Chapter 2

By the end of the following day, Kyle had moved completely into his new suite. His parents had helped with the whole process, even though Kyle had wanted to handle all of the logistics himself. His dad, however, had wanted to help his son carry some of his heavier bags, and his mother had insisted on tagging along for moral support. Kyle had inwardly winced at their enthusiasm, and even though he knew that he should be thankful to have such caring parents, this knowledge did nothing to change his desire to prove to them (and now to Martha) that he could take care of himself.

“No, no, come on Kyle,” his father had insisted, brushing aside his son’s protests, “I want to help you move in. Just see it as a kind of…oh I don’t know…”sending off” of sorts, you know? To your new life.”

“Mhm!” his mother had agreed. “And besides, Kyle, we wanna see your new place! And hopefully…meet the nice lady you’ll be living with?”

“Heheh…uhh…yeah,” Kyle had muttered. “Hopefully so…”

He had only given his parents the briefest of descriptions of Martha, and had conveniently left out the fact that she was an absolutely hulking 6’7, 320 pounds. Kyle wasn’t quite sure why he didn’t feel comfortable mentioning Martha’s size to his parents — any normal exchange of conversation would have definitely involved mentioning the striking and unusual physical characteristics of the woman he’d be living with for the next year. But for some reason, one that he didn’t want to pin down, Kyle skimped over talking about it. The truth was that he himself was deeply intimidated and disquieted by Martha’s enormous presence, and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to pull off casually mentioning the fact that, when she wore heels, he was staring into the upper part of her stomach. Surely it would be hard for his parents to see him as an adult when he lived with someone who dwarfed him so completely.

Kyle was immensely thankful, then, when he discovered that Martha wasn’t home when he and his parents arrived to move in his things. His mother expressed her disappointment at not getting to meet Martha, but Kyle was now able to genuinely laugh and shrug his shoulders.

“Oh well,” he chuckled, “Guess she’s out running errands or something.”

“Geez, these ceilings sure are high,” his dad remarked, arching his head up. Being a rather short 5’5 himself, to go along with his wife’s 5’3, Kyle’s parents were definitely shorter than average, but it wasn’t by much. Even still, as Kyle watched his dad gaze up at the ceiling, an image suddenly through his head: a towering 6’10 Martha, in her 3-inch black heels, her huge, voluptuous body squeezed tightly into that purple dress, casually brushing the ceiling with her fingertips, like it was the easiest thing in the world.

Kyle swallowed audibly and started getting nervous. Martha could return at any time.

“Haha yeah, high ceilings…u-uhm…ok well thanks for moving me in guys,” he said quicker than he had intended, “Uhhh — I think, I think I’m gonna maybe take a little nap now, just to get used to the —”

“Goodness! Kyle!” exclaimed his mother suddenly. With an unpleasant wrench in his chest, Kyle saw that she was walking over to examine an open closet in the hallway, a closet they hadn’t noticed as they were busy moving in Kyle’s things. The closet was completely empty except for one thing, and that’s what had drawn his mother’s attention. An enormous long black dress was hanging in the closet, a few inches off the floor. Even though the dress itself was low-cut, it still rose up above everyone’s heads by a good six inches or so, and the shoulders were obviously incredibly broad, broader than both of his parents put together. The dress shined and sparkled darkly when the light hit it. Clearly, it had been made for an absolutely gigantic person...for Martha.

“Is this…?” stammered Kyle’s mother, blinking in perplexity at the dress, “Does this belong to…the woman who lives here!?”

“Ahhh…uhh…ah-yes,” nodded Kyle, trying and failing to act casual. “Yes it does.”

“My god,” breathed his father, joining his wife to stare at the dress. “So she’s, like…wow, huh, I mean…?”

“She’s huge!” blurted out his mother.

“Yeah! Yeah, she’s a, um…a really big woman,” Kyle said quickly. His fear that Martha would be getting back any minute was growing.

“You weren’t gonna tell us that your landlady was a…a giantess!?” asked his father incredulously.

