Chapter 5 - the shack

As a last resort she ran her hands across her hips, down to her bum. She could feel her hipbones glide by. No change there, either. She grabbed, and groped her already plush ass, but there was nothing new there either.

And that was it. There was nothing. The donuts had done nothing.

Mia sighed and slumped down, resting her head in her hands and elbows on her knees. All that bloated pain, all that pathetic embarrassment for nothing at all. All that squirming and discomfort and delayed sleep to wake up in the exact same body. Hell, she wouldn't have been surprised if she'd actually woken up having lost weight.

Mia scowled, sucked air in through her teeth and swept her hand over her hair, flattening it back. She dwelled on how futile it all was, and how she may as well just give up now, if all she was doing was hurting herself and embarrassing herself for zero, or even backwards, progress.

Another prolonged sigh, as if doing so would expel the disappointment that sat heavy in her lungs, and she stood up. She went to the full length mirror leaning against the wall and scanned herself. Still, there was nothing different but the slight swell of her belly. Too bad that it was only stomach gasses and leftover food, maybe some water retention just so her body could spite her sexual needs. And too bad it was even so slight she could hide it if she wanted.

She shook her head in disappointment, got dressed, cleaned herself up and left the room to say good morning to everyone, albeit with a dent in her day-to-day happiness. A subtraction from her usual energy that set her to whatever she would accomplish in that day.

"Hey, Mia," said Mallory over a spoon dripping with milk into a bowl of grains. "Feeling better?"

Mia made a smile, and nodded, and went to the fridge to grab her own breakfast.

She was still hungry of course. Her morning habit was golden-crisped toast with too much butter and too much jam. Too bad it would never settle on her as weight.

She leaned against the kitchen bench and ate her toast, chatting with Mallory. Eventually, laughs were had, and smiles and grins were shared. Enough to distract Mia from her disappointment. They talked about things both trivial and interesting, and gave each other things to think about. Gossiped a little.

Mia swallowed the last bit of toast and licked her lips while talking about how surprised she was that the town of Maksonplain was actually pretty busy, and how endearing the little place was, and then Mallory was saying how easy it is to think rural towns are dead when actually they are full of unique life, and then suddenly Mia was feeling this itch seething under her skin, all across her body. She paused mid-speech. Blinked, frowned. Then passed it off as some sort of bodily happening. Mia went on talking, ignoring the itchiness. It seemed to fade.

After that the day went on just as normal, with everyone doing their own thing alone or with each other, having the best time they could possibly have, unanimously, with Noah all the while trying to show Mia his signals of affection, waving his flag of need to grow closer with her.

But it seemed to him that she just wouldn't have it.


* * *

Two days went by. And both days the itching came back to seethe under Mia's skin, some kind of persevering irritation spreading its fuzziness through every surface of her without asking permission. It was always most intense around her mid and lower body. She was getting worried. If she was allergic to something she'd eaten, or touched, or she'd been stung, she might have to seek help. So Mia decided to give it one more day. If it kept up, she'd raise the concern and hope nothing went wrong before getting to a doctor.

While she'd almost given up on the prospect of gaining any weight, she still ate like mad. Way too much for her size. Well anyway, the habit had been birthed, and now it was ingrained in her, even if it did nothing but make her over full. The pain/pleasure conflict of being overfed would have to do. It just looked like her sexual needs would have to be fulfilled some other way. For now, she had to begin accepting the fact that she would never put on weight.

* * *

On the fourth morning something happened.

Daniel was training an environmentalist and survivalist. He went on as many walks as he could out into the woodlands surrounding the shack and down the slope behind the shack, which the balcony looked out over. After a few trips out by himself, he had come across a slow clear stream in which he and Sophie decided was clean, swimmable water. Day four of the trip took the brunt of a heat wave rolling in under the sun, so most of the gang went down to check out this fabled river. Soon everyone was down there, bathing, splashing, having dumb fun.

