At PepeWizz's open request, here's a short story inspired by his collage.
--------------------------------------------------
Willa was finding her life unfulfilling.
All things considered, Willa knew, in an abstract sort of way, that her life was good. Very good, actually, particularly for a Borrower. And she was very lucky to be married to an Afant, as the faction her husband Josh belonged to called themselves.
Willa had grown up in a very conservative Borrower family, which had as little to do with Big'uns (as they called human beings) as possible. They used natural Borrower magic and abilities to keep themselves undetected, and made their homes in the corners of barns and similar buildings, or even abandoned gopher holes and such. Furniture and clothes were just as likely to be made from twigs and flower petals as they were from spools and buttons.
Josh had grown up in the far opposite end of the Borrower philosophical spectrum. Not only did his people live in the homes of the Big'uns, they had experimented with having "sponsors" (called Juxtas) among the Big'uns, who provided them with miniaturized versions of Big'un clothing, cutlery, furniture and other domestic furnishings.
Unlike Willa's people, Josh's people eschewed arranged marriages, preferring to find their own marriage partners or (gasp!) cohabitate without the benefit of matrimony.
So all of Josh's friends were amazed when he allowed his granduncle to arrange a marriage for him. But perhaps they shouldn't have been. Josh was a bit on the wimpy side, and so Willa was better than he could have hoped to get on his own. And Josh's granduncle was in charge of arranging sponsorships with the Juxtas. So Josh's only hope to get a home as good as the one his parents had raised him in was to get on his granduncle's good side, a Borrower who had a traditional view about marriage.
Juxtas were a rare breed, and becoming rarer. There was the practical need of them living alone and having the financial means of supporting a Borrower family. Plus, they had to be well versed in the knowledge of Borrowers, including the lore and history of the little magics that accompanied Borrowers.
As it happened, Josh's granduncle was able to place Josh and his new bride with such a Juxta: eighteen year old Mark Keyser.
Normally, a Juxta was chosen among Big'uns in their fifties and older, and who were retired from whatever occupation they had pursued for most of their lives. Quite a few Juxtas even took up the hobby of making 'doll' furniture and the like, and thoroughly enjoyed getting instant feedback on their hobbies from their Borrower family.
Mark was different. He had been unexpectedly put into the care of his grandmother at the age of nine. This had caught all parties involved off guard, as Mark's grandmother was a long time Juxta, and was presently hosting a Borrower family. And there were three things nine year old boys shouldn't handle: porcelain dishes, purse sized dogs and Borrowers.
The initial plan was for the resident Borrowers to remain hidden until Mark's grandmother could find somebody else to serve as guardian for her grandson. Unfortunately for Mark's grandmother and the Borrowers, Mark discovered the tiny cohabitants of his grandmother's house before they could get him out of the house.
Mark's reaction was unexpected. He watched wide-eyed as the Borrowers ran for cover, then went about playing with his toys as if nothing had happened. When his grandmother asked him about the encounter, he didn't consider it that big of a deal.
So young Mark was introduced to the world of the Borrowers. He was a quiet, attentive young boy who never tried to grab the tiny people. His smaller hands were the perfect surrogate's for his grandmother's when needed. As he got older, Mark took up garden scale railroading, with the set he built and maintained in his grandmother's garden becoming something of a "World Wonder" to the local Borrower community.
As Mark grew older, he found other interests, including girls. And even though his girlfriends (who all tended to be on the petite side) would have loved for Mark to take more of a long term interest in them, Mark preferred to keep things casual. And, of course, Mark never brought friends home. Protecting and providing for the resident Borrower family was his first priority.
About three months after his seventeenth birthday, Mark's grandmother's health began deteriorating. The Borrower Family in residence had only one child still at home, so they moved out so that they wouldn't accidentally be discovered by the health care workers coming in to help Mark's grandmother.
Unfortunately, Mark's grandmother's health faded quickly. Within three months, she was dead.
Mark distracted himself by taking the remaining portion of his high school classes online and expanding his garden railroad. His contacts at high school were all fairly casual, so Mark had very few visitors. He, his grandmother, and his train layout, though, were fixtures in the Borrower community, so he was checked in on quite a few times by his tiny friends.
