Something went wrong, dreadfully wrong, once upon a time.
Von stood alone on a broad open plain, hills of pink dust rolling away in every direction. The sun blazed high in the sky causing waves of heat to ripple over the desert making it look as if it throbbed. No folk were in sight, but danger hung in the air, he could sense it in the pit of his stomach. He wished there were something he could do, but intuition told him that nothing would change this tale. If only he knew what form it would take.
A shudder rocked his body, his lungs heaved and he started to cough so violently he feared his chest would burst. Then, with a gut-wrenching spasm, his mouth flew open and a tiny girl popped out. She landed feet first on the ground in front of him, perfectly formed and all dressed, rearing to go. Clutching his throat which was raw from the girl’s passage, he stared at her, his mouth fallen open in disbelief.
“Well that’s better,” she said, her piercing voice setting his teeth on edge. “It was so stuffy in there.” He wanted to ask who she was, but his throat was so hoarse that speaking was out of the question. “Right,” the girl said, licking her lips. “Now let’s sort you out.” He didn’t like the sound of that. There was nothing about him that needed sorting. And the look of greed in her eyes was alarming.
She opened her mouth so wide, he was afraid she was might bite him. Yet the gaping hole continued to grow till he felt giddy and tried to step back. It was then she drew in a deep breath causing the wind to howl around him and he felt himself being sucked forwards. He flung out his arms clutching at memories in a desperate attempt to hold on to all he’d known, but the world slipped through his fingers. He flew into her mouth and slithered down her throat. His screams only ceased when he thudded to a halt in the slime of a pulsing pink abyss.