Witch in the Woods

Part 4

Who knows what woke her up that night? Maybe an owl had hooted outside the window. Maybe the cat had knocked something over. Maybe it was just a bad dream. But whatever the reason, Natya stirred.

She shifted and yawned. She had only fallen asleep a few hours ago, so her belly was still stuffed full. But she had slept off enough to think more clearly than she had in days. Something was different, but she could not think what. She felt different… her body moved different. It was… slower… heavier…

It was too dark to see herself when she looked down, but Yunitsa kept a long mirror in the corner of the room, lit now by a shaft of moonlight. Natya heaved herself up. Why was it harder to walk? Why was she already slightly out of breath? Natya reached the mirror, looked at herself…

And screamed.

“What’s all the racket?!” Yunitsa pounded down stairs from her bedroom.

Natya was crying, her panicked breaths coming fast and shallow. “What happened to me?! I’m… I’m…”

Yunitsa laughed. “As much a pig on the outside as you are on the inside, that’s what you are!”

It was true. Natya had grown as round and fat as Lyuba… no, more so! Her hands shook as she touched her double chin, gripped her flabby belly, lifted her pillowy arms. “I don’t understand!”

Yunitsa chortled. “I pegged you right away as a girl who would get fat in no time if given half a chance!” She petted the black cat perched on the table. He pushed up into her hand, purring. “A very simple spell really, and one of my favorites.”

“A-a spell?” Natya clung to a chair for balance. Yunitsa’s words, no, her SPELL, echoed back to her head.

In this house, you will eat as much as you want.

Natya shook. How had she not realized at the time that those words were not an invitation. They were a command.

“You… you did this to me!”

Yunitsa’s cackle bounced off the walls. “I did no such thing! I may have tweaked with your impulse control and holding capacity, but the wanting is all yours! You ate because you WANTED to! Face it, girlie-” Yunitsa poked her cane into Natya’s broad belly. “You’ve been a glutton your whole life. I just let it out.”

Natya trembled. Deep in her heart, she knew Yunitsa was right. None of the food had been forced on her. She did this to herself.

She looked in the mirror again, and winced. “How long have I been in this house?”

“A week.”

“A WEEK??”

If she was this big after a week, she shuddered to think how big she would be in a month. “I have to get out of here!”

Natya lunged for the door, waddling as fast as her fat legs would carry her. Yunitsa, unconcerned, strolled to the kitchen. When she opened the oven, the luxurious smell of apples and honey washed over the room. Natya froze at the doorway. The smell held her back as firmly as an arm around her neck. Her stomach lurched with longing. She was still full from her last binge mere hours ago, but her stomach demanded more, more, until there was no more to be had. Natya gripped the doorway, hands shaking, mouth watering, head spinning, heart pounding. She was so close! Just leave!

Yunitsa cut a thick slice of pastry, passing the plate under Natya’s nose. Her swollen, bloated belly begged her to grab it, stuff it in her mouth, reach out for more and more!

“Little piggy, you must be hungry after so much excitement.” Yunitsa smirked wickedly at the joke that was no longer secret.

Groaning with shame, moaning with hunger, Natya reached out for the plate. Yunitsa kept it just out of her reach, forcing her to follow. Natya let herself be led back to the table like a herded cow.