The thick flesh of the fish warmed up from the outside in. By the time the woman had satisfied herself that it felt hot enough for her to eat it, Nils was only mildly warm. He felt the fish being scooped out of the pot and placed onto a giant dish and taken to wherever the woman was going to eat her supper.

Any second now, she would most likely carve into the fish. He must try to delay being discovered as long as possible. Maybe the giant woman would have her fill and save half of the fish for the next meal. This might give him an opportunity to climb out and escape while she slept.

He was about to slide through to the tail end of the fish, when it occurred to him that the one part of the fish which she would not eat would be the head. It had eyes, teeth and other facial structures which would not sit well in her throat. He slid to the front of the fish, and waited.

Soon he saw a knife removing the tail end of the fish, and thanked his foresight that he’d not hidden in that end. Peeking through, he saw her hands tearing off the flesh from the severed tail portion and lifting it out of sight. It occurred to him that it was ironic, that he had so far avoided her throat, by hiding in the fish’s.

As time went on, little by little he saw more and more of his cover being torn away, until he had to scrunch up tight in the fish’s head, and could see her lifting the last few mouthfuls to her mouth. He looked up as her enormous maw took in the fish and despatched it down her throat. This was the fate that she had intended for Nils. If she only knew how close he had come to facing it.

He felt about him and hoped that there was nothing more appealing about the head structure of the fish to her palate. Then it occurred to him that, having finished the fish off after all, she would toss the head into a rubbish container, and he would have to climb out of there at a suitable moment to avoid being seen. It was still better than the alternative. There would have been no opportunity to climb out of her stomach.

Then he saw her hand approaching again!

The giantess picked up the fish head in one hand, eagerly eyeing the flesh that concealed him, and then took hold of it with both hands and raised it toward her mouth.

“She doesn’t believe in wasting anything,” he thought.

He watched as she brought the neck of the fish toward her mouth. He squeezed back, contorting himself as much as possible, as he saw her bite into the fish’s neck, tearing flesh from it with her gigantic teeth, each as big as his head. When she took another delicate bite, her full giant lips actually rubbed against his face, although she didn’t know it.

“If I stay pressed this far back, I might just make it,” thought Nils.

Then her mouth approached again!