[clovis]

Chapter Eight

The sound of sandals echoing down the servants’ hall sent a mischievous look across Dawn’s face. Lydia watched her sister with suspicion as she edged her big new body closer and closer to the swinging door.

When flung outward, the door did not make it far before impacting Dawn and rebounding, knocking a completely off-guard Amber swiftly back into the hall. “BWAH!!!”

A few more uncouth and unintelligible grumbles were heard as Amber collected herself up off the floor. Far more cautiously, she then reopened the door. From the small gap allowed by Dawn, Amber peered out. “Hey, could you move?”

“Sure,” Dawn smirked as she leaned her considerable weight forward. Dawn easily filled the width of the doorframe, but pressed on even further so that her bulging belly poked at least partially through, forcing the door to swing out the other way. “It’s funny, but in four years of living together, I can’t think of a single time you did me the courtesy of asking me to move.”

Amber responded with a hearty push of her own. “Why would I ever ask you to move when I could just as well move you?” Amber’s efforts jostled and shook Dawn, but even with her full weight and might against the door, Amber couldn’t get her roommate to budge. “Hrrmmmph!” she strained. “Little pig… little pig… ugh! Let me in.”

“That’s twice now I’ve been called a pig,” Dawn observed as Amber continued to shove and strain to no avail- her face turning redder and redder- tears streaming from her eyes. “Wow,” Dawn exclaimed with genuine surprise. “Am I really that heavy? Are you pushing as hard as you can?”

“Yes!” Amber squealed. “If I hadn’t just been to the bathroom… I’d be peeing myself.”

“Fine, fine,” Dawn acquiesced as she moved herself back, though still not quite enough to grant passage.

“Really?” a panting Amber exclaimed at the fact Dawn’s intention was to force her roommate to squeeze herself around her abundance.

Lydia seemed to understand far better than Dawn how Amber would see this less as a challenge and more an opportunity. Rather than watch the girls’ odd relationship become all the odder, she looked away- busying herself with finding Dawn’s next snack.

Hiking up her skirt and lifting a sprightly leg over Dawn’s tremendous belly, Amber realized that was going to be about it, for there was more than just belly blocking her path. “Um… Dawn, getting around your roundness is one thing, but these overgrown boobs of yours are totally in the way.”

“How dare you!” Dawn exclaimed in mock offense. Looking down to her hilly vista she consoled, “Don’t listen to her babies. You grow as big as you want- then grow some more ‘cause momma has issues.”

“And bless you for that,” Amber said gazing down at the feminine impasses that flanked her.

To Dawn’s surprise, Amber then grabbed hold of her hair. Using Dawn’s long locks for leverage, Amber brought her other leg up so that she was fully supported by Dawn. With her knees at the base of each of Dawn’s boobs, Amber straddled her roommate as a child would a hopper ball toy.

“Ow! Hey,” Dawn exclaimed as Amber kept a tight grip on her auburn mane.

“Now… move,” Amber commanded as she gave Dawn’s tresses a tug backward.

“Ow- ow- ow,” Dawn winced as she was steered by Amber who rode her like she were an overly fat and docile rodeo bull.

“Say you’re sorry,” Amber further demanded once they’d moved far enough into the room.

“I’m sorry… ow… I’m sorry,” Dawn pleaded.

“Good,” Amber smiled as she slowly- very slowly- slid her way off of Dawn.

“I’m all for what you’re doing here,” Amber said as she straightened out her ruffled up dress, “but I feel the need to maintain a modicum of control while I still can.” She watched a pout form on Dawn’s lower lip that only grew as Amber raised herself back up to her full height. “It’s alright,” Amber offered in condolence to her still diminutive friend, “I know it won’t last.” Giving Dawn a playful poke on the nose, she added, “little piggy.”

Looking past Dawn, Amber scanned the room and despite the opulence and corpulence on display, found it lacking. The fun of the moment abruptly slipped away as she asked, “Where’s Holly?”

“She was just here,” Lydia said while bringing a slice of quiche Lorraine to her sister. “I’m sorry, but I’ve had my hands full with this one.”

“I’m accustomed to searching for Dawn,” Amber said with a hint of panic in her voice, “but it’s our towering blonde I’m not used to misplacing.”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Lydia reassured as she fed Dawn a second slice.

“I just don’t trust her with…” There was no need for Amber to finish as all turned to Etna- a behemoth so large that she blocked a considerable portion of the room from their view.

…

With stern resolve, Amber marched over to Etna. “Where’s Holly?” she barked, stretching to see beyond the obstructive heap of a woman. “What have you… oh.” Amber clutched her heart in relief as she caught sight of Holly seated off in the quiet corner, humming a merry tune as she consumed her enormous snack.

“Can’t say I like your tone,” Etna said between mouthfuls of moussaka. “Sounds a tinge more possessive than protective to me.” Etna observed Amber as she watched Holly eat- followed the girl’s eyes that couldn’t help but wander down from Holly’s mouth to that treasured chest below.

Unsure if it was simply due to the advantageous vantage point of seeing the tall girl set down on the floor, but Amber noticed Holly certainly seemed to be filling out that old cheerleading outfit more than before. Amber caught her breath as a dollop of ambrosia salad dripped onto the shelf of Holly’s jutting chest. Holly motioned to brush it away, but quickly thought better of it. Not wanting to waste a single delectable morsel, she instead slid her hand below her bosom. Hefting up that heavenly mass allowed Holly to lick the untidy sweater clean.

“You like her like that don’t you?” Etna asked. “Just hours under my tutelage and look at her now- so vibrant and bubbly- a far cry from the dourly dressed wallflower you brought to my door. After years of dealing with you maidenly misfits, I’ve finally found an apprentice. A true wunderkind of the womanly form.”

“I liked her plenty before,” Amber replied defensively.

“I’ve no doubt,” Etna agreed. “Though I wonder how infatuated you would be if she looked a bit more like this?” Etna asked as she gave a pat to her engorged gut. “Would it be ‘more to love?’ Or, as you put it so indelicately earlier, ‘eww gross?’”

Amber’s mind lacked the vocabulary to properly verbalize or even count the ways she loved Holly. Just looking at her filled Amber’s head with the most purple of prose. Poems, lyrics, sonnets, and epic ballads were writ in her honor then tossed away for being inadequate. Looking Etna in the eyes, Amber very sincerely answered, “Any amount of Holly is a gift. I’ll gladly spend however long necessary proving that to her.” The wistful look left Amber as she then asserted, “but if I were you, I’d be more concerned with Dawn than wasting time with Holly.”

“Well, I for one don’t find time with her wasted.” Etna then gestured toward Dawn. “And while I’ll admit your little cohort there may have exceeded all expectations, I think Holly here’s sided with the winning team.”

“Holly didn’t… she’s just likes being helpful is all.”

“Very helpful…” Etna let it hang there a bit as she drummed her fingers on her tremendous and taut stomach.

“Besides,” Etna continued, “I’d like to think of this as an equal opportunity partnership. That girl needs guidance as much as sustenance.” They both looked on as Holly happily attacked the cherished treat with her spoon. “Food is that girl’s greatest friend. It’s a shame she’s never been better acquainted.”

“Was that bowl full when she started?” Amber asked, shocked at both the sheer size of the vessel, and how far it had been depleted.

“To the brim and then some,” Etna declared as she popped a trio of pills then chased them with an overloaded lamb gyro.

