Chapter 1 - That she is

I got home late in the evening, it had been dark out for hours and I'd spent the day at work followed by a stint at the gym. Circuit training then yoga.

I was weary as I sat on my bed, my body ached from how hard I'd been pushing myself, especially my sore feet. No doubt a good soak in the bath would help me feel better, I just needed to rest my eyes for a minute though and I lay back on my bed.



I awoke with a start, I felt like I'd heard a noise outside but upon inspection, I couldn't see anything outside from my bedroom window. Looking at the clock told me I'd been asleep for hours, fully dressed on top of the covers. The pain in my neck was a dead giveaway it had been in an awkward position too.

I made my way to the bathroom to take off my makeup and brush my teeth, no point having dinner now, I'd be okay until breakfast. As I stood, reflected in the mirror, brushing my teeth I took stock of myself. I looked as bad as I felt, tired, maybe unhappy? I shouldn't let thoughts like that bother me so late at night. I had an unpleasantly full feeling in my stomach that I couldn't explain. I hoped I wasn't coming down with something.

I spit the toothpaste into the sink and bowed my head to rinse my mouth out. When I returned my gaze to the mirror my reflection startled me. It was still me, at least I think it was, only I was obese!

Round cheeks joined a hanging double chin and the look on her face was terrifying, she was glowering right at me, eyes fixed on mine. I raised my hand as I stepped back as if to verify this wasn't my reflection. But she remained unmoved, still staring directly at me.

That was until she suddenly burped, a loud, open-mouthed foghorn of a belch, a sound that shocked me. That shock turned to panic as I realised that the sound had come from my own mouth.



Wide-eyed, I bolted from the bathroom, slamming the door behind me as I did, as if to trap the troubling experience in there.

I made my way downstairs and through the backroom, passed all of my home gym equipment, my intention was to get to the garage, get in my car and drive to my friend's house. That was until I caught my reflection in the patio doors but it wasn't my reflection, it was her again!

This time she was driving, globular belly pressed up against the steering wheel, she still had that mean, angry look on her face that made me shiver. I watched as she reached over to the passenger seat, there sat a tray of chocolate donuts. She grabbed one and crammed it into her mouth, eyes never leaving the road.

I'm not sure what was more frightening to me, the fact that I could taste that donut on my tongue as if it were I that had eaten it, or the fact that I knew, in the pit of my stomach I could tell exactly where she was driving to. She was on her way here.



A cry of "No!" escaped my lips as I ran into the kitchen. Grabbing a knife from the block, I hid behind one of the units, hoping and praying that this was all just some nightmare and that soon I'd be awake. The turning of keys in the front door put paid to that notion as I again whimpered from my hiding space.

I heard the front door open and someone walk in to my house. The heavy, slow steps made their way through the front room and back, into the kitchen. In spite of myself, I peeked out from behind the counter to steal a look at the intruder. Sure enough, there stood the massive woman from the reflections, carrying what appeared to be a cake box.

I somehow found the courage to stand and stepped out from behind the counter as if to confront her.



To look at her disgusted me. That ***! Running herself into the ground, abusing her body. She looked like a scared little skeleton. How dare she do that to my body!

My body.

The revelation caused me to drop the cake I had picked up to treat this skinny fool a lesson. As the box hit the ground the birthday cake spilled out onto the tile. She dropped the knife she had been wielding almost in unison.

When she bent down, I assumed it was to retrieve it but instead she scampered over to the box at my feet, grabbing a handful of the ruined cake and jamming it into her mouth.



I'm not sure what confused me more. The sudden change of heart or the taste of frosting on my lips.