On his eighteenth birthday, Mark signed all the papers that gave him his grandmother's house, as well as a trust fund that would allow him to live comfortably for the rest of his life.
Not long afterwards, Mark was approached by Josh's granduncle about being a Juxta for a newly married Borrower couple.
----------------------------------
Willa hadn't expected much from her arranged marriage. She was a practical girl from a practical family with no romantic delusions.
Still, she got even less than she hoped for.
Josh had only married Willa for her looks and because it meant he would get a Juxta furnished home. Otherwise Josh had no use for Willa, holding her in utter contempt. Upon getting married, one of the first thing Josh did was tell his new wife was that she was not going to go running around wearing leaves and flower petals. So with Mark's help, Josh went online and began buying Willa new dresses. Modern dresses in his lexicon. Overly revealing dresses in Willa's opinio. Ones, that showed off too much of her modest bosom and shapely limbs.
Next on Willa's makeover was cutting off the majority of her long luxurious locks,
And if Willa dared to argue, Josh wasn't stingy with the back of his hand.
From the beginning, Willa knew her marriage wasn't going to be a fairy tale, The wedding night had been a disaster. Josh had demonstrated neither stamina nor gentleness. The only good thing she could say about the night was that it ended quickly.
After that, Josh's main enjoyment seemed to be showing off her physical beauty in front of his friends while simultaneously bringing up her social ignorance for the derision and amusement of him and his friends.
As for their physical relationship, it was thankfully infrequent, though an inebriated Josh would often leave bruises on her body as payment for his own inadequacies.
Then there was Mark.
Willa had grown up in the loft of a near abandoned barn. Big'uns were creatures ALWAYS seen from afar. And now she was expected to interact with a Big'un on a daily basis.
At first, Willa was too terrified to move in Mark's presence, a fact which gave Josh one more thing to laugh at her about. Mark, for his part, was mortified that Willa was terrified of him, and went to great extremes to try to put her at ease. Ironically, it would be Josh's continuous humiliation of Willa that would make her more comfortable with Mark.
Josh and Mark were on Mark's laptop, ordering things for the house that Mark was constructing for the newlyweds. Josh wanted something 'chic', something that was 'Falling Waters,' whatever that was. Josh took that moment to order doll sized lingerie and racy underwear for Willa, a fact that embarrassed Willa to no end. It embarrassed Mark too, who told Josh he'd leave him alone to place the orders. Josh ordered Mark to stay, as the order would only take a few minutes. Mark fidgeted nervously, and pointedly did not look in Willa's direction.
That wasn't the only time Josh ordered Mark around. Considering that Mark was twelves times taller than Josh, it was surprising just how much Josh ordered the Big'un around. Josh even tried to get Mark to dismantle the garden railroad, saying it was too 'kitschy.' Mark made the excuse that the railroad was too important to a number of Borrowers, including Josh's granduncle. That was all it took to get Josh to back off the idea.
But it was a dress that finally won Willa over. It was one morning when Josh was off with his friends, doing something they all considered 'culturally significant,' when Mark knocked on the roof. Willa timidly gave him the go ahead to lift the top of their house, and apologized that Josh wasn't there.
"That's okay, it was you I wanted to see," Mark said as he handed her a package wrapped in brown paper. "It's for you," he added nervously.
Curious, Willa opened the package. It was a dress. Not a dress like the ones Josh was always getting . This one was off white, had a full skirt, long puffy sleeves and looked absolutely gorgeous. For the first time since she was married, Willa burst into happy tears.
It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
-------------------------------
Mark got in the habit of buying Willa new dresses, then taking her to his expanding garden railroad. At first, he went to elaborate means of transporting her from one point to another without actually having to touch her. Finally, Willa put on end to this, insisting that he carry her in his hand. At first, Willa was very nervous, but after awhile, she found the sensation ob being in Mark's palm quite comfortable, as well as some other nebulous emotion that she couldn't identify but did not find unpleasant.
The pair became very relaxed around each other, with Mark telling Willa about his dreams, and Willa admiring the newest addition to his railroad, or relating what it was like growing up in a barn loft.
Josh, of course, found the burgeoning friendship between his wife and his Juxta hilarious, and even made Willa parade around in one of her Victorian dresses for the amusement of his friends. When Mark learned of this, his eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched, and Willa realized that her husband might not be aware of what a dangerous path he was treading. A gentle touch of her hand on Mark's palm though, always calmed her down.
