Deeper.

Swallow.

There I was. I tossed and turned within the confines of my crusty bread. Gentle, caring hands had assembled me a while ago, but now they were back, wielding a weapon. I glimpsed the shine of a sharp metal edge as I watched my body sliced in half. I screamed, wailed, my cries of agony piercing the air, but nobody seemed to hear my desperate plea for mercy. I was lifted by those once loving hands. I neared the tunnel. It seemed to whisper: "Yes, come on. Nice and cheesy, just how I like it," It beckoned me towards it. The darkness engulfed me. I knew this was my fate, it always was, but I had hoped that there might be a small glow at the end of the tunnel and that glow was a chance. Chance that the humans weren't the heartless, merciless creatures, eager to end my five-minute life. I was pushed further into the tunnel by a thick, pink finger. Small, white torture tools clamped down on me not once, not twice, but at least twenty times. I watched helplessly as my body faded before me, becoming one with the human. Terror crept through me while these machines sliced through me. A slimy, bumpy thing slithered over me, covering me with thick, gloopy liquid. Then I felt the tunnel shrink, I felt myself slide down, down, down...Here the toast is being chewed in the mouth by the teeth. The tongue helps roll the food paste into a ball while the saliva begins to break down the piece of cheese on toast. The teeth tear and grind food into small bits and this helps the person swallow without choking. The saliva moistens the food so that it is easier to chew and digest. I slid for what felt like years, years that I could never get back. I couldn't stop to take a quick glance of what was surrounding me even though it was merely a blur. The thick walls guarded me from the outside, from freedom. But then something changed. My surroundings. I was so disoriented from sliding down the endless tunnel that I couldn't quite place what it was. Maybe the journey was finally over! But knowing my luck that probably wasn't the case. No. My sliding skidded to a halt abruptly, and as I opened my eyes, everything was much different. I was now in some sort of pit. I thought I had found peace at last, a place where I could rest. Oh how little I knew! I had been plunged into some sort of liquid and before I knew it, my body disintegrated before me. But that wasn't all, the torture chamber churned me up until I was no longer solid. The pain was excruciating and I screamed in agony but, just like always, no one heard my calls of suffering. The toast next goes down the oesophagus which is a muscular tube which links the throat to the stomach. This tube contracts when it moves food down to the stomach. It takes around seven seconds for the food to reach your stomach from the mouth. In order to move food down, the oesophagus forces food into the stomach using Peristalsis. This is a series of wavelike muscle contractions that moves the food to the different digesting stations. I opened my eyes, expecting to see just darkness once more. I'd heard the stories from my ancestors, that the journey was nowhere near done, that the pain I'd just felt was nothing compared to what was next. My expression was grim. I was simply waiting for it all to be over. But my surroundings were now much, much different. I was in a huge space, with a ditch in the middle. The walls were covered with slime and the ditch was filled to the brim with a yellow-y coloured substance. It looked poisonous, it smelled venomous, and what was left of me detested even the thought of going in there. But I had a feeling that would take me to the end. Although I had only just stopped from my everlasting movement, I was ready to go on. How it could get worse was beyond me, so with a few deep breaths I steadied myself. Then leaped in the pool of what I now know was acid.Food enters the stomach through a hole in the top. The stomach is a bag of muscle that churns and squeezes food into liquid. Enzymes (produced by the pancreas) and acids break down the food a little too. Bile (produced by the liver) helps to digest the fats in the cheese. The stomach protects itself from the acids by lining the inside with mucus. Without the mucus, the stomach might start to digest parts of itself and cause stomach ulcers. About one hour later, the liquefied food leaves the stomach through another small hole. I was through. I made it! That's what I thought at least. But again, I was such a naive sandwich. Now I was winding slowly through a tunnel that already seemed endless. I was scared I would spend the rest of my life trapped in this maze of bumpy, slippery flesh. I was being knocked back and forth as I collided with huge slopes. I became dizzy from the frequent and sudden change in direction. I was hit with a wave of confusion as I winded further and