Amber knew one didn’t get a body like Holly’s without a healthy appetite, but she’d never seen her like this. The word voracious came to mind. Amber turned to Etna, then back to Holly when it suddenly all clicked. “Holly, stop!”

Holly paused. Her eyes brightened and a greeting smile formed as she looked up to her friend, but in a flicker she shook it off as with an air of indolence she began to eat even faster.

From the wall to the table, Amber saw there would be no getting past the human roadblock that was Etna without some unwanted physical intimacy. While she had no trouble pressing herself against Dawn’s bare flesh, Amber had clear qualms about doing so with her catastrophically corpulent professor. In lieu of taking the long way around the room, Amber instead got down on all fours and crawled beneath the dining table to join Holly on the other side.

“Holly… sweetie, you gotta stop,” Amber urged as she scampered across the floor. Reaching out, she tried to grab the very active spoon away.

Holly managed to keep hold of the utensil and delivered it to her mouth. Leaving it there, she turned to Etna and the two exchanged a knowing glance.

“Told you she was a bossy one,” Etna said.

Holly, spoon still in mouth, turned to Amber and nodded in agreement.

“Bossy? No- Holly…” Amber stammered.

“Remember what else I told you,” Etna said smiling.

Holly nodded again as she leaned in closer to Amber. Amber’s eyes widened as the new angle on Holly’s bust confirmed that everything within that straining sweater was definitely more substantial. Slowly, Holly slid the large spoon from her mouth, her tongue licking the goodness off like it were a lollipop as she said, “Kiss my feet.”

Though taken aback by such an out of character demand, Amber was certainly open to such a feisty suggestion. “Wow, you and Dawn are both really feeling your oats tonight,” Amber said blushing. “Still, who am I to deny a girl her wish?” Amber played along as slowly she rolled down and removed the first of Holly’s knee high socks before planting a kiss to the top of Holly’s beautiful bare right foot.

Holly’s expression changed little as she said, “You know, no-one ever elected you leader of our group.”

“No, of course not,” Amber agreed as she took her sweet time with the left foot. “But every circus needs a ringmaster- isn’t it just easier when I decide things?” Amber asked as she proceeded to give a loving little kiss to each of Holly’s toes. “But if you have ideas, I’m more than open to hearing them.”

“Good,” Holly said relinquishing her feet by crossing them back beneath the huge bowl. “Now, kiss hers,” Holly said with a nod towards Etna’s feet.

“Wuh-what?” Gobsmacked, Amber locked her knees together and crossed her arms over her chest as if she’d suddenly gotten cold.

Holly said no more. Nonchalantly she swirled the spoon around the bowl until it was good and full before bringing it back to her mouth.

“Holly… Holly, you’re joking right?” Amber lost all composure. Her characteristic pride and confidence fell away as Holly ignored her and went in for another heaping spoonful.

Amber looked to Etna who had pulled a clammy, swollen foot out from under her girth and slid it over in her direction as she gave her distraught student a wink.

Amber turned back to Holly, a look of pleading on her face. Wonderful, beautiful Holly for whom she’d do anything for. Holly who only scooped up another helping of ambrosia and gestured in the direction of Etna’s calloused, gout-ridden feet. The girl who’s voice had always sounded of sunshine and birdsong then said very tersely, “You’ve being very rude to our hostess tonight. Don’t make things worse.”

Though her pace was that of a snail, Amber seemed compelled to obey though her eyes begged for mercy. As she slowly leaned in to the point where her lips were tickled by Etna’s toe hair, Holly granted a stay of execution.

“On second thought…” Holly mused, “I think what our gracious host could really use is some re-stocking.”

Relieved, Amber leapt to her feet and ran for the nearest cart.

“No,” Holly redirected Amber by pointing off in the distance to a cart burdened with the contents of an entire clambake. Still eager to comply, Amber rushed over and unloaded each pot filled with the bounty of New England onto Etna’s body: lobsters, crabs, muscles, clams, quahogs, littlenecks, cherrystones, corn on the cob and more. When finished, the exerted Amber dripped with sweat only to find Holly greeting her with another stern look. “Manners.”

“Um… Amber stared back to Etna dumbly. “You’re welcome?”

To this Etna rolled her eyes.

Amber dropped her shoulders like a sulking child. Looking again to Holly, her sullen face asked, ‘Do I really have to?’

A raised brow from Holly was all it took to set Amber straight and she held wide the skirt of her peasant dress as she bent the knee and bowed her head in an amateurish curtsey. “Thank you for a lovely evening.”

“My pleasure,” Etna grinned as she shattered the exoskeleton of a four pound lobster- spattering Amber with a spray of salty juices and green tomalley.

Grossed-out and disheartened, Amber slunk back to Holly’s side, wiping her face as she went. “Why are you acting like this? Do you not see what’s going on?”

“Why don’t you explain it.” Holly could never have been thought of as pithy, but pithily she added, “Just be careful not to use any of your subtlety, sarcasm, or innuendo or it might go right over my big dumb head.”

“Sweetie, no one thinks you’re dumb.”

“I should hope not,” Holly said indignantly, “seeing as one of us is about to graduate with a dual master’s degree while the other leaves with credits still due.”

“That much is true,” Amber was on unsteady ground, and she measured her words as if navigating a minefield. “But… your mind- your incredible mind… on occasion… can wander up off into space, and we really need you present for this. There are real consequences at stake. Not just for Dawn, but for us… and for your own body. I think Etna may have-”

“Up in space?” Holly cut Amber off. “W-well… it’s better up there than in that thick cloud of whatever you’re always smoking.

Etna smiled down at the squabbling pair. The heat of their argument seemed to warm the cockles of her cold heart. This along with a handful of her special pills, seemed to invigorate her appetite and she dove in to her seafood buffet with gusto.

Amber turned away to hide the fact that she was genuinely hurt by Holly’s remark. “Point taken,” she muttered just as one of Etna’s empty clamshells pelted her head. “Dammit! Look, what Dawn’s done is astounding, but she’s still a ways to go. With Etna eating away and now you, I’m not sure there’s enough food left to get Dawn big enough to win.”

“Oh, there isn’t,” Holly loudly confirmed with a curt matter of factness as defiantly she brought another loaded spoonful to her mouth.

“Then why aren’t you worried? And why are you still eating?” There was desperation in Amber’s voice as once more she reached to grab the spoon away. “Holly, I don’t understand.”

“How’s that feel?” Holly said sardonically. She needed only to lean back to keep the spoon within her grasp- a spoon she kept to good use. “All you need to know is that I’m hungry- like, really, really hungry, and this is so very good,” Holly said as she took in another mouthful. “Mmmm… and there’s been nothing ever that has cleared my head or my conscience so well.”

“Did you…” Amber turned back to Etna who was now occupied fully by the aquatic holocaust spread about her. “Did you make a deal with Etna?”

Holly said nothing. She once again began filling her spoon, but now her eyes were on Etna as well.

“Holly?” Amber tried to sound more authoritarian to match the sternness she’d been receiving.

Holly’s attention remained on Etna as she gave a response too quiet for Amber to make out. With Etna tearing open mollusks and bare-handedly cracking away at crustaceans it was all very noisy.

“Holly.” Amber said again, raising her voice further in an attempt to regain the girl’s attention.

Holly ingested another mouthful. Between chews she murmured a response so softly that it was barely audible, but Amber heard her say, “It’s… I… don’t be mad.”

