Bruce Coville - The Giants Tooth

by

(Author of My Teacher Is an Alien; Aliens Ate MyHomework; Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher; Into the Land of theUnicorns, and many others)

Published by Oddly Enough at Smashwords

Copyright 1999 and 2011 by Bruce Coville

For more information about the author and his works,please visit http://www.brucecoville.com/

by

Edgar Twonky had no intention of gettingeaten by a giant the morning he left for Cottleston Fair.

Sometimes these things just happen.

He was ambling along, humming tunelesslywhile he dreamed of what he might buy for Melisande with the moneyhe hoped to make from his eggs that day, when an enormous handswept down from the sky, scooped him up, and deposited him in amouth the size of a cave.

The tongue on which he landed was coarse andsoggy, like a bed of rain-soaked ferns. It flung him toward theback of the mouth, where a vast bulb of red flesh dangled above thegaping black hole that would, Edgar presumed, be the last thing heever saw. With a leap, Edgar grabbed the dangling piece of flesh.It was moist and slick, and far too wide for him to put his armsaround. Digging his fingers into the soft surface, he hung on fordear life.

Gunnnarrgh! said the giant, causingEdgars fleshy perch to swing back and forth in a dizzying way.

When the giants mouth was open, Edgar couldsee. When it closed, he found himself in a darkness deeper than anyhe had ever known.

Gunnarrrgh! repeated the giant.

Edgars grip was loosening, and he wasexpecting to fall into the waiting hole at any second, when heheard a creaky voice call, Over here! Hurry!

Twisting toward the voice, he was astonishedto see a flash of lighta torch!

Hurry! repeated the voice.

GUNNARRRGH! roared the giant for athird time. Edgar flung himself forward, landing on the giantstongue once more. The great pad of flesh rippled alarmingly as thegiant tried to swallow him. Digging his hands into the tonguessurface, which consisted of pulpy red fibers thick as his wristsand long as his arms, Edgar clung to it like a barnacle to a shipsbottom.

Come on, come on! cried the voice behindthe torch. I cant hold this out here forever. Itll make himsneeze, which will almost certainly kill you!

Reaching forward, Edgar grabbed anotherhandful of tongue, and pulled himself along the rough surface.Fighting the motion of the tongue (which was accompanied bydisgusting gagging sounds from the giant) he dragged himself handover hand toward the beckoning torch, which was yards away. He hadjust reached a wart, wider than a tree stump, when the giant made alast, desperate attempt to swallow him. Edgar managed to gethimself on the forward side of the warttoward the teeth and awayfrom the throatand braced himself against it.

Gak gak gak! hacked the giant.

Edgar leaped forward, landing within a footof the torch. A withered hand reached out to him. He grabbed itthankfully, and was pulled into the most astonishing room he hadever seen.

Well, it wasnt a room, exactly.

It was the inside of one of the giants backteeth. But the flickering light of the torch showed that it hadbeen hollowed out to make an area large enough to hold a table andtwo chairs. The back wallback being the side toward the giantsthroathad a niche about six feet long and two feet wide carvedinto it. The ceiling was lowtoo low for Edgar to stand at fullheightand everything was too close together, giving the room acramped feeling. That feeling was made worse by the clutter ofitems that covered both floor and table: cups, plates, knives,pitchforks, shovels, coils of rope, chunks of wood, and an oldwagon wheel, among other things.

Salvage, wheezed a voice behind him.

Edgar turned and received yet anothersurprise. His rescuer was a woman. Half a head shorter than Edgar,she had long stringy gray hair and eyes that burned with feverbrightness. Her clothing, of which she had several layers, was anodd mix, some of it coarse homespun, some costly velvet. Nearly allof it was tattered and worn. It hung heavy on her body, as if itwas slightly damp.

By salvage, said the old woman, I mean thestuff in the room, not youthough I suppose you might qualify aswell. First time since Ive been here that Ive actually been ableto save someone. Silly things all panic, and slide down his gulletbefore I can do a thing to help them. That was very good, the wayyou managed to grab on to something. Quick thinking. I like that ina man.

Thank you, said Edgar nervously. He lookedaround. How long have you lived here?

The woman shrugged. Cant really say. Itshard to keep track of the time, after allno sunrise or sunset, nofull moon or new, no summer or spring, winter or fall. Its all thesame here in the giants mouth. She stroked her hair. I do knowthat I was young when I came here, she added, a slightly mournfulnote coloring her voice. Young and pretty, some thought. And myhair was black as a ravens wing, or at least thats what the boysall said. Now come on, ducky. Sit down, sit down. I havent had avisitor in well, ever, actually.

Then why two chairs? asked Edgar.

I live on hope, replied the woman as shethrust the torch into a bracket carved into the yellow wall. Shereturned to the table and cleared it with a sweep of her arm.Sit, she said, gesturing to the seat opposite her. Sit.

Edgar crossed to the tableit took only twosteps to reach itand joined her. He tried to pull the chair awayfrom the table, but found that it was solidly joined to the floor.Only then did he realize that it had been carved from the toothitself.

It was something to do, said the woman witha shrug. She flipped her gray hair back over her shoulders andsaid, My name is Meagan.

And Im Edgar.

Good name, Meagan replied, nodding inapproval.

Edgar smiled. I seem to owe you mylife.

Meagan arched an eyebrow. I hadnt reallythought about it that way. But now that you mention it, I supposeyou do. Not that its much of a life here in the giantsmouth.

How do you live here, anyway? asked Edgar,glancing around the room once more. Where do you get yourfood?

Meagan shrugged. I scavenge.

Scavenge what?

Anything that comes along that doesnt godown his gullet. She gestured toward a pickax that leaned againstthe enamel wall. Ive dug bits of meat out of his teeth that wouldfeed a family of ten.

Edgar shuddered, and decided not to ask whatshe did for water. He was afraid he already knew the answer. Heleaped ahead to the bigger, more important question.

Have you ever tried to get out?

What do I look like? she asked bitterly.Of course Ive tried to get out. I tried every way I could thinkof. Finally, when it became clear I wasnt going to make it, I gaveup and accepted my fate. She narrowed her eyes. You, you come inhere and find me waiting to help youyou have no idea of what itwas like for me when I first got here. No light, no one to explain,no one to talk to, weep with, hold. Just me, alone, in the dark,trying to find a way to survive. Just me in this hole, which backthen was barely big enough to hold me, just big enough to keep fromgetting swallowed. I thought I would die of loneliness. I thought Iwould die of fear. More than once I considered just flinging myselfdown the big oafs gullet. But thats not my way, Edgar. I cling tolifecling to it like a leech if I have to. So with every flash oflight that came when the giant opened his mouth, I took stock ofwhere I was. With every flash of light, I learned a little more.Many was the hour I spent huddled in this tooth, weeping to myself,wondering what was to become of me. But I didnt give up. I nevergave up. I drank from pools of spit. I snatched passing food. Andwhen I found my first tool, I began to dig, to make myself a home.Chip, chip, chip, I picked away at this tooth.