Toadette's Story: Book 1

Chapter 30 - Fruity Feet

“Ouch!”

How did I forget the brush hanging from my hair when I was standing in front of a mirror? Wrestling the tool out of this pink blanket on my head was like pulling teeth.

These past two weeks turned me into a demon. All my nails lacked polish, heavy bags tugged on my eyes, and my shoulders visibly throbbed. Yet, as exhausted as I was, nothing would stop me from working. After all, I still had a roof over my head and guaranteed food. So long as the castle kept those benefits coming, where was I going? Plus, a certain golden-hair child would miss me too much.

Knock, knock, knock, knock-knock, knock… Knock!

Right on schedule. I slumped to the door and let the girl in.

“Good morning, Miss Toadette.” Penelope, Her Highness’s energetic daughter, greeted me in that same manner every day. Afterwards, she’d sit on the closed toilet to chat my ear off as I prepared myself.

Her Highness treated this child like a relay device, delivering instructions through her. I trembled at the thought of what scheme she’d planned for me today. Nothing could be worse than yesterday when I had to lick my own dinner off her giant feet. Eck.

“Does your mom have a torture wheel she chooses my tasks from?”

“Oh, right.” Penelope retrieved a yellow note from her shorts. “She left to do some boring garbage again.”

Peach’s handwriting was always so elegant. Cursive, a stylish form of writing that many Toad Town citizens considered a distant memory. Her note read:

“I’m attending to important matters this morning. I expect 15 gallons, or 57 litres, of bubble and red berry juice. Visit the flower Toad, and she will fill you in.”

“Thank the stars!” I dropped to my knees. “Every other day, it’s like she’s trying to crush my lungs with those feet.”

“Too bad you never get any free time,” Penelope sighed.

“And that bothers you why?”

“I only see you for about an hour now. I don’t even get a chance to use you properly like Mother claimed I could.”

I shuffled to the closet. “Take that up with her, kid. I don’t make my schedule.”

A more casual set of clothes would be perfect for whatever she needed me to do. Managing some juice? Okay, the regular pink shirt and black shorts served me well.

But instead of travelling with my flats, I selected my fresher flip-flops. As much as I preferred covering up my toes in public, slumping into bed with putrid feet wasn’t ideal. Besides, I’d been wearing those flats non-stop. They needed some rest before I ended up obliterating the insoles.

“Alright, out ya go.” I dragged Penelope out the room, locked the door, and made a run downstairs.

As I passed the buildings to Minh T.’s shop, my feet complained. Walking in flip-flops was such a foreign ordeal at this point. The culprit? The lack of a firm backstrap. Once my legs began to burn, it started to set in just how much more effort I had to put into walking in these shoes. I needed to lift my legs higher to move at a decent pace. So, was this how it was like to walk in heavy gravity?

Adding to my embarrassment, I was so naked! Everyone could notice my feet now, and it seemed everyone was fixated on my soles. As if the sound of my heels slapping against the rubber caught their attention.

Did my feet stink already from this short walk? Was my weird walking attracting all these people? Or was I going crazy?

Ding, ding…

Gasping, I entered Minh T.’s building, not daring to look at the outside world. Boy, these flip-flops would take a while to get used to.

But once in here, my deep anxieties faded. This wooden place was like a second home with how familiar I’d become with it. Though the Toad herself only made it an official residence three years ago, she’d been managing this place as early as sixth grade. Talk about dedication. Of all the things I could say about my best friend, I couldn’t take away her intense passion. And speak of the devil…

“Just about to call you.” Wasting no time, she pulled me across the floor until we reached a backdoor. Seven large deadbolts prevented it from even budging.

“You really can’t simplify that, huh?” I asked, arms folded.

“Why take a risk?”

With the last bolt retracted, we entered the breathtaking mass of plants. Though Minh T.’s land appeared small on the outside, this garden was a colosseum. Whether it be the glass walls revealing the outside world or the densely packed foliage giving the illusion of endless crops.

In the southeast corner sat two crates. Then in front of them was a wooden tub, no bigger than a child’s inflatable pool.

“The faster we get these things to the castle, the better.” I swooped a crate into the air like nothing. Huh. For something full of juice, this thing was lighter than a flashlight. I shook it up and down, waiting for some sound to register. “Hold on. Is this empty?”

Minh T. carried a beige sack in my direction. “Yep. Still gotta make the juice, ya know.”

“Still gotta make it?” My grip tightened. “You didn’t think about starting before I walked here?”

