The Woman Who Ate Me Whole
Chapter 1. Alice had been walking for hours in the heat of a seemingly endless summer day. She was ravenous, her stomach growling and her throat parched from thirst. Every step was accompanied by a deep and relentless craving for sustenance that had grown steadily over the days since she'd last eaten. Just as she thought she would not be able to make it much further, Alice happened upon a small cottage nestled in the woods.
She approached cautiously, but when she saw an elderly woman beckoning to her from the doorway, some of her fear melted away. The woman invited Alice inside and offered her a bowl of steaming soup with chunks of freshly-baked bread. Alice gulped it down quickly, not even stopping to savor its flavor or texture.
After finishing the meal, Alice thanked the old woman profusely before taking her leave. But as she stepped outside, something seemed off to Alice—the woman's eyes had held an intense hunger that seemed unnatural and unearthly. It seemed almost as though she wanted something more than just a simple bowl of soup and some bread.
Alice rounded the corner of the cottage only to find that the old woman was following closely behind her with an expression of pure determination on her face. And then suddenly, without warning, the woman lunged at Alice with outstretched arms and opened wide jaws—as if attempting to swallow her whole! Alice screamed in terror and ran as fast as she could away from the cottage and into the woods until she eventually collapsed from exhaustion.
When she awoke hours later, there was no sign of the old woman anywhere around her; it had all been a dream! Alice realized then how close she had come to succumbing to starvation on that sweltering summer day; how easily one can become desperate enough to consider even something so unthinkable as being consumed by another person out of sheer hunger! She thanked God for having given her such an incredible reminder about how precious life is—and always will be—no matter how dire our circumstances may become at times.
The END
