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Unread 03-30-2017   #29
clovis
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Join Date: Mar 2006
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Re: New Story "Take It All In" by Clovis

INTERMISSION…

She was used to being the biggest thing in town. From the age of six, she’d been their little pageant princess. At first sight, all were taken in by what appeared a perfect angel fallen straight from heaven, but at first word they quickly discovered that the many-trophied pride of the town was also its bane. For beyond her skills at twirling or tap routines, the prissy prima-donna’s true talent lay in identifying and exploiting the slightest fault or insecurity of others. Like her bleached blonde hair, her soul held darker roots. It wasn’t enough that she was a gifted beauty, she had to elevate herself further by cutting down those around her who she maliciously teased and ridiculed with prodigious vitriol.

By the time young Etna had been crowned “Little Miss Pomegranate” and was paraded through town on a flower cart pulled by her new pony Titus, those who already had the misfortune knew something wicked was coming their way. From the smallest child to full grown women and men, all wilted in the presence of the rosy cheeked terror. This made it all the more surprising when, upon encountering the town’s more literal “biggest” resident, there was no venom and Etna’s tongue proved far less sharp for the one woman who was openly asking for it.

“Hello darling, I’m Frannie, but you can call me Fat Frannie- everyone else does,” the woman whose face and hands were slathered with the sticky juices of the county’s main export offered up with a laugh as way of an introduction when little Etna approached to bestow a prize ribbon for Frannie’s umpteenth consecutive pie eating win. Such nomenclature wasn’t so much self-imposed insult as it was a statement of fact and bold assertion of pride. Etna’s poor, over-taxed mother joined her fellow fairgoers in a state of shock as her outspoken offspring stood there tongue-tied.



Rumor had it that Fat Frannie had been a circus fat lady before retiring. Over the years as Etna progressed from princess to queen, she’d encountered the local phenomenon many more times and to her recollection, the woman was truly enormous. As equally red faced from physical exertion as contagious bouts of laughter, Etna had found Frannie a delight despite her size. In a land of fools, here finally was a woman who made an impression. That’s when Etna first realized it. While the public frowned upon the overweight, and in particular, overweight women- there was an exception. It was bad to be fat, but when a woman was the fattest- well then, she was granted an odd sort of respect. Everyone knew Frannie was bigger than any woman around, bigger even than the big men, and they all gave her her due.

Etna’s beauty had given her power, and she’d reveled in the adulation it granted from those around her even if it was less than genuine. However, beauty seldom lasts, especially with such ugliness bubbling just beneath. Etna liked her lean and shapely body, but she never loved it. Keeping all that together was a lot of work. Exercise was tedious and dieting torture. So much effort just to keep things toned. Too much time spent pushing things up while cinching and sucking other things in.

When the day came that she was no longer the apple of anyone’s eye, Etna simply ate the apple. Once consumed, something within her snapped. Abandoning forever her fit physique, Etna committed herself to gaining and at once began to finally feel comfortable within her own body. Few would have ever believed that the Etna they had known was an Etna restrained but it was shocking to all just how much she’d been holding back. With size there came a whole different feeling of power- and to the dismay of those around her, an even nastier disposition. All lingering inhibitions were cast away right along with Etna’s entire wardrobe of constricting outfits.

Only a matter of months would pass before a whole new and even larger wardrobe was necessitated- a costly but satisfying endeavor. It was then that the burgeoning new Etna decided to look up old Frannie to see how well memory matched reality. The photo accompanying her obituary didn’t disappoint. Frannie had been a very fat lady, though not actually a professional one. In lieu of performing under a big top, she’d made them as a seamstress for the plus-sized. One would hardly think to ask a lady her weight let alone commit it to her final printed record, but there it was in black and white and apparently by Frannie’s own dying wish. A proud five-oh-two. A woman with any sense of shame would have done everything she could to at least get that number down to 499. But those two extra pounds meant that Frannie wanted to plant her foot proudly in the five hundreds for all time.

