The Gifts: What's Martha up to

“So, you did it?”, Isabella asked. Martha nodded, “I’m sorry I made you do my dirty work,”

“I understand”, Martha said, “Rob understood why you couldn’t do it. He said it was for the best and told me to tell you he loved you.”

Isabella had to fight back tears, “Thank you. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

After Isabella left, Martha walked over and timidly approached Lindsay. She didn’t think Isabella was crazy after hearing the woman’s side of the story and wanted to inquire further about Forbidden Dish’s ‘no-regrowth’ policy that the woman had told her about. Apparently, the woman and her husband (Rob) had been role-playing and had not known about the stipulation and the man, after living out his fantasy, had been told he could not leave the premises. Martha had ‘helped’ the couple by taking him to a private room and eating him as Isabella didn’t have the heart to swallow her own husband.

Martha was nervous. She’d never come here by herself before and she didn’t think Donna would approve of what she was here to do. She found Lindsay walking the floor and waved to her shyly.

“Um, excuse me”, she said. Lindsay didn’t hear her, but when she turned she nearly bumped into her.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m not ignoring you, just scouting. There’s lots of potential in this crowd”, Lindsay said, “How may I help you?”

“Um, that customer that I was talking to earlier, she said that she was told that once her boyfriend was shrunk, he couldn’t be returned”, Martha hesitated, “I was just wondering. What do you do with the ones that change their minds?” She found the idea of unwilling shrinkies much more exciting.

Lindsay smiled and leaned in, “You’re going to love this…” she said.

***

Danny sat in the large bowl cursing his luck. I don’t know what happened. Why did I panic like that? Dumb, dumb, dumb! Kylie had mentioned to him in passing that Donna was coming to Forbidden Dish for Ronni’s birthday and that Upton was to be her sugar daddy for the evening.

He’d spied on the trio of women for awhile before going up to the dance floor, where he’d finally gotten Donna to notice him. She’d teased him about swallowing him, which prompted him to admit his fantasy to her. She had soon convinced him and his two friends, also college students, to get shrunk down, the others to be treats for Donna’s two friends.

Maybe it was hot waitress who had caught his attention, maybe it was the cruel quick manner that he’d watched Ronni dispatch the two others, maybe it was just survival reflex when he saw Donna’s face leaning towards him, her mouth agape. Irregardless, he had chickened out at the last second.

He had been all for it until he was really staring down her throat. There had been no ceremony, no teasing, and no playing around. She just sat at a table and leaned over him with her mouth. The finality of that deep cavern activated his will to live and he screamed like a girl. She’d rolled her eyes and handed him to the waitress without saying so much as a word to him. Now Danny was here, waiting, waiting for to be regrown. Why would it take this long for a machine to open up? If it got too late, he’d be unable to get a cab.

At least he wasn’t alone. There were five other guys that chickened out as well. There had been more men earlier, but waitresses had come and taken them back to the booths to get regrown. But he didn’t feel entirely safe, as he saw one of the customers pluck a man out of the bowl and swallow him right there. When he told the waitress what the woman had done, she said the customer shouldn’t have done that, but she didn’t have much conviction in her voice and seemed to shrug it off in a ‘what can you do?’ manner.  Now every time a shadow passed over the bowl he tried to make himself invisible.

As the minutes dragged on and he was one of three guys left, he started to get worried. Any time one of the waitresses passed by, one of the men would ask them what was going on. Most of them just told him, “Don’t worry, you’ll be out soon.” Why wasn’t that comforting? He had no answers. All he could do was continue to wait.

***

“Martha, was it?” Lindsay asked. Martha nodded, “Right this way.” As they were making their way to the unwilling bin, two men approached Lindsay. They both wanted her to eat them, but not at the same time. They were arguing over who would get to go first.

“One second boys”, Lindsay said. She ushered Martha to a corner, “So, what do you think?”

“A..about what?”, she asked timidly.

“If it was up to you which one would you pick”, Lindsay asked pointing to the men. She was trying to be social to help Martha loosen up. She had been shy when she first came here too.

“Um, if it was up to me?”, Martha stared at the two men for a bit and then said, “The one on the left?”

“Why?”, Lindsay asked.

“Because, he’s going to change his mind”, She said matter-of-factly, “And the other kind doesn’t you know,” she turned red, “You know, um they uh...”

“Gotcha, but how do you know?”

“I’ve never been good at talking, but I pay a lot of attention when others are speaking”, Martha said, “The one on the left might as well be begging right now. It helps my writing. I kind of feel like I get a peek into people’s minds by watching their bodies.”

“You write?”, Lindsay asked. Martha nodded.

“It’s easier than talking”, Martha said.

“Thanks for the tip”, Lindsay said, “The unwilling bin is over there. Have fun. I know I will.”