“Well what does it matter, anyway?” retorted Kyle, a little peevishly. “She’s really big…really tall, and all…and I’m short, and that’s just…that’s just how it goes, right? It’s nothing weird or anything — I don’t know why you guys are…are looking at me like that.”

“Well it’s just…” said his mother quietly, turning back to look uneasily at the dress.

“It’s just what, mom?” asked Kyle, now making no secret of his annoyance. A tense silence passed between the three of them.

“Nothing,” murmured his mother, breaking the silence as she shook her head and shrugged. “It’s…it’s nothing.”

But he knew that his mother’s uneasiness wasn’t just about “nothing,” and even though he managed to successfully escort them out of the house a few minutes later, Kyle was left with a bit of a bad taste in his mouth as he laid out on his bed, staring up at the high ceiling. He didn’t know Martha very well, but even at this point, he was almost certain that she had purposefully left that closet door open, so that his parents would see her dress. Kyle felt a shiver go through him as he contemplated her motives for doing so. What was she up to!? Was it humorous? Was she making a joke!? Or was there something else going on…something perhaps more sinister? Like her sending his parents a message…? Kyle didn’t know. But he did know that he was relieved to finally be moved in, and after a short while, his eyes got heavy and he drifted off into a shallow sleep.

Seemingly only a second later, a sharp knock at his door jolted him awake.

“Oh Kyyyyyle!”

Martha’s rich deep voice was emanating from behind the door. The light in his bedroom had completely changed. When he had shut his eyes, the mid-afternoon sun was streaming in through his window, bathing his bedroom in a warm gold. But as he slept, the sun had gone down. The room was now full of strange, crooked shadows, emanating from the lurid streetlight outside that shined its watchful light through the gnarled tree branches of the huge oak in Martha’s front yard. Kyle struggled upright into a sitting position in his bed; he had slept far longer than he had intended.

“Y-yes?” he asked, as his heart beat rapidly in his chest. He felt like he had been caught, like he had done something wrong. But he hadn’t! He had only been napping…in his room! Which he had just signed the lease for! Kyle felt himself becoming indignant.

“I’ve just made some absolutely delicious beef stroganoff,” Martha spoke through the door, “And I wanted to invite you to eat with me — your first meal in the new place!”

“Oh, I…uh,” stammered Kyle, blinking at the closed door. “I think…um, well I’m not exactly, uh…hungry right now, Martha. But…but thanks anyway!”

The truth was that he hadn’t been awake long enough to realize if he was hungry or not — he just didn’t feel like eating with her right now. But a moment later, his eyes were widening as he pulled his knees up to his chest in an instinctive protective motion (even though he was fully-clothed). Martha had opened his bedroom door without even asking, sending a rich, warm flood of light into the shadowy room.

“H-hey!” protested Kyle. “Um…M-Martha…y-you’re not supposed to —”

“Aw Kyle,” pouted Martha, as she lifted her arms up above her head and grabbed onto the top of the door frame, leaning slightly forward into his bedroom as she did so. Kyle again couldn’t help but gawk at her enormous body. From her mid-thighs all the way up to her shoulders, no light streamed into the bedroom around her body — she completely filled the door frame.

“It’s your first night here, and already you’re gonna refuse my cooking?” Martha continued, tilting her head at him. “Come on Kyle, I put extra effort into this meal, especially for you, to celebrate my new tenant! Don’t tell me you’re not gonna join me now!”

Kyle could see that Martha was smiling at him, and her voice definitely carried an air of coquettish play to it. But it wasn’t all lightness and fun — he got the sense that Martha wasn’t really asking him to join her. She was telling him. With all this being considered, Kyle felt like standing his ground and refusing, but the savory, spicy scent of the stroganoff had wafted into the room over Martha’s big shoulders. It did smell really good. And now that he had sat with himself for a moment, Kyle realized that he was indeed hungry.

“Heh, well…alright,” he replied finally, affecting a smile.

“Mmmmm good!” intoned Martha, her own smile widening. “Come on, I’ve already set the table for us.”

