USA, 36 years ago…

Jared arrived back at the cosmetics department at 12:55 pm.

“The food mall’s just below us on the underground floor,” said Dianne, “We could grab some lunch there to take into the park.”

“Sounds good,” said Jared.

They walked down to the mall.

“What would you like?” asked Jared, selecting two sandwiches and a container of pineapple pieces with a plastic spoon.

He was offering to pay for her lunch! He did like her.

Dianne chose her lunch and thanked him. He offered to carry hers as well. She led him out to Central Park, and took him to a seat which looked out onto the small lake of sorts.

“That’s frozen for ice skaters in winter,” she said.

“It’s a beautiful spot,” said Jared, passing her lunch to her.

“You’ve been a real gentleman,” said Dianne.

She talked about her own school life, as it was closer to his own recent past, and it also would have more interesting moments to recount than working in the store. Jared compared his own school stories with her, which helped the conversation along.

“So did you have any girlfriends?” she asked.

“No. I never seemed to find anyone.”

She’d briefly touched on her boyfriends, but did not want to go on about experiences he couldn’t yet relate to.

“It’s nearly two,” she said at last, “Will you be late if you walk me back to the store?”

“Not at all,” said Jared, and made his way beside her.

Now was the moment of truth, she thought. He knew where to find her. She had made the first move. Would he take up the chance?

They stood just outside one of the double entrance doors to the store.

“Would you like to have dinner with me after work?” asked Jared, “I’ve never asked a girl out before. Is that the right way to time it?”

“There’s no real right way,” said Dianne, “You did well, and I’d like to come. I could stay out until around nine, before the trains thin out a bit.”

“I come in by car. I could drive you, if you’re in my direction,” he said.

“A lift home would make the night go more smoothly, just by anticipating the relative ease of it,” said Dianne, and gave him her suburb.

It turned out that she was three miles further out than him, but he wouldn’t mind the extra drive.

England, present day…

That night, Tarquin continued reading ‘Love and the Shrinking Male’ with great interest. There were several chapters which described Wally’s relationship with Rosemary, before the story returned to the direction that Wally had been awaiting:

Wally was so keen to know where he stood with Rosemary on the subject of being eaten, that he decided to come straight out with it.

“Rosemary?” he said one day.

“Yes Wally,” said Rosemary.

“I really like your tongue.”

“My tongue?”asked Rosemary.

“Yes. It looks wonderful. I’m sure it would feel wonderful too.”

“Wally, I’m not sure what you’re leading up to.”

“When I first learned that you had the means to reduce a person to tiny size, I was very keen on volunteering, because I have always hoped that I might one day have the chance to be eaten by a beautiful lady like you.”

“Oh!...”

“Do you think I’m an oddball now?”

“No … I don’t have any judgement of you. It’s just that I don’t have any desire to do what you’ve just brought up. I don’t think I could possibly bring myself to put you in such a situation.”

“I’m sorry I brought it up,” said Wally, “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“Maybe it’s just as well you did,” said Rosemary, “Bring it up, I mean, not make me uncomfortable. Perhaps it’s best if we stop seeing each other.”

“Don’t you want me around anymore?” asked Wally.

“I was thinking of you,” she said, “If you stay with me, you’ll never realise your dream. If we go our separate ways, you’ve got the whole university to search in the hopes of finding a lady who might like to eat you. I can always shrink someone else, if I find someone else who wants to be reduced.”

“The chances of that are limited, if you can’t come up with a way to reverse the process,” said Wally.

“Maybe, but I’m not worried,” said Rosemary.

She took him to the front of the university grounds, which were the closest to the city, and left him in the gardens. Both of them were aware that the secretaries who worked on the outskirts of the city would often come and eat their lunches in the university gardens. It would give Wally a chance to hide in the gardens and observe their tongues coming out of their mouths, note which ones took his fancy, and ask those particular ladies if they would be interested in eating him.

In the next few weeks, he had several reactions of surprise at his tiny size. He mentioned that he was a shrunken man, but not that the process was done by a member of the university staff. None of the ladies was interested in eating a tiny man, though two agreed to lick him and did so, before putting him back in the garden and returning to their offices to work.

One day he met a sweet lady in her late twenties named Joanne. He made his usual pitch, adding that he hadn’t met anyone willing to eat him, despite approaching a number of secretaries. They had all promised to keep his existence a secret, but had been unwilling to gobble him down.

“It’s not something I would have chosen for my dining pleasure either,” said Joanne, “But as it seems to be very important to you. I would be happy to do it for you, if you’re sure it’s what you’d like.”

“It is,” said Wally, “Could you do it now?”

“I’ve just had lunch,” she said, “I could meet you here tomorrow. I’ll have more room for you down there then.”

With her last few words, she pointed at her tummy.

“I can’t wait,” said Wally.

“The next day he saw Joanne arrive and stepped out to reveal himself. She sat on the garden seat and lifted Wally up and looked at him.

“Would you like me to start straight away?” she asked.

“Yes,” said Wally, “And thank you.”

“How would you like me to do it?”

“Could you lick me a few times, then put me into your mouth and let me lie on your tongue? I’ll slide myself into your throat, when I’m ready to go down, and then you can start gulping.”

“Alright then,” said Joanne, and slid her dainty tongue over his face and shoulders and neck to his heart’s content, before easing him into her mouth.

He waited for a while, thinking about the whole situation. He had kept hoping that Rosemary would simply announce her intention to eat him without seeking permission, and it had never happened. So he had been forced to ask her to do it. He had taken the initiative with Joanne, and she had responded. He had enjoyed all the pleasures of the contact with her tongue, and could now go on to enjoy the pleasure of being gulped down her throat.

Yet something was missing. He was not able to enjoy the pleasure of having the situation proactively determined by the lady. He’d had to ask all of them to do it. Joanne had been the first one to say yes, but the adventure still lacked that edge of not being given the choice.

Wally turned himself around, to face the front of her mouth, pushed at her mouth, indicating that he would like her to open it, and waited.

“Could you take me out again?” he asked.

Joanne let him out into her hand.

“Is anything wrong? Did I do it alright?” she asked.

“You did wonderfully, and I’m very grateful. I just think that there must be someone out there who wants to eat someone without being prompted. It would be a shame if she and I never met, whoever she might be. So I don’t think I’d like to go ahead with the final stages of this meal. I’m sorry you came unprepared for the hunger I’ve left you with, Joanne.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, “If you change your mind, I’m still happy to do it.”

For a few weeks longer, Wally continued introducing himself to the secretaries, but took care not to bring up the subject of eating him until he was sure that they would not mention it.

Towards the end of the year, on a Thursday, a lovely woman in her early twenties, about three years older than him, named Lisa, sat on the seat near his garden, and was as surprised as anyone to meet him.

“How do you come to be here?” she asked.

“I was born to be your size, but I’ve been permanently shrunken,” he said as usual.

“Well I’ll just put you in here,” said Lisa, lowering him into her handbag, “Once I turn the clasp, you won’t be able to open the bag and get out.”

“If you’re taking me with you, I don’t want to get out,” said Wally.

“I think you will,” said Lisa, “Tomorrow night I’m going to swallow you whole. It’s not something I’ll have any reluctance to do, but I’m sure you’ll need more than a little coaxing.”

“I won’t need any,” said Wally, “Lisa, you’re just the lady I’ve been waiting for. I’ve wanted to be eaten by a woman all my life.”

“Somehow I don’t think so,” said Lisa, with a laugh, “Eating is fun for those who participate in the eating, but I’d expect the food to have a vastly different outlook on it.”

She closed the bag above him, and left him to settle himself inside it while she went back to her office to work.