further until I felt I could go on no longer. But then something strange happened...There was this odd sensation, like suction cups pulling at my foundations. I started to awake from my haziness that the constant spinning had caused me as there was a new obstacle to overcome. This horrible feeling persisted even as I willed it with all my ferocity and might, and felt like the measly crumb that was myself was still disappearing. Hadn't I been through enough?! It almost felt like I was being ... absorbed. That was exactly the right word for this unpleasant ... no .... that doesn't describe it well enough ... agonising sensation. And again, after struggling to keep hold of my consciousness, I drifted away.The small intestine is where 90% of the food is digested and absorbed . It grows as the person grows, babies are about 200 cm and adult's can grow up to about 6m! The length of it is approximated by 3 times the length of the infant, or height of the child/adult. Chemical digestion takes place in the small intestine, using acids and biles to chemically break down the food, then absorbing it into the blood!I kept being pushed through the tunnel, the walls contracting as I slid faster. Then I was squeezed, squeezed into another tunnel. This one was larger, but still just as terrifying. This was surely yet another stage of my suffering. By now my once delicious looking, cheesy body had morphed into an unappetizing brown paste. I journeyed on, through the larger tunnel. I started to feel odd as I went forwards slowly. My body seemed to harden, as if all the water was being sucked out of me. I was now a heap of brown lumps, no use to anyone. The large intestine removes most of the water from the liquid digested food. It makes it a solid to make it easier for the body to dispose of it. The large intestine is about 1.5 metres long average. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see, I couldn't feel. All I knew was that I had left the tunnel, and was being pushed, pushed out, away forever. Was this the end of my journey? All I could do was wait and see. The fully digested food is now faeces, which is waste which the body can dispose of. All of the nutrients have been extracted during the journey and now the faeces can be excreted through the anus. The feeling was intense. Clearly the human was eager to get rid of me. Well what was left anyway. I was completely different now. All the nutrients I once owned and cherished, gone just like that. The pushing continued, and I was fearing what was on the other side of the tunnel. What the next part of my journey was. I heard a noise, like a whale would make maybe, from above me, so loud it was as if it was coming from a speaker. But it was the human. It sounded as if it were struggling . In some sort of pain maybe? Hah. Serves them right for torturing me with no hesitation. But while the sound continued, no sign of stopping, I realised I was edging forward, and without a notice, a slipped out and fell.I finally saw the light of day again! Oh it was glorious. A wave of happiness flowed through me as I tried to take in every inch of light that was reaching towards me within the few seconds that I had. It felt like it had been an eternity since I saw the majestic glow of the world. But this fall was abnormally short, compared to the ones i had been through previously. I wanted to savour the sight. Breathe it in. I had an irritating thought that was stuck and wouldn't budge from the back of my mind. That this was the last stage of my life. That I would not live to see another glimpse of the universe, only to be trapped, alone, desperate.I never knew how accurate that thought was until it actually happened.And it did.The sound of a splash rung out, filling the air. That sound was something that I would never forget. I just knew it. And water came up and past me like a shield. I had made impact. My side stung with ferocity and all my anger and sadness welled up inside of me.I emptied the bottle of fury and hatred that I had kept for so long. Kept silent. I released it all, lashing out at the human, who did this to me. He was to blame. For everything. But then I remembered I was just a lump of useless brown sticky stuff. So I accepted this was the end. I had reached the end and knew that this was it. I took my last breath. My last sight of the outside world. The world spun round faster than ever, without stopping. I sank beneath the crashing waves I had created. It was over for me, before I could say goodbye to those who had helped me and to the world. Now I was writhing about helplessly, a whirlpool taking over my body, controlling me so fiercely there was no way I could try and fight back. Every drop of light had been stolen from me as I spiralled towards the path to the end. Darkness enveloped me, and it was all I saw ... for eternity.