And so Etna had her first goal weight of five-oh-three. It wasn’t until this year that she’d topped it, and the biggest woman Etna had ever seen was the one in the mirror. And like her outfits, larger mirrors were also becoming a necessity. All this had made her happy, but not content. Etna knew there had to be others out there who dared grow even larger, and she looked far and wide for her next rival. The odd news report and talk show exposé gave her greater foes to vanquish. And as further and wider she searched Etna came to realize that Fat Frannie wasn’t really so fat after all.



On this the night of her greatest feast and the culmination of Etna’s gluttonous rebirth, her dream of surpassing them all was finally within reach. She’d vanquished not only those whose weight was documented in the pages of medical history, but even those who existed solely in legend and hearsay. For this final stretch, it wasn’t even people Etna was competing with. Her’s was now but a battle of numbers… or so she thought.

Etna wished Frannie could see what her hometown beauty queen had become. The little girl who never mocked, but gawked and faltered in her presence- now her superior three times over. Would she be proud or jealous that Etna’s personal best and the world’s best were now one and the same? Finally claiming her rightful place as both the metaphorical and literal biggest thing around, Etna had no rival- no one left to best but herself. And yet…

Etna looked down upon her heaping mounds of flesh. If some thought of their bodies as temples, then hers was a holy city. She was so big it was difficult for her to properly gauge her size, and Etna cursed herself for not having mirrors and a scale installed in the dining room. Surely she was closing in on a ton. But somehow that didn’t seem so important anymore.

From her lofty vantage point, Etna’s body splayed out in all directions and it did so to such an extent that it well exceeded her reach. From behind, the decimated sofa was hardly missed as Etna’s voluminous butt cheeks filled its role and then some. Etna didn’t need to see or feel her ass to know it was gargantuan. It was both that upon which she sat and what she reclined against as it rose behind her as much as it spread beneath her. Etna was couch, cushion and all the rest one needed for comfort. Her far flung front left her too great a distance from the table, and her broadened breadth prevented Holly from parking the carts close enough. At a loss of how to serve her host, poor Holly resorted to hoisting platters and trays directly onto Etna’s belly and breasts, while balancing dishes and bowls about her hips. Soon, such an array covered Etna’s abundant acreage that she resembled a sumo-sized sushi girl.

“Well, look at you,” Dawn chuckled as she took note of her opponent’s situation. “Add a sneeze guard and we can call you the first human buffet station.”

“It’s called surface area little one,” Etna replied haughtily. Trying to mask the pangs of fear and doubt triggered each time she caught sight of her miraculously-expanded student, she plucked up a ham hock from her bosom and bit into it angrily. “I wouldn’t advise you trying it,” Etna said as she tore off a chunk and chewed. “Anything would just roll right off your ridiculous shape.”

“Soooo ridiculous,” Dawn happily agreed while gazing down at her grand rotundity. “Which is why I send everything straight down into deep storage,” Dawn continued as she opened wide to accept a heaping spoonful of kidney pie from Lydia followed by an equally full serving of tabouleh from Amber.

What would Frannie have made of this other girl, Etna wondered. What’s more, what would she think if she knew a woman grown so obscenely large as Etna could ever fear being overshadowed by a girl who until very recently had been prone to toppling over from the weight of her own book bag?

All records are made to be broken, but with every title tucked snugly under her considerable belt, Etna assumed her astounding feats would stand the test of time- or at the very least, her own lifetime. Her growth was unprecedented. Though not a one of them knew the exact cocktail of medications she was taking, Etna’s team of doctor’s marveled at her charts and fought to be the first to write their papers on her historic gains. And they hadn't even a clue of what Etna had accomplished this particular night. That anyone- let alone one as already large as she- could double their weight in a single evening was a notion that belonged only in the annals of science fiction.

