Hiss
When a man journeys into a far country, he must be prepared for the strangest of things, including a ten foot long anaconda with an appetite...
"I am so fucking lost," Dan said.
Not kinda lost. Not sorta lost. Not lost but he knew the general direction he was supposed to be heading in. He was completely fucking lost. The forest ranger he had checked in with had warned him against hiking all by himself, but Dan wouldn't hear any of it. "I've been hiking since I was a kid."
"But have you ever hiked this forest?" the ranger asked.
"I know the rules: stay on the path, don't feed the animals, make yourself seem big. I got a compass, and a GPS for emergencies. I'll be fine."
The problem was, he wasn't fine. One wrong turn, and suddenly he was off the beaten path. He tried to find his way back of course. He retraced his steps back the way he had come, but his footsteps came to an abrupt stop where the beaten path should have been. The brand new "titanium batteries" in his GPS, with a guaranteed shelf life of ten years, had decided to die before he even used them. That or the GPS simply was not working. His compass had decided to spin in an aimless circle, which meant he had somehow broken the damn thing, if that was even possible.
"Fuck," he muttered. And somehow, that made him feel better. The sun was setting past the horizon. The wind was taking a bitter chill. He stopped his aimless wander, and set his travel knapsack down. First thing was first. His shirt was absolutely drenched in sweat from hours of walking, and so he peeled it off. He used a towel to dry his slick skin, and put a long sleeved thermal shirt over torso. Not much, but it was better than nothing. He would change his pants, if only he had a spare pair. He rung out his wool knit cap, before pulling it back over his head. Hoisting his knapsack back up, he resumed his tireless walk, sure that just through the next trees there would be the beaten path back to civilization.
Off in the distance, he noticed a faint glow from between the trees. A fire? A flare? A flashlight? He took his own flashlight off his belt and turned it on, the powerful beam cutting a swath through the shadows, before it flickered and died. "FUCK!" he screamed, smashing the flashlight into a tree, and much to his surprise it sparked back to life.
Shining the flashlight through the heavy dusk, Dan began to walk towards the faint blue glow that burned from between the trees. Definitely not a fire, but perhaps a signal flashlight? "Hello?" he called out. "My name is Dan. Is someone there? I'm really lost."
Pushing through the thickness of the brush, he finally came to stand before the cyan glow, and quickly realized that it was in fact two glows... Surrounded by polished green scales. A cyan tongue slipped out from between scaly lips, tasting the air, before retracting inside.
Dan had seen some interesting things in his life. That was one reason he loved to hike and explore. To see all the remarkable creatures that roamed the forests and the trees. But never in his life had he seen a snake like this. It wasn't just its size, either. The snake was massive, to say the least. Its heavy girth was easily thicker than Dan's torso, and as it leaned close, its head loomed just before his face. The magnificent cyan gaze stared at him, eyes locked, as the snake's cyan tongue flicked out from between its scaly lips. This time, the forked tongue gently brushed over Dan's face, tasting him instead of simply tasting the air. The tongue was just a little bit warm, but the saliva it left on his cheek, cool in the cold air, left him shivering.
The cyan gaze was unflinching. To blink, the snake used a pair of translucent white lids, which meant the stare did not yield for even one moment. Again, the tongue flickered out and brushed over Dan's face, and he flinched slightly, but only slightly.
"It is rather hot," he acknowledged, and looked down at his clothing. His shirt, which had before been a little comfort in the coldness of the dusk, now fit him like a straightjacket. And his pants were so drenched in sweat they were chaffing. His boots were heavy and tight on his swollen feet. He looked back to the cyan gaze of the snake. "Yeah, you're right. It's really hot..."
He reached down, and took hold of the rim of his shirt. He tugged it up, revealing his thin torso, and let out a little chuckle as the snake's tongue traced up his chest. He pulled his shirt up fully, and threw it aside, and although he shivered in the cool dusk air, he squatted down to untie his boots. His feet had swollen from all the walking he did, and he had to pry and yank his boots until at last his socks were exposed. His pants followed. He unbuckled his belt and dropped them to his ankles, before stepping forward and out of them. "My underwear, really?" He stared into the blue eyes, and the tongue brushed over his face, making him blink. "Yeah, they are chaffing my thighs bad. And my balls are way too tight in them." He shrugged, and pulled them wide, before working them down his thin thighs. Completely nude, he stood before the snake, who hissed his approval.