“You… did?” Amber was shocked. She watched Holly engulf another mouthful with an odd urgency. Any comfort the food was meant to grant seemed to fail against the weight of her guilt. Cracks began to appear in Holly’s steely veneer and Amber pushed on aggressively. “How could you make a deal with her? Against Dawn? Against me? How?”

“I…” was all Holly said then said no more. For but a second, her eyes locked onto Amber’s, but then quickly fell down to the floor. An odd look had overtaken Holly, like she was trying to hold her breath, and tears began welling in the corner of her eyes. “I’m going to be sick,” she sputtered as she then swallowed not one, but two scoops of ambrosia in rapid succession.

“I don’t doubt it,” Amber said without sympathy, “not with the way your shoveling whatever that stuff is into your mouth.”

“It’s not that… I… please just stop,” Holly begged, unable to make eye contact again.

Amber turned away in disgust. “You’re the one who-“

Holly grabbed Amber’s hand and squeezed it tight. In a hushed but direct tone she said, “Dawn is going to be fine. We’re going to be fine. And if Etna doesn’t know that, she’s a bigger moron than she appears.”

Once more, Amber was taken aback. Her head whipped around to Etna, expecting some furious form of wrath over Holly’s bold assertion, but found her still fully engrossed in her meal.

“Wait…” it took a moment, but Amber eventually realized what Holly had done by insisting she serve Etna not only the most hands-on food, but the loudest at that. Dawn and Amber were both fond of calling Holly a human calculator, but neither ever thought of her as calculating let alone conniving- the girl had never so much as fibbed. Thinking about all that had just transpired Amber lowered her own voice in awe and respect. “Are you playing her? Have you been playing me?”

“I know I have my moments, but I’m not dumb,” Holly asserted between continuing mouthfuls. “Mostly I’m bored. While you’ve been having your fun, I’ve been thinking ahead. I’m sorry I had to be so mean- really, I feel sick about it.”

As incessantly it rang from within her bowl, Amber desperately wanted to take the spoon from Holly, but was wary of any further repercussions. While there was enjoyment in Holly’s eating, the pace and ferocity with which she did it seemed less for pleasure and more like she was frantically trying to fill a void. “I think Etna slipped you something.”

“I’m sure she did,” Holly said as she opened wide for more. “This isn’t part of the act. I’ve heard of appetite suppressants, but whatever Etna’s got, they’re more like appetite encouragers.”

“All the more reason for you to stop.” Amber struggled to keep her voice low. “It’ll only get worse if you don’t.”

Holly tilted her head like a puppy in thought. Then to Amber’s utter amazement she thrust her impressive chest out in her direction. Taking a deep and filling breath, she gave it a mesmerizing shake. “Isn’t this what everyone likes?” In a whisper quieter than the sound of her stitches popping, she then asked, “Do you of all people really want me to stop?”

Fearing her widening eyes might fall right from her head, the flummoxed Amber fought against her baser urges. “I think it best if I never actually state what I want.” Between Holly’s retreating inhibitions and Dawn’s spectacular exhibitions, Amber felt Dawn’s wasn’t the only wish coming true that night. “Besides, you said it yourself- there isn’t enough food for Dawn to win. If Etna wants you eating, then it’s to make that a certainty.”

“I know she isn't’ sharing from the goodness of her heart. She may want to keep Dawn from getting too big, and she may want to fatten me up.” Holly looked down at her own body and struggled to imagine an alternately obese view. “But trust me, we don’t have to worry about Dawn,” Holly reassured with all the certainty in the world.

“Then what do you know that I don’t? Is there some equation where this somehow manages to still work out in her favor?”

“I have no idea how Dawn’s going to win. Honestly, I haven’t the foggiest idea how she’s done…” Holly gestured to the swollen girl on the other side of the room, “all that. You said what she’s done is astounding, but frankly it’s impossible. The math doesn’t work. I have my suspicions however.” Holly lowered her voice even further and gave a furtive look about as if the very walls may have eyes and ears. “Isn’t it odd how this all timed with Lydia’s visit?”

“Well, you always thought Lydia was a witch.”

“No silly, witches aren’t real.” Holly laughed at the very idea, but it was the nervous laugh of a girl in a spook house. “But Lydia’s always seemed a bit… different, and clearly Dawn is too. It’s like their operating system got an upgrade. It might resemble ours, but their coding allows them whole new functions and performance results ours never could. So, although I can’t see how Dawn could win, that’s only because I’m stuck looking from our reality. But like Dawn said earlier, what she’s doing just makes a different kind of sense.”

Amber mouth was scrunched up in a way that said she needed more convincing.

“Look,” Holly said with resolve, “Dawn’s our friend and the most determined girl I’ve ever met. What she’s done tonight goes beyond just eating, and if she’s not worried, then neither am I. Besides, when have we ever seen her fail at anything she put her mind to?”

“Well…” it didn’t take Amber long to think of an example. “There was that party we went to where Dawn ‘put her mind to’ wearing a strapless dress, but her body wasn’t quite up for it.”

Holly nearly choked on the ambrosia. Coughing, she sent bits of it into Amber’s already disheveled hair. “AMBER!” Holly gasped as she threw out an arm and slapped a hand over Amber’s accursed mouth. Her face was fraught with a look of distraught panic as she turned to Dawn off in the distance who was busily chomping away, unaware that her life’s horrors were being so casually mentioned.

The outburst had caught the attention of Etna however. Sparing them but a passing glance she seemed pleased with what she saw of Holly with her hand in Amber’s face, and returned to her feasting.

“How could you… why would you…” Holly was nearly hyperventilating at the memory. “We both swore never to speak of that night.”

“Honey please,” Amber shook her head. “I don’t think we need to coddle Dawn anymore. She’s got to be over it by now… or at the very least, gotten herself around it.”

“It’s just… poor thing, she looked so pretty. Her hair done up… and up… and up- made herself the tallest one in the room. All aglow and excited… and then right in front of everyone.”

“Good thing you were there to offer her up one of your many layers. Honestly who wears a shawl to a party?”

Holly looked at Amber crossly. “Anyway, if you’re having doubts about Dawn then you’re an even bigger dummy than that one,” Holly said throwing a glare at the enormity that was Etna.

Amber was relieved. Clearly the Holly she knew and loved was still there. The touch of newfound tenacity only added an intriguing new depth. “So, what you’re saying is, even though this is Dawn’s night, it doesn’t necessarily have to be all about Dawn.” Amber finally took hold of the spoon. “Maybe then, I should try a bite.”

“NO!” Holly yelped and pulled the bowl away, though it wasn’t greed that made her do so. “You’re fine as you are,” Holly said grabbing back her spoon. “I’ve never known a girl so comfortable in her own skin. It’s part of what I lo… L- LIKE- like about you.” Blushing like a field of roses in full bloom, Holly shoved a spoonful of ambrosia into her mouth to stop it from saying any more.

Amber tried to hide the fact that she was all aflutter. “I… ah… oh, um… But what about you? I mean, you’ve always seemed at odds with your body- how is doing this going to make you any more comfortable? If the opportunity arose, I always thought you’d have gladly switched bodies with Dawn.”

“In a heartbeat, yes,” Holly nodded in affirmation, but her face fell into a frown. “Though I’m not so sure I’d be doing so to make myself happy. I appreciate your concern, but…”

“But what?”

“You know, this bra is getting awfully tight.”