Dawn on the other hand, was a work of pure fantasy. Compared to her, Etna’s growth was glacial in pace- mere lines on a graph that while dramatic, were imperceptible in real time. But with her own two eyes she had watched Dawn grow. Inch upon inch. It wasn’t just that her expansion was perceptible, but at times Dawn’s growth was flamboyantly rapid. She’d not merely doubled or even tripled in size that evening- no, Dawn had increased herself nearly TENFOLD! And still not a stretch mark to be seen!

Even with Dawn eating away right in front of her, Etna struggled to reconcile it in her mind. The idea that a knock-kneed little novice like Dawn Morrigan could emerge as Etna’s usurper was beyond absurd- even Dawn’s band of misfit companions had been in agreement of that. As soon as Dawn began stuffing herself, the anemic sprite’s body should have rejected the calories and fat like some foreign contagions and seen her sent home sick and defeated with a bellyache.

But what a belly… what a BELLY!

Dominated by that splendidly expanding orb, Dawn’s whole presence stood in mockery before Etna’s mystified eyes. A victory short lived would be no victory at all, and Etna begrudgingly had to admit that what should have been a leisurely victory lap was only the start of a very real competition.

Worse yet was another fact Etna needed to come to terms with- she had not paced for this.

Etna wanted to eat. She wanted to grow and get bigger- even bigger than she’d previously dared imagine- but Etna didn’t necessarily want to do it all right then and there. Etna was cramping up. She was winded. Overwhelmed by lethargy, all Etna wanted to do was lounge in her resplendent enormity. But while others might sit to take a load off, Etna’s load proved perpetual no matter her position. Just breathing under the weight of herself was becoming an ordeal all its own. From her beaded brow to her clammy feet, Etna was sweating like a marathon runner- this despite the water retention pills she’d taken. Her groaning stomach burned like a furnace as it tried to digest and distribute the cavalcade that she kept sending its way. Etna knew she was demanding too much- not just from her body, but from science- nay, reality.

Dawn, to her credit, looked no worse for wear as ever she magnified. Etna thought it better when the bloating brat had been hidden down the other end of the room. Though Etna tried to ignore Dawn and focus on her own eating, the gleamingly pale mass of femininity set before her just couldn’t help but draw the eye. It wasn’t right, Etna fumed. How the little one endured without losing any of her enthusiasm or youthful spunk was just another mystery.

Oblivious to the scornful glances being sent her way, Dawn continued merrily munching and crunching her way through the diminishing hoard of food while Etna bit, chewed, gasped… and swallowed a chunk off another ham hock. It did not go down easy. Where before she would have stripped the bone of all gristle and sucked at the marrow, Etna now felt herself quite finished even though there was plenty of sustenance left behind. No longer did she gleefully send her dishes and discards hurtling to the floor- instead, Etna now let the bone slip lazily from her fingers. Tumbling down her hillsides, not a one ever made it to the floor and a small pile of assorted detritus was slovenly amassing about her. Etna hardly cared as wearily she took up the next serving.

Eating had become hard work. Just lifting her arms was a struggle for they were as heavy as they looked. Etna didn’t so much lift them as she did drag them up and over her landscape. When the food finally reached her reluctant mouth she found that even her jaw was getting tired.

Bite, chew… swallow. Countless calories, but they did little for Etna. For others, food was meant to provide a body with energy, but Etna thought it a waste if one simply burnt it off. How many calories did it take to build the pyramids? Those calories are long gone, but the pyramids still stand today. Desiring such monumental permanence for herself, Etna’s medications helped her body hold on to as many calories as possible by converting them into glorious fat. Bite, chew…. swallow. Tired as she was, Etna labored on knowing no great work came about easily.

Then again...

Etna watched as Dawn accepted the last of the tabouleh from Amber while Lydia stood at the ready with a big steak and kidney pie. With unwavering yearning in her eyes, Dawn followed each oncoming spoonful as it made its long approach. Lydia’s took the more direct path, while Amber’s hand meandered as it brought her spoon to Dawn’s awaiting lips- the side of her hand brushing a delicate path across Dawn’s tender terrain. Bite after bite, each as effortless as the last. Did the girl even chew? The only effort seemed to come from those serving her who had to continuously extend their reach as Dawn’s expanding perimeter kept them further and further at bay.

