Weirder Than Weird by Francis Burger Page A

aware of the answer… food! Sensing the bricks, the creature opened an unseen mouth, displaying long rows of jagged yellow teeth. A high piercing wail soon followed, which forced me to cover my ears. Its head snapped down upon its feast with a vengeance, enveloping and engulfing all in one motion. Satisfied with its bounty, the creature wasted no time retreating back to where it
    came from . A few sharp contractions and it was once again out of sight, leaving a trail of slime in its wake. Both my heart and my mind were racing. ‘I have to find a way out of here!’ I thought to myself. That’s when everything went black.
        “How long I was unconscious, I could not tell, but I awoke in another location to the pain of tiny feet mercilessly kicking at my sides and my head feeling as though it were on fire.
        “I looked up through clouded vision at my assailants. ‘It’s about time, human!’ one of them said in a gruff tone. ‘We don’t think kindly about spies now do we Krunk?’
        “The other let out a laugh then spit on me. I immediately became enraged and attempted to push them away but to my astonishment I could not budge them an inch. They both let loose with a hardy laugh, mocking my physical inferiority.
         ‘Save your strength, human,’ one of them said. ‘You’re gonna need it for what’s in store for you!’
        “I was immediately put to work mining the gold substance that streaked the cavern walls and fed their mighty crucible. At first I thought it gold; only it was not ore, but more organic in nature with a rubbery consistency. I must have mined tons of the stuff in the days following. I was only allowed brief hours of sleep and was always awakened by a slap in the face or a kick in the ribs. My anger grew to new heights but I was getting weaker all the while; my only form of nourishment came from a tankard of very strong beer given to me twice daily. The little folk, however, seemed to drink it continuously which added to their spirited demeanor. They joked and cussed and frequently took part in some terribly vicious fights among themselves.
        “After an encounter between two especially nasty combatants, one lay splayed upon the ground with a pick axe wound to his neck. Horrible screams reverberated throughout the cavern as the little creature spat up endless clots of blood. His opponent calmly brought over a tankard of beer, knelt down and pulled out a small leather pouch from one of his pockets, he then added a pinch of its contents to the drink and gave it to the one on the ground. A miraculous thing happened: a green glow flickered in the eyes of the wounded one and within a few moments he sprang to his feet with great glee as if nothing ever happened. They both laughed uncontrollably and walked off together. This was astonishing to witness, but as the day’s went by, every now and then I noticed  these little folk sprinkle a bit of this magic dust into their drinks. I was certain now that it was what gave them their amazing strength and recuperative powers. As it happened, I would soon discover the source of this magic.
        “ On this particular day, my routine of mining the yellow material was broken when I was ordered to follow a very stout and cruel little fellow to a chamber that I have never been to before. On our way there, we passed over a small foot bridge of stone. As I made my way across, a horrible odor assaulted my senses. I looked down to discover its cause and gagged violently. There, not ten feet below me, lay a pit with the remnants of what were once human beings! Piles of bones mixed with bodies in various states of decomposition. A more gruesome spectacle I could not imagine. ‘ I must be in Hell !’ I thought to myself. Now I was certain of Mr. Feldspar’s fate; he must be somewhere below intermixed with the bones of the other poor creatures that came before him and labored until death mercifully took them.
        “My cruel