Chapter 4                                                                 

Lady Helena had also stood in front of Mrs.Swan’s door for some time before gaining enough courage to knock. The door opened and before her stood Mrs.Swan. She was a little taller taller than Helena, her sinewy neck was much longer than seemed natural. She seemed to be wearing little more than a loose silk dressing gown and Helena made an effort not to let her eyes wander down, for that might give the impression of sluttish ness and she didn’t want Mrs.Swan to assume she was easy, but there was something about her neck that caught her eye, something not quite right. Apart from the fact that her neck was unusually long, it looked swollen, as if there was some kind of growth just beneath the skin and what’s more, the growth seemed to quiver, ripple, and in fact move about

independently. It looked like she must surely be in pain, but Mrs.Swan was smiling broadly at her, her eyes full of elation and mischief.

“Good evening Mrs.Swan, thank you for your invitation” said Helena formally, trying not to sound like a schoolgirl visiting a lady dowager for tea and cake. Mrs.Swan didn’t answer; instead she reached out and took Helena’s hand, pulling her into the room. There was something about the situation that made Helena feel uncomfortable, she was aware that the door had swung shut behind her. She calculated just where the door handle was in case she needed to make a quick getaway.

Still silent, Mrs.Swan reached past her and turned the key in the lock, then took her hand and lifted it up to her neck. She pulled away in horror; it was as if something was alive and moving about inside. “Your neck! What’s wrong with your neck?! She demanded with slight panic in her voice. “Is that why you’re not talking? What’s that thing?” Mrs.Swan’s smile broadened, she moved closer to Helena and opened her mouth.

David was now presented with the pretty but frowning face of a young woman, her eyes narrowing as she peered into the darkness. There was indeed something there and Helena’s instinct was to turn away in disgust, but she was intrigued. Mrs.Swan moved her tongue slightly and David reached out to grasp at backmost molars to steady himself.

Helena jumped back in horror, letting out a short sharp shriek. “Oh my God! There’s a man! A tiny man stuck in your throat! Mrs.Swan opened her mouth even wider and turned to face the lamp. Helena had her hand on the door handle behind her, but she couldn’t stop herself from peering in to take another look; she could see his tiny arms, now gripping the sides of her tongue, there was his head, glistening wet and there were his eyes looking directly into hers. “He looks real! Dear God, he can’t be real!” She couldn’t pull herself away, staring in shock and fascination with her hand over her own mouth. “The poor man, how did he get like that!?” There was a note of desperation in her voice. “What are you doing to him?” In reply, Mrs.Swan pointed at her stomach.

Helena wanted to scream but no sound would come out. She straightened, readying herself to run out of the room, but something from the darkest depths of her mind made her want to look at the helpless little man again. Mrs.Swan again moved closer, her mouth still wide open as if locked in a mighty yawn. Why wasn’t he struggling, trying to get out? She didn’t resist as Mrs.Swan took her index finger and placed it into her mouth. Like a spectator at road accident, Helena wanted to know more.

“Can I touch him?” she said in barely a whisper, as if ashamed of asking such a perverse question. She gently ran her finger along Mrs.Swan’s tongue. His head was about the size of a grape, it recoiled slightly as her fingertip came into contact with his face. She could see fear in his eyes, but all her pity had now been overtaken by wonderment and fascination. She began to stroke the top of his scalp, but suddenly and without warning, Mrs.Swan clamped her mouth shut, biting and sucking on her finger. Helena pulled her hand away and jumped back, the thought of running away once more crossed her mind.

Mrs.Swan smiled broadly at her again. The bulge in her neck moved vigorously as David instinctively braced himself again. She turned away from Helena and walked silently over to the bed and let her gown slip from her body and onto the floor. She looked back at Helena, her mouth hanging open and her long neck motionless once more. She beckoned for the young woman to join her.

Seconds later they were rolling around together on the wide bed, the silk bed spread completely submissive beneath them. Helena clamped her mouth against Mrs.Swan’s neck, her tongue pressing against the human shape inside which writhed and struggled, not sure what to make of this new attack. Then David’s gravity shifted as Mrs.Swan rolled on top of Helena, his head and arms fell forward and he was staring down through her mouth and towards the open mouth of the other woman. He felt a rush of her cool breath against his face for a split second before the other woman’s tongue forced itself up towards him and everything went dark as Mrs.Swan’s lips closed around it. The two tongues danced and played violently together in front of him, Mrs.Swan’s mouth filled with saliva and David was again fighting for every breath.

Helena’s tongue smashed his hand against Mrs.Swan’s giant molars making him cry out in pain, at which Helena withdrew her tongue and looked in at him for a second before resuming their kiss with even yet more vigour. This time the tip of her tongue reached all the way back and slapped him rudely on the face. He turned his head sideways as her tongue pressed against his ear, forcing his head back against Mrs.Swan’s uvula.

Helena could feel the little man’s head. Her tongue ached yet she tried to push it deeper into her lover’s mouth to taste more of him. Soft moans of pleasure were coming from deep inside Helena, but to David they were deafening roars, even though his ears filled with saliva. Around his feet came a throbbing vibration as Mrs.Swan responded in kind, but the sounds of her ecstasy were easily stifled by the presence of his body in her throat. His chest began to pound, he thought his heart was failing but then realised it was Mrs.Swan’s heart that had quickened, her blood that was pulsing in rapid shock waves through arteries that pressed around his torso.

Mrs.Swan seemed to make love to this young woman for far longer than she had made love to him and David felt like his head had been pulverised. Eventually Helena’s tongue ceased its attack and retreated slowly back into her mouth, connected for a moment by a single string of saliva that ran back to the tip of Mrs.Swan’s tongue. She licked her lips, wiped them with her hand and then collapsed back onto the pillow and closed her eyes. Mrs.Swan closed her mouth. David could hear her quick eager breath somewhere above him. When she opened her mouth again he was looking directly down onto Helena’s breasts.