On and on it went, and all the while the girl’s earlier words echoed in Etna’s ears:

“Beyond measure.”

Surely that was just a bit of bluster. As the premiere expert on pushing physical boundaries, Etna could well attest that such limits existed and the harder you pushed, the harder they pushed back. But Etna had mistaken Dawn’s confidence for arrogance before and that all went straight out the window the moment the little shrimp reappeared before her as some cartoonishly ballooned parody of a fat lady. Had the sausages not run out, it seemed Dawn could have gone on forever. No, it might just be talk, but Etna saw this girl had ambitions far beyond her own. “Beyond measure.” The idea was ludicrous, but Etna’s confidence in what was and wasn’t possible had been shaken.

Determined to continue, Etna grabbed another ham hock and took a huge bite. She didn’t even taste it as she chewed and chewed before push- push- pushing it on through to her unreceptive gut which growled its objections. Dawn had been right- Etna was forcing it down and more so with every bite. Packing her mouth was one thing, but swallowing was like fighting to zip an impossibly full suitcase shut.

Bite, chew.…. swallow. Maybe size was like the sound barrier, Etna wondered- something devastating when you pushed for it, but if you did make it through, the skies were wide open- limitless.

Bite, chew…… swallow. Every masticated mouthful sent below brought increasing tightness to Etna’s over-burdened stomach. Whatever growth there was, came in the form of an infinitesimal stretch outward and the variance was ever mounting. Where before her body and fat compounded, Etna had since begun compacting- tighter and tighter, testing the thresholds of her over-exerted skin. Another ominous groan from below confirmed to Etna that the barrier was very much real, and if pushed too hard everything might come to an unfortunate end. Growing and stretching were actually two very different things and it was of dire importance she not do too much of the latter.

Experimentally, Etna reached down and grabbed a handful of her flab. The increased tautness and density couldn’t be ignored. Nor the fact that her flesh ached from her own touch. A flash of concern crossed Etna’s face and it was unfortunately that very same moment when the eyes of the two opponents met again.

Saying nothing, Dawn simply responded with a wink.

Could Dawn have been suffering under similar strains, and only been better at masking it? No, Etna concluded, remembering how her weakling student once caught her thumb in a rung of her three ring binder and passed out from the pain.

“Beyond Measure.” Certainly this was just a tactic, something Dawn was doing to get into Etna’s head. Did she want her to give up and quit? Or was Dawn’s goal something more sinister? Etna shuddered at the thought that Dawn might wish Etna to truly exceed her limits. While the girl was known to stand up for herself when provoked, she didn’t seem to have a genuinely cruel bone in her. But had Etna pushed her too far? Sure Dawn acted the darling, but Etna realized she had no idea who she was really up against. Somehow, the incessant drive and endless determination displayed in the classroom had manifested itself physically in the enlarging girl.

Etna remained fixated on the little behemoth who turned back to her companions and resumed laughing and chatting away as she ate, and ate, and grew and grew. Etna felt the last of her confidence eclipsed as she watched in wondrous dismay the last sign of Dawn’s teeny toes obstructed by the great curve of her encroaching undercarriage.

It wasn’t a full turning of the tables, not yet, but Etna had to admit that she was intimidated by her opponent who’d quickly made her way through pies kidney, shepherd, and chicken pot from Lydia and casseroles green bean and ratatouille from Amber. All that, and Dawn was still eager as ever to continue when the next dish arrived: toad in the hole.



“What in the what?” Dawn exclaimed in horror before shutting her mouth tight like a fussy baby refusing to allow the airplane in for a landing.

Grandiose one moment, finicky the next. Was this another trick? While Dawn closed in on Etna’s lead, she had done so in fits and starts by tempering her astounding sprints with an incessant need to stop and smell every flower along the way- pausing at every milestone crossed to marvel at each size achieved. And now this. Regardless of the intent, Etna couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief with the reprieve granted by Dawn’s latest distraction.

