The Girl Who Ate The Carnival

Through the packed carnival grounds walked a young boy named Mac. At twelve years old, he was at that age where kids started pushing away silly things like days at the carnival or action figures, asserting that they were too old for them. Whether they felt that way or not. Regardless this young lad had what he felt was a very good reason to be there, and her name was Christine.

For some years, she had worked as his babysitter, and over that time he had grown to adore her. Adore everything about her, from her shoulder length red hair, to her fun loving attitude, and even her portly waist line. In fact, especially her waistline.
Christine, or Christy to her friends, was not a skinny girl, and the way she ate it was hardly any mystery why. Mac just loved her all the more for it, though he was far too shy to actually tell her so. Thankfully, the two had always gotten on well, unrequited love aside, and the end of him needing a babysitter wasn’t the end of them hanging out together.

He found her sitting behind the counter at a clown head game, her large frame stuffed into a blue and white uniform with her hair tied back. She began smiling the second she saw him.
“Mac, dude, you made it!”
He smiled back. “Surprised?”
“Well, I got you that free ticket, so I’m thankful that I’m not. Give me five minutes, my shifts almost up!”
With a little smirk, Mac checked his pocket for the fifty dollars his mother gave him. About five minutes after, he was standing there again with two ice cream cones, one a scoop or two taller. He was just in time to see Christy step out from behind the same stand, her hair down and zipping her brown windcheater over her bulging green top.
“Oh, you have no idea how much I need that right now!”
He handed her the ice cream, and within moments I was one scoop shorter, and there was a strawberry smudge on her lips.

Christy had decided to volunteer at the carnival for free admission, but as she explained to Mac, the novelty wore off after the first hour or so. All day she’d been working games and ticket booths, watching people come and go without end. It got monotonous, watching other people having fun while she was stuck there for all but two half hour breaks. And she wasn’t allowed to snack on the job; her round belly was running on empty!

“Today’s been pretty slow for me, too. I had to help dad fix the car. You know him, when he gets busy, he talks like a text book!”
Christy laughed, “Oh man, I remember when he and your mom went to that Tupperware party and he tried to list every single thing he kept in it. Did not think food could be boring, but lo and behold, he managed!”
They both cracked up and sat down to finish their treats, Christy topping hers off with a hearty burp. In her pocket was a pamphlet with a map of the attractions. They began discussing where to begin. Mac tried to sound mature by dismissing the teacups, but she’d ridden them at lunch and gave them a dizzy thumbs up. They both agreed that they’d have to visit the Gravitron before the day was over, though.

“Oh, and Darcy’s Donuts? Them too, thumbs up. Way up!”
“Maybe we should try and go on everything. Tick them off as we go, you know?”
“Ugh, tempting, but the bumper cars and the Matterhorn are out of order today. And uh, the circled ones? I kinda…exceed their weight limit,” she seemed a little embarrassed, but also a little proud.
The boy scoffed, insulted on her behalf. “What a load!”
“Hey, if you wanna see me flying into the parking lot, that’s up to you.” Christy looked over the guide and saw something new. “Ooh, funnel cake! Must’ve missed that one…”
“Heh, maybe you should try every food stall instead!” Mac joked, but Christy gave what sounded an awful lot like a thoughtful hum.
“Come on, I’ll get you a milkshake or something. There’s this really nice setup by the Tunnel of Love.”

Oh, the Tunnel of Love. The things Mac would have done to get on that ride with her. Deep down, he’d hoped she’d have gone for the ‘every ride’ challenge so he could justify it, though he didn’t want to trick her into it. That unfortunately limited the ways of it actually happening, though. A boy could dream…
The ride stood there as they walked off with their drinks.  Happy couples nestled up together in the boats, and came out the other side excitedly gasping for air. He was suddenly curious, but kept quiet; it would have broken his little heart if she had to tell him it was one of the rides she was too heavy for.

