chapter 2 – the trough

“Well hey there, I’m a swineherd here and I’ll be your waitress, you can call me Jenna”. Apart from his belly Charlie was speechless, having never seen anyone more beautiful. “Have you decided what you’d like this evening” she said. Jenna could see he was still emotional so she told him “don’t worry hun, if you need more time to decide I’ll just get you some appetisers for now, it’s on the barn” and she left.

Charlie no longer thought of Emily or the events of that evening, instead he could only think of Jenna, lost in thought of her beauty. His thoughts were interrupted however when he swore, he heard a squeal from somewhere across the restaurant, and that’s when he continued to survey his surroundings. Each of the framed pictures of pigs came with a name and weight. There was Oliver 807lbs, Sophie 859lbs, James 783lbs, Christian 840lbs and Jessica 923lbs. Although he couldn’t read the others, at least the ones in his periphery, they all seemed to be a celebration of the pig’s weight. This restaurant must prize itself on the most prime of pigs Charlie thought. As he looked at each of the booths around the restaurant, he noticed digital numbers on the side of each seat, there was 264, 198, 302, 258, 378 and a 571. As he looked down, his number read 247. Before he could figure out what the numbers represented, Jenna appeared.

“Heya, not sure if you’ve decided yet but thought you might like to try the appetisers, they’re enchanting” she said, and placed it down in front of Charlie. She wasn’t joking, she meant all the appetisers and they were presented in what looked like a four-foot-long trough. Charlie bought up the courage to ask why it was in a trough and suggest that it was far too much food. That’s when he smelt the heavenly food and vocally, his belly came to life. Without hesitation he picked up a fork and made a start on his appetiser. Jenna gave a menacing smirk and walked away.

An hour later and Jenna appeared at Charlie’s side, she was pleased by what she saw. Charlie’s number now read 263, he was gasping for air and desperately rubbing his enlarged belly. His face was covered in food as he threw aside the fork much earlier, and instead ate straight from the trough as was intended. When asked what he thought of the appetisers, Charlie, with a vacant look in his eyes, gave a satisfied grunt and the loudest burp. Through his food covered face, Jenna could see he went red with embarrassment and simply gave him several approving taps on his belly. Jenna thanked him saying “don’t worry darling, it’s a sign of approval and I’m proud of you, don’t worry about the bill”. With that, her expression changed and she loudly said “thank you for coming to La Mangeoire, we hope you’re fully satisfied and hope you’ll return very soon”.

Charlie felt lost in a food coma and struggled to recall the past hour; Jenna’s comment however startled him. Although confused at the tone, he understood he had outstayed his welcome. With his belly pressing against the table, he could no longer simply stand and instead had to roll and squeeze his way out of the booth, much to the satisfaction of Jenna as she watched the event unfold. With several grunts and much to Charlie’s embarrassment a single oink, he managed to work his way out and soon found himself outside the restaurant. Half an hour later and back in his flat, Charlie stripped himself of his restrictive clothing and went straight to bed for a night full of unusual dreams.