Off the coast of Central America, there exists a small island untouched by the modern world. Known in long forgotten legend as Prayana, it is a tropical paradise whose lush jungles boast a bounty of the sweetest fruits and nectars. However due to its size, only small life makes its home on the island, with the largest native animals beings small nesting birds and colorful insects. The same is true of its native people, the Xarinki, an undiscovered tribe of humans of whom the tallest of which don't even exceed four inches in height.
Whatever the mystery of evolution that birthed this miniature people, the Xarinki knew no other life. No Xarinki had ever strayed from the shores of Prayana and lived to tell the tale, and though a few of their fireside legends described fearsome giants, no such beings had ever set foot upon the island in their recorded history.
However there is an old Xarinki proverb that best translates as, "the bird of myth roosts on tomorrow's branch." And on Prayana, tomorrow was approaching rapidly…
***
High atop the branches of the mango tree, Prince Xochi looked out upon the dark waters of the sea, the final border that separated Prayana from the promised nothingness that lay beyond. Not far from him on the branch crouched Cheta, a lowborn girl from his tribe who served as a servant of his house. However she was not here by his side this night as a part of her sworn duties—the two had grown up together over their 18 years, and they were close friends despite the gulf in their status.
Xochi's eyes narrowed as he watched the distant speck of light drift across the darkness of the horizon.
"What do you think it is?" Cheta asked, crawling along the branch to his side. Like most Xarinki, she had light brown skin and long, silky black hair. She was slender with a somewhat athletic build from their many misadventures climbing the towering trees of the island, and on her cheeks and in various spots along her skin she had dark tribal markings as was custom. Much of her skin was exposed, save her breasts and nethers, covered by tribal wrappings made of leaves.
"It is an evil spirit, of course," Xochi replied without taking his eyes off the far off glow. "You know this as well as I, Cheta."
This was not the first time either of them had seen such a spirit. It was not an unusual thing to spot one floating across sea using its dark magic, but luckily the prayers and wards of the tribe's shamans kept the devils from ever delving close to Prayana's shores.
"Yes, but what do you think it is really," Cheta teased, poking her royal friend in the ribs with her finger. "Don't tell me you believe all the elders' tales..."
"The truth of their tales is what makes them the elders," Xochi explained, growing a little flustered. As prince, Xochi was brought up to be a deep believer in the stories and the old ways, and it always bristled him when Cheta would question tradition like this. Only she would dare be so familiar...
"The elders tell stories to fill the gaps of what they do not know," Cheta replied smugly, standing up and striding behind him on the branch. "And the gulfs of their not knowing are as vast as Prayana's seas..."
"Cheta..." Xochi grumbled, finally taking his eyes off the spirit and rising to meet her. She was a clever girl, but too much cleverness was a dangerous thing, the elders always said. However as he turned to her, her lips were already twisted into a smile, and she stepped close to his chest and leaned her face close to his...
"No, Cheta..!" Xochi sighed, twisting his head away. He turned back to her, and she looked on him with disappointment. It wasn't as if he didn't want to—she was lovely, with a kind face and big, inviting eyes, and in another life he would have happily coupled with her. But tradition came first.
"We are not even yet betrothed," Cheta pressed.
"But when we are, it won't be to each other," Xochi sadly pointed out. Despite their mutual attraction, they were from different castes, and not fated to share their lives. He had lapsed a few times before this—kissing her, holding her—in the dark away from the eyes of the tribe. But they had gone no further. To lay with another Xarinki before being wed was to go against the will of the Xamanta, their revered goddess.
Cheta groaned and squatted low on the branch, looking out at the night sky bitterly. "When you are king you can toss out those dusty traditions...why should we be denied what we want?"
"It is Xamanta's will," Xochi recited woodenly.
"Is it?" she asked, standing up and stepping up to him. "Perhaps we should put that to the test?"
"W-what do you mean?"
"Tomorrow, meet me by the sacred pool," Cheta told him. "We will see if the goddess shows us a sign, and if you are still not satisfied, you can marry some dull highborn and forget my lovely face."
"Cheta..."
"Tomorrow. The pool," she repeated, walking away and hopping down to the next branch.
She smiled to herself in the dark as she heard him sigh and follow after her. Xochi's blind adherence to tradition was a thorn in her behind, but she could also turn it against him. There would be a sign at the pool tomorrow, she'd make sure of it. And soon after they could finally be together and cast off the stuffy old rules.
Xamanta, the great goddess...as if such a fairy tale could stand in her way.
***
"Ohhh..." Samantha groaned, facedown in the sand as the cool tide washed under her. She managed to lift her pretty blonde head off the beach and blink up into the bright sunlight...where was she, and how did she get here..?
She pulled herself to her feet, brushing the wet sand off her ruined hibiscus print sundress. It was starting to come back to her: the luxurious cruise, the drinks, the dancing, leaning too far back against the ship's railing...
"...Shit!" the twenty one year old valley girl exclaimed, realizing she must have fallen overboard in one of her classic drunken benders. It was so embarrassingly on-brand...
She considered she should probably feel thankful to even be alive, but it was a fleeting moment of reflection as she growled in annoyance, quickly surveying her surroundings. Ahead of her across the beach was the green wall of a lush jungle, the space between the trees and vines dark and mysterious. Whipping around as her panic increased, she looked out to the vast blue surf, the lazy waves crashing endlessly out from the horizon. Where the fuck was the boat??
"Oh man...oh shiiit..!!" she whined as she gripped her hanging, tangled, salt water-drenched hair. She had no fucking idea where she was. What country had they been cruising past...Mexico or something..?
Samantha clenched her eyes shut and groaned. She could just hear her fake-ass friends laughing at her ignorance, her asshole boyfriend Jason calling her a "thot" behind her back when he thought she couldn't hear...and what was worst was the way she always seemed to prove them right with stupid stunts like this.
"Alright, get it together Samantha..." she whispered to herself as she finally opened her eyes. "...Hey!"
A smile was finally allowed to spread across her pretty face as she spied her sunglasses stuck in the sand a few feet away with a crab scuttling curiously nearby. "Beat it, Sebastian," she scowled, punting the crustacean across the beach with her bare foot before bending over to scoop up the shades, wiping the worst of the sand off with her drenched dress.
"Hmph," she grunted as she fixed the shades on her face and looked out to the jungle. Fuck her friends. Fuck Jason. She'd show them. When the boat inevitably came back to look for her, they wouldn't find some dumb, helpless ditz. She'd be perfectly comfortable in whatever the nearest bar or resort was, and they’d be jealous they hadn't done the same as her.