On top of free admission, volunteers also received access to snack booths and rides – within reason, of course. Soon Mac saw her playing skee ball one handed, left hand firmly holding a funnel cake. At another booth, Mac made an impressive throw and knocked over a whole stack of bottles. Sadly, there were no sappy plush toys or fluffy love hearts, so he left with a Hulk Hand that curiously painted like Iron Man.
Maybe his real prize was Christy unzipping her windcheater to reveal her snack stuffed underbelly hanging out of her shirt.

Next, they went to the High Striker, and rather typically, Mac didn’t come close to ringing the bell.
“Let me give it a try…” Christy stretched her chubby arms and lifted the hammer over her shoulder, before swinging it like she was in combat. The puck reached higher, but not by much. With a huff, she walked off and left Mac behind. He took a careful step back and she dashed past him, hopped, and dropped her large backside onto the pad.
Close, but no ding.
“Oh, whatever!”

Mac had always noticed that for a girl her size, Christy wasn’t what he’d call lazy. Sure, she could spend half a day on the couch, but then, who couldn’t? Nevertheless, even with a box of popcorn in her hands, darting from game to game was a might more physical activity than she was used to. She was a bit huffy and puffy, and looked a little thirsty. So, while she viciously attacked a Whack-A-Mole game, he went and bought her a Jumbo sized Pepsi.
“Mac, what did I tell you?” she said with an air of disapproval. “I get this stuff for free! You just wasted six bucks!”
He blushed, realizing he may have been a bit too eager for his own good.
“If you don’t want it, you can give it back.”
She swallowed two plump cheeks of the drink, “Let’s not go-BRUARP-go crazy!”

Christy was now determined to ensure her young friend got his money’s worth and began slurping very noisily. Really, it was probably the best way to thank him. Soon after, they spotted a simulator ride – a big, silver space ship on its side, and decided to line up. Mac bemoaned the one year they’d gotten a Batman version which he’d never seen again. This upset Christy terribly, as she had not attended that year.

The door opened and the riders left, letting the attendant usher in six more, Mac and Christy included.
“Hold up, I’m-URP-sorry, I’m still - Hey! Guys, I’m still drinking this!” She was ignored and pushed in. Rolling her eyes, she buckled up, fidgeting uncomfortably in her tiny seat and holding her oversized cup firm. Mac felt quite cramped, but it wasn’t much worse than being stuck in the backseat with her. ‘Worse,’ in this case being a relative term, of course.

The screen lit up, displaying a futuristic looking city. Someone looking suspiciously like Buzz Lightyear flew up, barked some orders at them, and then they started to move. The whole machine vibrated and shook as the screen rose higher and higher into the cartoon sky, towards a giant enemy spaceship.
“UUURUUP!” The contents of Christy’s gut splish-sploshed inside of her. Not to mention she hadn’t quite given up on trying to finish the Pepsi.

The ride recoiled as the imaginary ship took enemy fire, and she burped again. It spun out of the way of an asteroid, and again, she belched loudly.  Then, they crashed through a great green window, and Christy unleashed her loudest yet, this time even feeling her lips ripple.

This was some kind of heaven for Mac, who had barely even glanced at the action on screen. He did wish it was a little quieter so he could better hear her heavenly, roaring burps. The sentiment was his and his alone, sadly. The four other on the ride were already quite tired of these rumbling, wet noises, and would have happily kicked her off had they been able. It wasn’t like she had much choice in the matter; this whole time she had in fact been trying hard to keep her mouth shut.

The ride jerked suddenly, shaking her like a soda bottle and forcing out another noisy belch. The cup almost slid out of her fingers, and so she squeezed it tight – and popped off the lid.
“Oh no!” The screen pulled back, and out spilled a mouthful of Pepsi. A young woman screamed. “Sorry! Oh my gosh, sorry!” The ride didn’t last much longer, but Christy kept her hand firmly on the loose lid until it ended. Mac had never seen her blush so hard.

