I heard a door slam shut, the warm palm and fingers wrapped around me doing little to muffle the noise. For at least the past fifteen minutes I had been trapped in this gigantic hand, which had appeared slim and delicate, if a bit long, to me not even an hour ago. She had kept her fist tight the whole time, without so much as a pinprick of light reaching me in the middle of my fleshy prison. Her body heat made my chamber into a convection oven, keeping me drenched in sweat from the moment she had closed her fingers.
Blood drained from my head when she sharply raised her hand, then my stomach leapt when it came to an abrupt stop. Her knuckles rapped against a hard surface, rattling my bones and dazing me from the impact. She opened her fingers, and I fell for a split second until I landed face up on cold stone. The hand lifted away, and I found myself looking at the underside of a pair of wooden cabinets set against a burnished steel cliff. It didn’t take a genius to deduce that I was on a kitchen counter.
My eyes adjusted, and I was able to make out my captor. Straight, jet black hair came down to her shoulders, with arching eyebrows over her dark eyes set behind folded eyelids. The nostrils of her broad nose flared, and her thin lips pulled up on the right in a smirk. Her white shirt’s top two buttons were undone, with the collar left rumpled and unruly. For the moment she regarded me curiously, and I was too scared to say anything.
“Well, you wanted to spend time with me,” she finally said, breaking the silence. Her voice was a low roar, its very sound making me feel queasy. “Is this what you had in mind? Or do you only like it when you have the power to decide when a meeting ends and begins?” She began tracing circles around me with an index finger and her smirk widened.
“Li, is that you?” came an unseen but similarly huge voice.
The smirk left her face and she sighed, hitting me with a cloud of hot air. “I’m with someone!” she shouted back, loud enough to make my ears ring.
“Come here!” the voice replied. “Don’t worry, it’ll only take a second!” Li rolled her eyes in exasperation, as though she were the person being most inconvenienced here.
Li thrust a long, log-sized finger directly at me. “Don’t fucking move,” she commanded, narrowing her eyes. Then she stomped away, her enormous feet pounding the tile floor with enough force to rattle everything in the kitchen.
How I ended up in this situation was so surreal I never would have believed it if it hadn’t happened to me first-hand. I had gone for a bite to eat in the cafeteria between classes, and while looking for a seat found that every table was occupied. Then, on the far edge of the dining area, I spied this beautiful woman sitting by herself. With nothing to lose but a little pride, I walked up and asked if I could join her, and to my surprise she pulled out the seat next to her and gestured for me to sit.
She was taller than I expected, about half a head over me while sitting, but I didn’t let that throw me. I tried to make conversation, but it mostly came out as nervous rambling while she absent-mindedly picked at her food. Admittedly I could have been more interesting, and she didn’t seem engaged by it at all, only offering the odd “Mmhmm” or nodding every few sentences to give the impression she was listening. Either she got fed up or I said something untoward, since she let her fork clatter to her tray and looked straight at me with her coal black eyes.
“Out of all the people here, why did you choose to bug me?” she asked, and from there I was on the defensive. I stammered, trying to come up with a response, but she wasn’t any more interested in that than she had been in my forced attempts to make conversation. “Look around. There are so many empty seats, one at almost every table, and you decided to bother me. Did you ever consider that I wanted to be left alone? That maybe the hour I have to eat lunch is the only time I have that’s not taken up by studying, lectures, labs, sorority business, or applying to med schools?”
“Hey, I’m sor-“
“What is it that makes me so special?” she continued over me. While she ranted she seemed to be growing at an incredible rate, a couple inches per sentence. By now I was below her shoulders, and if we had been standing she would easily have two feet on me. I wanted to excuse myself, but felt petrified by her intense gaze. “Did you see a pretty girl sitting by herself and think, ‘Oh, a poor maiden, all alone! Surely she wants me to save her with my inane drivel, and then maybe she’ll go out with me!’ That’s it, right? Why else would you pick me instead of joining one of the much happier groups, or maybe one of those frumpy or overweight girls?”
She was growing much more rapidly at this point, and now I didn’t even come up to her breasts. Her eyes were pointed directly down at me to emphasize the new height discrepancy, and to drive it home she leaned in until her nose was touching mine. I figured her head must have been at least twice the size of mine now. The next time she opened her mouth, though, our faces parted, and I felt myself dwindling in comparison to her even more.
“Better yet, what makes you so special? You’re average looking at best, annoying, boring, have less personality than a wet noodle, and apparently have nothing better to do with your time than inflict the misery of your droning on unsuspecting strangers.” Her pleated skirt came into view, and I was definitely below her waist. “Tell me, why should a beautiful sorority girl rocking a near-perfect GPA in the pre-med program give you a second look, let alone be interested in you?” Her booming voice continued after her rhetorical question. “Let me guess: you think you’re the only guy who’s ever approached me, and that I was just waiting for any guy to come along so I can throw myself at them?”