Smirking to herself, she trudged forward across the beach towards the treeline, already feeling more confident about her situation. After all, how far could the nearest civilization really be?
***
Cheta smirked to herself as she scooped up another green feather from the forest floor and tucked it into the pouch slung over her back. She'd been trekking about Prayana's jungle all morning, but she didn't feel a hint of exhaustion. After all, today was a good day. Today Prince Xochi would finally be hers.
With the feather fixed on her back with the others, she skipped happily around the roots of the nearest tree in search for more. The hummingbird feathers were nearly as tall as she was, but their light weight made them easy enough to carry. They were the key to her plan—Cheta was born under the star sign of the nimble hummingbird, and green was her family name's color. Cheta would plant them at the top of the falls of the sacred pool, and when Xochi came there in search of a divine message, he'd find the feathers floating in the pool and understand their love was fated.
Finally, his foolish superstition had come in handy, Cheta giggled to herself.
But as she finally made her way around the tree, she gasped and ducked low behind a root. It hadn't seen her, had it..?
Carefully, she peeked up over the twisted root for a second look. There, slowly crawling across the forest floor, was a woolly tarantula with vibrant orange striping on its abdomen—a monster the Xarinki called "the striped death." Cheta shuddered as she silently watched the oblivious arachnid, noting that it was an especially large one. There weren't many animals on Prayana that the Xarinki feared, but the striped death was possibly the worst. They could grow until they were nearly three times the size of the largest Xarinki, and if given the chance wouldn't hesitate to prey on them.
Cheta shrunk back behind the root and exhaled heavily. At least it was heading the other way...perhaps she had enough feathers and should head to the falls while she was still ahead. Still, she'd have to wait it out to be safe, so she crouched low in her hiding place and listened for any sign of the predator drawing nearer.
That was strange...what was that distant thumping in the jungle drawing nearer..?
- ***
"Errgh! I fucking hate the jungle!" Samantha whined as she violently smacked at another hanging vine that caught on her hair.
She'd toughed it out for a while, but it hadn't taken long for the biome to wear down the blonde's last shred of patience. She'd never particularly been an outdoorsy person, and the thick tangle of the Central American jungle was a rough introduction. Every step meant squeezing between or pushing through some kind of thriving foliage, the ground was a minefield of twisting and tangled tree roots, and more insects than she'd ever seen in her life buzzed and scurried all around her.
Finally pausing as she pushed through an especially thick section, she bent over to catch her breath, wiping the sweat from her lightly tanned brow. Fuck this...her earlier defiant bravado was gone. She didn't care what those idiots called her at this point, she'd grovel on the ground and beg if it meant even getting a sip of piña colada right now…
She perked one ear up as she caught wind of a curious sound. Was that the trickling of water..?
Samantha took in a deep excited breath. Where there was fresh water, there'd surely be people! And more importantly, where there were people there was booze and electricity. Her spirits already lifting, she prepared to head in the direction of the sound...only to open her eyes and spot one of the biggest spiders she'd ever seen in her life crawling just inches from her bare foot.
Screeching as loud as she could, her mind raced and her eyes darted around quickly before settling on a fallen tree branch nearby. Snatching up the piece of broken wood as swiftly as possible, Samantha roared out a battle cry as she violently brought it down on the unsuspecting spider, then again and again until it was a crushed paste of twitching legs and tiny hairs.
Throwing the branch aside and backing away from the carnage in horror, Samantha trembled and clutched her arms up to her chest as she nearly broke into tears. "Ew, ew, eww!!" she whined. It had almost fucking touched her!
She spun around and practically ran in the direction of the trickling water sound. She didn't want to spend another second in this hellish jungle!
However when she pushed through the next dense wall of vegetation, there was no civilization waiting for her. Instead in the small clearing ahead, was pristine pool of crystal clear water with a stunning little waterfall pouring down into it from the rocky face beyond it. All across this rocky face and in the clearing around the pool grew the most beautiful orange and magenta flowers.
"Wow..." Samantha whispered, the idyllic sight enough to calm even her frantic state.
She looked down at the bubbling water at the base of the falls longingly. There was something so inviting about that clear water, and she suddenly became intensely aware of her sweaty and sandy skin.
Fuck it, a dip, then civilization, Samantha thought, pulling her wrinkled sundress over her head and tossing it aside along with her underwear before finally setting her sunglasses atop the pile. Now completely nude, she gingerly stepped up the edge of the pool and dipped her toes into the cool water.
***
Prince Xochi could not believe his eyes. He stared, wide eyed, from behind the tall grass by the pool's edge at the being before him. He had come here at Cheta's request in search of a sign...but this was likely the last sign he would have ever expected the goddess to show him. There in the center of the sacred pool was a woman of unimaginable size, sitting down in the water with her knees out in front of her, the clear water up to just below her bare breasts as the trickle from the waterfall above poured down onto her head.
He was in awe of her—and not just the incredible scale of her body. She was unlike any woman Xochi had ever known. Her skin was so light, her eyes were a dazzling blue, and her hair was like the golden rays of the sun itself! He watched as she lifted one leg out in front her, giggling as she wiggled her dainty toes under the trickle of the sacred falls. For such an enormous creature, she had such a childlike manner, he thought curiously.
Xochi's jaw dropped as the giant rose to her feet, letting her head and hair hang back as she stood under the flowing falls. Her body...she was thin like most Xarinki women, but her muscles were less toned from life navigating the jungle. Instead she had a slightly...softer look to her. The edges of her body seemed more rounded and less angular, and Xochi felt his manhood begin to stiffen under his loincloth of leaves as he watched the sparkling water trickle over the sizable orbs of the woman's breasts. He tried to will away his curious arousal, but it only got worse as she rotated beneath the falls treating him to a view of her round, bubbly ass. He stared in awe as he watched the cool water trickle over the massive rear and between its crack, the triangle of flesh there at the middle even more pale as if it were almost never exposed to the sun. Her physique was as confusing to him as it was captivating. In appearance and development she was undeniably mature, but it was also the soft and unspoiled body of a baby, as if this enchanting giant woman had never known the toils of work or survival.
Xochi gasped and looked down at his own feet, realizing he'd subconsciously left the cover of the tall grass and been slowly approaching her as he gawked, as if under some enchanting spirit's dark spell. He contemplated retreating back to his hiding place, but not a second later he watched the mysterious giant turn towards him and open her big blue eyes.
Less than another moment later and her eyes continued to widen, and she jumped backwards in the pool, clutching her arms around her body to cover her breasts and crotch. "Oh my god, what the fuck??" she shouted in a strange language he couldn't understand a word of.