When the ride finally did end, they were followed out by a girl with short black hair, and a large stain on her white sweater. She saw Christy clutching the empty cup, and scowled furiously.
“Christmas Dinner Christine, how freakin’ typical,” she grunted, storming over to the two. Christy herself smiled awkwardly, apparently recognising her.
“Oh, hey. Look, I am really, really sorry about this…”
“Sorry doesn’t pay my dry cleaning bill, you hog!” The girl punched her in the stomach, making it wobble before grumbling away, wishing she could hit harder. It was a good thing she left it at that; Mac looked ready to try and tear her head off. He might have gotten a chance if Christy hadn’t been standing in the way.
“She’s not worth it, trust me,” she said simply, already leaving. “Come on.”

Walking right past a Cotton candy stand, her sudden quietness wasn’t the only sign that something was wrong. She just kept moving forward, not looking entirely sure where she was actually heading. It was hardly the first time Mac had ever seen someone insult her weight, but he couldn’t remember seeing her look so…bothered.
Eventually, she stopped and rested her weight atop the petting zoo fence, gazing off at nothing in particular. Looking down to her side, she realized that Mac wasn’t with her anymore, and immediately spun around to search for him. Thankfully he was heading her way with a stick of cotton candy.
“Dude, again?”
“You looked like you needed it this time.”
Shooting him a half smile, she accepted it and in her typical way, made short work of it.
“So, short version, short version,” she mumbled, licking up a little pink beard off her chin, “That was Candace. A few years ago, we used to hang out. We don’t anymore.”
“That was a bit too short.”
“Take or leave it, the long version is stupid.” Mac’s eyes were on her face, but he couldn’t help but notice her fingers began to gently press on her belly every time she spoke. He had a sneaking suspicion why Candace had turned on her. “I’ll be fine, just…give me a moment.”
“You sure?”
“Is my butt big?” He didn’t respond to that. “Yes, I’m sure.”

Mac hated seeing her like this. People as wonderful as her shouldn’t get sad, he thought, admitting it was a rather childish outlook. He wasn’t used to her being the one needing cheering up. There wasn’t much he could do about it, sadly.
Or so he thought.
“Hey Christy? Did you see that?” he said in a rather pleased tone.
The plus sized teenager turned around and saw him pointing to a set of apple bobbing buckets and immediately smiled. She just could not help but laugh at herself, cheering up at the promise of games and food. Typical.
“Now that’s my kind of game!”

In the line-up, she stood out amongst the four or five kids. When her turn came, it was a team effort: Mac held her hair while she dunked her face in. There was some loud gulping, and the bucket seemed just a little emptier. Her head pulled up, gasped for air, and then plunged back in. Along with one of her arms.
“Hey, one turn per customer!”
Christy stood back up with an apple on her lips and a new slosh in her stomach. “RUN!” she called out to Mac, tossing him two apples.
They both laughed with utter joy as they ran. Cheating at a carnival game was hardly a serious offense, so it was a very short chase, but no less fun. Hiding out behind a caricature booth, Christy took a victorious bite, nudging Mac on the shoulder.

“Oh my god, I needed that!” she laughed, tearing the fruit down to the core. “Geez, I must’ve sounded like an idiot back there, right? Dude, just…thanks.”
Making him blush was one of her greatest talents, and it was currently on full display. “All I did was point.”
It looked like she was going to bring up something meaningful, but then she laughed “Okay, but still! You can…pick the next ride, how about that? Whatever you want.”
Images of them holding hands on the Tunnel of Love, with her big belly spilling out between them, suddenly caressed his young mind. He saw her rich, red hair fluttering gracefully behind her as she leaned in, lips pursed.
“The T-T-T-T-T…”
“T-T-T-T-T?”
“The T-Castle! You know, the Castle of Fear? I always wanted to go on that but…well, I was always too scared…” This was true, but not what he wanted to say. It didn’t help his heart rate much when she threw her arm around in and patted his shoulder.
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you!” she said in her most dramatic voice, pretending to punch at someone. Her charm didn’t have an off switch, did it?

