The sign over the building read “The Grand Diner.” According to the directions I’d received from the train conductor, this was the place. I walked up the steps. A man in a fancy black and white suit with a bowler hat opened the door for me.

“Welcome to the Grand Diner sir,” He said.

“Well thanks partner,” I said.

I entered the room. It was dimly lit but I could clearly see the desk in front of me.

“Here to volunteer sir?” said another man behind the counter. He was short, had a grey mustache below his nose and circular spectacles resting above it. The dim light reflected on his bald head. He seemed a reassuring sort of man, if not a little overly bookish.

“I am,” I told the man.

“Then sign your name on this book right here and we’ll take y’all out back to get selected.”

I signed and the man gave me three shots of whiskey on the house to “take the sting out of the process.”

I followed him out back. Looking out at the valley below I saw different giantesses.

“Plenty of them tonight. They’ll come over when they get hungry,” said the man, and left me standing alone.

________________________________________________________________________________

“The name’s Dorothy friend,” said my giantess. She had brown hair and was lounging in a pond like it was a bathtub. To her perhaps it was. She had picked me up off the cliff and carried me back to the valley. Like all of them, she was beautiful. By looking at her she might have been twenty-three but giantesses age differently than other people. She might be a hundred and three for all I knew.

“Travis,” I told her.

“And you volunteered to be my dinner,” she said simply. “Mighty decent of you Travis.”

“Have you eaten anyone else tonight?” I asked.

“A few fellows, yes. I’m not filled up mind you but I’ve had my share. I expect you’ll top me off for the night.”

“You come to these giantess restaurants often?” I asked.

“Suppose so,” she shrugged. “I’m not particular where I get my victuals from. The prisons are usually more than generous with their handouts. No one seems to mind if a few convicted disappear. Still, ever since people learned that men out there will volunteer to be eaten, these giantess restaurants have come in handy. It sets alright with me if someone is asking to be eaten.”

“Do you like these better?” I asked.

“Oh, it’s all the same for me, although it makes all the difference for those I eat. I don’t have a preference as long as I’m fed. Used to be that a girl like me could just snatch up folk and munch on whomever she wanted.”

“I know. Granddad used to tell me stories about that,” I said.

“But with the reconciliation of 1844, giantesses agreed to no longer eat unwilling citizens. Just criminals, slaves and volunteers. Of course, the “Civil War” you humans had ended that slave part of it.

“But after the war?” I asked.

“After? Well, I go to places like this and get people like you. Far less exciting. What I wouldn’t give to chase someone down. Ah well. You’ll have to do for tonight,” she winked.

She reached for me and lifted me up. I looked down at her partially submerged form, her white skin still visible through the water in the moonlight. She held me above her mouth and lowered me down. Into that dark gullet I went. Her tongue caressed me like a lover. Then she swallowed and down her throat I slid until I reached her belly. It was funny to realize that her stomach was underwater. Here I was being digested in a giantess’s belly, under water.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

There was one hell of a party back at Dust City. The name of the area is something of a contradiction as the city only spans about a few steps for me (about five blocks for Malcolm.) Despite this, they built up a bonfire outside of town, a few fellows broke out instruments and everyone got to drinking like it was their own profession.

The celebrating was on account of how Malcolm and I stopped the O’Grady Gang. Seem that O’Grady had himself a showdown here in Dust City only a few days back. He shot the sheriff in cold blood out in the center of the street. Folk were so scared that they didn’t do a darn thing, just let the bunch of thugs walk all over them and pretty generally got treated like a cow pie.

Of course the news that O’Grady and his band of varmints’ were safely in my belly and being digested came as welcome news to all. The decent folk of Dust City were mighty kind to Mal and me, which was why they were throwing us a party and getting pretty drunk and dancing together around the fire. It looked like an awful lot of fun to dance. I wished I could have joined in but of course my size prevents that. I’d probably step on someone without meaning to. I’ve done that before once and it was a terrible feeling. So I content myself with watching as those tiny folk danced around each other, the fellows trying some rather fancy footwork and the women twirling their skirts about them. A few people insisted on dancing on my belly. This was fun and tickled a lot. Eventually I had to put a stop to it. It made me laugh so hard that I nearly lost control of my limbs. I relocated the “belly dancers” to the fire pit and went back to watching the humans.