“Don’t worry,” Lydia reassured as she dangled the offending spoon before her sister’s objecting mouth. “It doesn’t have any actual toad in it.”

“Good,” a highly skeptical Dawn muttered while keeping her lips thinly pursed, “but next you’ll be serving me frog’s legs.”

Lydia looked perplexed. “Um… sweetie, you polished those off an hour ago- so, they couldn’t have been that bad, could they? Besides, are you even tasting any of this?”

“Umm…” Dawn stalled, still reticent on the subject of toad in the hole. “What about that cheesy toast stuff instead,” she asked gesturing to another dish.

“Ohhh,” Lydia said licking her own lips, “Welsh rarebit, good choice.”

“RABBIT!” Aghast, Dawn shut her mouth even tighter.

“No, it isn’t…” Lydia fought to explain, but saw little point for Dawn and Amber’s eyes were both set to watering at the plight they perceived for a warrens worth of cute little bunnies. “Never mind,” Lydia huffed. “It’s not like we don’t have other options,” she said scanning the great number of selections still available. A smile of sinister sisterly glee came over her face as she made her next suggestion “How about… some nice spotted dick?”

“NO!” Both Dawn and Amber cried out in unison.

“Fine, fine,” Lydia shrugged as she took a nostalgic bite. “This is all traditional Morrigan fare- I can’t believe you don’t remember any of it,” Lydia said granting herself a second mouthful. “But if you’ve suddenly gone picky, then I think I’ve got just the thing.” Lydia rushed off and returned with a very large, very heavy platter.

Dawn tried to turn away in disgust, but her sister had no problem keeping up with her arduously slow rotation.

“Come on Dawn,” Lydia chastised as she taunted her sister with the unappetizing dish. “You must remember this, it’s head cheese. It was one of Nana’s favorites.”

The loaf of gelatinous funk didn’t make it anywhere near Dawn’s mouth as she used her tremendous belly to swiftly rebuff Lydia’s latest offering. BOOMFF!

“Hey!” Lydia growled as she was bounded back with the resonance of something struck against a big bass drum. “I’m sorry, but what part of ‘take it all in’ am I mis-understanding?” Staring down Dawn’s look of continued consternation Lydia presented another old-world delicacy.

“Oh, now this takes me back.” Lydia smiled wistfully as she took in the aroma of what looked more like an alien pod than any kind of cuisine. “Mmmmm… haggis.”

The mere sight of the gray porridge-packed sheep’s stomach had Dawn nearly falling over as she recoiled from the sight, while a green-faced Amber rushed passed in sudden need of a bathroom- exiting through a swinging servant’s door far too narrow for Dawn to follow,.



She’s wasting time Etna thought. Good. But darker thoughts couldn’t help but niggle away at the back of her mind, telling her that if Dawn felt there was time enough for mirth and hijinks, then it was anything but good.

Lydia finally located a dish Dawn desired, but took to prancing about her bountiful sibling in a juvenile game of keep-away.

“Here piggy piggy!” Lydia called as she brought the tantalizing new treat in close, only to dash it away the moment Dawn went for it. “Come on now, I thought you were hungry?”

For Dawn it was a struggle to move let alone keep up. Her great girth knocked carts all higgledy as she tried regardless. “Hey, I don’t appreciate being called that.”

“Sorry sis,” Lydia said- her tone immediately switching from adversarial sibling to one more parental. “Name calling is beneath us both.”

“It’s not that,” Dawn said bopping a cart for dramatic emphasis. “I’m no little piglet. If you’re going to make comparisons, please pick something larger.”

“Well, you’re not exactly hog-sized are you? Remember the blue ribbon winner at the fair?” Lydia sized up her super-sized sister before it came to her. “Oh! What about those pygmy hippos we saw in that documentary? They were pretty big and kinda cute in their own way.”

