He was just reaching the middle of the depressor when someone (David saw it was Shane) stomped down hard on it. The depressor wobbled and shook from the impact. Tracy tried to balance himself with his arms, shifting his weight but it was of no use. He fell into Melanie’s awaiting mouth which closed around Tracy. There was a yell which might have been fear or delight and then there was an audible gulp.

            They all watched as Melanie’s pursed lips gently parted and she let out a long breath. She smiled up at them and licked the rim of her lips her wet tongue tracing the soft pink flesh slowly before retracting in between them once more. Melanie smiled. Her belly growled.

            It was Shane’s turn next. He quickly scooted across. Leon slowly and carefully put one foot in front of another. His palms were sweaty and his shirt was soaked with perspiration. He quivered and almost fell. Melanie moved herself upwards in anticipation of the fall but Leon was lying on it hugging the sides and not looking at the giant mouth that was now just below him.

            He heard and felt her breathing on him. Her lips and tongue moved with a quiet sucking sound, as if gathering what flavor remained of Tracy. Leon chanced a look and found her wide mouth was not more than five feet below him. He could see where he knew so many people had already disappeared, her gullet.

            Suddenly the gullet opened somewhat wider and a loud belch was heard. It was very loud for Leon, who was just next to the mouth. He saw her uvula shake with the force of the belch. It even made the thin bridge under him quiver. A rather bad smell of digesting food tickled his nostrils. It was in stark contrast to her mint breath just a few moments ago. He smelled the inside of her stomach!

            Agonizingly slowly, he crawled towards the other end of the plank, Melanie watching every inch of the way. Finally he arrived, shaking uncontrollably from the adrenalin rush.

            “Well, darn!” said Melanie kneeling before them. Only one little person in my belly! I was hoping at least you would fall,” she indicated Leon by looking at him. there was a hint of a smile on her lips as he stared back at her.

            “Of course, I could just eat you anyway.” Disaster! Leon thought.

            “But that wouldn’t be very sporting would it? I guess I will just have to wait until later. Time for bed my little friends.”

            She put them up in the doll house (which she had repaired with David that day) each to their own floor. Little did they know where the previous occupants of the house now were.

            Shane was convinced he would not fall asleep. Fear would keep him awake. Then he realized that the best way to escape, the door, had been closed. There was no getting out of the room. The things to do were sleep for a few hours and then make a break at early morning for a good hiding place. He could worry about escape when he was thinking more clearly.

            Shane was awoken by a blood curdling scream from one floor below. He looked out his window and saw in the blackness, a giant form sprawled across the acres of carpet before the doll house. Melanie had waited until sleep took them and then stuck her hand through the window at Leon.

            Leon was being dragged out the window but he didn’t leave without a fight. He was grabbing bits of furniture to anchor himself to the room. He was holding on to the bed which was following him out to the window. With a final yank by Melanie, she tore him free. Marcus could just make out the form of her face in the dark. She had a curious look on her face.  Suddenly red light illuminated her form. Shane looked towards the source. Melanie had draped red paper across a bulb which cast the scene in a dreadful color.

            “I needed a midnight snack,” she told Marcus. “Sorry.”

            She opened her mouth wide which was illuminated in red and looked like the entrance to Hell.

            “Ahhhhh!” screamed Leon. She stuffed his flailing body into her mouth. Shane thought he would be gone in another second but his head reappeared between her lips and he looked around trying to find some source of help or comfort. Nothing presented itself. Her mouth opened wide for one final second and then she gulped. The noise was loud to Shane but to Leon it was thunderous. Shane watched the bulge quickly disappear from Melanie’s throat.

            Melanie turned a gruesome smile towards Shane. Fear gripped him. He should run and hide but he could not move!

             She stared at him hard and long. Finally she spoke. It was as quiet a voice as one could expect, given their size difference.

            “I saw you stomp on the tongue depressor earlier. It caused Tracy to fall and get eaten.”

            “He volunteered! I sped things up for him.”

            “It wasn’t nice”

            “You eat people! That’s not nice!”

            “You’re next.”

            A hand reached out towards him; grabbed him despite his attempts to flee. He was brought up to her stomach and pressed against it. For the second time he was forced to hear the panicked screams emanating from within.

            “Hear that?” asked Melanie. She did not wait for a response. “That’s gunna be you.” She brought him up to her mouth and tossed him in.

            Once again the feeling of something live digesting within her compounded her enjoyment of the fight going on within her mouth. It was a battle between her tongue and her meal. She tossed Shane this way and that. He struck his head on a tooth, then she tossed him to the other side of her mouth. He banged his knee and howled in pain.

            “To hell with you Melanie!”

            Melanie bit his hand off! Shane’s scream pierced the night. Melanie began to laugh. Together they formed a sinister duet. Shane watched as her uvula shook and throat opened with each giggle. Her mouth was opened wider to further allow him an opportunity to see into the red hell which would soon swallow him. The mouth slowly closed and the laughter died. Shane tried to bite his tongue, to stop screaming. He limited to shaking back and forth holding his bloody stump which was pumping out blood. It was the end. The tongue curled, he slid backwards and down.

