You’ve never really minded the animals.
As you were growing up, your parents would tell you to stay away from them, afraid that some predator was going to gurgle you up someday. Your human peers would always relentlessly bully the animal students at your school, and when you pitied them and tried to hang out with them, you ended up being outcast yourself. Years later, your situation was the same; most of your friends were animals, and thus, most humans just consider you ‘that weirdo that hangs out with animals all the time’. Well, that suited you just fine. You were willing to be friends with almost anyone, regardless of their species, but judgemental people had no place in your life.
That’s not to say that your animal friends were exactly perfect either, of course.
“Come on, Lucy, let me out! I’m running out of battery in here!”
The bright flashlight on your phone illuminated the smooth, pink walls of the stomach you were currently sitting in. From above you, a familiar, feminine voice responded, “Awww, come on! You can charge it when we get there! It’s just a few more blocks!” You roll your eyes as you consider the situation. One of your friends, a snow leopard named Lucienne, was normally a fun gal to hang out with, but she had a normal penchant for pouncing on you and swallowing you up whenever you let your guard down.
This morning, she pounced on you the moment you opened the door for her. Usually, she’d let you out quickly, but this time she was going to keep you in her belly as she walked down to the coffee shop where you two frequently share breakfast. As she walked, her belly swung softly back and forth beneath her, like some kind of hammock. It was actually quite relaxing, in a way. Her stomach was surprisingly roomy, too. You couldn’t stand up or anything, forced to sit down with your legs crossed, but you did have enough room to stretch out whenever you were feeling sore.
You look nervously at your phone, as the battery life ticks away. You usually used it to browse the internet whenever you were stuck inside an animal’s guts for a while, but you forgot to charge it this morning, so it seems you were on your own. With a sigh, you decide to bite the bullet and turn it off, conserving what little battery it has left. The flashlight clicked off as well, leaving you in complete darkness. The gurgling and churning of her belly, combined with the constant, rhythmic beating of her heart were the only noises you had to accompany you.
It was hard to keep track of time from within somebody’s stomach, but sooner or later, you were there. Just as you were starting to doze off, you could feel Lucienne stopping in her tracks. “Alright, we’re here. You can come out now, ya crybaby. Hehe!” She slinked into a nearby alleyway to start coughing you up. Suddenly, it felt like her belly was turning inside out, squeezing you back up into her esophagus, where the tight muscles of her throat pulled you back up towards her maw.
Eventually, she coughs you out unceremoniously onto the cold floor of alleyway, you landing in a puddle of saliva. You opened your eyes to see the bright, vibrant eyes of the snow leopard staring down at you, a sly smile on her face. Being over seven feet, the snow leopard was about two feet taller than you, and loved to rub that fact in your face whenever she could. You flinched when she sent her huge, rough tongue along your forehead, licking the gastric juices off you. “There ya go. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” She smirked. “Really, y’should be thankin’ me. I gave you a free ride all the way here!”
You shake the saliva off you as you climb to your feet. “Yeah, but my phone’s pretty much dead now,” you sighed. Like most human citizens of Wolfrain, you tended to wear hydrophobic clothing most of the time, so even after a trip through an animal’s stomach your outfit comes out almost pristine. You only had to dry off for a few moments before you and Lucienne could walk through the front door of the small, local coffee shop and get settled in on a couch in the corner.
“Hey, I get by just fine without any fancy phones,” she shrugs as she sits down, the couch creaking slightly beneath her weight.
“Yeah, that’s because I make all your calls for you,” you chuckle as you plug your phone into a wall and let it sit. As the two of you relax there, you like to stare out the window and take in the beautiful sights. Indeed, the city of Wolfrain was no other. There were hardly any cars on the roads, which were mostly just used as walkways by the largest animals. Beautifully, the architecture of every building combined human and animal tastes, resulting in a city that looks simultaneously modern, and overgrown and wild. Even in the coffee shop, vines snaked through cracks in the ceiling, and the walls were covered in artistic depictions of nature.
The whole city was designed for humans and animals to be able to live in harmony. While there were many jobs humans reigned supreme at, there were also many careers animals excelled in. For example, the largest animals in the city served as special, environmentally friendly buses.
You watched as a huge, 20 foot tall elephant walks down the street, wearing a bright blue uniform labelled WOLFRAIN TRANSIT. The pachyderm’s grey belly was already swollen with ‘passengers’; you’d guess there was a few dozen people in there. Once reaching one of her scheduled destinations, the elephant leans forwards and spits some of her passengers out onto the sidewalk. She then walks up to the bus stop, collects fares, and finally wraps her trunk around the people waiting, lifting them up and sliding them down her throat with a single gulp! Once her new passengers were settled in her belly, she continued on her way down the street.
You chuckled at the sight, before glancing over the menu and deciding on some cinnamon raisin bagel and espresso macchiato for breakfast this morning. Lucienne, of course, just had some synthmeat and a big swig of water. All the while, the leopard blabs about any random thought that crosses her mind. “So, I used to think TVs were just another dumb human thing, right? Like, who wants to sit around staring at a screen all day, y’know?” She says, noticing the televisions set up above the counter of the shop. “But I’ve been watching the one at Don’s house, and it’s actually really good. Every episode is like a miniature movie! Like, there’s this one show about this cougar gal who’s like, a psychic, and she solves crimes and stuff…”
You only half-pay attention to the leopard as she blabs on and on, focusing on enjoying your breakfast while people-watching through the big window of the shop. She wasn’t really talking about anything interesting, but you enjoyed the sound of her voice, at least, and the comforting sensation of her soft, fluffy body pressed up against your side. You commented with the occasional “yeah” or “mhmm”, but ultimately just let her talk to her heart’s content over the course of your breakfast. Eventually, the two of you are walking out the front doors of the shop, your trip only having taken about a half hour total.
“So, uh, wanna hang out someplace?” She asks. “Abbey and Emil are usually at the park around now, and Sacha’s probably at the library.”
“I don’t know. I kind of want to head home,” you said, still a little exhausted from your stay in her guts. She paused, a little disappointed.
“Hm. Well, that’s fine, but if you want to go home, you’ll have to let me take you for a ride again,” she smirks, opening her mouth and teasing you with a good, close-up view of her huge maw. She giggled when you recoiled, stumbling away as the smell of her meaty breath struck you. “Hehe! So, what’s it gonna be?”
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