***
Samantha dared to take a step closer, refusing to take her eyes off the impossible sight before her. There at the edge of her tropical bath was a miniature man staring up at her with an expression that likely mirrored her own.
She half expected the little thing to vanish or morph into something more mundane as she drew nearer, I mean she had to be mistaken, right? But as she approached, the little man remained there, as impossibly real as he'd looked from a distance.
"You're a...little person," she whispered in disbelief as she loomed over him, now only ankle deep in the shallows of the pool. "Are you, like, a fairy? Like out of Fern Gully..?"
She studied the little man curiously as he seemed to be working up the courage to respond to her. He was somewhere between three and four inches in height, though she could tell proportionally he might've been tall for what he was. His build was lean but muscularly toned, like a swimmer, and his light brown skin was marked with strange symbols or tattoos here and there, only obscured around his waist by a loincloth of leaves. His little face itself was handsome and well defined, with long slightly wavy dark hair hanging down around it to his shoulders, like some kind of warrior from a fantasy movie. If he wasn't the size of my finger, he could get it, she found herself thinking despite everything.
It once again occurred to Samantha how impossible this was...and annoyance bubbled up in her as she suddenly felt incredibly stupid. "A fairy...listen to yourself...you've got the jungle madness you dumb bitch!" she groaned, hanging her head back and covering her eyes with her hands, no longer concerned with covering up her body before the imaginary man. "I probably touched a poisonous flower, or stepped on a jellyfish, and now the poison is fucking up my brain," she whined, pacing nervously in the pool. "Fuck, what if I'm dying and this is all a hallucination? Or what if I did die when I fell off the boat, and this is all like purgatory or-"
Her nervous ranting was interrupted as the little man shouted something up to her. She looked back down to see him gesturing to her, then himself, saying something in a language she'd never heard before...not that she spoke any language besides English. After a while he just kept pointing to himself, repeating the same strange word over and over again.
"Zochee?" she repeated back to him, still utterly confused. Then it hit her. "Oh! That's your name! Zochee!"
She grinned, feeling supremely clever, tapping at her own chest excitedly. "Samantha! Saaah...maaan...thaaa..!" she repeated slowly.
***
Xochi stood stunned, and for a moment he thought his heart stopped. X-Xamanta?! The Xamanta, high goddess of all creation??
Realizing his insolence, he immediately prostrated himself on the ground in a deep bow. Of course, it made sense, didn't it? What other being could possibly be so enormous, could possibly possess such beauty and hair spun from light itself? He had come to the sacred pool for a sign from the goddess, and instead she had come down in person to deliver it herself.
"Uh...what are you doing?" her voice boomed from above in her confusing tongue.
Xochi furrowed his brow as he continued to face the ground. That did complicate things...he couldn't remember the stories mentioning anything about the goddess having her own language, but he supposed it made sense. The birds and the insects had their own speech, so why not the gods? Still, it made it incredibly difficult for him to interpret the message he'd come here to receive.
Oh well, it was worth a shot.
Pulling himself to his knees, Xochi straightened his posture but kept his head bowed low. "Oh goddess! I come before you today to humbly request answers: I have entered my eighteenth year, and soon I will be wed...but I feel things for my friend, Cheta the servant girl. What am I to do? Do I flout tradition by following my heart?"
"Ummmm...so, Zochee...do you know where the nearest bar is or anything..?"
Xochi tried to grasp any meaning from the nonsensical babble, but came up with nothing. But then a familiar voice in his own language called out.
"Xochi!" Cheta called out from behind a rock near the clearing’s edge, her eyes wide with panic. "Run! Run, Xochi!"
"Oh shit! Another one!" Xamanta's voice boomed.
"It is okay, Cheta!" he called out to her, gesturing for her to approach. But she shook her head fearfully from her hiding spot.
"That is a maneater giant!" she called out to him. "Run before she catches you Xochi!"
He practically laughed, continuing to gesture for her. "She will not harm us, and she is no mere giant, trust me...now come, your prince commands it."
Cheta cursed, but obeyed, hurrying across the clearing until she was up against the prince's side, cowering behind him slightly as she stared up at the blue eyed giantess.
"Show reverence," he whispered to her, pushing down on her back to get her to kneel, "we stand before the goddess...Xamanta."
"S-she is real?" Cheta gasped in disbelief, crouching into a bow and looking up at the giant. "Xamanta?!"
"Yeah! Saaa...maaan...thaaa!" the giant blonde slowly repeated, again tapping at her chest. "And whoooo....are youuuuu...." she slowly continued, pointing down at Cheta and causing her to flinch.
"Che...ta..." Xochi answered for his friend, patting her on the back for emphasis.
"Chayduh? Okay," Xamanta repeated, pointing at them each individually. "Zochee...Chayduh..."
Xochi smiled and nodded up to her, pleased to be making progress. But he was still no closer to receiving his sign...
...Then it occurred to him. The elders! There was nothing they did not know, and so if anyone could translate the language of the gods, it was them!
"Xamanta, could you...come with us?" Xochi asked, walking backwards a bit and gesturing for her to follow.
"Are you trying to take me somewhere?" the giant asked, watching with confusion. But then a smile spread across her lips. "Oh! You're going to help me! Yeah! Show the way!"
Both Xarinki flinched as the goddess hurried from the sacred pool, violently splashing its divine waters across the shore with her enormous feet as she headed towards the pile of her only remaining belongings. Snapping on her bra and underwear, she chose instead to simply tie her ruined sundress around her waist as a makeshift skirt rather than dirty the rest of her clean skin with the sandy cloth. Finally fixing the dark sunglasses atop her head, she gave Xochi an excited nod to indicate she was ready to follow.
As Xochi hurried ahead in the direction of the village, Cheta clung close to his side as she occasionally glanced back at the giantess easily following them with the casual strides of her enormous legs. There was something very wrong about this...
Though she couldn't explain the mysterious giant, she still knew in her heart that Xamanta was nothing more than a story made up by the elders to scare children. And she'd seen the way she'd so violently slew the striped death, the method so crude and barbaric it had actually evoked pity in Cheta's heart for the eight legged monster. And that terrible, screeching scream just before that had nearly caused her ears to pop...the cry of a demon.
Cheta hurried to keep pace with Xochi. She hoped her prince wasn't making a terrible mistake leading this thing to their village…
***
The assembled little people stared up at Samantha in shock as Zochee tried to explain what had happened once again. Samantha blinked down at the mass of little people somewhat awkwardly, waiting for some sign of anyone who might understand her better. As Zochee finished speaking and a murmuring lull fell over the crowd, she waved down to them with a sweet smile. "Um...hi everyone!"
