Toadette's Story: Book 1

Chapter 1 - I Got Hired? Yay!

Central Toad Town shouldn’t take seven minutes to get to, let alone ten. Maybe if I’d been walking, but this was on a dang bus. To maintain some sanity on this crowded vehicle, my time was spent reading articles on my phone.

At least I had quite the comfy setup in the back of the bus. Since this seat spanned the whole width, my legs took full advantage of that. I even kicked my shoes off to give my feet some fresh air. After walking miles to the bus stop in stockings, they were in desperate need of that.

Huh? I pulled my phone down, and there was some kid staring me down. Just a few inches or so from my feet.

You bet I was freaked out. But I had better things to do than escalate things with a child. Plus, staring wasn’t exactly an arrestable offence. So, I gave him a smile and returned to my phone.

This article bombarded me with info on how to make my feet stop stinking, at least for a while. My younger form would’ve appreciated this knowledge back then. And in this new profession, whatever it may be, the last thing I needed was mockery from a royal. Especially over something as preventable as stinky feet. Well, easily preventable if your name doesn’t start with “T” and end with “ette”.

Jotting mental notes, I spread my toes out. Um… I didn’t do that on my own. I dropped my phone, and the sight before me left me paralysed.

The tan-skinned Toad shoved his grubby tongue into my toes, licking them. Oh my gosh! No, no, stop!

Slamming myself against the sidewall of the bus, I shoved my stockinged feet back into my flats. Clearly, they were a safer place for them. Calm down, Toadette. Breathe. Ugh, what sick kid licks a girl’s feet like that? Out of nowhere. Licking a stranger in any context is creepy, but especially FEET.

A lady next to the boy grabbed him by the wrist, then slapped him.

“I am so sorry for that,” she said to me.

A loud ding then played over the bus’ speaker, followed by a message. “We’ve arrived at the western entrance of central Toad Town.”

Whoo-hoo, my ride was coming to an end. I let out a nervous chuckle, picking up my suitcase.

“It’s okay, ma’am. Maybe I just taste good today.”

Finally, away from that creepy boy, my stocking was still coated in his awful saliva. No, I wasn’t going to the castle this unclean. Looking perfect was the only option I had. As I looked around at the various shops, I realised none would prove helpful. Most of these central stores didn’t sell cleansers or anything of the sort. Well, one exception stood. The flower shop.

In a full sprint, those wooden doors nearly flew off the hinges. But after smacking chest-first into the counter, yeah, that thing was far sturdier.

Minh T., the shop owner, slapped her heel against her flip-flop. “Hi-ya, Toadette.”

“Can you get me some wipes?”

She hopped off the counter and picked up a box of disinfectants. “You okay?”

“Try having some chubby kid lick your feet on a bus.” I kicked off my right flat and peeled my stocking off, setting the fabric on the counter. My arm almost fell off with the intensity at which I scrubbed. Perhaps this is what I deserved for foolishly removing my footwear on a public bus.

Minh T. held my stocking down. “Hehe, that’s funny. I don’t think being licked would be the worst thing ever, though.”

“My feet, Minh T. That’s disgusting no matter how you wanna interpret it.”

With my stocking as cleaned as it could get, I lifted my leg over the counter. My toes curled in anticipation for the wipe that would give them a deeper washing. Minh T. kept her eyes on my toes. Hmm, she must’ve been checking out my nail polish. Whereas hers were normally painted 24/7, mine went back and forth between being naked and glamorous. It all depended on if I had the energy to give myself a pedicure.

“I can wipe it for you if you want,” she said.

“You mean my foot?” I shook my head. “Thanks, but no thanks. You know the rule: no one touches my feet but me.”

The tops of the digits had been polished, so now it was time to get between those tight areas. I tugged both ends of the wipe and flossed between each of my blushing toes. Good thing she had a bunch of them, as I’d used nearly twenty. All just to serve as some toe-flossers.

“Hey, could you wipe my shoes off? No telling what he did to those, either.”

I kicked my left flat a distance away to sit alongside its twin. Not missing a beat, Minh T. grabbed some wipes with a smile and rushed behind me.

Washing my toes like this was the last thing I wanted to do before meeting Her Highness. But as long as I got there within 40 minutes, all would be well. Who knows? If my shoes slip off, Her Highness might be impressed with how perfect my feet will smell and look.

Voila! My foot and stocking were both ready to go. I turned around, ready to join Minh T. in scrubbing my shoes. And my jaw hit the floor.

The pink-spotted Toad was on all floors, kissing the tips of one of my flats! Her nose went deep in the opening of the shoe, too!