Until Josh gave her a black eye.
------------------------------------------
Josh was mocking Mark one night, laughing about his tacky taste, when Willa defended her absent giant friend.
Josh rewarded her audacity of having an opinion separate and distinct from his by giving her a black eye.
The next morning Josh told Mark that Willa was unwell, and would be unable to accompany him on the two friends' daily visit to the garden railroad. Josh might hold Mark in contempt, but he was not stupid enough to ignore the fact that Willa with a black eye would raise Mark's ire.
After three days, though, Josh thought the black eye had faded enough to escape a Big'un's notice. So Josh went on one of his 'cultural outings', and let Willa go on our daily garden trip with Mark.
And Mark noticed the fading black eye right away.
------------------------------------------
"He did that you," Mark growled, as he held Willa up to his face.
The bass of that growl went through Willa's body, a sensation she felt oddly reassuring and...stimulating. She pushed both those feelings down. Her primary concern had to be keeping Mark calm and, though he didn't deserve, keeping Josh safe.
"It...it was an accident, Mark," Willa managed to stutter out.
Mark look unconvinced, but allowed himself to be mollified, By the time the pair had finished their day, Willa was happy to see her giant friend in a good mood,
And Mark was in a good mood. Mostly. But he was going to make a point of hanging around the Borrower house when he dropped off Willa for the evening.
-------------------------------------------
The argument started almost as soon as Mark had closed the roof,
As soon as Mark had left, Josh insisted Willa change into another outfit. It was the new outfit that caused the argument. Josh was going to teach Willa how to do something called a Modern Jazz Dance. The black outfit Willa had put on was rather revealing, but she could handle dancing in front of her husband wearing it. But he wanted her to dance in front of his friends. Willa instantly recognized the double humiliation her husband had planned: first showing off her body, then mocking her ineptness in executing newly learned dance steps.
When Willa made clear that she was not going to dance in front o Josh's friends (at least not wearing what she was wearing), Mark got belligerent He let Willa know she would dance in front of his friends wearing what he had picked out for her, or he would make her regret her rebellion.
That's when the roof came off.
Faster than either Willa or Josh thought was possible, Mark scooped Willa up in his left hand.
Josh's jaw literally dropped as he stared up at the giant hand holding his wife. For her part, Willa was equally stunned. But instead of resisting, she laid back, put her hands back behind her head, curled up her legs, and gave Mark an enigmatic little smile.
"Where--where are you taking my wife?" Josh managed to stutter.
"I will bring her back in one piece. Probably," Mark added.
Willa had to suppress a giggle.
"I'm going to...I'm going to..." Mark went silent, not knowing what to say.
"You're going to be gone when I get back. And you're going to tell your granduncle that you're granting Willa a divorce for how you mistreated her. You do or say anything else, and you WILL regret it." Mark emphasized the point by putting his right index finger on Josh's chest, knocking the Borrower on his butt.
Josh just sat on the floor, a stunned look on his face, as Mark slid the roof back on. As soon as he did, Willa started laughing. Mark had the good grace to blush.
"I, um, well, I'm not sorry," he said looking down at Willa. "I should have done that...well, I don't know when, but before now."
"It's okay. I wouldn't have been able to say No without you," Willa said. "And I needed time to learn how to say No. So now is the time we needed to be here."
There was an awkward silence between the two and Mark suddenly became very aware of Willa's state of dress. Or undress.
"I, uh, let me go get you a dress," Mark said, reaching for the house roof.
Willa blushed, realizing just how much of her was on display, but shook her head. "Let's give my hus---let's give Josh a chance to get his stuff out. Hey, since you've seen my bedroom, why don't we go see yours?"
Both Willa and Mark were sure that the other must be hearing how loud their respective hearts were beating as Mark carried Willa to his room. He sat on the edge of his bed, and both he and Willa were quiet, lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Mark asked, "So, um, what do you want to do now? I mean, when Josh moves out?"
"Well, I definitely don't want to go back to that house," Willa answered. "I mean, I want to still live here, if you'll have me. Ijust don't want to live int that house. I mean, could you build me something new?"
