Mondo the Great

The nightclub crowd roared hysterically. Mondo, the illusionist and hypnotist was quickly becoming a big name act, and word of mouth was all the advertising he needed to pack a house. He wore a tuxedo, but offset its formal effect by wearing sneakers and letting his shirt-tails hang out. And Mondo's long hair made him look more like a beach bum than a stage performer.

The casual appearance and familiar way in which he addressed people put them at ease--a necessity if Mondo were to have any success at hypnotizing them. He also found that the act went more smoothly if he could address his audience volunteers by name. Right now he had about twenty people on stage, all busily "being" whatever he suggested to them. Jill stood to one side and just kept ringing like a phone until Mondo tapped Abigail on the shoulder and told her, "answer that, will you?" Abby proceeded to lift Jill's hand off the "hook" and held it up to her ear, "hello?"

Towards the back of the stage Brenda, barking ferociously, had "treed" an unfortunate cat. Todd crouched on top of the pedestal and hissed at his assailant and timidly swiped at her from time to time.

Down front Mondo had a cluster of ducks waddling along the edge of the stage looking for the pond and generally quacking up quite a din, as well as the audience. Marie, a petite, young brunette, didn't "feel" hypnotized. Yet she was crouched down on her heels with her arms folded under and felt completely normal quacking along with the others. What could be more natural? The sailors over yonder were getting pretty raucous. Maybe that state trooper who had pulled over Steve for speeding could take care of it after he finished writing the ticket.

Mondo got there first. "Hey, guys! It's late. You don't want to wake the baby." As he said the word "baby" Mondo touched the shoulder of one of the "sailors." This linebacker-sized guy immediately adopted a low-IQ, "innocent" stare and began to suck his thumb. Mondo told "daddy" to check on the baby. "Dad" tried to cradle his big son, but the two of them ended up on the stage floor while the rest of the group cooed and made silly noises. "Isn't he so cute!"

A few minutes later Mondo was winding up to his climax, which usually involved all of his volunteers doing one thing. A couple of hunters had shot down some of the ducks (using some of their cohorts who pretended to be guns), but everyone was feeling better now.

"Suzie just loves a warm summer afternoon," Mondo chanted to his party-goers. "That's why she decided to have her birthday party outside. The decorations include lots of colorful balloons." As Mondo passed through the crowd he would touch two of them on the shoulder each time he said the word "balloon." In almost no time he had the stage cluttered with party balloons drifting crazily in the soft breeze and bouncing off each other.

Marie, who had an inflation fetish, had always wanted to become a balloon. Although, she often worried what other people would think if they knew about her "abnormal" turn-on. Did she laugh too loudly at that "mainstream" inflation joke? Did it show on her face when some movie or television show featured an inflation gag?

So, Marie did her best to hide her quirk and find satisfaction where she could. For one thing, she liked to wear Spandex (and guys liked Marie when she wore Spandex), but not the super-stretchy kind. Marie preferred the type with limited stretch because the tight bodysuits felt so good, especially when she took a deep breath and wondered what it would feel like to blow up. Tonight she wore black Spandex with a "dress" that fit over her head like a poncho and gathered at the waist with a woven belt.

Now Mondo had turned her into a balloon with his magic touch! He had made everything alright. Marie felt a tingle of joy as her bodysuit grew tighter. She began to spread-eagle as the pressure gradually built up. Her breasts rose with a soft swell until the cups of her bra couldn't contain them anymore, and then they bulged upward against the firm, black fabric. Marie's calf muscles rounded out like ripe melons and her thighs were becoming so full that they were forcing her legs apart.

Mondo had no idea that there was a problem when he heard the soft "pop! pop!" of Marie's undergarments bursting. He looked around curiously, but did not see Marie in the crowd, nor hear her ecstatic moans..

Marie grew a little faster as her excitement increased, the Spandex shifted and stretched reluctantly, and her belt began to pinch uncomfortably. She looked like some comic book superheroine, except that her curves were rounder and gentler. She felt her swelling shoulders touch her neck and rise slowly toward her cheeks. Even the loose dress was becoming tighter. The knotted belt made her look like an overstuffed draw-string bag.