There was a chorus of gasps, and almost the entire crowd fell to their knees and prostrated themselves on the ground. Samantha blew a strand of blonde hair out of her face exasperatedly. Here we go again...
She didn't understand it fully yet, but clearly the little things revered or feared her for some reason. Obviously she was much bigger than them, so it was probably fear...but that just meant she'd have to keep being nice to them until they opened up more. At least they all seemed to have an easy time learning her name, even if they pronounced it a little weird with their funny little accents.
She took the opportunity to gaze about the village. The little people made their home in a small clearing deep within the jungle that backed up against a rocky face of boulders. The village itself was a series of little twiggy huts perched atop the rocks and the branches of the surrounding trees, with little wooden rope bridges and paths suspended or attached between them. It kind of reminded her of that teddy bear village from that Star Wars movie...
Growl...
Samantha winced and touched her bare midsection. She'd been hiking around all day and hadn't had a bite to eat, and she was starting to get really, really hungry. She looked down at the little people as they finally rose from their bowed positions. She still wanted to find a town full of regular sized people more than anything, but maybe she'd have better luck in the short term asking these guys for some food.
Her attention was drawn back to Zochee as he called up to her. He pointed at her and repeated her name in his funny accent, then stretched his arms to his sides gesturing to the entire crowd, and started slowly repeating a word.
"Shar...Ink...Key..?" Samantha repeated back slowly. "Oh...shrinky! You're shrinkies! That makes sense, you are pretty little I guess," she grinned back with a nod.
Some of the older little shrinkies next to Zochee whispered and muttered to him solemnly, regarding her with what looked like great interest. These shrinkies wore more elaborate leaf wrappings than the others, and Samantha surmised that they must be important.
"Okay, let's see..." Samantha whispered to herself, trying to form a plan for communication. Taking a deep breath, she snapped her fingers down at the tiny people to get their attention, then pointed at herself. "Samantha..." she began, before moving her hand down to her bare stomach and rubbing it, "...hungryyyy...you get it? Huuungrrrryyyy..." she kept rubbing her stomach for emphasis.
The little shrinkies looked up at her in confusion and muttered amongst themselves. Ugh! If only she knew sign language, that would probably help...
"Samantha...hungry..." she repeated her previous signing, before pointing to her open mouth. "Hungry...need...food..."
Finally this got some kind of reaction from them, and the elder shrinkies shouted orders to the crowd, which dispersed to the sides to create a path for her. Ahead, Zochee ran and gestured for her to follow, leading her to an open space near one of the rocky boulders towards the back of the village. Following his directions as best she could, she sat down on her knees in the spot and faced the rock Zochee was already climbing a small staircase to the top of. At eye level with her atop the boulder, there was as small wooden platform with a dark cavern into the rocks beyond it. Samantha just sat there, confused, until four little shrinky women appeared at the mouth of the cavern, working together to carry a mango on their backs. Samantha noticed that Chayduh was among their number, eyeing her warily. For some reason that little one seemed to fear her the most...
The little women grunted as they dropped the fruit at the platform's edge and backed away cautiously. Samantha looked to them, then to Zochee. "For me?" she asked.
"Hungry," Zochee nodded, pointing to the fruit.
Samantha shrugged and eagerly reached for the mango, she didn't need to be asked twice. When she brought the fruit to her lips, she surprised herself at how ravenously she bit into it. She'd been even hungrier than she thought...
"Oh fuck, thatsh sho fucking good..." she moaned with a mouthful of mango was the juices sloppily dribbled down her cheeks and onto the exposed tops of her breasts. She quickly worked to devour the rest of it, until there was nothing left but it hard and sticky core. She awkwardly deposited the fruit remains back on the platform and sighed as she placed hand over her bare stomach, a little happier now that she had some food in her.
She watched curiously as the little women approached again to pick up her meal's remains, feeling a little bad for them that they were touching something that had pretty much been in her mouth.
"BUR-RRRP!" she suddenly belched causing Chayduh and one of the other little women to topple over as they were hit with the full blast of it. Samantha gasped and clasped a hand over her lips as her face went red. "Oh my god—I'm so sorry!" Now she really felt bad for them...
The little women picked up the fruit again and hurried away at a quicker pace. Still on the platform to the side, Zochee regarded her curiously.
"Sorry, I guess I ate too fast...it's been a crazy day," she giggled awkwardly at him. She then twisted her lips as she continued to stare at her. "Ugh, not that you understand me anyway..."
Her frown deepened as she suddenly remembered the embarrassing fact that she didn't even know what country she was in. She supposed if she was going to get any real help, she'd need to at least know where she was...
"Samantha," she pointed at herself with a nod, then moved her hands away and pointed at the ground, looking to Zochee expectantly.
Thankfully he seemed to understand, and he pointed down at the ground and uttered a
word.
"Pray...on...uh..." Samantha repeated with a confused look. She had...zero idea of where that was. Was that a country? She repeated the word another time and shrugged her shoulders at the little man, hoping to convey her confusion.
He looked thoughtful for a moment, then barked some orders to the shrinkies below. Before long, three of them gathered and began sketching something in the dirt with twigs, an impressive coordinated effort at their size. Samantha's eyes widened as she eventually took it in. In the center there was a sort of rough circle, and around it little wavy things..?
Waves! Which meant the thing in the middle was an island!
"Prayana," Zochee nodded, pointing to the island drawing.
"I'm on...an island..." Samantha repeated slowly, staring down at the dirt image. "I'm on an island, and there's little people here called shrinkies..."
Her breathing began to quicken as her the gears in her head turned. "I've never heard of little people before—nobody has—which means nobody has ever been here before..." she was practically hyperventilating now as her voice began to crack. "...Which means I'm trapped here and nobody's ever going to fucking find me..!!"
She then broke into a full on hysterical sob, collapsing onto her side and curling into a ball.
***
Xochi stepped to the edge of the platform and looked down upon the sobbing goddess. He felt his heart sink inside his chest. There was something truly upsetting to him about seeing Xamanta weep like this. Had he angered her somehow by bringing her here..?
"Xamanta is troubled," a familiar deep voice muttered behind him.
Xochi turned to see his father, King Tenoch, flanked by the other elders.
"Is this my fault?" Xochi asked desperately.
"No," Tenoch shook his head, "you did right bringing her here. Xamanta came to you for a reason, Xochi, and getting to the truth of that will surely be the key to all of this."
Xochi shook his head and sighed. A reason...he had gone to the pool for a sign from the goddess, so what did it all mean? It was all so confusing...
"What shall we do?" he finally asked.
"It is our duty as her people to appease her," the king replied. "I will have the elders consult the cavern of prophecy. In the meantime, you will tend to Xamanta...she appeared to you, after all." Xochi's father smiled and placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Perhaps the answer will come to you along the way."
