It was a promise I made to my wife long before we had any kids: we were going to see the world. Wherever she wanted to go, we would go there. She had always been a little jealous of my "adventures" in different countries. I would remind her that military service isn't exactly backpacking across Europe. It was tough work. Still, the Navy had allowed me to see a lot of Asia and the Pacific. She wanted to explore the world with me.

Then kids happened. I love them to death, but they put our jet-setting dreams on hold. Kids are expensive and no one wants to travel with them at a young age, especially over long distances. We were both working full-time with exceedingly busy schedules, with busyness almost matched by our kids. Being a high school coach and gym teacher wasn't exactly raking in the cash. Little did my wife know, though, I was setting a little aside from each paycheck over the years. Just a few dollars here and there. When I surprised her with the plane tickets, she almost fainted! Her reaction alone was worth it all. Now if only I had known what destiny had in store...

I hope Mary sees Japan some day. I hope Tommy and Erica do, too. I hope that we get rescued soon and we can go on with our lives. I wish it were just me here and not them. But I'm also glad that our family is still together. I was terrified I would lose them when the plane started going down.

After the crash, I was at a loss. I wanted to go numb. I wanted to go into shock. But I couldn't. My family needed me. Mary is a strong woman, but she still looked to me for leadership, even if she called a lot of the shots anyway. (I learned long ago that it's better not to argue once she's made up her mind.) Tommy looked up to me, too. So did Erica, to an extent, but not in the way a son looks to his father.

Tommy is a lot like me, and I don't mean just physically. He's quiet, but that doesn't mean he's not doing anything. He's a thinker and an observer. When the kid does open his mouth, it's for a reason. He's a little shy, especially around the ladies, but I'm working on his confidence. And the best way to build his would be to demonstrate my own. I needed to be brave for my family, but particularly for Tommy.

"I'll do it!" I shouted to the crowd around me.

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious. I'm going in after the girl."

Everyone else was going nuts. No one was coming up with suggestions or plans and we didn't have a lot of time on our hands. Someone needed to something soon, so it might as well be me. I started grabbing more and more vines, adding them onto the cable Tommy and I had already made. I didn't know how long it was going to need to be, but I wanted to be be strong and sturdy. If this thing broke, it wouldn't just be my life on the line.

In hindsight, I feel bad about yelling at Desi. It's not her fault and she couldn't have known. She just wasn't listening! Her eyes saw water and that's all her parched brain was focused on. She didn't notice the people swimming and bathing. For the record, none of them noticed the gigantic Magnian girl rushing towards them, either. Still, at least most were able to get out her way. But the girl, though...

Desi claims that she didn't even feel her go down. I believe her. A full-sized Parvian would have been another story, but the little girl probably only came up to my own chest. She was maybe 7 or 8 years old. Desi had probably down Ibuprofens bigger than her. She shouldn't have been that far in the water anyway. What shitty luck. She survived a plane crash, but ended up getting guzzled by a Magnian. Desi immediately tried vomiting her up, but only water and mashed coconut came out. At least the girl didn't have to worry about drowning in Desi's stomach. Though maybe that would be preferable to...no. No, that wasn't going to happen.

That little girl wasn't going to die in there. I wouldn't let that happen to her and I wouldn't let that happen to Desi. I still didn't trust her fully, but my wife did and that matters a lot to me. Desi was inconsolable, a river of tears streaming down her face. The girl's mother was catatonic, which I hate to say was better than the hysterical mess she was before. Everyone else just stood around. At least my boy was helping me.

"Dad, are you really going to do this?"

I nodded. "Yeah, Tommy. Call me crazy, but I really am."

He looked at me with a combination of respect and disbelief.

"Okay, Desi," I shouted to her. "Open wide."

~+~+~+~

I was by no means the first Parvian to make a journey like this. Early on in the history between our two races, it was usually a one-way trip for us. Fortunately, it's been centuries since that was common practice, particularly since we invented ways to fight back. There's an popular Parvian adage: "They have strength; we have technology." Try to eat us? Good luck with the deadly poison lacing my clothes.

These days, we use our size and technology for more peaceful, productive purposes. One of my friends has a cousin that's a doctor specializing in Magnian upper GI surgery. It's completely non-invasive...except for him. He'll go right into people's guts in a protective suit and perform the surgery with his own hands! No need for an incision or an endoscope.

I heard there's even a couple places in Vegas where you can pay to explore a Magnian, inside out. Some Magnians will even pay the Parvians! The things people do for a thrill...it's unbelievable. I've never been interested in anything like that at all. Call me boring, but I'm no daredevil.

And yet, there I was being dangled above a Magnian's throat, the only thing keeping me from becoming lunch being a rope made from jungle vines. And I was doing it for free! I took a deep breath and signaled for her to begin my descent. Desi had a fine set of chompers, all lined up and ready to welcome me. The island sun was reflected in the saliva coating that pink, living chamber. Where I was going, there would be only darkness.

Desi didn't say anything. She was too distraught to do anything more than follow my commands. I think she was in shock, but at least she was responsive. It made my job a little easier. All I had to do is tug on the rope to signal for her to stop lowering, call out, find the girl, then tug twice to have us both pulled out.

"Over the lips and through the gums. Watch out stomach, here Bill comes!" I said to myself, trying to make light of a heart-palpitating situation.