The water was level, clear, dark thanks to a pebbly basin, stream barely flowing. It's deepest point came up to your chest. Smooth granite rocks of all sizes crowded the banks, popping up from the water. You could sit on them to dry in the sun. On the shack-ward side of the stream was a grassy clearing that led into bush and woods, and on the opposite side of the stream, the woods gathered together in their thickest crowds as if eager to see the newcomers and watch what they were going to do in the river.

There was a barely-present breeze brushing your skin as you could smell the soothing scent of wet soil hanging in the air. Noah rested his elbows against one of the boulders, lay back to rest. Elijah came to sit beside him. They chatted about the latest scientific advancements around the world. Shit like that. When the conversation nearly spiraled into an existential debate, Elijah brought up the new Tool album, which was supposed to be coming out in 2012, then 2013, then 2014, and now it was 2015, and the two of them began to wonder whether Tool would ever manage to pull together and release something new. Ever.

Then, ten or so feet away, Mia appeared. She sat down alone on a rock, dipped her feet in over the edge, swished them around pleasantly. Noah watched and tried to keep an ear on what Elijah was saying about band dynamics, but by gradual increments, and then completely, Elijah's voice became a messy babble of sounds. Mia was the only thing in the world.

She sat somewhat gracefully, leaning back on her palms placed behind her. She was looking out at the river and kicking her feet about. Feet leading up to smooth calves, meaty thighs that drew a slight gleam from the sun, curving up and around to form an ass you just wanted to seize in your hands. She was wearing her bathing undies and a burgundy shirt that hung loose like a curtain over her torso.

Elijah was still talking.

Noah watched Mia, saw how her eyebrows rose as she came to a decision -- which turned out to be to go in. She crossed her arms and took the underside of the loose red shirt and began to lift it. Her arms went up her front, over her head, and then just like the raising of a stage curtain, her front was exposed. What Noah saw made him skip two or three breaths, his heart frozen into stone for one of those brief, heavy seconds that you want to stay in forever. As if the suppleness of her thighs weren't enough.

When Mia lifted her shirt, it caught under her skin for a brief moment before pulling clear to let a tiny little belly plop out, jiggling weakly.

Since when did she have this? He'd never seen it before. Then again, it was something so faint, so inconsequential. But it was enough for Noah to skip breaths and heartbeats. He couldn't look away this time. He could not, and never would be able to, even if he tried.

Mia pulled the shirt clear of her head, back stretching, arms straight up. Her hair fell out to settle over he shoulders, then she slouched a little, her tiny belly bunching up that little bit more. Putting her shirt on the rock beside her, she tipped her head in Noah's direction to brush her head back, and then her eyes caught onto him.

She paused, but smiled. She mustn't have known. Noah froze, tried to smile. He looked from her belly to her, from her belly to her, and back again, over and over. Then she noticed how his eyes were flicking up and down like that. What was he looking at? Did she have something on her? She glanced down to herself.

There protruded a tiny little bulge in her belly. Noah watched as she looked back up at him, eyes embarrassed, a violent blush showing up on her face. In almost a single breath, she swept up the red shirt in one hand, slipped down into the water without a word, the water line hiding her waist, and then she turned her back to him and waded off down the river with her shirt in hand. And that was it. Her dark hair fanned out like the tail of a peacock where it met the water, trailing behind in her wake like a bridal gown.

Elijah's voice came back to him. "...likely why the food all went missing. Noah? Man? You even listening? Shiiiet..."

Noah recovered. "What? Food? Gone missing? Sorry, what? What was that?"

"I said that's likely why all the food went missing."

Noah took one last look at Mia wading off to join the others. He met Elijah's eyes again. "Why's that?" Was he talking about Mia?

Elijah sighed. "I said, group dynamics." He waited for Noah to get it. Went on. "I mean, everyone's confused and trying to blame everyone else. People underestimate how much food can go and how quick with how many people. Shit like that."