"Yes father..."
From the rocky cavern's entrance, Cheta watched Xochi place his own arm around the king, and the royal father and son embraced for a moment before parting ways. She grumbled bitterly as she tried to wipe the sticky mango juices from her skin, the sour smell of Xamanta's belch still fresh in her tiny nostrils.
She was more convinced than ever that something was amiss...nothing so disgusting could have come from the giant's body if she were truly a goddess. But it was obvious that Xochi and the elders deeply believed...what could do to convince them?
She thought on it for just a few moments before her clever brain arrived at a plan. The elders were going to consult the cavern of prophecy for answers, but as a servant of the royal family, Cheta had access to its chambers as well.
She still believed the prophecies to be superstitious nonsense, but the elders didn't, and perhaps she could find something within the cavern that would prove Xamanta was not the god she was impersonating.
She smirked as she listened to heaving sobbing of the giant just below the ledge. I don't know what you're planning, but you won't fool me, trickster, she thought. And I won't let you fool Xochi either…
***
Samantha continued to sob, not even caring that the side of her face was resting on the filthy ground. What did it matter? She was going to starve to death on an undiscovered island, and even if she didn't starve, she'd never see another regular person again...
She blinked her wet eyes open as she felt a slight tap at her cheek, and to her surprise she saw Zochee standing right before her face, reaching out to her face and looking at her with a concerned but sympathetic smile. She couldn't explain it...but something about seeing the tiny man there was already radically improving her mood.
"Samantha...hungry..?" he asked once again.
She managed a giggle at his silly accent, righting herself up to a sitting position and wiping away the last of her tears. "I'm sorry, I'm just having a bit of a moment here," she apologized. "Just coming to terms with the fact that I'm going to die alone..."
He smiled up at her and said some words she didn't understand, occasionally interspersed with her name. "I wish I could understand you better," she sighed. "You seem like a really nice guy—and fuck it, you don't know what I'm saying anyway—you're hot too," she laughed. "Way hotter than my idiot boyfriend Jason, that asshole. I just wish I understood...why do you care about me so much? You don't even know me..."
Zochee looked thoughtfully up at her, then smiled and placed a hand against her knee. "Hungry?" he asked again.
"We really need to expand our shared vocabulary," Samantha giggled. But then she blushed as both their eyes turned to her stomach as a quiet gurgle escaped it. "...but actually yeah, I could eat. I probably burned more calories than I got from that mango just walking here..."
She stopped Zochee before he could call out commands to more servants. "Um, do you have anything...more filling?" she asked, before his blank expression reminded her of the language divide. Sighing, she began gesturing with her hands. "Any food..." she pointed to her mouth, "that's meat?" She made her hand into her best impression of a crawling animal, then pointed to her mouth again. "You know...protein?"
Zochee nodded excitedly, and called out to the servants again. Samantha shifted on her butt so that she was facing the platform again, clapping her hands excitedly as she licked her lips. "Oh man, you have no idea how much I've been craving this, we were supposed to have one of those luau pigs on the cruise for dinner tonight..."
But after a few moments her smile vanished as four different servant girls emerged with what appeared to be a slightly charred grasshopper skewered from one end to the other by a tiny spear. Samantha covered her mouth with her hand and turned away, shaking her palm out in rejection of the offering. "Oh no—no way!" she nearly gagged out. "I'm not hungry enough to eat bugs yet!"
She glanced over to Zochee. The little man was regarding her sadly. She shot him an apologetic smile and an embarrassed laugh as the servants took the roasted insect back to the cavern.
"I'll just wait and see what's for dinner…"
***
Cheta hurried through the caverns, carrying a lantern to guide her way and a small bowl with little pieces of fruit. She had never paid the caverns of prophecy much mind before; the elders came here sometimes to study the etchings and paintings along the rocky walls created by Xarinki far before even their times, but to her it always seemed the "prophecies" were so vague so as to make the entire exercise a waste of time. This time however, she feared the fate of the entire tribe might rest somewhere within the rocky tunnels...
"Here you are, elder," Cheta bowed graciously to one of the old men deep within the tunnels, holding out her bowl of fruit. The elder gave her the bare minimum of acknowledgment with a nod, taking just a moment's break from pouring over a faded painting of a golden figure standing over the island to take the bowl from Cheta. Cheta regarded the painted figure as the elder returned to his study. It was true, she had light skin and golden hair, Cheta thought, grabbing at her own dark hair nervously as she studied the markings...but that alone did not a god make.
She took her leave from the elder, but rather than return the way she came, she continued deeper into the caverns, searching the walls for anything that might concern Xamanta. Finally she came to a series of paintings of the golden figure in various states about the jungle. But what caught her eye was a faded mural of Xamanta kneeling before a Xarinki warrior, a crawling insect, a red songbird...and a fearsome striped death spider.
"All living things on Prayana are her children..." Cheta whispered. But the pretender had screamed in terror at the sight of the striped death, and murdered it viciously. That was not the act of a merciful goddess.
Emboldened, Cheta pressed on further, searching the prophecies for further clues. Initially having no luck, she nearly passed by an old crumbled section of wall before doubling back and returning to it. The roots of some plant above the tunnels had poked through the earth and obscured much of the wall, but Cheta tore them away and brushed the remaining dust from the surface. She gasped and stepped back as she took in the horrible sight.
Faded greatly by neglect and time, the painting nonetheless depicted an enormous figure with its arm stretched above it, a small Xarinki woman dangling in the giant's grip. Below her, the monster had its maw stretched wide. Cheta studied the giant's features fearfully. While it wasn't the same golden figure used to depict Xamanta in the previous drawings, the giant nevertheless had light skin, light hair, and blue eyes...
So there was some truth to the stories...those horrible ancient tales of hungry giants that-
"What is the meaning of this, servant?"
Cheta whipped around to see three elders shining a lantern in her direction, the one she'd just served fruit leading them from the front.
"Do you see this?" Cheta spoke quickly, pointing to the face of the hungry giant. "THIS is her! She is not a god! She is a giant, here to devour us!"
"To say such things of Xamanta, and from the mouth of a lowly servant girl..." the first elder growled.
"But there is another drawing, of Xamanta and the striped death, and I saw her-"
"Silence!" the first elder shouted, cutting her off. "For your insolence you should be-"
"Perhaps she is not all wrong," a second elder in turn cut the first off, taking a step closer to the drawing. "There is a resemblance...perhaps this is Xamanta, depicted in a different time."
"Are you implying the goddess is a maneater giant?" the first elder gasped.
