bag swinging from side to side, giving her some additional motion sickness.
As the unassuming deity walked to dump their trash ready for the scheduled next-day pick-up, they would be completely oblivious to the sentient creature that now sealed within, now doomed to follow the same fate of the meaningless junk and garbage that surrounded her.
Patricia’s journey was only just beginning, she had no clue what was in store for her.