------ Chapter 17 ------

     Sunlight glinted across the room, the beams of light falling across my eyes. I snorted awake, feeling very hot and sweaty. It felt like I was in a furnace.

     Where was I? I sleepily tried to get my bearings. Suddenly, yesterday’s events all rushed in. Was I still stuck in “Giant Woman” land?

     Excited to discover if it was all just a weird dream, I squirmed and thrashed about. The warm covers that were draped over me suddenly tightened, constricting my movements. As the morning haze cleared, I discovered I was being held by a set of gigantic female fingers. My “bed” was the soft expanse of my mother’s bosom, while my “blankets” were her immense hands. The heat emanating from her body surrounded me, causing us both to sweat slightly.

     I sighed, my feelings mixed. On one hand, I certainly was disappointed because I had kind of hoped I would return to my normal life when I woke up. Falling asleep was all I’d done to wind up here, so it made sense that it might be the way back. My hopes dashed, I realized that I’d just have to adjust. There were things here that would seriously take some getting used to. On the positive side, this new world certainly had some advantages. Ultimately, I wasn’t sure yet how I felt about it, but I started the morning with a new found purpose to find the silver lining.

     My mother stirred, clutching me tight and telling me good morning. She quickly fed me, topping me off for the day with her milk before taking me to the shower with her. The woman went through her entire morning routine while holding me against her breasts. It was oddly possessive, as if my gargantuan mother feared to let me go.

     Thoom… thoom… thoom… Her footsteps thudded with each lumbering step as she shuffled about. Fully dressed and with her makeup on, she carried me downstairs, still perched on the shelf of her bosom. As she made her way down each step, her breasts wobbled and bounced. A long nailed, feminine hand clasped the back of my head like a tennis ball and pulled me in tighter, securing me.

     Alison shouted impatiently from the kitchen. “Mooooommm! Give me Dean, I need to go!” My sister was careening about, gathering up some last minute things in a mad dash to get out the door.

     My mother met her at the door, and lifted me from her chest.

     “Now you be a good little man, Dean.” She held me at eye level, a serious look of concern spread across her face. The worry lines near her eyes and forehead wrinkled.

     “I will.”

     “You’re going to go live with that other woman from now on, ok? You be good. Do everything she says. Be mindful of your surroundings and do your best to stay safe.”

     The way my mother was delivering this send off speech was unusual for a few reasons. Firstly, her tone was not what you’d expect given the situation. I thought I’d hear more sadness and worry in her voice, since she was sending her only boy off to live with another woman, but I mostly detected a fearful, sullen tone. It made me feel like I was on death’s row or something, like I wasn’t supposed to survive this. “Do my best to stay safe?” What was that all about?

     “I’ll be ok!” I chirped, trying to be as positive as possible.

     She smiled; a warm, understanding smile. Behind the expression her eyes still looked bleak. The woman passed me off to my sister, who roughly tucked me under her arm like a football. Alison took off at a trot, trying to make up for lost time. I stuck my head out from her muscular arm and gazed back at my mother, perhaps seeing her for the last time. My heart sank in my chest, and a part of me really wanted this crazy new world to be over.

     Mom’s face was locked in a sullen grimace, and she stoically turned and headed back to the house. I was shocked at how matter-of-factly she handed my life over to another woman.  It got me to thinking, and questions swirled about in my head.

     What the hell kind of society was this? Was this a commonplace thing- mothers just casually passing their sons off to strangers? Was this how this woman’s world handled marriage? Why did I feel like a pig being led to the slaughter?

     Alison must have sensed my bewilderment, so she spoke.

     “Hey squirt.”

     I rolled back towards her torso, so she could carry me easier. “Yeah?”

     “You seem a little down. What’s going on in that little head of yours?”

     “I’m just… really confused. I don’t know what’s going on anymore.”

     Alison shot me a quizzical look as she crossed the street. “You’re going to go live with Ms. Bianchi now. She’s much larger than Mom, and she claimed you, so she gets to keep you. What’s not to get?”

     “What’s with Mom? She seemed so… grim.”

     “Dean, she thinks she’s not going to ever see you again.” Her voice started to become a bit annoyed.

      “Well, I can always visit! Can’t I?” I blurted.

     Allison stopped and sighed- a long, exasperated sigh. She closed her eyes and took a second to formulate what she was going to say.

      “Dean… I know you should already know this, but let’s review it quick, since your tiny pea brain seems to be misfiring. Do you know why there aren’t any men around?”

      “There are some… right?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer, but metaphorically, I’d already woken the bear.

     “Maybe there are,” she hissed, “but most of them don’t make it very long. If there are any around, they get snatched up pretty quick, and then… lets just say pretty much no one ever sees them again.”

     “They… they die?” My heart sputtered in my chest.

     Seeing my abject terror, Alison softened her approach. “I’m not trying to scare you, but a lot probably do, Dean. A woman claims a man, and it’s all great for a while, then you never see that man again. He just… disappears. Either the woman hides him away forever so a larger woman can never claim him, or…” Her voice trailed off.

     “Or… what?” I pressed.

     Alison frowned, obviously pissed that I’d gone there. “Accidents happen, Dean. What do you think happened to Dad!?” she snapped at me. The muscles in her neckline bulged slightly and her jaw clenched.

     Oh. It all made sense now. I suddenly felt bad for asking.

     “Well… I’m not going to get stepped on, or squashed, or whatever. I’ll keep an eye out, and come back and visit you and mom!”

     “If Ms. Bianchi will let you out of her sight. Mom knew it would be pointless to protect you forever, so she just let you go out and about. Your new woman might not be so secure.”

     Alison might think Nina would jealously covet me, but I didn’t. I thought back to last night, where Ms. Bianchi had officially claimed me, and what my teacher had said about giving me back once she was done with me. I considered bringing that point up to Alison, but then thought better of it.

     “Mom must have been pretty secure,” I agreed, “she let me do a lot of stuff. I could have easily been snatched up many times.”

     Alison sighed and continued walking. “You’ve seen that she’s larger than just about any woman in town right? I know it’s not by much, but jeez, are you blind or something? You were off-limits to basically everyone until that teacher showed up. Honestly, I’m surprised she didn’t claim you last year.”

     It was a bit comforting that Nina was so much taller. Now I was even more off-limits than I had been before. I thought about that for a minute, before a glorious idea popped into my mind.

     “Do you know anything about Growth-Rite?” I asked, recalling the strange powder that had caused Ms. Bianchi to gain several feet in height.

     Alison nodded. “It’s an expensive and rare growth powder.”

     “How does it work?”

     “How should I know! Mom got a packet of it back in the day once, but she said she didn’t respond to it that well. Certain women take it and grow a lot, and others not so much. It’s hit and miss like that.”

     “Is that why Madame President is so tall? She’s ten times taller than I am!” I recalled Nina mentioning the 50 foot woman that ran this weird country.

     Alison thought about it for a second. “Undoubtedly. She’s consumed tons of the stuff, but from the sounds of it, she doesn’t grow as much anymore when she takes it.”

     “She’s plateaud… like your muscles,” I jibed.

     My sister didn’t appreciate the joke, “Why do you want to know about Growth-Rite, squirt? It doesn’t work on pathetic little men like you anyway.” She poked me hard with one giant finger.

     “Just curious, I guess.”

     Oh, I was curious all right. After seeing what the stuff had done to Nina, I was extra curious.