“Wouldn’t have changed that much. Besides, it shouldn’t take us any more than three hours. And guess what?” The Toad dipped hundreds of cherry-coloured berries into the tub. “Only one of those hours is gonna be spent crushing the lil’ berries.”

I cocked my head. “We gotta crush them?”

Minh T. froze. “Yes. Are you feeling good?”

Try getting less than six hours of sleep for two weeks and see if you feel good. This was just perfect. I hiked my knees to get here, and now I’d have to work my feet ten times harder. To prepare for the inevitable, I tossed my flip-flops and wiped the undersides of my feet. They were pretty clean, especially compared to hers.

While I always tried to keep my soles as spotless as they could be, Minh T.’s were just as dusty as ever. But wait. Weren’t we meant to crush berries?

I gagged upon seeing her stick her foot into the tub.

“Kidding!” With a giggle, she approached a hose and let its water spray her feet. “I can’t be out here getting people sick, ya know.”

“Says the girl who wants her future husband scraping dirt off her feet with his teeth.”

“A little dirt ain’t ever killed anyone. Last time I checked, you’re still breathing after our little predicament in the toy box.”

She said it like it was something to be proud of. After we left that place, I consumed a whole bottle of mouthwash just to cleanse my soul. I could never forget that image… Being locked in a chair, forced to suck on her dirty toes or become a Fried Shroom.

“Let’s go,” she said, wiggling her drenched toes.

Immediately, the sensation was surreal. Dipping my toes into these berries was like standing on hundreds of marbles. However, most marbles don’t break when you simply move your toes. These red suckers exploded like miniature bombs at every sudden movement.

SQUISH!

Like now. Berry juice splashed all over my feet. Although my feet were so deep that I couldn’t see the results, the liquid dominated my sense of touch. Imagine a cold, slimy yet runny sensation pooling on the tops of your feet.

Minh T. kicked into the berries, exploding ten or more on impact. Bouts of juice rose into the air as high as our knees. And as her foot met mine underneath the mass of fruit, she let out a soft moan. Almost instinctively, I tried to step away. But her instincts had a mind of their own. Where I inched, she followed. As soon as her toes rubbed mine for a second time, I gave her a shove.

“I can’t wait to taste the results right after this,” she sang.

“Isn’t juice supposed to be processed before you drink it?”

“If I wanna lick it off my own foot, there’s nothing stopping me, Toadette.”

As my heels popped some berries, I rolled my eyes. Ever since she let her little foot fetish slip, it got mentioned in all our conversations. My brain constantly screamed, “Shut up!” But my vocal cords never created the message.

“What DOESN’T turn you on?” I asked.

“Boos, woman-part kicking, and litterbugs.”

“Litterbugs?” I smirked. “Just cut out a long list of future husbands, don’t you think?”

SPLASH!

Her foot drilled into the berries with power. “So? Screw ‘em. Always messing up the grass and crushing plants with their stupid cans. Even when there’s a trash bin just a few steps— GAH!”

Indeed, she worked twice as hard now. If angering Minh T. meant we could speed this crushing up, so be it. My poor legs were ready to collapse, and we’d only been going for five minutes. Eventually, the berry juice numbed my toes under its density, and the delicate fruit skin camped under my nails. Yet as bizarre as this was, it was the therapy I needed. Was I getting delusional, or was the warmth simply that soothing?

“Killing our environment isn’t funny, Toadette!”

“Calm down, weirdo.” I flicked her nose. “I’m just trying to enjoy myself with this crushing. At least it’s not getting me wet like a freak.”

Minh T. paused.

“Now that you mention it, what DOES turn you on?”

I shrugged, but Minh T. kept probing me. She must’ve figured I’d leak my own secrets, since she let hers slip. But I had nothing to rival the strangeness of adoring feet. Since the beginning, my interests have been quite plain. Muscular Toads, deep voices…

“You have nothing major, do you?”

“Can’t I think?” I resumed crushing the berries, trying to come up with some response. Great, now I was stomping with rage. So what if I didn’t have any weird kinks? That made me normal like anyone else.

20 minutes of berry splattering later, I fell out the tub. Never did I imagine this would be such a strain on my body. Another splash soon followed before two bloodied legs stood before me.

Okay, it was berry juice. But Minh T. appeared nearly as exhausted as me as she plopped immediately.

“Phew… Let’s see how this is.”

The girl sat criss-cross, pulling her right foot to her face. First, she stared at the sole as if she were mesmerised. It looked no different from mine, red as a ruby. And yet she smiled like a child opening her Christmas presents.

