“Randal! Get your ass mov … ” the Overman was cutoff mid scream by the sound of something wet and almost crunchy, like a roomful of people teeth gnashing their teeth as loudly as they could.
Randall sat up and saw what he thought looked like a paw.  It had the shape of a paw and there was leg that looked just like a dogs leg attached to the paw.  Both were monstrously large along with the rest of the dog.  It’s hair was constantly shifting and moving, sometimes swirling briefly in to recognizable shapes just to disappear just when you could tell what they looked like.  His brain simply did not want to register the sheer size of the monster in front of him.
Once he started really looking at the paws and legs in front of him, he saw that they were splotches of blood and bit of flesh.  It slowly disappeared as he watched, like the shapes they disappeared and left you feeling like it wasn’t there. That was all he could handle.
He was terrified, but watching what little was left of the group just disappear in to nothing was more than he could bear.  He felt his bladder empty, there wasn’t much, but it was warm and in a certain way was comforting in the situation he was facing.
“At least I’ll taste awful when it eats me.” He thought to himself. It was just enough to keep him from completely freaking out.
It was just about then, that he realized that all he could hear was a breathing sound that wasn’t made by any animal.  It was a sound that every kid in Sanity would know.  It was the sound of the monster that would come gobble you up at night if you were naughty.
This monster wasn’t supposed to be real, it was supposed to be a story to just make children behave.  Just a story, but not something real to be afraid of.  But here it was, anyone that heard it now would know exactly what it was.  It was unmistakable and sounded just like the imitations he heard.  His father once told him, “sounds like a pig with asthma, if it were a dog.”

This monster… was ‘The Maw’.  It was far more monstrous than he imagined when he was little.

Randall wished he could stop looking, but he couldn’t.  He stared at it’s massive chest and abdomen, that together, were so preposterously large it seemed impossible for the legs and feet to support it. It’s legs, easily the size of a redwood, were massive where they came from the body, but became much skinnier, the closer to the paws you looked.  There was no way those paws could really stand the weight of the enormous beast they were attached to.
He wouldn’t have been able to believe it himself, if were for the fact that, right now, at this very moment, it was right in front of him.  A monster to come gobble up all the naughty children.  Except that it didn’t just get the naughty ones and it didn’t just get the children.  

Randall “knew” that he was the only one left of their group.  He didn’t dare look around for survivors or call out.  Whatever he did next, it might be the last thing he did.  He had to do something, anything.  He didn’t want pissing his pants to be the last thing he did before he died.  The Maw hadn’t gobbled him up with rest, so maybe, just maybe, if he could figure out why, he might make it through this.
What did he really know about it?  All he could think about right know was how right his dad was about it sound like an asthmatic dog.  He thought wryly, ‘yeah, if that dog were bigger than a barn.’
What started as barely audible and quickly rising in volume, “I am not a dog…” said some unseen child, “I. Am. Maw!”
The words were loud, but it wasn’t a yell.  It was more like a voice that had the volume on it turned all the way up.  It was also loud enough that Randall had instinctively put his hands over his ears at some point.
He shut his eyes as hard as he could, held his breath and braced for the end.  Any moment, his life would surely flash before his eyes.  He held his breath for what felt like forever, some small part of him hoping that if he held his breath, that the monster would go away.  Finally, when he couldn’t hold his breath anymore, he gasped as gulped down a few quick breaths.  His eyes were still closed tightly, and he wondered, “was that a kid?”
“I am not a kid,” came the voice again, much quieter and almost like it was coming from inside his own head.
Slowly, very slowly, Randall opened his eyes and looked upward.  It was looking right back at him.  Randall thought it looked like it was smiling.
“Hi!”
It’s lips hadn’t moved, but Randall was now certain that Maw was talking to him.  He didn’t know how it was talking, but it was. He wasn’t sure what to do next.
“The nice thing to do is say, hi”
Randall's lips moved to say ‘hi’ but no noise came out.  It looked like Maw still heard him somehow.
The Maws smile grew and you could just make out the teeth behind it’s lips. So many teeth.
“My name is Maw.  What is your name?” Maw’s head tilted a bit sideways after asking.
“I’m Randall” his voice was weak and barely audible.
Maws tail wagged.  “Hi Randall! Are you ready to go now?” It’s head titled to the side when it asked.
“Go where?” Randall finally found his voice, and now he was having trouble with what to say.
Maw looked at the sack Randall was carrying and tilted it’s head to the side “You brought the box and the mask and enough to eat for many days.  That is all you need to go.  Why ask where if you are ready to go?” it’s head tilted to the other side as it asked.
Randall looked back toward town, then down at himself, covered in blood that wasn’t his and urine that was.  He felt like he was going to vomit, he could feel it crawling upward in his throat.  He swallowed hard, then carefully stood up.  He was in a daze, feeling more like he was watching himself than actually doing it.  “Sure,” he heard himself say, “let’s get going.”
Maw’s tongue came out, looking like a waterfall of tongue tissue and briefly but completely covered Randall in what he expected to be warm, gross and slimy, but instead felt like he had just been gently wiped by the softest material he had ever felt.
Randall still felt like he was watching himself, but even though he felt detached, he had no sense of panic and afterward had never felt so clean.  His bag and clothes were also cleaner and newer looking than the day he first got them. 
The ground in front of the river spire began to move, first it was just the dizzy movement like Maws fur, but then a small opening formed, starting in a circular shape, as it grew larger, it became far more defined and settled into a rectangular shape, settling into an opening that was more than large enough for Maw.  Compared to everything that had just happened, this seemed completely normal to Randall.
Maw turned toward it as if continued to move about until a ramp formed and a sleek, well light walkway appeared that led further underground.  It was cleaner and better lit than any of the tunnels he had ever heard about.
Randall wasn’t sure what lay ahead, but this felt right to him.  It was absolutely terrifying and he was probably going to have nightmares about it, but right now, at this moment, he knew what he was doing was what he was meant to do.  It sounded cheesy and he almost laughed out loud at the thought, but he was about to head to his destiny.