I was standing on the chair, astride one of the tiny holes in the metal seat, and staring up at her towering over me. Though every word from her was terrifying and her very presence made me want to flee I was stuck to the spot, entranced by her. “Well, your gamble paid off, and I’ve decided to take you home with me.” Her hand began descending toward me, fingers outstretched. “I think you’ll find you got more than you bargained for, though.” She snapped her fingers shut, sealing me in the warm, pitch black inside of her fist
Though I didn’t know what Li had planned for me, I couldn’t imagine that an enraged giantess hell-bent on teaching me a lesson was going to be kind. Certainly I didn’t want to still be on the counter when she got back. I looked around for something that could get me to the floor without dashing me to bits in a suicidal jump onto the tile. Several appliances stood on the counter, all plugged into the wall above, but at the far edge of the counter I saw a vestige of hope: a cell phone with a charging cable running off the ledge.
I ran across the countertop to where the phone laid screen-up and saw that the port was hanging over empty space. Thinking quickly, I climbed onto the screen, which was marred by several deep cracks running through it. My presence must have been enough to bring it out of sleep mode, since as soon as I stepped on it the screen lit up. The lock screen, to my surprise, was a very attractive redhead, her mouth open just enough to show a tiny man struggling to get out. Quickly I scrambled off to the cord, and the screen went dark again.
Carefully I grabbed onto the white lifeline, wrapping my arms and legs around it. I looked down and immediately wished I hadn’t. If my grip slipped even a little I was sure to fall hundreds of feet to my death on the hard tile below. Trying to push it out of my mind I squeezed my eyes shut, then eased my hands forward, followed by my legs like an inch worm.
My climb down was much faster than I had anticipated, helped by gravity during the descent. The cord was just long enough to reach the countertop from the wall socket, so at the end all I had to do was grab onto the adapter and let my legs dangle. Surprisingly the phone didn’t tumble down after me: it didn’t even budge. I must have been so small that my weight was negligible.
After a deep breath I let go, allowing myself to fall onto the floor. I landed in a crouch to avoid breaking my legs, then looked for an exit. There was one doorway out of the kitchen, and I had seen Li turn to the right from it. Obviously, my goal was to reach it and go the other way. I ran across the tiles, leaping over the grout laid between them, and turned left after I sprinted down the ramp into the hallway.
Once in the hall I didn’t slow down, knowing my life depended on it. I ran the length of the wood planks, easily stepping over the cracks between them where the sealant had pooled, until I got to the brass divider between wood and carpet. Before I could step into the living room, however, the front door opened, and I froze.
A blond woman, exceedingly tall – though wasn’t everyone, now? – and skinny, walked through the door, then dropped her bag on the floor with an incredible racket. I wanted to duck behind the wall, but she began walking toward me before the door was even shut, and I didn’t want to give myself away. Instead I threw myself to the ground and did my best to hide behind the carpet fibers while she approached, her long legs barely covered by her denim skirt.
The ground shook with each of her thundering footsteps, the quakes getting more intense as she drew closer. Her black, studded flats pounded against the carpet, effortlessly crushing it beneath her feet as she strode toward the hallway. I let out a yelp of fear when I saw her shoe raised, heel on the ground, smooth sole bared to me, and I quickly clapped my hands over my mouth. She slammed her foot down with enough force to make my teeth chatter, but the toe of her shoe just barely peeked over the carpet. Having barely avoided unknowingly crushing me, she stepped over my prone body and continued down the hall and up the stairs.
With the blond gone I left my shell-shocked fetal position and proceeded onto the carpet. My progress was slow since it came up to my waist, but nevertheless I trudged through it. When I got past a couch pressed against the wall, it occurred to me that I had no plan for when I got to the door. I couldn’t open it, and there was no crack for me to slide under and escape. Maybe I could climb into an open pocket in the blond’s bag and get carried away from this place. Failing that, I could wait by the door for it to open again and slip out. Any plan was better than waiting here.
Slowly but surely I made steady progress through the carpet. Footfalls thudded down the stairs, shaking the floor, and continued onto the hallway’s wooden floors. I dismissed the thundering steps, chalking them up to the blond coming back for her bag. It might not even be too bad if she saw me: she might be able to hide me from Li.
The footsteps moved onto the carpet, and I told myself again that it was just the blond. My delusions were shattered when an enormous brown loafer slammed down in my path, causing a violent earthquake that knocked me on my back. A gigantic chuckle rumbled from above, and when my eyes could focus again I saw Li’s laughing face hundreds of feet above me. “Going somewhere?” she taunted with her booming voice. “And I thought I told you to stay put.”