"Nothing of the sort," the second shook his head, smiling back at the first. "We have seen with our own eyes that the goddess has hungers that the jungle fruit won't satisfy...perhaps this is simply a worthy goddess receiving...an offering?"
"A sacrifice..." the first elder nodded, finally getting on the same page.
Cheta didn't like where this was going. "I saw the giant kill a striped death! She feared it! And yet there is a painting that shows her bowing to one!" Cheta shouted quickly before they could silence her again. "She is a pretender! A trickster! And you are all falling into her trap!"
"Very clever, twisting the prophecies to serve your own ends," the first elder glowered at her.
"Is that not what you do?" Cheta spat back furiously. "The prophecies, the stories...they're vague by design! So that you can draw whatever meaning you need for whatever problem or question arises! Because you know NOTHING! And you're terrified that any of us will ever dare to learn! Because we'll no longer need you!"
Cheta gasped as she felt hands grasp her by the wrists. The silent third elder had crept behind her in the dark, and now he held her in place.
"Again, very clever," the first elder said, taking a step closer to her as she squirmed in the third's grip. He leaned in close and smirked in her frightened face.
"But I have always said, too much cleverness is a dangerous thing…
***
"What is the meaning of this!" Xochi shouted as he stormed into the temple of the elders, a small wooden hut affixed to the rocks near the entrance to the caverns. "I have heard a most terrible rumor that had best not be-"
He gasped as he finally entered the main chamber. There, at the center of the room, the elders were gathered around Cheta, who was bound, naked, to an upright wooden stick by her ankles below and her arms behind her back. A gag made of woven grass was tied around her mouth, and when she spotted Xochi she began to squirm and shout muffled cries in his direction. In front of all of it however, stood King Tenoch, who turned to greet his son.
"I was about to send for you...what do you think?" Tenoch asked.
"I think you have gone mad!” Xochi shouted, hurrying towards Cheta, but his father held him back with one hand. "Let her go!"
"There is a prophecy within the caverns," one of the elders quickly explained. "It shows the living sacrifice of a young virgin to Xamanta...you have seen for yourself how she hungers, my prince."
"We have all verified it," a second elder nodded. "It is unquestionable prophecy."
The prince slowed sightly at this revelation. How could he question the elders, if they all agreed this was the truth? He looked into Cheta's pleading eyes as she squirmed against her bindings, tears flooding down her pretty face.
"Let her go, please," he whispered quietly down to the floor. He looked up as he felt his father's hand on his shoulder.
"Have you found some other way then?" King Tenoch asked solemnly. "Have you found a way to appease the goddess...have you realized yet why she appeared to you?"
"I..." Xochi began, looking between his father's stern face and Cheta's desperate one. Why had she appeared? All of this was happening because he'd found her in the pool, so what was the reason for it? He wished he could take it back, to spare Cheta from this fate. He'd only gone there for a sign...
Xochi's eyes opened wide as the realization struck him. A sign...he had gone to the pool to ask Xamanta if he had the right to break tradition and pursue Cheta. And now Cheta was an offering to Xamanta herself!
It all suddenly made sense. That was why she had come down herself, instead of delivering him a sign. Cheta was a temptation, an earthly pleasure that was never meant for him, and Xamanta had come to relieve him of the burden. This was his final test—he was to prove his faith by offering his love to his goddess. Oh cruel, great goddess!
"The goddess is testing me," Xochi hung his head solemnly. "I now realize it."
"Then you must pass it, my son," Tenoch nodded sympathetically. "Why did the goddess appear?"
"We tried to break tradition...me and Cheta," he nodded to the squirming girl. "I asked the goddess for a sign, but none was needed, because in my heart I always knew the truth..." he glanced up at Cheta, looking into her eyes with deep sorrow. "...that we could never be."
Tenoch stroked his chin thoughtfully, beginning to understand. "Then you know what you must do. Free yourself of your burden."
Xochi nodded and looked at the floor, unable to meet Cheta's pitiful gaze any longer. "Will it hurt?" he asked quietly.
"The elders have assured me it will not," the king replied.
"To be taken by the great goddess...there is no greater honor," the first elder chimed in again. "For her, it will be like entering...paradise."
Paradise...Xochi smiled sadly at his feet as he turned to leave. He liked that. Perhaps he could never give Cheta his heart, but at least he could give her that…
***
Samantha sat in her spot before the platform, looking around curiously at the commotion around her. Little shrinkies were tossing flower petals in colorful circles around her, and a group of servant girls had woven her a circlet of vines, flowers, and feathers that she now wore atop her head. There was definitely something going on...
Atop the boulders groups of shrinky women sung joyous melodies in her direction, while down on the ground others shrinkies danced circles around her while others bowed low and rose up, over and over again. The blonde gasped as it finally clicked for her.
"Oh my god...they think I'm a...god," she whispered.
She looked around nervously at her little worshipers. "Wait, hold on, I'm no god!" she insisted, waving her palms in front of her. "I'm not even very godly—I'm just an assistant, on my vacation! I don't know anything about..." she stopped as she noticed her words had no deterring affect on the little people. If anything it only increased their fervor when she acknowledged them.
"Oh what the hell," she shrugged as she put her sunglasses back on, taking a drink of sweet water from the half coconut shell the servants had brought to her. "It's not like I can talk you out of it anyway..."
She continued to sip the coconut water as she waited for whatever was going to happen to start, swaying on her knees slightly from side to side as she began to allow herself to enjoy the music. Finally, the older shrinkies from before emerged from the cavern beyond the offering platform, and in tow followed Zochee and three servant girls carrying a bound and squirming Chayduh...or whatever her name was.
"Wait, what the fuck?" Samantha raised an eyebrow as she noticed the desperate gagged girl being marched towards her. "Hold on, time out..."
She set the coconut down and leaned forward, looking directly at Zochee. "What's this about, Zochee? Why'd you guys tie up whatshername?"
The little man stood by Chayduh's side as she squirmed and smiled up at Samantha. "Samantha hungry..?"
Samantha's jaw dropped and her shades slid slightly down her nose as she gaped at Zochee in shock. Finally she took the sunglasses back off, leaned back, and placed a hand over her eyes. "Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me..." she muttered.
Before any of the shrinkies could interject again, she whipped forward and glared at the gathered group on the platform. "Look, I know it's not woke to judge other cultures, and technically I did ask for protein...but what the fuck, guys!" she shouted.
Zochee looked up at her with a confused expression, but the older shrinkies began speaking commands to the servant girls, who hurried with small bowls of opaque golden liquid towards the bound girl.
"Hey! I'm talking to you..!" Samantha continued to complain.
