You scrambled to the edge of the trash can, the light od day shining down upon you and the rim of the can only about a foot above you. However, that still meant it was about twelve times your size, which was obviously still going to be incredibly difficult for you. You held hope though that you could escape, fueled mostly by your desire to be literally anywhere except buried in a trash can. You knew full well where this heap of garbage would end up.
Your hands slapped against the slick plastic bag lining the inside of the trash can, no firm handholds presenting themselves. With a cry of determination, your pumped your tiny legs and scrambled up the side of the trash can, making it a few inches closer to the rim before tumbling back down, head slamming into a half-eaten French fry and small puddle of ketchup. Your efforts were producing no results.
Groaning, you frantically rubbed the ketchup off of your face and ran back to the slick, slide-like bag, your escape from this pit of garbage lying in wait at the top. Tears beginning to form in your eyes, you jumped up onto the bag, screaming as you slid helplessly back down. This time, your leg bumped against a surprisingly sharp scrap from a plastic knife, and one final glimmer of any idea jumped to your mind.
Using your new-found tool, you scratched gaps into the plastic bag to form makeshift handholds, and you couldn’t stop a triumphant grin from growing on your face as you scrambled back up the side of the trash can with renewed vigor. The warmth of the sun grew as your freedom inched closer and closer in relation to you, the handholds you created supporting your weight and easing you on your journey out of the garbage and towards freedom.
Until everything changed.
Right as you reached the rim of the trash can, a massive pink object slammed into your chest, causing you to cry out and fall backwards. Your scream pierced the heavens as you tumbled helplessly back into the trash can, crashing down into a pile of used tissues and mushy hot dog remains. You felt all desire to keep on going flood out of you in an instant, and you remained face down in the chewed-up food goop, drained of all fighting spirit.
The pink object that had ruined everything was the well-manicured fingernail of the stand employee who had just walked over to the trash can to take out the garbage. Her hands had gripped the sides of the bag, and her thumb had rammed into your gut without her even realizing. However, she wasn’t so oblivious as to not hear your terrified cries, and after looking over her shoulder for the source of the voice, her gaze was just beginning to drift down into the trash can, where your partially submerged body was still visible.
The employee’s eyes wandering right to your tiny body, but before she could process what that miniscule human-shape was, a flustered, busty college girl ran up to her, gave her a small smile, and dumped a load of uneaten food into the can.
“Sorry!” The college girl sighed. “Wanted to get this thrown out before you took the trash away.”
“Uh…yeah…” The stand employee replied, shaking her mind off of that strange shape in the trash. It had probably just been some kid’s toy. “No problem.”
The college girl smiled and ran back to her friends, and the employee finished tying up the plastic trash bag, grunting a bit as she hefted the bag out of the trash can. Dragging the bag on the sand, the oblivious employee hustled to the parking lot, where a large garbage truck was just finishing up loading trash from the other vendors on the beach.
Inside of the trash bag, your body had been splattered flat as hot dog, hamburger, French fry, and soda remains rained down into the trash can, coating you in gunk and burying you from sight. Despite all of this, you barely felt it, your will to carry on sapped. Freedom and escape had been right in sight, and all ruined by the actions of one blissfully unaware girl going about her day, furthering humiliation brought about by a giggly college girl to happy to pay attention to a bug-sized man eternally tormented by fate.
Blushing under the somewhat annoyed stares of the overworked garbage truck driver, the girl carrying your bag handed you over before rushing back to her stand, replacing a new bag in the trash can and then serving two girls a nice meal. The garbage truck driver tossed you into the back of the truck, slamming the door shut, and then hopped back into the truck. They had just hit their last stop, and only needed to empty their truck before heading home.
Through all of the meaty gooey foodstuffs surrounding you, you could hear the low hum of the engine as the truck rumbled out of the parking lot and back out onto the road. Despair filled your soul, and you felt your precious life with your mother and sister crashing down around you. You’d been in horrible situations your entire life, but nothing as traumatic as this. You saw no feasible way you would ever get home again.
What happens next?
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