“What the hell are you doing!?”

Busted! She sprung up immediately, red in the face and fidgeting like a Fuzzy. “I was just making sure they’re clean.”

“You were kissing them!”

“Nuh-uh.”

I put my hands on my hips. “I’m blind all of a sudden?”

Rubbing her fingers together, she tried to wait me out for several seconds. As if I’d magically forget she had her lips on my shoe. Eventually, I started to tap my foot. I didn’t have time to wait around for a lying response. I had a princess to see.

“I never thought this was gonna happen,” she sighed.

“Never thought what was gonna happen?”

“I… Can you promise to keep what I’m about to say between us?”

My default response was a nod. If I didn’t, you know she wouldn’t say a peep.

The girl got chest-to-chest with me, then whispered, “I have a foot fetish.”

All I could do was cock my head. “What?”

“Fetish. I like feet, okay? Just laugh so we can get this over with.”

She backed up, wiping her hair. I’d seen her nervous plenty of times—too many times to count—but not to where she’d be walking in circles like she was having a manic episode. How was I supposed to react to a disgusting confession like that? It wasn’t funny. It was entirely nasty. Feet!? She liked feet!? That’s not just dipping your toes into mental illness. That’s a whole plunge into the vast ocean of mental disabilities.

Cringing at the revelation, I tried to get her to talk a bit more. “So, what have you been doing to my shoes in the past? Wait, no! My feet! Have you been kissing my feet!? Minh T., that’s sick!”

“Nothing, I swear! Unless I had to touch them, like maybe some exercises, I only looked! I wish I touched them…”

“That is creepy.”

Stomping, she cried out, “Okay, I confess! I sniffed your dirty P.E. socks back in middle school, Toadette! But I haven’t done anything like that since eighth grade. You believe me, right?”

“I—”

“Even then,” she continued, “you’re usually wearing closed-toed stuff anyway. It’s rare when I see your feet outside of you spending a night barefoot.”

Now Minh T. was in sniffling mode. And we know what comes after sniffing. Unfortunately for her, I couldn’t play therapist today. A real shame since she needed a cure for this sickness.

I put my stocking back on. “Foot freak or not, I’m not de-friending you or anything, so quit the waterworks. Just don’t interact with my feet, got it? That’s all.”

She nodded. “But maybe sometime—”

“No means no.”

She sat back on the counter, slowly dangling her worn-out flip-flops. The fact that her feet and shoes were always so dirty told me everything I needed to know about her little foot thing. Jeez, it’s like she wanted me to puke with this information overload.

“You’re not gonna tell anyone, right?” She still couldn’t keep still, her fingers tapping loudly against the wood.

“I’m not on a mission to make you Toad Town’s laughingstock.” Before I went through the door, I looked back. “If I’m really tired and need some massage at this job, MAYBE I’ll think about you.”

Minh T. immediately turned into her typical cheery self, running to the door. Even though I put my hands up to stop her, she broke through my defences and smothered me with a tight hug. Emphasis on the word “tight”. Without warning, she gave me a kiss on the cheek as well. I immediately wiped it off, but she giggled in spite of that.

“Good luck, Toadette.”

Now all cleaned up, I just had to head north, and I’d be at the castle. I’m not ashamed to admit how nervous I was. Each step to the front entrance added additional weight to my shoulders.

Once inside, I showed a Toad my invitation letter, and he escorted me through a crowd of various castle goers. Even though that letter came with a map, navigating this massive structure would be painful for any newcomer. Doors and stairwells took space in every hallway, making this place the biggest maze I’d ever traversed.

The Toad knocked on the door. Then he did it four times in succession. Through the wall, I could hear a muffled voice.

“You may enter.”

He pulled out a ring containing hundreds of keys and proceeded to unlock the door.

“Thank you.”

“If you wish, I’ll hold onto your suitcase.”

Well, I usually put up a fight when anyone takes my stuff. But considering I’d been lugging this thing around town all morning and afternoon, I welcomed the break. Once he walked off with my suitcase, I peeked through the door.

There she was, Princess Peach. I held my breath, strolling in the room with my hands in my pockets. My fingers twitched back and forth like crazy. And in my shoes, my toes mimicked the same action.

I’d yet to see Her Highness in person beforehand, and it showed. She made me look like an ant. Even sitting at a chair, her tall figure could intimidate any Toad. Still, I kept a bright smile on my face. She wasn’t going to see any weak side of me today.

“You’re the girl who wanted to be a cook here, yes?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Her Highness trilled her gloved finger across various papers scattered on the desk.