 It was like looking through a window at a party you can see but never join. Even with Mal, my best friend, I can feel lonely as a giantess. I can never go inside normal folk’s homes, just peer in through the windows. (I once accidently caught a young, attractive man while he was changing. He fell over a chair when he saw me looking in. I apologized later but it was a real hoot to see his face!)

The fiddler, who was pretty decent, took a break to catch up on his drinking while Mal amused the local townfolk of how I had eaten the train robbers. I was lying on my side with my head propped up on my hand. My bare belly was serving as the backdrop for Mal while he told his story.

“And then she grabbed them right off their own horses!” said a rather drunken Mal, waving his arms about like a windmill. “And she ate them one at a time, whole and alive! Both of them!”

Several people gasped, others cheered. Mal held his hands up and waited until they settled down before continuing. I took a sip of water from the barrel they had rolled out for me. The townsfolk had been happy to provide it to me when I explained I needed some water to help digest my food.

“And I’ll be a monkey’s uncle if she didn’t just keep on going ‘till she caught up with the rest of those fellas’ who musta’ got it into their head to make some kind of a stand at an outcropping of rocks next to a cliff,” said Mel.

“I know that place!” said a boy in the crowd. “Me and my best friend Jeb catch rattlers there.”

The boy was quickly “shushed” by his neighbors for the interruption and Mal was urged to continue.

“Sure and that was the place!” said Mal nodding to the boy. “Now these fellas’ go about aiming their long rifles at my best friend,” pointing at me with his forefinger out and thumb up to mime a gun, “and take to shooting at her. Now of course this only makes her mad and me even more so…”

I listened to Mal with mild interest. He has always had the gift of telling stories, although he takes liberties here and there with exact details. Still, he did a rather descriptive job of telling how I ate the dozen men. He did seem to embellish how I ate the last guy though. I don’t recollect him taking out a bowie knife and trying to slice into my stomach to get his friends out, with Mal jumping in and fighting him hand to hand before he got the knife away and I ate him. But that was how he told it and there were pretty girls in the crowd so I let it go.  

“And sure as you’re standing there,” he gestured towards the group of enthralled listeners, “the O’Grady Gang is now inside your friend Carla’s belly right there.” He turned and pointed towards my bare stomach behind him.

I laughed, nodded to confirm the truth of the story and grinned at the audience as I stroked my belly. “And a very tasty meal they were too!” I added to the laughter of all. It would have been timely if I could have burped right then. A shame I didn’t have to.

The fiddler started his good work again and everyone took to dancing. Like I said before, I can’t dance with folk lest they get trod on, though I sorely wish I could. Instead, I find the best way to make friends is by talking with them. Occasionally I give people rides too. But some people don’t like it; especially the elders that remember the days of giantesses indiscriminately eating folk. Still, I had found several young men and women who were eager for a ride. After taking them on one, they said that they had enjoyed the experience. I think I went a long way in ensuring them that most giantesses are friendly now.

I watched as the little humans danced with each other, smiling as occasionally someone would come and talk to me, or ask permission to rub my belly. Usually they would stay for a moment before wandering back to the dancing, singing and drinking again.

After a time, I was approached by two young boys of about ten years. One of them introduced himself.

“I’m called Joseph and this here is Bradford. What’s your name Miss Giantess?” said the boy

 “I’m called Carla my friends. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“We’re real pleased you ate the O’Grady gang Carla?” said the My Pa says they’re awful folk. They shot up our town and even made Mr. Crabb give over his whiskey. I don’t care ‘bout that part much. Mr. Crabb’s awful mean!”

“Well you needn’t worry yourselves. They’re in my belly right now,” I assured them.

The boys seemed pleased with this news. The one named Joseph decided that if I was still hungry that I could eat his schoolteacher. He began to give me a detailed description of the man.

“And is about six foot tall.” To illustrate this, he stood on tip-toes and raised his hands above his head. “He wears a bowler hat and spectacles. You can’t miss him. I bet he’d be awfully tasty. He deserves to be ‘ate too! He used the switch on me for not learning my ‘rithmetic last week.”

