It's quite a warm Saturday in the town of Serenity, and many of the folks who don't need to work are visiting one of the area's beaches to relax and cool off. One such visitor, a mouse named Cole, exits the shallow tidepool he was swimming in. Taking a minute to use the micro shower and then dry his cream-colored fur, he smiles happily, looking around the beach from his vantage point and seeing so many others having fun.
Nearby, he spots a grill with nobody at it, but his eyes widen when he sees a package of hamburger buns left on it! One of the advantages of being his size, Cole reckons, is being able to get comfortable in ways bigger folks can't.
He climbs onto the surface beside the grill and pulls out a bun before lying down between the two halves. The bread is incredibly soft, and he doesn't take long to fall asleep in a cozy nap, dreaming happily about a cheese-and-cracker buffet.
Some time later, though, Cole wakes to the sound of movement nearby. Poking his head out of the bun, he spots a friend of his – Empress, the Snow Leopardess! She's taken a bun out of the package and laid it on the surface beside the grill, and she's presently cooking a burger and a hot dog!
"Hey, Empy!"
There's no response from the leopard. Either she's too focused on cooking, or she can't hear the mouse's tiny voice.
Cole opts to get her attention another way. Pulling out his phone, he calls Empress's number. Even from here, he can hear her phone vibrating until she answers it.
"Empress speaking."
The mouse chuckles quietly. "Hey, Empy! I'm actually beside the grill you're at; I was resting in the burger bun to get some shade. Please be careful!"
There's a pause, then Empress asks "Which bun are you in?"
"The one on the left," replies Cole.
"Noted."
With that, Empress hangs up, and the mouse hears as she resumes cooking.
He yawns softly, ready to drift off again – Only to be startled a moment later as the top bun is lifted from him!
Cole blinks, shutting his eyes tightly in surprise as he's brought back into the sunlight. It takes a few seconds before they've adjusted enough for him to open them again, but when he does, he spots Empress lifting a burger patty from the grill and bringing it toward him!
"Squeak! Wait, Empy! I'm-"
He's cut off as she places the warm burger atop him – And it's unlikely that she even heard his soft voice over the sounds of the beach and the grill anyway!
The mouse struggles, trying to pull himself out from underneath the patty, but the greasy meat prevents him from maintaining his grip. He's trapped – And if he doesn't get out soon…
In desperation, Cole bites into the burger, trying to burrow through it! As much as he hates stealing food from others, it's still a desirable outcome compared to becoming food, himself! A few quick nibbles later, and he breaches through to the other side of the meat. He looks up at Empress – Just in time to watch her place a leaf of lettuce and a slice of tomato atop him, once again pressing him back into the burger and preventing him from calling out to her!
His fear only grows when he feels the top bun being added just before the whole burger lifts into the air. Empress is getting ready to eat!
Panicking, the mouse fumbles for his phone, hoping he can call Empress to get her attention. There's hardly any room to move, though, and he can't quite reach it! Even when he tries to wiggle to make more space, he manages to grab it, but can't bring his arm back up in front of him again. A shudder runs through him as he realizes he's going to be eaten if he can't get out in time!
Suddenly, he's brought into the light once more as Empress bites down, chomping into the burger just behind him! A pinching in his tail makes him squeak sharply – She grabbed the appendage between her teeth! Thankfully, she isn't biting hard enough to hurt him, but it is firm enough to keep him from pulling it free!
Cole yelps as she pulls back, dragging him from the burger – And in terror, he realizes he accidentally dropped his phone back into the rest of the food in her hands!
"Empress! Wait! You've got me in your teeth!"
Empress tilts her head back slowly. A large, wet, black-colored tongue slides out from between the snow leopard's teeth, cupping beneath the mouse, before dragging him into her mouth! Evidently, she thought she had a piece of food stuck in her teeth!
