You had been lost in the woods for hours now, the light above you beginning to dissipate as the night awoke. You looked around nervously, beginning to give up hope that you would ever find your way home. The trees almost seemed to twist in an unnatural manner, almost becoming unrecognizable to you as your vision became darker. You fell over onto the soft ground, back hitting against something that didn’t quite feel like a tree, but certainly looked to be the size of one. Whatever was behind you moved, and as you turned around you met face to face with a terrifying creature. 


        He towered over you at 18 feet, a monster resembling some kind of anthropomorphic pepper, his slick, red skin standing out among the dim green of the trees. You yelped as he reached for you with his long arms, running away with all the strength your body could muster. You barely looked back as you booked it in no particular direction, swearing you could hear the creature behind you say something, although you were far too frightened to make out what exactly it was.  


        You curled up behind a tree, trying your best to hide for what felt like forever, until suddenly you spotted a pair of bright green eyes right beside you. Before you had a change to scream, you felt vines tangle around your mouth. “Shh… shhh… don’t be alarmed,” the creature spoke, gradually lifting the vines from your body, “I don’t want to hurt you.” 


        You looked at the beast with a bit of confusion as he sat down in front of you, in what you could only assume was an effort to look less intimidating. He patted a spot on his lap, seemingly indicating he wanted you to sit there. You did as he suggested, albeit with a bit of fear still swirling in your mind, although that quickly went away when you noticed just how comforting he seemed to be. You asked the monster what his name was as you quickly got cozy, finding a spot that your body fit nicely into where you were perched in the crevice of one of his legs. 


        “I don’t really have a name…” he replied, watching you get cozy, “but my friends call me Pep,” he explained. He pet your head a bit with one of his hands, and you could swear you saw him discreetly lick his lip for a moment. “What are you doing out in the woods all alone?” he asked, cocking his head to the side. You explained that you entered the woods to explore for a bit, but got lost and couldn’t find your way home. His eyes seemed to glimmer with concern when you said this, and his cheery expression seemed to relax a little. 


        The two of you sat in silence for a while, until he eventually spoke up again, “I’m sorry to hear about what happened, I think I may have a way to help you, but you need to trust me, alright?” His wording alone seemed pretty suspicious, but your mind grew weary with more concern as he plucked you from where you sat and held you at eye level. “If it gets too scary, you can always close your eyes and rest, alright?” he said in a very genuine tone, although you weren’t sure what exactly he was talking about. 


        You yelped again as you saw him slowly open his mouth, teeth parting to reveal a pitch black void, only vaguely indicating the presence of a throat within due to the bright green, leaf-shaped uvula hanging in the back of his throat. 


        You tried to wiggle your way out of his grip, but he almost immediately pushed you into his mouth and closed his teeth. You began to panic as you were thrown into the dark abyss and quickly swallowed up, you slid down his throat almost effortlessly and quickly plopped into what you could only assume was his stomach. 


        You feared the worst and began to punch at the stomach walls, begging Pep to let you out. Your attacks seemed to do very little though, as the most you got out of him was a slight chuckle. You could feel him pat his belly before speaking, “No need to fight, like I said I’m not going to hurt you. I just wanted to give you somewhere nice to rest while I take you out of here.” A look of bewilderment spread across your face as you questioned why he didn’t tell you that before eating you, although the response you got was simply a sheepish, “Sorry, I was really hungry.” 


        You had no reason not to believe your new friend, so you did your best to get comfortable, snuggling against the surprisingly soft and cozy folds of his insides. You soon fell asleep, the last words echoing from the outside being, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.” Something told you that you were going to like your new pal.