The snake moved forward slowly, first lowering its head to the ground, and then slithering off of the branch that supported him. The branch creaked and whined as the weight was shifted, and finally cracked under the strain, causing the snake to fall and gasp, the wind knocked out of its lungs.
Dan blinked, and shook his head. A shiver ran down his spine, and he crossed his arms over his chest, rubbing his pectorals, hoping to warm himself up. He looked down, and saw the great green snake lift slowly, before he was once more attracted by the cyan gaze. As before, his eyes locked with the blue orbs, and suddenly he stopped shivering. He stared forward, into the gaze, as the blue tongue slipped out. Dan nodded his understanding, and lifted his hands over his head. The tongue tickled as it brushed over his body, earning a few giggles and groans from the nude man. Then the snake stretched its body out, and looked to Dan once more. Dan took a moment to appreciate the snake's great size. It had to be ten feet in length at least, and on his knees now, he spent a moment pressing his hands gently into the snake's torso. Beneath the layers of scales were muscles, solid and thick. Awe inspiring, in fact.
Dan once more looked to the snake, before nodding, and turned, his back now to its belly. He carefully fell back, and came to lay down fully. Quickly, the snake was moving, coiling itself around Dan's body, the scales cold and strange against Dan's nude form, but not completely unpleasant. When the snake coiled a little tighter, he did give a gasp and groan, but the snake's pressure did not relent. In fact, it only squeezed him tighter, until his arms were pinned at his side by the snake's great muscles. The snake's great head came to hover before Dan's face, the cyan eyes staring, and the tongue flicked out to taste Dan one last time. Then the mouth opened wide, the fangs erected. The cyan innards of the snake's maw filled Dan's vision, as the tongue rolled out and gently wrapped around his head.
For Dan, it was as if waking from a dream. His eyes blinked once or twice to bat away sleep's remnants, and then opened, his mind sharp and awake. The world before him was soft and cyan, almost inviting, like a cloudless sky. Just beyond was a shadowed tunnel. A breath of steaming warmth escaped the pulsating passage before him, drenching him in humidity. A drop of drool rolled down left fang, reflecting a glisten of light that caught Dan's attention, perhaps fully breaking the trance. He looked down to the tongue that was wrapped around his neck, and then back to the pulsating throat, that he was steadily being drawn in to.
"No," he said with a whimper. "No... stop... no..."
The jaws of the snake very gently closed upon his head. The strength of the tongue drew him in bit by bit, until his entire head was within the humid maw. "No!" he screamed as loud as he could. His elbows jabbed and he worked to spread his arms, but the snake only wrapped around him tighter, squeezing him tighter until he finally stopped. He was finding it harder and harder to suck in a breath and his pleas to stop grew fainter and fainter, both from his lack of air and the suffocating muffle of the maw his head was housed in.
The snake's powerful fangs jabbed beneath his shoulder blades, keeping him in place, as the body slowly uncoiled around him. Dan took a deep breath, and although the air was hot and stale, it gave him the strength to scream. His panicked cries for help almost penetrated the thick muscles and scales that lined his prison, but the only real show of his efforts was the slightest vibration of the scales. Gooey drool washed over him, lubricating him. His panicked sweat did the same, slicking his body. The snake's throat loosened, and its jaws opened wide, unhooking from beneath Dan's shoulder blades. In that moment, he attempted to push himself out of the embrace, but too quickly, the snake pushed its maw forward. When its jaws closed, the fangs dug into his middle, and once more he was trapped in the humid tunnel. They slimy flesh brushed against him in a sickening way.