            Melanie stood up and took a sip of water from the glass next to her bed. She placed her hands on her stomach.

            “Oh they were tasty.”

            She was happy and it took some time for her to switch off the red light and fall asleep.

Chapter Three

            David woke early the next morning, and found himself just below Melanie’s navel. Not knowing how he got there, or what all happened after he seemingly passed out the night before, he decided to take in his surroundings. He couldn’t help but stare, and find it rather funny, Melanie’s style of clothing sometimes. She was still wearing the lose fabric of her green short, and behind David lay a great belly, that of the girl he was now standing on.

            Quite further up her body was her pink tank-top. It was cute, but rather strange in some ways. David decided to climb up her belly once more, but this time he would stop somewhere in her mid-section. And so he did.

            He walked across her navel, and proceeded into the center of her belly, the softest part of her, yet one of the strongest. The instant David touched her skin with his right hand, it reacted. Her stomach groaned and vibrated rather violently, as if David had just pushed the self destruct button on some sort of bomb. He retracted, but ended up falling over.

            “Ohuh`” Melanie said, in reaction to her stomach’s action. She moved her hands up onto her belly, to sooth her stomach. “Wow, those guys last night must have really not been enough, man I’m starving!”

            Melanie began to sit up and grabbed David gently. She set him on her knee and proceeded to stretch her arms high into the air, and gave a great yawn. David was mere inches from the most powerful implement of destruction he had ever known, and it was so awesome!

            “You were asleep when I did it, but I needed a few snacks last night. Unfortunately, I have none left, but they won’t be lightly missed.” She indicated her belly with her pointer finger, and drew a circle on it. “Yet I need some more. How about that?”

            “Erg, great. But, even though you’re super powerful, you probably should slow down maybe just a tad?” Melanie gave him an inquisitive look, “I mean, I love it all the same, but you know, those police yesterday were a bit close, you might get discovered, and that would be horrible.”

            “Yea, but what could they do? I would just pull off my sweetest looking face, and say I didn’t do it. And if that doesn’t work, there is always here,” She bent her head down a bit and opened her mouth wide in front of David. Making sure he got a nice view.

            “Of course, I guess that would make sense. But you know, I think it would be cool if we could have some fun together some time. I mean sure watching you eat someone is fun in itself, and just being in your presence is even better, but spending some time with you would be nice too…” David trailed off, and he looked down.

            Melanie of course, took it rather pleasantly, “Well sure then little guy! I don’t want to make you feel like a bit of luggage or what not, I want to keep you happy too. So what would you like to do today then?”

            David didn’t hesitate, “Well first you should get dressed, I guess get some breakfast, the we can do whatever you really want to do. Because no matter what you do, I bet I will enjoy it.” David smiled, and Melanie returned the gesture. She picked him up in her hands and moved him to her lips; she pursed them and kissed his whole person. He blushed as Melanie pulled him back and smiled. “You wait right here, and I will get into something more cozy.”

            She put him on top of her desk as she grabbed some clothing. David wondered if there was anyone left in the little house further down the room, but was reminded by Melanie’s belly when she returned.

            She was dressed in a nice pair of light blue jeans and a shirt that did actually cover down to just about an inch above her navel. It was green and blue stripe, and everything was again, just like Melanie, skin tight against her perfect body. “You like?” She said, as she ran her hands down her sides in front of David, giving him a little show.

            “You look beautiful,” He replied, and Melanie gave a delightful squeal and grabbed him and placed him right next to her next on her shoulder, he instinctively grabbed hold of her, as she righted herself.

            David could hear a new set of sounds as when Melanie talked, he could hear the sound coming straight from her throat. He watched in awe as her throat bobbed up and down with her laughter, talking, periodical swallow, and just general moving about.

            Melanie took him upstairs and she proceeded to take out another apple. After clawing a good piece for David, she began to devour hers. He watched as her mouth would open wide in front of the apple, and her teeth bare themselves and rip into the flesh of the apple, tearing out a massive portion of it. Then he would listen to her as she would chew, her teeth ripping and grinding away at the apple itself, until it was nothing left, than a mass to be swallowed. When she did so, it was certainly a feat of nature.

            David had earlier opted at getting a new place to sit, so she had taken them downstairs back to her room, and she had lain on her bed with David close to her head. She continued to eat as they talked about random things that were on their mind. Each time she would laugh it was incredible, watching her whole form move about as her mouth would be opened a bit.

            He could catch a glimpse inside her mouth, and what he saw inside was awe inspiring. Inside he could see remnants of her last bite, clinging all over her mouth in small bits and some chunks, along all the edges of her mouth, saliva shown. With the combination of apple juices too, Melanie’s mouth was salivating at an overly powerful rate, which left massive columns that stretched from place to place within her maw.