"Oh sure, sure," Mark said hurriedly. "I can even make you furniture. Most of the stuff in the house now, it's online stuff, machine mass produced. It's what Josh wanted." Mark paused before adding, "Would you like to see?"
Willa nodded, and Mark carried over to his desk, setting her down among some of his homemade furniture. She oohed and aahed at the furniture Mark had made, then paused when she got to a full length mirror. The frown that appeared on her face worried Mark. "What's the matter?"
"It's silly," she said, touching her hair, "I used to have long, beautiful hair."
"You can grow it back out," Mark assured her. "Besides, it still looks good now." Mark reached out and tousled Willa's hair. She closed her eyes at sighed at the gentle touch, then moaned a little when Mark ran the same finger up and down her back. When Mark lifted her up in his hand, she made no resistance, but stretched out on her stomach on the palm of Mark's hand. When the caressing finger became two and rolled her over, her breath caught in her throat, but she did nothing to resist.
Mark traced around Willa's arms and face at first, but his finger seemed inexorably drawn to the strapless bra visible through her shirt. Willa held her breath, mentally willing Mark to touch her there. And finally he did. Willa arched her back, trying to press her chest against the single finger, then groaned happily as both fingers circled on her chest.
The shirt that Willa had been wearing suddenly seemed impossible to get off her, which gave both a good laugh. The strapless bra she was wearing, though, came off in a single "pop." Little bolts of pleasure shot through her body at the feel of the ridges of Mark's fingertips moving across her hardened nipples. Her eyes rolled back up into her head when Mark lifted her up to his mouth and his tongue began roaming her torso.
After that, things became hazy. Willa wasn't sure how, but suddenly her shorts, hose and panties had disappeared, falling to the ground below her. She was a deep crimson red as Mark studied her, and was ashamed at the fact that Josh had made her shave her privates. She didn't know what Mark must think of her, seeing her like that.
Shee soon forget all about her insecurities, as Mark lifted her up to his mouth again. JAnd things in her intimate life changed dramatically. osh had always left her unsatisfied. The few times he 'attended' her, that is. She had gotten used to finishing herself off afterwards, though she always felt guilty for doing so afterwards.
But the feel of the tiny bumps of Mark's tongue between her legs sent Willa over the top. She desperately clung to Mark's face, her hips rocking against his probing tongue. When the orgasm hit her (the first one she had ever had that wasn't from her own hand(, it felt like every cell in her body was consumed in its fire.
The orgasm was over too quickly for Willa. When she became aware of her surroundings, Willa felt she should try to cover herself up, but she was too exhausted to move. Every pent up frustration, resentment and fear was gone. When Willa saw Mark smiling down at her she turned beet red, but smiled back up at him.
"So you enjoyed that?" Mark asked, a hint of deviltry in his voice.
Willa nodded, then stretched, giggling at the way Mark's eyes followed the way her body was moving. Then a huge yawn overtook her.
"i've got a little bed you can have," Mark said, carrying her over his desk. "I'll set it up on my nightstand, so you can get my attention if you need anything during the night."
"I, uh, well, shouldn't I, you know, do something for you?" Willa asked, not really sure what she could do to make Mark feel as good as he had just made her feel. But she felt she should do SOMETHING!
But the fact was, that incredible orgasm had erased all the negative emotions that had been pent up in her body ever since she had found out she had been promised to Josh in marriage. Now all she felt was peace, and the need to fall asleep.
"We'll work on that tomorrow," Mark promised, as he slipped Willa into her new tiny body. Willa wanted to argue, but she was fast asleep as soon as her body had hit the bed.
-----------------------------
As it happened, Mark and Willa didn't have the opportunity to 'work on it' the next day. Josh's granduncle showed up the next day, and listened to what Willa and Mark had to say. The end result was that Willa was granted a divorce. What surprised both Willa and Mark was that Josh's granduncle approved of Willa to continue to live with Mark without any debate. There was a hint of humor in the older Borrower's eyes as he wished the two a productive day as he took his leave.
And it was the first of many 'productive' days for Mark and Willa, and not just for the two of them. Mark's home would eventually become a sanctuary of sorts for young Borrower women looking for escape from their unhappy lives and relationships. And that is an interesting tale in and of itself.
THE END