“That might do for now,” Dawn acquiesced as she pictured herself bobbing along with her new hippopotamus brethren, “though I don’t quite care for the pygmy part.”

“Well, no one’s going to be calling you a pygmy person anymore, so at least there’s that.”

Was this all just a fun night out for them? Had Dawn forgotten about the contest? Forgotten about the very real stakes on the line? Etna found the girl as infuriating as she was confounding. Watching the sisters at play with an unwavering scowl, Etna assumed she was being actively ignored to infuriate her further.

But as she continued obsessing over Dawn, she in turn, never gave Etna so much as a passing glance as the silliness continued.

It then hit Etna that there was something far worse behind Dawn’s attitude toward her, and that was complete and utter indifference.

While Etna had struggled to come to terms with the idea of Dawn as a worthy opponent, it was clear that Dawn never saw Etna as any such thing. Dawn did not care what Etna was doing- didn’t care how big she was or how big she might get. And only one thing could justify such confidence:

“Beyond measure.”

It wasn’t just something Dawn said, this was something Dawn truly believed she could achieve.

An unsettling chill of despair washed over Etna as she processed this. Was her defeat all but inevitable? Were those years spent eating, of growing, all for naught? Would she have to settle for second place? Was there anyone she could blame but herself, for it was her own extravagant feast that had equipped her vanquisher.

It had truly been a banquet for the ages. As Etna looked over what still remained, a realization suddenly came to her- it didn’t matter if Dawn possessed an unlimited capacity, didn’t matter if she never tired, for there was still one thing Dawn didn’t have in endless abundance and that was food. Even more fortunate, this was a fact Dawn seemed oblivious to. There were still opportunities Etna could exploit. More important than her need to continue eating, she now needed to strategize.



“GIRL!” Etna shouted, unaware that Holly was already by her side placing an assortment of bacon-wrapped appetizers upon her hip. The tray was a tad lighter than it ought have been as Holly had snatched a few for herself. Snapping to attention, Holly stood with a strip of greasy goodness hanging out of her guilty mouth like a tongue.

“M’am?”

“A moment of your time dear,” Etna motioned Holly to come closer so they could speak in more hushed tones. “I’d like to pick that big brain of yours.”

Sweet Holly held no qualms about getting in close with Etna. To reach her ear, the girl had to place a knee upon Etna’s hip with a hand on her fleshy shoulder for balance as she leaned her long form in.

So used to her own stench, Etna was caught off guard as Holly’s scent wafted to her nose as their faces got intimately close. The girl wore no perfume, but her natural fragrance seemed that of warm bread drizzled with honey. Etna couldn’t help but lick her lips.

“If you’re so good at calculations,” Etna asked in a whisper, “then tell me- can she do it? Even if I were to stop right now and quit cold turkey?”

“Oh, Miss Vesuvi,” Holly answered brightly, “if you ate everything excepting the cold turkey, you’d certainly win.”

“No, you id…” Etna paused to compose herself. “What I mean to say is, if I were to stop eating altogether and let Dawn finish off the rest, does enough remain…” Etna had trouble even saying it, “could she possibly gain enough to beat me?”

Holly didn’t even so much as turn her head before she responded. “If Dawn eats all the remaining food that’s been prepared, it might be close, but it won’t be enough.” She then leaned in closer to Etna’s ear, her very full chest pressing into Etna’s shoulder fat as with a whisper she warned, “But you should know… Dawn seems to gain size beyond what she eats.”

“True,” Etna nodded in agreement. “That explains why she doesn’t seem as heavy as she should be.”

Holly withdrew and brought herself back up to her full height as she reminded, “And this contest is about size, not weight- correct?”

“Yes, yes,” Etna agreed. Conjuring up her best smile she looked up to the beauty and said with a bat of the eyelashes, “I just hope I can still count on your assistance in this matter.” Etna waved dismissively at Dawn who was still gallivanting about with her sister. “That one’s got two helpers already- hardly seems fair.”