My fight or flight reflex kicked in and fighting her was not an option. Even though my bones felt like jelly I clenched my teeth and grabbed onto the edge of her shoe’s sole, then pulled myself up through sheer force of will. Unsteadily I started running away from the titanic shoe in my path, stumbling over the high carpet fibers. “That’s the problem with guys like you,” Li continued mocking me. “You want to date women way out of your league, but when it comes time to talk you never want to listen.” She punctuated her sentence by bringing her other foot down in my path just inches in front of me, staggering me to the ground with another tremendous earthquake.
The tremors overwhelmed my system, leaving me powerless to do anything but stare up at Li, her domination over me total now. Her humongous brown loafers stood on either side of me, each larger than a bus, and thin black socks rose like columns to just below her knees, subtly lifting and shaping her calves. Li’s hands were set on each side of her plaid, pleated skirt, which only came halfway down her lean thighs. A white button-down shirt tucked into her skirt so that it was pulled tight around her, accentuating her figure and exaggerating the effect of leaving the top unbuttoned. She looked at me with a mixture of scorn and amusement, like a predator that had just taken down a particularly easy prey.
“Aww, what’s the matter, little guy?” Li teased, her voice still an auditory punishment. “It’s like you don’t want to be with me anymore, when you were so insistent not even a half hour ago. What changed?” She paused while she set her far knee on the ground and rested her hands on her raised thigh. “I bet you’re intimidated by taller women. That’s it, isn’t it?” A toothy grin spread across her face. “I’m a bit taller than you and you feel threatened? I’m hurt that such a little thing could put you off.”
One of Li’s hands swung down, and she plucked me off the carpet between her thumb and forefinger. “Lucky for you I’m not going to let such a superficial thing like height stand in our way.” Li stood, and I felt my stomach sink. “Since you wanted to keep me company while I ate lunch, I think it’s only fair I let you.” Her grin made me feel uneasy while her long strides carried her to the kitchen.
While keeping me clamped in one hand Li laid two slices of bread on the counter, flanked by a jar of peanut butter on one side and grape jam on the other. She screwed the jars open, using the hand holding me for support. The sound of grinding threads around the rims of the jars spiked my adrenaline, though her two measly fingers kept me firmly in place. Silverware crashed together when she pulled out the drawer, followed by a cacophony of metal on metal when she withdrew a butter knife.
“I realize I was stand-offish earlier without giving you a chance,” Li said while spreading peanut butter. “I admit that was unfair to you, and if we’re going to give this an honest shot I need to be just as open as you.” She lowered me onto the empty slice of bread, where she held me in place with a finger while slathering the knife with jam. “Since you were so forthcoming earlier, it’s my turn bare my soul. You definitely earned it.” Slowly she spread the jam up the bread until I had been covered in it, making sure only my face was exposed before she removed her finger.
I was really in a jam now. Li picked up the slice of bread I was stuck to, and my world rotated while she flipped it to face her. “I hope my insights are just as delicious as yours,” she said, then licked her lips. My world spun again when she turned me face-down and lowered me into the thin layer of peanut butter. She patted the sandwich gently several times, pushing me into the spread until I could barely breathe.
My gluten prison compressed when Li grabbed the sandwich with both hands, pulling the sides tighter. Though no light could reach me I felt her slowly raise the sandwich to her face. “I’ve always been a fan of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,” she proclaimed. The bread did little to muffle her voice, which sounded like a terrible roar this close. “Do you know why?” I wanted to shield my ears, but my arms were firmly trapped by the spreads on either side of me.
Even though I’d never heard it, I had always figured that biting into a sandwich like this made a noise, however small. The sound of Li’s teeth cutting through bread filled me with primal dread, matched only by them clicking together. Her incisors were close enough to graze my scalp, leaving behind a long string of saliva when she pulled it away. Scattered crumbs fell from her lips while she chewed, but she was thoughtful enough to swallow before speaking again.
“You see, peanut butter is a dense source of non-meat protein,” Li explained with her terrifying rumble. “Protein is really important to me, obviously.” Her smug expression reinforced the overacted explanation. Before going any further she drew the sandwich to her mouth again, her cavernous mouth wide open. At the last second, she pulled to the side, biting off the corner close enough to scrape my arm. She chewed this bite carefully, slowly working her jaw up and down so that I could see each muscle flex before a lump was forced down her throat.
“I’m on the swim team, so I need any edge I can get, diet included.” She revealed her gaping maw and began to draw me into it, only to divert at the last second again. Her jaw savagely snapped shut on the opposite corner, just barely missing my other arm. Li grinned impishly and swallowed after only chewing once, then hungrily eyed my head sticking out.