Dinner was a curious and unsettling affair for Kyle. The food was absolutely delicious; there was no doubt that Martha was an excellent cook, but this didn’t really surprise him. What did surprise him, though, was Martha’s shamelessness in asking him personal questions about his family and his love life. At the moment, Kyle didn’t have anyone he was dating, or even interested in, but he hoped that perhaps he would find someone at his new job. Part of his mission to “make it” in the adult world was finding a suitable partner for himself, preferably a cute sweet girl a little shorter than him, who could play the loving complementary role to his as the masculine primary breadwinner. But really, none of this was any of Martha’s business, and yet the questions evinced her casual and cheerful disregard for any social conventions.

“So you mean to tell me that you’ve never been on a date before?!” asked Martha meaningfully, as she helped herself to her second huge bowl of stroganoff and noodles. Kyle wasn’t even a quarter of the way through his first bowl. He had also noticed that Martha had made it a point to give him a small bowl, while she herself was using a bowl that was almost cartoonishly huge, four or five times bigger than his bowl. And what’s more, as if to add insult to injury, she had insisted that he sit on top of a stack of phone books that she had placed in his chair, ostensibly so that she could see his whole face while they were talking. Kyle felt like all of this was rather demeaning, but in her immense and intimidating presence, he didn’t dare complain.

“Well…I-I mean…I went to prom once,” he explained, blushing a little.

“Oooooo, prommmmm!” chuckled Martha, leaning forward so that her mammoth breasts squished themselves up against the table, making them look even huger. “So that was waaay back in high school then, huh?”

“Yeah, but…uh, well, college was busy and all,” Kyle continued. He straightened up on top of the pile of phone books. “But I definitely intend on pursuing a relationship sometime soon. Now that I have a stable income and a place of my own.” He didn’t quite know why he felt like he needed to justify himself to Martha, like he needed to somehow convince her that he wasn’t some little kid. Maybe it was the tender, almost hungry way she was looking at him.

“Well I’m not so sure about all that, Kyle,” Martha declared, shaking her head wryly as she bent down to her huge bowl, ladling another massive spoon-full of stroganoff into her mouth and swallowing it down like it was nothing a moment later. “All that stuff you just mentioned — relationships, stable income, yadda yadda yadda and all the rest, hahaha, I think you might be getting a little too far ahead of yourself there.”

“Huh?” asked Kyle blankly, squinting his eyes up at Martha as she continued staring down at him with that curious grin on her face. “Wh-wha….what do you mean?” He could feel himself getting irritated. “I m-mean…are you…are you seriously suggesting that I…I don’t have what it takes to —”

“All I’m saying, Kyle,” interrupted Martha, after downing another two huge spoon-fulls, “Is that you’re definitely a young guy…fresh out of college…with a LOT to learn about the world. And, of course, being as small as you are…heheh, well, I’d hate to see you overextend yourself and get burned out. You might not know this now, Kyle, but full time jobs…ohhhhh yeah, they take it out of you. And to slap a relationship on top of all that!? Hahaha, it’s not a combination for the weak, let me tell you!”

“B-But I’m not…weak, Martha!” exclaimed Kyle, his face starting to flush with indignation.

“Heheh, well, you certainly didn’t seem very strong, trying to pick up my frying pan!” laughed Martha heartily.

“Not…not that kind of weak!” protested Kyle, putting down his spoon angrily.

“Awww, did I hit a nerve, little guy?” Martha teased, reaching across the table to brush Kyle’s cheek with a huge finger. Kyle made a jerking movement away from her incoming finger, but he immediately regretted it, since his movement made him feel even more small and juvenile than he already felt next to her. Martha seemed to understand what was going on, and her grin widened as he was forced to accept her teasing caress. Even when she was just touching him with her finger, Kyle couldn’t help but feel overpowered by this enormous amazon of a woman. Her fingers…her whole hand…everything about her…was just gigantic.

“I’m just looking after you, Kyle,” Martha cooed down at him, as she continued stroking his cheek with her finger, “You know that, right? And I’d just hate to see my new little tenant get all in over his head in the big, bad adult world too quickly.”