Amber’s heart skipped a beat as Holly, with surprising deftness, slid her arms into her top and began removing the brassiere within. When visiting her dorm room, Amber had secretly poked through Holly’s drawers, but never found her stash of undergarments. She was expecting some magnificently complex construct adorned with lace and impressive cups, but was disappointed when what emerged was a utilitarian looking gray sports bra- one well worn and stretched out. The bra’s removal made little difference in the compacted appearance of Holly’s chest, nor did it seem to grant her any relief.

“Well, that’s hardly better,” Holly said with a sigh, “the other’s are just as tight.”

“Others!” Amber’s jaw went slack.

In wonderment, Amber watched Holly dig in again, and like a cheap party magician, produced not just a second, but a third sports bra as well. Big became bigger, and with each abandoned suppressor, Holly’s impressive chest not only bounded outward- growing ever more impressive- but became more defined. The bras removal allowed Holly’s twins to stand out as true well-rounded individuals.

“Three bras…” Amber’s mind was swimming as she collected them off the floor. “Three,” she repeated. Amber clung to the over-taxed undergarments like a girl on a shopping spree as she asked a question no other person had likely ever needed to ask, “Is… is this all of them?”

“Isn’t that enough?” Holly asked in bemusement. Adjusting herself within the confines of the sweater, she seemed only slightly better relieved.

Amber couldn’t help but think that Holly’s sweater now appeared similarly constrictive, and to her credit, she said as much. “That top is looking rather uncomfortable as well.”

“It is,” Holly agreed, giving it a tug. Catching on to Amber’s intent, she gave her a playful jab in the shoulder and asserted, “but it’s staying.”

Amidst the sound of Etna gorging herself on soft-shelled crab, both girls took a moment to take in the appearance of Holly’s less-encumbered endowments.

“Did I hear correctly earlier?” Amber asked, breaking her silence but not her stare. “You said you’re an ‘H’ cup?”

“I did say that,” Holly nodded, but something in her voice hinted that there may be need to revise that claim. Holly’s expression went distant as she continued studying her more pronounced protuberances. “Freshman year, when I went back home for winter break, my momma was in shock. You might remember, I’d gained a little weight that first semester.”

Amber certainly did remember, and she did so fondly. In the first months of their flowering friendship she watched the last traces of Holly’s baby fat deposit themselves into her already burgeoning womanly areas. The further weight gained from her freshman fifteen simply compounded those already abundant attributes.

“I didn’t inherit any of this from momma’s side of the family,” Holly said. “‘We’re modest folks with modest physiques,” she’d always say.’”

Amber shook her head, “Personality has nothing to do with how your body develops.”

“Sure, there’s plenty of science to back that up, but try tellin’ that to the folks back home. You don’t get to looking like me without… well, let’s just say that developing a body like mine is an affront to the lord.”

“It’s a front alright. The back’s nice too. And from the side… mercy.”

“You know what I mean.” Holly said bashfully as she gave Amber another playful push.

“I’m serious,” Amber retorted. “If any god worth their salt manages to create a body like yours, they should be sticking pictures of it on the fridge like any proud parent.”

“Well, my mother threw away the big welcome home meal she’d made and put a lock on the fridge. With only days until Christmas, she put me on a strict diet to try and make me more ‘presentable.’ I managed to shed a few pounds, only it mostly came off my waist which only made everything more… obvious.”

“I was spilling rather indecently out of my old bras, so we went shopping to get some new ones. When the girl measured me and momma heard my new size she crossed herself and I was marched out empty-handed. I was told to wait in the car while she went into the local drug store and bought up their entire selection of ace bandages.”

Holly took in a deep sigh and another spoonful before continuing. “So… beneath my best church clothes, I was wrapped up like a Hollywood mummy as Momma tried to flatten me out in time for midnight mass. I could hardly sing any of the hymns, I was bound up so tight. But,” Holly paused to wipe a tear and clear her throat, “the desired effect was achieved. No shame was brought upon the family.”

Amber found herself beginning to well up as well, but stopped herself- and instead supplanted that feeling with anger. “Everything about that story was shameful. I can see why you accepted Etna’s offer.”

“No, I… “ Holly vigorously shook her head in denial, “I mean, maybe I’d considered doing something drastic before, but never got up the nerve. When I accepted that first sandwich, I- I don’t know what I was thinking- honestly, I wasn’t thinking at all.”

Amber could tell that deep down, Holly knew this was a lie. As if in affirmation Holly’s belly let out a growl. Holly put her hands on her stomach, a stomach her chest prevented her from ever seeing. “What have I done?” she fretted. “You’re right, it’s only getting worse. I don’t think I could stop eating even if I wanted to- not until whatever she slipped me wears off.”

The sexy evil genius Etna had created was fast crumbling away only to be replaced once more by the familiarly timid country mouse. Amber saw her friend still had need of her- to guide Holly to a point where she could comfortably land between those extremes. “So, you don’t want to stop eating?” Amber began,

“No,” Holly admitted, than caught herself. “I mean yes- wait, that’s not what I said.”

“You said, ‘even if you wanted to.’ So clearly you don’t really want to stop,” Amber corrected. “It’s nice to see that your duplicitousness goes beyond even Etna and I.”

“What?” Holly looked genuinely muddled.

“It’s called self-sabotage. Congratulations, tonight you’ve managed to outsmart even yourself,” Amber said impressed. “Kudos.”

“I… no,” Holly disagreed feebly.

“You might not know what you want, but you certainly know what you don’t want. What you call your comfort zone, I call a prison. Etna’s plans for you were reprehensible, but she did give you the key to breaking free,” Amber said grasping the spoon.

“No, I… I didn’t know.”

“Some part of you did. You know what your body does with fat. A moment on the lips, an eternity on the hips- for most girls that’s a threat, but for you it’s a wonderful certainty.” Conflicting thoughts overloaded Holly’s mind and Amber knew for the truth to fully sink in, Holly would need to give voice to her subconscious. “Like you said, you’re always thinking ahead. So tell me, what do you think will come of all this?”

Holly seemed genuinely pained as she made her confession. “I am big and I’m shapely, but I’m not too big. I can obey because I can be hidden… more or less.” Holly hesitantly bit her lip, then continued with a hint of something hopeful in her voice, “But what if I were bigger? What if no amount of binding, slouching, or baggy clothes could possibly hide me? Then maybe Momma would throw down her bandages and say ‘I give up!’” Holly tried to stifle a little laugh. “Can you imagine?”

Amber said nothing, but her enraptured face said that she could totally imagine such a thing.

A sense of relief seemed to wash over Holly. “I get it- how Dawn’s been feeling. We were both suppressed. By nature in her case, and nurture in mine. Either way, we were made to feel like less than we are.”

“You were suppressed, repressed, even compressed!” Amber spat as she tossed the pile of sports bras aside in disgust. “These things would be snug on Dawn- well, Dawn this morning. Next time, let me take you shopping. I’ll show you a bra can be more than a strangulation device. A good bra should cradle you, not squeeze you. They can accentuate and present. They even make’m in colors now.”

“Do I need accentuating?” Holly asked while stretching her arms up high over her head and pushing her big chest out once again. Taking in a deep breath, then another, she filled Etna’s old top in a way its previous owner could only have dreamed of as, Pop! Pop! small holes erupted in the stitching below each armpit. “Clearly Dawn figured it out long before me. There’s only one cure, and it’s not about getting smaller. I thought my figure was a curse. I thought these were bad- evil almost. But you- you’re the only one who made me think they could be good.”

“Good?” Amber perished the thought that they could be called otherwise. “Holly, they’re downright divine, sacred, holy. And that’s coming from someone who hasn’t actually ever seen them- that is, unless you’re counting my dreams.”

