Miss Blaine’s building-sized fist opened up, and out scrabbled four boys of about his age, of varying heights and builds. Caleb, of course, knew them well; as his best friends and loyal cronies, he ought to, considering he viewed them as the brothers- and indeed, siblings as a whole- he had never had growing up as a spoilt only child. He could recognise anywhere the lanky frame of Harry, or the equally short stature of Ralph, whom he jokingly referred to as 5’4” of pure muscle. Between them, he was both surprised and relieved to see that Quentin, the most bookish and reserved of the group, had found his large, square glasses shrunk with him. He could only imagine the horrors the next few hours would be for him if he was mostly blind throughout the ordeal; that said, he realised with darker thought, perhaps it was somewhat better that way. For all their differences in physicality and character (for there were many; Caleb liked to keep a diverse friendship group both out of interest to know different kinds of people as well as make sure his cronies were constantly somewhat at odds with one another, so as to keep himself on top as leader; he was able to immediately spot one thing on the faces of all three figures stumbling towards him from the open palm of their teacher’s colossal hand. The pale faces and wide eyes all betrayed their fear, and Caleb knew that to make the trio in front of him scared took one hell of a lot.
Behind them, however, the fourth figure and final member of Caleb’s cohort was not so, though. As he came into view, the leader could see his attempts to not stumble like those in front of him, keep his head high and his face stoic. It was a sight that gave him more much-needed confidence, and for the first time since his shrinking he found a smirk creep onto his face. He could always rely on Jack to keep him sane.
They had been friends for years, longer than Caleb even could remember; indeed, his parents would often say of Jack that the two were separated at birth. Though one look at the two would immediately give away their different parentage, personality wise Jack and Caleb had found themselves to be almost perfect companions. Prideful, self-confident, easily as arrogant and obnoxious as Caleb could be, the pair were the terror of their primary school back in their time. Indeed, it was said that only Caleb’s superiority in age denoted the two as leader and second in command, and neither Jack nor Caleb questioned the natural positions they had fallen into. Between them they had recruited and moulded the three between them to create the formidable brotherhood they were today, and cemented their reputation as the unquestionable top dogs in their school. Of all of his gang, Jack was the one that Caleb knew he could always count on, always get help from, his loyalty practically unquestionable. They had faced everything together, and they had come out of the other side.
Their eyes met, and Caleb knew his thoughts immediately. He had always been able to read Jack like a book, and he knew that Jack knew they may not make it out of the other side of this one. He wasn’t stupid, after all; as one of the only people Caleb viewed as his equal, he wouldn’t be. Good, he concluded, the smirk returning. If we are to go down, let us go down together. Like the heroes of old, or some shit like that.
His friends drew closer, and upon seeing him broke into a run, Jack still following at walking pace close behind. Fear was replaced temporarily with relief as they saw their friend, their leader. Soon, they crowded him, and he was thronged with questions and exclamations.
“Caleb! Thank God you’re alright! We feared you’d already been snuffed out, or worse…”
“Hey, speak for yourself! I personally was hoping you’d managed some miraculous escape, or not been shrunken like us altogether. Of course, I can see now…”
“Both of you, quiet! Caleb, do you know any of what’s going on here? I mean, I can ascertain the main parts myself, and I can figure out that the planet-sized version of our bitchy philosophy teacher is probably the cause of it, but I figured you may know more than I do…”
“Give the man some air, would you? Jeez.”
Jack’s deep voice carried over the cacophony from the other three and bade them silent. They cleared the way as he strode towards Caleb and extended his hand to him, which Caleb took warmly and shook.
“Glad to see our current situation hasn’t dampened your sense of class, Jack,” Caleb said in greeting, his smirk becoming a full smile as he stepped away and into the circle of friends they had formed. “So, it would seem we’ve all had the same experience, huh?”
“Essentially,” piped up Quentin. Shy and reserved as he was at times, he had grown comfortable with the gang, and he was always willing to recount a story. Caleb trusted him the most out of the three to retell it accurately. “From what we understand, the same thing happened to all of us. After that big flash of light, we all found ourselves at this height on our chairs. Then the huge woman presently eyeing us down like we’re Ferrero Rochers showed up, and before we could do anything her great, grubby hand had swept us up into its hot and sweaty embrace.” Quentin paused, the disgust visible on his face. A bit of a germaphobe, Caleb knew how averse his academic friend was to human contact, as stereotypical as he thought it was for his type of personality. A ride in the giant, sweaty fist of Miss Blaine certainly wasn’t going to be top of his wish list. “Then, our prison unfolds, and we’re dumped here with you.”
“Hm.” Looking up from his friends, the gang leader could see that Miss Blaine was indeed still gazing at them hungrily, the disarming and threatening grin now reduced to merely a smile, hiding those killer teeth. She seemed, however, content to let them converse for the time being; why she did was beyond his reasoning, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, he really didn’t want to delve into the mind of the woman almost lustfully staring at them, as he didn’t want to even begin to consider all the horrible ways she was thinking of inevitably dealing with them. Instead, he looked back to his friends, all clearly waiting for their leader’s plan of action, which he knew they weren’t going to like. Sighing away any last doubts, he began.