Before I could say anything, she took the dreaded lick up her sole. It lasted twenty seconds, from heel to toe. You could see every drop of red attach to her tongue as the girl’s mouth ascended the foot. Once she reached the toes, the tongue returned, and she smacked her lips. But rather than being on the verge of vomiting, I sat dumbfounded. How was this better than just drinking the juice directly? What moron would want to lick something off their feet?

Why ask these questions when clearly someone was willing to do all that? Minh T. took a second lick, scooping up any deep red bits she missed. Even when she licked the same spot, a crimson stain lingered on the bottom of her foot. It’d take her hose to clean that off.

Panting, I humoured her. “You gonna tell me how it tastes?”

She gulped. “You never tried it before? Give it a go. We actually sweetened it up some.” Then she sucked her big toe.

Unfortunately, the juice wasn’t anywhere to be found on my hands. Only on my feet. And even if I cared to figure the flavour out, I needed to recover energy.

I flipped open my phone. Interestingly, a new message was on the screen, but it lacked a contact name. Seemed like a generic number, probably from some scammer. Nevertheless, I read it.

“Mother needs all the berry juice within 1 hour. Love, Penelope.”

Firstly, how did she get my number? Secondly, AN HOUR!? Whatever happened to having the whole day!? The tension only increased when I saw when the message was sent: 25 minutes ago.

I shot up and headed for the hose. “Her Highness said we only got around 30 minutes!”

“30? That’s not right—”

“It is now!” I blasted the water onto my soles. “Get the other berries ready!”

As Minh T. frantically poured the bubble berries into a second tub, I brainstormed. If we stomped like normal, we wouldn’t make any progress. In theory, our butts could pop a load of berries at once. But there seemed to be a feet-only rule with this crushing, and the tub was too tiny to accommodate both our rears. Our problem kept going from bad to worse.

Two ideas down the toilet. And none were coming into existence.

“I got it!”

Minh T. sprinted into the building, then dashed out as if she were on fire. My stomach turned once I laid eyes on the golden and red object in her hands. As I shook my head, she nodded faster and faster.

“You wanna get this done?” she asked.

“We’ll obliterate this entire garden.”

“Nuh-uh. Not if one of us eats a baby piece of it. Forgot that?”

She broke a piece off the pulsing mushroom, aiming it at my lips. Having my body grow in size was out of the question. Did she want me convulsing in pain later on?

“You eat it!” I pushed her hand away.

“Heck no!” Minh T. slammed the Mega Mushroom chunk in my hands and backed away. “I’m losing track of how many times my bones cracked at this point.”

Oh, like I wanted that sensation in my body. But the clock was ticking, and for every second we were late, the angrier Her Highness became. So I opened my mouth, preparing for this Mega Mushroom to possess me.

Minh T. smiled. “Look, you’ll be o— MMF!”

In that instant, I jammed the piece down Minh T.’s gullet. Her panic caused her to swallow it immediately. After a period of staring at one another, speechless, Minh T. frantically clawed at her stomach.

Just as she shouted, a bubbling sound grew along with her body. To someone foreign to our land, this would be a surreal sight. Her body grew by one millimetre every fraction of a second. While I apologised without pausing for a hint of air, Minh T. began to dwarf me and her garden. She swelled up like a beach ball, then her body readjusted itself to adapt to her grander size.

Minh T. became nearly six metres taller than me. If you need a reference, her big toe was larger than my head. As nervous as I was, I pointed at the tub. Hundreds of bubble berries waited to be crushed.

“Help me,” she moaned, pushing against the glass ceiling.

“Later, later!” I jumped like a spastic bug. “Crush these berries first!”

My heart plummeted as the red left Minh T.’s face, overcome by a stark blue. Damn. How long had it been since she had a Mega Mushroom? If I didn’t get her to handle those berries right now, I’d have to be the lab rodent. And two sickly Toads wouldn’t do so well delivering these to Her Highness.

“Come on, you can do it!” I yelled, standing closer to the berries. “Don’t overthink—”

SPLASH!!

It didn’t register as a regular crush. Instead, warm juice weighed on me, in addition to something heavier. Then I felt another large object sweep against my face as if to fish for me. So, this was what it felt like to have a giant foot kill you. I tried to fight my way out as two of Minh T.’s toes pinned my chest underneath this shallow berry sea.

First, I scratched her toe. After that failed, I bit her toe. What the hell? Still nothing! It took me licking her toe, attempting to tickle her, until I realised my efforts were in vain. How was a tiny Toad meant to handle a giant’s foot?