Shuddering as he's brought into her maw, Cole tries to look around the humid cavern of black flesh. Though he can't see much, he is able to make out the rough palate above him, leading back to the softer velum, which in turn sits in front of her rippling gullet. Her bulbous uvula sways idly, almost hypnotically, in time with her steady breathing. The mouse finds himself unable to look away for a few seconds, just watching the hanging flesh swinging side to side like a pendulum.
His attention is grabbed, though, when Empress tilts her head further back, ready to swallow the mouthful of food she's currently got. The mouse blinks as he starts to slide on her tongue, scrabbling at the wet surface to try and keep from being gulped as well! But he finds no purchase on the slick muscle, and he can only yelp once more as he drops off the back of her tongue.
He makes a desperate grab for her uvula – And much to his surprise, he manages to hold on! He clings tightly to the fleshy bulb, looking down as she swallows the bite of burger, watching as it plunges downward into her esophagus.
"Whew," he thinks, before giving the uvula a squeeze to try and get Empress's attention.
Urk?
Though she doesn't gag, the snow leopard definitely gives a reaction to Cole's efforts. It just might work!
But that hope is short-lived as she opens her mouth once more, only for a rush of bubbly brown liquid to flow in. It seems she's having a drink of cola to try and flush down whatever is stuck on her uvula!
And unfortunately for Cole, it works; the moment the fluid reaches where he is, he loses his grip and drops into the carbonated beverage! He doesn't even have a moment to gather his bearings before he finds himself falling into the snow leopard's gullet, and he can only let out a meager "Squeak!" before the muscles contract all around him.
Glllp!
The mouse shudders as he's pulled down Empress's esophagus. Despite the jokes and stereotypes, he never imagined he'd actually be eaten by a cat! But there's nothing he can do at this point as he's worked deeper and deeper into her body.
As he slides further along, he can hear her steady heartbeat nearby as well as the whooshing of air in and out of her lungs. Soon after, he reaches the sphincter at the bottom of her esophagus, which readily parts to allow him inside the waiting chamber beyond!
Cole drops into the snow leopard's stomach, landing with a splat atop a piece of tomato, floating almost like a raft in the fluids. He's surprised it's intact enough to hold him, considering he swore she chewed her food before swallowing it, but he isn't going to complain about having some safety. Nor is he going to complain about being able to see within the dark organ.
The walls around him squeeze in and out slowly, mixing the contents around more than anything else right now. The mouse knows it won't stay like this for too long, but he tries to think of a way out while he's still able to.
Just then, the leopard's cardia parts again, and another mouthful of burger drops into the stomach. Cole blinks in surprise as he notices something landing on his slice of tomato.
It's his phone!
Quickly, he calls Empress's number, hoping he'll be able to get to her.
It rings twice, then…
"Empress speaking."
Cole breathes a sigh of relief. "Empy! You, uh… You kind of ate me…"
"I'm sorry?"
"Yeah, you… You used my bun to make your burger."
There's a pause, before the leopard responds "But you said you were in the one on the left. I didn't touch that one."
The mouse blinks softly, realizing she was seeing things differently than he was.
"Oh, uh… I was thinking my left, whoops."
Faintly, Empress chuckles. "I'm surprised you're able to get reception in there."
Suddenly, the stomach rumbles around the mouse, before a whoosh of gas escapes the chamber! A moment later, the snow leopard lets out a deep Boouurrp!
Unfortunately for Cole, the quaking made him drop his phone, and he can only watch as it sinks to the bottom of the stomach fluids, where it sparks and then dies as the acids eat away at it.
"Aw, rats," he mutters to himself. Well, at least she knows he's in here, so she'll try to get him out… Right?
Another mouthful of burger splashes into the chamber, soon followed by a few bits of hot dog and more gulps of soda. The stomach grows more active in time, too, and Cole clings to his tomato raft as tightly as he can so he doesn't end up digested.
All he can do at this point is hope she'll get him back out before his raft sizzles away…