By now the audience had noticed Marie. Some people laughed, a few looked startled, a number of hands pointed. Mondo did a double- take, uttered a squeak like a frightened chimp and threw his paper party hat to the floor. He tried to make his way over to Marie, but the stage was crowded with too many "balloons" blocking his way. The laughter rose in pitch as the crowd thought that this was part of the act. The noise drowned out Mondo's efforts to call to Marie, and his technique was based on touch--that was the trigger.

Marie was like a carnival balloon toy with her blimp-shaped arms and legs, and chest as round as a beach ball. The dress was so tight that Marie began to bulge out the sides. The crowd hooted and cheered.

Suddenly, Mondo got an idea and shouted, "I'm a pin!" He stepped into the milling crowd, pushing people out of his way. The first woman he touched chirped, "POP!" and fluttered to the ground. This was going to work. One by one Mondo made his way through the crowd. Each "pop!" made the audience go wild. Some of them were rolling on the floor in tears, while others were banging the tables like lunatics, gasping for air.

Marie was at an impasse; the stitchless dress was not going to give way, and the slipknot of her belt was only getting tighter. But her body continued to pump up more and more. Marie gasped. She thought her head might blow off from the pressure when one of the other "balloons" tripped over his neighbor, and grabbed for the tassel of her belt as he went down. The slipknot opened instantly and there was a loud "FOOMP!" as the dress popped free over Marie's head like a parachute. The audience howled.

Mondo had almost made his way over to Marie when he ran into Ted, the big linebacker who had been the baby. Mondo tried to push past him, when Ted suddenly picked him up and ran crazily around the stage blowing a loud raspberry. Ted finally fluttered to a stop with Mondo underneath him.

Across the stage, Marie cheerfully grew rounder and fuller while her Spandex grunted in reply. Her body was making squeaky noises like a latex balloon as she got bigger. Would she pop if Mondo didn't get there in time? He struggled out from underneath the dormant Ted and climbed to his feet, "popping" one or two of the others still drifting around the stage.

Mondo almost touched Marie when he reached her, but stayed his hand just in time. Considering how literally she was taking his instructions, he didn't want to risk her interpretation of pins. But he also had a theory he wanted to test.

"You're very full now, Marie. But you're Suzie's favorite balloon, so she wouldn't want you to pop." Mondo wasn't sure if his instructions were working--Marie's Spandex had stretched so much that it shined like a polished cue ball. He carefully touched her protruding hand. (Whew!) Then he spoke quietly to her, "are you happy, Marie?"

"Yes!" she sighed contentedly.

Mondo grunted affirmatively and pushed on, "Marie, you are so happy as a party balloon that you want to share it with all those lovely people in the audience. In fact, you need their help because you have no more room for all this happiness." Mondo smiled as he patted Marie's round body. (Egads! was she tight! He traced one of her seams with a fingertip and gently thumped her body. She resounded like a drum.)

Someone dropped their drink and a general commotion began to rise from the crowd. A woman down front in a low-cut, red dress cried, "Oh, my goodness!" Mondo could see that her already ample bosom was now straining credibility, as well as her dress. All around her other patrons were beginning to blow up like balloons. Her date swelled so suddenly that he fell over backwards in his chair and floundered helplessly on the floor.

There were more cries of astonishment as Mondo heard various articles of clothing popping buttons and bursting seams. Some people were laughing. He let go of Marie's hand and called to his bulging audience, "Suzie is very fond of helium balloons." He paused for a moment to check the crowd, and then stepped back to Marie and took her hand, "Yes, Suzie likes helium balloons most of all."

Mondo felt a slight upward tug from Marie's hand, so he gripped her a little tighter. Meanwhile, the largest members of the audience were beginning to float off the ground. The vixen down front in the red dress (correction--formerly in the red dress) was rising fastest and screeched uselessly at her date, who wasn't making out much better.

Mondo chuckled to himself and mumbled, "Ha! Found another one! Bet they'll never figure out how I did this." He watched the giddy scene a few moments longer and then told Marie that the party was long over. All of the balloons had drifted away and were losing their helium. Before the crowd had completely deflated and made it back to the ground, Mondo had spirited Marie away to his backstage dressing room. ***********************

Marie blinked a few times and then let out an amazed, "Wow! How did you do that? How did you blow me up like that?" Her own remarks had made her conscientious; Marie shuffled in her seat and seemed to notice for the first time the baggy, stretched out condition of her Spandex suit.