Kyle hated everything about this exchange, but it was ridiculous how thoroughly Martha could dominate the trajectory of the conversation, without leaving him any room to protest or respond. She had this uncanny sense of how to trap him in his own insecurities and make him feel small. Right now, if he continued to argue and protest against her condescension, he knew that it would make him seem like a petulant little child. But if he did what he was doing now, and just accepted her supercilious and patronizing attitude (not to mention her demeaning caress of his cheek), then it made him feel just as small. Either way, he was stuck.

“So what did your parents think of the place?” asked Martha mildly, turning back down to her bowl and stirring it a little. Kyle stared at her, trying to get his mind to focus on what was actually happening. Focusing around this enormous hulk of a woman was difficult in and of itself — every movement Martha made seemed to emphasize her hugeness. The wide, jingling bracelets around her strong, thick arms…the way she just towered over him while sitting down, even though he was on top of a pile of phone books…

‘God,’ thought Kyle helplessly, staring at her bracelets, ‘Those would go all the way up my arms, past my elbow…and they wouldn’t stop till they hit my shoulder.’ He shut his eyes, grit his teeth, and shook his head, trying to clear away the torrent of unwanted thoughts in his mind.

“Well?” asked Martha innocently, as she once again helped herself to enormous quantities of stroganoff, spooning into her mouth more than Kyle had eaten, and all just in a matter of seconds. “They did help you move in today, didn’t they?”

“I…w-well yeah…yeah they did,” said Kyle, puzzled. How could Martha have known that? Hadn’t she been out when they had moved in? An unsettling thought crept into Kyle’s brain — that Martha had been watching from afar, like with binoculars or something, spying on his every move, and taking notes on his parents.

‘Oh come on!’ he said inwardly, chastising himself, ‘She may be a little weird, a little “off,” but she’s not that crazy!’

“And?” asked Martha pleasantly, pushing her empty bowl to the side, erected the huge trunks of her forearms on her elbows (her bracelets barely budged), and leaned her chin down on her interlocked hands. Kyle suddenly knew what she was really asking — she wanted to know how his parents had reacted to seeing that dress in the closet.

“They…they thought everything was fine,” muttered Kyle nonchalantly, shrugging, trying to play everything off. But Martha just kept staring at him with that twinkle in her eye, and Kyle knew that he wasn’t going to be able to just ignore what she wanted him to say. He realized that either he was going to bring it up, or she was. With that in mind, he thought he may as well take charge:

“So…um, Martha…you know, now that you mention it,” he said, making a valiant attempt to sound casual and spontaneous, “It was kind of…kind of interesting…there was a dress hanging up, like…you know, in a closet.”

As soon as he had spoken those words, Kyle sank inwardly. The words themselves sounded strange and unnatural — they didn’t sound like the material for a normal, adult conversation at all. And yet he had already spoken them, so he plowed on ahead, his face getting redder the more he spoke:

“A-And I was just…just wondering, umm…did you, uh…” and here he started chuckling a bit, trying to find a different angle, “Eheheh, I mean…did you put it there on purpose? Because, haha, I, uh, don’t remember it being there before.”

“Oh yes, Kyle,” Martha answered instantly, sitting up straight in her chair and arching her shoulders back, re-emphasizing the sheer size of her bust as it hung heavily over the table, “I cleaned out that whole closet the other day, just so I could put my black dress in there.”

“Oh,” Kyle replied, nodding his head. He had been surprised by the speed of her answer. There didn’t seem to be anything left for him except to ask one more question: “S-so…so, uh…why did you do that?”

Martha tilted her head down at him, flashing him an incredulous smile. “Well isn’t it obvious Kyle?” she began, “I’m an understanding landlady, haha. I wanted you and your folks to have a nice little time without having ME as a distraction. I’m not under any illusions, Kyle — I know how big of an impression I can make, haha, and I thought to myself, well maybe I should just go out shopping for some new heels or something while Kyle’s moving in. But you see —”

And here she paused and leaned forward into the table, so far that her shadow actually passed over Kyle’s head as she stared down at him. Her grin was deeply unnerving, and he could feel his heart beating fast under the cold cast of her shadow.