“You’ve dreamt about… them?” Holly cracked a smile- for once allowing herself some flattery.

“Yes!” Amber felt no need to be coy anymore. “At night, during the day, right this very minute. And by the way, they’re called breasts.” Endowed as Holly was, Amber noticed she only referenced them in the most vague terms- though she was certain she knew why. “It’s not a dirty word you know. How does your mother refer to them when she’s lambasting you?”

“My sins.” Holly looked down, shaking her head. “Every night at home it’s a Rosary for each inch past a B-cup.”

“Oh, you poor sweet thing.” Amber filled the spoon and shoved it into Holly’s mouth while simultaneously planting a kiss on her cheek. In Holly’s ear she then whispered, “Your mother isn’t here to punish you. Say it.”

Though hesitant, Holly let the new word slowly roll off her tongue and out her lips. “Breasts.”

Amber quivered from the virginal annunciation. Her trembling hand delivered another spoonful of jiggling ambrosia.

Holly gulped it down along with her inhibitions. A look no man or woman about campus had ever seen on Holly’s face appeared as coquettishly she repeated, “Breasts.”

Holly gazed down upon her impressive display as if seeing it for the first time, or at least seeing it differently. Any hint of shame was now replaced with pride. “I never met my Daddy’s side of the family. They’re all scattered about in Scandinavia, but I’ve seen pictures. You’d have liked them,” Holly said with a wink.

“And why’s that?” Amber asked expectantly.

“Because each of my seven aunts, and every one of my twenty six female cousins, they all have big… big breasts,” Holly answered breathily.

Amber set a mental reminder to seek out those pictures later. “I had no idea your whole family was so… large.” Reaching out, Amber boldly planted a hand upon Holly’s sweater. Cupping the breast beneath she asked, “Those copious foreign kinswomen of yours, they’re really all comparable to this?”

“N-not quite,” Holly stammered as she observed how well she filled Amber’s hand.

Amber’s thumb rubbed a circle around the bulge of Holly’s attentive nipple. “Not quite how?”

“I’m… I’m bigger.”

“How much bigger?”

“A bit.” Holly’s utterance dripped with modesty.

With her free hand Amber resumed feeding Holly. “And are any of them still growing?”

“No, they’re all older.”

“And you,” Amber asked while giving the heaping handful of sweater-meat a squeeze, “are you still growing?”

Holly gulped. “Yes.”

“And this is something you really want? You’re already big, but you want to be bigger?”

“I… I do, yes. I don’t know if it’s because of my mother or… I just do.”

“I know why,” Amber affirmed, “and so do you. There’s an old word for things that are greater, bigger, more impressive than all others.”

Holly paused as her mind raced through its internal thesaurus. When it hit her, she grabbed back the spoon and began finishing off the rest of the ambrosia in earnest. In-between mouthfuls, Holly looked to Amber and with a great big smile revealed the answer:

“BIBLICAL.”

“So help me, we’re gonna convert that misguided mother of yours.” Amber smiled back. She’d found the girl’s long dormant ego, and just like Holly’s miraculous body, it too needed feeding.
“She’s going to be bragging about you in next year’s Christmas card. Her big beautiful daughter- bigger and more beautiful than any girl in town.” Amber saw the scenario playing out within Holly’s sparkling sapphire eyes. The results were clearly seen as Holly’s hand picked up the pace.

“Go on,” Amber encouraged Holly, “you deserve some indulgence. This isn’t gluttony- this is just making up for lost time.” Holly’s self esteem swelled as Amber served up dreams and visions she’d never allowed for herself. “The next shopgirl tasked with measuring you is gonna drop their tape in shock. They don’t manufacture the sizes you’re going to need. You’ve always been one of a kind, but soon, so will your bras. Forget what I promised earlier, you’re going to grow right out of my price-range.”

The extreme imagery flooding Holly’s head gave her pause. “Oh, I’m not sure- I don’t want to go crazy. What if I get too big to work?”

“Well, I did have to climb over Dawn’s boobs to get over here,” Amber fondly recalled. “But Dawn’s on her way to becoming something else altogether. Just find a size that suits you. One doesn’t have to be the biggest to be the best. With a roll of her eyes, she gestured to Etna. “Sure her’s are plenty big, but… yeeesh.”

Holly covered her mouth to hide her smile at Etna’s floppy misfortunes.

“And don’t worry, what more do you need to crunch your codes than a place to plop your laptop? A big bountiful bosom can serve as well as any lap- better even as I seem to remember you being near-sighted. So, win-win,” Amber proclaimed then added for extra measure, “win.”

Holly took her time processing all this. “So… we’re good? You’re not mad about… earlier?”

“Mad?” Amber directed Holly’s gaze down to her hand that hadn’t yet left Holly’s chest and raised an amused eyebrow. “Not mad. Confused- absolutely. I’ve never been so proud and upset at the same time. I can’t say I like being manipulated, no matter how clever the ruse.” Amber gave Holly a wicked smile. “You may need to be disciplined,” she said removing her hand from Holly’s chest to deliver a playful slap to her bottom.

Unfortunately the desired effect was lost on Holly who looked to her rump and seemed genuinely hurt, at least feelings-wise. “I suppose I deserved that.”

“No… sweetie, I wasn’t being serious.”

“I don’t… I wasn’t raised by peaceniks like you. I can’t see how that’s funny.”

“Well, I wasn’t quite going for funny.” Amber struggled to stifled a laugh. Along with the calculator comparisons, she and Dawn also oft claimed that the third in their party put the ass in Aspergers. Like witches and breasts, Amber hoped to show Holly that spankings didn’t have to be bad either.

Holly scrutinized Amber, searching for her true intent. “What?” She knew something was eluding her and it was frustrating. “Did another one of your witticisms just fly over my head?”

“You’d be far less endearing if you caught them all, sweetie,” Amber meant in flattery, but Holly only narrowed her eyes. “This is a truce, remember?” Amber put a hand on Holly’s knee, “In fact, you can accept my total surrender. After your little performance earlier, I’m more than willing to follow your lead.”

“Really,” Holly blushed, now properly flattered. “Even if I lead you to kiss a certain someone’s big groady feet?”

“Yours?” Amber joked to deflect her embarrassment.

“Oh, Ha-ha.” Holly spread out one of her long legs and gave her lovely toes a wiggle. “Miss Vesuvi said even though you were a big bossy pants, you’d do anything I asked.”

“She’s been right about a lot of things,” Amber begrudgingly admitted. “So maybe I could use some assurance that I’m putting myself in good hands.” Amber held out her pinkie, “no more surprises?”

Holly held up a pinkie of her own, but seemed reticent to commit to that most unbreakable of oaths.

“Holly?” Consternation wrought Amber as their pinkies remained distant.

“Thinking ahead…” Holly replied, distant and thoughtful. “My faith in Dawn isn’t entirely blind- I think she may need our help and I’m not sure what form that might take.” Holly examined Amber’s crestfallen face with sympathy. “Anyway, what fun is life without a few surprises?” Holly linked their pinkies, but in lieu of a vow, she used that connection to pull Amber forward, catching her off guard with a quick kiss.

“You taught me that,” Holly said grinning as she sent her pinkie down into the emptied bowl to collect the last of the ambrosia salad. “All done,” she said offering Amber her laden digit. “I’m sure a little taste is safe. You deserve it.”

“It’s a salad?” Amber asked confused by the look of the funky potpourri. “Or is it a dessert?”