“Now, guys. We’ve been in some scrapes before, and come out of them fine. But I’m going to level with you. This…” he paused and pointed up at the colossus behind them, “…is most likely not going to be a happy ending for us.” His smirk was long gone, replaced by a look of sorrow.
“What are you trying to say, Caleb?” Harry queried, the worry plain on his face.
“What I’m trying to say is… what I really don’t want to say is…” he sighed. “We can’t, without a miracle at least, beat something that is thousands upon thousands of times bigger than we are.
“So that means…” Quentin mumbled, unable to hope against hope any more that their fate was anything but sealed.
“Gentlemen, these are probably our last few hours on this planet.”
He looked at them, sadly. Quentin and Harry looked distraught. Even Jack looked solemn. Ralph, however, spoke up, angrily. “Bollocks, Caleb! We could easily make a run for it and hide, in places she could never get her fat fingers into. We could hold out for a while until she gives up, and then get help. We’re all in relatively good shape- Harry’s a school athlete, for God’s sake! Why should we just give In to her because of a size difference?”
“Ralph, are you in denial of the truth, or just that thick?” Quentin rebuked, himself now also angry. “If you hadn’t noticed, the woman who did this to us can with a swish of her arm move miles faster than we ever could! As for hiding, we’re on an open desk, steep drops on either side! How do you presume to scale those with a psycho behemoth on your tail?”
“I hate to say it, Ralph, but Quentin’s right,” added Harry. Unless we can reason with her in some way, beg for our lives perhaps to gain some sort of salvation, we’re as fucked as a fir tree in December.”
“Begging won’t help,” Jack replied, his deep voice seeming as cold as ice. “Look at the way she’s looking at us. That’s the look of someone who’s about to get everything she’s ever wanted, and in this case that’s revenge on all of us in the worst and I fear most permanent way.” He shrugged. “Caleb’s right. There’s nothing we can do.”
“Now, I know it seems dire, because let’s face it, it is.” Caleb resumed, garnering the attention of the four cronies again. We’re all most likely going to our deaths. But honestly? I could not ask to die in the company of any more distinguished and excellent people than yourselves.” He smiled at them again. “If we’re going to die, so be it. This bitch can and will have her revenge, and there’s nothing we can do about it. But we, as a last act of resistance, can take at least some of the enjoyment out of it. We won’t play her little games. We won’t scream, or run, or hide. No, we will go into death with our heads held high and our pride on our chests, as we always do. That way, we don’t let her enjoy her revenge. We don’t let her have the feeling of knowing our last moments were spent screaming in terror as we were crushed under her shoe, or sucked down her gullet. One last middle finger to Miss Blaine that is so giant it will become legend. The tiny last stand against the behemoth before us.” His voice had been rising, and it hit a crescendo as he reached the final line. “What say you, comrades?!”
Before they had a chance to react, however, a much larger voice drowned them all out, startling both him and his cronies and making them turn towards it. It was showtime at last.
“Oho, I most certainly agree,” Miss Blaine chuckled, grinning at them again like a giant Cheshire cat. “Your little speech was rousing, I’ll give you that, and your contemptible little plan bold. But I know, just as well as you do, that it won’t work.”
Caleb looked at his friends, all staring up at the colossal woman dominating the room. Their expressions were not those of fear any more, and they looked up at her with adrenaline pumping through their veins. Yet Caleb knew, in the deepest recesses of his mind, that she was right; that when push came to shove their hearts were not in it, try as they might to enact it. He could come to terms with that. As long as they tried, he knew their loyalty at least was true. Striding forward in what he hoped looked like a confident manner, he moved in front of the line his friends had formed and shouted up to his teacher.
“You call MY plan contemptible? Whatever fucked up multiple homicide you’re planning is the very ESSENCE of contemptible! Just because you can’t control your shitty little philosophy class, you decide to find creative ways to murder and dispose of the ringleaders? How little spine do you have, you giant sociopath?”
He was almost shaking with adrenaline by the end of his speech, and seeing the expression of the billboard-sized face change from its previous smirking, smug features to a harder expression of somewhere between anger and irritation, he was spurred on to continue. “You can torture us, maim us, even kill us, but we will NOT give you the satisfaction of our screams! We go into death with PRIDE!” His closing line finished like an explosion. Still pumping with adrenaline and heart racing at breakneck pace, he found himself panting after his exhortation. Filled with pride in himself for his stalwart defence, he watched the anger burn in the giant female eyes above him, the giant hands clench into fists that could reduce him to pulp and viscera.
If he hadn’t been so caught up in the adrenaline rush, he would have probably been pissing himself with fear.