The Castle of Fear was mostly what you’d expect. A big wooden castle front attached to a pavilion with lots of flickering lights and plastic monsters strung about. The theme was rather broad, with the attendants dressed as zombies, an Alien Facehugger hanging above the door like a spider, and RoboCop standing on the roof. Christy pointed out Freddy Krueger in a window.
“I think you wore it better,” Mac decided.

They entered through the big, clunky doorway, and were immediately met with a long hallway lined with various portraits. After taking a second for their eyes to adjust to the dark lighting, Christy pointed to a very lifelike portrait of a man with no eyes.
“That one’s a fake. The guy’s going to jump out when you walk past.”
Mac nodded, and indeed, the eyeless face snarled at him through the glass. Now all he could think about was the poor actor sitting in that little room behind the frame all day, growling at people like an animal. It sounded really boring.

As they moved through the attraction, they heard the odd scream, cries for help, and a monstrous, evil rumbling noise. The last one turned out to be Christy, though. They passed a caged door with a skeleton clinging to the bars, cackling wildly.
“Oh no, Mac! It’s Anorexia!” the girl pretended to cower for a moment. “Uh, yeah, that’s a serious issue, I shouldn’t joke about that.”
The next room had an actor chasing a girl with a chainsaw run by, and Mac saw his crush crouch down and hide behind him, shouting ‘Save me, save me!’ He felt her pudgy figure press up against him, and with more effort than he wanted to admit, asked her to stop doing that.
At each puppet she gasped, and she met every masked actor with cries of ‘oh, the horror!’ One monster stopped mid snarl and glared at her girth in surprise before getting back into character, just to be laughed at.
The atmosphere was creepy and some of the scares were good, but Christy’s presence seemed to devour anything that might have actually scared him.

“Aww man, I love this stuff!” she said, admiring a human brain in a bubbling jar. “This isn’t too much for you, Mac?”
“Maybe when I was eight,” he laughed, leaning up against a wall. “Spent a whole lot of time being scared of nothing, I guess.” A face stretched out of the wall and hissed over his shoulder, and after screaming, he found himself clinging to her.
“Yes, very brave.” She took a step towards the next room, lifting him along as she did. “Hey, don’t squeeze me too hard, you might get sucked in.”
“That wouldn’t be so bad.”
“Huh?”
“NOTHING!”
Eventually, he did have to let go of her and continue on his own feet. On the way out, they passed a graveyard, and Christy wondered what would happen is she bit a zombie. The thought put some rather odd images in Mac’s head, to say the least.

After so much excitement, Christy decided she needed something to eat. A real, proper dinner this time. To her, this meant a large burger and two hotdogs, with fries and a blueberry shake. Watching her tuck in from the other side of the table, Mac briefly wondered if her stomach was just getting bigger, but not fuller. It hung low from her shirt, much bigger and much rounder than it was back when she was on-duty, and was getting harder and harder to ignore with each bite. Of course, that wasn’t on the boy’s to-do list anyway.
When he saw her go for a second burger, he caught himself seconds from saying ‘Marry me.’
“Hey, I’m a growing girl. I can’t help if it’s all outward!” She came back with an additional milkshake and two corndogs. It actually surprised Mac that one was for him. Normally he was very happy to let the local food supply pour into her hungry lips, but he was actually starving. Christy hadn’t seen someone eat something quicker than her in a long time.

“BrhouURAHP! Mmmm, that’s the business!” Reclining back, she almost fell off the bench. She licked the residue of her greasy, plump fingers, trying hard to get every crumb onto her tongue. “If there’s anything better than a free meal…well, I probably couldn’t talk about it in front of you. Heh.”
Her young friend tried very hard not to stare at the three huge mounds that made up her front, each heaving up and down, briefly seeming to become larger. She pulled her top back down, but it just rode up again. Her belly wanted to be free. It had earned it.
“So, did you still want to try the Gravitron?” Christy asked, burping into a napkin.
“Oh, definitely!” he grinned, finally able to look upwards. “But uh, we can do something else, if you want. I mean, you’re not my babysitter anymore, you don’t need to stand around waiting for me.”
“Stand where? I love that ride!” Her belly flopped onto the table, batting away empty cups and scrunched up wrappers as she stood up and stretched. She got a good look at Mac’s shining braces with how wide he smiled up at her.