For once it was Holly who tired of the other’s reservations, so before Amber could make a vegan inquiry, she slid her finger right into Amber’s mouth.

Amber closed her eyes and tried to savor the moment as she engulfed Holly down to the knuckle. “Mmmmm…. good,” Amber purred, trying to ignore the odd flavor as slowly she gave Holly her finger back.

“I know, right!” Holly said exuberantly. “I’ll get you the recipe.”

In the fine art of seduction, Holly may still have only been playing with finger paints, but any effort proved wholly unnecessary for winning the already won over Amber. The reason became abundantly clear as Holly put the huge bowl aside and rose to her feet in such a way that her bodacious bubble butt soared right up over Amber’s head.

“What?” Holly asked following her friend’s wide-eyed stare. “Is there a difference?” Holly began running her hands over her posterior to gauge any changes. “Hmmm…” Holly sounded uncertain as she twisted about in odd ways to try and get a better look. Her face was an odd mix of frowns and smiles as she resigned herself to the obvious fact at hand as Holly confirmed, “It is different. Bigger. Only not dramatically so… right? I know a woman really ought to know their own body, but…”

On that subject, Amber was comfortable claiming the title of expert. Having spent so much of her college career on the study and analysis of that righteous rump, it would have served a better basis for her thesis. From her front row view of Holly’s fuller, wider seat, Amber observed how the skirt’s hemline fell at a more defined slant and its pleats found need to unfurl. Though she meant to expound, “Ah… um…” was all Amber managed to get out.

“I see… but it’s not a bad thing either- a big bottom?” Holly gave her tantalizing tush a shake and a wiggle. “That’s what I’m calling it by the way. Your word’s a genuine cuss, so don’t even ask.”

“I’m fine with… b-bottom’s… word good,” Amber stammered, captivated to the point of incoherence by watching all that had amassed beneath that swishing skirt put into motion.

Holly turned, changing the subject of her examination by giving her midriff a rub. “My stomach feels about the same, even with all that snacking. What do you think?” Holly had need for a second opinion as it had become all the more impossible for her to see what lay below her chest.

From the mountain of food Holly had just devoured, one would expect some amount of paunch, but at most, Amber observed little more than a softening around Holly’s middle. “Hardly any difference at all,” Amber confirmed as her eyes were drawn up to where a good portion of that meal had gone.

“Maybe I’ve developed a better metabolism. Still feeling peckish though.” Holly had her nose in the air as she sniffed out her next conquest.

From beneath the shadow of Holly’s bosom, Amber realized she couldn’t even see Holly’s nose. In fact, Holly’s bust obscured the entirety of her head. The odd view brought to mind a long ago museum trip where Amber’s perplexed parents were unable to draw their curious young daughter away from the sculpted foot of the “Nike of Samothrace.”

Whether she knew it at the time or not, Amber had found the form of her devotion. It wasn’t until years later when she first caught sight of Holly that the form finally found a face. Genuflecting now with Holly looming large and glorious over her, Amber no longer thought the comparison apt. There wasn’t marble enough to compose what Holly had in the flesh. The wings might be missed, but that so-called goddess hadn’t sported nearly the amount of under-boob currently seen pushing out from beneath Holly’s out-stretched sweater. Etna had been right, Amber would not just obey, she would follow Holly blindly.

“Wait…” Holly’s nose twitched. “Oh my gosh… is that… I think I smell pimento cheese!”

Blindly, but not everywhere- Amber was content to linger and bask in the view of Holly wandering off in search of another delectable oddity. The hindering bashfulness with which Holly had fought against her body’s attributes had finally been shed. No hint of conceit had replaced it, though Holly had every right. Even as her figure grew more bombastically blessed, and no matter how erotically amplified even her most casual movements became, somehow Amber found Holly poised and still intoxicatingly demure.

A tickle running down Amber’s cheek signaled an honest to goodness tear of joy. She wanted to pinch herself, but if it were a dream, Amber never wanted to wake. Instead, she got herself up and tried to regain the attention of her humongous host.

Wiping the wetness from her face before performing a fair better curtsey, Amber said quite sincerely, “Thank you for a most wonderful evening.”

Etna took note of her serving girl having wandered off to graze, and the weepy state of the one kowtowing before her. “Now you’re just embarrassing yourself,” she said dismissing Amber with a flick of the wrist that showered her with bits of buttery calamari. The two parted, each wearing victorious looks when a call of true triumph sounded out across the room.

“TOUCHDOWN!”

…

“Huh?” Etna looked over to her foe as Dawn’s joyous exclamation rang across the room. “What are you prattling on about now? This isn’t a football match you know.”

Dawn shifted about to make certain of her claim. As she leaned forward, straining to look down where she couldn’t possibly see, her face reddened and her eyes went a bit crossed as the more sensitive part of her nervous system sent up fireworks in an enthusiastic reaffirmation.

“Huston,” Dawn cheered as she threw up what little arm she could, “my eagle has landed!”

Lydia stood perplexed with a dense and heavy cylinder of Boston brown bread at the ready, her arm growing tired. “What?”

“My nethers have no region lower to go,” Dawn pronounced proudly as her eyes directed her sister to her southern pole.

Lydia had to step back, back, then back again to see for herself.

Etna groaned loudly, trying to let everyone know she was unimpressed. After all, her gut not only touched the floor, it lay splayed out upon it like some lackadaisical walrus.

“I did it! Oh man, I can feeeeeeel it.” Dawn rocked her body about in ecstasy, pushing and grinding even more of her weight down onto the floor. Aside from the more titillating sensations, this solid base offered Dawn a new external touchpoint from which she could gauge her enormity. The air against her bare skin, the touch of others, the occasional bump into objects, they all helped give Dawn a sense of her size, but now she had a true benchmark. “From my chin to the floor- I’m nothing but big round belly.”

Her curiosity peaked, Amber turned to Holly as if seeking permission. Holly, who was occupied with a batch of home-made kettle chips she’d found to pair with her odd cheese, nodded in approval and Amber hastily scampered under the table to rejoin her roommate on the other side.

Crawling beneath the table, Amber passed from the unreal world that Holly inhabited back to the downright surreal one of Dawn. There on her hands and knees she paused as the vision filling her view proved to Amber that she was no monotheist- her heart had room enough to honor two deities. Kneeling before Dawn’s lower half only made it seem all the more impressive. Dawn’s little feet flanked a smooth pressurized curve swaddled still in her endlessly stretchy unmentionables. It was all so different and strange, but observing what had become of Dawn’s loins was having an undeniable effect on Amber’s as well.

Cast in shadow by the bulging vessel before her, Amber felt like a horny kid in the most wonderfully perverted candy store. Holly was every lust-induced dream of hers come to life, but Dawn really was something else entirely. An adorable belly button greeted Amber right at her eye-line. Below that, she followed the triangle of panty on down, down, down to its point. Amazed, Amber reached out and slid her hand where no light shone to confirm that Dawn really went all the way down.

“Hey now!” Dawn chirped. “Who’s down there?”

Amber popped her head out from beneath the table. “Just me.”

“Oh.” Dawn smiled down at her friend. “How’s it look down there?”

From her low perspective, Amber felt she was in the presence of something giant. Dawn was everything alluring and familiarly female, but swollen and distorted to a wonderfully obscene scale. Amber stretched out her arms and planted her palms on either side of Dawn, unable to even make it half way round. “It looks… I mean, you look… great googly-moogly.”

“Come again?”