“Swimming’s really competitive, you know, especially women’s swimming.” Slowly Li drew the sandwich to her mouth, open wide for another bite. Instead of taking me with it, however, she took the chunk to my right. Through her narrow lips I saw her bared canines and powerful molars forcibly separate the bread, then her lips casually drew it into her mouth. She gulped this bite down, then returned to eyeing me hungrily.
“It can come down to fractions of a second, especially in the finals.” Li snapped her jaw through the section to my right, separating it fast and cleanly. She let out an exaggerated “Mmmm,” while chewing, closing her eyes to heighten the effect. “This is really good,” she said around her bite, spattering me with half-chewed food and saliva. “I’d offer you some, but, you know, germs.” With a deep gulp she swallowed and opened wide, showcasing the inside of her food-caked mouth.
“Where was I? Oh yeah. Since the races are so tight, every advantage counts.” Li pinched the section around me with her thumb and forefinger, holding me in place while she maneuvered her mouth to the side. Stray strands of black hair tickled my nose while she severed this bite, and I had to fight the urge to sneeze when she pulled back. She could barely contain her grin while she chewed, clearly relishing my torment, before swallowing again.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but like other sports height gives a distinct advantage in swimming, too.” She maintained her two-digit grip on me while working the other flange of the sandwich between her lips. Li messily tore it off, spraying crumbs everywhere and violently shaking me. Her fingers squeezed tighter around me, and were it not for the spongy bread I likely would have been squished right then. “I fucking love this sandwich!” she declared, spraying me and the small remnants of her meal with bits of food and saliva again, then gulped it down.
“Now, I’m not sure if you noticed, but I’m pretty tall, so a good diet only strengthens an advantage I already have.” My world spun around, and Li placed the tip of her index finger directly on my face. While smothering me with her skin she pushed me backward toward her mouth. I clenched my eyes shut, unwilling to watch the world get closed off by Li’s teeth, but her irresistible force stopped just short of sliding me all the way in. Instead I heard the sickening crunch of her teeth cutting through bread less than an inch away, and her incisors scraped my shoes when they collided.
By the time Li turned me around she had already swallowed. “Oh, what am I thinking? Of course you know I’m tall, you almost let the petty fact that I’m only six feet taller than you scare you off!” She giggled, an awful rumble that made my ribs quiver and my ears ring in pain.
Having eaten the sandwich around me, Li lifted the last morsel to her eyes to inspect it. Her dark eyes seemed to drink in light, and I couldn’t help but gaze in awe at her brilliant irises, wide enough for me to crawl inside. She blinked, tickling me with her eyelashes, and carefully lowered me back to her mouth, letting me get a good look at her smooth cheeks on the way to meeting my destiny.
Li’s tongue flicked out and she ran the tip along her top lip. “Look, I know it can be scary for guys to date woman taller than them, whether it’s two inches or seventy-two inches,” she began, “but I’m sure that if you give me a chance you’ll find out I’m just as vulnerable on the inside as you are.” Her lips tugged back in a wry grin. “Oh shit, I talked your ear off about swimming and didn’t let you get a word in, did I?” She brandished her teeth and ran her lips along the top. “You probably don’t even care about swimming and I bombarded you with inane facts about my routine. Just give me one more chance, I really think you can be a part of me.”
Li let out a hungry purr and placed the last scrap of sandwich against her lips. “Forever,” she whispered, her voice cutting at me with gale-force winds. With a single forceful tap she popped me into her mouth, then sealed her lips behind me. A deep rumble resonated throughout her mouth while her tongue battered the water-logged bread I was stuck in. “Mmm, it’s so good!” she exclaimed, working me around with her tongue. She slammed me into the roof of her mouth, flattening the drenched bread around me into a hard brick. I screamed, but knew it wouldn’t do any good from inside her mouth.
No matter how hard I struggled to get free the bread only held me tighter. Incoherently I begged and pleaded for Li to spit me out, but the only response was a renewed battering from her tongue. Deliberately she worked my grain cocoon into a ball and pressed it into the roof of her mouth, then sucked the moisture out of the bread. I made one more effort to break free, but the hardened bread had formed around my skin, practically grafting itself to me.
Another round of booming erupted from the back of Li’s throat, which my damaged eardrums surmised was laughter. “Seeya around, boyfriend,” she said, then flicked the ball with her tongue. My compressed tomb rolled back to her gullet, which opened just enough to let me in. Li’s powerful throat muscles gulped me down while I screamed, still vainly believing she might release me.
I landed in Li’s stomach with a splash, the air already thick with decay from the rest of her meal. Her stomach acid sloshed around, and I bobbed aimlessly while she walked. The last sound I heard before finally passing out was the horrendous sound of her cackling from inside her digestive system.