--

Danny was starting to lose hope. Another man had been added to their group, but nobody had come to let any of them out. None of them spoke to each other. They just sat with their knees bent in front of them hugging their own legs to stay warm.

Danny felt a rush of warm air against his back and turned around. He saw the top half of a young woman’s face staring at them.

“Um, hello”, he said.

 (Martha)

“Why are you sitting in this bin?”, she asked. Her glasses reflected the light making her eyes difficult to see.

Her voice sounded familiar. Hey, it’s Donna’s roommate. What was her name?  “Martha!” he yelled.

“Hi Danny”, she waved shyly when she recognized him. She’d seen him hanging around Donna from time to time in the dorm.

“We changed our minds about being swallowed, so they put us here until a machine clears up to bring us back to normal.”

“How long have you been waiting?”, she asked.

“I don’t know exactly. There’s no way of telling time, but it feels like it’s been awhile.”

“That’s awful”, she said in her most sympathetic voice.

“And the waitresses don’t tell us anything”, Danny said.

“If it would help I could go see if a machine is open”, Martha said.

“Would you?”, Danny asked. He felt grateful to her.

“Sure”, Martha said as she walked off. Danny was worried that she wasn’t going to come back, but she returned after just a couple minutes, smiling, “They said one machine is open, and I can take one of you right now.” She placed her hand gently into the bowl, her palm up in an unthreatening manner.

“Why didn’t any of them bother to tell us?”, Danny asked.

“It’s pretty busy over there. A film crew’s here and things are kind of hectic. That’s why they said I could help out”, she said, “I can only take one of you right now, so Danny, it looks like it’s your lucky day.”

Danny climbed into her waiting hand before any of the others had a chance. So long suckers, he thought.

The place was packed. The tables were almost all occupied and there was a long line to the shrink booths.

“I thought you said they were open. They look pretty busy”, Martha ignored him and continued forward. She had him tucked against the belly of her blouse and he could hear a slow rumble on the other side of the cloth.

Danny shuddered.

She seemed to be daydreaming. Her walking slowly became a skip as her excitement level picked up. They walked past the line to the shrink booths and turned down a hall on the other side.

“Aren’t we going to get in line?”, Danny asked. After a couple moment’s of no response, he said, “Hello! What do you think you’re doing?”

They were in a hall full of closed doors. Most of them had red occupied signs on the door latch. Danny didn’t like how secluded the area felt. It was almost like things were done here that needed to be hidden. They finally found one with a green vacant sign and she pushed down the handle and slowly slid into the room. When they were in, she locked the door and the sign switched to occupied.

She sat him on the table and stared down at him. At his normal size he towered over her easily, but right now he was barely the size of her index finger. He didn’t like the look she was giving him at all.

“Come on Martha, this isn’t funny”, Danny said, “Take me back to the booth so they can regrow me!”

“Is that any way to talk to the woman that’s going to get you out of here?” Martha asked.

“Why did you bring me back here?” he asked.

“I like a little privacy with my meals”, she answered, smiling impishly.

“I thought you said you were getting me out of here!” he yelled.

“I am”, she said. Her stomach growled again, “Sorry, it looks like my stomach’s ready to get you out of here right now.”

“I already told you I changed my mind about being eaten, or Donna would’ve had me already.”

“Donna was the one to shrink you? Sneaky, sneaky”, she picked Danny up. A look of concern spread across her face, “If that’s really the way you feel about it, I won’t eat you,”

Danny was relieved. “For a second there I thought I was in trouble”, Danny said.

“Were you scared of little ole me?”, She asked making her most innocent face.

“A bit”, he admitted sheepishly.

“What could possibly be scary about me?” She held him against her belly, “Is it this?” The rumbling had gotten stronger. It was now demanding and angry sounding.

“Maybe a bit”, he answered, but his shaky voice said more than his words.

“Or these?” She brought him up to her mouth and displayed her teeth, “Are my teeth scary to you?”

He was unable to speak.

“Well?”, she asked. He was shivering in her hand. It almost felt like the shiver channeled through her. She was enjoying this way too much. She noticed with amusement that Danny’s penis had begun to harden and that he had an enormous cockhead.

“I, um, that is, Martha please don’t do this!” Danny sputtered.

“Do what, Danny?”, Martha asked innocently, “I just asked a simple question. Are, my, teeth, scary?” She fumbled under the neckline of her blouse and pulled out a hemp necklace with shark’s teeth, “Which is scarier, Danny? These”, she held up the necklace, “Or these” she pointed him towards her own teeth. Danny squirmed uncomfortably in her hand. She began to shift her weight from foot to foot. Her breathing was ragged.

“Do you need a closer look?” She brought one of the shark’s teeth up to his face. The sharp edge was close enough that if he stuck out his tongue he could touch it. He tried to lean back, but her finger pushed his head towards the tooth.