Eagerly, he pulled her through the crowds by her hand, weaving past everyone, and inevitably introducing a lot of them to her broad figure. Each time came with an apology, but some of them came out sounding more like ‘Burrup’ and ‘Uhrurhp.’ Together, they sloshed along until they stood in the warm, neon light of a rapidly spinning green saucer: The Gravitron.
It was hard to tell who was more excited. Even if she hadn’t been Mac’s dream girl, stuff like this probably would have kept them hanging out anyway. Just because she’d gotten older didn’t mean she’d grown up.

“Man, I remember one time when I was little, I must have gone on this like, forty times in a row. My dad says I just sort of spun in place for an hour afterwards!”
Mac grinned proudly and crossed his arms, “The guy let me ride upside down once.”
“Ooh. Good idea?”
“Bad idea. Bad, bad, baaaaaaad idea! Haha!”
The two shuffled through the queue, a foot from boarding the ride when the attendant, a woman looking a little older than Christy, stepped in their way.
“Um, whoa, whoa! Just what do you think you’re doing?”
“Going on the best ride that doesn’t involve loopdeeloops?”
“Ïn your condition? I don’t think so. Sweetie, you’re about to pop!”
She motioned to her waist, and Christy immediately laughed. “Oh, ‘sweetie, haha! Oh sweetie, no.”
Shortly after, she and Mac took their place up against the padded panels. Looking to his side, all the boy could see was her bountiful, beautiful body. She grinned down at him, trying and failing one last time to fit her shirt over it as the doors closed.

The operator glanced over at her, looking concerned, but started the ride up regardless.
“Here we go!” grinned Christy, feeling the world start to rotate around them.
They, along with the other riders, leaned back into their panels as they picked up speed. While Christy’s weight already pinned her back to hers, Mac thought for a moment he might be flung into her, turning the ride into a bouncy castle.
The planet pushed left and he felt solid ground leave his feet. It did really feel like they were taking flight.  The saucer filled itself with laughter and delighted screams as each panel began to slide up.

“Oof!”” Christy’s panel slammed as high as it would go. Most of her long hair was pinned under her great weight, but a few strands lashed out annoyingly into someone’s face. “”Sorry!”” she tried to call out, but found her voice muffled and quiet, covered up by her own generous bosom. She’d have blushed brightly, but nobody would’ve seen.

Noises started coming from her stomach as it bobbed rapidly, shaking and swinging in ways that the human body generally could not manage. It felt like all her digestive organs were being knotted together and thumped against her chest. Even with her own stuffed shirt slapping her on the chin, Mac could easily tell her expression wasn’t that of someone enjoying themselves.
“Christy!” he yelled, “Christy, are you okay?”
If she had even heard him, he couldn’t tell. Both her eyes were too busy rolling around in her head to focus on anything. Her hands strained to pull out forward, trying to hold her gut down, as though it might fly off otherwise. Suddenly the ride had become scarier than the Castle of Fear could have ever hoped to be.
“Christy, just hang on a little longer!” shouted Mac in a panicked voice. Above him, she hung in place, making a lot of noises that were definitely not words. “It’s just a ride! You’ll be fine! P-please! I…Christy, Christy, I love you!”

Her flapping, loose hair began to drop back onto her shoulder. The ride was slowing down at last. Each panel slid back to the floor, save for one that hit it with a thud. For a moment, Christy stayed put, before Mac tugged on her arm and she began to peel herself off the groove she had made.
“B-bad idea... Bad, bad…bad id-idea…” she said, sounding like her throat was full of bubbles. At least her belly was hanging over her pants again.
She took one step and stumbled, only staying on her feet with Mac’s help. This was how he found out she weighed exactly as heavy as she looked, if not heavier. Even then, he suspected she was trying hard not to fall over and squish him.
“What did I tell you?” the attendant commented on the two waddling weakly off the ride. Not her usual self, Christy’s response was less than eloquent.