"I didn't do it," Mondo explained as he offered Marie a drink, "you did."

Marie looked stupid for a moment, and then shook her head, "No...no, that's not possible. It must have been some kind of trick, or an illusion."

A black cat made an anti-gravity leap from a nearby chair into Mondo's arms, freeing the chair for his use. As he sat down, he cradled the cat in one arm and stroked its stomach with the other. The cat purred loudly and looked sinfully happy in that way that only cats can achieve. "I assure you it was all real," Mondo said as he gave Marie his most earnest smile.

Marie frowned back at him.

"'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'" Mondo still smiled, but he seemed to become more serious. "Marie, what happened tonight was not illusion or hallucination. You say 'impossible,' but I think you're biased. I believe our ancestors may have discovered a branch of science which was forgotten in the age of reason. They called it 'magic,' we'd call it 'bunk,' but I think it's a science that can be measured and described like any other. Either the human mind has powers we've never suspected, or reality is more than it seems."

"Are you saying that I have the power to blow up myself, or others, like balloons?"

Mondo looked pained and appeared to be searching for the right words, "I wouldn't call it a 'power' because you can be taught to do other, equally incredible things, and others can be taught to do what you did tonight."

Marie was intrigued, "what kinds of things?"

"I know people who can read minds--well, only when other people allow them to, so I guess you'd call it telepathy. I've met 'miracle' healers. I would class your skill as 'telekinetic.' And I know you'll find this very incredible, but I've met several people who can travel through time by sheer effort of will."

Marie was waiting for the punchline, but it never came. Just as she was about to phrase a question, Mondo continued, "It was a top secret government project. It's been canceled, now. But it worked on the theory that the little details of everyday life served as the 'hooks' which keep us anchored to our own time. We trained people to 'forget' or 'suppress' the memories of our current time. They were taught self-hypnosis to help relax their minds. When the 'hooks' were cast loose, they were free to travel. When the project was canceled, I began to look for other skills people might have. And I think the main thing which keeps most of these skills locked away is doubt. That is why I became a stage show hypnotist."

Mondo's next question was so out of the blue that it made Marie blush to her ears, "You have an inflation fetish, yes? Oh, come on, admit it. I've seen the Web pages. In fact, my wife started me along that line of research because she likes the Transformation Ring sites about human/animal metamorphoses."

Marie looked up, "your wife?"

"Yes, " Mondo grinned, "meet Rachel." The cat in his lap suddenly arched its back and stretched in that "Halloween kitty" pose. As it stuck its limbs out, they literally stretched and the animal's whole body seemed to ripple and morph is a wave-like, fluid motion. The hind legs filled out to become a human woman's legs, the torso pinched here and expanded there, fur receded all over the body. And as the cat tossed its head back, the fur on top exploded into a long mane of lustrous, black hair crowning a beautiful woman's face. Rachel had transformed into a beautiful woman in a black velvet dress. Somehow she still reminded Marie of a cat.

Rachel unfolded her arms from around Mondo's neck and climbed down from his lap. "Hello, Marie. Pleased to meet you."

Marie shook hands weakly and just stared up at Rachel wide- eyed, "wow..."

"The point is," Mondo said, breaking the spell, "that you've always wanted to be a balloon. The intensity of that desire is most of the training you need. You were kept from becoming a balloon by two things: you 'knew' that it was impossible, and you were afraid of what other people would think. But the desire was there. Under hypnosis your doubts vanished and you found that you could do it. Imagine what else we might discover if people weren't afraid of being viewed as abnormal."

Marie laughed, but not because anything was funny. She thought about it seriously, "could I do it again?"

Mondo turned his palms up, "you tell me. I can train you with hypnosis. After a few times the confidence alone will be enough to overcome your doubts. Would you be interested in helping me?"

"Me?" Marie seemed surprised, "how can I help you?"

"Well, I'm trying to gather data for this new branch of science. And I need every test subject I can find. Could I interest you in blowing up yourself, or others, say, a hundred times a day?"

A "kid in a candy store" grin spread across Marie's face...