But soon, the pressure lightened. I coughed as soon as my lungs could draw in oxygen, and Minh T.’s body went through the motions again. Her deep groaning, body warping, and the otherworldly Mega Mushroom odour imprinted this experience into my mind. Never had I seen her so uncomfortable from transforming.

She dropped to her knees, panting. The poor girl’s face was as purple as the bubble berries.

I let out a nervous chuckle. “That brings back memories, huh?”

“Not cool.”

“I said I was sorry,” I mumbled, wiping the juice off my glasses. “You need some kind of prize?”

PLOP!

Just like that, I shoved my toes into her mouth. These toes were drenched in bubble berry juice, so Minh T. could savour the flavour for as long as she needed. Well, until we had to get a move on, actually. Although the Toad sucked on them, her half-closed eyes kept reminding me she was unpleased.

“Okay,” I said, taking my toes back. “Start your little packaging process, and we’ll be outta here.”

As Minh T. limped inside her building, I tapped my toes against the ground. What the hell was going through my mind? For some reason, my finger chose to travel between my unlicked toes. And then my mouth opened. Once the fruit juice dabbed onto my tongue, I dropped to this soft floor.

Sucking my own toes felt so dirty, and yet it tasted so amazing. So sweet… I didn’t care if licking up my sole sent more juice on my cheeks. Tasting this bubble berry liquid was the highlight of my day so far. Though, I kept my eyes locked on that door, waiting for Minh T. to pop out any minute. The moment I heard so much as a creak, my foot was hitting the ground.

For about 30 more seconds, I licked from heel to toe until most of the substance was in my mouth.

Creak…

Time up! I hopped onto my feet, rushing to Minh T.’s side as she heaved a thick hose-like tool.

“Don’t worry, I gotcha,” I said, supporting her body.

“Uh-huh…”

I shrugged. “What?”

Minh T.’s eyes focused on my feet before looking at the tub with a faint smirk. “Nothing.”

As I silently smacked my lips, it hit me like a brick. My tongue. It must’ve gone from pink to purple, and like an idiot, I opened my mouth first. Well, so what? I wasn’t licking my feet because I enjoyed it like a freak. All I wanted was to taste the bubble berry juice. Nothing more.

I stared back at my heel, seeing a sliver of juice on the back of it before seeing how it stained my legs. If I wanted to be more subtle, I should’ve stuck to licking my fingers.

But miraculously, we got the juices packaged, labelled, and ready to go. Unfortunately, time forced us to sprint these crates to the castle. Not only did we have to make this trip in hot weather, but in our flip-flops.

“Ow!” Minh T. lagged behind me, frequently pausing to address the pain in her body.

“Think of something positive,” I suggested. “Like you’re on your way to a handsome masseuse.”

Despite this, she’d catch up to me for one reason. Because remnants of juice still lingered on my feet — even after a hose-washing — my flip-flops refused to let go. It was like trekking in sludge, and the sun only intensified the stickiness. At least Minh T. got a lovely view.

“You know, I’m still happy you found out about my foot fetish.”

“Really?”

“I mean,” she put her head up, “I’ve got 20 times less stress than when I was hiding it around you. Plus, I can be open about it with Her Highness’s daughter? What’s not to love about that?”

Life was truly an endless closet for Minh T. Never would I forget the night she called me on the phone, wailing about her parents discovering another secret of hers. You know, being unable to keep her hands off a certain gender. Yet, as much as I mocked her little foot thing these past weeks, she still seemed excited that I knew about it. As long as her spirits were up, and she didn’t get too creepy, all was fine.

“Why don’t you go public with it?” I asked, awaiting the castle gate to open. “If it makes you happy—”

“There are some things I don’t need the world to know, Toadette.”

“Well then…”

After we dropped the crates, Her Highness observed as a Toad measured their dimensions and weights. If some calculations were off, I’d rip my braids out.

“Everything checks out, Your Highness.”

“Excellent,” spoke the princess. “Bring them to the kitchen.”

A few more Toads helped to lift the crates away, and Her Highness patted me on the head. I swear, this lady loved to touch me more than her own daughter.

“Once again, your non-worship skills surpass your worship skills. But we’ll improve that skill in due time.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.” Giving her a thanks made me sick. I just didn’t want to risk a facial injury.

Her Highness looked to Minh T. “And good work, flower girl, for being so efficient under a tighter limit.”

Excuse me? The person who wasn’t me got more credit? Minh T. took the compliment with a big smile and laugh, thanking the princess with all her heart. But I only looked in disbelief.

“Are there any more tasks for today, Your Highness?” I asked.

“Today? Oh, I’ve one more for you, Toadette.”

Those words cast terror in my soul.