Fat! fat! fat! [teaser preview]

chapter 1

**the following is an abridged excerpt from a longer story which will be found in the premium section**


Leah was giving Audrey and I a ride home after work one afternoon, when we happened upon a character who had been a presence in my neighborhood for as long as I can remember, a reclusive older woman who lived all alone in a big ominous looking chateau at the end of our block, a woman whom the neighborhood children referred to as “the Fat Witch.”

“Oh my God, Clarissa!” Leah cackled at me. “Who in the world is that?”

“Ugh! She’s huge!” Audrey cried out.

“Oh that,” I said. “Yeah, she’s known around here as ‘the fat witch’.”

“Is she really a witch?” Audrey asked, sounding rather childish in her naivety.

“She’s definitely fat!” Leah chortled.

“Yeah, I don’t know,” I said. “She’s just this lonely old lady who’s lived in that old house forever. She keeps to herself and everyone just leaves her alone.”

Now one might think that after hearing the words, “everyone just leaves her alone,” that would be an indication to just keep on driving and to in fact leave her alone. For some reason however, Leah took this as a cue to pull up to the curb in front of the fat witch’s house and taunt her.

“Hey, fatty!” she called out of the open car window. The obese woman turned her alabaster face toward us and glared right at us with her cool, steely eyes. “Yeah, that’s right! I’m talking to you, porker! Why don’t you go on a diet!?”

Leah and Audrey were laughing hysterically in the front seat of the car. I just sat in the back, quietly mortified as they unleashed a barrage of abuse on this poor helpless woman who hadn’t done anything to anyone — as far as I knew.

“Have you ever heard of a gym, lady?” Audrey said, picking up where Leah left off. “Someone needs to put a chain around your refrigerator!”

“Guys,” I said quietly, “let’s go. I gotta get home!”

But Leah and Audrey just kept right on yucking it up as they hurled insults at this woman whom they, until just a few minutes ago, had no idea even existed. I felt terrible, but I felt helpless to do anything to stop them. Even at age eighteen, I guess I was still a slave to peer pressure.

“Why don’t you pick up the pace a little?” Leah shouted. “Maybe you’ll start burning off some of that lard!”

“Be careful, Leah” Audrey responded, “she might start an earthquake!”

That’s when it happened. The fat witch looked right at me. Not Leah, not Audrey. She looked right at me! I was terrified, I’d never seen her this close-up before. She had this otherworldliness about her; her large spherical body almost seemed to levitate off the ground as she slowly drifted closer to us. Leah and Audrey seemed to be oblivious to all of this as they continued howling over their cruel and juvenile taunts.

As the fat witch approached the car, she lifted her left hand slowly, sticking out her pointer and pinky fingers, wiggling them in this strange sort of circular motion. She seemed to be mouthing some words that I couldn’t understand. My heart was pounding in my chest.

“Guys!” I finally shouted. “Come on, let’s get out of here!”

“Okay, okay,” Leah said as she put the car in gear and hit the accelerator. “Relax, Clarissa. What are you afraid of? You think she’s going to chase after us?”

“Ha! Fat chance!” Audrey quipped, the two of them continuing to howl with laughter.