“That’s all I got,” Amber said getting back to her feet. “Dawn- there are no words for what you are now.”

Across the way, in between heavily dipped chips, Holly chimed in with a single word. “Tripedal.”

“What?” Dawn and Amber replied in unison.

“Ah…” Lydia nodded, “not literally three-footed, but Holly’s right. Your feet and your… well- um,” Lydia was pained to use the word in reference to her younger sibling, so she simply gestured to the ludicrously out of proportion area that was Dawn’s crotch, “that’s three points of support.”

“Huh… I never thought of it that way,” Dawn said in a slow and measured way that indicated she’d thought about it often.

Lydia decided to fill the lull by relieving herself of the burdensome bread and fed it to her sister.

As Dawn gulped the last bite down, she and felt its effects let out an exclamation. “Oh MY!” It may have only been millimeters, but pressed and spreading against the floor, Dawn was made acutely aware her growth in a new and exciting way. “My, my, my,” she hummed.

Coming down from her high, Dawn tried to take stock of what she could see of her body. “Well, no tripod looks like this. My boobs seem less pronounced, but they’re still there.” To her right and left Dawn wiggled her skinny little fingers off in the distance. They sat at the ends of two permanently raised bulges so plump that she could barely get them to wave. “Not sure what good they’ll do, but I still have something resembling arms.” As she spoke, Dawn managed a few slow, shuffling steps. Her aforementioned crotch rubbed along the floor as she repositioned her cumbersome body to an area in the room with a bit more space. “Other than that, I feel like a big round ball- which means….”

Slowly and expectantly, Dawn proceeded to lean herself forward. As her center accepted more and more of her load, Dawn expressed a long contented sigh much akin to when their old Nana sat herself down in her favorite comfy chair. “Ahhhhhhh.” Dawn felt her grand belly spread out against the floor as more and more weight came off her feet. Gingerly, Dawn continued until she felt her feet leave the floor entirely.

Her angle was precarious, but Dawn managed to hold there a moment as she said with a laugh, “Look, now I’m monopedal.” Joyously she wiggled her little hands and feet, amazed to not only have each suspended in mid air, but the whole of her supported fully by her stupendously tremendous tummy.

“Amber, was it your Zhuangzi who taught: ‘Stop thinking, let things happen, be the ball?’” Dawn asked as she resumed her forward roll. “Or was it Basho?”

“Sounds more western to me,” Amber said, watching in amazement. “I think you’re thinking of Webb.” Compelled as always to touch, Amber ran her fingers over Dawn’s back as it arched in a perfect curve before her. “I don’t think he was speaking so literally, but your interpretation seems no less valid.”

Dawn’s shifting weight reached an unanticipated tipping point and her body suddenly began rolling of its own volition. Her little hands flapped in an instinctive but useless form of resistance. Dawn winced as the floor rapidly approached and her bottom half angled skyward. Her thick and plentiful hair fell over her head in a tumble, blocking her view of the inevitable. “ACK!!!”

Fortunately for Dawn, her boobs proved more than ornamental as they provided a stopgap that prevented her face from hitting the hardwood. Dawn tried to blow the hair from her face, “Pfft- pfft!” as gradually her body settled, balancing out more or less horizontal.

Lydia allowed herself a moment to not just admire how her sister’s beautiful long hair cascaded down the several feet to the floor where it collected and pooled, but to let Dawn sit in the darkness of her own making. With a resigned sigh, Lydia knelt down and parted Dawn’s mane like a curtain, tucking it securely behind her ears.

“Oh, this is wonderful.” Dawn’s spirit returned as quickly as her vision. “No one… no other person can ever have felt such a sensation. I feel like I’m floating, but at the same time, I’ve never felt so grounded.”

Lydia snagged a plate of powdered beignets and fed one in consolation while giving Dawn’s forehead a kiss. “I’m glad you’re enjoying this, because you’re stuck down here. There’s no way Amber and I are going to be able to get you back up.”

“Oh no?” Dawn smiled and raised an eyebrow that signified less a question and more a challenge.

“I’m not falling for that again,” Amber shook her head. “It’s like trying to move umpteen sacks of potatoes all at once.”

Dawn looked up at them innocent and doe-eyed as she pled, “But there’s two of you now, surely both of you can manage.”

Lydia looked to Amber and with mutual shrugs, they decided to give it a go. Lydia set her plate down and each woman placed their hands on the curved form where Dawn’s shoulders aught to have been.

Instead of cooperating by bracing for their efforts, Dawn relaxed her whole body and in doing so, became less taut- splaying out like a giant water balloon rather than a proper ball. Sinking down and spreading wider, Dawn lay a grinning mound of dead weight.

Amber and Lydia simultaneously leaned in and pushed with all their might. While even ovals can roll, the two women found Dawn more boulder than pushover. “Oh dear,” Dawn pouted, “What ever am I to do?”

A second, more vigorous volley set all three bodies to jiggling from the jostling exertions, but Dawn proved too well anchored and didn’t so much as budge.

Amber panted as she gave a final frustrated push, “Why the need to shame us Dawn?”

“Because it’s fun,” Dawn giggled, half because she was ticklish, and half from pure glee. “But I promise not to make a habit of it.” Dawn loved seeing those hands pressed so futilely against her swelled mass. “Besides, it makes it all the more impressive when you watch me do this…”

Taking in a deep breath, Dawn clenched not only her hands, but the whole of her body as she tightened and regained her more rounded shape. In a playful experiment, she relaxed herself again to sink down a bit, then clenched and rose back up. Repeating the process with an increasing tempo, she managed to built up a little bounce.

“How?” Amber asked as she watched her rotund roommate undulate.

“It’s as easy as flexing a muscle,” Dawn answered, her voice fluctuating as merrily she bobbed.

“When have you ever had muscles?” Amber said only half joking and catching a glare from Lydia.

“Well, I’ve got something,” Dawn said. While she looked like one continuous round mass, Dawn still had control over specific areas in and around her exaggerated body. Using the rhythm she’d built up, Dawn began tipping and swaying as she experimented shifting her weight around. “Oh wow- wow, wow!” Dawn added to the satisfying sounds of the floor creaking below her. “Ever use a yoga ball? It’s like that- only minus the ball.”

Growing more confident, Dawn proceeded to more dramatically sway to and fro, rocking and rolling her body about like a ship in a topsy-turvy sea.

“Careful,” Lydia warned, “you know how susceptible you are to motion sickness.”

“I’ll never get sick of this!” Dawn cheered- amplifying her efforts and sending a cart careening off her bottom. “I’m officially roly-poly now.” The logistics involved in the locomotive methods she was inventing were absurd, but Dawn proved a fast and determined learner- made all the more evident when in one pass she skillfully swooped her head down and snatched a beignet from the plate on the floor.

Licking powdered sugar from her lips, Dawn gave her wobbly body some time to settle. “Step back,” she instructed the crowd of legs collected about her face. “I’m going to need more room for this.”

After inhaling another deep preparatory breath, Dawn began to rotate herself side to side, right to left, left to right. First by ten degrees, then twenty, then thirty. Once she gained enough momentum, Dawn anxiously bit her lip and committed herself to a full roll.

Too prone to accidents, Dawn was never one to playfully roll down a hill as a child. As the dining room spun around her, she could definitely see the appeal- especially knowing no body ever rolled so well as her’s did now. She didn’t get very far before colliding into a sideboard- though this was in no ways unintentional. Plowing right through the cabinets and upending it’s ice strewn top, Dawn’s body was showered with the few shakes that still remained from her previous stunt.