“He switched me too on account of my not remembering to cross my ‘t’s,” Bradford added helpfully.

I was doing my best not to laugh at the young man’s request. It was an amusing turn of events that the object of the young man’s hatred chose that moment to come into sight.

“There he is!” urged Bradford. “Go after him!”

Now I was having serious difficulty keeping a straight face. “Oh dear. Are you Mr. Standish the school teacher?” I asked.

The man removed his hat. “I-Indeed that is my name Madam Giantess,” he said politely. He was clearly not used to giantesses and seemed a bit scared. I wasn’t used to being addressed so formally but I did my best to sound intelligent so he would like me.

“I was just talking to your pupils. They were quite keen to learn that I have just eaten the O’Grady Gang,” I said genially.

“So I’ve heard. Delightful news,” said Mr. Standish. “The entire town is in your debt.”

“They were instructing me to devour you next sir. Unfortunately, my favorite food is little boys who don’t do their mathematics.” I slipped him a wink.

  The color drained from the two young men’s faces.

“Do these boys learn their mathematics Mr. Standish?” I asked.

“No ma’am. As poor a pair of students as you would ever hope to find.” He put his hands on his hips in a theatrical display of extreme disappointment as he glared over his spectacles at the two boys. “Bon Apatite to you. I doubt anyone in town will miss them, their parents included.”

“What? No!” cried Joseph. “Don’t eat us!”

“Well,” I placed my head on one palm, tapped one side of my head with an index finger and pretended to be thinking things over. “I have already eaten a lot today. Maybe we could give them just one more chance Mr. Standish?”

“Well, alright. But if they don’t shape up I’m sending them to you for your dinner Madam Giantess.”

“I appreciate your kindness sir. I’d be happy to eat them if you see no improvement.” I said. “As for you two! Go study your books before I change my mind!”

The two boys hurried from sight as fast as their legs could carry them, leaving me snickering and Mr. Standish with a strange look of triumph. I wondered how long he would hold the threat of being eaten by a giantess over the heads of those two young men before they stopped reacting to it.

This left me alone again, but not for long as people came in ones and twos to thank me about what I had done for the town. Eventually two young men walked over to me

“Ma’am, my name’s Thaddeus. We would like to volunteer for your next meal,” said one.

My eyebrows went up. It’s not as common that you find volunteers in towns as small as this. In New York City I could eat as many people as I wanted, such were the numbers of volunteers then. In the Spanish American War I ate my fair share of soldiers but in tiny little run down settlements in the middle of nowhere? There would hardly be a person to eat at all.

“How old are you boys?” I asked.

“I’m twenty and Lee here is nineteen.”

“And you boys are so sick of living that you want to be eaten by a giantess?” I said skeptically.

“Yes ma’am. We want it. If you’ll agree,” he added uncertainly.

“Boys I’m going to be leaving town tomorrow and if I take you with me and you change your minds I won’t be turning back. You’ll have to ride with me to the next town and I’d drop you there. Then you’re stuck miles away from home with no family and no work.”

“We don’t intend to change our minds on this. We’ve decided to let you eat us.”

“Last man your age who volunteered in a town like this changed his mind before we were out of sight of the town. You sure you want this?”

“Yes ma’am,” said the one called Lee. He looked Chinese although it was hard to tell with the dim light of the fire.

“Alright then. Say good bye to your family and let them know your decision. Meet me at sunup here tomorrow morning and we’ll leave then.”

“We already told our folks,” said Thad. “We’ll stay the night with you.”

“As it pleases you. And my name’s Carla. I won’t have you ma’aming me until I eat you. You can consider it a deal. I’d be delighted to eat you for lunch tomorrow.”          

Mal chose that time to arrive. “Hey there pretty lady!” He said to me, slurring his words rather drunkenly. “We best be off ta’ bed tonight! I hear about a fella’ who feeds people to giantesses.”

“Are we going to visit him so I can have someone too!” I ask excitedly.

“No, no. You’ve got it all wrong,” He seemed disappointed that I don’t have the idea. “We’re going after him. After him cuz… cuz…”

“Because he’s feeding them to her against their will?” I ask.

“Bingo!”

“Alright then. We’ll hit the trail tomorrow.”