by Cookie
Oh, and she was naked.
The cauldron itself was almost as tall as she was, which was not very tall. In fact, her diminutive size had almost worked in her favor. But she was so tender looking that they couldn't resist.
They could have decided to roast or bake her, but settled on boiling. Now, resigned to her fate but not looking forward to it, she gazed into the water just as it started to boil.
The tribesman in charge of the feast looked up and waved. "Very soon now," he said, "You have good hot bath."
"I don't suppose begging and pleading would do any good at this point?" she said.
"No. You on menu."
"I guess that's just tough then" she said.
"Oh! No worry! We cook long time. You be tender. Meat fall off bones."
"I get the picture. But why hang me over the pot?"
"You see in a moment."
The water had gone to a rapid boil now and the hot steam rose up to where she was hanging. It condensed on her body as soon as it touched her flesh, giving her a glossy shine.
"That why you be tender," said the head chef. "Before we boil, we steam." With that he untied the rope from the tree trunk and began to lower her toward the bubbling pot.
The steam that had at first seemed pleasant was not that way anymore. It filtered through her toes, up into her private region and on to her nose. She remembered something from a cooking show she had seen once. How you steam a lobster to put it to sleep before boiling it. It's more humane that way.
The chef had never seen that show, however. Suddenly she found her toes touching the boiling water. Then her bare feet.
"Good foot soak," said the chef as he lowered her down.
She had always been told that she had pretty feet. She supposed they were still pretty, but now they were red instead of pink. And the pain was so intense that she couldn't scream.
"Look," she stammered out, "If you're going to do this, just go ahead and do it. Lower me into the pot."
"Will do. One part at time."
She shuddered in horror at the very idea. But the chef went strictly by the recipe. So when her feet had boiled for ten minutes, he lowered her legs into the pot.
She knew what was coming next and it terified her. She was going to experience a boiled cherry. The rolling water popped into her twat as she found herself waist deep in her broth. She screamed now.
Next came her breasts, She had sat down by now and saw that she would probably go no deeper than her neck. She also knew that she was not long for this world. Slowly the flesh boiled away from her bones. She felt it at first, but was beyond the point of caring.
They didn't have to carve her up. they just scooped pieces of her out of the simmering pot.
Everone said the toes were the best part.