“I hate to disappoint you, but all those positions have been filled.”

I choked on my spit. If that were the message she wanted to relay to me, a simple letter would have sufficed.

She continued. “However, I do have an open position you’d qualify for. A recent position that only you would have.”

“I’ll do anything, Your Highness!”

Regardless of what the task was, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity wasn’t going to slip out my fingers. I scooted my chair forward, putting my hands together on the desk.

Two distinct PLOP sounds came from under the desk, followed by Her Highness rolling her chair backwards. One by one, she placed her legs on the desk. And if her height had already put me to shame, the same could be said for her feet. Never from a human had I seen feet so large. But wait. What was she doing?

Her Highness snapped her fingers. “Open your mouth.”

“Wha!?”

Open my mouth for what? She couldn’t possibly be referring to licking the bottoms of her feet. Clean or not, feet are absolutely disgusting. Putrid!

“Could you please explain why, Your Highness?”

She put her hand to her mouth, laughing. “For years, I’ve had to walk around in various footwear. From the stylish yet uncomfortable high heels to the accessible but very loose flip-flops. And rarely have I had the pleasure of having them attended to.”

Her Highness pushed her feet further on the desk, wiggling her toes back and forth. “And with that pretty mouth of yours, your tongue could do wonders for my illustrious soles.”

Unbelievable. All the potentially available positions in the castle, and they stuck me at the very bottom of the totem pole. When will I ever catch a break in life?

But declining was not an option. It was this bottom-barrel job or back to the streets with me. So, I sat up straight, put on my big girl face and nodded.

“Understood, Your Highness.”

The closer my lips got to that massive foot, the more my body trembled. Time to bite to bullet and get it over with. I stuck my tongue out and took my first lick across Her Highness’s right heel.

Immediately after that lick, I smacked my lips. No, not to savour the flavour. But because it was so… yuck. While my brain fought not to process the exact taste, I went in for another quick lick. They only got quicker from there. With the faint heat that radiated from Her Highness’s feet, it became obvious that they were sweaty. Luckily, it wasn’t a major amount of sweat, but still abhorrent for my mouth.

“Hmm… You’re much rougher than I expected.”

Before I could respond, Her Highness wrapped her right leg around my neck and pulled me into her left foot. Four of her five toes penetrated my mouth halfway. If only you knew how badly I wanted to scream my head off. Her nasty toes went wherever they pleased. They yanked on my tongue, rubbed against my teeth, smacked against my gums, my poor mouth was getting violated in every way. And once the toes got just a little deeper than halfway, my eyes shot wide open. My gag reflex began to kick in!

After an agonising six seconds, Her Highness finally released her giant foot from my mouth. Her toes now sparkled with my saliva. I gasped for air as my own spit dribbled down my lips. I just wanted a clean shower.

“Your skills are quite abysmal, Toadette. But it’s not something more training can’t solve.”

She pushed forward a very long, yellow-tinted paper. At the bottom was a blank line.

“Sign here, and you’ll officially be my foot slave.”

I picked up a pen and hovered it above the line. Like it or not, a job was better than no job. And if I could climb these ranks to something better, that’d be great. My time here might be a living Hell, but let’s see how long it lasts. I signed my name onto the contract, to Her Highness’s pleasure.

“I’m going to enjoy you.”

She got out of her chair and placed her feet back inside her shoes. “Follow.”

As I followed Her Highness up many flights of stairs, she explained to me the basic idea of this foot slave position. In essence, my job would consist of serving Her Highness’s feet at all times, be it putting her shoes on, massaging them in public, scrubbing them while she bathes, and other embarrassing stuff. Yet, I still kept a smile on my face, hoping she didn’t see through my broken state.

In a hallway on one of the upper floors, Her Highness walked to one of the doors and unlocked it.

“Welcome to your room.”

Inside, the blue walls immediately caught my eye. Along the bottom of the walls were hillsides and clouds painted. Oh, and there was a bed! A big bed! Yes, no more sleeping on a small air mattress! And then, to my right, there was a bathroom, so no sharing.

So caught up in everything, I almost missed Her Highness’s next comment.

“Tomorrow morning, you’re to see me at 7 AM. Don’t be late.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

She threw me a key and exited the room. Instantly, I rushed into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. Thankfully, that Toad who took my suitcase had already set things up decently well. Maybe he knew I’d be in a rush to get the taste of foot out my mouth.

After washing my mouth out and having a nice, steamy shower, I curled up under the sheets of my new bed. This mattress was so firm... I immediately knocked out, not knowing what Her Highness would have in store for me tomorrow.