“Of course I’ll help. You have my word,” Holly reassured as she picked up the largest of the ham hocks.

Looking the girl in the eyes, Etna saw nothing of deception in Holly. “She’s your friend and I know money can’t buy friendship, but stick with me and I’ll show you all the things money can buy,” Etna promised as she held her hand out to accept the offering.

Hock still in hand, Holly paused. Inside her lovely head wheels were spinning as a complex decision was being weighed. After pouring over the data Holly leaned in once again and with a smile and a conspiratorial tone whispered, “there are variables at play that we don’t yet understand. I would not recommend stopping.”

“Right,” was what Etna meant to say, but no sooner had she opened her mouth, Holly shoved the entirety of the ham hock into it.

“Mmmph… b’phurst… nee… prls,” Etna gasped trying to pull the great wad of meat from her maw.

“You worry about eating,” Holly said in-between Etna’s attempts at words. “I’ll gather up your pills.” Looking about, Holly saw that Etna’s earlier battle with the dining table had sent them scattershot around the room. “They’ve gone everywhere,” Holly commented. Undeterred, she swiftly went down on her hands and knees to collect every last one of the errant pharmaceuticals. Unwittingly or not, the compromised position coupled with her short skirt granted Etna a view of the most wondrously pert and perfectly heart-shaped bottom which palpitated enticingly as Holly made quick work of her task.

Etna looked at the huge portion of pork in her hand and wondered how such a thing had even fit in her mouth. It was bigger than a big man’s fist. Then again… Etna reflected as she looked at her own hands that were bigger now than any man’s she’d ever seen. There wasn’t a part of her that hadn’t grown. Dawn’s body may have exploded outward, but her mouth remained as little as ever. Inspired by what she could now consider a mouthful, Etna opened wide and slid the hock back in. While it may have taken her longer than she would have liked to strip it, Etna was still mighty pleased with herself when she pulled the glistening clean bone from her lips, mimicking the style of a cartoon cat.

She tossed the remnant over her shoulder, and as she grabbed for the last of the ham hocks Etna was reminded of another advantage she had over Dawn. Etna could still feed herself whereas the other girl’s outstretched hands had no hope of ever reaching her mouth.

A salad bowl was soon delivered to Etna’s left hip and it was filled to brimming with enough of her special medications that they alone would constitute a grand feast for any lesser being. Etna immediately began pairing every bite of food with one of the pills. She still had science on her side, and as Etna swallowed them down she urged them to hurry up and get to work.

In the meantime, Dawn had finally managed to wear her sister down and was once again being fed. As Etna watched that little mouth take in an entire beef Wellington in under a minute she could confirm that whatever methods Dawn was utilizing, they sure weren’t scientific. Inadvertently then, Etna’s following bite was accompanied by a hearty sigh and a whole plethora of pills.

But perhaps, Etna realized, she should not take them all- for in the distance could be heard the sound of nibbling and Etna observed how well her earlier machinations had taken root. There were more than two stomachs at work in the room and it seemed time to exploit the third one to its fullest. Picking away little tastes from this and that wasn’t going to help keep food out of Dawn’s mouth. Trust and bribery was one thing, but Etna knew no ally was better than an unwitting one.

It was time to increase Holly’s dosage.

“Oh dearie- yoo-hoo!” Etna called over, catching Holly in the act of sneaking a few bites from some fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits in a basket she was meant to be carrying over to her host.

“M’am,” Holly squeaked as she scurried over, giving each of her fingers a lick along the way.

“Now, I don’t want to seem ungrateful,” Etna said with sugary sweetness as she brushed some of the ham bones from her body. “You’ve stocked me with quite the selection here, but I’m thinking that ambrosia’s time may finally have come.”

“Oh…” Holly said with just the slightest hint of disappointment. In her polite way it was clear she was devastated, but she never voiced any objection.

“I know I promised it to you,” Etna consoled. “But I’ve never had it before and you made it seem so tempting. Besides, look at that bowl- why it’s big enough to bathe a small child in. Surely there’s enough to share.

