Miss Tammy's Mouth

Miss Tammy closed the gate to the tomato plants and told Joey to come on. 

Joey followed Miss Tammy down the path that ran across the unmown grass of the backyard. The grass was still heavy with dew in the shade, and it stuck to his wet knees.  Then Joey got to the warm sunshine around the goose pen, and that was where he saw it happening.

There were naked pink babies squirming around in the grass, and the goose was swallowing them one after another as fast as you could say one-two-three.

The goose used one continuous scooping motion. He grabbed the first squirming pink baby in his bill and threw his long neck back until his head was pointing straight up. Then he bounced once, and the lump slid down his throat, and he was ready for the next one.

By the time Miss Tammy came back to get Joey, the babies were all gone.  Even the fallen nest had been destroyed in the search for more treats. All that remained was the fat goose and some innocent-looking straw scattered on the grass.

Miss Tammy squatted next to Joey and pulled him against her side.  "Why are you staring at Goosy Loosy, sweet heart?"

The boy did not answer.  He was still too shocked to speak. He had never seen a baby bird before, and he could only suppose that these were human babies of some sort. 

Then Miss Tammy said they had to go, and she took Joey by the hand and led him back to the house.  She did her best to avoid the wettest areas of the lawn, but the boy's shorts we soaked by the time they reached the kitchen.

Joey didn't say too much the rest of the morning, and Tammy decided that it was because the boy was tired and should start his nap directly after lunch.  The real reason Joey was speechless was because he was deeply in thought, still trying to come to terms with the fact that witches and bad people really could make you small and eat you like on television and cartoons and fairy tales.