The snake took a moment to brace itself, before slowly uncoiling its great shape from the man. It bit down hard, upon Dan's torso, sharp fangs cutting through the tender flesh of Dan's belly. The snake wrapped its tail end around a thick tree as a counterweight, and used its great and powerful build to lift itself up. Dan was only vaguely aware his standing had altered, that his feet were no longer brushing the ground but instead dancing through the cold air. All of his other senses were dominated by the humid, cyan tunnel of the snake's innards, the noise of body dominating his ears. His arms were still pinned at his side, no longer by the tight coils but by the pulsating muscles of the snake's throat. Somehow, the innards glowed, despite no natural source of light penetrating the gullet, and how that made this all so much worse! In darkness, at least Dan would be ignorant of his fate. But with the glow of the innards, he could see every muscle of the snake's powerful throat, contracting and widening to give him passage deeper into the belly. The snake's gullet was bottomless. Even when it pulsated wide, shadow overtook the glowing insides before Dan could see an end.
"No!" he screamed out once more, and the visible bulge in the snake's body actually vibrated from the force. Tilting its body up fully, the snake opened its mouth wide, giving Dan an unobstructed descent down the warm, slick slide and deep into the snake's middle. His hands grasped at the flesh at his sides, trying to find purchase. His feet kicked outside of the snake's lips, the white skin a haunting contrast to the yellow underbelly of the snake, the green top, and the cyan innards he was slowly sinking deeper in to.
His descent stopped suddenly, and with his elbows, he tried to beat and push his way out of the slimy prison. All around him, the pulsating blue cavern shook and shimmered. His feet, just outside of the snake's lips, wiggled and kicked and struggled, as if he might somehow pull himself out with only his toes. The snake spent a moment enjoying the feel of having its body stretched. Not just its tongue, but its entire throat was lined with taste buds, allowing it to savor every inch of its meal. It had been so long since it had last eaten a human. The locals had become wary of its dietary habits, forcing it to sate its hunger on deer. And yet, restricting its meals to the occasional tourist allowed it to really savor the taste. It would have swallowed Dan whole in one gulp otherwise, but now it was intent to play with its food, delighting in how he elbowed and wiggled and fought. In fact...
The muscles of the throat contracted at the bottom, and rolled up. Dan felt himself pushed, slowly but surely, towards the cool air outside the smothering blue innards. His toes wiggled in the open air, and then he felt his shins, drenched in drool, outside. It was cold outside the maw, but anything was better than being in the snake's belly, and he wiggled and elbowed and pushed, believing somehow that he was escaping his fate. He fought hard and strong, shouting his defiance at the snake, even mocking it.
The snake worked the man out to his hips and lower belly, clenching and squeezing its powerful throat to allow him just a hint of escape. It let the man, reaching back, almost touch his lips or wrap his hands around the fangs, where he just might be able to muster enough leverage to pull himself back. It let the man believe he was free, let the relief of salvation wash over him.
And then the snake widened its throat muscles, and Dan felt himself sliding back down. Like falling down a water slide, there was not a hint of friction to slow him down. The muscles were opened wide enough his entire body fell, his feet sinking past the rim of the snake's lips, and the powerful jaws closed, sealing off any light that might have trickled in. For Dan, it felt like he was falling for an eternity. In fact, it wasn't hitting the bottom of the body that stopped his descent, but the muscles around him suddenly contracted tight, squeezing the life out of him. He would have gagged had he the breath to spare.
With a content fullness, the snake casually slithered back to its cave. Although it had a full grown man housed inside its belly, the snake was so massive, it didn't really show any deformity at its middle. Buried beneath rolls and rolls of muscles, if Dan tried to squirm even slightly, he was given a squeeze that broke his bones. Occasionally the scales would rumble, as if a gas bubble was housed beneath them. Very rare, one might notice a poke, emerging from inside, trying to break through the scales but never succeeding. And the snake body contracted so tight, it seemed nothing could survive the embrace.
The snake slid through the hole in the ground that led to its cave. The rocks here were warm and heated, and would aid in the digestion of its most recent meal. Casually, the snake stretched out as far as it could, contracting its muscles and squeezing the man just a little tighter. How he wiggled and squirmed and fought, still sure he could find a way out, it was nothing short of delightful. And the heat, the warmth washing over the snake from the rocks above and below, it had been so long since it had been able to enjoy a meal like this.
Laughter rolled out of it, and despite the confines of his prison, Dan found himself thrown about. The snake smiled down at the bulge of its stomach, and set its head down on a particularly large rock. For now, it had to digest its latest meal. But tomorrow, if it was lucky, a search party would come in looking for this little human. And, if it was lucky, it would manage to ambush a few of the morsels.