“It’s… commendable… that even at your size, you can still be such a mouthy little shit,” Miss Blaine growled through gritted teeth. Even though she was able to maintain somewhat composed, and hold back her anger, Caleb could see the fires of rage burning in those hazel spotlights, the desire to crush him, the ‘mouthy little shit’, there and then under her massive fist. It made him proud to know that he was able to rile up even a giant with so much more power than he. When she had composed herself enough, she continued, teeth now unclenched. “But your words and your shitty little plan won’t do you any good at all.” The anger flared up in her eyes again, if only for a moment. “You see, I’m aware that detention isn’t a lesson to you at all. You need a harsher punishment to teach you a lesson. And that can’t happen in this room. So I’m moving you to a, how do I put this, ‘new’ detention room. One that’s far more secure… where I can monitor you 24/7… where you’ll finally learn your lesson.”
From directly in front of him, Caleb was suddenly distracted from Miss Blaine’s threatening, booming monologue by a far more alien sound. It sounded like a mass of rumblings and gurglings, as if the roar of an earthquake had mixed with the bubbling sounds of a jacuzzi- and it seemed to come from in front of him, where the cloth wall of her blouse still dominated the horizon. Caleb didn’t need to think this new mystery through; it was already painfully obvious given the nature of the monologue the titaness was giving.
“Oh, as if on cue,” Miss Blaine continued, her huge lips once again forming into a smirk. “I should apologise, really. Normally around this time of day, I have a late afternoon snack at home to ease me through until dinner. Her eyes, once filled with anger that gave him pride, now glinted again with excitement that made his fear rise once again. “Of course, instead, I had to be here… in detention… with you five tiny and, may I say, deliciously bite-sized looking students.” The deliberate, slow emphasis on those two penultimate words was followed by yet another assault on her lips by her tongue, dragged out as slowly and intentionally as was the last one. She was making it painfully obvious what she was going to do, he knew that she knew that as well as they did. This was all part of her game, and the emphasis was clearly hyping her up all the more.
“I’m sure you get the picture, don’t you? You’re a smart boy, after all, Caleb. A smart boy who wasted all his potential.” She gave a small sigh, and for a moment he almost felt like she felt the smallest twinge of sorrow for him. But thankfully for his already addled brain, it didn’t last. As she started to speak again, her monumental figure began to lean across the desk, the massive face sailing closer to him and casting his minute form and that of his friends in shadow. Somehow, her voice was like silk slowly getting quieter as she advanced, despite beginning to detail, finally, the horrors that awaited them.
“Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to torture your friends, and then I’m going to eat them. I’m going to make you watch each and every one of them go into my mouth and slide down my waiting gullet. Then, I’m going to break you. Oh, not physically; that I can do easily. No, I’m going to destroy your mind and leave you a hollow, broken shell.” Her face stopped, mere feet from his perspective from his form, so close that he couldn’t even see the full length of her lips. When she spoke, it was at a whisper, and the animation of her lips in forming and articulating words was a fearsome and unearthly thing to watch. Her perfume once again filled the air; until she spoke, and for the first time Caleb was subjected to the stale, reeking wind of Miss Blaine’s breath. The hot, damp wind that poured from her mouth enveloped Caleb in its embrace, filling his nose with the unholy stench of a mingling of tea and the general decomposing egg-esque stench of gallons upon gallons of stale saliva and excrement from the myriad colonies of bacteria festooning her maw. Flecks of spit flew out as she continued, leaving him with a fair modicum of the disgusting spray upon him. As foul as it was, however, he remained fixated on her words, as she finally detailed his own demise.
“Then… then I’ll take you into my mouth. I’ll suck on you like a sweet and let you be completely humiliated by me as I taste and savour every last bit of you. Finally, I’ll swallow you down like all of your friends before you… and you can spend your last hours in the pit of my stomach, with whatever remains of your friends, to die in the depths of my body. Think of it not as detention… think of it as permanent isolation.” The grin split wide again, like a mountain range of yellow, slimy peaks on both sides of him, before she finally leaned back, smirking again, leaving him showered in saliva and nauseous from the reek of her breath. “And you think your plan will last through that?”
Caleb wouldn’t admit it, but he was scared. Of course he was; this was a woman who was throwing everything in her giant arsenal at him to break him psychologically, and bend him to her will. But he knew he had to stand strong; for the benefit of his own last stand, and that of his friends. They needed to see their leader still stood defiant if he was to have any hope of achieving his last hurrah. Despite it all, he recalled his adrenaline reserves, and made his stand.
“We will last,” he shouted, with as much might as he could muster. “We will last through anything you throw at us, and more! Like I said, we go into death with pride, and nothing you can say will stop that!”
This time, however, his exhortations did not change her expression. If anything, her smirk only got wider, splitting into a grin once more. “Are you sure about that?”
He noticed her eyes were no longer trained on him, but rather above him… or behind him. Wheeling around, he saw three of his friends standing in a line, looking scared but still attempting to look defiant… and Ralph, running for his life away from them and the giantess. He stared on in equal parts disbelief and despair as he watched him sprint further and further away.
You bloody fool, Ralph, he thought to himself. In trying to escape, you’ve put yourself in her sights first.
“Looks like we have our first volunteer!” Miss Blaine exclaimed, the excitement now evident in her decibel-shredding voice as she once again began to reach out for the tiny speck below her.