chapter 10 - happy birthday!

The week of Alyssa's birthday Austin suggested they take the train down the Guilin for a few days in Southern China. He said it was where the famous karst formations were and the beautiful landscape was unlike any on earth. Alyssa decided to take a week off of her cam site gig, and bought high speed train tickets for the trip. Austin booked them into a hostel with a private room in a village there.

The morning they boarded the train Austin warned Alyssa that the trains were really fast, but it was halfway across China to get there so it would take about 7 hours. There would not be any good food on the train so she should pack her some snacks. As such, half her large backpack consisted of junk food and bakery items for the trip. The train ride was long and boring so she past the time by watching downloaded movies on her laptop and snacking. When they finally arrived in Guilin though, Alyssa was astounded at how beautiful the landscape was. Strangely shaped mountains jutting nearly straight up from fields of rice and bamboo. It really was like no place on earth. The hostel was very nice and cheaper than their hostel in Shanghai. In fact everything seem to be much cheaper there, particularly food and beer. They checked into the hostel, unpacked, and then walked down to the village. The village was very old but touristy as well with lots of shops, restaurants, and street food. Alyssa found that the same amount of money she would have spent in Shanghai, bought twice as much food in Guilin. You could get a huge lunch of street food for just a few dollars America. The food was different, so there were lots of new things to try. Everywhere you go in China, the food is different. Every place having it's own specialties.

They returned to the hostel and drank a few beers before retiring early. The next morning they walked to a local restaurant where she ate a huge bowel of fried noodles for breakfast. Then they rented scouters and rode all around the countryside exploring all the different villages and caves in the area. Alyssa would make sure they would stop anytime there was an opportunity to try some new food, or even if she saw something she had before but really liked. By that afternoon she joked her scooter was slower because she had done nothing but eat all day. They went for dinner that evening and then returned to the hostel with lots of beer and big bag of treats from a local bakery. While they were sitting around their room drinking, Austin asked her if she was worried her stomach would shrink that week. "I don't think it will do you?". Austin didn't know if it would or not, but said he was sure it would just the same. Alyssa said "So when I go back to my cam gig next week, my stomach is going to hurt as much as it did at first until it stretches out again?". Austin said "I am worried it will. Maybe, hm, I mean, you tell me what you think, but maybe we should stuff you while we are here just to be sure." Alyssa replied "You think?" Austin "Yeah probably. No more often than you would do it in your cam gig though." Alyssa said "well that is almost every day". Austin "Well maybe we should do the same here". Alyssa thought about it, "you might be right".

Austin got the big bag of treats he had bought from the local bakery. He pulled out a big sweet taro stuffed bun, much bigger than they are in Shanghai, this one being a good 8 inches across. He handed it to her "Here you go". She took it saying "I am already really full from today, so I don't know how much I can eat." She ate the bun though saying "that is good, very sweet in the middle". Austin said "yes, taro buns are good, here is another one". She started to say "oh, I don't know", but he placed it to her lips almost pushing it into her mouth. She took a big bite. Watching her he said "you are doing good". When she finished it off, he handed her another one. "Wait, I can't" she said, but he was already pushing it in her mouth saying "yes you can". This one he fed to her himself, never even handing it to her. He pulled out a box of egg tarts. She looked at them and shook her head no "I am so full, that is it for me". He said "see we skip just a couple of days and your stomach shrinks" and pushed the whole tart in her mouth. When she swallowed it, he pushed the second one into her mouth, and then the third before she could protest. He said "just one more" as he pushed the last one into her mouth. She was having trouble swallowing it. He watched her chew and told her "unbutton your shorts". She did, her belly that was straining against them plopped out, and some of the pressure in her stomach eased. She was able to swallow it finally. "See, good job, you did it." he beamed as he calculated in his head roughly how much he thought she ate that day. Hmm, he thought, I am thinking conservatively about 9000 calories and resolved to make sure she did that every day they were there. The next day was her birthday. He said, let's have an American food day for your birthday today. I know you miss it even though the food here is so good. The town was touristy enough to have a couple of western style restaurants. He brought her to one that served breakfast and was ran by a British couple. He ordered her biscuits and gravy, sausage, french toast that was made out of cinnamon pound cake. That is a good 2000 calories he thought to himself. He just had fruit and an omelet himself. It was a lot of food, but Alyssa still wolfed it all down as it was her first western breakfast since she came to China.

Around 10, he picked her up a bag of Doritos and a king size snickers bar from a local convenience store. Lunch was cheeseburgers, fries, and a large milkshake. For dinner he surprised her that night with a large Pepperoni Pizza and cheesy breadsticks from Pizza Hut. When she saw them Alyssa was so excited "You found a Pizza Hut here?". He replied, "Yeah there are some here and there around China". He then took a small slice of pizza for himself before placing 3 big slices of pizza on a plate and handing it to her. She took a big bite "Oh I missed this" she said. He watched her eat the 3 slices then filled her plate again. He repeated this until she had finished the entire pizza. "Did I eat the whole thing?" she asked. "No I had a slice". He then pulled out a box from behind him and presented her with it. She beamed "you ordered a cake?" "I sure did, a 3 layer Mango Passionfruit Cake. I know it's not really an American flavor, that is hard to get here, but it is still a cake" he said. "I sounds great" Alyssa replied. He opened the box and pulled it out. It was a big thick cake and beautifully decorated. He lit a candle on it. When Alyssa had made her wish and blew it out, he cut her a huge slice and handed it to her. He then took a sliver for himself and watched her eat it. "It so good" she said, as she ate it. He watched her finish it and then cut her another huge slice "I have had enough" she said, as he started to cut it. "Nonsense" he replied as he handed it to her. She ate that slice and said "ok, that was good but seriously I am so full now". He then took her fork from her and put a big chunk of the remaining half of cake on it. He pushed it to her mouth telling her "be a good girl and eat your cake". She opened her mouth, chewed and swallowed it. He then did it again pushing the next big fork full into Alyssa's mouth. She slowly swallowed it and moaned "no more". He told her "stand up that will help". She slowly stood, he pushed the cake in front of her and then walked behind her. Placing his hands on the front of her shorts, he unfastened them, pulled the front apart, and reached in, pulling her belly out. He then put one hand on it, rubbing and patting it, while he fed her the cake with the other. Soon he had the entire cake down her, even the sliver he had cut for himself. He told her "you are such a good eater" as he rubbed her full belly with his hands. She was so full she looked pregnant.

Alyssa excused herself saying she need to get a shower now. She felt very strange about what had just happened. It was arousing to her in someway she could not understand.

Austin thought he would have her at least 10 pounds heavier by the time they left for Shanghai.