It was beyond his wildest dreams of the previous afternoon (until he had spoken to Alice, and even afterwards) to see and feel a tongue a little larger than his entire shrunken body, as it slid over his face and shoulders to his great delight.

“You taste different, better in fact,” she said at last.

She hadn’t guessed that his different taste was because he was not a goblin but a shrunken student. Mrs Weaver carried him out to her horse and cart and climbed aboard.

“The ride could be very bumpy and uncomfortable for someone your size,” she said, “I’m not sure I have anywhere soft to put you.”

“Could I please ride on your tongue? It’s very soft,” said Stanley.

“That’s a good idea,” said Mrs Weaver, “It will be a nice prelude for dinner for me too.”

She opened her mouth and let him climb onto her tongue and make himself comfortable while she rode the cart home. Once inside she took him out and left him on a bench while she went about her chores. Then she stood and warmed him in a small pot on her stove and took him to the dining table.

“Alright little goblin boy, I’m going to gobble you down now. I’d like to thank you for being more polite and cooperative than my lunch was yesterday. It’ll be easier eating someone who knows his position in the food chain.”

“What does that mean?” asked Stanley, who was too young to have heard the expression.

“Well many beings eat different things. You probably ate small vegetation in the garden. That vegetation is at the bottom of the food chain. I, on the other hand, eat little goblins like you. There’s a chain of eating or being eaten which runs from the vegetation to you to me. I’m at the top of the food chain. I eat more meals than you and I last longer. It seems unfair from your perspective, but to mine, it’s natural. I don’t look upon you as an enemy, but merely as a highly enjoyable meal to be eaten.

“I don’t think you’re an enemy either, Mrs Weaver. I think I must just be the right size to be nice food for you, and I’m too small to stop you or to escape.”

“That’s right. Well thank you for talking so politely about it, but I won’t be talking any more. It’s time for me to enjoy having you for my dinner. You’ll taste nice when you’re in my mouth. You’ll feel nice when you’re in my throat, and you’ll be nice when you’re down there in my tummy. Goodbye little boy. Now I’m going to eat you all up.”

She still had no idea that she was talking to someone she’d taught as usual that morning, someone who had been one of her best students. Ironically, he had no idea that he could have misbehaved for her and ended up as the giantess Mrs Grimble’s meal instead of as hers. Nor did Mrs Weaver have any idea that he had witnessed her previous culinary conquest in the garden and used Alice’s Wonderland cake to trick her into thinking that he was another goblin bound for her stomach. He never thought of the lost opportunities of being a grown up himself one day. This was his dream come true, and it was happening right now.

Mrs Weaver opened her mouth, licked him again, slid him into her mouth and eventually gulped him down in successive stages, and felt her tummy benefit from his presence.