chapter 4

I was amazed how much of a feast this experiment turned into. In the first week she baked all her favorite foods in massive amounts and managed to eat huge portions of it, despite snacking often between the meals. In the evenings, while watching a movie at home, we always ordered pizza, a normal one for me and a family-size for her, she somehow managed to finish hers first and asking for pieces from mine. As if that wasn't enough, she still disappeared in the kitchen from time to time. Before it started getting too repetitive, she started going to fast food places, even though she didn't do it often before. Sure, a burger or a hot-dog if she was just walking by, but never until now did she consider such places for a full meal. Now, she just wanted to try everything. We went through all the fast food places and through everything on the menu, this meant we just showed up at a place, she started ordering everything from the menu one at a time, and when she was so full she couldn't eat another bite, she noted at which item she stopped so she could continue from it the next day. Or occasionally, later on the same day.

After just two weeks, she looked as if she was pregnant, again. It wasn't enough time for a noticeable weight gain on all parts of her body, but her stomach was always full, no matter the time of the day.

All this was made immeasurably cuter by her enthusiasm. She was always shy to start anything, but once she got herself into it, she committed herself with zealous enthusiasm, this time she even got herself into handling it as a game, or even a contest. So, after just around two weeks of this little game, on a Saturday morning after a huge breakfast, she announced the results in a passionate voice:

"224 pounds! Wow, look how all this work paid out," she slapped her belly, which was so full it couldn't even jiggle.

"Wow, you overshot our goal in just half the time. It was really an amazing ride!"

"Was? Why the past tense? We still have two weeks left!"

"I thought the plan was for you to gain the inevitable ten pounds as fast as possible to at least enjoy the..."

"And I thought the plan was to let myself fully go for a month!" She interrupted, but then switched to a more quiet, serious tone, "I know, I was myself scared a little about how much I enjoyed it... but the point was, for this time period, to fully enjoy whatever happens and not worry about anything. And this we did, even if everything happened faster than we anticipated. Yeah, most good things don't last forever. Pity I got so much into the mood of an unbridled month of feasting... So now what? Back to the old days and see where it goes? I just don't feel like starting a harsh diet tomorrow."

"Come on, you don't have to. It would surely feel like torture after these amazing two weeks. Don't worry, we don't have to decide today."

"Then there is one thing I still want to try. I finally experienced how it feels to not stop before I reach my limit. But what lies beyond it?"

"What do you mean 'beyond it' ?"

"Look, we still have the weekend in front of us. I want to experience how it feels to be pushed beyond all limits. To stuff myself even when I'm absolutely full. Beyond what's comfortable."

I was so infected by her enthusiasm that I asked without thinking: "so, what would you like, a goose or a duck?"

She jumped and hugged me so quickly we nearly fell over, her bloated belly pressing tightly against my body. After a long kiss, she whispered the answer, quoting our favorite cartoon: "A goose, a duck, and also a rooster."

I went out to shop for all the food and ingredients, and when I returned, I found her sitting on the kitchen floor, with her back to the wall, without a shirt, moaning and massaging her belly. Two empty pizza boxes lay beside her.

"Sorry, I couldn't wait for your return, so I ordered some pizza," she told while she slowly got up and started inspecting the bags I brought. "Let's see if I still have some room for something else."

It seems the pain an overstretched stomach causes is similar to the pain of an empty stomach, because when I asked her how she feels, she said she's starving. While she prepared more food for later, she sampled it continuously, I almost couldn't believe my eyes how she could keep stuffing herself with such an overtaxed stomach, which was now so bloated she started knocking things over on the kitchen counter, being oblivious to its size.

Finally she left the kitchen to take a short rest sitting on the bed, I went with her and helped her gently massaging her belly.

"I... want... more..."

She was so full and so exhausted, she couldn't even chew anymore

"Help... me... more... "

I found an unopened yogurt, and started feeding her with a spoon. It was like I wasn't even in control of anything, it was like a hazy dream. She expressed a desire and I was there to fulfill it.

After managing to slowly but surely eat the whole yogurt, she took a short rest, then asked for some doughnuts. I brought her the box, she eagerly took one but barely managed to eat it. With the next one, she needed my help, so I fed it to her, very slowly, and as at the end she licked her mouth and my fingers, it was clear she didn't give up yet. After I helped yet another doughnut vanish in her mouth, we were just laying there, side by side, panting, with her tousled hair all over the bed, and her belly poking upwards like a mountain. She was almost motionless for half an hour or so, then she started moaning, in a rather painful voice.

"Ouch. That. Hurts."

She was almost in tears by that point, curling up as much as her swollen stomach let her. I tried to reassure her, gently caressing her tummy, but she slapped my hand away angrily.

"Stop it! you can't even imagine the pain. Why did we let it come to this!?"

I tried to comfort her, but she angrily showed me away:

"Leave me be! I'm mad at you! Oh, I hate myself so much and I hate you too!"

I slowly managed to placate her enough so I could lay besides her, but she didn't allow my hand even near her tummy. We finally fell asleep.

An hour or so later I awoke to some motion. I've seen her stumbling slowly to the kitchen. I was worried she wasn't well, so I followed her. When I entered the kitchen, the fridge door was ajar, and there she stood, drinking from a carton of milk. Not just drinking, but chugging as if her life depended on it. I was scared the same thing will happen again, her not realizing the pain until too late, so I tried taking the milk from her hands. She resisted. I tried to reason with her:

"You were cursing me just two hours ago why I didn't stop feeding you. And you were in so much pain. What are you doing now? Are you crazy?"

"No, I'm hungry!"

"But... you just..."

"That was a long time ago. Now I'm hungry."

She later apologized for being so angry, and told me she wasn't ready to give up. There was still plenty left of the weekend, so we continued, also repeating the escapades of the previous couple of hours a few times. On late Sunday evening she looked almost as if she was ready to give birth, we were both so exhausted we just laid motionless and waited for a long sleep to sober us up from this coma-like state.

The next day she wrapped up the conclusions in a very rational voice. It was typical of her, she was emotion-driven most of the time, but she could become very clear and rational whenever she felt it was necessary.

"I think I no longer have the choice between thin and fat. Just between fat and very fat. But it's good we went to such extremes. Otherwise, I would be tempted to continue the last two weeks, but after this... it felt really strange. And oh, it was so tiring. Just like a huge party which one only has once or twice a year. So I guess we could do it again in a couple of months, just not as extreme as now... but at least I satisfied my desires for quite a while."