Bruce stared up at Tina and Ellie in horror and disbelief from the kitchen counter. At only half an inch tall, those two beautiful girls were like buildings to him; or the monuments that the Ancient Greeks would sculp to worship their gods. If he wasn’t so terrified, he may have been compelled to worship them himself. But there was nothing sexual about any of this. There was only trepidation over what was to become of him; how he’d meet his end.

Ellie licked her lips, showing off her impressively-long tongue. The young woman was definitely hungry. Her eyes peered down at Bruce with a near-blank expression. Almost zombie-like in fact. Those eyes said everything about her thoughts. She wasn’t looking for the humanity in him. She saw him as nothing more than something to devour and get pleasure out of.

“Damn, Tina,” Ellie said “I don’t know what it is about tiny people, but you were totally right! I haven’t even tried one yet and my mouth is watering up for them. What do they taste like?”

Tina made a light snicker. “So glad you’re excited! The taste… hmm… hard to pinpoint. I suppose they’re kinda like steak, but not as salty and a lot juicier!”

Ellie made a giddy, high-pitched squeal. She was a lot more enthusiastic about this than her regular meals, or perhaps that was the influence of Tina’s great company.

“So how do we prepare it?” Ellie asked. “Should we bake it into a quiche?!”

“That’s one place to start, but it’s time consuming.”

“Hmm… how about… boil it and make some soup!”

Tina nodded her head. “Definitely not. You’ll lose all the flavor to the broth and it’ll go to waste. Trust me, Ellie. Did it once. Never again.”

“Cut it up with a knife and spread it through a Caesar salad?!” Ellie exclaimed once more, full of excitment.

Tina shook her head with a smile. She loved Ellie’s excitement, even if her suggestions for how to cook up Bruce, the ‘ingredient’, were uninformed and misguided.

“Okay, I guess I’ll leave the choice to you,” Ellie said chuckling. Although it was her kitchen, she knew that her guest would make the right decision. She deserved that power for their mutual benefit.

“So, what we should do is this,” said Tina, “we make carbonara like we would normally. Boil the pasta and make an incredible sauce from scratch. I have just the recipe for it, my friend, and I have it right in here.” Tina pointed to her temple. “Then, we throw our special ingredient in towards the end when we mix everything together and let it simmer. The flavor of tiny people bleeds out into the whole dish and it’s the most amazing seasoning you’ll ever taste. Forget Moroccan spices, sister; tiny people are where it’s at!”

Tina then looked at Bruce, her eyes piercing him like knives. She said nothing, and even that silence made Bruce feel helpless. Totally alone in the world now. It was like watching a mean judge hand down a cruel sentence, only to have two prison guards take joy in carrying it out.