***
"I thought she would be appeased..." Xochi muttered in confusion as he watched the giant goddess lecture at them in her gods tongue.
"It is only because we delayed with the offering until now," one of the elders insisted, before shouting to the servant girls. "...Hurry with the ceremonial nectars!"
The other servant girls did as they were told, dipping their fingers into the bowls of sticky nectar and smearing it across Cheta's brown skin. The trapped girl roared behind her gag, tugging impotently at her bindings as the girls continued to spread the sweet smelling goo all over her body. Tears rolled down her face and mixed with nectar already smeared on her cheeks, carrying just a bit of it behind her gag and into her mouth. It tasted absolutely delicious...a fact that brought her little comfort.
She hung her head low and wept as the last of the servant girls finished coating her in the ritual nectar. The fools, the damn fools...why was she the only one who could see the truth?
"Cheta," Xochi's voice came from behind her, and she turned desperately to him as he approached, whimpering through her gag for rescue.
"I know you are frightened, but it's going to be okay," he smiled sadly at her, brushing her sticky cheek gingerly with his hand. She shook her head and continued to whimper and sob, but he continued. "This is what's best for everyone. You only have fear because you do not have faith, but Xamanta provides," he explained kindly. "She is willing to take you to paradise despite your doubts, and soon you will be as grateful as I am for the reward you are about to receive...you will finally see the truth."
He leaned forward and kissed the top of her forehead as she wept and begged, then the prince turned back to complaining goddess and waved up at her.
"Xamanta! Hungry..!"
***
"Zochee you little creep, if you seriously think I'm going to eat your friend...ugh! I can't believe I thought you were nice!" Samantha shouted as she leaned right up to him and Chayduh. "Well you can forget it, because I'm not going to-"
The blonde paused as her little button nose twitched. Below, her stomach growled as her nostrils took in the sweet scent. "...Wait, what's that smell..?" She leaned further forward, and the sticky bound girl flinched away as the girl's nose loomed almost directly over her, the giant nostrils flaring as she was sniffed again. "...Is that honey or something? Fuck that smells good..."
Samantha leaned back and chewed her lip nervously as she looked down at the little squirming girl. There was no way she could actually do it...right? The blonde winced as her stomach growled impatiently once again. She was so fucking hungry, and she couldn't believe she was even thinking it, but the delicious smelling girl was starting to look...appetizing?
She shook her head to try to chase away the horrific notion, but the temptation remained. She looked down at the offering and began actually considering it. What would it even be like to eat a little person? At her tiny size, Samantha could probably even swallow her whole...but did she really want to be that bitch that ate a little person alive on her first day lost in the jungle?
But then it occurred to her...no one besides these little shrinkies would ever know, and they were practically begging her to do it. Oh shit, was this really happening..?
She glanced around joyous crowd, and then back to the gathered ceremony atop the platform. "Is it really okay for me to eat her..?"
The various shrinkies simply smiled back at her, oblivious to the meaning behind her words. And yet it was plainly obvious they approved.
"Alright, maybe just a taste, to be polite..." she relented, reaching down and plucking the stick Chayduh was bound to from the platform, lifting it towards her face. The gathered shrinkies rejoiced, clapping and hollering in support from all directions. Samantha blushed slightly from the attention, and also because she was now face to tiny face with the little servant girl. The poor little thing was squirming madly against her bindings, tear filled eyes wide with fear as she stared directly at Samantha.
"Look, this is just as weird for me as it is for you..." Samantha apologized awkwardly as she slowly moved the girl towards her mouth and parted her lips.
***
Cheta screamed into the gag and writhed as she was brought towards the enormous mouth. She watched in horror as the giant's lips parted, and her pink tongue slid out meet Cheta. Bound as she was to the stick Xamanta held, Cheta could do nothing to resist as the tongue took a quick lick from Cheta's chest up to her face, the hot bumpy surface taking with it a little of the nectar from Cheta's skin and replacing it with warm saliva.
"Oh...fuck that's good," Xamanta whispered as she looked upon Cheta with a guilty, longing expression. "Maybe just one more..."
Cheta's shrieks were still muffled by the gag as she was brought towards the mouth again, Xamanta's tongue already out and waiting for her. Xamanta licked up the girl's body again, faster this time, but instead of pulling away she went for a second lick as a soft moan of pleasure escaped her lips.
"Oh fuck it, get in here..!" Xamanta moaned, suddenly tilting the stick forward and moving it towards her open mouth. Cheta screamed so loud into the gag that she thought she might pass out as she quickly passed between the giant's teeth and lips and into the shadow of her humid mouth. A second later the pink ceiling of the cavern came down onto her back, and Cheta's vision went dark as hot spit washed over her.
"OHHMMM, MMM..." the giant moaned around Cheta as her powerful tongue slid underneath her chest, pinning the girl against the blonde's hard palate as the saliva surged around her body. Cheta finally managed to scream as the rushing fluid and strong suction pulled the gag free, and the little Xarinki heard her terrified voice echo in the cramped space. Another few moments of sucking and she felt her arms come free, then her legs, still tied together at the ankles, came loose from the stick as it slid out of the giant's pursed lips behind her, leaving Cheta alone and fully inside.
"MMM, OH FUUUUCK..."
Cheta's screams increased she felt herself slide forward over the giant tongue, towards the gaping throat she'd glimpsed when Xamanta had opened her mouth. She tried to push away with her newly freed hands, and she kicked and wriggled with her bound together legs, but no effort she could muster could halt her progress as she suddenly felt the entire chamber tilt forward, and a moment later her screams were cut short as she was sucked downwards with a massive gulp.
A series of quick shrieks belted from Cheta's mouth as she traveled headfirst down the tight, slimy tube. She could hear the excited beating of the giant's heart as she descended deeper, and after an excruciating moment she felt herself squeezed through an even tighter opening before plunging into an impossibly humid darkness. Cheta screamed as she landed with a splash on her side, struggling to right herself with her ankles still bound together, but eventually managing to at least rise to a sitting position with her bound legs out in front of her. She was almost chest deep in a pool of hot water, and the air stunk strongly of vomit and coconut milk. Cheta took in quick panicked breaths as she tried in vain to make her eyes adjust to the dark, feeling the wrinkled floor of the stomach shift subtly below her, still too panicked to process anything except the next immediate horror before her.
Screaming at the top of her lungs, Cheta braced herself with her hands as she kicked her bound legs forward as hard as she could against the nearest stomach wall, then again, refusing to let up until she was set free…
***
Samantha hadn't even meant to swallow, it had just...happened. She'd gotten too carried away tasting the little girl's sweet skin. She gasped, both from excitement and slightly from guilt as she felt the squirming little thing traveling down her throat, her mind racing to process the fact that a living little person was going down into her body. She mentally followed the feeling of the little girl going down until it stopped at her stomach, and then a moment later she gasped again as she felt the little kicks, looking down with surprise at her tan midsection where the tickling sensation was coming from.
