Seth goes in one end and out the other

Olloch roared again, and the cocoon shuddered. Seth flopped around as the cocoon lurched from side to side. By the time he braced himself, the movement stopped. Seth was growing accustomed to the roars and the flurries of motion, although the thought that he was listening to a roar from inside a cocoon inside the belly of a demon remained peculiar. Seth had tried to sleep. When he had first started dozing, the roars had awakened him every time. Eventually; with the help of his mounting fatigue, he had managed a few fitful stretches of slumber.


Time was becoming meaningless in the endless blackness.


Only the growls and motion of the demon interrupted the monotony. That and snacking on fragments of the padded walls. How long had he been inside of Olloch? A day? Two days? Three?


At least Seth remained reasonably comfortable inside his womblike enclosure. It fit him rather snugly. There was just enough room to move his arms when he wanted to pick at the walls. Even when he was flung around, he never got injured, because the walls were soft, and there was not enough room for him to get shaken into dangerous positions.


With so little space, it seemed the air would run out in a matter of minutes, but his breathing remained unstrained.


Being swallowed by Olloch had made no difference-the air remained fresh. The closeness of the cocoon made him a little claustrophobic, but in the darkness, when he lay still, he could pretend the enclosure was spacious.


Olloch gave a particularly ferocious roar. The cocoon quaked. The demon emitted a couple of prolonged growls followed by the loudest roar Seth had yet heard. Seth wondered if the demon was in a fight. The snarls and roars continued. It felt oddly like the cocoon was being squeezed, first by his head, then near his shoulders, then at his waist, then at his knees and feet. The vicious growls continued unabated. The cocoon was jostled one final time and silence followed.Seth lay in stillness, waiting for the turbulence to resume. He waited for several minutes, expecting more roaring at any moment. The growls had been almost desperate.


Now all was eerily calm. Could Olloch have been killed? Or perhaps the demon had won a battle and then collapsed in exhaustion. It was easily the longest interval of motionless silence Seth had experienced since being swallowed.


Uneventful minutes accumulated until Seth felt his eyelids drooping. He slipped into a deep slumber.

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Groaning, Seth stirred. He tried to stretch but the effortwas thwarted by the snug confines of the cocoon. The realization of where he was caused him to snap awake. How long had he been asleep?


Opening his eyes, he was surprised to find the inside of the cocoon illuminated by a soft green glow, as if light were filtering in from outside. The cocoon remained unusually still. Was Olloch sleeping? Why was there suddenly light?


Was the light passing through both Olloch and the cocoon?


Seth waited. Nothing changed. Eventually he started yelling and tried to rock the cocoon by flinging himself from one side to the other. There came no roars, no growls, no movement except a slight tilting as he shifted his position.


Just silence and the even, muted glow.


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Seth began picking at the wall of the cocoon. He didn't have to break all the way out, he just wanted to see how tough it would be. He ate part of the wall as he went.


Soon he had made a pretty good hole in the wall in front of his face. As he dug deeper, the texture of the wall was changing, becoming goopy, like peanut butter. It was the best-tasting part of the wall so far, reminding him vaguely of eggnog.


After scooping away the eggnog paste, he reached a membrane. It was slick, and it rippled when he prodded it.


Seth ruptured the membrane by jabbing it with his fingers, and clear liquid gushed out, soaking him.


Now light was really pouring into the cocoon through the hole. He had reached a hard, translucent shell. Silvery light shone through it, overpowering the green glow. He was obviously no longer inside Olloch. And as he had dug, Seth had neither heard nor felt any indication that Olloch was near.


Who knew if he would get another chance like this? He had to try to escape. The demon might return anytime. Seth began punching at the shell. The blows hurt his knuckles, but the shell began to crack. Soon his hand burst through, and unfiltered sunlight flooded in.



Seth worked furiously to widen the hole. The effort took longer than he liked. Now that his protective cocoon was breached, he wanted to get out as quickly as possible, before some creature came along and cornered him.


Finally the hole was big enough for Seth to squirm through. With his head, shoulders, and arms out of the cocoon, Seth froze. Olloch sat not twenty feet away, back to him. The demon had grown considerably. Olloch was bigger than the elephants Seth had seen at the zoo, not just taller, but much broader as well. No wonder the demon had been able to swallow him. The glutton was immense!


Seth realized he had made the worst mistake of his life, and that now he would die. Why hadn't he waited to open the cocoon? Why was he so impatient?


But Olloch did not turn. The huge demon continued to sit motionless, back to him. Seth began to notice a terrible stench. He looked at the shell of the cocoon. It was smooth, with a luster like mother-of-pearl, except that it was streaked with smelly brown matter. Huge clumps of mushy brown excrement sat on the ground nearby, buzzing with flies.


Suddenly Seth understood. He had passed right through the demon, safe inside the cocoon! It was the only explanation.In one end, and out the other!


Olloch remained still. The demon did not even seem to breathe. He was like a statue. And judging from what Seth could see, the clearing he was in was not the haunted grove.


Seth squirmed the rest of the way out of the cocoon, trying his best to avoid touching the excrement. Once free of the cocoon, he picked his way through the minefield of reeking demon pies, slinking away from the enormous glutton.


While he was stepping around one stinking pile, a dry branch cracked loudly underfoot. Seth's entire body tensed.


After a breathless moment, he hazarded a glance at the demon. The glutton had not budged, and continued to hold perfectly still.


Deciding he had to confirm that the demon was no longer a threat, Seth started looping around so he could view Olloch from the front, giving the demon a wide berth.


Coming around to the front, Seth found the demon seated in the same sitting position as when he had first laid eyes on him in the funeral home. The texture of his skin had changed. The demon was a statue once more. Seth could not help smiling. He was no longer doomed! And until some new victim made the mistake of feeding him, Olloch the Glutton was frozen.

Chapter 14