Then without warning, Mrs.Swan’s throat muscles loosened and with a guttural explosion of sound he found himself being projected out of her mouth. He crash landed head first onto one of Helena’s breasts, bounced off and landed on her stomach. Dazed, he sat up and looked up at Mrs.Swan, who was wiping her lips clean with a cloth. “It was getting a little hard to breath.” She said with a note of irony. “Anyhow, I figured it was about time you and our little friend were properly introduced.”

He looked up at Helena, who in turn was staring down at him, her eyes wide open. She was trying to stay calm. “Just get it….him….off me, please!” She cried. Mrs.Swan, still straddling her, smiled and ignored her plea.

“David, allow me to introduce Lady Helena Riley.” She said in a mocking English accent. “Lady Helena, I’d like you to meet David. These are his final moments of in this world.” Helena looked like she was about to throw up. “Not to your taste?” She asked, as she gently lifted up David’s tiny glistening body. “Well that’s a shame, because I was going to give you the honour of finishing him off.” Helena tried to wriggle out from under Mrs.Swan but couldn’t. “Dinner was hours ago. I’m sure you could find room for just a little more dessert, couldn’t you?” She held him in front of Helena’s mouth. “C’mon honey, just pop him in and let him slide down. Don’t you think he looks delicious?”

Helena pushed her arm away.”What the hell are you talking about?” She demanded. “That’s murder, what do you take me for? It’s too horrible! You’ve got to make him big again and let him go.”

Mrs.Swan laughed. “But you see David and I have a little arrangement, don’t we David?” She looked at him, her fingers wrapped securely around his middle.

David didn’t know what to think anymore, he was getting tired of games, he wasn’t even sure he still wanted to die like this. She squeezed him and he let out a faint cry of pain.

“See? He agrees with me. Besides, I wouldn’t have the faintest idea how to make him big again anyway.” She looked down at Helena and shrugged her shoulders. “Well, if you don’t have the stomach for it….”

She held him head first in front of her mouth. “So long David, have fun down there.” She opened wide; the flesh at the back of her mouth looked slightly red, as if sore after holding him prisoner there for so long.

Horrified and unable to look away, Helena started to cry as the little man disappeared from sight again.

Mrs.Swan lifted her head, her long sinewy neck stretched back in an arc. A lump appeared just beneath her chin as his head slipped effortlessly into her throat, she put her finger and thumb into her mouth and gripped his feet, pushing them all the way to the back of her mouth, forcing his torso into her gullet, which stretched almost painfully to receive it. Her eyes shut in a grimace as she swallowed hard, and Helena could see the tiny man slowly sliding down the length of her neck, his arms and legs thrashing frantically as he was trying to swim backwards against the irresistible current. Then he was gone forever, disappearing behind her breasts and on to his final resting place. She lowered her head and gave Helena a broad satisfied smile.

Helena pressed her hands over her mouth in horror. “No! No! You can’t! He’ll die.” She whimpered. She was complicit in the murder of this man and she was starting to feel guilty herself and most of her guilt was because she’d been so very aroused by it.

“Quite something huh?” said Mrs.Swan, nonchalantly, as if she’d merely been downing a good cocktail. “You don’t know what you’re missing honey… he’s going down real easy… just like butter……there he goes, happy landings.” and then with a feigned a look of surprise: “Whoa David honey, cool it down there. I never said it would be painless did I? “

Still unable to move beneath Mrs.Swan, Helena could just make out the man’s muffled cries of pain. “I dare say he’s trying to make himself a little more comfortable.” Said Mrs.Swan as she gently rubbed her belly as if trying to sooth its troubled occupant. “Try taking a few deep breathes David, if you’re lucky the gas will make you pass out” Then she made to grab one of Helena’s hands and tried to press it against her, “C’mon honey, have a feel, he’s kicking and squirming like he’s possessed!”

Helena pulled her hand away in horror, Mrs.Swan finally lifted herself up and allowed her to escape. Helena sprang up, tried to gather most of her clothes and ran to the door, fumbling to open it.

“You know something honey?” Said Mrs.Swan nonchalantly. “I may not look all that big to you, but believe me, this stomach of mine could easily accommodate two whole little people, if you get my drift, so it probably wouldn’t be a great idea to go around telling no one what happened here tonight, do I make myself clear?.” Helena was still tying to open the door. Still sitting on the bed, Mrs.Swan, held up the key. “Looking for this Lady Helena?” She opened her mouth and slowly placed it on her tongue, leaving her mouth wide open.

Helena didn’t know what to do next, she was scared and she knew couldn’t get out without it. “Give me the key….please.” Mrs.Swan stood up and with her mouth still open walked over to where Helena stood trembling by the door. She seemed to tower over her now, as if she’d somehow grown taller since Helena had first entered her room little more than an hour ago.

Helena could still hear the cries of the little man, far less desperate than before, as he slowly expired inside her stomach,. She tentatively lifted her hand up to Mrs.Swan’s mouth, gathered up all her courage and grabbed the key. It was covered in saliva and she almost dropped it as she spun round. Panicking, she fumbled with it in the lock, managed to turn it in and then open the door. She thought she could hear a mocking laugh behind her as she ran half naked down the corridor, but she didn’t look back, she just kept running until she was back in the safety of her own berth.

Mrs.Swan spent the remaining few days of the voyage showing off her body up on deck during the last of the warm September afternoons and sipping cocktails and smoking Viceroy Cigarettes through her impractically long cigarette holder in the First Class Lounge.

Lady Helena locked herself inside her berth and didn’t come out again until the great ship had docked in New York and every last passenger but she had departed.