She watched her little bit of tummy rise and fall with her breathing, unable to stop fixating on the idea that there was a little person inside there now, fighting her with all she had. When Samantha had first seriously entertained the idea just moments ago, she'd thought that swallowing Chayduh whole would be the kinder method of consumption, but now she wasn't so sure. Maybe it would be better to be chewed and get it over with than to be aware and alive when digestion kicked in...
Oh well, Samantha thought, closing her eyes and allowing herself to just enjoy the feeling of fullness she was finally experiencing. It wasn't really her problem at this point, and it wasn't like she could do anything about it now. The shrinkies had offered the girl to her, and she'd simply accepted. She was just Samantha's food now...and really who was she to question their customs? That certainly wouldn't be very woke of her...
Samantha blinked her eyes open as she suddenly realized the gathered shrinkies were whooping, shouting, and cheering her name. She'd been so focused on her little offering that she'd completely tuned it out.
She blushed and couldn't help but giggle at the absurdity of it. They loved her...she'd just eaten one of them alive, and they loved her for it. "Woo!" she shouted in celebration with her arms raised high above her head, letting her tongue hang out of the open mouthed smile she shot at her adoring fans. She simply basked in worship for the moment, drinking it all in as the shrinkies sang, celebrated, and tossed flower petals into the air. She could get used to this kind of treatment...
Maybe there was something to this being god thing after all, she thought as she grinned up at the offering platform, spying little Zochee smiling back at her. There was a slight sadness in his expression, she thought, but she was too hyped up on the good vibes to fixate on it much.
"Uurp..!" another surprise belch escaped from her lips, causing another eruption of cheers from the worshipers as Samantha giggled with embarrassment.
"...Excuse me!"
***
Cheta gasped and sobbed as she pushed through the churning pool of coconut milk and chewed fruit, barely dodging out of the way as another swallow of mashed up mango splashed down from above.
She wasn't sure how long it had been since the pretender had swallowed her, but the minutes and seconds ticked by longer than any others she'd known in her life. Every moment was a fight for survival as the giant's powerful stomach worked to digest her, churning her back and forth with the rest of her fruit dinner while the stinging acids mixed with it all bit at her tan skin. And then there was the non-stop barrage of fruit and coconut milk from above...since swallowing Cheta, the false god had been absolutely feasting apparently.
Xochi, her love...he'd been so, so wrong. This was not paradise. This was the furthest thing from it Cheta had ever known. Him and the others were so utterly fooled by the pretender's beautiful exterior, but if Cheta could just show them the disgusting horror within the giant, they would finally understand this could only be the belly of a monster.
That superstitious fool could have saved her, too. He could have told the king and the elders anything when asked about why Xamanta had appeared...but instead his blind faith had convinced him to go along with their plot to rid themselves of a troublesome free thinker. Why Xochi, why..?
It was so unfair, she thought as she leaned against the pulsing slimy wall for a moment. The elders had robbed her of her future twice over...first by denying her love by dividing her and Xochi by class, and then again by condemning her to this fate. Maybe she wasn't totally blameless, though. Perhaps she should have kept her head down and stayed out of it—perhaps too much cleverness really was a dangerous thing.
Weak sobs continued to pour out of her as the stomach wall continued swell against the side of her face. Even deep within the giant, with endless roar of digestive gurgling, she could hear the muffled sounds of celebration outside. Her people, rejoicing that this pale skinned monster had swallowed her...
But she'd had to warn them, hadn't she? Now she could only hope that Xochi or someone else would realize the truth of her warning before it was too late, though she wondered if perhaps it already was. The pretender had so expertly infiltrated their village and customs—she was literally being worshiped as a god. How could anyone stop "Xamanta" now that Cheta had been so permanently silenced? How could anyone convince them of the terrible danger they were all in..?
***
Samantha had her neck craned upward and her chin resting just below the edge of the platform as the servant girls hurried another clump of juicy berries towards the blonde's open mouth. She'd allowed them to feed her like this at their insistence, and she was growing quite fond of the pampering. But as the tiny girls plucked the berries and dropped them one by one into her open maw, Samantha groaned slightly as she began to chew...oof, she'd definitely eaten too much.
Swallowing, she leaned away and waved her hand at the servants—her servants—to stop, forcing out another quick airy burp to make just a little room in her cramped stomach. "Oof, no more more, thank you..." she sighed as she leaned further back and allowed herself to collapse onto her side on the forest floor.
She stroked her slightly bulging bare stomach lovingly as she gazed up at the swaying canopy above. Why had she been so sad about being stuck here again? This place really was paradise...
She blinked her eyes open as she felt something small touch against the skin of her stomach, and she tilted her head to see Zochee standing there, one hand stretched out reverently with his little palm resting against her rising and falling gut. She blushed slightly as she saw him lean forward and plant a little tender kiss against her stomach, whispering something to it that she couldn't understand save for "Chayduh" mixed up somewhere in the middle.
"She was your friend, right?" Samantha asked, drawing the boy's attention. She suddenly felt a little guilty again about what she'd done to the little girl. Not enough to truly regret it, but y'know, enough to kinda feel bad. She focused inward, trying to sense any hint of her little offering within her...but if the little girl was still alive, her struggles were too slight when compared to the stretching pressure of a gut full of fruit.
Zochee simply smiled sadly at her, of course not understanding. Samantha felt as if she should say something godly to the little man, even if he'd surely not understand it either. It was her role now, after all...
"Um, don't be sad for Chayduh," Samantha whispered down to the little man, placing a hand over her tan stomach and giving it a gentle pat. "I, Samantha...god...I'm simply delivering her to a better place. I give that to you as my holy promise." She gave him a sweet smile and a little nod for good measure. That was good enough, right?
Zochee smiled and nodded back, a little twinkle of wetness detectable in his eyes. He then turned back to her stomach and leaned against it, just letting his little toned body rest against the rising and falling surface of her warm flesh as he closed his eyes. Blushing again, Samantha brought a hand behind him and gently placed it there, lightly holding the little man against her belly while she digested.
She closed her eyes and let her head rest against the forest floor again. There was something nice about having him right there, to be appreciated like that like she never had been in her old life—that fake, annoying world full of work and assholes, where she’d just been another basic bitch. But here she was so much more.
No, not appreciated, Samantha thought with a smug grin.
Worshiped.