Despite the broken and splintered wood, Dawn was unscathed. “Wow- that didn’t even hurt.” Set amongst the destruction of her own making, Dawn had her hopes confirmed- all gain, no pain. The ice and dairy had all but disappeared from her skin as Dawn readied herself for another attempt with increased confidence. To the satisfying cracking of the defeated sideboard below, Dawn shoved herself over as far as she could until she touched wall. Using that as a launching pad, Dawn gave her great belly a push out and was sent rolling speedily off in the other direction.

“Whoo hoo!” Dawn hollered as she was propelled with such force that her long hair whipped round in a glorious spiraling pinwheel of red. Dawn felt her hands slap against the parquet- one, then the other. This time she managed a full rotation right before…

CRASH!

“POODLES!” Holly yelped her very worst curse as Dawn’s dizzying momentum came to a screeching halt and the great dining table spasmed. Rolling was a blast, but this had satisfied Dawn even more. She had felt it- Dawn hadn’t just shook the immovable table, she had moved it a good few inches.

With great proficiency, Dawn rolled herself back to her starting position. From there she began to rock, not side to side, but back and forth. Dawn knew getting up would be more difficult than anything else she’d attempted, but she thought it no less possible. To do so, she would need to isolate and synchronize her efforts to more specific areas of her body. As backward she rocked, Dawn focused on shifting her weight to her bottom while simultaneously pushing out with her chest. This immediately brought Dawn half-way up, back to her former tipping point. As Amber had correctly commented, Dawn never really had much in the way of muscles- let alone abs- but somehow she was able to focus and deliver an abdominal push as her momentum fought to reverse. Pushing on from lower and lower down her abdomen while shifting more weight up her back, Dawn steadily rose. One last big push from her lower belly did the trick and Dawn was brought successfully upright once more.

To Amber, what she’d just witnessed was as impressive as any Olympic feat, and she clapped her approval.

Lydia held up another beignet as a reward, but Dawn shook her head at it. “Hold on, there’s something I want to try before my feet become totally useless.”

Concentrating on her widespread feet, Dawn pressed her toes down against the floor and began to push. To Lydia, Amber, and even the great dining table, Dawn had proven herself to be incredibly heavy. The evidence was there, but to Dawn it only felt like she’d packed on a few pounds. To demonstrate that point to both herself and the others, Dawn lifted her heels off the floor with relative ease. She could feel her weight begin to leave her center, and she pushed on higher. She had no idea how much weight she was hoisting onto the balls of her feet, but hoist it she did. Falling back upon her heels, Dawn dropped everything she had back onto the floor with a shuddering thunder.

From out Dawn’s nadir, a reverberation emanated and spread across the whole room. Dawn was pleased by her little mini-quake and reveled in the quivers it sent through her own body. Though it paled in comparison to what Etna had done previously, it was far beyond any impact Dawn had ever made on the physical world. And she knew she could do better.

“Light as a feather, stiff as a board. Light as a feather, stiff as a board,” Dawn chanted the words to the teenage ritual as once again, her heels rose up off the floor.

“I find it hard to believe any girls ever had you over for a sleepover,” Etna sniggered.

“I went to plenty,” Dawn fibbed. She’d been to a few and it was made readily apparent that their mothers had forced the invite. Mothers, it occurred retrospectively to Dawn, who may have been under a spell.

“And in your case, wouldn’t it have been, ‘light as a feather, flat as a board?’”

“NO,” Dawn said in a pointed way that made it very clear she had heard that exact phrasing before.

Etna smiled. Clearly that one hit home, and it only motivated her further. “I might not have been nearly so big back then, but I assure you, when they played that with me, I offered them a real challenge. And there were plenty of girls eager to get their hands on my body. I’d say ask your sister, but I don’t recall ever seeing Lydia at one of those.” Etna watched with satisfaction as Lydia’s head lowered and Dawn’s body sank back to the ground. “Was there even a point playing with either one of you at that age? What mystical fun would there have been lifting your paltry skin and bones off the ground?”

It was true. Less than fondly Dawn recalled how when her turn came, half the girls would wander off and she could still be lifted with ease. Dawn could feel herself becoming flush with anger and shame, but made a conscious effort not to let Etna get to her this time. “You know, for a former cheerleader, I find you far from encouraging.”

“I led cheers,” Etna snorted, “I didn’t spread cheer.”

“I’ll say. Anyhoo- I don’t need your support, I can do fine on my own.”

Once again, Dawn rose off her heels as she chanted, “Light as a feather, stiff as a board. Light as a feather, stiff as a… board?” Dawn took a contemplative pause. “There isn’t any part of me that’s stiff or flat as a board- not anymore. I’m properly rounded now and oh so wonderfully soft,” Dawn proclaimed while nuzzling a cheek against her cushiony body.

“Light as a feather…” The arch of Dawn’s feet angled higher, but Dawn stopped herself once again. “A feather just seems so inconsequential. What’s light but big? I’d say I’m more like… a blimp!”

“Light as a blimp, round as a blimp. Light as a blimp, round as a blimp.” Dawn concentrated on her new mantra as higher and higher she rose until all that she was sat upon the balls of her two tiny feet.

Amber lay herself down on the floor and saw a sliver of light pass beneath Dawn’s underside. Dawn was bipedal once more, but she didn’t stop there. Up, up she ascended- rising right off the balls of her feet until she stood on nothing but her very tippy toes. From that extreme en-pointe position Dawn managed a few minuscule steps to turn herself about so she could better look her opponent straight in the eyes.

Though looking upward, Dawn stared Etna down. She watched those watery eyes in their bloated sockets take in the whole of her form. Watched them circle round her perimeter until their gaze fell down far enough to confirm the inches with which Dawn so easily kept her magnificent mass hovering above the floor.

“But you know,” Dawn smiled, “I only look light as a blimp. Truth is, I’m heavy- heavy like a wrecking ball.” Dawn gave this a moment to sink in before letting her leaden sphere drop on down in a brief but destructive plummet.

THOOMBBBB!

This time the entire room shook and rattled. Poor Amber, who’d still been lying on the floor, found herself briefly airborne before being pelted by beignets dropped by an off-balance Lydia.

While still not to the magnitude of Etna’s collapse, Dawn could see her rival handled being the recipient of such a disruptive force even worse than when she’d been the cause. Etna desperately tried to suppress the effects Dawn’s blow had upon her body, but there was just too much quaking acreage for her to handle. Her big fat hands went all about trying to hold down her trembling blubber as the food, dinnerware, and assorted refuse she’d hoarded all over herself was sent tumbling. Even Holly at the far end of the room struggled to keep her footing- her wavering hand and mouth unable to align and deliver her next chip.

“I’m coming for your title Etna,” Dawn said, her confidence offset by a wavering in her voice caused by the concussive ripples still running up and down her form.

Sitting proudly at the epicenter of the disarray, Dawn savored each lingering echo of her impact like it were a fading refrain from the most lovely song ever sung.

Having fully filled out, Dawn was excited for what would come next. She knew she looked big. Certainly she felt big- the new cracks in the flooring proved that. But as Lydia and Amber took their places back at her side, Dawn found it hard to think of herself as truly big when she still had to crane her neck to look up at them.

Etna knew what Dawn was about to say before she even said it- she was thinking the exact same thing.

“More! I need more!” Dawn declared, giving a commanding snap of her fingers. “C’mon ladies- let’s make me really big.”