When she reached her home, she sat down again and asked him, “Do you folk age at the same rate as us?”

“I think so,” he said, “I’m 12.”

“I’m 18. Let me know if there’s anything I can do for you to make your stay here enjoyable until I’m ready to eat you,” she said.

“Well… I think your lips are so big, even in proportion to your sized face. It would be so lovely if you were to give me a kiss.”

She stared at him intently.

“You do look very handsome, in a tiny sort of way,” she said, “And I’d be happy to kiss you on several occasions in the weeks ahead. You just need to remember that it won’t go on forever. When the time comes, I’m going to eat you all up, no matter how much I like your company in the meantime.”

“I understand,” he said.

“Alright then,” said Colleen.

She held him closer to her face, and pressed her full shapely lower lip against his entire face at once.

“Wow!” he said, “That was wonderful!”

“I’m glad you liked it. It was nice for me too.”

“It will be an interesting experience to be kissed by someone who’s going to eat me, and then to be eaten by someone who’s kissed me.”

Colleen laughed. It was mid afternoon. He wondered if she had left for home earlier than she had done in the original timeline, simply because this time she had found him.

She placed him on the windowsill and said, “Have a look out at the garden, while I go and see about dinner.”

As she left the room, he looked out at the lawn and then at the garden bed below. There was a vegetable garden just outside the window, and large lettuces were growing there! They could be just strong enough to stop his fall painlessly. At any rate, it was less of a risk than waiting to be eaten.

He jumped off and managed to land right on top of a lettuce, digging his feet into it a bit at first, as it broke his fall. Then he slid down a leaf to the garden and ran across the lawn, in the direction of the property’s border. He was now in a time when he hadn’t been born yet.

He reached the far end of the lawn and heard Colleen calling.

“I’ll catch you, little boy!”

He turned and saw her running across the lawn in her long white dress, until she caught up to him in next to no time, and took him back inside.

“You can’t escape from here, little boy. It’s quite natural for a girl my size to eat a boy your size, and you’ll just have to make the most of the situation. I’ll be enjoying my holidays both before and after our final dinner date, no matter how you cope with it.”

She folded her arms and looked at him sternly.

“Are you angry with me for trying to get away?” he asked.

Her facial expression softened a little.