“Now, bring it here,” Etna ordered with a touch of sternness after Holly hesitated another moment longer. Spreading apart her corpulent breasts, Etna made room for what was to come.

In a most unladylike way, Holly grunted as she struggled to lift the heavy bowl that contained her beloved technicolor concoction. The stitches in her tight sweater began to pop as it struggled to contain her straining upper body.

As soon as the great bowl was planted atop her ponderous proscenium, Etna began fussing over the gastronomic atrocity. She ran her left hand over it in inspection, then with her right, began navigating the serving spoon throughout the strange mixture, giving the appearance of looking for the choicest bit. Lifting but a morsel to her mouth, Etna gave it a sniff and a lick, then decided she’d had enough.

“Gah!” Etna exclaimed dramatically. “I guess it's an acquired taste- though to look at me you’d think I’d acquired them all. But alas…” Etna sighed as she gave the bowl a little nudge. “I am a woman of my word, and seeing as you were the only one here with the decency to come to the aid of a lady in need during my… collapse- well, I’d say you’ve more than earned it.”

Holly lit up like a bundle of Christmas lights as she took back the family favorite. Seeking out a clear patch on the floor, she plopped herself down. With her legs crossed and the bowl filling her lap, Holly took to the ambrosia salad with the zeal of a kid devouring cereal on a Saturday morning.

Etna smiled as she observed her new protege. Turning back to her other, less agreeable one, she saw that there was a second beef Wellington, though in a matter of seconds… there wasn’t. Deciding she should be doing the same, Etna reached for her next meal.



Bite, chew….. swallow. Etna knew it best to try and ignore Dawn. Just focus on eating. It may hurt, it may be dangerous, but she just had to get through tonight. She could do it. She was a champion. Etna cursed herself for allowing the little twerp to rob her of her confidence.

Bite, chew…. swallow. Etna wasn’t one to acquiesce- if this was going to be a competition, then so be it. If there was room in Dawn, then there was room in Etna. If not, she would make room. She couldn’t match Dawn bite for bite, but she wouldn’t stop either. Every bite taken was one less available to Dawn. Every inch added to her own body was a divine rite whereas each ceded to Dawn seemed a form of sacrilegious malfeasance. It may not be the trouncing she'd wanted to give, but if she played things right, Etna would still be the biggest with time for more later.

Bite, chew… swallow. Having seen what was possible with Dawn, Etna vowed to put the screws to her so-called doctors and scientists and get them working on some better meds. After all, if her body held out, she could afford to eat like this every day. Dawn on the other hand would never be so fortunate. The girl was a full scholarship kid with mere weeks left on the university’s meal plan. No way could poor impoverished Dawn afford the lifestyle of size- especially with her silly goals of working for non-profits. Like a punctured balloon, she’d soon wither back down to the stick-figure physique Dawn was previously famous for.

Bite, chew, swallow. When the next day finally came Etna would be proven triumphant. With a little time for her body to loosen up, she’d then get back to testing those limits. Get to a size where she could justifiably call Dawn pipsqueak once more. The biggest person ever. Unequivocally so. Unchallenged in the world- not just for the moment, but for all time.

Etna had big plans- she’d call back the construction workers and get them to revise theirs. Not only would they have to widen the already widened doors and halls, but raise the very roofs for the precedent setting resident. This would be followed by an order for her dressmaker- who, if the new measurements didn’t give her a heart attack, would make Etna a brand new pageant dress. An entire bolt of fabric may be needed just to make the sash, but she would need one for there was going to be another parade. The reappointed Queen of Pomegranate County’s triumphant return. All memories of “Fat Frannie" would be wiped from the minds of the populace the moment they catch sight of “Etna the Enormous” whose body spanned the full breadth of the boulevard- pulled not by a lone pony, but by fleets of straining draft horses.

Last edited by clovis; 03-30-2017 at 08:30 PM.
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