chapter 14

After six months off work I weighed fifteen stones, having put on five stones in that time.
Whereas before my accident, I would have jumped out of bed in the morning, gone for a short run, showered and got dressed then pushed the hoover round, put some washing in and done a small batch of ironing before going to work for 8am, I now lay in bed until nine or ten, went downstairs without getting dressed, waded through the piles of empty boxes and cartons to get to the kitchen and made myself a huge breakfast.
I didn't bother with plates any more. They were too much bother to clean, (Not that I had cleaned one recently). I used disposable plates, knives and forks or I ate directly from the pan.
After sitting down in front of the telly, surrounded by discarded dirty plates, empty packets and such I would eat my substantial breakfast.
I'd doze on the settee for a bit. I preferred to have afternoon appointments, at the doctors if I could. That meant I didn't have to bother with the hassle of getting dressed until lunchtime or after.
If I didn't have any appointments, I didn't bother getting dressed at all. I just stayed in my too-small pyjamas lounging around, eating my way through the fridge.
The clothes that I had bought two months ago, two sizes bigger were history. I was struggling to fit into stretchy loose fitting clothes that were three sizes bigger than I used to wear. I knew I had to go up at least another two sizes, but could not be bothered with the inconvenience of shopping for them.
I only bothered shaving once a week and my hair was so long I could tie it back in a pony tail.
Finally ready, I would lumber out of the house and drive to the doctors. Strictly speaking I don't think I was meant to do that any more, but the nurses had stopped warning me. Just like they had stopped telling me off about my weight gain. They simply sighed, grumbled about it not healing properly, redressed it then, let me go.
Now I was up and dressed and out, I would make a point of doing any business, such as going to the bank, filling the car with petrol and so on. Then, depending where I was, I would either visit the supermarket, and stock up, or I would call in to several smaller shops. The local butchers sold some fantastic sausages and meat pies for a reasonable price. The local bakers made fabulous pastries and cakes. I could get some crisps and some chocolate from the newsagent. Then that was my shopping done!
As soon as I got in, I'd dump the bags and start eating. By the end of the day, if I'd just been to the local shops, everything would be gone. All stuffed into that great gaping maw of mine!
By now, I had chubby cheeks, my face had rounded out and I had a large double chin. My upper half had a soft layer of fat all over, but my fat flabby breasts would be big enough to put in a bra. My bottom half was thicker all over too, but most of my weight I carried in my rounded belly. I used it as a convenient place to rest my plate when I was eating.
I was proud of my large appendage, that put my genitals into shadow. I could not simply reach down to my unseen genitals any more, I had to reach down and around. A full belly was making even this more difficult because I simply could not bend in the middle any more.
But it still was not enough! I wanted to continue to grow! I wanted double my present size!
It was not going to be easy. I was on half pay now and still had the same bills to pay. I would have to economise, or find something else to do.
But what else could I do that would earn me plenty of money for minimal effort? I was not going to go through all that application form and interview palava! As soon as they saw me they would say 'too fat!'

I have never been one for modern technology. I had a mobile phone, but I rarely used it these days as I was always at home and I had my land line. Even so, I used an answering machine to screen all my calls so I didn't have to jump up and answer the unimportant ones.
I thought it was about time I joined the technological revolution.
One of the supermarkets I visited offered all kinds of other goods as well as food. So, one day, I stocked up on cheap clothing in larger sizes... the biggest they stocked. I also ventured into the electronic department and bought myself a laptop computer with the last of my savings.
I'd put buying a computer aside for so long simply because I knew that I had to get someone to install WiFi as well. That meant a personal visit to my home. That meant I had to tidy up!
Simply picking up all the rubbish from the floor and placing them into bin liners took me two days! It took such an effort that I could only work for half an hour before halving an hour's rest. On the third day, I had all the washing up to do. On the fifth day. I got out the vacuum cleaner. I changed the nozzle to go over the surfaces because I really wanted to get out of doing any dusting!
In the flurry of activity, I got some washing done and finally got round to changing my bed linen. I wasn't going to bother cleaning the bathroom, but then again, he might want to use the toilet when he was here. So I felt obliged to clean the downstairs loo, then I thought that I might as well do the upstairs bathroom as well, seeing as I had the bleach out.
Cleaning up to an acceptable standard took a whole week. There was still a large 'correspondence' drawer that needed sorting out, I hadn't dusted or polished properly. I hadn't cleaned the oven or defrosted the fridge. I'd done just enough to stop the Internet man thinking I lived in a hovel.
The world of internet shopping was open to me now. I no longer has to worry about lumbering up and down the aisles. I didn't have to put up with the faces of disapproval at the check out. I could order everything online and get it all delivered!
I didn't have to worry about where to buy clothing in larger sizes. The internet catered for the larger man. I could buy everything that I wanted!
I used the internet to sell some of the fitness equipment I had. It was easier to get to now I'd cleaned up a bit.
I sold a few other bits and pieces of unused junk I had too. It wasn't much, just enough to keep my finances from sinking into the red.