The nearest bench was thankfully empty vacant by the time the two found it, and Christy fell right onto it. Her round face was as green as her eyes, which currently seemed rather lifeless outside of the odd blink. It seemed she wanted badly to burp again, but she kept her hand firmly pressed over her pale, plump lips.
Now, Mac could get quite nervous at times, but it wasn’t often he was utterly horrified. “This is all my fault… I knew you ate too much, I knew it was a bad idea, but no, no! I thought it might be fun! Who cares how much you ate? ‘Christy can take care of herself, she doesn’t need me to tell her what to do!’”
His young voice trembled in his throat as he hovered in front of her, looking like she might explode.
“And now you’re gonna…you can’t…”
“M-mac, dude…” she gurgled uncomfortably. “I’m ready to barf, not keel over. Calm it down, man.”

Sitting up wasn’t about to happen. When she tried, her face somehow went even greener.
“B-but yeah…don’t l-let do that again,” she winced hard, doing her very best to everything inside of her belly. It occurred to Mac that maybe what she needed was a good, soothing belly rub to ease the pain, but looked sadly upon his inexperienced little hands. He’d surely just make it worse.
“Should I find a bucket or something?” Christy waved disapprovingly.
“Just gimme a moment…ugh…”
For what seemed like a little too long, she wallowed in place, her young friend eventually sitting down by her side, attentively waiting for her next request. It took her a moment, but she started breathing normally, and asked him to help her sit up.
“Feeling better?”
“Kinda…” Her throat garbled. “No…You m-might want to stay clear of the launch zone,” she suggested, and he slowly shuffled out of range.

And then she said something Mac really hadn’t expected.
“How does one last ride sound?” The glare she received didn’t surprise her one bit. “I’m not in good shape, but I’m not ruining your day just because I did something stupid. C’mon, one more, you and me.”
“Okay, but just how exactly is seeing you hurt yourself even worse going to not ruin my day? Because that sounds sort of like the thing that would really ruin it.”
“You’re sweet, you know that? Look, just choose something mellow. There has to be something here that doesn’t throw you upside down, or spin you around.” That sounded more reasonable, but Mac wasn’t quite convinced just yet. “Ooh, it might even help me relax. Let everything in here settle down?”
Okay, that clenched it. But Mac could only think of one ride like that…

The enormous neon love hearts faced them. Christy may have been the one who was sick, but Mac found himself virtually paralysed. Somehow, he both wanted to be here more than anything, and wanted to be anywhere else in the world.
“Hmm, no, this one’s no good!” he decided abruptly, “Boats and water, you’ll get seasick.”
“I don’t get sea sick; this is perfect.” Did she even know which ride this was?
Groggily, she began forward, and he had no choice but to go with her, both of them moving painfully slow. Flashing her ID card, she told the attendant she needed to sit down, and he told her this was why they didn’t snack on the job. Without the energy to curse, she just grumbled and settled in her seat next to Mac.

Leaning back, her sore tummy rose up, causing him to stare in awe. Even after all it had been through, it was still one of the most beautiful things he’d ever laid eyes on.
“This is so much better… good god, is this better…” she sighed, belching with her teeth shut. Her glorious gut pressed hard against the front of the boat, and Mac almost lost it. He was trapped in here with the world’s most gorgeous woman, her body a giant, creamy ball of food and fat, rumbling painfully and begging for someone’s loving, warm touch…
“So, have you been on this one before?” His voice cracked as he spoke.
“Hmm, oh yeah, one time, yeah. Came out the other side alone,” she winked and gently patted her massive waistline, laughing and groaning in the same breath.

