When she came to, Alice Thatcher found herself lying face-down on a warm, moist, smelly surface, the world immersed in total darkness. Slowly the lioness sat up, wondering where she might be. Then the memories came flooding back to her.

She remembered bringing Lucas into the classroom to try to squeeze out an apology from him for what he'd said to her in class. She remembered the fox sitting there with that insolent smile on his face while she made one veiled threat after another. She remembered losing her cool and shouting at him for a minute before suddenly realizing that she was now little taller than the surrounding desks.

After that, everything happened so fast. She shrank to the size of a speck in mere seconds, and then Lucas revealed himself as a god, saying she was to be punished for her sins. Before she could process the revelation, his incomprehensibly massive sole was hovering over her, and as it began its descent, Alice had fainted, completely overwhelmed by everything.

Now, sitting in the darkness, Alice recognized the peculiar smell she detected; the same smell that had filled the air while she had trembled under the shadow of Lucas's toes. Then everything came together—the smell, the warmth, the humidity, his paw coming down on her before she'd passed out... She had to be somewhere on Lucas's pawpad, crawling on his skin like a germ.

The realization chilled her to her core, and she curled up into a ball, whimpering as she wondered what the teen had in store for her.

No, not a mere teen; a god.

Before today the thought of mild-mannered Lucas being some sort of god would have been laughable, but now, after having been reduced to a speck cowering in his shadow... yes, she could definitely believe he was a god. If only she had known that sooner she would never have thought to berate him. But now it was too late for that; too late for anything except maybe groveling at his feet and hope he would go easy on her.

“So, you're finally awake.” Lucas's voice boomed all around her. Suddenly the whole world shook, and she was bounced around like a pair of dice before coming to a stop face-up on the ground. The all-encompassing darkness was ripped away and replaced by a light that made her yelp and cover her eyes until they got used to it. Slowly she opened them again, and once she saw what was above her she froze up, too frightened to move.

Instead of a sky, all she saw past the of “mountains” to either side of her was Lucas's looming face, with one gigantic eye that looked many times bigger than the sun or moon staring down at her. The black abyss of its pupil, big enough to swallow up a small town, gave her such a look that she felt naked before it, as though it could peer right into her very soul.

“So. How did you sleep? Does my pawpad make a comfortable bed?” Lucas asked, that godly, booming voice rattling Alice down to her core.

“O-oh, great god!” Alice said, getting on her hands and knees after finally finding her voice. “I'm so sorry for offending you, your magnificence. I should have never thought to threaten someone as mighty as you. But I've learned from my mistake. I swear if you let me go I won't ever raise my voice against you again.”

“Only me?” Lucas said, looking in amusement as she groveled between the wrinkles on his sole. The land shook and, off in the distance, great landmasses briefly rose into Alice's view, leaving her puzzled at first, then terrified as she realized they were Lucas's toes. “And what about all the other students you've bullied? Will you leave them alone too?”

“O-of course! I p-promise to do anything you ask, my Lord!”

“Yes, I'm sure you would. I've given you enough of a scare for that, haven't I?” Lucas mused. “But if you did, you'd only be doing it for your own sake, and that won't do. No; I'll grow you back only when you can make that promise in earnest, not for your own self-interest, but because you genuinely want to serve me. You can't do that yet, but I'm sure you'll learn eventually if you spend every day worshipping me. And if you don't, well... you wouldn't be the first person to spend a lifetime on my paw.”

“A l-lifetime? But... what about the class? Who will teach the class if I'm stuck here on your paw? Think of the other students! How will they graduate if I'm not there to teach them? You can't leave me like this! I demand you grow me back immediately! Lucas? Lucas!” But Lucas had already stopped paying attention to her. He put his sock and shoe back on, once more leaving Alice in total darkness, screaming a mix of ever-more desperate pleas and demands that she be returned to normal size. Then she started yelling in hopes that her voice would be heard by someone else who would come to her rescue, though in reality her voice faded into nothingness before even making it past the wrinkles of Lucas's pawpad.

—

Come the following week, the disappearances of Lucas and Miss Thatcher was the talk of the town. All sorts of theories were floated on what might have happened to the teacher and what it might have to do with Lucas, the mysterious fox who had disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared a few months prior. Interest died down shortly after a replacement was found for Miss Thatcher, however, and few would ever spare a thought for the teacher again, her name being all but forgotten within a year.