Maw led the way down the ramp and in to the hallways below.  This was much larger and nicer than any of the tunnels that Randall heard about growing up.  The floor was made of something that was shiny and emitted a soft glow. When Randall bent over to touch it, he was surprised to find that it felt warm and soft, like the skin on the giant leaf sheep when they’re basking in the sun.
There was no singular source of light, and yet it seemed almost as bright as it was outside.  Randall looked back at the ramp he had just walked down only to see that it was no longer there.  Instead there was now what looked like an endless hallway. Just as he was starting to think about what way to go, he noticed that Maw had continued walking the direction they faced when they entered the ramp. He also noticed that the light in that direction was slightly brighter and just barely downhill.
Maw turned back to Randall with what looked like a big grin.  The small child like voice was clear in Randall head, “I am glad you are back.  This will be a long walk.  When you are tired, we will stop and rest”.  Randall wasn’t sure what Maw meant, but nodded his head in agreement.  His mind was feeling a bit numb from all that had just happened and his body just kept moving on it’s own.

They walked together in silence, for what felt like hours or days.  The lighting had stayed the same, so Randall had no idea how long they had actually been walking.  His legs were feeling a bit shaky and his stomach had been grumbling for while, so it had to be past lunch or maybe even diner time.
Just as Randall was about to open his mouth to say he needed a break, Maw stopped and sat down in front of a door that wasn’t there a moment ago.  As Randall approached the door it opened instantly… no, it was more like it just disappeared.  He had half expected to see someone or something on the other side.  When Randall peered into the room he could see it was just an ordinary room, with nothing in it.  He looked back at Maw, who still had a grin on it’s face, then back to the room again.
The room now had several things in it.  Randall could make out a bed in the corner and there was another door on the back wall.  In the opposite corner, there was a small table and a food closet.  There were a few machines next to food closet that Randall wasn’t familiar with.  Right now, he just needed something to eat and something to drink.  He opened the door to the food closet and saw two containers.  One was square with something in it, the other was a bottle that had some kind of liquid in it.  Both containers were cold to the touch, but Randall hardly noticed.
He sat at the table, not paying attention to the taste of the food he devoured or the flavor of the drink he washed it down with. Once he was done with both, he walked directly over the to bed and fell on to it, asleep just moments later.