“— I wanted your parents to know that they don’t need to be hounding you all the time, now that you’re all moved in, you know? I’m suuuuure they just baby you all the time, especially your mommy, hahaha…but I just wanted to do a little something to show them that you’re in good hands. That there’s no reason to worry about anything bad happening to you, now that you’re under MY roof.”

Kyle swallowed audibly in Martha’s shadow. She would have made him feel so small, so tiny, so insignificant, without even opening her mouth…and yet, the words she was saying just made his feeling ten times worse. What on earth was wrong with her!? Did she think that he was some kind of a child?? That he had moved in with her so that she could…mother him!? Kyle felt repulsed by the thought, but again, there wasn’t anything that he could say outright that he had the courage for. All he could do was offer another weak little shrug of his shoulders as he retreated further back in his chair, scooting backwards on the pile of phone books.

“W-well…ah….ahaha, uh, I…appreciate that, Martha,” he said carefully, “But…I don’t think they were too worried anyway.”

“What did they think of my dress?” asked Martha, ignoring what he had just said. Her eyes sparkled darkly. “What did your mom say, Kyle? Did she like it?”

“She…liked it just fine,” Kyle lied.

“Oh really?” chuckled Martha. “She wasn’t intimidated by it at all?”

“W-well, I mean, yeah, she was a little bit,” replied Kyle. More and more, he just wanted to escape this conversation and get back to his room. As far as he was concerned, he had learned his lesson about eating with Martha: that it was to be avoided at nearly all costs.

“Mmmmm, you’re so short and adorably puny,” hummed Martha affectionately, spider-crawling her massive hand across the table and giving his finger a playful caress. “I’m sure your parents are too…haha, I bet that dress was taller than your mommy AND your daddy, and wider than both of them put together, huh?”

Kyle was amazed at the accuracy of Martha’s guess…if it actually was a guess. He was increasingly beginning to think that Martha had hidden herself somehow, maybe in her car across the street, and watched him and his parents move his stuff in. A desperate voice suddenly went up in his head, yelling loud and clear:

‘Red flag!! Reg flag!! She’s nuts, Kyle!! She’s crazy!! You gotta get OUT of here!!’

But what else was there to do? He had already signed the lease, and something told him that Martha would not take kindly to him breaking the lease on the first night. He took a few breaths to calm himself down and then made an attempt at an answer, trying to match Martha’s dark grin:

“Eheh, yeah, it was actually. Pretty, uhm…pretty amazing.”

“Ha! If only they had seen me in person,” chuckled Martha, doing a hair-flip that, for someone her size, was actually rather stylish. A second later she was looking back down at Kyle’s bowl. “Aww, all full already, little guy?”

“Aha, uh, yeah,” he laughed, miming an apology as he clutched his stomach, indicating how full he was, “It was delicious, Martha, but I think —”

“Your little tummy is all fuuuuullll?” teased Martha. She had suddenly stood up to take his bowl (putting it inside her own empty one, just to re-emphasize how much more she had eaten than him), and as she spoke, she reached her hand down and tickled his stomach with her bare fingers. Kyle couldn’t help but gasp out in laughter as she did so, but a moment later his eyes had gone wide — Martha’s giant fingers had snaked under his shirt and were now tickling his bare belly. He felt the warmth of her huge digits, while it mixed with the strange and shocking cold of the metal rings on her fingers. He kicked and struggled on top of the pile of phone books, trying to get away, but Martha held him at bay, seemingly effortlessly, for several long seconds, staring down into his face with that same wide-eyed and hungry expression.

Just as Kyle began to panic from lack of air, Martha stopped, scrunching up her nose at him as she tapped him on both of his cheeks with her finger.

“So. Cute!” she declared, one word for each tap. A moment later she had turned her back from him, carrying their dishes into the kitchen. Kyle was breathless for a few seconds, watching her enormous ass jiggle and gyrate crazily as she walked, and then, out of sheer instinct, he stumbled down from his chair, ran into his room, and closed the door, locking it behind him. For long minutes he lay there in the dark on his bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering what on earth he had gotten himself into.