Chapter 63 - the women of their dreams: part 9

141.
"Is everything alright," Niall asked, seeing the grimace of pain on his girlfriend's face as she grabbed her left hand.

"Yeah," Faye flinched, "it's just, well, my ring. I think it might be on a little too tight."

"Let me see," Niall gently took a hold of his girlfriend's thick, stubby sausage-fingers.

Faye's ring sat so tight on her that it seemed as though it was sunken between two over-padded pillows of flesh. Over the last few months, her finger had swollen to the degree that her flab was starting to hide the gleaming trinket from view. How had he not seen this earlier? She must've gotten too big for that ring ages ago, and yet he'd never noticed -- and neither, for that matter, had she.

"That's more than a little tight," he said, "we need to get this off right away."

Faye hesitated, once upon a time, she remembered, it'd been so important to her to keep her ring on at all times -- but now, for the life of her, she couldn't remember why. "Yeah," she nodded, "but it's on so tight. It really hurts when I try to move it. I don't think I can get it off."

Niall paused a moment, then reached into his pocket. "I think I have an idea." Rummaging through his pocket, he pulled out a piece of string and wrapped it tight as a corset around his girlfriend's finger, so that it pushed her fat down, allowing him to slide the ring off. "There you go," he said, flashing his girlfriend a slight, calm smile.

"Thanks," Faye breathed a sigh of relief as Niall placed her ring in her palm. It was such a strange little trinket, really, she couldn't help but think. She hadn't noticed it much lately, but it was unlike any other piece of jewellery that she'd ever seen. That strange, dull yet gleaming white metal that it was made of, what sort of a material was that even? Where had she even gotten that thing in the first place and why had it used to be so important to her?

Faye's train of thought was broken as a massive burp escaped from between her lips. Now that the acute pain in her finger had faded, her head was still hazy, and her belly was still aching from all that she'd eaten. With no more food to distract her, the summer heat was once again growing to be unbearable for her all too well insulated body, and she was once again only too aware of the many eyes staring at her.

Faye tried to pull herself up off her bench, but her belly was so tightly packed and so heavy with food that she just couldn't manage it. Instead, she sank with a groan back on the plush pair of spreading cushions that were her buttocks.

"Sweetie," she smiled sluggishly at Niall, "could you help me up. I think I need to go and have a bit of a rest."

Once Niall had, with some effort, gotten her to her feet, he led Faye slowly away from the crowd. As she waddled there across the grass, with her head in a comfy haze, her belly full of food, and her boyfriend's arms around her, the fiery-haired girl felt, once again, as content as she'd ever been. Her eyelids were so heavy that she was starting to find it hard to keep them open.

"Hey," she blinked dozily and looked up at her boyfriend, "is it ok if we go home? I think I've had all the excitement I can take in one day."

142.
Faye had seen this place many times before, of that she was sure, and yet she could never seem to remember it. Now, having found herself here again, in this great wooden hall lined by pillars of trees and covered by a roof of green leaves, the whole place felt so very familiar, as did the many, impossibly slender women that danced with light feet across its earthen floor. Most familiar of all, though, was the tall, regal queen sitting on her throne, woven from living wood, at the far end of that vast space.

Normally, when Faye found herself here, that woman could never seem to see her. Whenever she would look in Faye's direction, the fiery-haired girl's ring would shine with a bright light, and the majestic woman's gaze would pass right through her. Looking at her finger now, Faye realised that her ring was gone. She had taken it off. This time, the woman's green eyes were locked straight on her as, slowly and gracefully, she rose from her seat. Her sharp gaze seemed to pierce through Faye, as though she was looking into her very soul.

"Oh, my dear daughter," said Faye's mother, "what have you done to yourself?"

Faye's eyes flew open, she was in her room back at the bakery, where Niall had taken her after her feast. Her boyfriend was still in bed beside her, looking at her with a warm smile on his face.

"You sure were tired, sleepyhead," he said, running his fingers through her hair.

Faye didn't answer him. Her room still looked the same as ever, Niall was still as lovely and handsome as he'd ever been, and yet, all of a sudden, the whole world seemed so very different -- as though she'd woken up from a long dream. Now, she remembered everything.