What the hell was I doing? I had to remind myself it was for the girl. This was a rescue mission. As I was lowered into the mouth, I couldn't help but imagine things from her perspective: swimming in a lake, then suddenly being slurped up with millions of gallons into a dark abyss, like riding a waterslide from hell. She must have been terrified. I knew I was afraid.

Desi lowered me until I reached the back of her throat. It was more humid than the jungle in there, which was saying something. I had avoided contact with her tongue thus far, but soon I brushed against it with my entire body. I knew this was going to be a wet ride, but that came unexpectedly. (I'm sure I didn't taste fantastic, either.) The last thing I saw was her uvula flapping back into her nasal cavity as she inhaled, then back again as she breathed out, a humid blast rushing past my body. With that escaping breath, her lips closed and I was sealed into the darkness.

It was an odd sensation to be swallowed. I'm really not sure how to explain it. So much goes on in an action we all do thousands of times a day. So many muscles were at work whose sole job was to send me down into her gullet. In one fluid motion, I was engulfed in the darkness of her body.

Maybe it's for the best that I couldn't see anything. My fight or flight reflexes were already kicking in. Still, my other senses were letting me know exactly what was happening. The slick, pulsating squishiness of the esophagus squeezing me downwards. The rapid beating of Desi's heart and the gurgles and rumbles of her inner workings. The smell of half-digested coconut. I clung harder to the vines and prayed that this would be quick.

A few seconds later, I could feel myself being pushed through a tight sphincter, after which the pressure around my sides let up. I was entering the great chamber of Desi's stomach. The air here stung my nostrils and was not pleasant to breathe. I didn't want to guess how much oxygen there was, either. Minutes, maybe. I didn't want to stay long enough to find out. I gave the rope a good tug and stopped.

"Hey, little girl!" I shouted, regretting that I didn't even know her name. "I'm here to get you out of here! I've got a rope and can carry you up and out."

No response.

"I can't see anything," I continued. "I'm going to need you to call out or something. Let me know where you are."

Still nothing. I was starting to get worried.

"Can you hear me? Hey, I know you're scared. That's okay. But your mom is outside and really worried about you. I'm worried, too. I have a daughter a little older than you. She's here on the island. I'd love for you to meet Erica."

I hung there for a few seconds, trying to listen for anything resembling a voice. All I could hear were the sounds Desi's body was making. If this girl was unconscious, I would have a very hard time finding her. I couldn't see anything and if I had to guess, her stomach was the size of a three car garage. The good thing was that it was empty, but I didn't want to search every nook and cranny of her stomach folds in the dark. We didn't have time for that.

"Little girl! I'm very serious. We have to get out of here right now! Desi's going to pull me back up and I'm going to take you with me. She's really sorry about swallowing you. It was an accident. She's actually a really nice person. Don't be scared."

My heart sank into my chest. I didn't know what else to do. Maybe she was already dead. I hadn't wanted to even consider that, but now I had to start. I didn't want to deal with that drama. Not after everything that had already happened. We've had enough tragedy and death. I had just wanted her to be right there, for me to grab her and to get out. Why couldn't the universe just throw us a bone already?

Suddenly, I felt myself rising back up. I was being pulled back out. Why? I hadn't tugged on the rope yet! I wasn't done searching! I wasn't going to leave without that girl, even if it was just her body! In my desperation and anger, I almost untied the rope, allowing myself to fall, but I had enough good sense to know that would have been very foolish. Instead, I silently seethed as I ascended up back through the esophagus.

I emerged from Desi's throat in anger. "Why did you pull me up?!"

"I'm sorry!" Desi said through tears. "Tommy told me to!"

"Well, open the hatch, Dez! I'm going back down!"

"Dad, no!" I heard Tommy from below on the shore.

"Tommy, for goodness sake! What if that was your sister in there?! Damn it, I'm getting the girl out!"

"Dad! You don't understand! She's not in there!"

"...what?"

Tommy ran behind a nearby rock. He emerged carrying a little girl in his arms. "We found Katie. She was hiding here all along..."

I was dumbstruck. I wanted to be angry, but I was just relieved. I wasn't happy, but I was glad that she was okay...and that I didn't have to go back inside. "Oh, for crying out loud..."

As I came to find out, Katie had actually been the first to see Desi running out of the jungle. The sight of the Magnian stranger scared her enough that she practically flew out of the water while everyone else was still bathing. She hid behind the rock and cowered, watching in fear. Later, she was still too afraid and ashamed to come out and tell everyone that she was okay, thinking she'd be in trouble for hiding. If Tommy hadn't spotted her, I'd probably still be stomach spelunking.

All of this, though, was just too much for Desi. The poor girl. After she let me back down on the ground, she ran. She ran hard. At the speed she was going, there was no point trying to follow her. I hoped that she was going back to our camp, but it was in the other direction. I wish Mary had been there. She would have known what to say to her. I never got a chance to apologize to Desi for being so abrasive. From her perspective, I must have been an asshole for yelling at her so much.

Tommy and I filled our jugs with water and made our way back to Mary and Erica. We would meet back up with the rest of the survivors and figure out a plan from there. They say that they're pretty sure there are other Magnians who made it to the island. They haven't been found, but a Magnian-sized life raft was found on the shore. Maybe Desi will meet up with her own people. In any case, she would be one less liability for me to worry about. My interests are still in what's best for my family, and as we've already seen, away from civilization Magnians are just too dangerous to be around.