She’d eaten up so much of his attention, he almost didn’t notice when they floated on into the dark of the tunnel. For a moment, they saw nothing, and then everything went a thick, misty red as they heard the music start up. While not how he envisioned it at all, this was happening. They were on the Tunnel of Love together, and she was even rounder than in his daydreams! He needed to get a hold of himself before he did something really stupid…
“Could this be any cornier?”
She didn’t seem to hear him. Which was awfully strange, since he could still hear every noise her stomach was making just fine. In fact, he fancied it a lot more than their choice of music.

Christy seemed at ease, the pain inside her starting to quell at last. If nothing else she looked ready to doze off instead of pass out, and that was enough for Mac. Sitting back, he closed his eyes and waited for the ride to end.
And then, something heavy pecked his cheek, and his eyes popped open.

To his side, Christy sat innocently, just yawning a little. Did she…? No, she wouldn’t have. But…what if she did?
When they came out the other side, she was stirring awake, and Mac looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks.
“That thing goes a whole lot slower than I remembered,” she stretched her arms, leading off the little boat. Now she had enough strength to stand by herself again but the sway in her step suggested she wasn’t running at full capacity just yet. “Hey, dude, you need to get out of there now.”
Mac had stood up to exit the ride, but hadn’t quite made it yet. His eyes were stuck on her. He kept expecting her to bust out in a laugh, but all she gave was a small chuckle before telling him to get out of the boat again.

“Oog, man, I feel like a human water balloon…” An accurate description.  Every few minutes, she’d stop to belch, cupping a hand over her mouth to make sure everything stayed where she wanted it. “See? Wasn’t so bad, was it? I’m still in one piece! You chose…wisely.”
She threw her arm around him playfully, and weakly noogied his hair. “But seriously, don’t try and squeeze me again. I’m more food than woman right now…”
He patted the covered part of her belly, and it grumbled angrily before he could say anything reassuring, and so instead quickly apologized. Carefully, he felt the warm spot on his cheek and shivered. “I’m really glad you’re okay. You had me worried, there.”
“Yeeeaaah, today hasn’t been my most…graceful performance. Pretty lucky I had you here to look after me. Maybe my mom should pay you twenty bucks, heh!”

He laughed with her, but he knew they were heading home now, and that little moment in the boat was haunting him in the most mixed way. If he wanted to sleep that night, he had to ask...
“Hey uh, about earlier. You know, what I said In the Gravitron? I really, you know, I was freaking out, I didn’t really mean…” Christy turned, looking surprised.
“Before you get too embarrassed, I really couldn’t hear anything in there. Little preoccupied, you know? You could have yelled out that you were madly in love with me and I wouldn’t have even noticed.”
Whether he was feeling let down or utterly relieved, Mac wasn’t certain, but it was better than whatever he had been feeling a moment ago.
“Whew, we’d better just leave it there then!” they both cracked up.

Laughing wasn’t quite comfortable for Christy, who held her fat underbelly in both hands and coughed a bit
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay tonight?” asked Mac.
“I can get us home. Trust me, I’ve done worse to myself in the past, don’t worry.” Quietly, she admitted none of those incidents had involved a Gravitron. “But in future, maybe I should be a little more careful. I don’t mind pushing limits, but there’s a time and a place, you know?”

The parking lot was in view when she suddenly stopped and changed course, leaving her young friend to watch her glorious bottom shake as she retrieved one last toffee apple. It hung firm in her bite as she took out her pamphlet and crossed out the very last food stand. Mac shot her a glare, and she shrugged.
“You don’t have to say anything, I know I'm an idiot. I’ve made my choice.”
“I love you.”
“Yep,” she playfully bumped him with a swing of her large hips and accidentally sent him tumbling to the grass. Trying to help him up only ended with her flat on her back with her stomach high in the air.

It took some doing to get the large young woman back on their feet, but they weren’t really in much of a hurry. A minute with Christy was worth a whole year of free carnival rides.