“Please no!”, he yelled.

Martha let go of the necklace and brought Danny closer to her mouth. He could feel her hot breath and smell the chalky mint scent of antacids. He was now under her top incisors and she was lifting him towards them. Just as he was about to touch them she pulled him back.

“You know, I’m not sure it’s the teeth at all”, she said as she opened her mouth wide. For the second time that night, Danny was staring down a woman’s throat and thinking about his own mortality. He didn’t like it any more this time than the last. He still couldn’t help but stare. It had been his fantasy since forever and despite his fear his body betrayed him by becoming aroused.

Martha’s eyes were closed as she dangled Danny over her open mouth. She slowly drew out her tongue and ran it up his body, but she stopped when she felt his arousal.

“Looks like somebody’s not scared after all”, she said, “I guess you’ve changed your mind about me eating you then?”

“No, that’s not it!” Danny yelled, “I don’t wanna die!”

“That’s not what your friend there says”, Martha said, “Now, let’s get you out of here. I’ve got a test in the morning and I’m already out too late,” She drew her tongue across his body again, but when she drew it in she slowly took him with it.

“You can’t do thi..” her mouth closed and her tongue pressed him against her hard palette cutting him off. Danny was trapped in the humid darkness. His every breath was tinged with chalky mint and trace elements of a past meal. The tongue pinned him as liquid filled her mouth. He could not force her tongue away. He might as well be under fallen rocks. His world shifted suddenly. Danny’s head was now pointing down and his feet were pointing up, and before he could stop it he slid down into the tight confines of her esophagus.

He’d always thought he’d be able to struggle and put his arms to his side to slow his descent if this ever really happened, but the pressure of the muscles was too tight. His arms were stuck in front of him in a superman pose as he was squeezed down. They were the first things through the sphincter of the stomach, but the rest of his body followed quickly. He landed with a splat in a hot, foul smelling mess. The heat in her mouth couldn’t compare to what he felt in here. The stomach reacted immediately to its new occupant and began secreting more acid and moving like mad.

Danny scrambled to the wall and tried desperately to claw his way out, but was thrown back into the mess. He was starting to burn and losing strength fast.

--

Martha had cleaned herself up and straightened out her clothes before she left the room. He was still moving in there, but she really did need to get up early tomorrow.

She saw Lindsay walking back towards the unwilling bin with an empty tray.

“Find everything alright?”, Lindsay asked. Martha nodded.

“So, uh, which one did you get?” Martha asked.

“Both”, Lindsay said, “First the one, then the other. You were right about both of them.” Martha smiled and looked down shuffling her feet, “I still don’t know how you did it.”

“It’s easy once you know what to look for”, Martha said, “Anyway, how can you stand to eat the willing ones?”

“They all go down the same either way”, Lindsay said simply, “I bet you could make decent money tipping the girls here off on who is and isn’t willing. There are several girls here that only prefer one or the other.”

Martha nodded thoughtfully before walking back into the restaurant proper.

***

Donna’s stomach had gone silent for quite a while by the time Martha rejoined them. The surfer had put up a long fight though, she had to admit. She was still upset at Danny for having chickened out, but she could perhaps take care of that loose end another night.

Conversely, Ronni sat back in her chair contentedly, wearing a pleasant grin. Her nubile body was well on it’s way into turning Upton, Pierre and Paul’s bodies (and many others) into nutrients, their partially-digested remains swimming face-down in the sludge of her tummy.

“Hey slowpoke, where have you been all this time? You missed the party!”, Ronni said. Martha just smiled.

Donna still didn’t see why Martha liked this place so much. She had spent the entire party getting a glass of water.

Donna sighed, “Want us to get you someone?” She was hoping Martha would decline as she was beginning to feel tired.

“I’m fine”, Martha smiled. “Are you two ready to go?”

***

Martha and Donna had already run into Ronni early the next morning. Ronni, who had drank so much and eaten so many shrinkies (she’d consumed nearly twenty shrunken men by the time they had left Forbidden Dish) that she’d had a serious hangover and seemed to remember nothing of the previous evening. Martha giggled after overhearing Ronni wonder aloud at the sheer volume of waste she’d disposed of when she relieved herself in the community bathroom.

Some hours later, Martha had been writing while Donna had her headphones on, dancing as she listened to her music, when there came a light knocking on their door. 

“Um, hi Kylie. How can I help you?”, Martha asked, as she swung the door open to reveal the petite girl.

“Just wondering if either of you has seen Upton? He hasn’t been responding to any of my texts”, Kylie said with a worried look.

Donna, still wearing her headphones with the music up loud, didn’t hear the question. She just smiled and waved to the girl. Perhaps she was already daydreaming of her next visit to Forbidden Dish.

  (Donna, chillin')

The end